Tree-mendous fun!

Festive firs from our Winter Wonderland Santa’s grotto are proving to be tree-mendous fun for DZG’s animals.

None of the 44 Christmas trees used to decorate the 11^th century castle courtyard throughout December are going to waste as they’re now being used for New Year enrichment.

The likes of our Carpathian lynx, meerkats, lions, tigers, chimps, gibbons, orangutans and macaques are enjoying playing with the evergreens, as they play amongst the branches and enjoy the heady pine scent.

Curator Richard Brown, said:“We can hide food in the branches, but mostly the trees stimulate the animals simply on their own as they love exploring and playing and the bristly texture and unique smell is something different, as they don’t get them all year round.

“We’re also keen to make sure all the trees we purchase for the zoo site over the Christmas period are recycled, so using them as animal enrichment gives them a second lease of life.

“Any we don’t use with the animals are turned into woodchipping by our gardeners, which we use across the zoo site, so nothing is wasted.”