Creatively Cool Great Apes

It has been a hot summer, and just like humans, the apes love a cool treat on a warm day. We have various ways of presenting a frozen treat and some of the ones we use frequently are: juice frozen in applesauce jars and placed on top of their skylight mesh, frozen whole fruit, and ice or juice cubes spread in their exhibit. 

When we have time, though, we like to get more creative and make treats novel and fun for the animals. We can make “ape-size popsicles” with a five-gallon bucket and some chain. By freezing the chain in the middle of the juice and fruit, we can hang it in their exhibit and give them hours of enjoyment. Recently, we made some “ice rings” by freezing juice and fruit in a tub with an empty round container taking up the middle. These rings were then hung in the orangutan exhibits and they spent a long time cooling off with them.

Some of our apes take cool fun into their own hands, by making their water run into the exhibit to play in. Stay cool out there!