This is the adorable moment animals in a Dutch zoo enjoy fruit ice cream to cool off during a heatwave.
The footage, posted by ZooParc Overloon, a zoo in the North Brabant province in the south of the Netherlands on the outskirts of Peel, shows otters and spider monkeys eating different ice creams and jumping in cooling water as temperatures in the village reached 36 degrees Celsius (96.8 degrees Fahrenheit) on Saturday.
Steven van den Heuvel, the head zookeeper, told Newsflash that all of their animals are given ice cream during heatwaves.
He said: “With this weather a lot of animals get ice cream. For example, our predators have meat ice creams, our monkeys have vegetable and fruit ice creams and ungulates [large, hoofed mammals] sometimes get leaf ice creams. This way we respond to each animal group’s needs.
“In short, you can say that almost all animals do get ice cream. Only our bird species are not interested in this.”
The heatwave in the region is expected to last until this Thursday, with temperatures remaining in the mid 30s.
The zoo was closed in March due to the coronavirus pandemic but reopened on 1st June with new regulations including stipulating that visitors stay distant from one another and wash their hands frequently.
Red-faced spider monkeys are enjoying fruity ice cream 
Otters are enjoying fruity ice cream
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