You can buy a Christmas gift for all the animals at the Toronto Zoo
Ever thought about what a hippopotamus might want for Christmas?
Wali the Sumatran orangutan would like a stuffed animal for Christmas. The baby ape, who was born at the Toronto Zoo in April of 2022, is one of the many animals who have requested presents as part of the zoo’s annual Enrichment Giving Tree program, a curated gift registry where keepers select a number of toys and treats their charges would be delighted to wake up to on Christmas morning.
The program started as an actual tree in 2018, but a year later the zoo added an online option for animal lovers far and wide looking to support the zoo’s pursuit of inhabitant happiness. “Giving through the Enrichment Giving Tree is a special way to donate because it supports the daily well-being of the animals—and it feels more personal since the donor sees how the gift they chose helps,” says the Toronto Zoo’s executive director, Kathy Koch. Plus, anyone who purchases a gift can add a personalized message for their animal of choice.
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The wish list is packed with fun essentials like super-sized Kongs and Jolly Balls—durable bouncy toys that just about every zoo animal, from cougars to caribous, enjoys chasing around. There are also plastic balls to fill up primate ball pits (no longer just for the McDonald’s PlayPlace) and swinging hammocks most wanted by lazy sloths.
The list includes a few more-surprising asks too. The “Keeper’s Choice” option offers innovative enrichment concepts. “In the past, the keepers have used kayaks for our polar bears, bubble machines for our penguins, and even perfumes and spices for scent enrichment. Our animals benefit from all kinds of creative ideas,” says Koch. It turns out that flamingos get a real kick out of mirrors, and hyenas find hearing a predator’s call laughable, so tools that introduce sounds from the animal’s natural environment are also on the list.
While these gifts may sound like simple pick-me-ups, they can be crucial for the animals’ mental health. “Enrichment helps the animals express species-specific, natural behaviour, and it supports their overall well-being,” says Koch. “The donations allow us to keep their homes complex, stimulating and ever-changing.” It’s worth noting that all this mindful animal keeping earned the Toronto Zoo the inaugural Animal Welfare Award at the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums just two weeks ago.
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Koch says the most popular gifts are stuffed toys and blankets for the orangutans but assures us that, even if a gift isn’t purchased for less-popular animals, they’ll still get their fair share of festive fun. After all, Santa would never skip a single critter on his list.
