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Lima zoo grows crops to feed animals

15 May 2021
16150
2021-05-15 10:47

Zookeepers in the Peruvian capital Lima have come up with an enterprising way to keep their animals fed, despite a huge cut in revenue because of the coronavirus lockdown. They've been farming the food themselves, dedicating part of the zoo complex to grow some of the 720 tonnes of food that the animals get through every month.

Zookeepers harvested the first crops in November, and now they're managing to produce 800 kilos of food per day. The crops include sugarcane and alfalfa, used to feed hippopotamuses, giraffes, goats, llamas and alpacas.

Assistant Manager of Lima Zoo said the zoo relies on its own income and needed to explore new options to survive the pandemic crisis.

The zoo, known as the Park of the Legends, was founded in Lima some 60 years ago. It has around 1,300 animals, most of them herbivores.

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