Telford zoo's animals including Cinnamon the 'escapybara' get into the festive spirit with Christmas enrichment
A Shropshire zoo has treated animals including a celebrity capybara to festive treats as part of an environment enrichment programme.
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Animals at Hoo Zoo Dinosaur World north of Telford have started their festivities early by unwrapping their Christmas gifts as part of the regular programme that aims to improve their wellbeing.
Large boxes containing food or unusual scents were wrapped in Christmas wrapping and presented to the zoo's animals including a former escapee, Cinnamon the capybara.
Cinnamon went missing in September this year, and the internet was immediately gripped by the mission to bring her home.
It brought huge media attention to the zoo with dozens of news articles, hundreds of TikTok videos and thousands of concerned social media posts.
And now that she is home again having been recaptured safe and sound, the Shropshire zoo could lay claim to having the most famous capybara in the world.
The Christmas gifts offered an exciting challenge for the animals, encouraging them to engage with the presents in unique ways that allows them to demonstrate their natural instincts and behaviours.
Animals at the zoo ranging from reptiles to binturongs, lemurs and Eurasian lynx had the opportunity to get to grips with the seasonal additions to their habitats, and visitors have enjoyed watching animals interact with their festive surprises.
"We know our animals will experience a slightly different Christmas than we do, but we wanted to create an enriching and fun experience for them as well. We didn’t want them to miss out on any of the festive fun," said the owner of Hoo Zoo and Dinosaur World, Will Dorrell.
"Each of our animals have such a unique personality, but they all definitely share a natural curiosity. Our bobcat siblings were a bit like me and couldn’t wait to tear into their gifts, but animals such as our binturong and lemurs took their time to unwrap their gifts."
Hoo Zoo and Dinosaur World remains open in the run-up to Christmas. The zoo is open daily until December 23 before re-opening on Friday, December 27.
Further information can be found on the zoo's website.
