Target: Tom Schmid, President and CEO of Columbus Zoo
Goal: Support holiday tree donation as means of providing captive animals essentials and enrichment.
Many authentic Christmas trees end up discarded and forgotten after a few weeks of use. But a growing number of zoos are demonstrating that these pines, spruces, and firs can get a new lease on life – and in the process provide captive animals renewed life as well. Both tree businesses and individuals donate undecorated trees to zoos, where they gift animals from the smallest rodents to the largest bison and lions shelter and stimulation.
New Jersey’s Cape May County Park & Zoo recently gave reporters insight into just how much these donations mean to the facility’s animal inhabitants. The versatile trees, for example, can offer protection from frigid temperatures for zoo dwellers like kangaroos. Food placed in the trees can also help animals like rodents and wallabies indulge in natural, instinctual behaviors such as foraging. The tree itself may become a nutrient-rich meal for animals like alpacas. Even the smell of the trees can invoke the feeling of being in a native habitat for these animals. In addition, the trees prove invaluable in providing enrichment activities that keep the animals calm and stress-free. These activities might include climbing in trees for monkeys, engaging in head-butting play for bison, or simply carrying the trees around for lions and tigers.
Sign the petition below to encourage one of the world’s most esteemed and conservation-minded zoos to invest in expanding and promoting Christmas tree donation programs for zoos across the nation.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Mr. Schmid,
The Columbus Zoo has invested millions of dollars and helped fund over 70 conservation programs globally in just five years’ time. With its prestige and worldwide recognition, this zoo can lead the way in bringing public awareness to a conservation plan that has impacts for both the environment and for animal welfare: zoo Christmas tree donations. Too many holiday trees end up in landfills or atop burn piles every year. These trees could instead be providing nourishment, shelter, play, and essential enrichment for captive wildlife.
With its good work in breeding and rehabilitating endangered and threatened species, this zoo is proudly carrying on the legacy established by Director Emeritus Jack Hanna and others. Please continue this legacy with a committed investment in and promotion of tree donation programs for zoos that may not have the resources or reach to incorporate these game-changing initiatives into their operations. Show communities across the nation and world that the Christmas spirit can endure well past the holiday season.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Polypmaster
