Gorilla Kingdom’s New Ice Queen
Wednesday 2 July 2008
ZSL's newest gorilla Mjukuu is enjoying her first summer at ZSL London Zoo - thanks to special fruit ice blocks, designed to stimulate her natural behaviour and curiosity.
Freezing fruit is a perfect opportunity for the gorillas to have a go at problem solving, key natural behaviour that they exhibit when living in the complex and stimulating environment of their natural habitat.
These are not given to the gorillas for fun; they are part of a careful ‘enrichment’ plan to stimulate the gorillas’ natural behaviour and curiosity.
Innovative methods of enriching the daily routines of animals are constantly being developed by ZSL staff, behavioural research students and colleagues in other organisations.
ZSL aims to carry on extending the boundaries and continue to ensure that enrichment is integral to daily keeping practice.
To watch the gorillas with their ice blocks see the video below.
