EP Zoo Making Sure The Animals Stay Cool This Summer

If you've ever paid a visit to the El Paso Zoo on a hot summer day, then you already know that things can get sweaty real quick!

A trip to the El Paso Zoo is always a good time- but when those triple digit temperatures hit, it almost makes you want to take a dip with the sea lions!

Luckily, the El Paso Zoo has a pretty good splash pad- that I know is mainly for little kids, but I guarantee no one will look at you weird if you're an adult and decide to cool off for a bit there!

While we know how to keep cool, you may wonder- how do the animals tolerate the heat? The El Paso Zoo has animals from all sorts of places who may or may not be used to the desert heat we get here.

The good news is that the amazing zookeepers are working hard to make sure all the animals are keeping their cool during this heat wave! How? They're receiving ice pops! Kind of like the ones humans eat except these ice pops have everything that the animal needs for their specific diet! James Martinez, the Commissary Super of the El Paso Zoo, told KFOX:

The carnivore has some piece of meat and some congealed blood. The herbivore of course has either chunks of food or vegetables. So we try to add a little bit of variety.

As for the Magellan Penguins that everyone loves; they're pretty used to the heat since they do come from South America; but if it does get too hot for them, they can find refuge in the water or in "nest boxes". Sergio Rodriguez, the Senior Zookeeper for the Magellan Penguins said of the "nest boxes":

The nest boxes, it's about 20 degrees cooler than what it is outside. So if it's 100, it hangs around 80.

It looks like the El Paso Zoo's strategy for keeping the animals cool is working!