Tapirs and zebras tuck into horse feed – and peppers
Tapir, camels and zebra are among the exotic animals who have been tucking into horse feed at Paradise Wildlife Park.
The Hertfordshire park has been feeding Dengie’s Alfa-A Original to a number of species for years, alongside specialist feed, forage, fruit and vegetables.
Residents who enjoy the chaff include the lowland tapir, the plains zebra, the bactrian camels and the red deer.
Paradise head keeper James Cork said Dengie has been on the menu at the park for over 15 years.
“We mix it with their concentrate feeds and have found this to be a great product for increasing the animals’ roughage,” he said.
“It’s clear to see that all the animals enjoy their Alfa-A, particularly our bactrian camels, who love grabbing mouthfuls out of their feed buckets before we have even placed the food in their troughs!”
The Paradise animals are also fed hay and straw, and a specialised pellet feed. The tapirs enjoy fruit and vegetables, their favourites being peppers and pumpkin, with their 400g chaff per day. The camels have a taste for carrots as treats, and get through 1.6kg Alfa-A every day, split into two feeds.
“The animals at Paradise Wildlife Park also have various forms of enrichment including treat balls, branches and forage at varying levels including hay racks and feed troughs,” a Dengie spokesman said.
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.