Houston Zoo shows how animals are keeping cool in the heat

Houston Zoo animals stay cool in Texas heat

Houston Zoo animals are staying cool during the heat of the summer and guests can too! One of the many things the zoo's dedicated animal care teams are doing is adding frozen summertime treats to the animal menu and guests can be part of the experience!

HOUSTON - The Houston Zoo has been working to keep the animals cool and safe amid the 21-day stretch of above-average temperatures and sweltering heat.

Some of the Zoo’s residents including the tortoises and black bears, were caught on camera cooling off.

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Tarah Cornelius, the Director of Animal Care at the Houston Zoo, told FOX 26 the animals have been getting ice treats and sprayed down with cool water.

"One of the favorite things for the keepers and for the animals is to make really fun ice treats to give to them," said Cornelius. "So for our otters, for example, all three species of otters will get ice treats with fish or shrimp frozen in them so they really have to work for their food which is a great behavior they show in the wild and give it to them in a nice little way where they can cool off."

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The California Sea Lions at the zoo can be seen enjoying their ice treats on a hot summer day.

There are plenty of indoor and air-conditioned exhibits for guests to cool down in at the facility as the heat did come a lot earlier in the season this year.

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"We prepare for this every year just like we do when it gets really cold," said Cornelius. "We prepare for that too so we can make sure we are providing everything to take outstanding care of our animals.

We are used to this but not quite yet, so we had to speed up our process in making sure we had ice cubes ready to go."

The Houston Zoo is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. To buy tickets, click here.