LONDON (Reuters) - As Britain basks in a heatwave, animals at London Zoo were treated on Wednesday to sugar-free ice lollies in a bid to help them keep cool.

With temperatures hitting 30 degrees Celsius (86F), squirrel monkeys and gorillas, including the zoo’s silverback ‘Kambuka’, munched on frozen mixtures including chickpeas, sunflower seeds, walnuts and sugar-free fruit cordial.

“As the weather starts getting hotter a lot of our animals struggle to maintain their body temperature,” zoo keeper Jacob Winfield told Reuters on Wednesday.

“Animals like our gorillas need to stay fairly cool in the summer so we like to give them ice lollies,” he said.