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Zoo residents tear open treats for Christmas
Allison White/The Times-Standard
Fruitcake may not be the most popular gift for people to receive Christmas morning, but many of the animals at Sequoia Park Zoo in Eureka enjoyed that annual holiday treat as part of the “Holiday Hoorah” Friday.
Visitors watched on Christmas Day as zookeepers treated the animal residents to tasty treats in colorful packaging. The American black bear Rosemary was the first to receive presents, which included juice-soaked biscuits and peanut butter, said zookeeper Janeé Thill.
Thill fed the three spider monkeys and the two white-handed gibbons after Rosemary had her treats. Each animal received specific treats that they don’t normally receive as part of the event.
Spectators enjoyed watching the various creatures open presents for the holiday.
”It’s just fun to watch them tear it apart,” Thill said.
As a zookeeper, Thill said the zoo staff also likes to surprise the animals they care for because it helps them to meet their goal to “make sure their lives are interesting and they aren’t bored out of their minds.”
A crowd of about 20 people watched as the spider monkeys and gibbons cautiously approached their gifts before tearing into them to find the fruitcake and other snacks.
Linda Shapiro brought Westin, 8, to watch the primates. The two traveled from Austin, Texas, to visit family in Eureka, and they were intrigued by the zoo’s activities on Christmas.
”We thought it sounded neat,” Shapiro said.
Shapiro said she hadn’t been to the zoo in a few years and she thought the recent renovations were beneficial to the park.
Westin sprinted over to the gibbons as they began to open their gifts and held on to the railing as he watched one gibbon tear out leafy vegetables to grab other treats inside.
Dalcie Alexy also brought her son Devin, 2, to the event to watch Rosemary the bear open her gift.
”He loves the zoo and he loves Rosemary,” Alexy said.
Alexy said her family frequents the zoo because Devin enjoys it so much, so coming on Christmas was a good choice for him.
After the first few gifts were handed out to the animals, she took Devin home for his own gifts.
”He’s still young enough so we don’t have to do Christmas too early,” Alexy said.
The Chacoan peccaries and animals in the contact corral and the small animal house also received presents throughout the day. The gifts were wrapped with safe paper and tape that wouldn’t harm the animals if ingested, Thill said. But if an animal was to start eating too much of the packaging, zookeepers would intervene.
Many zoos have special treats on Christmas for the animal residents.
”It’s pretty standard because it’s fun for us, too,” she said.
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