An Oregon Zoo giraffe enjoys Arctic blue willow. Planted by staff volunteers, Metro’s new 'browse garden' will yield clippings for zoo animals, food for thought
On Oct. 25, volunteers will plant Indian plum, western teaberry and other pleasing-to-the-eye plants in the Metro Regional Center’s new browse garden, a collaborative project between the Metro Regional Center and Oregon Zoo. Each species in the garden will also please the palates of zoo animals, who will get to enjoy clippings from the garden as part of the zoo’s browse program.
Browse refers to plants that help enrich the lives of zoo animals. In the wild, animals constantly interact with plants for nourishment and entertainment, and browse provides the zoo’s residents with similarly engaging experiences.
"The Metro Regional Center browse garden is a team effort that demonstrates Metro’s commitment to our animals’ welfare," said zoo director Kim Smith. "(Metro) and zoo staff collaborated to plan it, and staff volunteers from across the Metro agency are joining us to fertilize and plant the beds."
Oregon Zoo facilities operations manager Chris Massey came up with the idea for the garden as he walked through the Metro Regional Center plaza after attending a meeting.
"I realized the plaza’s planters could house a browse garden that would benefit zoo animals and serve as a compelling example of sustainability," Massey said. "Not only are the garden plants all native species, but by using their trimmings and clippings as browse, we also prevent waste."
Interpretive materials in the garden identify plants by their common and scientific names, and tell which Oregon Zoo animals will enjoy them as browse. Colobus monkeys will munch on the leaves and berries of salal; rhinos will peel the tough outer bark of vine maple to get at the soft wood underneath; chimps will eat the flowers and new leaves of Indian plum as well as use the plant’s twigs as tools. The garden will also yield browse for the zoo’s Speke’s gazelles, orangutans, giraffes, black bears and fruit bats.