Drusillas Park prepares for World Book Day!

Zookeepers are getting into the spirit of World Book Day by reading popular children's books to their animals.

The annual event is being celebrated across the world this Thursday (4 March 2021).

Drusillas’ Zoo Animal Manager, Mark Kenward, said: “Delivering our animals’ meals in imaginative and unusual ways is part of the zoo’s daily enrichment programme. This ensures they receive a varied and diverse diet, as well as encouraging them to think and work for their food rather than it just being lazily handed to them. This time we hid bits of food around the books to see if it sparked their interest in time for World Book Day!”

“The wallabies were read ‘The Koala who could’, the penguins got stuck into ‘Blown Away’, and the donkeys enjoyed ‘The Wonky Donkey’. Our camels Lofty and Roxy went for something a little different and they read ‘Gigantosaurus’ – a book all about dinosaur roars!”

“The Keepers really enjoyed taking time out to read to them and the animals were certainly more interested in the books than the food!”

As well as reading to their animals, Keepers at Drusillas are encouraging their visitors to make the most of the remaining time in lockdown and pick up a book.

Drusillas Head of Education, James Woodward, said: “Reading is a great way to stimulate a child’s imagination! There are so many wonderful books out there, and hundreds of books about animals. They are a really useful learning tool because they teach children about the animals of the world in an exciting and engaging way. Not all learning has to be sitting in a classroom, some of the best learning come from getting lost in the magic of a good book.”

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• World Book Day
• drusillas park
• sussex