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RZSS Edinburgh Zoo’s meerkats are getting the festive season off to a cracking start as keepers gave them giant Christmas themed enrichment!
The residents of Meerkat Plaza received a giant Christmas cracker filled with food which they enjoyed crawling inside and popping their heads out of along with lots of miniature crackers also stuffed full of their favourite treats.
Alison Maclean, Team Leader for Carnivores at RZSS Edinburgh Zoo said:
“It’s always fun to usher in the holiday season by giving our animals some Christmas themed enrichment. Meerkats are very inquisitive so they really enjoy exploring all the different enrichment we place in their enclosure. The cracker was no exception! They seemed to really enjoy popping their head out of the cracker and getting at all their treats.”
The enrichment continues the giant theme at the Zoo this winter as The Giant Lanterns of China continues until 25 February 2018 featuring 34 bespoke installations made of 469 gigantic lanterns.
Meerkats are the most well-known member of the mongoose family and live in large groups of between and three and thirty individuals. They inhabit dry, open areas with short grass and sparse woody scrub, mainly in southern Africa and are naturally curious and adventurous. Edinburgh Zoo’s clan of meerkats receive regular enrichment which helps encourage their natural behaviours such as foraging for food.
RZSS Edinburgh Zoo has a dedicated enrichment team that integrates five different types of enrichment into the animals’ lives, including environmental, habitat, sensory, food and social enrichment. Visitors can also donate special animal-friendly toys to the Zoo, via the Zoo’s Amazon wishlist: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/registry/wishlist/1NE1L5UV462AL
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