Wild animals turn to mud, panting and burrows in heat

Wild animals use mud baths, panting, altered daily routines and underground burrows to cope with high temperatures, SRF reports from the Goldau Nature and Animal Park in Switzerland.

Wild boars have few functioning sweat glands, so they can release only limited excess heat through their skin, according to Pascal Marty, the park’s head of zoology. A bath in mud helps cool them, while the mud also protects them from sunlight and insects.

Wolves and lynx are also poor sweaters. Although they have sweat glands on their paw pads, the surface is too small for these glands to play a significant role in regulating body temperature. Instead, the animals pant. Water evaporates from the mucous membranes of the tongue, mouth and upper airways, removing heat from the body.

Red deer, ibex and mouflon can sweat, but not all of them do so efficiently. The hoofed animals therefore adjust their daily rhythm, resting around midday and moving their feeding to the night or to the cooler morning and evening hours.

The Syrian brown bear also changes its behaviour when temperatures rise. It takes breaks in cooler areas and may jump into the water. Its fur protects it from the cold in winter and acts as insulation in summer, preventing the body from heating up too quickly in the sun, Marty said.

The heat is hardest on animals that normally live high in the mountains. At the park, this includes marmots, which are not accustomed to the current temperatures. They retreat into their burrows, where they find the cool conditions they need deep underground.

Marty said the animals at the park generally cope well with summer temperatures and do not require special cooling measures. On particularly hot days, however, wild boars, otters and brown bears receive frozen blocks filled with food such as nuts, fish or apples. The ice provides some cooling, but the main purpose is to make the animals work to reach their food.