[Columbia, SC] - Making a trip to Riverbanks Zoo and Garden this Saturday will mean getting the scoop on poop, not to mention papier-mâché, puzzle feeders and plenty more animal enrichment activities. Educational activities and presentations are scheduled throughout the day.

"Enrichment is sometimes a difficult concept to grasp," said Sue Pfaff, assistant curator for mammals at Riverbanks Zoo and Garden. "Games, toys and training sessions that we offer on a daily basis keep our animals in shape and replicate behaviors they'd enjoy in the wild. On Enrichment Day we showcase all the activities we do throughout the year."

Plenty of activities guarantee a jam-packed day for visitors. Animal presentations begin at 10:00am at Gorilla Base Camp and meander throughout the park and into the late afternoon, ending with an elephant enrichment presentation at 4:00pm.

In addition to presentations, children and parents can participate in a host of activities, the most popular of which is probably "What's on the Menu?" where visitors can enjoy a showcase of diets belonging to a spectrum of zoo animals.

"People don't always realize that not only are we preparing over 150 different kinds of animal diets each day, but we're also working hard to make sure that the food and the way it's prepared and served closely resembles the hunting or scavenging animals would do in the wild," Pfaff said.

When visitors aren't getting the dish on animal diets, other activities are sure to enthrall. Between biofacts, a monkey banana toss, bird feeder stations and a foraging game that teaches guests to mimic the natural behaviors Riverbanks keepers replicate for the animals, participants are sure to stay busy.

And while kids are busy getting animal tattoos, parents can check out a special silent auction in Riverbanks' Palmetto Plaza where one-of-a-kind enrichment experiences will go to the highest bidders, raising money for Riverbanks Zoo and Garden's enrichment fund. A sample of items include training Zuma the sea lion during his 3:00pm feeding or become an assistant for the Zoo's 1:30pm bird flight demonstration.

Guests can learn more about animal enrichment by visiting www.riverbanks.org. A full itinerary of Saturday's events will also be available at the gate on Saturday morning. The day's events are hosted annually by Riverbanks' chapter of the American Association of Zoo Keepers, a group of zoo keepers that extend what they do during their regular work day to advocating for conservation worldwide.