Animals go wild over old Christmas trees

The Knoxville Zoo and Tiger Haven both have found a great way to use up live (and undecorated) Christmas Trees—use them as toys for animals from Big cats to elephants. 

As the Christmas season comes to a close, many Christmas trees are left behind. The old Christmas trees may not have been sold to be used for decorations but now they're finding a new purpose: Play toys for wild animals.

The Knoxville Zoo recently received a shipment of unused Christmas Trees from Lowe's near Knoxville Center Mall (The Zoo is unable to accept trees that have been decorated).

The Christmas trees are used as part of the zoo's enrichment program for various animals at the zoo.
Zoo officials say the gorillas, chimps and other primates search for hidden treats zoo keepers have put in the branches for them to discover. Elephants, goats and sheep find the trees to be a delicacy and eat the needles and bark. Some animals, like the red pandas and lions, like to explore the trees and it's inhale the fresh tree scent.

At Tiger Haven in Kingston, the big cats that call the sanctuary home received a belated Christmas Give from Mayo's Garden Center in Knoxville.

"It's really nice because the trees last for several days and give them a lot of enrichment," said Tiger Haven founder, Mary Lynn Haven. "We usually give them pumpkins at Halloween but this year we called and they (Mayo's) graciously donated all of the leftover trees."

Tiger Haven received it's first cat in 1991 and incorporated in 1993. Today, over 250 cats roam the property in Roane County. The trees are great treats for cats that have been rescued.

"They probably will chew and eat a little bit of it, but mostly it's just scent marking like your cats that are rubbing on things, marking scents. They like that smell, kind of like cologne," said Mary Lynn.
Tiger Haven is always looking for donations.

For more information visit their website
www.tigerhaven.org

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