Zoo Watch: Tiger cubs play with pumpkins at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo animals tucked into pumpkins painted with blood and stuffed with fish as a Halloween treat. Picture: ZSL Whipsnade - Credit: Archant
Three spirited tiger cubs at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo have sunk their teeth into Halloween treats.
Keepers carved huge pumpkins for each of the one-year-old endangered Amur tiger cubs, Dmitri, Makari and Czar, and brushed them with intriguing scents including blood and catnip.
The inquisitive tigers used all five senses to investigate and play with their creepy prizes.
Team leader Graeme Williamson said: "Our curious young tigers love to investigate and play with new things, so they were thrilled with their terrifying treats.
"Dmitri, Makari and Czar are brilliant at sniffing out and pouncing on food, so it didn't take them long to track down their putrid pumpkins and devour them."
The zoo's spirited group of squirrel monkeys also got in on the action, including a three-year-old male named Pumpkin.
Keepers prepared a series of small pumpkins, filled with raisins and other tasty snacks, which hung from ropes in their enclosure, forming a very spooky assault course.
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As for the zoo's endangered rockhopper penguins, they were treated to the little-known delicacy of fish-stuffed pumpkins, a dish sure to make them squawk with devilish delight.
For more information visit www.zsl.org