Christmas came early for animals at Howletts, including this macaque (all pictures by The Aspinall Foundation/David Rolfe)

Animals at Howletts Wild Animal Park have been enjoying some of their favourite foods in the form of wrapped gifts.

Presents are used by keepers to enrich the lives of the animals and to broaden their experiences.

Animal director Neil Spooner said: "This is an excellent way of keeping our animals alert and challenged.

"The presents were perfect as the animals had to work out how to retrieve the treats inside."

What's inside? A macaque at Howletts Wild Animal Park unwraps his pressie

Tyson the honey badger gets to grips with his Christmas present

Ayu the binturong – also known as a bearcat – was given a hamper

"Enrichment can be as simple as providing different sensory experiences such as textures and smells, feeding a variety of foods or providing opportunities to climb or dig," Neil added.

"The tigers enjoyed meat-filled presents while the lion-tailed macaques had nuts and seeds.

"The macaques seemed to make the most out of this enrichment as they have very good problem solving skills and it didn't take them long to rip off the wrapping paper to get to the treats inside."