Hi Huxley! Anastasia here, head of our Veterinary Department. I’ve been rather busy the past few days, analyzing and dealing with the situation (and with a buttload of paperwork!). The good news is that it’s actually not as bad as expected! The bad news is it happened, and I can only see this problem rising if we don’t crack down on it.
So far only a few animals have been found to have definitely been nibbling at the garbage. Luckily, many prefer their nutritional diets we supply for them over some little kid’s candy wrapper, but they do get curious, and the sugar content in a chocolate bar is super enticing for them. In the wild, and millions of years ago, the processed sugar we take for granted just didn’t exist. Natural sweetness comes from natural sugars in fruits, which is good because fruits offer other specific nutritional benefits. If the fruit didn’t taste good, animals wouldn’t eat it, and they wouldn’t get those essential nutrients like vitamins! But fruit sugar is comparatively minimal, and you can imagine animals’ excitement at a wad of cotton candy that flew into their exhibit.
Carlos, a Megacamelus merriami, really likes food. He was treated for eating a few different human-intended foods (discarded soft pretzels, candy, etc. Seriously people, just eat your pretzel! Or throw it in the garbage! You paid a good… what do they cost again? We get staff discounts, haha. Whatever it was, you paid for it, now enjoy it!) and some plastic from wrappers and bags. Reusing plastic grocery bags to carry your park items is great, but it kind of defeats the purpose of being eco-friendly when it ends up in our Megacamel’s stomach. Plastic can do horrible things inside of an animal’s stomach. I won’t go into detail, but we essentially had to scan him and get the two wrappers and bits of a bag out by making him throw it up, routinely scanning for a few days to make sure it was all out and didn’t calcify. He’s been medicated, given some actual camel food, and he’s currently residing in one of our vet paddocks so we can monitor him closely. Poor Carlos. :(
Besides Carlos, a few Bison latifrons and Stockoceros have been reported to have gotten ahold of some human food, but they don’t see to be too upset. There’s no plastic or actual trash in their systems, which is good. The horses are still nervous around large groups of people, so they tend to stay away from the fence, where the majority of the litter is. We’re especially worried about them for fear of colic, so we’re keeping an eye out. Glyptotherium, Megalonyx, and our Teratornis individuals do not seem affected, yay! The Teratorns have their own inner, enclosed part of the Plains, so they don’t fly away. They’ve been kept in the further back section, which means people can’t see them as often for the time being, but they’re also safer from trash. This system was already in place so they could slowly get used to large crowds and noise. Megalonyx mostly eat from trees anyways, so they’re pretty safe - and of course we’ve observed and tested these animals to make sure they’re OK.
This doesn’t have to happen! PEOPLE! Pleaaaaaaaaaaassssssseeeee don’t litter. I beg you. I know it’s my job to help out animals when they’re sick, but that doesn’t mean I like seeing them sick! We do know, however, that of course not everyone means to throw trash around. But we’re implementing the Trash Watch, which is a fancy way of saying we’re making sure our maintenance, security, and entire staff are on the super lookout for litter- and litterers! You don’t want to be that person who has to get pulled aside and chided for dropping plastic. We’re all adults here, c’mon. In the future, our volunteers and interns will also have the task of watching for items which could potentially harm our animals and dirty our facilities. There’s always trash and recycling bins in sight, please use them - and a reminder that certain objects are prohibited, such as straws, because they pose a higher threat to our animals if they were to ingest them.
We’ll be checking some other exhibits, like the Vista View, routinely (by drone! How fun!) for trash so we can make sure our animals, staff, and guests are surrounded by a healthy environment. Our in-paddock security cams help, but the multitude of guests that come every day should be on the lookout as well.
Thanks so much and don’t litter,