Noah's Ark Zoo Farm animals enjoy recycled Christmas trees

Rhinos Rumba and Rumbull are enjoying their Christmas tree chippings

Elephants, rhinos, meerkats and lions are enjoying "their own late Christmas" with recycled trees at a zoo.

Noah's Ark Zoo Farm has teamed up with North Somerset Council to chip trees for its animals.

"The whole point of this is to give our Christmas trees a second life," said Larry Bush, managing director of the zoo.

The zoo created a forest of Christmas trees in the elephant enclosure which the animals "really enjoyed".

Mr Bush said: "Our elephants Janu and Shaka have have been smelling them and enjoying the aroma of the pine, they have been crunching them, eating them and tossing them around."

The woodchip has many uses around the zoo, in both animal enclosures and the gardens

Noah's Ark Zoo Farm has been using recycled Christmas trees for animal enrichment for many years.

But in 2020, a zoo in the United States with the same name put out a plea for people's Christmas trees - and Somerset residents mistakenly thought it was their zoo.

"Before we knew it, we had hundreds of people in the car park unloading their Christmas trees and we just decided to embrace it and ever since it has been really popular," Mr Bush said.

"When we put the trees up in our homes, that first smell of the tree feels like Christmas has started.

"For our animals it just comes a little bit later, but this is their Christmas in a way," Mr Bush said.

Councillor Mike Solomon said: "Instead of becoming another waste item after the festive period, it's positive to see the trees being repurposed and used again as a valuable resource."

Residents are invited to drop off their Christmas trees at the zoo's recycling point in their car park until 22 January.

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