Primates get festive treats to celebrate the Magic of Christmas at London Zoo
Christmas sacks for gorillas and festive stockings for saki monkeys were gifted by zookeepers at London Zoo on Tuesday 16 December, as the conservation Zoo celebrated its Magic of Christmas event, which runs until Sunday 4 January.
London Zoo’s gorillas were given festive sacks filled with their favourite snacks. The herbivorous family put their foraging skills to good use to delve into the decorated bags: silverback Kiburi sat down with not one, but two Christmas sacks for a good rummage, while young male Gernot was spotted cheekily running off with arms full of presents.
London Zoo’s Rainforest Life habitat is home to a mix of reptiles, monkeys and sloths. Festive stockings garnished with sweetcorn were strung from branch to branch in the balmy habitat. The Zoo’s saki monkeys investigated the garnished presents, leaping from stocking-to-stocking to dig out their festive treats.
London Zoo is home to over 8,000 amazing animals, many of which are threatened or extinct in the wild and part of vital conservation breeding programmes. Venus, Juno and the rest of the gorilla troop can be seen at Gorilla Kingdom over the festive season, while The Magic of Christmas is in full swing at London Zoo.
From Saturday 22 November to Sunday 4 January, the world-famous conservation zoo is transformed into a winter wonderland, where children and their families can find Santa’s hidden elves, enjoy a special elf Storytime and look out for surprise appearances from Santa himself.
Tickets for The Magic of Christmas at London Zoo are included with zoo entry, and every festive visit to ZSL’s London Zoo supports its science and conservation work to protect and restore wildlife around the world.