Animals Receive A Frightfully Good Feast at Drusillas Park

The animals at Drusillas Park, East Sussex have been enjoying some seasonal surprises, as keepers served up a spook-tacular feast of pumpkin as part of the Halloween celebrations.

A large number of pumpkins were delivered to the Park for Shriek Week, which takes place at the award-winning zoo over half-term between Saturday 22nd and Sunday 30th October.

Any leftover pumpkins were snapped up by the keepers and dished up to the animals as part of the zoo’s daily enrichment programme. This ensures they receive a varied and diverse diet, as well as encouraging them to think and work for their food as they would in the wild.

Along with many of the other animals at the Park, the carefully carved jack-o’lanterns were served up to the Park’s loveable lemurs and squirrel mobkeys. The troop approached the  unusual offering with caution in fear it may be a trick, before discovering the tasty treat that awaited them.  Black and white ruffed lemurs, Conner and Reece then howled with delight as they polished off the frightfully good feast, leaving nothing in the way of leftovers.

Pumpkins make the ideal animal snack as they are a great source of potassium, Vitamin A and they are also high in fibre. However, due to their seasonal nature they are not often enjoyed by the residents of the zoo.