Elephants practice their Thanksgiving pumpkin smash

Tired of pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie and just plain tired of seeing pumpkins on your porch? Then head to the Santa Barbara Zoo, where you can recycle your orange, green or white pumpkins.

“Look! He’s eating it like an apple,” said a young boy, enjoying the show.

NewsChannel 3 caught up with a group watching the zoo’s Asian elephants, Sujatha and Little Mac, gorge on
gourds.

Tuesday’s event was a preview to the upcoming Thanksgiving Pumpkin Smash, an annual event.

The elephants stomped, shoved and feasted on one of their favorite treats, making entire pumpkins disappear in a matter of minutes and giving kids a kick while watching the pachyderm banquet.

“My favorite part is basically because they eat like anything they can like pumpkins, corn, squash, stuff like that,” said Charlie.

“They tried to eat everything in the world,” said Alexandra.

The gorillas, lions and meerkats were among the other zoo residents that enjoyed pumpkins, cranberries and other fall goodies.

The zoo’s annual Pumpkin Smash happens Thanksgiving day, while the zoo is open from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.