Four days ago, Johannesburg Zoo posted to social media asking Jozi residents to donate their pruned tree leaves for the zoo’s herbivore inhabitants, such as elephants, giraffes, eland, bongo, and nyala.
Joburg Zoo’s post reads:
“We are browsing for leaves. Please send us your pruned tree leaves.”
“Maintaining a normal diet and providing enrichment to our animals is very important to us. Many of our zoo residents enjoy a good browse and some of them are big feeders. As such, we need to maintain a healthy stockpile for them to enjoy as part of their regular enrichment.”
Our herbivore friends are hungry, but they require special diets. Johannesburg Zoo provides a list of indigenous trees that their herbivores eat:
- Sickle bush tree
- Tamboti
- Knob Tree
- Bush willow
- Buffalo thorn
- Mulberry
- White stinkwood
- Rhus Lancea
- False Olive
- Yellowwood
- Fever tree
- Natal Mahogany
- Weeping boer bean
According to a report by News24, Joburg Parks and Zoo general manager Jenny Moodley has also asked for people to be mindful and avoid littering in the zoo. Jenny says:
“Our big aim is to help people change their behaviours. People taking food packages into the zoo are littering, and this has consequences,”
Moodley then goes on to explain that there was an incident where a larger zoo animal died after swallowing a chip packet.
“The autopsy revealed the packet, so it’s very important that the inner conservation area [is kept clean] and that visitors obey all the rules.” says Jenny, according to News24.
If you wish to donate your leaves and branches as food for Joburg Zoo’s herbivore gang, please contact the following zookeepers:
- Piet: 082 437 0266
- Philemon: 067 055 0002
- Richard: 078 540 2043
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Feature Image: @joburgparkszoo
