Alberta Government zoo standards<\/a>, all zoos in the province must \u201censure a suitable environment for the animals.\u201d<\/p>\nSupporting animals indoors<\/p>\n
As winter approaches, the primary priority is to ensure that animals have comfortable indoor environments. <\/p>\n
These spaces are designed to provide enrichment that supports both physical and mental well-being in the species.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The transition into the indoor spaces is not abrupt. <\/p>\n
This process requires planning months in advance to ensure the comfort of all species involved.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Monitoring animals through winter<\/p>\n
For some species, such as western lowland gorillas, which spend much of the winter indoors, behavioural monitoring is particularly important. <\/p>\n
They are closely observed and have their care routines adjusted as needed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Giving animals the choice<\/p>\n
\u201cAnimals are never required to be outside during winter conditions and are always given a choice. Some species, such as free-roaming peafowl, are moved into behind-the-scenes indoor spaces until spring,\u201d said Walker.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The zoo does hold animals that are well adapted to winter, specifically from the Wild Canada and Exploration Asia areas. <\/p>\n
Siku, the zoo\u2019s polar bear, along with Sarma and Vasili, who are Amur tigers, are excellent examples of species adapted to winter conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMany people are surprised to learn that some large African species tolerate cooler temperatures well. Animals such as lions often choose to be outdoors on cool days, especially when habitats include features like heated rocks. Chilean flamingos are fairly cold-hardy birds.\u00a0 You\u2019ll see them outside as long as the temperature is 0 C or above,\u201d said Walker.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cObserving, knowing the animal\u2019s typical behaviour, and responding to these changes is an important part of daily animal care,\u201d said Walker.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n
Report an Error or Typo<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Calgary\u2019s harsh winters can be difficult even for humans, but animals at the Calgary Zoo come from climates…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531320,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194293],"tags":[901,49,2798,180230,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-531319","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-calgary","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-calgary","11":"tag-calgary-zoo","12":"tag-canada"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}