ROYAL OAK, Mich., October 5, 2009 – When the Detroit Zoo’s commissary supervisor makes her weekly trip to Costco in Auburn Hills, Mich., she doesn’t walk out with the usual bottled water, paper towels and other bulk items many shoppers do.  Instead, she leaves with about 250 pounds of apples, bananas, berries, carrots and lettuce – and she doesn’t pay a dime.

Costco, a membership warehouse club, as well as Whole Foods Market, a retailer of natural and organic foods, are donating surplus produce each week to the Detroit Zoo for its environmental enrichment program. 

Enrichment items are hidden throughout the animals’ habitats or prepared and placed in a unique manner to stimulate various behaviors.  The donated produce is pulled from store shelves prior to the expiration date and used for enrichment such as fruit kabobs for the chimpanzees, treat-filled piñatas for the lions, fruit slushies for the anteaters and produce popsicles for the polar bears.  

“We’re very grateful to Costco and Whole Foods Market for these budget-relieving produce donations which save us anywhere from $300 to $500 a week,” said Scott Carter, the Zoo’s Director of Conservation and Animal Welfare.

Environmental enrichment enhances Zoo animal habitats to make them more dynamic and engaging.  It includes the introduction of novel and sometimes unpredictable elements such as objects, sounds, scents or other stimuli that encourage the animals to respond in species-typical ways, give them choice and control over their environment, and engage them in “work” to obtain food, much as they would in the wild.

For more, visit http://www.detroitzoo.org/Animals/Enrichment/Enrichment/.

The Detroit Zoological Society is a non-profit organization that operates the Detroit Zoo and Belle Isle Nature Zoo.  Situated on 125 acres of naturalistic exhibits, the Detroit Zoo is located at the intersection of Ten Mile Road and Woodward Avenue, just off I-696, in Royal Oak.  The Detroit Zoo is open daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. April through Labor Day (with extended hours until 8 p.m. Wednesdays during July and August), 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. the day after Labor Day through October and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. November through March.  Admission is $11 for adults 15 to 61, $9 for senior citizens 62 and older, and $7 for children ages 2 to 14; children under 2 are free.  For more information, call (248) 541-5717 or visit www.detroitzoo.org.  The Belle Isle Nature Zoo is open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. year-round and provides educational programming with interpretive staff support from the Huron-Clinton Metroparks.  Admission is free.  For more information, call (313) 852-4056. 
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