TOO HOT TO MATE
Wendell, a five-year-old Bengal tiger weighing almost 400kg, pants non-stop as he soaks for hours in a shallow pool.
“Like the tiny cats we have at home, they need to sleep at least 12 to 16 hours a day. But at this time since it’s really hot they are swimming to relieve the heat from the body,” Vinas said.
Gab, a lioness, looks bored as she sits on an elevated concrete platform after zoo keepers locked her male companion Diego in another pen to prevent them from mating at the hottest part of the day.
“We don’t want to expose them to the mating part in this heat,” Vinas said. “We don’t want to trigger any heat stroke.”
Water is also poured over the enclosures housing snakes and turtles to help regulate their body temperature.
While icicles and baths were normal during the hotter months of March, April and May, Vinas said this year’s heat was the most intense he had experienced.
“Even if they get good ventilation, the temperature every year gets worse and worse,” he told AFP.
“We just find ways to make it better for the animals.”
