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Blog Archive
Playful Mujambi
If you have been to Adelaide Zoo you would have noticed how lush and green it is with an array of different plants, from the pink flowered Violet Maple in the Giant Panda exhibits to the vast array of palm trees around the grounds.
Our great horticulture team maintains the grounds of the zoo and some of the trimmings made can be used as enrichment for our animals. Palm fronds are a favourite for a few animals, such as Orangutans Karta and Kluet using them as a cloaking and shade device.
For our Carnivores most of our enrichment revolves around their diet and sense of smell but occasionally we put browse (branches) in for something different. Our Sumatran Tigers usually just scent mark on them, Fennec Fox, Tizga, sleeps under them but so far our Lion, Mujambi, has had the best interaction with palm fronds.
I had just swapped Mujambi and the Lionesses for the night and had put some freshly cut palm fronds in their enclosures. As I was locking up around the back I could hear a shredding noise coming from the Lion exhibits. As I peeped over the fence I saw about 10 visitors with cameras out enrapt with Mujambi playing with his palm fronds.
In the past when browse has been giving usually it is the Lionesses that interact the most but this time Mujambi showed the girls how it is done. Imagine a 160 kilo Lion growling and rolling around on his back while clutching two palm fronds between all four paws and tearing at them with his sharp teeth.
This continued for about 5 minutes and was a special moment to see - Mujambi being a young and carefree lion.
Arliah
Carnivore Keeper, Adelaide Zoo
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