On Saturday we celebrated our lioness Josie's 9th birthday. As explained in a previous blog we threw her a party with lots of enrichment. Josie and her father Solomon had their meat cut into small peices and hidden in hessian sacks with straw (one of which we hung from a tree). It was also concealed in birthday boxes and tubes, these are just cardboard but covered in colourful wrapping paper. We also gave them the hanging boomer ball and stuffed meat behind the fire hose straps (see previous blog for further details). Finally the lions had ginger, thyme, and Josie's personal favourite, catnip, scented in their enclosure.
Josie was quick to demolish the boxes and the hessian sack but Solomon amazed the watching crowd as he swung off the hanging sack and tore it down. He spent a lot of time getting the meat from the hanging boomer ball; using his great weight and strength he even managed to pop it out of the sling. He looked puzzled as it bounced down the enclosure, but was later seen rolling it around on the ground. This design will need adapting before it is given to our tigers next!
We have made a short video which we had hoped to include below, however numerous technical issues currently prevent this! We hope that in time videos will become regular features of the blog. Come back to the blog soon if you were unable to visit on Saturday, hopefully you will enjoy a few clips from the afternoon.
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