Distant Roots And Tasty Shoots - Plants At The Zoo -
growing passion (create)

San Diego Zoological Society has an international plant collection that is nearly unrivaled. In this episode, we explore Aloes and Cycads, two of the society's special botanical collections. We tour the orchid house where we ooh and aah over their fabulous and diverse flowers. We also learn about the browse program - plants grown strictly to feed the animals. In the world of zoos, San Diego Zoological Society is renowned for its browse program. An entire crew is assigned the task of growing and gathering plants to feed and entertain animals. It is no small task. The pandas eat 15 tons of browse each year. It takes 20 tons of acacia to feed giraffes, elands, bonobos, gorillas and other animals. We stroll through the zoo with some of the browse staff who point out plants they harvest on-site, then take us to the offsite farm where they grow and harvest more browse. What there isn't room to grow on-site gets collected along highways and in neighborhoods around San Diego County. We visit reserved koalas whose strict eucalyptus diet is prepared in a special kitchen, tortoises who enjoy a range of fresh greens, and more.

Episode Duration: 26 minutes and 45 seconds

Episode Number: 114

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About Growing Passion (Create):

From earth-friendly and water-wise gardens to organic foods and habitat restoration, San Diegans demand options that protect our health, feed our communities and protect our natural resources.

Hosted by Nan Sterman, A Growing Passion explores backyard food production, major horticultural growers, low-water landscapes and sustainable practices around the home and in the garden.