Animals
Lion pride celebrates Christmas early with festive jumbo puddings
By Adam Dutton via SWNS
A pride of African lions at a UK safari park were given jumbo-sized Christmas puddings to play with as a treat for the festive season.
The big cats demolished the large papier-mâché puds in under 20 seconds and in keeping with Christmas tradition family members began fighting over them.
Keepers at West Midlands Safari Park filled the snacks with chunks of meat before leaving them in the lion enclosure ready for the pride of 17 to find.
Female lion Amber can be seen quickly claiming one for herself before snarling at the others - including her own cubs - to stay away.
Not content with his mom having the lion’s share, two-year-old Havoc soon picked up some shreds to play with and licked any remaining juices he could find.
Others ran away to their own hiding places to defend any scraps left over by the dominant females based at the attraction in Bewdley, England.
Meanwhile, the three laid-back adult males didn’t even attempt to steal a morsel and left the females and youngsters to fight over the puds.
“This Christmas, we decided to spoil the lions with our own version of Christmas puddings - giant ones with meat chunks hidden inside," said Kate Atkinson ,senior keeper of carnivores.
"Not only does it get the keepers in the Christmas spirit, but it also acts as a form of enrichment for the animals in our care.
“Enrichment is an incredibly important part of being an animal keeper and we love having the opportunity to give our animals something novel like a Christmas pudding, or equally something that may be seen more typically in their natural habitat, like a carcass.
"Our keepers will continue to provide the highest standards of care to the animals on Christmas Day, making sure they have everything they need and that the day is just as special for them."