He is not yet two weeks old, and yet he ventures outside on these winter days: Mook Uhm, the little elephant who was born on Christmas Eve in Artis. The Amsterdam zoo posted a video on social media showing ‘Mook’ – his name is derived from the Thai word for pearl – rolling and frolicking through the snow and feeling it with his trunk.
The snow makes many residents of Artis especially curious, says a spokesperson for the zoo. Most animals can choose between their indoor or outdoor habitat. Monkeys in particular prefer to stay indoors, as they are cold. Caregivers in Artis are extra alert at low temperatures: for example, they pay attention to ice formation in enclosures with water barriers, such as lions, small-clawed otters, lemurs and golden-cheeked gibbons – they are not intended to escape through the ice. “These animals will therefore spend the night in their indoor enclosure.”
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