“Dear Santa, I’d Like A Pony……”
"…..to eat." A Christmas wish letter from one of the alligators at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. Ok, we made that up. But the National Zoo has a website and they really are looking for some generous Santas to help out.
Zookeepers want Frisbees for the pandas. They want feather dusters for birds. They want nature CDs for the zebras and a Double Decker Super Slide for the otters.
Like little kids everywhere, the animals at the National Zoo have wish lists this time of year. But their wants, which are posted on the zoo's Web site and can be donated through January, aren't just for fun. They are specifically designed to make life in captivity more stimulating, more wildlife-like, zoo officials say. They are meant to help animals feel more a part of their species and less a part of a display.
The process of stimulating an animal's senses to replicate life in the wild is called enrichment, and it's an increasingly emphasized part of zoo life, as researchers test different approaches to pique animals' instincts and as activists vie for happier living conditions for those in captivity.
So although Little Tikes toys might resemble nothing of the Southeast Asian streams where small-clawed otters slide down rocks and flop in the water, zookeepers think they will provide a similar level of amusement.
"They like to slide, hide under things, snuggle in corners," zookeeper Jenny Spotten said.
Now, we here at Blue Crab Boulevard want to help out the National Zoo, mainly because they are keeping some of the Animal Uprising™'s troops out of circulation, but hey, whatever works! So here is their site. This is the specific wish list page.
This article did give us an idea, too. Here at the Crabitat we labor long and hard to bring you all the latest news. We could use a bit of stimulation around here as well. So, if any generous people would care to help out, we'd sure appreciate one of these:
We could use a bit of enrichment! Thanks! And happy holidays! (Help out the zoo if you can, too.)
