April 19th is "Animal Care Day," named after the number 419 (shiiku). On Saturday, April 16th and Sunday, April 17th, 2016, Ueno Zoo held "Feeding Festival 2016," focusing on "food," which is essential for all animals (Announcement).
As the name suggests, "Feed Festival" is an event where visitors can learn about animal feed while having fun in a festive atmosphere. The first day was sunny, and although the weather was not favorable on the second day, many people came to the event.
What do animals eat in zoos? Ideally, they should eat the same food they eat in the wild, but in that case, it's very difficult to get enough variety and quantity of food every day to satisfy all the animals.
Recreating the feed room
Some of the feed handled in the feed room
Therefore, animal keeper come up with various ways to provide easily available alternative foods. Zoos use a variety of foods, from those you are probably all familiar with to those you don't usually see. At this year's "Feed Festival 2016," we recreated a part of the "feed room," the place where the feed used in zoos is managed.
They were very interested in the feed in the feed room.
What kind of food do animals naturally eat, and how do they eat it? What kind of food does the feeding room prepare based on the habits of these animals...? Visitors at the venue seemed very interested in hearing explanations about the food used in zoos, which they don't usually get to see.
To help the animals understand the weight of the food, they also had the opportunity to lift bags of "pellets" (solid feed) that animal keeper usually carry.
And of course, music is an essential part of any festival! We created and screened an animated film featuring vibrant music, and shared information about our efforts to protect wild animals through feeding.
[Video: Environmental issues addressed in rhythm starting with food! (Approx. 3 minutes 30 seconds)]
──Is going to the zoo just about seeing cute animals? No! No!! What problems are there? What can be done?? I'll tell you! ...and so, we delivered a cool, upbeat introduction on screen, set to a rhythm. Many people watched, dancing along with their children and laughing along. Actually, this video was painstakingly created using only PowerPoint software. Please check it out!
Environmental issues as seen through animal feed. Zoos are familiar places that can serve as an opportunity to reflect on the connection between human daily life and wild animals. We will continue to strive to communicate the issues that zoos should address in various ways, and to think about them together with everyone in an enjoyable way.
