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Hundreds of unsold pumpkins from local Halloween pumpkin patches ended up at Oakland Zoo this week, where animals gobbled them up or turned them into playthings.
Zookeepers head out in trucks every Nov. 1 to pumpkin patches and fruit and vegetable stores, including Moore’s Pumpkins in Castro Valley, Fuji Melon in Oakland and Monterey Market in Berkeley, to collect pumpkins that otherwise would land in the compost bin or trash pile.
The great pumpkin roundup started a few years ago and has become an annual treat for the zoo animals.
“Making smart and sustainable choices is important to us,” said Amy Gotliffe, director of conservation at the zoo. “Most Halloween pumpkins — 1.3 billion pounds, in fact — end up in landfill, where they generate greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. Pumpkins can be made into yummy seeds, soup or bread and eaten, composted at home, or donated to Oakland Zoo for a fun and healthy food source for our animal family.”
Truckloads of large, medium and mini pumpkins are sorted by zookeepers, who match the pumpkin to the animal. The pumpkins are added to the diets of many animals, but zookeepers also have a little creative fun, crafting the pumpkins into what they call “enrichment items,” including pumpkin kabobs, gourd bowls filled with meat treats, puzzle feeders and frozen delicacies.
The pumpkins are special favorites of the elephants, Gina Kinzley, lead elephant keeper, said.
“If they can’t fit a whole pumpkin directly into their mouths, they puncture it with their tusks or stomp it open with their foot,” Kinzley said. “The donations provide a fun and healthy food source for so many of our animals.”
The post-Halloween pumpkin feast isn’t just a one-and-done deal. The zoo gets enough pumpkins to treat the animals through the end of December, allowing visitors to observe the banquet.
