NSW:Zoo animals treated to christmas crackers

AAP General News (Australia)
12-23-2010
NSW:Zoo animals treated to christmas crackers

By Isabel Hayes

SYDNEY, Dec 23 AAP - Like any family in Australia, the kids squealed and pushed each
other in their eagerness to get to their Christmas presents.

But in this household, the parents were too busy ripping open their own gifts to care.

Chimpanzees at Sydney's Taronga Zoo knocked each other off perches and fought for the
presents hand-delivered to them by zookeepers on Thursday.

And while it was no turkey feast, they were more than happy to lay into the crackers
containing popcorn and chunks of watermelon.

Meerkats, tree kangaroos and an elderly bear were also treated to some Christmas cheer,
with the wrapped gifts designed to test their foraging abilities.

Bethyl the 33-year-old Kodiak bear woke up to find a snowman pinata sitting in her
den - and discovered it was filled with honey, peanuts and dried figs.

"Bethyl doesn't see that as a pinata, she sees it as something foreign in her exhibit,
so that will stimulate her to examine it," Taronga Zoo media relations manager Mark Williams
said.

"This is about making sure we have animals behaviourally and genetically fit and healthy."

Every day of the year, a unit dedicated to monitoring the animals' behaviour tests
them with food puzzles designed to increase their foraging skills.

But most of the time, the animals outsmart the keepers.

Bethyl's late brother, Barney, confounded zookeepers a few years ago when he was given
a log stuffed with bugs and worms to puzzle out.

Keepers assumed he would spend some time fishing each bug out of the log.

Instead, Barney simply shoved it underwater and used the water pressure to bust the
log open and enjoyed his feast in one go.

The meerkats didn't show quite as much presence of mind when greeted with their wrapped
gifts of crickets and peanuts on Thursday.

Several of them got their heads stuck inside their presents.

A young and self-sacrificing meerkat, named Zanzibar, ignored the insect delights and
instead kept watch for would-be predators.

The goats across the way didn't look like they really cared.

At times, the zoo does keep predators near their prey to increase the animals' instincts.

The dingoes are often walked around the zoo to attract interest from predators.

"It's about stimulating their mental environment," Mr Williams said.

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KEYWORD: XMAS ZOO (PIX AND VIDEO AVAILABLE)

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