How New Bedford’s Zoo Animals Weather a Blizzard

During Saturday's blizzard, we all knew to keep our pets inside so they'd remain safe and warm – but what about the animals at New Bedford's Buttonwood Park Zoo? How do they make it through a bomb cyclone winter storm?

Fortunately, the Buttonwood Park Zoo has a range of choices, according to Director Keith Lovett.

"All the animals did very well during the storm," he said.

Get our free mobile app

This isn't the zoo's first rodeo during dangerous weather conditions, so out came the extra warm blankets.

"Many of the species are from temperate climates and are very well-equipped to handle this type of weather," Lovett said. "Regardless, we give them extra bedding, and in some cases, access to indoor areas."

Most birds are susceptible to freezing weather, and the zoo keepers have them indoors all winter long. It must get rather loud in there.

"Because of the nature of this storm, there were some species that normally are outdoors in the winter that we brought indoors, including the vultures, cranes, some small duck species, and our juvenile deer," Lovett said.

Animals in the wild live undisturbed by weather outside, like bison, which are built for rugged temperature and snow conditions.

When a lot of animals have to be herded together, we're told most animals just hunker down, stay in one spot and just let it pass. The staff at Buttonwood Park know how that goes.

Lovett said all went well during the storm.

"We had staff, including myself, there throughout the storm, monitoring the animals," he said.