Preparing animals for winter at the zoo

AccuWeather

AccuWeather's Ali Reid was live from the Philadelphia Zoo on Dec. 12 to share how the zoo prepares its animals for winter.

Transcript

00:00And welcome back to AccuWeather Early, thanks for watching on this Thursday morning.

00:08As we continue to track the cold and some outdoor plans.

00:13Yeah, and temperatures drop.

00:15Not only does it affect us humans who are bundling up for winter, but animals are also

00:23impacted too.

00:24But how do creatures from all over the globe adjust to Pennsylvania's cold climate?

00:31Our Allie Reid is live in the Philadelphia Zoo this morning to show us how the zoo ensures

00:35its residents are comfortable and healthy during the colder months, Allie.

00:43Good morning guys, we are here.

00:45Can you believe the difference from yesterday?

00:47A lovely 60 degrees in December in Philadelphia.

00:51Today, very different scenario.

00:53Danny, how are you this morning?

00:54I'm good.

00:55How are you?

00:56I'm fantastic.

00:57Nice and bundled up.

00:58I see.

00:59I think that's the name of the game today.

01:00And I said, if we're going to come to the Philadelphia Zoo in the dead of winter, we

01:05have to see the penguins.

01:07We do.

01:08Which I love when we get that request because these penguins are not from the cold weather.

01:13They are hot weather penguins, which in fact, most penguins are.

01:17So a lot of people believe that all penguins live in Antarctica, right?

01:20Because all of the pictures that we see in movies and commercials, they have penguins

01:24waddling through the snow.

01:25They're all bundled up in their big layers.

01:27A bunch of the penguins that live around the world, only three of them live in cold weather

01:31all year round.

01:32These guys do not.

01:33By the way, they are so cute.

01:34I love how they look.

01:36I want to see if our photographer can get in close on them to give you a perspective

01:40of what they're doing.

01:41They are active this morning, by the way, which I love.

01:44And I hear that they kind of, when they're in their pods, they like to stick together.

01:48Is that kind of how they move about?

01:50Yeah.

01:51Penguins are extremely social creatures, which is really important because even when the

01:55penguins don't live in cold weather, these folks here, these penguins here live off the

01:58coast of South America near the Humboldt Current.

02:00That current is very cold.

02:02It comes up from Antarctica.

02:03So the penguins still do have to spend a lot of time fishing and they have to look out

02:07for each other.

02:08All penguin species are social like that.

02:10And then is this the time of year where you feel that they are the most active?

02:14Do they enjoy?

02:15I mean, I can imagine penguins probably love the cold weather.

02:19Is that right?

02:20They absolutely do.

02:21So these penguins, even though they live in hot temperatures, like I said, that cold water

02:25is what is home for them.

02:26So this pool is actually conditioned to be the same temperature basically all year round.

02:31That means in the summer, we actually have to chill it to be the right temperature for

02:35them.

02:36And in the winter, we might have to warm it up a little bit.

02:37Why is it so important here at the Philadelphia Zoo to make sure that you are adjusting and

02:42making sure that they are thriving in the environment here in Pennsylvania?

02:46So our mission is to make sure that people can see and understand and appreciate the

02:50wildlife that we love and care for.

02:51And we want them to be able to come to Philadelphia and see wildlife that they can't see in their

02:55backyards.

02:56So that means that if we bring in an animal like these guys who may be a little bit more

02:59comfortable in Chile or Argentina, we have to make sure that we can approximate that

03:02habitat as close as we can so that our penguins can be happy and healthy and behave like normal

03:08penguins.

03:09That's what's going to make people fall in love with them.

03:10What's their typical movement to right now?

03:12Obviously, we're seeing them enjoy the lovely, cold, crisp water.

03:16By the way, I don't think I would appreciate the temperature that you said that it is in

03:21this water right now.

03:22But also, at times, they like to sunbathe.

03:25So they are not only enjoying the water here, but enjoying the sun at times, too.

03:30Absolutely.

03:31When they get...

03:32This is a beautiful winter sunny day.

03:33Not too many clouds in the sky.

03:34So when they get out of this nice, cool pool that they're swimming in right now, that they're

03:37all kind of enjoying lazily, they're going to go out onto the beach over there and they're

03:41going to sunbathe.

03:42That's going to help warm them right back up out of these cold temperatures, and they

03:45are going to have a good time.

03:47Now, if they have a little bit of a burst of energy, if they get the penguin zoomies,

03:50as they say, they might start diving and swimming with a little bit more vigor.

03:54Right now, this is more like a lazy morning swim for them.

03:56No, I love that.

03:57I think that's really interesting.

03:58The penguin zoomies.

03:59Can we use that term from now on?

04:03You can use that with just about any animal.

04:04We use it all the time.

04:06I think that's great.

04:07So, you know, I think the biggest thing for them, you know, coming to a place like Philadelphia,

04:13it's an unusual location for them.

04:15Do you know, I'd be curious to know how long these penguins have been with the zoo for?

04:21Yeah, so what's interesting about most of the animals who live here, they don't have

04:24as much trouble adapting to our environment because a lot of these animals were either

04:28born in here, here in Philadelphia Zoo, or at another zoo in a similar climate.

04:32None of these penguins have ever lived in Chile or Argentina.

04:35Our animals come from other association of zoos and aquariums, accredited institutions.

04:39We trade animals back and forth all the time.

04:42So this is an endangered species.

04:43We're not taking them from the wild.

04:45They have lived in zoos their entire lives.

04:47So it doesn't take as much effort for them to get accustomed to someplace like Philadelphia,

04:51especially when they were born here.

04:52I love that.

04:53Can we start naming them all?

04:54I think we should have names.

04:55They actually do already have names.

04:57Every single one of them.

04:58Okay.

04:59Can you pick them all out?

05:00So from here, unfortunately, with the glare that we're dealing with, I can't see their

05:03little wing bands.

05:04I don't know if their wing bands are how we identify them.

05:05They each have their own unique color or beads that helps us identify which one they are.

05:09I love that.

05:10I made a comment earlier.

05:11I said, they all have eyebrows.

05:12They've got cute little eyebrows.

05:13They have very dramatic faces.

05:15Producers are wrapping me.

05:16If we could send it back over here, Will, if we can.

05:20But really quickly, in the next half hour, we're talking lions?

05:23Lions, which are an animal that's definitely not accustomed to Philadelphia winters.

05:27No tigers, no bears, oh my, just lions.

05:30But it will be interesting to hear how they are able to thrive in an environment like

05:34Philadelphia.

05:35We'll be checking with you in the next hour.

05:38How are those penguins, those guys?

05:40I mean, come on, you can't beat that.

05:42How cute are they?

05:43Cute.

05:44They remind me of the ones from Madagascar.

05:45Smile and wave, boys, smile and wave.

05:48So cute.

05:49All right, Allie, thanks for being live for us.

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