SPAIN: Animals at Madrid zoo enjoy ice creams & iced food

In these hot days of Spanish summer, it's not only humans trying to keep cool. Animals at the Madrid Zoo must be refreshed as well. Zookeepers have a special plan to keep the animals comfortable, especially the brown bears with their thick coats. The most popular refreshments for bears are blocks of ice containing fruit and vegetables and sometimes fish. For primates, the zoo prepares iced lollies. Biologist Enrique Saez said on Thursday (August 3) that the monkeys go crazy about them. "The iced lollies and the ice blocks are enormously attractive. Year by year we are testing them with new species and all the animals love them. The primates go crazy with the iced lollies," he told Reuters. Biologist Saez said that this is not only a way to keep the animals cool during summer, but also it contributes to the improvement of their environment. "As they break the ice, lick it and chew it -- we are generating what we call mechanisms or strategies for environmental enrichment," he said. A huge rhino enjoys water sprayers as much as it can as elephants not only eat the ice blocks but also refresh themselves with the fruited snack. While the temperature continues to climb well up into the 30s in Madrid, animals will be having a nice ice party of their own.

ITN Source | August 5, 2006

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