wrapped cardboard boxes around the winter holidays , and rainbow frozen treats for Pride month .
The Zoo isn ’ t the only place where Audubon staff cook up tasty creations for the animals . If you ’ ve ever participated in Audubon Aquarium of the Americas ’ Backstage Penguin Pass , you would have had an opportunity to see the Aquarium ’ s kitchen , where animal care staff prepares meals of some of the same raw seafood you might try at a sushi bar .
The Aquarium ’ s penguin colony love fatty fish like sardines , anchovies and mackerel , while the sea otters love a good crustacean like a clam or mussel . If you pass by the sea otter habitat during mealtime , you can see Ruby and Clara using elements of their habitat , such as the rocky beach and the glass exterior , to help break open the hard shells of their favorite treats — another form of enrichment .
Kristine Grzenda , a curator at Audubon Aquarium of the Americas , says it ’ s important to pay attention to trends and changes in feeding habits . “ Our animals can ’ t speak to us , so this is how we tell if something is changing for them .” Animals naturally try to hide weakness or illness as a defense against predators . A change in eating habits may be a sign that something is wrong , or it may be something as simple as a personal preference . “ As professionals , it ’ s our job to be on the lookout for these changes to interpret what they mean ,” added Grzenda .
Audubon ’ s insects , on the other hand , have some dietary preferences that you would not
6 find in a local restaurant kitchen . The monarch caterpillars munch on milkweed leaves before transforming into butterflies , a tarantula can spend hours sucking on a juicy moth , the predacious beetles feast on blood worms and the dung beetles enjoy well … poop . But not just any poop ! The dung beetles are fed only dung collected from cows that haven ’ t been given worming agents , requiring careful coordination with local farmers . It is then frozen before being thawed and fed to the beetles on what the entomology staff dubbed “ Poos-day .”
Feeding the animals of Audubon presents such an interesting challenge . Last year Commander ’ s Palace Executive Chef Meg Bickford got in on the fun , preparing a holiday Reveillon feast for some of the zoo ’ s culinary critics , including orangutans , Asian smallclawed otters , babirusas , Asian elephants and a Malayan sun bear . The menu included : peanut butter banana pineapple oat muffins , crispy sunflower , pumpkin and apple biscuits , and pistachio and cardamom sweet potato bars . As part of their support of Audubon ’ s Feed the Animals campaign last year , Rouses Markets generously donated some of the items that Chef Bickford used to prepare the spread . Keep an eye on Audubon ’ s social media this fall to see what other fun enrichment opportunities the Audubon team cooks up for the holidays .
You can support wildlife like the animals you visit at the zoo and aquarium by taking a page from their dietary book and keeping the natural world in mind when doing your own grocery shopping . Buy from local growers when you can , choose produce grown without toxic
Life Unleashed