Wildlife Park breaks record during historic heatwave

With recent temperatures soaring above 33 degrees in Oxfordshire, keepers at Cotswold Wildlife Park were hard at work creating ice enrichments to help the animals stay cool.

In response to the record-breaking heat, keepers produced the highest number of frozen treats and enrichments in the Park’s fifty-six year history.

From its smallest monkey, Mabel the tiny Pygmy Marmoset, to the tallest residents, the Giraffes, the cooling ice blocks proved a welcome relief. Even the Park’s newest arrival, four-week-old Bactrian Camel calf Klaus, enjoyed his very first taste of the icy treats too.

Award-winning Oxfordshire photographer and Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society Philip Joyce captured these stunning images of various animals at the Park being treated to cooling enrichments in the heatwave.

Chris Kibbey, Assistant Animal Manager at Cotswold Wildlife Park & Gardens, said: "With the hottest temperatures ever recorded for May, keepers have been working extra hard to ensure the animals they care for stay cool.

“As well as ensuring they have access to fresh drinking water, shade and cool indoor areas, keepers have been using their culinary skills to create unique flavoured ice lollies for some of the animals using all natural ingredients – many taken from their normal diet.

“The Lemurs were treated to lollies made from blended cucumber and pear and the Bamboo Lemurs had a healthy blend of cucumber and celery.  The Pygmy Marmosets were given an experimental lolly made from frozen Arabic Gum – a natural ‘tree sap’ that they would normally eat by gouging holes in trees.

“The larger animals weren’t left out, with the Camels being given a frozen cocktail of carrot, cabbage, watermelon and apple and the Giraffes received carrot, cabbage and apple.  Finally, Lolita and Gomez the Tapirs had cooling ice treats too. The keepers always enjoy giving these treats to the animals, and it’s a good excuse to spend time cooling off in the walk-in freezer!"

For some creatures, it was their first time enjoying an icy treat. Four-week-old Bactrian Camel calf Klaus was especially keen to investigate the frozen enrichment in his enclosure, wasting no time tucking into his first ice lolly and attracting quite the crowd of delighted visitors.

Mammal Keeper Charlotte added: “It was really sweet to see Klaus enjoying his first ice lolly — he was one of the first over to investigate it and seemed to really enjoy nibbling on the cooling treat.

“Their ice lolly took about two days to make as I had to freeze it in different stages. It proved to be a great success and hugely rewarding to watch, and the visitors seemed just as delighted watching Klaus tuck in as he was enjoying it himself!”

HQ Videos and keeper videos: https://fromsmash.com/HQ-ICE-ENRICHMENT-VIDEOS