NAPLES, Fla. — The Naples Zoo will be closing early from Wednesday, August 9th to Friday, August 11th, due to extremely hot temperatures and heat indexes.
MOST ACCURATE FORECAST: Sweltering heat continues
The facility will close its doors at 1 p.m., and the last tickets will be sold at noon on all three days.
“It’s for the animals, it’s for the staff and for the visitors,” said Jack Mulvena, the president of the Naples Zoo.
Zoo staff told ABC7 that precautionary measures have been put into place in order to ensure animals’ safety, including baths, sprinklers, pools, shaded areas and staff that monitor each animal’s health.
“From a heat standpoint, it doesn’t get too hot for the animals. The benefit we have strategically is we have an animal collection that’s subtropical because of the heat. You will never see a red panda at the Naples Zoo because we recognize we have a climate we want our animals to thrive in,” said Mulvena.
Beginning on Saturday, the Naples Zoo will open earlier than normal, at 8 a.m., which should alleviate some of the heat-related problems for visitors.
“We are hoping those early hours of the day are good to beat the heat…and it’s cooler in the morning for everyone,” added Mulvena.
Hours are considered fluid and will be updated depending on future temperatures.