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FUN AT THE SANTA BARBARA ZOO ON THANKSGIVING

The Animals Go Pumpkin Crazy On Thanksgiving Day

By Sharon Rosenthal, www.camarillo.macaronikid.com November 18, 2012
What are you doing on Thanksgiving Day? Watching football? Cooking all day? Instead head down to the Santa Barbara Zoo for some Pumpkin fun with all the animals.

The Santa Barbara Zoo’s Asian elephants Sujatha and Little Mac are expected to stomp, crush, and eat the pumpkins given to them on Thanksgiving Day. Western lowland gorillas might nibble them, and parrots are sure to poke and prod them. Guests can observe the antics of the many animals who receive holiday pumpkins on Thanksgiving day, November 22, when the Santa Barbara Zoo is open from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 

 More than 50 pumpkins, some giant size, were donated to the Zoo following Halloween. Receiving pumpkins on Thanksgiving Day are the elephants, gorillas, tortoises, capybaras, porcupines, meerkats, and parrots, among others. A schedule of keeper talks and Thanksgiving Day activities will be posted at a kiosk at Zoo Admissions. Many of these animals will also receive pumpkin enrichment throughout the holiday weekend. 

In addition, several of the Zoo’s carnivores will receive a “Thanksgiving dinner” of raw, plucked turkeys or game hens. This includes the Zoo’s two new female African lions (who debut on exhibit November 20), the snow leopards, and Amur leopard. 

Food, scents, and natural objects are used as enrichment to give the animals stimulation and exercise. Enrichment also comes in the form of training the animals to recognize that a certain behavior leads to a reward – most often in the form of food or fun. Training animals to go to a certain area in their exhibit, for example, may allow keepers to examine, administer medication, or even weigh the animal.  

The Zoo closes at 3:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day; tickets are sold until 2 p.m. General admission is $14 for adults, $10 for children 2-12 and seniors 65+, and children under 2 are free. Parking is $6.

For more information please visit The Santa Barbara Zoo online at  www.sbzoo.org.