Frozen treats, cold showers and lots of ice; Florida zoo works to protect animals from summer heat

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Malayan tigers and Aldabra tortoises are native to sizzling and humid lands, however that doesn’t imply they don’t take pleasure in a frozen deal with on a sizzling Florida summer season day.

Temperatures in South Florida this month have reached the higher 90s Fahrenheit (mid-30s Celsius) with humidity reaching 70%, combining for “looks like” temperatures recurrently exceeding 100 F (38 C).

Employees on the Palm Seaside Zoo & Conservation Society use quite a lot of methods to maintain their animals cool. Zookeepers throw giant piles of ice into the black bear enclosure for the animals to wallow in, chilling their pool to 74 F (23 C). The otters get ice blocks and frozen fish tossed into their water for taking part in and consuming.

Tigers feast on extra ingenious treats: They get frozen cow bones crammed into blocks of ice, together with a facet of frozen goat milk. The massive cats additionally prefer to swim.

Large tortoises, native to the islands of the Indian Ocean, take pleasure in cool showers from a hose, which they’ll really feel via their shells.

“Although all of our animals are acclimatized to the South Florida climate, they search for methods to chill off in the course of the sizzling days, identical to we do,” mentioned Mike Terrell, the zoo’s curator of animal experiences. “All of our animals that we’ve got right here on the zoo had been particularly chosen as a result of they’re used to heat climates. And they also’re completely glad in a excessive, excessive warmth, excessive humidity surroundings. ”

The zoo’s company love to observe the animals settle down and youngsters press their faces up in opposition to the glass for a greater look, Terrell mentioned.

“We completely love is nostril prints,” Terrell mentioned.

Determining what cooling actions the animals take pleasure in requires a little bit of trial and error, he mentioned.

“They actually inform us what they like,” Terrell mentioned. “We will take our greatest guess, but when we’re giving them one thing that they don’t like or they’re not interacting with, we’re not going to proceed to provide it to them.”

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Related Press author Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, contributed to this report.