Posted August 12, 2024 in News
The Return of our Elephant Pumpkin Patch
You may remember that in 2023, Tembo, our male African elephant, showed off his gardening skills by tending to his very own pumpkin patch in his outdoor paddock. By tucking into the large, lobed leaves and pruning the unwanted greenery on the patch with his trunk, Tembo left the squashes to grow ready to be harvested just in time for Halloween. Unfortunately, his companion, Zola, decided that gardening was not for her and trampled over the pumpkins that were left – the squash became quite literally ‘squashed’!
However, we are pleased to say that we have now noticed the beginnings of a new pumpkin patch in our cow paddock, home to our two female African elephants, Opal and Tanya.
The Animal Care Team suspect that, just like Tembo’s patch, the pumpkins must have sprouted from dispersed seeds from previous pumpkin enrichment. The sprouts are still very new but we hope that Opal and Tanya will become fantastic gardeners just like Tembo, so that the pumpkins can continue to grow into the Autumn season. Our team have their fingers crossed that the pair do not decide to start the Halloween enrichment early and squash the orange fruit but we shall wait and see!
Don’t forget to join us this October for our Shriek Week where you can watch our animals enjoy some spook-tacular enrichment! Looking for more thrills? Why not embark along our evening Trail of Terror packed full of scare at every turn!
