With temperatures rising rapidly, the animals at Cotswold Wildlife Park have been keeping cool with a little help from their keepers. They have been treated to delicious ice enrichments and slices of ice-cold refreshing watermelon. Some of the animals have also been cooling themselves down by taking a dip in their pools, especially the Penguins and Capybaras
The scientific name for the Capybara is Hydrochoerus, which means ‘Water Horse’. The best description of these enormous rodents is by zoologist Desmond Morris, who said they were "a cross between a Guinea-pig and a Hippopotamus". Capybaras spend most of their life near water and can stay submerged for several minutes. They can even sleep underwater by leaving their noses exposed to the air.
Chris Kibbey, Section Head of Primates and Small Mammals at Cotswold Wildlife Park explains:
"It’s hot, hot, hot here in the Cotswolds, and keepers have to be prepared to keep themselves and the animals under their care cool. As always, we ensure all animals have access to adequate shade and plenty of water, but with the predicted record temperatures forecast, it also allows us to be a little inventive with our enrichment.
The Lemurs enjoyed slices of cooling watermelon and frozen fruit lollies (made with natural ingredients of course), hung in the aptly named Monkey Puzzle Tree.
The Meerkats also enjoyed some watermelon, with alpha male Marley dominating most of it. Gomez and Lollie the Tapirs enjoyed a frozen pear and melon treat.
Even the Binturong had some refreshing melon. The keepers are currently decimating the stocks of ice cream and orange lollies from the Gift Shop!"
You can visit the animals yourself, why not take the kids along too, there's savings available for online bookings through their portal here:
shop.myonlinebooking.co.uk/cotswoldwildlifepark/buy.aspx?tid=1