The lemurs suddenly stop their activities and flee without asking for their rest.
The four male gorillas from the Thoiry zoo have just entered their island, like children in a playground.
Strangely, and as the keepers had predicted, they rush towards the fir trees made available to them.
This is how a hundred Christmas trees collected in recent weeks in Chambourcy ended up: they were offered to the animals at the zoo as a fun appetizer.
An original way to offer a second (and last) life to plants destined for compost.
In front of children from this town near Poissy, the primates chew branches, play, frolic... One of them drums his fists on his chest, under the impressed gaze of the schoolchildren, including Hugo, a student of 6th grade who discovers the place for the first time.
“There’s nothing serious about him, it’s just to invite his friends to come and play with him,” explains Camille, the animal park’s mediator.
Enough to soften Wazungu, 200 kilos of muscle
The precision is important: a few minutes earlier, Wazungu, the dominant male weighing almost 200 kilos, had thrown himself on the observation windows, fists brandished and canines exposed, at the mere sight of… a camera tripod.
Also read: In Thoiry or on a farm in Oise, the Christmas trees will end up... in the stomachs of the animals
After this refreshing moment, the “silverback” has calmed down and now plays with its peers, while tasting coniferous thorns.
“It’s what we call enrichment,” adds Camille.
It’s done to bring a little novelty into their daily lives, to break up the routine a little.
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Last year, Thoiry's felines were also entitled to their dose of chlorophyll.
To attract the wild animals, who refuse the vegan diet, the fir trees had been covered in blood.