Potter Park Zoo Invites The Public To Watch The Animals Receive Their Enrichment Gifts

By Billie Harris 

Lansing, MI - Potter Park Zoo will wrap up their holiday festivities with a special animal enrichment event, Winter Gifts for the Animals, on Sunday, January 11, 2009 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Visitors to the zoo on that Sunday will notice some unusual items in several of the animal’s exhibits as zoo staff deliver recycled Wonderland-of-Lights trees and special holiday treats inside boxes to many of the zoo’s excited inhabitants. The animals will be out and active as they dig into their holiday treats to discover the surprises inside.

“Winter Gifts for the Animals is a great event for the animals and is a fun activity for families as well,” said Animal Enrichment Coordinator Jill Garnett. “Visitors will get to see things they do not usually see in a typical zoo visit, like what a yak can do with a holiday tree or what a mandrill home looks like after their presents are opened!”

Animal enrichment is an important aspect in the care of exotic animals. The enrichment activities provided for the zoo’s animals help to enhance the care that keepers provide throughout the year by creating a more stimulating environment for the animals and eliciting some of their natural behaviors.

Winter Gifts for the Animals is free to the public. Parking is also free to all event attendees. To find more information on this event, please visit www.potterparkzoo.org.

Potter Park Zoo is located at 1301 S. Pennsylvania Ave. within Potter Park along the Red Cedar River in Lansing, Michigan. The zoo is open daily year-round, winter hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, call (517) 483-4222 or visit www.potterparkzoo.org