Orangutans party for Halloween

  • Breaking
  • 27/10/2011

By Ally Mullord

It’s not widely celebrated in New Zealand, but Halloween was in full swing yesterday at Auckland Zoo when orangutans Madju, Charlie, Juanita and Melur were treated to a Halloween-themed afternoon in their enclosure.

Click the link above to view photos from the party

As well as providing behavioural enrichment for the orangutans, the event was part of the Zoo’s ongoing campaign to educate New Zealanders about the importance of using palm oil-free products.

Palm oil is the world’s cheapest cooking oil, and is used in a range of products from shampoos to chocolate, often listed as ‘vegetable oil’ in the ingredients list.  

It’s so popular that the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia are being demolished to make way for palm oil plantations, destroying the habitat of hundreds of endangered species – including the orangutan. 

Deforestation is the biggest threat to wildlife, and conservationists estimate that unless the destruction of rainforest slows, orangutans and other species that share the habitat will be “functionally extinct” by 2019.

The Zoo is asking New Zealand consumers to make sure their Halloween lollies are treats, not tricks, and have compiled a list of candy that doesn’t contain palm oil.

The list includes Jelly Belly jellybeans, Werther’s Originals, the Whittakers range of chocolate and a wide variety of other sweets.

The full list of palm oil free treats is available on the Zoo’s website.

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source: newshub archive