ERIE (TNS) — The Erie Zoo closed for the season on Dec. 1 and will remain closed to visitors until March 1.

The absence of human visitors will create a hole in daily distractions for many of the animals, which during periods when the zoo is open can spend considerable time each day watching humans on the other side of the glass.

Zoos call such distractions for the animals “enrichments.” They include physical or structural objects or features in the enclosure, food, sensory qualities, social aspects of the enclosure and learning/recognition enrichment. (PennLive ran a YouTube video series about enrichments. You can view them at https://www.youtube.com/@pennlive.)

Among other things, during the closed season for the zoo zookeepers play videos for some of the animals, including orangutans, spider monkeys, gold lion tamarins and others.

In a recent Facebook post, the Erie Zoo put out a call for donations of DVDs to expand its library available to the animals.

The one big qualifier is that all donated DVDs are not to violent or spicy. Only G-rated videos will be accepted.

The zoo also isn’t looking for donations from outside its immediate area in Erie. Only walk-in donations during normal business hours are sought.