Raccoon Senya in Baranavichy park is being taught proper nutrition
Senya the raccoon, beloved by Belarusian customs officers, who arrived in Belarus from the USA in a shipping container in January, is gradually being transitioned to a proper diet, Tatyana Gunko, marketing specialist at LLC "Animal Park" in Baranavichy, told the Russian publication Sputnik. In total, over 20 raccoons live in this park, but none of them have such a star-studded fate.
Raccoon Senya. Screenshot from video
According to Tatyana Gunko, while the animal park staff strive to earn the trust of the furry traveler, they do not spoil him, as they care about the animal's health. The animal has already begun to be transitioned to a healthy diet.
"While he used to eat something, to put it mildly, not very healthy, like crab sticks, which he loves very much, now we are trying to transition him to proper nutrition that is good for him. He now eats boiled chicken, boiled rabbit, fish," Gunko said.
According to her, Senya experienced great stress and ended up in a completely different environment.
"Therefore, he is currently in an adaptation period. This process is not as fast as everyone would probably like. Senya still doesn't approach people like many raccoons we have, whom you can feed, look at their paws, noses," the woman said.
Like any animal, the raccoon is cautious in new conditions — he observes how he is treated, and if there is any danger.
"But our vets and zootechnicians are doing everything so that Senya understands he has come to a friendly atmosphere, to friends, and everyone is happy to see him, and his life will be wonderful," says the marketing specialist.
The fact that people still need to earn Senya's trust is also evidenced by the fact that he only starts eating the food brought to him after everyone leaves. In addition, the animal is still in quarantine.
"Quarantine is a mandatory condition. It lasts three weeks, sometimes longer. We monitor the animal's condition, observe if everything is well, how it feels, and only then is it moved to its relatives. At the moment, he is alone in the enclosure," the interlocutor said.
According to her, in total, more than 20 raccoons live in the animal park, but none of them have such a star-studded fate.
Capybara - a friend to humans
Speaking about other residents of the park with unusual fates, the marketing specialist mentioned the capybara Kapi.
"Capybara is a trendy animal, very popular, everyone loves it. A baby capybara was born in our park. And its mother refused to feed it. Our deputy director for zoo-veterinary work took it home, fed it, brought it back to the park again, and took it home again for the night," Gunko noted.
As a result, the capybara became very sociable, tame, trusts people, and is friendly towards them.
"And we started holding 'Meetings with the Capybara.' We equipped a special room for her to meet people. Both adults and children feed her, stroke her, she sits with them on the couch, waiting to be scratched with a scratching stick," the zoo staff said.
This is not the only example of how animals help people relieve stress.
More than 20 years ago, a family of Javanese macaques lived in the Vitebsk Zoo, providing psychological help to people — a visitor reception room was even opened. People could come to the room where the primate family lived, sit, talk about their troubles and problems, cry, express grievances, and even shout.
Zoo staff reported that most often, men aged 40-45, as well as young girls, came to see the Javanese macaques.
Comments
(в переводе Гоблина)