Discover

By MAEGAN MCGOWEN
Staff Writer

Chico, a huge wrinkled bull elephant, waited impatiently for his produce-sicle at the Caldwell Zoo.

Zoo keepers dumped blocks of frozen fruit into the elephants’ nine-foot-deep pond, and after a little coaxing, two females waded in and scooped up their prizes with long, elastic trunks.

“We make ‘popsicles’ and blood-sicles for the animals when it gets too hot,” Scotty Stainback, curator of animals, said. “To make the ‘popsicles,’ we cut up produce and put string in it to hang it in the animal cages. For the blood-sicles, we drain the blood out of the meat for the cats and freeze it.”

Elephants, monkeys, rhinos and big cats are fed produce-sicles in the summer, filled with different nutritious foods such as meal worms, oranges, apples, orange juice and for the carnivores, blood.

“We have an enrichment schedule that we keep the animals on,” Stainback said. “It’s divided between the animals and alternates each day. Today, we did the squirrel monkeys, and tomorrow we’ll do the tigers.”

The Caldwell Zoo animal keepers work hard to keep the animals happy, healthy and cool by providing them with as many comforts as possible.

All the exhibits have natural shade or shade cloths to keep animals from overheating and fresh water sources they can drink from all day long.

For a few animals, there is an air- conditioned building they can rest in.

“A lot of animals take advantage of the air conditioning,” Stainback said. “The squirrel monkeys, leopards and anteaters are a few that come to mind.”

A single meerkat scurried around his glass-walled habitat while the others hid from the heat in their sandy dens.

For animals like meerkats, shaded areas are very important because their glass exhibits amplify the sun.

“The meerkats and leopards have shade cloths and a cooler fan during the summer,” he said. “The fan drops the ambient temperature 20 degrees. For each exhibit, we take into account if it has glass, the air flow and the amount of natural shade. We always try to modify the lack of air to keep the animals comfortable.”

A group of hot-pink flamingos gathered under a sprinkler’s fine mist while others stood knee-deep in the water that surrounds their habitat.

“With the flamingos, we make sure they have running water which keeps the water cooler and plenty of shade if it gets sunny,” Brenda Davis, bird department supervisor, said. “In the hot summer months we put a sprinkler on them and they can choose to get in or out of it. They seem to really like the sprinkler.”

Elephants combat soaring temperatures by taking a long soak in their pond or spraying muddy water on themselves that dries into a natural sunscreen and bug repellent.

“The pond has stairs or a slope so elephants can get in, and Tonya, a female elephant, will bob for produce that sinks to the bottom,” Stainback said.

Chico, the bull elephant, curled his trunk back and opened his mouth as if he was waiting for something.

“He opens his mouth because he wants some produce thrown to him,” Stainback said.

Chico noticed a half-way crushed popsicle lying on the ground by one of the females and pushed her out of his way with ease.

He picked up the popsicle in his trunk, smashed it with his foot and nosed around until he found a tasty piece of fruit.

“He’s definitely the boss,” Stainback said. “He weights 14,500 pounds while the females only weigh about 8,000 pounds.”

Elephants are also fed watermelons that have been chilled in a refrigerator.

“We feed them watermelons once a week, and they just love them,” Stainback said.

Black rhinos like to use mud wallows to keep themselves cool, and the animal keepers make sure they have clean water and plenty of shade.

“Come here Phin,” Stephanie Geraets, large mammals keeper, called, leaning a large stone wall.

The young rhino perked up his ears at the sound of her voice and trundled over to the spot where Ms. Geraets had tossed an orange-juice popsicle.
He reached for the treat with his long upper lip and picked it up carefully.

“Rhinos have a prehensile lip to wrap around food,” Stainback said. “They can wrap it around leaves and branches and pull them loose. These rhinos recognize Stephanie’s voice because she works with them every day.”

According to Stainback, the rhinos’ exhibit was created to simulate as natural of an environment as possible.

“Their food is kept high up in a feeder because Rhinos are browsers, which means they would eat tree limbs and leaves that they would have to reach for,” he said. “It wouldn’t be natural for them to eat hay off the ground.”

Whether it’s a rhino, elephant, monkey or lion, the dedicated zoo staff ensures that each animal is healthy, happy and cool, even on the hottest days.

“Most of the animals acclimate to the heat quickly,” Stainback said. “But we watch them carefully, and if they show signs of stress or labored breathing, we bring them in and give them the care that they need.”

Staying cool takes a lot of effort during the August heat at Tyler’s Caldwell Zoo. Above left, Chico, one of the zoo elephants, sprays water on himself to cool down. When the muddy water dries, it serves as a sunscreen and a bug repellent.
(Staff Photo By Jaime R. Carrero)