What Animals Eat

What Do Zoo Animals Eat?
The zoo veterinarian designs and assures the quality of all animal diets. With the help of zookeepers and curators, diets are formulated to keep the animals healthy. In the wild, animals eat to survive, grow, and reproduce. Zoo animals also eat to grow and reproduce, but diets are also used to maintain their psychological health in captivity. 


Who Eats?
All animals eat, but not all eat the same thing or eat in the same way. There are herbivores that eat primarily plants, and carnivores that eat primarily meat. There are insectivores such as the anteater that eat primarily insects. Finally, omnivores eat some of everything. Grizzly bears for example eat meat, fruits and vegetables. This picture is of an anteater licking up a liquid meal with its long tongue. 







When Do They Eat?
Some animals must eat constantly - such as hummingbirds or koalas. Others eat only part of the day, such as deer, snails, and oryx. Hunters, such as lions, eat occasionally, when they catch something to eat. In the zoo, these animals are fasted one day a week to keep their digestion healthy. Others eat weekly or less often. Snakes may eat only once a month! What do they eat? In the zoo, we try to imitate an animal's natural diet as closely as possible. Information from zoologists in the field is critical to getting just the right diet. The zoo must use many prepackaged feeds to simulate natural foods. Hay is really air-dried grass! We also buy Flamingo Fare and elephant pellets to make sure our animals get all their vitamins and minerals.