DES MOINES, Iowa —
This week's heat isn't only impacting humans, but animals too.
Animals at the Blank Park Zoo are trying to stay cool with the help of their zookeepers. When it comes to mammals, the zookeepers give them icy treats to stimulate them for a long time.
But it is also easy to put things like fruit in them to help keep the animals hydrated. The zoo also provides them plenty of additional bowls full of cool water.
"I think the most important thing is that we are always monitoring those protocols and deciding 'Is that something we need to update? Is that still working this summer?'" said Daniel Magid, small mammals zookeeper at the Blank Park Zoo. "Just because it worked last summer, you know, our individuals might have changed, some of them get older, their needs change. So we're always, like, reevaluating what those temperatures are."
He said the hardest part is constantly monitoring the animals and determining the level of heat each individual animal can tolerate based on factors like age and species.