Published: January 16, 2008 04:12 pm      

ATTRACTIONS: No winter break at zoo

If you think watching children play in the snow is fun, you should see elephants frolic when the white stuff falls.

Although the tropics-based animals can’t be allowed much time in the snow, they do venture outside at times to tear down snowmen that are built for them, Buffalo Zoo President Donna Fernandes said.

That’s one of the many things zoo attendees might see during the winter that doesn’t happen during the warmer months. Although most of the zoo’s record 415,000 visitors in 2007 came during the summer, there are advantages to coming during the winter, Fernandes said.

Not all animals are outside, but many of those that are engage in more activity. During a recent tour of the zoo with a reporter, marketing manager Michael Powers cited the American bison that spent a December storm playing games as more than a foot of snow fell around them.

“Sometimes in the summer when it’s really hot, they’ll just try to hide in the shade,” Fernandes said.

That wasn’t the case with many of the animals in outdoor exhibits during a recent visit to the zoo. The sea otters rolled around in the mud on a rainy morning, while the California sea lions didn’t pay any mind to the sky’s shifting from cloudy to clear to overcast again.

The bears, meanwhile, basked in the brisk wind like it wasn’t even there — and not just bears of the polar variety. Kodiak, grizzly and all other bear varieties were active, dispelling the notion of hibernation.

“There’s some level of mythology to that,” Powers said. “They don’t shut down for months at a time.”

Neither do the tigers, which Powers would swear he’s seen catching snowflakes on their tongues at times. Tigers and most other animals with outdoor exhibits are given the option to stay in or go out, Fernandes said, as the doors to their enclosures are left open when the weather’s not too bad.

Some animals, such as the gorillas, remain inside all the time. While these exhibits give visitors a place to warm up, they also allow zoo-goers to see the creatures at a time when crowds are less apt to scare them away.

“I’m convinced they can sense when there’s nothing going on,” said Powers, gesturing to a gorilla habitat which featured five of the primates playing and eating in full view; when Powers and a reporter returned to the habitat an hour later with a photographer, the animals vanished.

“I don’t know if letting down their hair is the right term, but they know” when they’re being watched, Powers said.

Some of the gorillas’ warm-blooded friends will move into the zoo’s South American rainforest when it opens in July. The $16 million project, for which the framework has been completed in the middle of the park, will house some animals now on display, others being held in private and some yet to be acquired, Powers said.

Before then, though, the zoo will play host to several activities, including a Valentine’s Day event Feb. 9 and a lecture by Fernandes on animal mating rituals Feb. 13.

Whether special event or just because, Fernandes said people shouldn’t worry about missing out during a winter visit.

“It’s fun to sometimes to see them playing in the snow and rolling around in the snow,” she said. “You will see a lot of different things.”

Contact reporter Paul Laneat 693-1000, ext. 116.

• For a report on the recent troubles faced by the Buffalo Zoo, including abuse allegations zoo officials dispute, read the Jan. 17 Night & Day.