Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!

As it has been so hot over the past few days we have been thinking of ways to keep our animals cool.
A favourite with most of them is frozen fruit. We either freeze fruit such as melons, pineapples, apples and pear or blend up the fruit, mixing it with water and freezing it so it ends up like a fruit ice lolly.

The bears have a moat with water in and we often see them going for a paddle on hot days. To add to their enjoyment we throw some of the frozen fruit into the water so they have to fish about for it.

For some of our omnivores, such as the meerkat and mongoose, we freeze bugs into ice cubes which they really enjoy. It takes them a while to lick through the ice before getting to the treat inside.

The cats love blood bergs which we give them occasionally. These consist of blood or bits of meat mixed in with water which is then frozen. Sometimes when the weather is really hot the tigers decide to go for a swim in their moat. As tigers love water it is ideal for them to have this in their enclosure. An alternative to the moat is when we squirt water with the hose into their enclosure. The tigers start playing around with the jets of water, chasing after it and trying to bite the water.