The animals on the Houston Zoo acquired a uncommon probability to frolic within the snow this week, resulting in scenes of unique adorableness.
A winter storm blanketed the Better Houston space with as many as six inches of snowfall beginning early Tuesday morning, together with the very best single day snowfall recorded at George Bush Intercontinental Airport since 1973. Total, it was the third-greatest snowstorm in Houston historical past, minus the 1895 storm that predates fashionable recording. Worries about harmful highway circumstances shut a lot of the metropolis down.
However on the Houston Zoo, 66 keepers stayed on web site to be sure that the menagerie was properly taken care of. Not solely did the animals climate the, properly, climate in security, zoo keepers caught a number of of them frolicking within the snow.
One notably completely satisfied resident was Teddy, the zoo’s three-year-old Asian elephant. It was his first time seeing snow, and on a video shared by the Houston Zoo, he might be seen operating at high velocity by way of the powder as a keeper laughs and chases behind him. Regardless of being the closest dwelling relative to the legendary wooly mammoths of the final ice age, Asian elephants hardly ever encounter snow even within the wild besides on the excessive north of their remaining territories. Teddy’s surprise is comprehensible.
The zoo’s California sea lions appeared to benefit from the frosty temperatures. Their regular habitat within the Galapagos exhibit has 60 diploma water 12 months spherical, making it a veritable oasis of relative heat in comparison with the snow-drenched land components of the enclosure. Sea lions, like all sea mammals, have a thick layer of blubber that insulates them from the chilly whereas swimming. It additionally saved the zoo’s inhabitants full of life even because the snow fell.
Nevertheless, the zoo continued to take critical consideration for every animal’s consolation.
“Every animal on the Houston Zoo receives specialised care tailor-made to their species’ wants, guaranteeing they continue to be snug throughout colder months,” a press launch from the Houston Zoo reads. “All animal buildings, barns, and nighthouses are outfitted with heaters and designed to resist excessive climate circumstances.”
About the one animals who didn’t appear pleased with the snow day was the satisfaction of African lions. One feminine, Mattie, might be seen in footage gingerly strolling by way of the snow with an expression that may solely be described as “over this.” Lions, just like the Asian elephants, don’t see a lot snow on the African savannah and even much less within the swampy warmth of Houston, and would evidently favor to maintain it that approach.
