Zoos keep animals warm to protect against winter chill

As the winter chill settles in, zoos and wildlife parks across China are ensuring their inhabitants that come from the world's warmer climes are kept cozy in the cold months.

At Locajoy Theme Park in Chongqing's Yongchuan district — the first national-level wildlife ecological tourism park in western China -customized "winter warmth packages" have been crafted to protect its diverse inhabitants. Spanning approximately 333 hectares, the park features 10 themed animal habitats, including a vast African animal safari area where animals roam freely.

"Giraffes, native to the tropical savannas of Africa, are particularly sensitive to cold winds and can easily suffer when temperatures drop below 10 C," said Xia Deke, one of the park's caretakers.

The southwestern municipality's winter temperatures from December to February are estimated to average around 8 C this year, according to a recent news conference by Chongqing's meteorological bureau.

To ensure the animals' comfort, specific measures have been implemented. In the giraffe enclosure, heat lamps, air conditioning and underfloor heating have been installed, with straw covering the floor to retain warmth and prevent moisture. Their diet is supplemented with green onions and garlic to help prevent colds.

For sloths, which thrive in tropical climates, caretaker Su Yangchen said that their habitat is maintained at a consistent 26 C using air conditioning and humidifiers to simulate a rainforest environment. This allows the sloths to sleep peacefully for up to 18 hours per day, with temperatures kept above 20 C to prevent illness.

In the ring-tailed lemur enclosure, heat lamps have been activated, complemented by air conditioning, underfloor heating and additional heating panels. Similar strategies have been adopted by other areas of the park such as the fennec fox enclosure.

According to zookeeper Huang Heping, the park carefully incorporates high-protein and high-fat foods into the animals' diets, ensuring the diverse inhabitants receive necessary nutrients to support their overall health.

Not all animals require additional heating measures, such as adult giant pandas, tigers and alpacas, which are naturally resilient to the southern winter climate and continue to enjoy outdoor activities despite the drop in temperature, the park said.

At the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Wildlife Park in Xining, the capital of Northwest China's Qinghai province, zookeepers are providing high-calorie supplements and specially-made honey-infused biscuits to help red pandas withstand the plateau's extreme low temperatures, which average -4.2 C during winter.

This winter, Wuhan Zoo in Wuhan, the capital of Central China's Hubei province, is implementing flexible management practices, allowing animals to choose between indoor and outdoor activities while continuously updating a diverse range of indoor toys to ensure their physical and mental well-being. Being in a subtropical monsoon climate, Wuhan experiences colder winters than southern cities like Chongqing.