Belfast Zoo providing winter warmers for animals as cold snap bites

Meerkats have been sheltering in heated quarters at Belfast Zoo

Everyone in Northern Ireland is feeling frosty during this winter cold snap - but spare a thought for our animal friends, even those with extra fur, who make their homes at Belfast Zoo on the slopes of Cave Hill.

Temperatures drop the higher you go, so these animals usually bear the brunt of the cold more than people in the city.

Generally, thermometers drop by a degree every 100m you climb.

So zookeepers have to come up with innovative ways to keep animals warm.

"All of our enclosures, behind the scenes, are heated - everything from underfloor heating, to infrared heaters and blankets," said Alyn Cairns, Belfast Zoo's manager.

"Our meerkats love their spot heater and it's outside."

Gorillas are among the animals at the zoo encouraged to build nests to keep warm

Of course, not all animals hate the cold and as the snow began to fall on Cave Hill on Tuesday, there was noticeable joy in the penguin enclosure.

"They love this, they are specifically built to deal with the cold whether it's in the ocean or on land." Alyn added.

The gorillas and chimps at the zoo are encouraged to build nests to keep warm and are given things like straw, blankets and clothes to do so.

But, Alyn added, there's little chance of seeing one of the animals walking around wearing a duffle coat, gloves and a scarf.

'Elephants in the snow'

"The clothes are not for them to wear - we don't encourage that - but when we come in in the morning some of the nests they build are 4ft deep," he added.

"You just see this little face peeping out at the top of the nest."

Radiant panels are used to provide heat to the elephants

The zoo said it tries to keep everything as natural as possible for the animals but that it also has a duty to look after them.

"Our elephants, for example, have big radiant panels that come on and off as they come in and out of their enclosure to warm them up," Alyn said.

"But elephants come from parts of Asia which can get very cold and I've seen our elephants going out to play in the snow."

All of the animals have the choice to stay indoors in the heat or come out into the cold, according to the zoo.

During my visit, many of them chose the warmer option - the penguins excluded, of course.