How Akron Zoo protects animals during deep freeze

Yahoo

21-02-2025

AKRON, Ohio (WJW) — The sustained deep freeze has been uncomfortable and, with direct exposure, even dangerous for people.
Through the brutal cold spell, local zoos are tasked with managing the welfare of hundreds of animals, each with an individual tolerance to the elements.
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'We take a look at their natural history and we kind of see what they are adapted to,' said Mark Schneider, the carnivore and team lead at the Akron Zoo.
'If there's a heavy snow storm coming or really, really cold weather, we are keeping a constant eye on it. Earlier this week, we were closed due to the weather. Sometimes like that we will keep the animals inside because we are like: If we are closed and the animals are inside, we will just keep them in,' said Schneider.
Some of the animals you may think like the cold actually do not, including their Humboldt penguins.
And then there are myths including the notion that the zoo's 700-pound grizzly bears will hibernate during the winter months.
'Bears do not truly hibernate, so that is a myth that we are often taught. Our keepers will give them nice big beds of straw inside and they scoop them up and they take it outside and they spend the night outside,' said Elena Bell.
Some of the animals, including the river otters, their endangered red panda and the aptly named snow leopard, actually become more active in the snow.
The leopard is more comfortable in the cold than during the warmer months.
'He can actually tolerate the cold — colder than our building can handle it,' said Schneider.
Then there are animals including their Galapagos tortoise and the gibbon, in the ape family, that cannot ever be out in the cold.
'We have the heat lamps year-round [for the tortoise] no matter what the temperature is, because they like it very warm,' said Doug Miller.
Animals like the zoo's Sumatran tigers rarely spend time out in the cold, but have the option to be either indoors or outdoors unless the temperature becomes dangerously cold.
'The threshold is lower than you think. I think it's around 20 degrees right now. We will keep an eye on the building and usually around zero is where we will start locking them in,' said Schneider.
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Many of the animals are able to go outdoors but have the option of being indoors.
Exhibits are enhanced to help them be more comfortable if they want to be outside, including beds of hay or pine straw — so they are not laying directly on the cold ground — heated rocks and water pools for the penguins and otters that are warmer than the air temperature.
Experts say animals can feel wind chills just as humans can, but some are created to be more tolerant of the cold than people are.
'We did close a few weeks ago when we had those negative wind chills,' said Miller, explaining that when the temperatures get dangerously cold, most of the animals are indoors anyway.
But when the temperatures are not as brutal, the Akron Zoo believes a winter visit might be time well-spent, since guests can see some animals that are more active in the cold weather than they are during the summer, and might have more time and space to themselves to explore.
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