DZG’s chimpanzees enjoyed an enrichment party in celebration of Malaika’s 29th birthday! Keepers decorated their outdoor paddock with blankets, sheets and pillow cases and left a variety of treats and items for them to play with – and birthday girl, Malaika, loved every second! Senior Keeper, Stacey Ball, said: “The girls had plastic ball pit … Continue reading Malaika’s enrichment extravaganza!
DZG’s Colombian black spider monkeys are helping us raise awareness of Earth Day with some themed enrichment. The annual international awareness day celebrates the planet and focuses on the environmental issues it faces, aiming to encourage people to be greener. Recycling newspaper, Lower Primate keepers made papier mâché globes, which they filled with vegetable and … Continue reading Celebrating Earth
Primate keepers made sure Bornean orangutans, Jazz and Sprout, weren’t left out of DZG’s Easter celebrations. Keeper Sian-Leigh Simner, made colourful egg-themed enrichment, so the pair could enjoy their own egg hunt – orang style! Sian-Leigh said: “I made papier mâché eggs, which we filled with pieces of their favourite fruit and primate pellets, before … Continue reading Hunting for eggs!
We’re all for recycling and reusing here at DZG as empty cardboard boxes and tubes provided fun enrichment for our rainbow lorikeets and roul roul partridges. Senior Keeper Rachel Marsden filled the boxes with mealworms and seeds, before leaving them to be discovered around the floor of our walkthrough Lorikeet Lookout exhibit Rachel said: “The … Continue reading Effective enrichment
DZG’s seven chimpanzees enjoyed their first ever foam party in celebration of Barbie’s 39th birthday! Lower Primate keepers emptied the indoor den’s flooring of woodchip before leaving a paddling pool filled with water and baby bubble bath in the middle, which was full of lots of treats for the girls to discover. Keeper Harley Hunt, … Continue reading Foam party fun!
DZG’s raven, Jill, was put to the test when she received her daily treats in a kong. Bird keepers stuffed the plastic pink toy with chunks of beef, which they left in the enclosure for the playful nine-year-old bird to discover. Trainee Keeper, Jess Jones, said: “Jill loved the kong. “She has a very inquisitive … Continue reading Jill’s put to the test!
When it came to pool cleaning duties, DZG’s Carpathian lynx preferred to turn it into a tug-of-war game, much to the amusement of big cat keepers. As Senior Keeper Sam Grove began filling up the pool in the enclosure with water, cheeky 20-month-old Dakota, decided it would be much more fun to play with the … Continue reading Hosepipe games!
A plastic tub provided hours of entertainment for Bornean orangutan, Sprout. Upper Primates Keeper, Sian-Leigh Simner gave five year-old, Sprout and mum, Jazz, a large green trug, recently delivered from our Amazon Wishlist, which she filled with diluted sugar-free blackcurrant squash and sunflower seeds, alongside plastic cups. Sian-Leigh, said: “The girls used the cups to scoop … Continue reading Playtime for Sprout!
Three of our youngest animals are celebrating birthdays today! Not only is our handsome giraffe, Kito turning three, but our gorgeous African Pygmy goat girls, Daffy and Dilly, are marking their first special day too! Trainee Keeper Amy Paddock, treated the twins to a kid friendly carrot cake, with apple, goat mix, carrot and a … Continue reading A birthday trio!
Happy Valentine’s Day! Love is in the air across DZG’s 40-acre site for the many furry, feathered, prickly and scaly couples who have been carefully matched as part of vital breeding programmes to ensure the continuing survival of the world’s rarest animals. And one-year-old snow leopard, Taïga, who has formed one of our newest pairs … Continue reading Happy Valentine’s Day!
