Now that spring is here, our animals are able to have special treats (which double as enrichment) that they can’t get all year round. With everything in bloom, it’s a perfect time to give them branches of leaves and new buds, also known as browse. There are only certain types of things we can give them, which have been approved by our veterinarians, because many plants are toxic to animals. Our goats, donkey, sheep and steer receive Russian-olive browse which, in addition to eating them, they sometimes throw in the air or run around the yard with. We also give Russian-olive to our black bears, which is great enrichment that keeps them busy for long periods as they pluck all of the new fruit off the branches. Our lemurs do some foraging of their own with the new buds that start growing on their exhibit trees. There is one tree in particular in their exhibit that seems to have the new buds eaten off of them as soon as they show up!