Pets & Animals

Oh my gourd! Adorable zoo animals play with Halloween pumpkins

TODAY
Today
A snow leopard at the Philadelphia Zoo sinks his teeth into a pumpkin during the annual Beast Feast celebration.

Animals may not be into the whole pumpkin carving thing, but that doesn't stop them from enjoying a festive gourd or two around Halloween. And by enjoy, we definitely mean eat (something us humans like to do too). 

With the spooky holiday just a day away, get into the spirit with a few photos of animals going pumpkin-crazy at zoos around the world this past week. Because who can resist the Halloween staple (or the animals amused by it)? 

DANIEL ZUP / SCHOENBRUNN / HANDO / Today
A coati, a type of aardvark, licks a pumpkin the Schoenbrunn Zoo in Vienna, Austria.
DANIEL ZUP / SCHOENBRUNN / HANDO / Today
Open wide: An elephant munches on a pumpkin at the Schoenbrunn Zoo in Vienna, Austria.
WALTRAUD GRUBITZSCH / Today
Meerkats inspect a pumpkin carved and filled with flour worms and straw at the zoo in Leipzig, Germany. The animals' enclosure is decorated with pumpkins for the Halloween holiday.
DANIEL ZUP / SCHOENBRUNN / HANDO / Today
Boo! An otter stands next to a pumpkin at the Schoenbrunn Zoo in Vienna, Austria.
CHRISTIAN CHARISIUS / Today
Staring contest: A baboon eats away at the Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg, Germany.
Al Behrman / Today
Jomo, a silverback gorilla, climbs to get to a Halloween pumpkin at the Cincinnati Zoo. The gorillas were enjoying the zoo's annual pumpkin hunt where they fill pumpkins with treats such as granola, raisins, sunflower seeds, peanuts, grapes, popcorn and apples.

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    As lick would have it

    A coati licks a pumpkin during Halloween celebrations at the Schoenbrunn Zoo in Vienna, Austria, in this photo released Oct. 28.

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    Schoenbrunn Zoo via EPA / Schoenbrunn Zoo via EPA
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    Pumpkin shell game

    Meerkats get in the Halloween spirit as they play with a carved pumpkin at the Schoenbrunn TheZoo in Vienna.

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    Pass the pumpkin please

    A baby elephant gets a share of a Halloween treat in a Vienna zoo.

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    Schoenbrunn Zoo via EPA / Schoenbrunn Zoo via EPA
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    Treat... or trick?

    A tiger appears suspicious as he sniffs a carved pumpkin at the Schoenbrunn Zoo.

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    Schoenbrunn Zoo via EPA / Schoenbrunn Zoo via EPA
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    Orang is the new orange

    An orangutan stands next to carved pumpkins as Halloween comes to Vienna's Schoenbrunn Zoo.

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    Pumpkin eater

    An elephant eats a pumpkin during Halloween celebrations at the Schoenbrunn Zoo in Vienna.



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    The buck stops here

    A stag deer forages for food at the National Trust's Dunham Massey Park on Oct. 24 in Altrincham, United Kingdom.

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    Getty Images / Getty Images
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    Her little dog, too

    A pet owner and her dog go as characters from "The Wizard of Oz" at the 23rd Annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade on Oct. 26 in New York City.

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    May the woof be with you

    Dogs and a baby dressed as characters from "Star Wars" attend the 23rd Annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade.

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    Rockabye baboon

    A baboon, holding its baby, tastes a pumpkin on Oct. 29 at the Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg, Germany.

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    Cat eyes

    A cat is pictured on Oct. 26 during a cat exhibition in Moscow.

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    AFP/Getty Images / AFP/Getty Images
  • Image: A 7-year-old raven called Grisha sits on a carved pumpkin during a Halloween celebration at the zoo in St. Petersburg

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    This one's mine

    Grisha, a 7-year-old raven sits on a carved pumpkin during Halloween celebrations at the zoo in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Oct. 26.

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    Flower power

    A bumblebee sits on a flower on Oct. 25 in Nochten,Germany.

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    AFP/Getty Images / AFP/Getty Images
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    Neck-to-neck

    A giraffe greets visitors on Oct. 25 at the zoo in Duisburg, Germany.

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    Horsing around

    A six-weeks-old African wild foal looks around at the Zoological Center of Tel Aviv-Ramat Gan, on Oct. 4.

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    AFP/Getty Images / AFP/Getty Images
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    Seeing double

    A squirrel monkey looks in a mirror at the London Zoo on Oct. 4.

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    Birds of a feather

    Geese walk on a field in Essen, Germany on Oct. 24.

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    Little stripey

    A newborn baby zebra named Seka rests at the Belgrade Zoo in Serbia on Oct. 24.

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    Lazy lemur

    A ruffed lemur is pictured in his enclosure at the zoo in Wroclaw, Poland on Oct. 24.

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    AFP-Getty Images / AFP-Getty Images
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    Hiss-terical

    A python lays on the bed at Bali Heritage Reflexology and Spa on Oct. 27 in Jakarta, Indonesia.

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