“The animals here at ZSL London Zoo are very much enjoying the warm weather, thanks to their imaginative keepers."

Meerkats dig into heart-shaped ice cubes filled with treats 

Keepers at London Zoo have been coming up with imaginative ways to keep the animals cool, as temperatures in the UK reach record and prolonged highs.

The zoo’s troupe of meerkats have enjoyed pawing at heart-shaped ice cubes filled with frozen peas and sweetcorn, while a family of critically endangered western lowland gorillas tucked into frozen cucumbers in their Gorilla Kingdom.

Meanwhile, pygmy hippo Nikki munched on slices of refreshing watermelon and the two bearded pigs had a cooling shower before wallowing in their favourite muddy pool.

Head of primates Dan Simmonds commented: “The animals here at ZSL London Zoo are very much enjoying the warm weather, thanks to their imaginative keepers.
 
“All over the Zoo, we’ve been giving out frozen cooling treats – this morning the gorillas have had iced cucumbers and the meerkats have enjoyed a bit of ‘peabobbing’ – with their favourite peas frozen into ice cubes for them to enjoy.
 
“Nikki the pygmy hippo went for a morning swim in her moat and munched on a breakfast of watermelon slices, and the otters had fun diving for frozen crayfish in their pond.
 
“Elsewhere the Sumatran tigers have been swimming in their pool and the Asiatic lions have been dipping their toes in their moat whenever they’ve wanted to take a break from basking in the glorious sunshine.”

Image © ZSL London Zoo