Zoo gives turkeys the day off

Each year, turkeys across the country are pardoned from being eating in honor of Thanksgiving, but the Birmingham Zoo does things a little differently. Since their turkeys — Mr. Big and Lady Bird — are in no danger of being eaten, they get the day off instead.

“Here in Alabama Wilds [where the turkeys are kept in the zoo], our turkeys work every day and they work hard to educate our visitors about the importance of the wildlife in Alabama, especially the turkeys,” said senior vice president of the zoo Chris Pfefferkorn. “They’re going to have the day off to relax so they can start their important work on Friday: educating our visitors about the wildlife in Alabama.”

During the early 1900s, there were only about 10,000 wild turkeys in the state, but Pfefferkorn said through the help of biologists, conservationists, hunters and land owners, that number has grown to about 400,000. And the turkeys at the zoo are representatives of their wild cousins.

This is the second annual turkey pardoning the zoo has done and to celebrate, Mr. Big and Lady Bird got a special meal of corn, sunflower seeds, sweet feed and meal worms. Pfefferkorn said he’s sure the turkeys appreciate the day off, but by Friday they’ll be back to educate the community about local wildlife.