O-tterly tasty - that's Halloween at the Zoo
Wednesday 26 August 2009
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo’s otters have been tucking into a pumpkin feast to celebrate the arrival of the spooky season.
The otters have been celebrating Halloween this week with a feast of their favourite snack tucked inside Jack O’Lanterns on their island. The Asian short-clawed otters will be taking part in Boo At the Zoo! during half-term week and enjoying a seasonal scavenge for their food.
Otter keeper Alex Pinnell said: “They use their sense of smell first and once they realise there’s food inside they use their paws – which are really sensitive – to play with the pumpkins and forage for the meat inside with their claws. It’s a great enrichment activity for them.”
Visitors will get a chance to see the five male otters on the island enjoying this seasonal treat every day during the half-term holiday, during Boo At the Zoo, as well as a host of spine-tingling activities to mark the witching hours.
The Zoo's team of explainers will be presenting themed talks at the otters, lemurs and wolves throughout the week. Listen to eerie sounds of wolves howling, from recordings taken in the dead of night at Whipsnade, and learn about lemurs, otherwise known as the “ghosts of Madagascar”.
After watching the otters rip through the pumpkins, visitors and their children can create their own Jack O’Lanterns free of charge in the decorated haunted den on the children’s farm.
The week’s activities includes storytelling and a fun, interactive “scare factor” test, inviting visitors to dip into mystery touch boxes.
For those feeling especially creative there are plenty of materials and opportunities to make a bat mask or a pumpkin face in the indoor Discovery Centre.
All this, plus a full schedule of daily shows at Birds of the World and the Sealion Splash throughout the Boo at the Zoo! half-term week.
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