Chilly Chimps: How Hamilton Zoo Keeps Its Residents Warm During Winter Blast

Think you’re cold this week? Spare a thought for chimpanzees built to withstand the 40C African savannah.

From providing chimps with extra blankets and bedding to heat pads and heaters for the meerkats and lemurs, Hamilton Zoo’s staff go to great lengths to ensure all animals keep cosy.

One cheeky monkey however is taking more than her share of blankets.

“Lucy (the chimp) has like an entire room,” curator of exotic animals Mark Turner said, laughing.

“Knowing that Lucy likes to have a big fluffy bed we ensure we're accommodating for her because she'll want more and everyone will want more. We do tend to see the chimps bulk up on their bedding to ensure they get the warmth they need,” primate team leader Imke Askevold added.

The animals at the council-owned zoo, like humans, seek warmth more proactively during colder weather, with a few primates deciding to sunbathe or cosy up close to a heater.

“A lot of them [chimpanzees] sit at the top of the pole seeking sunlight or sitting against the wall... they do have darker skin so that helps them absorb heat quite easily.”

Their primate brethren, black and white ruffed lemurs, will soak in the morning sun belly up - an important process in their daily routine.

Providing animals with heating, bedding and shelter is paramount, Turner says, adding zoo staff are adapting daily to temperature movements, especially in the current cold blast.

“When you get a real cold snap there's always a worry but that's why it's so important for us to make sure we're prepared for that... it's a welfare thing.”

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Hamilton has recently experienced some of the country’s coldest mornings, with Hamilton Airport diving to a low of -4.4C on Tuesday.

Providing access and options are two of the centre pillars the zoo works around, down to the heaters being fine-tuned to maximise comfort.

“Everything around that applies to diet, shelter, heating, whatever it is that they need to live a healthy existence. It prolongs their lifespan because they've got everything they need,” Turner said.

Dietary changes are also plentiful when things get chilly, with Askevold saying primates tend to eat less due to warmth being required to charge their metabolism. Older residents require more attention due to their susceptibility to drop under healthy body weight levels.

“It's good for them to have access to heated and sheltered areas because if they don't have the right body temperature to digest their food, things don't function they way they should.”

Tailoring food intake to each species is especially important to for energy levels while they’re trying to keep warm, Askevold says.

It spans zoo-wide, as the carnivorous cheetahs and caracal require more food as well as the 500-600 gram cotton top tamarins needing calorie dense foods to ward off the cold, as a result of their high metabolism and low body weight.

“We constantly weigh our cats and we do body condition scores on them... we don't want them getting too overweight or too thin,” Turner said.

Like the cheetah, many of the savannah animals handle the cold better, with shelters helping supplement their natural adaptation to the cold. The giraffes are set for a cosier sleep however, with their heated barn set to be completed later this year.

While the chimps are well taken care of with a heated home that’s temperature-adjusted, the zoo is always looking for donated blankets as the chimps appreciate the woollen addition.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air

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