Arizona Zoo Holds ‘Summer time Snow Day’ for Animals with 10 Tons of Ice

Phoenix Zoo is aware of methods to hold issues cool!

The zoo, situated in Arizona’s capital, just lately handled its animals to an unconventional occasion: a “summer time snow day.”

There was not a snowflake in sight on Friday, July 19, on the Phoenix Zoo — the place temperatures soared to 109 levels, in response to Climate Channel knowledge — till 10 tons of ice arrived on the facility.

With 500 luggage of ice from native firm Mather Bros, Inc. and assist from utility firm Salt River Mission, the zoo made heaps of snow. The zoo then dispersed the chilly stuff amongst a number of habitats.

For its third annual summer time snow day occasion, the zoo welcomed guests to take pleasure in free ice cream and watch the Phoenix Zoo’s residents play within the snow. The zoo shared a Fb video of its animals exploring the “summer time snow day” for individuals who couldn’t attend the occasion in individual.

“Summers in Phoenix can get fairly harsh, and it’s a large focus of the Phoenix Zoo to make sure the animals keep cool all 12 months spherical,” the put up learn.

A rep for Phoenix Zoo tells PEOPLE that animals who participated within the icy festivities included Indu the elephant, Chutti the rhino, African painted canines, cheetahs, leopards, tigers, primates, and extra.

Different animals joined the snow day motion, per the zoo’s video. Within the clip, a hyena licks the snow, and a tortoise enjoys a watermelon in a pretend winter wonderland.

The “ice treats” offered to the animals ranged from “frozen fish-sicles for the tiger” and “blood-sicles for the African painted canines” to “a 20-gallon ice deal with with electrolyte-flavored drink blended with frozen fruit” for Indu, the rep tells PEOPLE.

Talking with Phoenix radio station KJZZ, Danielle Wong, the zoo’s behavioral enhancement coordinator, laid out some potential advantages of a snow day.

“It may very well be a fashion of cooling them down,” Wong mentioned of the animals. “It may very well be a fashion of presenting it with meals, after which they’re participating in these foraging behaviors.”

Or, she added, “It may simply be a fashion of it is a completely new expertise, and so they actually assume it is cool.”

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Wong additionally admitted that the special occasion just isn’t each creature’s cup of tea.

“A few of our animals, even when they have been coming from a colder local weather, they could go, I do not assume so,” she advised KJZZ. “So, behavioral enrichment, it’s very as much as the animals in the event that they select and wish to take part in participating with it.”

“We identical to to provide them that chance,” she added.