Bidding a firm farewell to the Cold Snap

The recent cold snap caused a lot of disruption across the UK, with MET office weather warnings for snow and ice across most of the country, the cold temperatures definitely took their toll on daily activities.

However, for zookeepers the hard work didn’t stop, if anything it got a little tougher as the care, feeding and mucking out of livestock continues, despite the plummeting temperatures. There has even been previous years where the lake has frozen over and keepers have had to break the ice just in case the lemurs decided explore away from their island. It’s just a case of wearing extra layers, wooly hats and thicker socks for keepers to adjust to the wintery conditions.This doesn’t mean to say that the animals within the collection who are native to warmer climates would not be able to cope under these conditions.

All animals at the zoo are captive bred species, which means that they don’t originate from their native habitats, and have never been used to those higher temperatures. But, it goes without saying that they would definitely prefer a hot sunny day, because wouldn’t we all! Of course it’s not bad news for all zoo residents as some prefer the cooler temperatures, such as red pandas Zou and Emma. Native to China, their beautiful thick red fur helps to protect them against the freezing conditions of the Himalayas. Even though our red pandas are captive bred and have not experienced life on the Himalayan slopes, they still enjoy the colder months and are much more active.

It’s safe to say that keepers and the majority of the zoo residents are happy to see a rise in temperature this week, and even a spot of early spring sunshine. We certainly know that our lemurs are top tier sun-worshippers.