Please feed the animals.
That's not something you'd expect to hear from the zoo, but the Reid Park Zoo is running low on leafy snacks and is reaching out to the community for a little help.
With the addition of five new elephants, supplies of browse - leafy branches and bush trimmings given to animals to munch on - are dwindling, and the zoo is looking to partner with local tree-trimming and landscape businesses or residents with large quantities of excess vegetation to donate it to the zoo instead of dumping it at a landfill.
"If Aunt Margaret is cutting down a limb, that probably isn't going to do much good," said Jim Schnormeier, the zoo's general curator.
The zoo has a list of the foliage it will accept, and it asks that the greens not be sprayed with any kind of pesticides or chemicals that could be harmful to the animals.
"We depend on the kindness of the people to tell us the truth that this hasn't been sprayed," Schnormeier said. "If it's been sprayed or something, we won't take it."
The browse isn't part of the animals' primary diets; it's used to keep the animals occupied and give them something to snack on. Hoofed animals like giraffes and elephants really enjoy the leafy treats, Schnormeier said.
TLC Environmental Services is one of two local landscaping companies that donate to the zoo on a regular basis, delivering browse by the truckload from its pruning and trimming projects a couple times a week.
"We've been donating for many years for a lot of reasons, primarily because we don't want to go to the landfill and have it really just go to waste," said Stephanie Castillo, who co-owns the company with her two brothers. "If somebody or something can use it, then that's were our material will go."
The company tries to recycle most of the material it cuts down into mulch, firewood and other materials, said co-owner Steve Coyne.
When he heard the zoo was looking for browse a few years ago, he happily offered to help.
"It's kind of a no-brainer for us," Coyne said. "It's a mutually beneficial situation."
He plans to deliver a few huge logs soon so the elephants can have some new toys, he said.
The zoo hopes to expand its list of partners to keep a hearty supply of browse year round, Schnormeier said.
"It's always been kind of a feast-or-famine type of situation," he said. "There are times when we can't get any because it's not the time of year to trim trees or something has come up, and there are times when we get lots of it."
Leafy snacks wanted
Here's a list of the types of plants the zoo will accept.
• Acacia (Acacia sp.)
• African sumac (Rhus sp.)
• Arunda grass/giant reed (Arunda sp.)
• Ash (Fraxinus sp.)
• Bamboo (Phyllostachys sp.)
• Banana (Musa sp.)
• Bottletree (Brachychiton sp.)
• Cottonwood (Aegiros sp.)
• Ficus (Ficus sp.)
• Fig (Ficus sp.)
• Grapevine (Vitus sp.)
• Hackberry (Celtis sp.)
• Honeylocust (Gleditsia sp.)
• Mesquite (Prosopis sp.)
• Mimosa (Prosopis sp.)
• Mulberry (Morus sp.)
• Palm (Chyrsalidocarpus sp.)
• Pepper tree (Schinus sp.)
• Pistachio (Pistacia sp.)
• Plumbago (Plumbago sp.)
• Pyracantha (Pyrcan sp.)
• Rose (Rosa sp.)
• Sugar cane (Saccharum sp.)
• Umbrella grass (Cyperus sp.)
• Willow (Salix sp.)
• Xylosma (Xylosma sp.)
• For more information about how to donate, call Jim Schnormeier at the Reid Park Zoo at 837-8186.
WATOTO
Last July, the Reid Park Zoo's only male giraffe, Watoto, was fatally poisoned when an apprentice keeper accidentally fed him oleander leaves.
The 6-year-old giraffe's heart stopped from being fed the leaves found on the grounds of the zoo.
A female giraffe, Denver, was also given the toxic trimmings, but she survived.
The keeper was instructed to pick up approved trimmings from a pile at the zoo, and he also picked up the oleander leaves from a different location. He resigned shortly after the incident.
Contact reporter Veronica Cruz at vcruz@azstarnet.com or 573-4224.
