APPLE VALLEY, Minn. -- The moose at Minnesota Zoo now have waterbeds as part of a research project on the impact of heat stress.
Zoo conservation biologist Dr. Nick McCann said moose had been on mats topped with straw in the zoo holding area.
"The rubber mats may be insulating the moose. They may not allow heat to be conducted away from their bodies to the ground below," said McCann, who is the author of the study. "One of the questions we will ask in this study is whether the waterbed will be better than the rubber mat at conducting the heat because water is an excellent conductor of heat."
Two of the zoo's five holding area stalls were outfitted with the large waterbeds to fit the moose. The Minnesota Zoo moose will be rotated through the holding area stalls each day, with data collected from animals on waterbeds and on rubber mats.
The study's objective is to determine how the air temperature, bedding surface, humidity, solar radiation and other factors combined signal to the moose that it is "hot." Researchers are will compare how hot moose are when bedded on the waterbed surface and the rubber mats.
ADVERTISEMENT
KARE-TV reports preliminary results will be ready by this winter.
The beds were donated by Wisconsin-based Advanced Comfort Technology Inc., which manufactures cow waterbeds.
