For animals from tropical places that call the Changchun Zoological and Botanic Park in Northeast China's Jilin province home, how can they survive during the long and freezing cold winter? Here are some tips from their caretakers.

Tip 1

Keep warm as much as possible.

This is a universal truth. But, we can't turn on central heating and count on the animals to keep themselves out of the cold. They deserve customized treatments.

Keepers have to put electric heaters in gorillas' dormitories, and if the temperature continues to drop, keepers will provide sack-made duvets for them.

Hippos love being in the water, always. They spend up to 16 hours a day submerged in rivers and lakes to keep their massive bodies cool under the hot African sun.

However, in Jilin, keepers have to maintain a water temperature above 10 degrees Celsius to keep these hippos warm.

Tip 2

Offer a higher calorie diet.

This is another universal truth. But we can't simply feed them meat for a hot pot meal in Changchun. They deserve customized and carefully cooked food.

Cooks have added sunflower seeds and peanuts which are excellent sources of essential fatty acids for primates.

Lions and tigers have high-fat foods. Herbivores have no other choice but to eat more, and they will also get extra sugar from their keepers. Elephants and gorillas are required to eat onions and cloves of garlic to prevent them from getting a flu or cold.

Tips 3

Provide extra care if needed.

We can't simply ignore the fact that animals can look after themselves as good as those in the wild. They deserve special care when delivering babies or in some other circumstances where they are vulnerable.

Keepers keep a close eye on the newly-born baby giraffe to keep the dormitory warm and to ensure the baby has a healthy diet. Tigers, black bears, and wolves are all required to stay indoors over night.

So, these survival tips are simple and easy, and most are simply to keep warm and eat more. But most importantly, it's clear that the animals at the Changchun Zoological and Botanic Park have received special care from their keepers over the long and freezing winter.

A chimpanzee makes a funny face in response to a visitor at the Changchun Zoological and Botanic Park. [Photo/xinhuanet]