Taste test: it’s feeding time at London zoo as keepers rate the best mince pies — theguardian.com

Monty may be the hottest penguin in town, and his friends from Madagascar may have their own show – but sometimes you can’t beat the real thing. Down at London zoo, Lenny waddles determinedly after keeper Janet Abreu until she stops to give him a stroke – then closes his eyes in delight and practically purrs. Ricky acts like a star, throwing his weight around Penguin Beach. But their handlers promise that, despite the ads and films, fame hasn’t changed them. Looking after such boisterous birds is hard work, so keepers Janet, Glynn, Carl and Daniel agree to take a break from picking up penguins to picking up mince pies. But unlike their charges, who are happy with the occasional bucket of fish, they are picky eaters; recoiling in horror at some (“I wouldn’t give that to a pig”) while uniting behind their favourites (“If they deliver two boxes to the keepers’ lodge, I will make sure the gorillas get them,” says Daniel, who is over here from the primate enclosure.

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