The elephants and many other residents of the Santa Barbara Zoo will be given pumpkins on Thanksgiving Day.
The zoo will be open from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursday — a perfect outing for the family while the turkey is in the oven. Tickets will be sold until 2 p.m.
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.
A tentative schedule of pumpkin enrichment with keeper talks includes:
» 10:15 a.m.: Asian elephant
» 11 a.m.: African lion
» Noon: Gorilla
» 12:30 p.m.: Ground hornbill
» 1 p.m.: Turkey vulture
» 1:15 p.m.: Asian elephant
» 1:30 p.m.: Barnyard
» 1:45 p.m.: Desert tortoise
» 2 p.m.: Asian small-clawed otter
All talks are held at the animals’ exhibits. Other animals receive pumpkins throughout the day, but are not associated with a specific time or keeper talk.
— Julia McHugh is public relations director for the Santa Barbara Zoo.