Christmas comes early for apes, bears and box turtles (+video)

Saturday was Christmas morning at the Sedgwick County Zoo, meaning the apes went ape, the tigers were in a tizzy and the bears, bison and box turtles were buzzing.

Season’s Treatings, a once-a-year event that allows zookeepers and volunteers to treat the animals with gifts, special snacks and new toys in their enclosures, drew a big crowd of animal fans throughout the day. The gifts were unveiled on a schedule, and people traveled from exhibit to exhibit to see the different zoo residents discover their presents. Though some species’ hauls were bigger and more elaborate than others’, by the end of the day, all the apes, the bears, the big cats, the rhinos, the hippos – even the box turtles – had gotten a turn.

“They do look forward to it,” said zoo spokeswoman Melissa Graham, who says the animals all sense something big is happening. “It’s a little bit like Christmas morning.”

The orangutans were the first to see their treats, and they put on a show. Their enclosure was filled with a snowman made from boxes, teddy bears stuffed with popcorn and nuts, paper wreaths, construction paper chains and personalized stockings. As the crowd of spectators grew, the orangutans were watching through a window and banging on the door that separated them from their treats, begging to be let out.

When they finally were, Pangi, a 20-year-old male, 34-year-old Daisy and tiny little Kinali, 4, didn’t know where to start. Kinali began by tearing at the paper chains, then opened a colorful cardboard box filled with oversized Legos. Those didn’t taste great, so he moved on to another box, then grabbed a paper wreath and put it around his neck, parading it for the delighted crowd. Meanwhile, Daisy demolished the snowman box sculpture, then dug a bag of popcorn out of another box. She and Pangi sat down and shared the bounty, she picking at it daintily with her hands, he burying his face right in the bag.

Twenty minutes later, the chimps were up, and they were a bit less reserved in their joy.

“The orangutans tend to be a little more slow and methodical,” Graham said. “They check things out before playing with them. The chimps, on the other hand, are a cloud of motion. They just tear into it. There’s definitely a difference between the two in their particular styles.”

Christmas morning with the chimps quickly turned into a brother vs. sister battle that many parents in the crowd noted looked familiar. Brother and sister Mabusu and Makari stole the show by fighting over a stuffed pink bear. They chased and batted at each other, each one wanting that pink bear even though several others sat untouched. Their chimp friends were oblivious to their bickering, too busy gnawing on peanut butter-covered pine cones to notice.

Jan Browning, who was there to watch, was among a group of “Ape Awareness” volunteers who helped craft the treats for the animals. She spent evenings making the construction paper chains in her house and loved watching the orangutans and chimps tear them apart.

Season’s Treatings is one of her favorite holiday traditions, she said.

“I just love how they go crazy and how they enjoy it,” she said. “They’re like people. They’re excited. And they like to destroy things.”

This story was originally published December 12, 2015 at 4:57 PM with the headline "Christmas comes early for apes, bears and box turtles (+video)."