A Perthshire wildlife park has come up with a great way of recycling real Christmas trees.
Most trees end up at the tip after the festive fun has subsided but many of the residents at Auchingarrich, near Comrie, love a pine tree to nibble on.
They can also be used as scratchposts and windbreaks and can give the animals a health boost.
Locals have already been handing in their trees to the park following an appeal on social media.
And Auchingarrich Wildlife Park's owner Alexa Reid said the response so far has been brilliant.
She said: “We have had absolutely loads. I can’t believe how it has taken off. It’s been brilliant. We can never have enough.
“The great thing is we can use them for animal feed; we can chop them down in the chipper and make into bedding; they can be used for scratchposts. There is so much we can do, and in the end it all gets composted so there is a whole use for Christmas trees which is fabulous.
“One of the keepers had said the alpacas go crazy for the Christmas trees so I did a bit of research and found out that a lot of the other animals like them as well, so I looked into it more and I saw the benefits. They are high in Vitamin C and A.”
As well as the alpacas, the park’s pigs, goats, chickens and rare breed sheep all love Christmas trees.
Alexa added that people can drop off their pine trees in the car park at Auchingarrich.
She said: “It must be a real Christmas tree and must have all the decorations removed as they could pose a choke hazard to the animals.
“If you donate a tree we are giving one free place for somebody to come to the park as a little incentive as well.”
