photo from Morguefile
From Sunday 7/17/16 Dallas Morning News – Getting Their Greens by
Claire Z. Cardona
This was an exceptionally interesting article. Here's my synopsis:
Dallas
zookeepers are able to keep elephants happy with truckloads of greenery from
city parks. In a key partnership, the keepers have access to branches and
vegetation, called “browse”. Elephants and other zoo animals crave their fresh
veggies. Basically every other Wednesday, keepers follow city workers around
golf courses and gather the “browse”. This keeps a lot of stuff out of the
landfill, and it’s cheap food for the zoo. All parties are happy.
The city is expanding the plan to almost 400 parks. Wow.
Daily enrichment means healthier elephants. Apparently elm is a favorite. It’s
also exercise for the elephants as they strip limbs. They are occupied and it
keeps their teeth healthy too Per the article, an adult female elephant
weighs between 6,000 and 10,000 pounds and eats 200 to 300 pounds of food a
day. Elephants eat hay, grains, fruits and vegetables. This volume of “browse”
helps immensely. Seventy other species of animals enjoy different varieties
too.
Spread the word to any animal habitats, and coordinate
resources. Make an elephant happy!
What a great idea!
ReplyDeleteyep - I thought this was brilliant
Deleteit's always great when we can find ways to reduce waste while also fulfilling a need.
ReplyDeleteexactly. I was glad the newspaper brought this "good" idea to our attention. Kudos to the parks and zoo
DeleteI like reading stories like this. To me, it is a win-win situation. Less going into the land fill and keeping elephants happy. Its a good thing all around!
ReplyDeletebetty
that's why I decided to share it
DeleteNow that's smart and kills two birds with one stone.
ReplyDeletefinally a smart budget story
DeleteThat is a great way to be indeed. A win win for each
ReplyDeleteand healthy elephants in their zoo
DeleteAn excellent idea, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYvonne.
environmentally smart, that's for sure
DeleteI've never heard this definition of "browse," and what a wonderful way to recycle the trimmed greens! Very cool!
ReplyDeleteIt caught my eye in the old fashioned newspaper. This is why we subscribe
DeleteOh, I didn't know that.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
I didn't either and was happy for the article
DeleteHi Joanne - clever idea .. and they do eat a lot of 'greenery' ... cheers Hilary
ReplyDeletenow it's all fresh all the time
Delete