Video: Elephant dung fuels Clifton Bridge pumpkin mosaic

More than 20,000 pumpkins and gourds grown using elephant manure have been turned into a giant mosaic of Bristol’s iconic Clifton Suspension Bridge at Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm.

The autumn display has been created to mark the launch of this year’s Pumpkinfest at the North Somerset attraction, which runs from 19 September to 1 November.

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The pumpkins are the zoo’s biggest harvest to date, with more than 30 varieties grown across the farm.

The crop has been produced using an unusual but increasingly established source of natural fertiliser – elephant dung from the zoo’s own animals.

The practice began about seven years ago, when staff discovered pumpkins growing on the zoo’s muck heap.

The unexpected success prompted the team to develop an annual pumpkin crop using the nutrient-rich manure.

This year’s harvest has produced thousands of pumpkins and gourds in a range of colours, shapes and sizes, which have been arranged to recreate the distinctive outline of the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

© Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm

The zoo, located just a few miles from the landmark, said the mosaic was designed to celebrate a local icon while showcasing the scale of its latest harvest.

The crop has also demonstrated the potential of using farm and zoo waste as a natural fertiliser, with the pumpkins performing well despite a dry summer.

Pumpkinfest visitors can pick their own pumpkin from a free-to-enter patch at the Farm Shop, while the zoo is also running its “Poo at the Zoo: Number 2” Dung Detectives trail.

The event will continue until 1 November, giving visitors the chance to see the pumpkin display and learn more about how animal manure can be put to productive use.