Skating flamingos, swollen elephant ears in frosty German zoos

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2006

BERLIN (AFP) — German zoos locked up tropical animals including zebras, antelope, flamingos and elephants to protect them from frigid temperatures throughout the country.

"The elephants would get chilblains on their ears and the flamingos would start ice-skating on the frozen pond," said the director of the zoo in the northwestern city of Osnabrueck, Wolf Everts, explaining the dangers of leaving African animals in sub-zero temperatures.

And the animal park in the western city of Gelsenkirchen imposed a lockdown for its sensitive inhabitants.

"There are patches of ice in our African savannah where the zebras and antelope could slip and fall," zoo spokeswoman Sabine Hass said Tuesday.

She said the zoo's three lions were free to roam, however, because...