Safari Park animals given ice lollies to keep them cool
Ring-tailed lemurs will tuck into watermelon-based lollies.
Keepers at Longleat Safari Park have come up with different ice lolly recipes to keep their exotic animals cool over the summer.
Rothschild’s giraffes will enjoy frozen carrot and willow leaf balls, suspended on a chain more than four metres above the ground.
The giraffe has officially been designated as near threatened in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, which means it may be threatened with extinction in the near future.
Ring-tailed lemurs will tuck into watermelon-based lollies, while the red pandas at the Wiltshire attraction have pear and apple flavours.
In the morning, the ring-tailed lemur sunbathes to warm itself by sitting facing the sun.
A spokesman for Longleat said: “Sunning is often a group activity, particularly during the cold mornings.
“At night, troops will split into sleeping parties, huddling closely together to keep warm.”
Red pandas were classed as endangered on the IUCN list in 2008, when the global population was estimated to be about 10,000 individuals.
The creatures, which are found in Nepal, Bhutan and China, live among bamboo forests and spend much of their time in trees.
