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Spokesperson Nathan Hawke said zookeepers had observed that many of their rare and endangered animals were missing the attention of humans, forcing staff to find ways of keeping them entertained and stimulated. The zoo has since reopened its doors with social distancing measures in place but, as visitors numbers struggle to reach their usual peak the charity behind the zoo is appealing for donations to help keep their doors open.ġ2,000 miles away, At Orana Wildlife Park in Christchurch, New Zealand, rhinos and giraffes were still turning up for their ‘meet the public’ appearances after the site shut. ‘Our mongoose also had a new litter of pups that kept them busy during lockdown but we still made sure to provide them other exciting stimulants like these.’ ‘We also like to provide them with rotting logs that they can break down and forage for insects in. ‘We increased the amount of enrichment for animals such as the mongooses – entertaining activities that encourage them to use their natural skills – they particularly like scented enrichment, where they follow strong scents such as natural spices to find their food.
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‘It’s important for us to be able to call the animals over to us so we can weigh them and perform regular health checks, so we do training like this with the animals we look after every day. But today, like every day since the zoo closed its doors on March 21, no one arrives Normally, excited visitors would suddenly appear, all vying to pat the pint-sized herd of pygmy goats. ‘Mongoose are very intelligent animals and really enjoy one to one training – they’re very responsive to target training, which is where we hold out a target – such as a ball on a stick – and encourage the animals to come over and touch it in order to receive a treat. ‘As a team, we spent extra time with all our animals, including the dwarf mongoose, for example. Looking after our animals kept us grounded. ‘They all need feeding, cleaning up after and entertaining every single day, so it was nice to have a routine to keep to. She said: ‘While we missed having visitors – as we love sharing our work and educating people about our animals – we were lucky to have so many unique residents to take our mind off the situation for a while. Tara Humphrey, Senior Keeper, ZSL London Zoo said keepers remained focused on looking after the animals despite the downturn in visitors. ‘We’ve made ‘snowballs’ for the gorillas – balls of nuts and seeds that we throw into Gorilla Kingdom for the troop to play with and then eat.’
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‘We used the time thinking up creative extra activities for the primates – just like parents around the country, whose children are off school. Gorilla Keeper Dan said: ‘We started to see a few wild ducks visiting the zoo instead of people, so our gorillas Alika and Gernot have been having fun chasing them – they never catch them, of course. ‘Our Asiatic lions and our Sumatran tiger like to watch what’s going on from high vantage points in their homes, keeping an eye on their territories,’ says senior keeper Tara Humphrey They include the critically endangered Western Lowland gorilla as well as Holly, Brambles, Widget, Porticus, Ellie, Hick and Bumpkin – London Zoo’s adorable pygmy goats. Keepers say animals in London Zoo enclosures are missing human company. The bears and petting pigs miss the children, though, and are seeking more attention from zookeepers.ĭublin Zoo said animals were ‘wondering what’s happened to everyone’ after closing to the public earlier this year.ĭirector Leo Oosterweghel said the animals look at him in surprise when he attends to them, as they are ‘used to visitors’. Since the coronavirus pandemic began keeping visitors at home, the jaguars and chimpanzees at the Oakland Zoo have enjoyed the quiet, venturing out to areas of their exhibits they usually avoid. Zoo keepers have shared their wide-ranging methods to keep animals active and engaged as even those that have since reopened struggle to pull in the usual number of visitors to their sites. Zoos across the world say their animals are becoming ‘lonely’ without visitors as a result of the coronavirus lockdown.