Team prepares special meals for municipal zoo animals in Eskişehir

ESKİŞEHİR

The Metropolitan Municipality Zoo in the Central Anatolian province of Eskişehir is home to 120 different species of animals, and a team of three people is preparing special food for them twice a day.

For the animals living in the zoo, which opened in April, orders are made every week. The products, including meat, vegetables, and fresh and dried fruits, are prepared under hygienic conditions according to the recommended daily allowance for every species. The foods are then delivered to another team to take them to the shelters in the zoo. 

The animals are fed twice a day at 10 a.m. and 4.30 p.m. 

Veterinary doctor Gülşah Aktaş said the nutritional requirements for each animal is determined by experts and veterinary doctors according to their daily needs. 

“We receive our orders every week on Mondays. We select the food one by one and we never give animals food that we as humans would not eat. We have hygienic conditions in our kitchen just like a restaurant or house kitchen,” Aktaş said.

Aktaş noted that three people are responsible for the preparation of foods, their delivery and the hygiene in the environment. 

“We feed the animals twice a day at 10 a.m. and 4.30 p.m. The shelter is responsible for feeding them. Fruits like apples, pears, bananas, kiwis and watermelons are consumed very much. We also use different foods to reward the animals for good behavior. We have one anteater that particularly likes ketchup and baby formula with avocado and mango,” she said. 

Food technician Sibel Mutlu said it takes one to two hours to prepare food daily. 

“After delivering the food to the animals, we wash the containers and get ready for the next meals. The preparation of flamingo food is the most difficult part because their food has to be cooked. The zoo kitchen is just like a kitchen in a house, as we spend all day here and we are very careful about hygiene,” Mutlu added.