By AMY RICKER
Great Bend Post
Zoos allow us to view animals from all around the world, with every creature having their own natural habitat. So, when winter sets in, zoos do their best to adjust how the animals are cared for and displayed.
Brit Spaugh Zoo began preparing for the dropping temperatures by installing heat lamps and heated water bowls, even for the animals who enjoy the colder conditions like the Arctic Fox. Bears stalls are bedded down with straw along with other animals that need extra warmth.
For the animals that need to be brought inside, Zoo Curator and Supervisor Ashley Burdick says that while most of the larger animals have acclimated to our weather, the animal keepers do provide enrichment activities to keep the zoo residents exercising and entertained.
“We will give them toys or puzzle feeders to keep them active. We may spend some extra time with them as keepers doing some training, so they keep moving around and using some of their natural instincts. We have some geese that are native to Hawaii, so they have to come in when it’s a lot colder, but they have a pool and get to do some of the enrichment activities as well,” says Burdick.
Burdick explains that because the animals live outside for the majority of the year, most indoor temperatures are kept around 40 degrees except for the parrots. Additionally, zoo animals like the African lions and leopards, creatures that people would naturally assume have to be brought indoors due to their natural habitat being in a warmer climate, Burdick says they don’t mind it.
And as far as bears having to hibernate?
“They don’t have to. It largely depends on the weather where they are. If it’s warm enough and can find food all winter long, they don’t necessarily need to do that. It’s just where they primarily live, it gets pretty harsh in the winter, and there isn’t that much food around. It’s just easier to bulk up and go to sleep,” explains Burdick.
Brit Spaugh Zoo in Great Bend stays open daily from 9 am – 4:30 pm throughout the winter, except for Thanksgiving and Christmas.