TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Kaohsiung’s Shoushan Zoo held a special feast for the Mid-Autumn Festival, providing its animals with seasonal fruits, vegetables, and large skewers of meat.
Kao Min-lin (高閔琳), Director General of the Tourism Bureau of the Kaohsiung City Government, said the seasonal ingredients not only create a festive atmosphere but also provide visual and tactile stimulation for the zoo’s animals, according to a press release.
Kao emphasized that special care is taken to ensure all animals at the zoo receive a balanced diet. The zoo’s nutritionists collaborate with zookeepers to carefully plan the animals’ meals.
For instance, the African lions were treated to meatier portions, while the omnivorous South American coati enjoyed a variety of foods, including strips of beef and chicken, boiled eggs, and skewers of fruits and vegetables.
The crested porcupine and crab-eating macaque were fed colorful fruits and vegetables on skewers to tantalize their taste buds. The zoo also devised creative ways to feed the animals, adding more variety to their daily meals.
The zoo noted that each animal has unique feeding habits. For example, the cautious crested porcupine prefers to take its food back to its enclosure and consume it slowly. As a rodent with very hard teeth, the porcupine is capable of chewing through wood. To accommodate this, the zoo hung the skewers from a frame made of wooden branches, allowing the porcupine to grind its teeth to its heart’s content.
A tourist at the zoo, surnamed Chen (陳), said she initially thought the crested porcupine was genetically similar to pigs. However, after hearing the zoo staff explain the animal’s habits and watching it chew on the wooden frame, she realized it was more akin to a rodent.
The zoo reminds the public that it will remain open as usual during the Mid-Autumn Festival, welcoming everyone to visit Shoushan Zoo during this popular time for family reunions.
Due to limited parking, visitors are encouraged to use public transportation. Local bus number 56 regularly departs from Yanchengpu MRT Station and drops passengers off at the main gate of Shoushan Zoo.
For more information, please visit the Shoushan Zoo website or the zoo’s Facebook page.
