Oakland Zoo Holds Special Food Drive For Animals This Weekend

The Oakland Zoo is hosting an unusual food drive this weekend, and the recipients of the donations more than likely walk on four legs.

This Saturday the Oakland Zoo will hold its semi-annual Feast for the Beasts - a special event where the public is invited to donate fruits and vegetables such as bananas, pineapple, sweet potatoes, cabbage, melons, carrots, kiwis, celery, oranges and more to zoo animals.

They may even have the opportunity to deliver food to the animals personally, according to zoo officials. The event kicks off at 9:45 a.m. with the distribution of donated food to the elephant exhibit.

The first 250 guests to arrive at the zoo when main entrance opens at 9 a.m. will receive a golden ticket which allows them to gain access to the elephant exhibit, scatter food around the habitat, and then watch as the zoo’s four African elephants Lisa, M’dunda, Donna, and Osh discover the feast that was left for them.

“For the elephants, it is their favorite day of the year,” co-elephant manager Jeff Kinzley said in a statement. “The elephants start getting anxious and excited because of all the produce they can smell being hidden around their habitat. They know what day it is,” Kinzley said. “For me, I love watching their reaction, their excitement.”

In addition, the Feast for the Beasts event will hold special feedings for visitors to watch, which include the zoo’s bats, black-throated monitors, giraffes, meerkats, baboons, tigers, otters, lemurs, alligators, and sun bears.

The event is free with regular zoo admission and each individual who donates produce will receive a free ride ticket.

Full details here.

• Also nearby: Benicia Waterfront Festival This Weekend

--Bay City News