Elephants Smashing Pumpkins Is the Best Halloween Treat You’ll Get All Day

Halloween is officially here, and to celebrate, zoos around the country are sharing a little fun with their elephants, giving the creatures giant pumpkins to smash for the festivities.

An unusual yet hilarious tradition, the elephants are clearly delighted with their special treats, as they do their best to crush the giant fruits.

Last year, the Maryland Zoo gave an 8,000-pound elephant a large pumpkin to smash, with the animal delighting the crowd as it pulverized the orange globe.

At the ZSL Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire, England, staff set up a stack of pumpkins for a group of Asian elephants to charge at.

This year, the Oregon Zoo shared a compilation of footage from their smashing event, with the elephants rolling the fruits over with their trunks before giving the pumpkins a good stomping. The animals were even given a 1,000-pound pumpkin for good measure.

Oregon Live shares that the exercise provides mental and physical stimulation for the pachyderms, with the animals joining together to figure out how to smash the pumpkins.

While the adults gave up after a while, four-year-old Lily kept at it, eating the smashed pumpkin and taking full advantage of the festive treat.

Photo Credit: YouTube / The Oregonian