'Squish The Squash' Denver Zoo Elephants Help Foot $1 Million Food Bill, Kick Off ZOOtrition Campaign
DENVER (CBS4)- The Denver Zoo's Asian elephants spent Wednesday morning engaging in an annual fall tradition: Squish the Squash. The tradition calls for demolishing 450-pound pumpkins.
This year's event not only provided a snack, but kicked off the ZOOtrition campaign to help cover the zoo's annual $1 million grocery bill. That's about 400 tons of food.
PHOTO GALLERY: Smash For CASH: Elephants Help Foot Denver Zoo's $1 Million Grocery Bill
The campaign is more crucial than ever this year as the Denver Zoo has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The zoo was forced to cut expenses after closing for about 3 months when the pandemic first started.
Zoo staff said they haven't had to sacrifice any of their standards but are in need.
"We had a great turnout from donors and the community while we were closed, but that doesn't stop when we reopened. We are at a limited capacity, we understand that not everyone is ready to come back to the zoo. Not everyone has the excess funds to be able to come back now. What we need is support. We are open, but we still need that support," said Denver Zoo Public Relations Coordinator Carlie McGuire.
Every dollar raised through the ZOOtrition campaign will go directly towards taking care of the animals at the Denver Zoo.
