Disney's Giant Galapagos tortoises enjoy special Halloween treat
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - It's National Pumpkin Day and the animals at Walt Disney World are getting in the spooky spirit.
The "monsters" of Discovery Island at Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom are getting into the Halloween spirit as animal keepers serve a pumpkin treat for the Galapagos tortoises named Phantom, Dracula, Mummy, Frankenstein, Wolfman, and Creature.
(Walt Disney World)
The giant tortoises aren't the only ones getting a spooky treat, as animal keepers at the parks delivered more than 200 pumpkins to a variety of species across Walt Disney World.
It's not just a Halloween treat that has animal nutritionists hard at work because every day is busy for the "chefs" at Walt Disney World's Animal Nutrition Center as they prepare 10,000 lbs of food for more than 5,000 birds, mammals, and reptiles. Animal nutritionists create specific diets for all different kinds of species from large giraffes and hippos to Cotton Top Tamarin and even spiders.
"Our team spends 10 hours a day putting all those diets together," said animal nutritionist Shannon Livingston. "They start at five in the morning, and they start with chopping and mixing and getting all the diets together for animals. We have people on our team that spend their 10-hour shifts delivering that food out to the animal areas."
Preparing a special treat like animal nutritionists have on Thursday isn't new for the team at Walt Disney World. They've made a "birthday cake" for Gino, a gorilla at Disney's Animal Kingdom which was made out of alfalfa hay, sweet potato icing with fruit on top.
The team who delivers the special treats says it's not just fun for them and the guests at the parks but also for the animals who are enjoying the nutritious treat.
"The animals really have a fun time with it," said Livingston. "We have some really creative people on our animal care teams who do some really fun enrichment or carvings for the animals that make it really interesting and I think the guests like watching them too. It’s something fun to watch them explore something new in their environment."