ROYAL OAK, Mich., October 13, 2010 – Detroit Zoo animals will have a smashing good time on Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010, when they receive pumpkins filled with tasty treats to eat, play with, roll around in, tear apart and smash.  Each year around Halloween, the Zoo’s animal welfare staff provides environmental enrichment in the form of pumpkins, gourds and corn stalks as special holiday treats for the animals.

See the photos from the event here

The enrichment items are hidden throughout the animals’ habitats or prepared and placed in a unique manner to stimulate natural behaviors.  For example, the primates’ pumpkins will be carved out and filled with red-colored pasta.  “The gorillas enjoy digging in and eating the ghoulish spaghetti,” said Animal Welfare Manager Elizabeth Arbaugh.  She predicts the other animals will enjoy pushing, playing with, smashing and devouring their treats.

Enrichment Schedule:
•    10:30 a.m. – Gorillas (spaghetti-filled pumpkins)
•    11 a.m. – Snow monkeys (Halloween treats)
•    11:30 a.m. – Rhinos (pumpkins and corn stalks)
•    Noon – Zebras (corn stalks)
•    12:30 p.m. – Bison (pumpkins and corn stalks)
•    1 p.m. – Wolverines (piñata, pumpkins and spaghetti)
•    1:30 p.m. – Polar bears (pumpkins)

The Halloween treats are among the many forms of enrichment used daily at the Detroit Zoo to help make the environments of the animals more dynamic and engaging.  Enrichment includes the introduction of novel and sometimes unpredictable elements such as objects, sounds, scents or other stimuli that give the animals choice and control in their environment and encourage them to respond in species-typical ways.

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

See the photos from the event here