Q: How do Indianapolis Zoo animals pass winter? A: The jungle denizens like chimps and orangutans spend the balance of the cold months enjoying their cozy indoor facilities. But a surprising number of critters pass all or most of the season romping outdoors, unfazed. The Siberian tigers and arctic foxes laugh … well, roar and howl … in the face of the most brutal Indy conditions. (Though the tigers probably won’t tell you that they have a heated rock to perch on.) The elephants are given the opportunity to loll outside on brisk days, as long as the ground isn’t icy, and many do. Alligators and crocodiles have a hack: dropping into a torpor and flopping into their pools with only their noses sticking out. It helps that those pools are warmed, as is the water in the marine mammal exhibits. Weirdly, the flamingoes, who seem about as hardy as a cotton sundress, tend to strut outside on all but the snowiest days.
The Hoosierist: The Big Chill
Our Indiana expert sniffs out where zoo animals spend Indiana winters.
