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Food for thought at ZSL London Zoo
Tuesday 15 July 2008
Imagine trying to put a tonne of bananas and apples into your shopping trolley every week.
© ZSL - DS
For some people this doesn’t bear thinking about, but at ZSL London Zoo this figure is just a small order included in the Zoo’s annual food supply list announced this week.
Thirteen tonnes of carrots and four tonnes of eggs could be the yearly food supply for a small country…but these whopping figures actually make up part of the Zoo’s annual food order.
More than 600 different species of animals including gorillas, giraffes and hippos are fed an array of different foods including cabbages, tomatoes, fish and grapes.
Zootrition, a sophisticated computer programme helps Zookeepers create a diet which is equivalent to what the animals would be eating in the wild. It provides them with a varied diet full of the highest quality natural foods.
But the meals aren’t just handed to the animals on a plate; it forms vital enrichment for them. Keepers spend hours making sure the animals have to work for their food just like they would in the wild.
The Zoo’s impressive cuisine was given the thumbs up by chef Gordon Ramsay, who recently came to film for Channel 4’s The F Word. Catch Gordon giving the Zoo’s gorillas the Michelin-starred treatment tonight (Tuesday) at 9pm.
To hear more about how we enrich our animals at the zoo, please watch the video below.
