Plants that are eaten by zoo animals are collectively known as ‘Browse'. Browse is collected by Zoo Horticulturists in the form of leaves, twigs and branches from various places including schools, suburban backyards, and specially developed plantations. Browse is collected by the truckload and kept in cold storage until required.

The animals of Taronga Zoo eat very similar foods to humans, including a variety of fresh fruit, meat, vegetables and grains. In addition to their prepared food, many animals require plant material.

There are two main categories of browse:

  • Dietary browse
  • Behavioural Enrichment

1. Dietary Browse is provided to animals that will only eat a certain type of plant material. It is their primary source of food. For example, Koalas will only eat fresh leaves from certain Eucalyptus trees. The Red Pandas eat Golden Bamboo and the Glossy Black Cockatoo's eat only the nuts from Casuarina trees.

2. Enrichment means providing plant material or food that encourages natural behaviours such as foraging. Gorillas in the wild will spend a large part of their day grazing on leaves, buds and bark. Foliage is also used to make tools, nests/shelter and for playing. Some of their favourite foods include hibiscus, mulberry and banana. Bears, tigers, lions, snow leopards and jungle cats enjoy the stimulation that herbs provide or the activity of scratching large logs. Leadbeaters Possums and Platypus' are provided with stringy bark from Eucalypts to encourage nesting behaviour.

What do we collect?

How much?

What for?

Bananas, mulberry, hibiscus, fig, cotoneaster, ginger, willow

Between 140 - 280 branches/week

Primates (like chimpanzees, gorillas & orang-utans)

Eucalyptus leaves

450 branches/week

Koalas - each koala receives 3 branches of varying Eucalypt species per day

Allocasuarina nuts

25500 nuts/year

Cockatoos such as the Glossy Black Cockatoo & the Gang Gang

Bamboo

100 stems/week

Red pandas

Native plants (grevilleas, eucalypts, banksias)

Blossoms

Nectivorous mammals such as possums, gliders, native mice

Melaleuca (tea tree)

Foliage

bush birds

All browse is recycled; the old branches from koalas are fed out to giraffes and kangaroos. After these animals have finished with it, it is then mulched and used on Taronga Zoo's gardens.