PHOTOS: Animals at Brookfield Zoo enjoy Halloween treats
CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Several animals at Brookfield Zoo received Halloween treats this week for enrichment.
According to the zoo, the African painted dogs seemed to enjoy their orange gourds that were carved and filled with meat. The mongooses dug in to their pumpkins that had squash, carrots, and meat inside. And, the zoo’s western lowland gorillas in Tropic World: Africa, which just reopened to guests this week, enjoyed smashing their pumpkins open and eating the tasty filling and seeds.
Earlier in the week, the kangaroos and Rodrigues fruit bats were also treated to pumpkins.
Animals also will be receiving pumpkins during the final weekend of Brookfield Zoo’s Boo! at the Zoo Halloween celebration on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 23 and 24. Guests can see the big cats and sloth bears with their pumpkins on Oct. 23 at 10:30 a.m. and the polar and brown bears at Great Bear Wilderness on Oct. 24 at 10:30 a.m.
As part of the Chicago Zoological Society’s Center for the Science of Animal Welfare, staff are always thinking of ways to physically and mentally stimulate the animals at Brookfield Zoo, the zoo said in a statement. One way is by providing them with enrichment items they normally do not receive on a regular basis, including pumpkins.