Animals Encounter Weather?

Cincinnati- Cold weather and windstorms oddly enough have not put many animals at the zoo in danger. One employee, Linda Cascaneda, from the Cat Ambassador Program, says a crucial aspect to survival is adapting to the environment. Ticket sales continue to remain steady according to gate admissions and Cincinnati Zoo President Gregg Hudson.

Hudson said 40,000 less people attended the zoo in December 2004 compared to this year. The bad weather that year influenced this drop in attendance, but he says his zoo has become so high demand this year that people will visit no matter how nice it is outside.

Mike Edwards, a member of the zoo from St. Bernard, still goes to the zoo despite the weather. He understands that most of the animals will be inside but still enjoys taking pictures of the animals in an arctic environment.

"The cheetahs are from Africa, so they are used to 32 degree freezing weather at night and 100 degree heat during the day," Cascaneda said. Cincinnati's climate posed no threat to their health.

There are even more animals at the zoo that can handle ice storms like Polar Bears, they thrive in Artic environments, the Eurasian Lynx, a cat, hunts in snow, the Snow Leopard has a five inch coat that keeps it warm, and the Canada Lynx that lives in Northern North America.

The windstorms had more an effect on animals than the cold. Bears and some of the animals from the cat family were brought inside for precautions, the gatekeeper said. There have been no reported deaths of animals from the weather by zookeepers.

An anonymous park ranger said that the cold weather has only kept people away last Wednesday when we had severe wind. He said that people take into account that animals are going to be indoors on these days. According to the park ranger that sells tickets, the cold weather has not brought sales down during January and February because the zoo is in an off-season for sales.

The Cheetahs Environment at the zoo that
mirrors their African Environment.