These elephants at Dublin Zoo are having a splashing time as the temperatures soar.

It’s not just all of us who are feeling the heat, and the keepers at the Zoo are pulling out all the stops to make sure that the animals are cooled down in the current heatwave.

For the elephants this means having regular showers to help them cool down.

“Then the elephants will give themselves a sand bath by spraying sand on themselves. This creates a barrier of protection between the sun and their skin,” a spokesperson explained.

“The animal care team at Dublin Zoo take some extra measures to ensure animals are kept comfortable and protected in times of very warn weather,” she said.

“Keepers will freeze fruit, veg and other food items into ice cubes and give these to the animals as a way of keeping them hydrated. These are given to the large cats, primates and tapirs.”

There was a time when the keepers put sun cream on the pigs to protect their skin, but that was for a certain breed of pig.

Dublin Zoo currently has Tamworth pigs in the family farm and these pigs have hair and a darker skin and therefore this skin is protected.

The spokeswoman added that Dublin Zoo habitats are set up in a way to offer the animals shelter if they need it.

Online Editors