COLORADO SPRINGS – In celebration of Valentine’s Day, animals at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo seemed pleasantly surprised to find brightly colored paper mache hearts placed throughout their habitats.
A group of zookeeper assistants created the balloon-sized hearts filled with animals’ favorite treats to eat.
Grizzly bears tore into their gifts to dine on tasty snacks like honey-covered popcorn and strawberry jam with nuts.
Western lowland gorillas enjoyed oats and seeds with honey.
African lions snacked on canned cat food with hard-boiled eggs and whipped cream.
These creative enrichment activities encourage animals to use stimulating physical and mental behaviors like discovering new objects, contemplating new smells, and using fine motor skills they would use in the wild.
