Our tigers want your Christmas trees

Wildlife parks are appealing for donations of Christmas trees so they can turn festive leftovers into animal toys and treats.

Animal farms across East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire use real Christmas trees as food for alpacas and goats, hiding spaces for wallabies and air fresheners for big cats.

Steve Nichols, the chief executive of Lincolnshire Wildlife Park, in Friskney, said it was important to find some form of enrichment for rehomed animals and Christmas trees "offer everything".

Natalie Neadley, the owner of Ings Park Alpacas, near North Cave, described trees as a great source of nutrition and vitamins for the animals.

Alpacas eat pretty much everything off the Christmas trees, Ms Neadley said.

"They're a good scratching post, they worm the animals as well and they have high vitamins in them, so they're really all-round good for the animals," she said.

The goats nibble the leaves off and use the branches as a horn-scratching post, as well as headbutting them and jumping on them.

Ms Neadley said people could drop off donations at the farm, while the Newport Young Farmers group will also be collecting them.

Mr Nichols said donating the trees to wildlife parks was more "eco-friendly" than burning them or putting them into landfill.

He said meerkats enjoyed foraging in the trees and tortoises loved dragging them about and using them as a battering ram, knocking into fences with them.

"These animals are obviously captive animals, we're here to look after animals that are unwanted, so we just try and make sure to give them the best possible life," he said.

"We've just got to find some form of enrichment and Christmas trees are amazing, they offer everything."

After animals have played or nibbled on the trees, staff mulch them and put them into garden beds around the park.

Mr Nichols said people could donate Christmas trees at a drop-off point in the car park.

"It starts off with a tree and then you go and walk up there and you can't see behind it because there's such a pile of trees, but then, amazingly, they go as quickly as they come."

Jamie Mintram, co-owner of Ark Wildlife Park, in Stickney, said: "Christmas trees are fantastically useful."

African pygmy goats "absolutely love Christmas trees" and will "strip them bare in minutes".

"They have got incredibly tough palates and they all quite happily chow down on needles. It's one of their favourite things," he added.

Meerkats and Arctic foxes use the trees for exploring and climbing, while the Eurasian lynx loves the smell of the pine, rolling on it daily.

He has asked people to email the park before donating trees.

Tiny Steps Petty Farm in Bourne, a therapeutic farm for people with disabilities or mental health issues, is also appealing for used Christmas trees.

Tracey Hall, owner of the farm, said all of their animals, including alpacas, wallabies, sheep and pigs, love the trees.

She said: "They don't just enjoy the actual Christmas tree greenery, they like the branches and they like to use it as scratching posts as well."

Ms Hall said someone had already donated a tree to Dec the wallaby, who has a lot of trees in his enclosure so he can hide and rummage around.

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