Checking out the latest batch to arrive, Ryan Neilson couldn’t be happier.
“This is beautiful Caragana,” he said.
As the man in charge of much of the vegetation at the Calgary Zoo, Neilson will soon have more of it on his hands.
That’s because of the City of Calgary’s new effort to cull Caragana in natural areas and several parks.
READ MORE: Caragana shrub invades Calgary’s natural areas as city starts removal program
The shrub is not native to Calgary, and is choking out other plants.
The city’s been taking it to the zoo for years, and this stepped-up cutting means bigger shipments on the way.
It’s a nice bonus for the giraffes, who’ll “eat every last bit the city has to give,” Neilson said.
Caragana is a great substitute for the Acacia trees they’d be munching on back in Africa.
“We’re getting the similar sort of nutritional value for them,” Neilson said, adding that stretching to eat off branches is a natural instinct that “makes them happy.”
It’s a year-round treat for the giraffes, with the zoo putting aside branches for them to chew on through the winter.
“These guys would gobble up every last piece of the Caragana in the city, given the opportunity,” Neilson said, joking that, “maybe we should put them on leashes and they can just browse it straight out of the parks.”