Jun 27, 12:02 AM
Rome’s zoo has found a simple answer to a very Italian problem: too much heat
At Bioparco, frozen fruit, chilled pools and air-conditioned shelters are doing the work that the city’s summer infrastructure clearly cannot.
Rome has entered one of those summers that make the city feel less like a capital and more like a test of endurance. At Bioparco Zoo, the answer has been pragmatic rather than heroic: frozen fruit, vegetables, fish and ice treats for giraffes, hippos, tapirs, capybaras, lemurs and seals, plus cooled pools and indoor shelters for the species most vulnerable to the heat.
Forecasts for the Italian capital pointed to 36 to 37 degrees Celsius, while the Ministry of Health issued its highest heat warning as a prolonged heatwave spread across much of the country. Italy, which so often likes to present itself as a place of style and ease, is once again dealing with the less glamorous reality of summer: overheating, warnings and a fair amount of improvisation. The zoo’s staff have at least made the improvisation look organised.
Yitzhak Yadid, the zoo’s zoological supervisor, said that some amphibious species need air-conditioned shelters or water-cooling systems to get through extreme temperatures. The seals are kept in pools below 25 degrees Celsius, a detail that says a great deal about modern urban life: even the seals now need climate management. One can almost admire the efficiency, if not the broader circumstances that make such measures necessary.
The cooling arrangements are not just about survival. The zoo says they also serve as environmental enrichment, keeping the animals active while reducing the strain of prolonged summer heat. That is a tidy phrase for a rather basic truth: when the weather becomes hostile, good management matters. In this case, it means cool water, frozen snacks and shelters that work.
There is something faintly revealing about the scene in Rome. A public institution is doing what public institutions ought to do — adapting sensibly, spending effort where it counts, and avoiding drama. In a country where heatwaves are becoming a recurring administrative problem, Bioparco’s response looks less like novelty than competence. Which, in Italy, still counts as a small victory.
Written by Andreas Hofer andreas.hofer@alpineweekly.com
