(KRON) — The Oakland Zoo is celebrating Halloween by giving its animals seasonal pumpkins to eat and play with.
“The way animals interact with pumpkins truly depends on what interests them and their diet,” the Oakland Zoo said. “For example, chimpanzees enjoy smashing pumpkins, sun bears love to break them open and enjoy the tasty inside, and our small tamarins eagerly dig through them to find the mealworms their keepers have hidden. It’s always fascinating to see how each of these amazing animals has its own special way of engaging with pumpkins!”
The pumpkins are part of the zoo’s enrichment program. The Oakland Zoo website defines environmental enrichment as “a dynamic process which structures and changes an animal’s environment in a way that provides behavioral choices to animals and draws out their species-appropriate behaviors and abilities and enhances their welfare.”
The animal species seen in the video include grizzly bear, jaguar, cotton-top tamarin, slender-tailed meerkat, American black bear, North American river otter, ring-tailed lemur and sun bear.
“It has been a variety of fun for all the animals at the zoo,” the Oakland Zoo said. “We hope everyone has a fangtastic and safe Halloween.”
