 Feeding and Breeding
Wild animals in captivity do not have an instinct that protects them against harmful food. Many animals need highly restricted diets, and feeding by visitors is vigorously discouraged except in the farmyard area.
Marmosets, for instance, have a high protein requirement: they are fed lots of mealworms and crickets along with fruits and vegetables. They need a high level of vitamin D3 which must be added to their diet.
Our anteaters won't eat our local ants for some reason, so we have to feed them a special meat "milkshake" that they can lap up with their two-foot-long tongues. The mix must be finely ground, because anteaters have a delicate digestive system. If there are any lumps in the mix, the anteaters will eventually develop pyloric ulcers. (We use an industrial blender.)
Our planned kitchen will be bigger than the present space (10 feet by 6 feet) which must serve nearly 500 animal meals a day.
Only an animal that feels completely settled in the zoo will breed. That's one reason (among others) that zoo directors take pride in a good breeding record. We're proud of our record with white-handed gibbons and lemurs. Our plan is to breed Asian elephants, giant anteaters, and marmosets, among others. |
