First surrendered Christmas trees into the ground

At AquaZoo, the first eighty Christmas trees have been planted. Over the next few weeks, the remaining of the total of 250 spruces handed in will also go into the ground. Christmas trees with root ball could be handed in last Monday at the zoo in Leeuwarden in exchange for an entrance ticket.

General manager Jeroen Loomeijer: "The day was a success! Everyone was very enthusiastic and happy that they could contribute something to the park and to the environment. Because this way the trees really get a new life. Spruces take more than ten years to become a full tree and after a few weeks in the living room they are thrown away again. We thought that was a huge waste. We are therefore very happy to have found a sustainable solution for these trees."

Colville area The first trees have been planted in the tiger enclosure that opened last year. The remaining trees have been temporarily planted elsewhere to see which ones are viable. These will eventually be transferred to the new Colville area, which is slated to open in mid-2023.

Colville refers to a river in Alaska, in northern America. The area will therefore house North American animals, such as polar bears, raccoons and Canadian beavers. Loomeijer: "The new area will be realized where the petting zoo used to be. The polar bears will stay where they are, the other animals already live in AquaZoo, but will move to a brand new enclosure. This is really going to exude a North American atmosphere and the conifers that have been turned in fit perfectly into this setting."

More read? And always stay up to date with the latest animal news and current events from now on? Then subscriben for the AquaZoo newsletter.