LAMONT, Fla. (WTXL) — Donated Christmas trees can replace hours of daily foraging and provide both nutrition and enrichment for animals at the North Florida Wildlife Center.
- Around 30 of the 118 animals at the North Florida Wildlife Center rely on fresh browse,
(leafy greens, leaves,etc) collected daily. - One donated Christmas tree can provide twice the amount of browse, saving staff significant time. Trees also serve as enrichment, encouraging natural behaviors like climbing, sniffing, and problem-solving.
- Watch the video to see what animal care specialist have to do daily to keep the animals in good health and how your Christmas tree will help.
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North Florida Wildlife asks for Christmas tree donations to support animal care
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
You've heard of giving carrots to a bunny or peanuts to an elephant, but here's a fun holiday twist, kangaroos that snack on Christmas trees.
I'm Lyric Sloan in Jefferson County, showing you how your Christmas tree could turn into food or a playground for animals right here at the North Florida Wildlife Center.
Every day, staff at North Florida Wildlife Center head deep into the woods on a mission, gathering what's called fresh browse, things like leaves and leafy greens for the animals in their care.
Out of the 118 animals that call the center home, at least 30 rely on these leafy treats.
It's a task that, over time, takes a toll.
"So that means that collecting brows does take about a good hour, hour and a half of our day, having a nice pile of Christmas trees ready available for us to store, would save us on a lot of time so we could focus on other more important things in our life, such as feeding the animals, interacting with them, and overall, just making sure everyone who comes here is going to have a better visit," Isa Reep, North Florida Wildlife Animal Care Specialist, said.
Now that the holiday season is winding down, the Wildlife Center is asking the community to give their Christmas trees a second life, donating what would otherwise be thrown away.
How much of this would equate to one Christmas tree? ( Lyric Sloan)
Twice of this. (Animal Care Specialist)
Your Christmas tree could provide twice the amount of browse shown on the screen, cutting the time staff spend foraging in the woods.
"So one of the really cool things about Christmas trees is that they're something that typically, we only really get around this time of year, but that's going to provide a lot of really good stimulus for them, texture, scent. It's going to give them something to eat, something that they can play with," Reep said.
Reep says the center has welcomed several new animals since last year, increasing the demand for browse, not just for nutrition, but for enrichment.
"Enrichment is really vital as keepers and keeping care of animals that are in human care, to give them that greatest amount of quality of life, we want to give them the opportunity to exhibit almost all the behaviors they would have the opportunity to do in the wild," Scott Jones, North Florida Wildlife Animal Care Specialist, said.
Animal Care Specialists say those behaviors include sniffing, climbing, scratching and using their intelligence to solve problems.
They say your Christmas tree can provide the perfect stimulus, keeping animals engaged, curious and ready to interact during your visit.
The Wildlife Center says any real untreated trees can help make a difference, helping to feed and stimulate the animals, while staff can focus on other care projects.
Donations can be dropped off right here at the North Florida Wildlife Center during their regular hours. In Jefferson County, Lyric Sloan, ABC 27.
North Florida Wildlife Center Location: 1386 Cook Rd, Lamont, FL 32336
Want to see more local news? Visit the WTXL ABC 27 Website.
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