El Paso Zoo takes extra safety precautions to keep animals safe amid the heat

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) --Triple-digit temperatures have become the norm by now in El Paso but that doesn't make them safe.

Humans and animals can overheat in hot weather, just like the kind we've been experiencing in the borderland, including the animals at the El Paso Zoo.

"The heat can be certainly stressful for anybody," said, Carrie Trudeau El Paso Zoo's animal training and enrichment coordinator. "When it gets to be over 100 degrees, it can be really tough to keep our animals cool."

Zoo keepers work to keep their cool. Introducing fresh things to the animal's environment for them to interact with.

"A lot of times that comes in the form of popsicles. So we'll put fruit in popsicles or blood in popsicles for the carnivores. we'll put bugs, anything that the animals like to have as a treat, we'll kind of freeze it in, in popsicles for them, or we'll just throw a bunch of ice cubes and then mix the food in along with the ice cubes to the animals. Have to, you know, kind of root around through the ice to find their treats, and that helps cool them off," said Trudeau.

The animal exhibits also have built-in features to keep the animals from overheating.

"We have misters, we have fans, we have moats, waterfalls, pools. All those things are designed so the animals can find different places in their exhibit to cool off when it gets really hot," said Trudeau.

Many of the animals also practice a natural defense against the heat.

"A lot of our African animals or even some of the North American animals here are native to areas that get this warm. So they have natural instincts to go places or find things that help keep them cool. Like they'll dig in the sand to where it's a little cooler. They'll go underneath places where there's lots of shade," said Trudeau.

And for the animals that aren't fans of the heat.

"Our macaws, our parrots, we have a temperature range. So the keepers will keep track of how warm it is in their exhibit. And if it exceeds a certain amount, then they'll either go and give them some misting to cool them off or they'll simply just pull them off exhibit and bring them back inside when it's warm," said Trudeau.

As the heat continues likely animals will be hiding in the shade, like us trying to catch a break from the hot summer weather. The zoo recommends coming first thing in the morning to catch animals when they're more active.