01 January 2024 , 13:08
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These adorable animals got into the Christmas spirit and tucked into some festive treats as they showed it's not just humans who love Brussels sprouts on their plates.
Hundreds of creatures based at Get To Know Animals ( GTKA ) in Epping, Essex, were handed special snacks to celebrate the New Year in style, toppled with Santa hats and Christmas scarfs.
Zoo owner Donna Rose, 41, transformed her "tropical paradise" into a winter wonderland with a twist and handed the creatures presents for all of their tremendous triumphs and cuteness overloads they had to offer this year.
Among festive traditions included cheese and crackers, that also extended over to her parrots as they bit into the scrumptious staples. While her bunnies nibbled on Brussels sprouts and the rats tucked into mince pies.
Donna explained how the zoo, which cares for around 400 specialist creatures including monkeys, an alligator and skunks, enjoyed celebrating its first Christmas since they opened their doors this year in February. To celebrate this special time of the year, they treated their animals to "festive snuggles" and a special meal.
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The petting and experience zoo also hosted an "amazing" Santa Claws Christmas grotto, which included zoo entry and the chance for visitors to hold an animal of their choice. Donna told The Mirror: "All the animals get a special Xmas Dinner and treat plus extra festive snuggles with their favourite rangers.
Donna treated one of her monkey's to a quail egg (GTKA)
All the animals were spoiled at GTKA this Christmas (GTKA)Explaining what they like to eat, she said: "The veggies love a brussel sprout and rudolfs spare carrots! The skunks and ferrets get treated to some smoked salmon for their Christmas breakfast, the birds love some cheese and crackers and the rats go mad for mince pies. I think all of the animals look forward to thier Christmas dinners as much as we do. It makes our whole year seeing them tuck in." Donna always puts her animals first and has previously mentioned how she snacks on "pot noodles" whilst her furry friends indulge on organic food. "We go to the supermarket and we have a massive trolley of organic kale and I have a pot noodle at the bottom of the trolley," she said. It comes as GTKA is "heavily in debt" and is facing eviction.
The rabbits were treated to Brussel sprouts (GTKA)
The animals donned a red and white Christmas hat (GTKA)The animal lover was forced to give up her "lovely three-bedroom home" to save on costs as they spend a staggering £40,000 each month on the upkeep of the zoo. "We're heavily in debt just to try and keep them alive. But what I could never do is give up on my animals. I'd go down with that ship," she said. "Every penny just goes towards the animals because it's so expensive to run. We don't get any funding or support and our overheads are around 40 grand a month. Every month we're getting loans just to cover costs. So it's really tough."
The parrots enjoyed some cheese and crackers (GTKA)
The rats tucked into some mince pies (GTKA)Donna continued: "At the moment our only source of income is when people visit us. So door entry, animal handling packages, gift vouchers, parties on site. We are now registered as a charitable company but it takes a long time to receive funding. We are even facing eviction. That would mean all the animals would be homeless and staff would lose their jobs. The struggle is real." However, Donna will continue to work with pet charities such as the RSPCA and the police, to bring in animals who have been left abandoned and badly treated. She works seven days a week to ensure the animals recieve the best care as possible. "It's absolutely not a job. It's a lifestyle. There is no cut-off from it," the owner said.
Lacoste the alligator was misold as a cayman (Humphrey Nemar)Speaking about her ambitions for 2024, Donna added: "Our hopes for the new year are that we will be able to raise enough donations to be able to stay open and be able to keep our animals in the 5-star loving environment they are so comfortable and happy in." Among the zoo's visitors and now-volunteers include 11-year-old Harry, who has autism and struggles with mutism. Since visiting GTKA, Harry has gone on leaps and bounds and was "almost immediately a changed child" after handling the animals. The zoo owner hopes to help more children like Harry over the coming years.
Donna and her team work around the clock to keep the animals safe (Humphrey Nemar)She said: "We are also hoping to be able to get enough funding to open a neurofeedback centre to be able to help and in some instances cure illnesses such as autism, physical and mental disabilities and depression in many people of all ages." General entry tickets to visit the zoo start from as little as £8.50, while animal handling experiences are listed at £15. GTKA has also opened its Santa's grotto. To book a ticket visit the website here. If you would like to donate visit here.