Spooky Halloween Fun with the Aspinall Foundation

Did you have a good Halloween?! We didn’t receive many trick or treaters at the adopt office, though those that did knock received a nice bowl of sweets in return for no trick! What we certainly weren’t giving out were carved pumpkin heads like the keepers were at the Howletts Wild Animal Park, near Canterbury.

Even the Sumatran tigers were treated to a little bit of spooky Halloween themed enrichment, when the keepers filled the carved pumpkins with meat for them to enjoy. I’ve been served meat in a variety of ways, but never in a pumpkin head before!

These were donated to the Howletts Wild Animal Park by the local Sainsbury and Tesco supermarkets, and were fashioned in to a wide range of weird and wonderful designs by visitors to the park. This was part of the Aspinall Foundations’ pumpkin carving competition, which has been running all the way through half term. The winners received some really cool prizes, including ghoulish goody bags filled with Howletts treats.

Animal Director at Howletts, Neil Spooner, said –

We’re so grateful to Kenfield Hall Estate, Sainsbury’s and Tesco for donating these pumpkins.  The visitors are really getting into the spirit of Halloween by joining in with our carving competition and then watching the keepers give the pumpkins to different animals. Enrichment is a vital part of animal management and takes many different forms.  It is designed to stimulate the animals’ minds, senses and physique.

Isn’t it amazing the imagination the keepers use to keep the animals both entertained and stimulated. I wouldn’t fancy trying to take a pumpkin off the Sumatran tiger though, I think there would be only one winner there folks!