Is a man less than a goose? Chengdu Zoo Penguins Start Fires, Orangutans Will Have Floor Heating

Penguins need to roast fires even when they come from “snowy and icy lands”?

The penguins, called speckled ring penguins, are found in Africa and are also afraid of the cold. On the 21st of last month, when the temperature was around 14 degrees, the Enterprise Pavilion started using heaters. When it gets even colder in a while, another one may be added.

In addition, in addition to the penguin pavilion, the zoo is currently adding floor heating to the great apes pavilion, lemur pavilion, mandrill langur pavilion and other pavilions.

In the past, the zoo has added a floor heater to the zoo.

Fire-roasted penguins from Africa

Add a heater if the temperature drops again.

“When we think of penguins, we all think of the frozen Antarctic, but actually navigators first discovered penguins in Africa, the fire-baking spotted ringed penguins.” The four penguins are from the Shanghai Zoo and are now about 11 years old, according to Liu Yang, head of feeding at the Chengdu Zoo’s Animal Management Department. The penguins are found along the African coast, where they live in temperatures ranging from 4 degrees to 26 degrees because of cold currents and other factors.

The penguins started using heaters in the zoo on the 21st of last month. Penguin keepers looking over their work records said that the temperature was around 14 degrees and that “every year when it cools down, they huddle themselves by the door.” Next, as temperatures continue to drop, another heater may be added, “but it’s mostly up to them, you can see some penguins are by the heater now, some are more than half a meter away. It’s a good idea to add a new heater to the list if you’re looking for one.

▲Penguins roasting a fire at Chengdu Zoo

In addition to adding heaters, the zoo will also increase the penguins' food intake, allowing them to grow from 3 kilograms to around 3.5 to 4 kilograms to fatten up for the winter. Even though winter is here, exercise is still a must. “In the summer, they will swim in the morning basically every morning, but now if they don’t rush, they will hardly go into the water.” The penguin keeper said that he would drive them into the water for a while to keep their bodies clean. They can’t use water to help them rinse off because it might scare them.

“In winter, they have to roast a fire, and in summer, they also need ice to cool down.” Liu Yang said, although distributed in Africa, in its living environment suitable temperature limit of about 26 degrees, and Chengdu in the summer temperature is far more than 26 degrees, so they need ice to cool down.

The newest member of the team, Mr. Kurtz, is a former member of the team.

“Change the thick blanket” and “soak in the hot spring” with floor heating……

Animals have a “fancy” way of keeping warm.

Besides penguins, what other animals in zoos are afraid of the cold? Liu Yang said that the zoo has also added heaters and radiators to the animal houses for snakes, baboons, giraffes, elephants and other animals. These animals need to be kept warm in winter, not only because they are from the tropics and are afraid of the cold, but also because they are old. Among them, the black langurs and gibbons, which are protected at the national level, are already more than 80 years old, which translates into human age.

In addition to using heaters, the zoo will also give the animals “thick blankets”. For example, in the orangutan house, there are more sacks and shavings. In addition, some of the animals enjoy “hot springs”. For example, the water turtles have heaters in their pools to heat the water.

In addition to the above warmth measures, the Chengdu Zoo also added a popular warmth method this year - floor heating. In addition to the above-mentioned measures, the zoo is also adding a popular way to keep the animals warm this year - floor heating.

The zoo is currently installing floor heating for the orangutans.

The zoo installed floor heating is mainly for electrical safety and insulation effect considerations, before the use of heaters there are electrical safety hazards, night staff need to inspect regularly to ensure safety.

Red Star News reporter Lin Cong photographer Lv Guo Ying

Editor Yixi Chen

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