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January 23, 2026<\/p>\n
2 min read<\/p>\n
Add Us On Google<\/span>Add SciAm<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n How zoos prepare for winter storms<\/p>\n This weekend\u2019s freezing temperatures and snow won\u2019t just affect humans\u2014zoo animals need to get ready for the coming storm, too<\/p>\n By Jackie Flynn Mogensen edited by Claire Cameron<\/span><\/p>\n A tiger enjoys the winter weather at the Bronx Zoo in New York City in 2009.<\/p>\n James Devaney\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Millions of people across the U.S. are bracing for a massive winter storm this weekend, with plummeting temperatures, \u201ccatastrophic\u201d ice accumulation, freezing rain and heavy snow all expected, officials say. But humans aren\u2019t the only ones hunkering down; zoos across the country are gearing up for the winter storm, too.<\/p>\n In Texas, the Houston Zoo has prepared its buildings and barns with heaters \u201cdesigned to withstand extreme conditions,\u201d the zoo said in a blog post on Friday. Animals will have access to extra hay and bedding, and food was stocked in advance. \u201cAcross the Zoo, sensitive plants are being protected with coverings, and generators are positioned to provide backup power if needed,\u201d the blog post said.<\/p>\n Elsewhere in the state, the Dallas Zoo reportedly plans to bring many of its animals indoors and to ramp up enrichment activities like caretaker trainings, food puzzles and nature sounds. \u201cHumans can stay inside and watch Netflix,\u201d said zoo curator Keith Zdrojewski to the Dallas Morning News. \u201cWhen animals are inside for days, it can get pretty boring for them.\u201d<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n Similarly, Fort Worth\u2019s zoo has brought its endangered Pan\u2019s box turtles inside, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. Meanwhile in Cincinnati, animal care staff plan to stay at the zoo overnight to keep an eye on the animals, according to the Cincinnati Zoo. And in Washington, D.C., if temperatures dip below 35 degrees Fahrenheit (1.7 degrees Celsius), as they are currently projected to do, species at the Smithsonian\u2019s National Zoo, including Asian small-clawed otters, brown pelicans, orangutans and gorillas, will likely be taken indoors, too, according to the zoo\u2019s standard procedures.<\/p>\n Other animals, of course, will be just fine in the cold. At the Philadelphia Zoo, officials expect Marcy the snow leopard to be thriving this weekend, according to a local news report. And in Sedgwick County, Kansas, an Amur tiger, a species that is very well-adapted to low temperatures, reportedly \u201cloves\u201d the cold.<\/p>\n If you enjoyed this article, I\u2019d like to ask for your support. Scientific American<\/span> has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been a Scientific American<\/span> subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm <\/span>always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.<\/p>\n If you subscribe to Scientific American<\/span>, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.<\/p>\n In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can’t-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world’s best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.<\/p>\n There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you\u2019ll support us in that mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" January 23, 2026 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm How zoos prepare for winter storms This weekend\u2019s freezing temperatures and snow won\u2019t just affect humans\u2014zoo animals need to get ready for the coming storm, too By Jackie Flynn Mogensen edited by Claire Cameron A tiger enjoys the winter weather at the Bronx Zoo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42530,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[3699,206,6784,7081,9088,8310,22397],"class_list":{"0":"post-42529","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-animals","9":"tag-massive","10":"tag-preparing","11":"tag-storm","12":"tag-weekends","13":"tag-winter","14":"tag-zoos"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}On supporting science journalism<\/h2>\n
It\u2019s Time to Stand Up for Science<\/h2>\n