Roaring way to recycle your Christmas tree

A zoo in Cambridgeshire is asking for people to donate their old Christmas trees so it can recycle them – both for lions to play with and to power its […]

A zoo in Cambridgeshire is asking for people to donate their old Christmas trees so it can recycle them – both for lions to play with and to power its biomass boiler.

Linton Zoo posted a video clip online of its six-year-old African lion Zuri playfully chewing and grappling with an old tree as part of his “enrichment” or playtime sessions (pictured), to encourage people to drop off their old Christmas trees.

Cut trees can be used to decorate aviaries or animal enclosures, while potted trees can be given a new lease of life by being planted in the enclosures.

The zoo made this plea on Facebook and video clip site Youtube: “Many of our animals have an extra seasonal variation in enrichment items at this time of the year. Having been the centre of fun for several weeks in peoples’ homes the discarded Christmas Trees come to us to provide hours of fun for our animals.”

The zoological garden also has a biomass burner which can burn dried out, cut trees to generate extra heating and hot water to run the zoo during the cold winter when energy bills can go up.

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