Photo courtesy Dallas Zoo.
The Dallas Zoo has a new program called BROWSE, where you can donate your tree or shrub trimmings for the animals.
Many Dallas Zoo animals, like elephants and giraffes, eat hundreds of pounds of “browse” (tender shoots, twigs, and green leaves of trees and shrubs) every single day. Zoo staff also use browse as a way to add enrichment to the lives of these animals.
The Zoo is always looking for fresh, healthy donations of recently trimmed or felled landscaping from the local community. Interested parties can reach out to the Zoo through their website and arrange for pickup.
The animals especially enjoy Bradford Pear, Red tip Photinia, American Elm, Mulberry, Cedar Elm, and Pecan trimmings. A full list is avaliable on the Dallas Zoo website.
The animals like whole branches usually five to eight feet in length, and the animals are fed by giving them the whole branch and letting them tear off leaves and smaller branches for consumption.
