Elephants Get Watermelons, Monkeys Get Fans: Jeonju Zoo's Battle Against the Heat Wave

"As the weather gets hotter, we are supplying animals with fruits and vegetables that are rich in moisture."

On the 24th at Jeonju Zoo in Jeollabuk-do, where temperatures already exceeded 30°C (86°F) from the morning.

When zookeepers took watermelons out of the low-temperature storage and stepped into the elephant enclosure, Kamdori (born in 1990), an Asian elephant who had been eating hay, walked over as if waiting and poked its trunk through the enclosure.

As the zookeeper placed a whole watermelon on its trunk, with a crunching sound, the watermelon went straight into Kamdori's mouth in an instant.

Among the visitors watching this scene, an exclamation burst out: "It ate the whole thing at once."

Perhaps one whole watermelon was not enough, as Kamdori soon extended its trunk back outside the enclosure, whining by shaking its trunk left and right as if to say the portion was not yet enough.

Noticing this, the zookeeper smiled and placed another watermelon on its trunk, and Kamdori turned its bulky body around only after finishing all three watermelons prepared for the day.

Yoo Dong-hyuk, the zookeeper in charge of Asian elephants, explained, "When summer comes, we supply special treats such as water-rich fruits and vegetables like watermelons to the animals once a month."

Animals native to Africa are no exception when it comes to exhaustion from Jeonju's heat wave.

In the grassland paddock near the elephant enclosure, zebras and ostriches gathered one by one under tents to escape the heat.

The zebras did not move for a while, seemingly exhausted by the hot sunlight, and the ostriches also rested leaning against the shade with their wings drooping.

On this day, the zoo also prepared "summer gifts" for the animals staying indoors.

Electric fans newly acquired this year by Jeonju Zoo were placed in the monkey enclosure so that the monkeys could spend a cool summer.

The monkeys, seeing the fans for the first time, kept a distant distance as if awkward, but as time passed, they enjoyed the breeze in front of the spinning blades while slowly eating bananas.

Jeonju Zoo plans to continue implementing various measures so that the animals can overcome the heat wave.

An official from Jeonju Zoo said, "We continue to provide carnivorous animals with special treats such as beef, which is high in nutrients and energy content," adding, "For animals that like water, we are equipping them with swimming pool facilities or helping them take showers."

The official added, "We are preparing various heat wave overcoming plans considering the individual characteristics of the animals."

Opened in 1978, Jeonju Zoo is the largest in scale (approximately 180,000 square meters) south of Gyeonggi Province, and is home to animals such as elephants, mammals, birds, reptiles, and fish.

Having transformed into an ecological park where both animals and visitors are happy by tearing down animal enclosures painted over with concrete and iron bars several years ago, Jeonju Zoo is gaining popularity as a resting place for citizens, a picnic spot for students, and a dating course for couples.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.