The Maryland Zoo “Loves” Animal Enrichment
January 18th, 2012
BALTIMORE, MD — Visitors to The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore on Saturday, February 11 will notice some unusual red and heart-shaped items in several of the exhibits with the animals, as the Zoo hosts a Valentine Animal Enrichment Day for many of the animals.
Enrichment activities help enhance the care that keepers provide for Zoo animals by adding variety and stimulation to the animals’ daily routines and encouraging natural behaviors. Each enrichment item is specifically developed for each animal species. You might see decorated paper bags filled with raisins for the chimps, and meat treats for lions and leopards. You might witness the giraffes delicately lick an ice treat, while the polar bears wrestle an ice block filled with fish. You never know what you might find, which is enriching for our visitors! Weather permitting, the animal enrichment that guests will see on Saturday will be in the following areas:
• 10:30 Polar Bears
• 11:00 Lions
• 11:30 Giraffe and Okapi Keeper Talk (inside the Giraffe House)
• 12:00 Leopard
• 1:00 Demoiselle Cranes (in Vulture Yard on African Boardwalk)
• 1:30 Arctic Fox training demo and/or enrichment
• 2:00 Elephant
• 2:30 Chimpanzee (inside Chimp Forest with Keeper Chat)
• 3:00 Otter
Download the complete press release
