Animals Chillaxing At Lincoln Park Zoo
(WBBM Newsradio) -- While most of us huddle together against the cold and can't wait to get inside, over at Lincoln Park Zoo, winter for a lot of animals is a time to see and be seen.
WBBM's Steve Miller reports.
Siku the polar bear is making some noise, rocking a blue barrel.
"I guess I like watching the polar bear seeming so comfortable in weather that we find very uncomfortable. He acclimates so well," General Curator Dave Bernier says.
Polar bears don't eat as much in the winter because they don't have as much access in the wild to food sources, he says.
"So, he'll slow down a little bit on his food, but the things we feed him are pretty calorie-dense, so he can maintain his body weight."
Bernier says the polar bear starting sleeping outside in November.
The lions are lying outside, in the cold.
"We do use heated rocks," he explains.
The male lion gets more food in the winter because he's fairly lean.
But the females?
"Our female lionesses are a little over-conditioned, we say," Bernier says.
Over-conditioned, meaning overweight.