Watch these zoo animals enjoy an early Halloween treat

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By Faye Mayern via SWNS

These adorable photos show two baby yaks enjoying an early Halloween treat in their zoo enclosure.

Ron and Lily, named after Harry Potter characters, were given pumpkins carved by zookeepers to put their foraging and hunting skills to the test today (Oct 23).

The yaks wasted no time stretching their long tongues inside the pumpkins to forage for their breakfast treat of hay at Whipsnade Zoo, Beds.

A troop of endangered monkeys were also given their own trick-or-treating task to work out which pumpkins were filled with food and which were empty.

Francois langurs, a type of monkey native to Asia, are fit for Halloween as their babies are born a bright orange pumpkin-esque color.

The Zoo’s babirusas, also known as deer-pigs, also got stuck in with brothers Jaya and Riko using their teeth and tusks to rip open each pumpkin.

Whipsnade Zoo’s Hayley Jakeman said: “October is always a magical month at our conservation zoo, made more so by the keepers coming up with inventive ways to make sure our animals aren’t missing out on any Halloween fun.”

“A lot of our animals get fed root vegetables such as butternut squash and carrots, but pumpkins are a once-a-year novelty for them.

“Creating stimulating activities, such as using in-season pumpkins to encourage natural behavior like foraging and playing, sees our animals put their skills to use.”

 

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