“The elephants really love trees,” Svenja Eisenbarth, a zoo spokeswoman, told The Washington Post via email. “On the one hand the trees are eaten, and on the other hand they are a large and diverse game for animals.”
Eisenbarth said the zoo received two truckloads of tree remains this year. They are distributed among many animals at the zoo, but elephants get the largest share – more than 20 trees.
The zoo said in a statement that the animals look forward to a “very special surprise” every year. She said the trees, which are not usually on their menu, help feed the animals and promote the animals' “mental and physical health.”
“The unusual shape, interesting smell and tingling sensation on the tongue make the animal residents' senses a feast,” the zoo said.
She added that her crunchy conifers and pine needles are also used as back scratchers, toothpicks and massage brushes.
Unfortunately, in the interest of animal welfare, the Zoo does not take pre-loved Christmas trees from the public, which tend to be chemically treated or decorated. Instead, the zoo said it takes unsold trees from select vendors.
“Unfortunately, we cannot accept private donations for the Christmas tree,” Andreas Knierim, director of Tierpark Berlin, said in a statement. “With our partner trees, we can be sure that they are of good quality and therefore suitable for our animals. Animal welfare is always our top priority.
🌲🐘 The elephants, reindeer, bison and other animals at Berlin Zoo are given unsold Christmas trees to eat and/or play with every year as a New Year's gift. pic.twitter.com/bpfg4Nqwzr
– German Embassy in London (@GermanEmbassy) January 4, 2024
The zoo in the German capital includes about 20,000 animals, including four Asian elephants, three females and one male: Carla, Pang Fa, Anshali, and Victor the bull elephant. Eisenbarth said he has his own barn and was not part of Thursday's public feeding, but he did get a few of his own trees.
Asian elephants are found mostly in India and are slightly smaller than their African relatives, weighing about five tons and reaching a height of nearly 10 feet. Like many of us mammals, they tend to eat a lot and sleep little, according to the zoo. But these elephants take it to the extreme, spending about 17 to 19 hours a day just eating.
Each day, they typically eat about 150 kilograms (330 pounds) of plant food—mainly grass, leaves, twigs, and tree bark—and can drink up to 150 liters (about 40 gallons) of water in their irrigation well. They can live to be at least 40 years old in their natural habitat of tropical rainforests, savannas and jungles.
As social herd animals, elephants live together in extended families. Their proboscis, described by the zoo as a “true miraculous instrument,” is used to eat, breathe, smell, communicate, grasp, and suck water to blow into their mouths. They can also be used to deliver lethal strikes in defense of threats, but the animals are “otherwise good-natured,” she added.
Elephants aren't the only ones who enjoy the festive snack. The zoo's bison and reindeer can also be seen toppling trees and using them for nesting and scratching before chomping down.
Similar programs are underway in London and Prague. In the United States, approximately 30 million real Christmas trees are sold each year, according to the National Christmas Tree Association. The most popular are white pine, white spruce, and Fraser fir, which tend to have pleasant scents, flexible needles, and dark green colors. She added that the association prefers real, renewable and recyclable trees, rather than non-degradable plastic trees.
