Zoo authorities have made special arrangements to protect the animals of Nehru Zoological Park from the rising mercury in India’s southern Hyderabad city.
Abdul Hakeem, Deputy Director of the park, said sprinklers have been installed and the animals are given showers twice as the mercury levels go as high as 40 degrees Celsius during the day.
Even air coolers and fans have been installed in cages so that animals like lions and tigers don’t lose their cool.
Zoologists say rising temperatures adversely affect the metabolic rate of animals. The first impact is apparent through a reduced appetite.
Pits have also been created and filled with water where some animals rest when they struggle to cope with the heat, added Hakeem.
Zoo animals are the worst affected by a change in temperature as they have been displaced from their natural habitats and kept in places where the temperatures are not favourable to their bodies.
Located in the tropics, most of India witnesses a very hot summer and a largely temperate winter.
