Water balloons, ice treats, and pool time! How zoo animals are keeping cool

In order to keep their animals cool in the triple-digit heat, the staff at Zoo To You in Paso Robles got creative.

Zoo to You’s Assistant Director Lisa Jackson said those creative approaches include water balloons, ice treats and pool time.

“We have different kinds of water sources for them that are fun. Like the monkey loves to play with water balloons," Jackson said.

Zookeeper Megan Copher said she and the animals are used to the 100-degree summer heat

“This is my ninth summer out here and it is absolutely like this every single year," Copher said.

With enclosures built to each animal’s needs, Zoo to You seeks to make their animals comfortable no matter the temperature.

"Knowing these animals as well as we do, we can see if they can’t handle it. So we know that certain animals, when she gets over 95, we just go ahead and take them in," Jackson said.

While some of their animals like otters and beavers are cool in their enclosures, others like the sloth and kangaroo need extra attention.

“The ones that we’re really concerned about are some of our rainforest animals. You know, they just can’t go over a hundred," Jackson said. "We just simply have enclosures inside air-conditioned buildings and that’s where they stay until we’re over this heat wave."

Jackson explained they take extra care to make sure all animals are cool, even taking them into the air-conditioned base camp building if necessary.