Lehigh County Conservation District Partners with Local Zoo
Clockwise: filling jam jars, using a loupe to identify autumn olive, feeding a giraffe, and a basket of berries. Photos provided by Lehigh County Conservation District.
On Saturday, September 6, 2025, the Lehigh County Conservation District partnered with the Lehigh Valley Zoo to raise awareness about the damage invasive plants can do to our landscape and ecosystem.
Participants in this unique new event met on The Trexler Game Preserve with a two-fold mission. First, learn all about invasive Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata), then collect berries and foliage. After discussing identification, look-alikes, and native berry producers, the group paraded back to the Zoo grounds with harvest in tow to make a tasty jam and provide enrichment to resident megafauna!
Although E. umbellata is not preferred browse for PA native whitetail and elk, its thorny branches are similar enough to the Masai giraffe’s beloved Acacia foliage to be thoroughly enjoyed! With each jar of jam, participants brought home the knowledge to prevent thousands of new autumn olive seedlings from taking root in our public lands each year.