Turning Trees Into Chew Toys
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In this occasional Page Three feature, photographer Joe Elbert uses a camera to show you inside Washington's National Zoo. You can see his videos at http:/
Removing a tree at the National Zoo is a whole lot different from removing one in your neighborhood. Frank Clements, park manager, had been watching a red oak for the past five years. It wasn't diseased, but the base was hollow, and it was leaning over the cheetah yard and buildings. Arborists found it to be structurally unsound. The time had come to remove the giant oak.
It took two days to dismantle, quite different from just cutting a tree down. The tree is cut into parts that can be recycled to different yards (habitats) throughout the zoo.
The beavers in Beaver Valley need a regular supply of chew logs to keep their teeth worn down and healthy. They use the larger branches and logs to build dams. On the Asia Trail, keepers drill holes in fallen trees and large logs and fill them with the animals' favorite foods. The sloth bears use their natural suction power to get out their treats.
Lions and tigers use trees to keep their claws sharpened. Keepers provide logs and attach bark pieces to large trees in their outdoor exhibit to give them a fresh supply of scratching opportunities. The donkeys on the Kids' Farm love to de-bark logs and branches, and keeping them supplied with their chew toys means they aren't chewing on their barn.
Trees and tree branches are used throughout the zoo for perching and climbing structures. In areas such as the Bird House and Small Mammal House, keepers regularly go out to acquire perching materials so that they can keep the environments for their animals new and interesting. Spectacled bears spend lots of time climbing in trees and make high-up nests.
And the 'Zoo Clues' Winner Is . . .
Last week in this space, we published a "Zoo Clues" photo taken by Joe Elbert at the National Zoo, and we asked you to identify the animal in the picture. The first correct answer -- a dama gazelle -- came from Patricia Morse of Burke.
