British Zoo Uses Donated Christmas Trees to Encourage Natural Foraging Behavior Among Its Animals

Christmas is one of the most special times of the year for families around the world. From exchanging gifts to enjoying a hearty meal, this wholesome celebration is marked by sharing love and joy. And not to mention, donning those Christmas pines, spruces, or firs with colorful lights makes it a jubilant holiday. But isn't it disheartening to throw away the dead trees after the holidays? One British zoo has a special initiative in place that considers the welfare of animals post-Christmas. Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm hosts an annual Christmas tree recycling program that invites donations from people across Bristol, South Gloucestershire, and North Somerset in the U.K., per the zoo’s official website. 

This year, the zoo is hosting the Christmas Tree Recycling Scheme from the 2nd to 26th January 2025. For the fifth consecutive year, Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm has partnered with St. Peters Hospice and North Somerset Council to make the sustainable tradition a success. More importantly, the Christmas tree donations have grown each year with 2025 expected to be the biggest turnout yet. The primary aim is to create natural enrichment and festive additions to the zoo animals and their nutrition, seemingly a kind of eco-friendly Christmas celebration with protected wildlife. The donations also provide the opportunity for these animals to practice natural foraging with the help of strategies put in place by the zoo keepers. 

The official page explained that the chippings of trees are utilized in the Andean Adventure habitat to add texture and fresh scents enjoyed by the zoo’s spectacled bears named Maddi, Rasu, Tuichi, and Beni. Rhinos and meerkats also rejoice post-Christmas with the festive addition of tree mulch. These animals also engage in natural foraging behaviors encouraged by the zoo as the keepers bury food beneath the tree mulch for the rhinos and meerkats. A similar approach is also applied to the African Bull elephants conserved at the Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm. These mammoth-sized animals relish the branches of Christmas trees and also forage through the piles of chippings for a hidden treat. 

The African elephants usually follow a foliage diet of willow and other trees but the Christmas seasonal twist further enriches their nutrition. There is a set of guidelines that participants are required to follow for a successful tree donation. The foremost step is to remove all Christmas decorations and ornaments from the tree and return it to its natural state. Following that, the participants can head down to Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm Car Park between 10.30 am to 4.30 pm to drop off the tree in the designated lane. The zoo also urged the donors to actively follow their social media to keep track of how their donations may be used for the animals' welfare. 

For those unable to drive down to the zoo, they can make use of a recommended alternate option. St. Peter’s Hospice has offered to collect the trees from participants with set instructions. It is advised that people leave their tree donations outside their homes to be collected between 10 to 12 January after having booked their slots for the donation. The sustainable tradition has been popularized by Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm as a win-win program that benefits the animals as well as recycles the massive number of Christmas trees accumulated during the festive season. The Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm, an award-winning zoo, was founded by Anthony and Christina Bush in 1999 and later became a charity on 5th April 2023, according to their site. 

You can follow @noahsarkzoobristol on Instagram for more updates on this Christmas tree recycling program.