Honey ice-creams keep pandas cool in French heatwave

Yuan Zi ("chubby") a Chinese panda sucks an ice cube flavoured with honey and apple
in his enclosure at Beauval zoo in France. Source: AFP

TWO Chinese pandas in a French zoo are chilling out in the current summer heatwave with the help of honey and apple ice creams.

With temperatures set to touch 40 degrees Celsius in central France this weekend, Yuan Zi and Huan Huan have been enjoying the home-made treats as a supplement to their normal bamboo-based diet.

"Since Thursday we've been giving them ice cream that we make ourselves three times a day," said Rodolphe Delord, the director of Beauval Zoo.

"We also use cooling sprays and if it gets really hot they can go into their compound where the air conditioning is set at 20 degrees."

The two pandas have increased visitor numbers at the zoo by 50 per cent since their arrival from China in mid-February.

But the star attractions are not getting special treatment: all the other bears in the zoo are also enjoying daily ice creams.

-  AFP