Animals at Cotswold Wildlife Park given icy heatwave treats

Temperatures are expected to reach almost 40C across Oxfordshire as the Met Office warns of ‘danger to life’ during the red heat alert which is in place from 9am on Wednesday, June 24, to 9pm on Thursday, June 24.

As temperatures climb during the year’s second heatwave, keepers were hard at work creating ice enrichments to help the animals stay cool.

They have produced the highest number of frozen treats and enrichments in the Burford-based park’s 56 year history.

The giraffes including Century, the park’s oldest giraffe, were treated to a frozen ice block made from carrot, cabbage and apple.

Giraffes, the tallest animal by far, are keeping cool with their icy treats (Image: Philip Joyce)

Giraffes, the tallest animal by far, are keeping cool with their icy treats (Image: Philip Joyce)

Giraffes, the tallest animal by far, are keeping cool with their icy treats (Image: Philip Joyce)

The herd of bactrian camels enjoyed a frozen cocktail of carrot, cabbage, watermelon and apple.

The blocks took over two days for mammal keeper Charlotte to create, just for the camels to devour them in less than two hours.

Even the Park’s newest arrival, Klaus, enjoyed the treat. The new calf is the first large mammal born at the collection this year. Only three other zoological collections have bred this species in the last year.

Bactrian Camels ice enrichment (Image: Philip Joyce)

Bactrian Camels ice enrichment (Image: Philip Joyce)

Bactrian Camels ice enrichment (Image: Philip Joyce)

Critically endangered greater bamboo lemurs, black and white ruffed lemurs and the troop of ring-tailed lemurs were treated to frozen fruit lollies made with natural ingredients. 

Critically endangered greater bamboo Lemur with ice enrichment (Image: Philip Joyce)

Critically endangered black and white Ruffed Lemur ice enrichment (Image: Cotswold Wildlife Park)

Other residents given ice cooling enrichments included: otters, penguins, tapirs, colobus monkeys, siamangs, red pandas, binturong, wolverines and giant tortoises, to name a few.

Otter with frozen fish (Image: Rebecca Farrow)

Tapirs with fruit ice block made by deputy head of mammals, Jenni Maxwell (Image: Cotswold Wildlife Park)

Penguins with a frozen block of fish (Image: Kirsten Shergold)

Red panda ice enrichment (Image: Philip Joyce)

Dobby the Binturong with watermelon (Image: Cotswold Wildlife Park)

Giant Tortoises with gentle spray by Head of Reptiles Megan Howard (Image: Cotswold Wildlife Park)

After keeper Abbie cleaned out their drinking trough, the Ostriches wasted no time turning the leftover water into their own cooling-off pool. Abbie caught them on camera enjoying a bathe. 

Ostriches bathing (Image: Cotswold Wildlife Park)