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The mammals in these photos, with their elongated and mobile noses, are known as coatis or noses.

Nosukha or coati.
Nose on a tree branch.

These animals belong to the raccoon family and have been known to people since the times of the aborigines, who were the first to give the name Coati - coatimundi, which means “coati” - belt, “mun” - “nose”.

Settlers from Europe first called coatis “badgers”; the animals received this name from the Mexicans, but after real badgers were brought to Mexico, coatis were renamed.

Three types of these animals can be distinguished:

• common nose (lives in South America);
• coati (lives in the lower part of North America);
• Nelson's nose.

Also in the Andes there is a mountain nosoha, but it belongs to a separate genus Nasuella.

Coati habitat

Due to their unpretentiousness to their habitat, nosushi easily adapts to mountainous areas, deserts and tropics. Despite the fact that coatis are land animals, they feel great near bodies of water and are excellent swimmers. Its habitat is considered to be North and South America. You won’t be able to see the animals within the city, but a walk through the meadows, to the foot of the mountains and hills will give you a chance to meet them.

If adult individuals can be seen moving on the ground or climbing trees, then the offspring are hidden even from their flock neighbors until they reach 4-5 weeks. Grown-up animals can be seen among adults who teach them how to move and hunt. It is also worth noting that the cubs are carefully guarded by the entire flock, and any member of the flock can give signals of danger if a stranger approaches the flock.

Homemade nose.

Distinctive features

The body structure of noses is somewhat similar to raccoons, but with pronounced individual characteristics. Let's describe the nose, although the photos speak for themselves.

• medium-sized head - proportional to the whole body;
• almond-shaped black eyes have a more expressive look due to their white outline;
• small round ears, almost completely hidden in the fur;
• the presence of an elongated nose and the ability to move it;
• the height of the animals does not exceed 30 cm, and the body length is 40-70 cm, excluding the length of the tail and reaching a weight of 11 kg;
• in the color of the stripes on the tail, they can be light red or beige, brown and black; tail length reaches 30-60 cm;
• the front legs are short and have flexible palms with tenacious fingers;
• hind legs longer than forelegs;
• All paws have long and sharp claws, which coatis use to move, especially along vegetation branches, and also to get food;
• The short fur is dark brown or orange in color.

The noses are playing on the ground.
A young moose on a stone in nature.
Nose at the zoo on Halloween.
Photo of nose.
Nose with an open mouth.
Nose.
A flock of noses in the city.

Lifestyle

Noses are active during the daytime and spend most of their time on land. The animals prefer a leisurely lifestyle, marked by free walking.

Increased activity is observed during the search and catching of prey, as well as in case of danger. At this time, coatis begin to move quickly and can jump short distances.

At night, raccoon-like animals sleep in their nests, built in trees from available plant material.

Nosuha climbed up a tree.
Nose in the zoo.
Noses at the zoo.

By nature, the animals are much calmer than their fellow raccoons. They are also not whimsical about living conditions, so they feel quite comfortable both in freedom and when it is limited.

Animals caught in the wild quickly adapt to being kept at home. Free cages and enclosures are suitable for their maintenance. The main thing is access to clean and fresh air, as well as providing adequate nutrition.

On the one hand, choosing a nose as a pet can be considered correct. These animals are quite calm and get along well with people. It will take a little time for the coati to get used to its owners and begin to show its trust in them. Don't be afraid to trust children, even adults. In play and affection, the animal behaves calmly, without pronounced aggression, manifested in biting and scratching.

Like all pets, noses will require the provision of suitable living conditions for them. Since this animal, by its nature, is accustomed to space, searching for food by digging and scratching, then in order to maintain the integrity of the home environment, it is worth purchasing a spacious cage or enclosure for its nose. In the animal’s unique personal space, it is necessary to place a drinking bowl and feeder, with constant access to them. It is also worth considering that in the wild they live in nests in trees, so it is necessary to build them a house in which they will sleep. Depending on the size of the cage, it is necessary to place in it an appropriately sized ladder for climbing, or even better, a log on which the pet can sharpen its claws. Sawdust and dry leaves are suitable as flooring for the enclosure, from which the coati will independently arrange a suitable flooring for them in the sleeping house.

Depending on the conditions of keeping, at home and the absence of dangerous factors in the wild, coatis can live up to 17 years of age.

Noses at the zoo.
Nosukha asks for food.
A flock of noses on the road.
Nosuha thought about it.

Reproduction

When observing noses, you can notice solitary animals and groups consisting of 5-40 individuals. Groups of noses consist of adult females and their young. Males, on the contrary, are loners and join the group only to mate with females. Males cannot be considered completely removed from the group; they are constantly nearby, protecting their offspring and females from alien males.

For reproduction, males choose mainly the same partners. Very rarely there is an attempt by an experienced male, or a very young one, to mate with a female from someone else’s pack. Such moments are marked by fights between two males in an attempt to defend their “lady”.

If an alien male wins the fight for a female from another pack, then they will immediately mark the nearby territory with a specific smell, which makes it clear to other males about the presence of the owner. Males begin to engage in direct squeaking of their companion after two years of age, after which all individuals reach puberty.

After successful mating, the female bears the offspring for 75-77 days. After 50 days of pregnancy, the female becomes aggressive and drives away the male, leaving the flock at this time. The birth of small coatis occurs in a nest in a tree, built by the female during pregnancy. One litter brings 2-6 cubs.

A small nose on a stump.
Nose muzzle.

Nutrition of animals in different conditions

The main assistant in the search for food of the nose is considered to be their trunk-shaped nose. Moving on land or along a tree, animals sniff everything around, catch the slightest odors of prey and follow them. Nosushi feed on small animals and insects taken from the ground from under the bark of plants. They gain access to this type of food through long and sharp claws, which allow them to dig the ground and tear apart the bark.

In addition, coatis catch lizards and frogs, upon detection of which the animal begins to actively hunt them. Animals caught by the nose are killed by biting the neck. Lifeless prey is eaten immediately, in small parts, which are torn off with clawed paws.

The ability to climb trees gives you the opportunity to enjoy fresh and tasty fruits. As you can see, raccoon-like animals are omnivores and can completely replace one type of product with another.

The wild world is dangerous for every animal living in it, and noses are no exception. The approach of a larger and more predatory animal is marked by the emission of a loud whistle, as well as a fluffed and raised tail.

• lean meat;
• lean fish;
• boiled and raw eggs;
• fruit;
• fermented milk product - cottage cheese, which contains all the necessary vitamins and microelements.

The daily norm of an adult reaches 1-1.5 kg of the total amount of food, in addition, the drinking bowl must always be full of fresh water.

Coatis, also known as noses, are mammals of the raccoon family. These animals got their name due to their elongated and very mobile snout-nose.

Previously, the nosuhs were called badgers, but when real badgers came to Mexico, where the nosuhs live, the coati was given an individual name.

There are several types of nosuha: ordinary nosuha, mountain nosuha, coati and Nelson's nosuha.

Coati habitats

Today, coatis are found mainly in the Andean valleys of South America, but they are also found in Argentina and the New World. They are also common in Honduras, Colombia, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua and Belize.

Coatis are not picky about weather conditions, so they can live in tropical forests and deserts. But they prefer forests, dense bushes and rocky areas. Due to human intervention, they are increasingly choosing clearings and forest edges to live.

Description of nose

It is impossible to confuse coatis with other mammals, as they have characteristic elongated noses. The nose moves funny. The tail is long and brightly colored, consisting of alternating light red, brown and black rings. The coati uses its tail as a balance when climbing trees.

The ears of these animals are practically invisible; they are hidden. The fur of the nose is short, the color of the fur is dark brown or orange. The limbs and muzzle are dark brown or black. There are light spots around the eyes, making the look appear surprised and the coati look defenseless.

The height of the coati at the withers ranges from 20-29 centimeters, and the body length can reach 80-130 centimeters, with the tail taking up 32-69 cm of this length .

Female noses are half the size of males. The weight of these small animals is quite significant - 3-5 kilograms.

Coati lifestyle

Coatis hide from predators and spend the night in trees, but they hunt mainly on the ground. They move on the ground in an unusual way, which looks very interesting. First, they step on the palms of their forelimbs, and then roll forward with their hind legs. Because of this walking style, coatis are called plantigrade animals.

All noses are predators, and so are coatis. They search for prey using their nose, while constantly grunting and sniffing to inflate the foliage and find ants, termites, larvae and scorpions there. The diet of noses also includes frogs, land crabs, rodents and lizards. When a coati attacks a victim, it pins it down with its paws and bites its head. In years when there is little animal food, nosukhi switch to a vegetarian diet, eating fruits, which are always plentiful in the forests. They do not stock up on dry food, but return from time to time to the tree and refresh themselves there.

The main natural enemies of coatis are terrestrial predators and wild birds. Although the noses are rather large, they try to avoid encounters with enemies without getting into fights.

The main feature of coatis is their ear for music, these cute animals demonstrate amazing vocal abilities, making different sounds: screams, chirps, snores, whimpers and grunts. Animals communicate using these sounds. When a coati is alarmed, it barks like a small dog. When a mother is looking for a lost baby, she whines pitifully. In general, these musical animals are capable of producing sounds in different modes.

Reproduction of noses

Nosukhi live in groups of 5-40 individuals. Moreover, the majority of the team are females. Before mating, females unite in small groups; during the breeding season, which occurs from January to March, they return to the flock. During the courtship period, males fight for females. The strongest winning male is accepted into the group.

After mating, the males are expelled from the group, as they are very aggressive, and this can harm the babies. The gestation period lasts 75 days. At this time, the female carefully arranges a den for her offspring. A female, as a rule, gives birth to 3-6 babies. Coati cubs are very tiny, weighing only 100-200 grams. At first, the cubs do not leave the den, and when they get stronger, they join the group.

The common nose (lat. Nasua nasua) is a funny predatory mammal of the Raccoon family (lat. Procyonidae), reminiscent of a fox. It lives in Central and South America. Local Indians adore this animal.

Nosukhi have a friendly and sociable character. They are easily tamed and love to play with people.

Farmers treat them more coolly because of their habit of periodically visiting chicken coops for young chickens, so they set traps for them and shoot them on the approaches to their property. Fortunately, there are still a lot of these beauties and their population is not in danger.

Spreading

The habitat of the nosefish extends from the southern states of the United States to the northern provinces of Uruguay and Argentina. The animals are perfectly adapted to life in a wide variety of natural conditions. They thrive in tropical forests and dry savannas. In the mountains they can live at altitudes up to 2500 m above sea level and are not found only in the High Andes.

Most of all they like to settle in coniferous and deciduous forests of the temperate climate zone. Noses can easily endure both summer heat and winter cold.

Behavior

Common nostrils are active throughout the day. Animals roost overnight on thick tree branches. Early in the morning, without waiting for dawn, they descend to the ground. After the morning toilet, which consists of thoroughly cleaning the fur, they go fishing. They go hunting in high spirits, always holding their tail up.

The animal searches for food by carefully rummaging through fallen leaves and turning over stones and branches. Its diet includes spiders, earthworms, various insects, crabs, lizards, small rodents and frogs.

Noses love to feast on ripe fruits, plucking them from branches with their paws or picking them up on the ground. They rest at noon only on the hottest days.

Females with cubs live in groups of up to 20 individuals, while males prefer to stay apart in splendid isolation. Some males try to join groups of females, but are usually met with fierce resistance.

Nosushi communicate with each other using a rich set of sounds, signal poses and developed facial expressions.

Their natural enemies are boa constrictors, birds of prey, jaguars and. In case of danger, they usually try to hide in the nearest hole or hole.

To escape from predators, they can run for up to three hours at a time at speeds of up to 30 km/h. On calm days, nosuhs sedately and leisurely walk around their home areas (40-300 hectares), covering from 2 to 7 km per day.

Reproduction

During the mating season, females become more docile and allow one male into their group. To attract a handsome man, all the ladies begin to intensively and for a long time clean their fur, making an indelible impression on the wandering gentleman with their unheard-of cleanliness. By the end of the season, the male is expelled from the group.

Pregnancy lasts from 7 to 8 weeks. Approximately 10-12 days before giving birth, the female leaves the group and begins building a nest at the top of the tree. Childbirth usually occurs on days 74-77.

3-5 blind, deaf and toothless cubs are born. The body length of a newborn baby is 25-30 cm and weighs from 100 to 180 g. On the tenth day, babies begin to see clearly, and on the fourteenth they begin to hear. In the third week of their life, they make their first forays from their mother’s nest and begin to explore the surrounding area.

Mothers take very good care of their offspring, constantly licking and feeding them.

At six weeks old, the cubs can already follow their mother everywhere. She takes them to her group, where all the other females very joyfully welcome the new arrival and begin to take care of him.

At 2 months, babies acquire a full set of baby teeth and gradually switch to regular solid food. The noses become sexually mature at the age of two.

Description

The head is elongated and narrow. The long muzzle ends with a movable nose. The ears are rounded and small. Close-set small round brown eyes.

The tail is covered with thick short fur. When walking, the animal rests on the entire width of its paws. The toes are armed with strong claws.

The lifespan of the common moth in the wild is about 14 years. They live at home for 17 years or more.

And an unusual, sometimes even wild animal.

Among such animals, a native of South America stands out - the coati or, as it is also called, nosuha.

Description and photo

The animal got its nickname thanks to its mobile and very sensitive nose. This is a mammal of the genus, similar in size to a small one.

They grow up to 30 cm in height, up to 40 cm in length for females and up to 67 cm for males. The tail can usually reach sizes of 35-70 centimeters. Adult coatis weigh about 7-11 kg.

Externally, these animals are characterized by an elongated body, medium legs, with the hind legs being slightly longer than the front ones.

With a dark red color, they are somewhat similar to a fox, only the nose's tail is decorated with rings of dark and light shades in order. The soft short fur creates the effect of a teddy bear and the desire to pet a raccoon.

Did you know? A raccoon's paw is very similar in print to a human hand.

Is it worth getting a nose?: all the pros and cons

Nosukha adapts quite quickly at home, but do not forget that this is an animal from the wild, and in order to tame it, it is necessary to take into account certain features.

Therefore, those who have already decided or are still thinking about such an acquisition should weigh the pros and cons.
Possible difficulties that coati lovers will have to face are as follows:

• this type of raccoon is comparable in size to a small dog, which means it is worth allocating a certain space in the home for its habitat;
• noses make specific sounds that resemble bird chirping, and sometimes these sounds are so loud that not everyone is ready to withstand them;
• when walking an animal, you need to carefully monitor it or accustom it to a leash, since, initially accustomed to living in freedom, it can run away;
• Coatis do not use a litter box, so you should be prepared for the fact that you will have to clean up after them often, and the house will no longer be as clean as before;
• By nature, raccoons have very long claws, and breeders should keep in mind that they can scratch pieces of furniture and you personally more strongly than seals;
• There is always a risk that the animal will not take root at home, and therefore will behave as if in the wild, with all the ensuing consequences.

There are, of course, advantages to purchasing nosebleeds. In addition to their cute appearance, these pets are characterized by the following positive traits:

• they do not emit an unpleasant odor;
• do not shed like many other pets;
• unpretentious to food;
• long-livers (life expectancy - up to 25 years);
• very sociable and friendly, like dogs.

After all the pros and cons of keeping raccoons at home have been considered and the positive aspects have won by a clear margin, it is necessary to pay special attention to the pet’s place of residence.

An animal with a long nose is by nature very active, energetic, loves to climb a lot, explore and even swim. Therefore, you should evaluate the size of your own home and the possibility of sharing it with such an active resident.

The ideal option in this case would be a spacious enclosure with a house if you start a dog in a private house.

Important! If you keep a coati in an apartment, then you need to provide it with a large spacious cage of at least 2 * 1.5 meters. In addition, periodically take the animal for walks.

If it is possible to install a swimming pool for the nose, it is definitely worth doing this, since the animal loves water very much.

What do noses eat?

The diet of the raccoon nosukha does not require a special approach, and it can be fed in a variety of ways. But it’s still better to choose those foods that he is used to eating in his usual wild environment:

• chicken eggs;
• quail eggs;
• chicken, turkey;
• potatoes, carrots, zucchini;
• berries;
• a variety of fruits - from apples and pears to kiwi and avocado.

The more varied an animal's diet, the more cheerful and healthy it will grow. In case you suddenly have nothing to feed the raccoon, you can give it cat or dog food diluted with water.

Hygiene and care

Nosuhs are kept in spacious cages, with a thick layer of sawdust placed at the bottom so that the animal can dig into it as in nature.
A variety of branches and crossbars are installed in the cage to bring the environment as close as possible to what is familiar to the animal, with the possibility of an active lifestyle. The home is also equipped with a feeding trough and drinking bowl.

Important! It is necessary to clean the cage and change the sawdust as often as possible, since raccoons are not accustomed to the tray.

If possible, the noses' housing should be equipped with a container of water in the form of a pool, since they love water very much. Feeding is quite varied and frequent. The animal eats 1/10 of its weight per day, which is approximately 1.5 kg.

Dogs need to be vaccinated just like other pets like cats and dogs. Since the animal does not shed, there is no need to comb it, but it is necessary to bathe it, especially if it does not have direct access to water.

Compatibility with other animals

Cohabitation of the common nose and other animals is quite possible. The main thing is to separate their habitats.
Since the raccoon is essentially a wild animal, it must live separately from the usual domestic animals. This is especially true for birds, which noses love to hunt in the wild.

Domesticated raccoons are friendly with cats and dogs and do not show hostility. But in case of offense, they are always ready to stand up for themselves. In general, these are quite affectionate and friendly animals that get along with both people and other pets.

Did you know? When meeting an enemy, the raccoon will flee, and if unsuccessful, it will pretend to be dead.

How much does it cost and where can I buy it?

Today, buying any animal, even the most exotic, is not difficult. But there is always the possibility of deception and acquiring an unhealthy or wild animal.

To avoid such a problem, you need to approach the issue of buying dry clothes very seriously.
So, when searching, you should adhere to the following rules:

• before purchasing, it is better to first meet with the seller and look at the animal;
• It’s safer to look for an animal on specialized forums, where you can choose offspring from raccoon breeders;
• find a nursery for breeding noses and visit it before purchasing to see for yourself how it is kept, how it is cared for, whether the animal is healthy or not;
• examine the animal before purchasing: a sick nose will have a dry nose, a sluggish appearance, and dirty eyes.

You should not purchase a raccoon with home delivery. This is how wild or sick animals are usually sold.

The cost of a small nose on the market ranges from 400 to 550 dollars, depending on the sex and age of the animal.
Despite the fact that the usual habitat of noses is the wild and there are certain inconveniences in keeping them at home, nevertheless, these animals may well become pets and live in harmony with humans.

“I find something very touching in their long, rough noses with beveled tips, in their fingers sticking out in different directions, like those of pigeons, in their bearish gait and the manner of holding a striped tail like a fluffy exclamation mark with a pipe,” - so Gerald Durrell wrote about these predatory animals. Among the Indian tribes of South America they are called coatimundi. They entered the English language under the name coati. The Germans call them nosed bears, although in fact the animals belong to the raccoon family. The Russian name for this animal is much shorter: nosuha...

Any person who sees a nose for the first time, first of all, notes its main feature - an elongated muzzle, the black end of which is crowned by a flexible nose running far from the chin. Actually, this detail of the portrait of the animal gave reason to call it exactly that and not otherwise. Growing no more than 30 cm at the withers, the common nose belongs to the group, so to speak, of large small predators: creatures of its parameters - foxes, badgers and relatives raccoons. From the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail, the adult reaches 130 cm, and the tail, covered with black rings, is somewhat longer than the dark olive or reddish body. A large male can weigh up to 11 kilograms. The short but strong paws of the nose are equipped with long and sharp claws, which allow its owner to do a lot of things: dig the ground, break termite mounds, climb trees, defend against enemies and prevent rivals from going down.

All four types of noses are Americans, who clearly divided the New World into spheres of influence. The distribution area of ​​the white-faced nosebill, or coati itself, covers the territory from the southern United States through the entire forested Mexico to Panama inclusive. Nelson's nose, similar to it, is found exclusively on the island of Cozumel near the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula. The mountain nose has chosen the Andes in Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador. And the common nosoha inhabited the forests of South America east of the Andes: from Colombia all the way to northern Argentina and Uruguay to the south.

"Amazons" giving birth in trees

Unlike other raccoons, coatimundi have a pronounced diurnal activity. There is another feature: females with young animals travel in search of food in groups of 5-12 and even, according to some naturalists, up to 40 individuals. Aggressive mature males, however, live alone and join a large group only during the mating season. The flock accepts the male no earlier than he has established friendly relations with each of its members, but immediately after mating the females drive him away. The area controlled by a group is equal to a circle of approximately a kilometer in diameter, and the territories of different groups may overlap one another.

The dry day is spent worrying about food. Often a flock combs the forest at two levels at once: on the ground and in the treetops. Coatimundi are excellent steeplejacks; in this skill they are aided by both their claws and their tail, which serves either as a balancer or as a “grabber.” The structure of the hind legs allows the nose to turn them out and go down the trunk head first. Busily exploring the forest floor, members of the group hold their striped tails raised vertically, thus also serving as a means of mutual signaling. In addition, like many small school animals, they have extremely developed vocal communication.

Nosefish are omnivorous, which contributes to their prosperity as a species. The long and sensitive nose of each animal is constantly in motion, sniffing and searching everything in its path and tearing apart leaf litter in search of food. Arthropods, reptiles and rodents have no chance to hide without being discovered and picked out from under the ground, stones or bark... Coatimundi will never miss a bird's nest with masonry. And if they smell it, they will dig lizard or turtle eggs out of the soil. At the same time, various mushrooms, fruits and seeds occupy a significant place in their menu. Often a group of noses follows a flock of capuchin monkeys, picking up fruits dropped by the primates.

Pregnancy in noses lasts 77 days. Three to four weeks before giving birth, the female leaves the flock to build a nesting platform in a tree. This happens in spring or summer. In a litter there are from 2 to 6 cubs, weighing 100 grams at birth. The babies spend 5-6 weeks in the nest, after which the mother pulls them out of the tree, and they join the flock together. Males become sexually mature in the third year of life, females - already in the second. The average lifespan of a coatimundi in nature is 7 years, in captivity it is twice as long.

Not born for an apartment

Since moths actively hunt for insects and rodents, they, unwittingly, are regulators of the numbers of a number of species harmful to agriculture. They compensate for this benefit brought to humans by causing little harm, periodically raiding fruit and grain crops and climbing into village chicken coops. However, if local hunters pursue the big-nosed troublemakers, it is most likely not for the sake of revenge, but for the sake of their meat, which the Indians, not spoiled by calories, eat with pleasure. However, neither people, nor jaguars and pumas, nor boa constrictors and eagles have any significant effect on the number of fertile and resilient noses. And in recent years, with the development of ecological tourism, they even began to be specially fed along route trails in nature reserves and national parks, so that visiting exotic lovers had the opportunity to capture the colorful representatives of the American fauna on photo and video film.

Raised from a young age, noses become quite cute tame animals, but it would be a big mistake to be tempted by the opportunity to keep them in the room, like a cat or puppy. The animal’s thirst to explore everything and everyone, combined with its strong clawed paws, will very quickly turn the apartment into absolute bedlam: books will be thrown off the shelves, curtains will be pulled from the curtain rods, furniture will be pushed away from the walls, and a solid lock will have to be attached to the refrigerator. If it is absolutely impossible to do without a nose in the house, then before getting such a pet, you need to build a spacious and durable enclosure for it.

What a company!

But in a zoo, a nose is always welcome, especially if it is possible to keep not just a couple of animals, but a large group. The only problem that arises over time is how to keep them from reproducing. Perhaps the solution is to have same-sex groups. Active and sociable noses always attract the attention of visitors, especially where (as, say, in the Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg) it is allowed to throw them food that is immediately sold. Some zoos practice keeping coatimundis together with other four-legged Americans, for example, with spectacled bears at the Zurich Zoo (Switzerland) or capuchins at the Rostock Zoo (Germany).

An aviary or a large cage can be a suitable room for several dogs, but they look most impressive in an open range, surrounded by a moat, an electric shepherd or a glass fence. Moreover, the area of ​​such walking can be relatively small; it is important that there are live or dry trees with thick branches, on which the animals spend a lot of time climbing. The male can be kept with the female or females permanently. You just have to take into account that outside the mating period, the male will always get cocky, be the first to choose tidbits from the feeder and generally not behave like a gentleman. However, as soon as at least one female becomes pregnant, dark days come for the dork, and he becomes quieter than water. However, even among male noses there are sometimes individuals with a year-round docile character, the only question is whether such a person will be of any use as a successor to the family...

Food as a form of entertainment

In the mid-90s, while traveling around Germany, I saw a nose enclosure at the Münster Zoo at feeding time. To say that this picture shocked me would be an understatement. Today, most of us are familiar with this fruit and vegetable abundance in markets and supermarkets, but at that time few Russians dreamed of this. Now imagine that all this beauty has been dumped into a common pile: grapes, bananas, kiwis, apples, pears, oranges, tomatoes... And in this pile of vitamins five or six nosed animals with striped tails are rummaging. They rummage, I would say, with disgust, choosing what is tastier, and leaving the rest for later.

It is clear that the Germans do not skimp on feeding zoo animals. Russia has not yet reached such levels, and, say, in the Moscow Zoo, exotic fruits for noses are not piled up. Although here their menu is very varied and includes black and white bread, cereals and nuts, various vegetables and fruits (for dessert - canned compote or dried fruits), meat, fish, milk, cottage cheese and eggs. In addition to this list, there are alternate delicacies in the form of chicken, rats, offal, honey and jam. Additives are required: vegetable oil, bone meal and feed yeast. In general, each animal receives 1.7-1.8 kg of food daily. At the same time, animal and plant foods occupy 40 and 60 percent of the diet, respectively.

The question “What to feed?” is certainly important. However, another one is no less significant: “How to feed?” You can put everything in the feeders and leave it at that, or you can arrange it so that the feeding process both occupies the wards and keeps them in good shape. This is called behavioral enrichment. For example, in the English zoo Marvell came up with the idea of ​​stimulating a dozen of their noses with the help of a food ball - a perforated ball with a container for food inside. The animals chase the ball, which leads to a random release of treats, and since it is not poured out all at once, but gradually over a long period of time, eaters suffer much less from idleness - the main enemy of most animals in captivity.

Common nose