It's 'Hoo-lloween' as Telford zoo's animals enjoy chomping down on pumpkins

The zoo’s residents – ranging from lemurs and cockatoos to wolves and meerkats – have been checking out the pumpkins after they were dropped in last week.

The zoo's 'seasonal enrichment programme' allows the animals to explore and engage with the pumpkins, with the intention of creating a lively and interactive experience for both the animals and zoo visitors.

The European Wolves displayed their playful side by wrestling with the pumpkins, while the cockatoos used them as new vantage points – before tucking in for a snack.

The world-famous Cinnamon, the capybara, who made international headlines after escaping from her enclosure last month, seemed a lot less impressed with the pumpkins than her twin brother, Churro.

“Our pumpkin donation from Little Wytheford Farm is a wonderful addition to the zoo and has provided a real pop of seasonal colour across our animal habitats and we’re really grateful to the team at the farm for thinking of us,” said Will Dorrell, owner at Hoo Zoo and Dinosaur World.

“Most importantly, the pumpkins provide a great opportunity for us to offer enrichment to our animals that promotes natural behaviours such as exploring new sights, tastes, colors and smells. Some of our animals tucked straight in to the pumpkins, seeing them as a tasty snack, whereas our European Wolves could be seen picking them up in their mouth before eventually destroying them.”