PHOENIX – Friday’s unofficial national holiday was National Watermelon Day, and the animals at Phoenix Zoo got to celebrate.
Zoo officials say watermelon is a treat enjoyed by many animals at the zoo. The sweet fruit hydrates the animals and offers a form of behavioral enrichment as the animals figure out how they’ll eat it.
The zoo’s Asian elephant Reba chomped her watermelon whole, while the Galapagos tortoises shared theirs.
The orangutan family devoured their juicy treats by the slice, and Jai the Sumatran tiger batted his watermelon around in his pool before taking it to a shaded part of his habitat to eat.
The Saki monkeys and tamarins were wary at first of the melons cut to look like a sharks, but they also enjoyed their treats nonetheless.
