It’s not just Brits finding new ways to keep cool amid 40C ‘heat dome’…
As sweaty passengers complain about the lack of air conditioning on the Central Line and impatient children are sent home due to ‘red heat’ warnings, consider Britain’s furry friends.
Instead of taking multiple cold showers a day, as is the case with those with opposable thumbs, the sweltering animals are blasted by hot zookeepers with hoses to keep their creatures cool in the hot dome.
Other creative methods of lowering animals’ body temperatures at temperatures close to 40°C came in the form of adapted popsicles.
While animals can’t eat the same ice cream as humans, there are special versions filled with treats like seeds, fresh herbs, and even herbal teas.
Tapirs and gibbons were photographed sweetly licking their special frozen treats at Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm, while towering elephants also enjoyed a much-needed tubing.
Otter, capybara and rescue tiger Aqua also spent the day splashing around in their pool to beat the heat at North Somerset Zoo and the conservation charity.
The zoo’s African elephants and Southern white rhinos also have access to mud beds, which help them regulate their body temperatures in hot weather.
Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm Curator Chris Wilkinson said: ‘Just like us, it is important for our animals to stay cool in hot weather for their well-being, comfort and safety.
‘Our zookeepers carefully monitor all species during hot weather and provide access to pools and shaded areas as well as a variety of cooling opportunities including popsicles and hose irrigation.’
Mains Beatrice was spotted eating her special frozen treats at Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm to try to stay cool during the UK heatwave
Tapirs also enjoyed the inventive method of lowering the animal’s body temperature to around 40°C.
Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm Curator Chris Wilkinson said: ‘Just like us, it is important for our animals to stay cool in hot weather for their well-being, comfort and safety.’
To keep their creatures cool in the sweltering ‘heat dome’, feverish zookeepers were spraying the sweltering elephants with water from hoses.
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As temperatures continue to rise, should zoos do more to protect animals from extreme heat?
The UK Health Safety Agency has issued a red Heat Health Alert covering London, the South East, the South West, the East of England, the East Midlands and the West Midlands from 1am on Wednesday until 11pm on Thursday.
The warning warns that there is a ‘life-threatening risk even for the healthy population’ and emphasizes its potential impact on transportation, energy resources, water resources and businesses.
Rising temperatures have been caused by a brutal ‘heat dome’ covering Western Europe, driven by a mass of warm air moving northwards from the Sahara and fueled by a powerful high-pressure system known as the ‘African anticyclone’.
Meteorologists say the system creates a structure called a ‘heat dome’, trapping hot air and allowing temperatures to rise day by day.
So the UK temperature record of 35.6C in June, set in Hampshire in 1976, is forecast to be challenged as temperatures rise to 40C in parts of England and Wales on Wednesday and Thursday.
The Met Office said temperatures could surpass the all-time high of 40.3C measured in the UK in July 2022 and are expected to surpass the June record.
