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SCHONBRUNN ZOO
The coati’s long claws are usually used for climbing trees or fighting predators. Here, a coati chills out with a fruit ice pop at the Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna, Austria.
These zoo critters are playing it cool.
Animals at Vienna’s Schönbrunn Zoo are beating the 86 degree weather by nibbling on specially crafted ice pops.
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SCHONBRUNN ZOO
Coatis are distant relatives of raccoons and live in large groups headed by a mature female, according to Animal Planet.
Zoo keepers have tailored the treats to suit each animal’s needs, Schönbrunn said in a press release. But the snacks wouldn’t seem too foreign to human taste buds.
Coatis, distant relatives to the raccoon, love eating sweet fruit. Their keepers freeze grapes, mangos and bananas in orange juice.
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SCHONBRUNN ZOO
A Barbary macaque digs into a frozen yogurt ice pop.
“[The coatis] lick and nibble until even the last piece of fruit has been gobbled up. This way, the ice is not just a welcome way for cooling down but also an activity for them,” explains the zoo’s director Dagmar Schratter.
Over near the primates, Barbary macaques lick frozen yogurt off their palms. In the wild, these animals live in tribes of up to 100 members. But that doesn’t mean getting along comes easily to them.
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SCHONBRUNN ZOO
A kea pecks away at its fruit, seed and nut ice pop.
The monkeys start squabbling as soon as the keepers drop the ice-cold yogurt into their rocky enclosure.
“The cheekiest monkeys grab the ice cream and start eating well away from the others so that they can defend their prize,” Schratter said.
Keas, parrots from New Zealand, prefer seeds, nuts and fruit. Their keepers pour these snacks into big bowls, which are then filled with water and frozen. The birds have found a way to streamline their pecking process.
“Keas are very clever,” Schratter said. “After greedily pecking at it first they usually just wait until the ice has melted so that they can eat the tasty bits inside.”
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