Zurich’s naked mole rats cuddle up against the cold
Published: Wednesday, Jan 17th 2024, 11:00
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The naked mole rats at Zurich Zoo are particularly cuddly at the moment: they huddle together in large groups to ward off the cold. If that's not enough, a naked mole rat can be used as a living heating pad.
The naked mole rats at Zurich Zoo never have to freeze. Temperatures in their enclosure are between 25 and 32 degrees. However, the naked animals, which are considered the ugliest in the world, can still cool down because they are unable to regulate their body temperature.
To prevent this, they have developed a cute tactic: they cuddle in large groups of up to 25 animals, sometimes piling on top of each other to form a pink pile.
"We have already received reports from excited and worried visitors that the naked mole rats are all dead," zookeeper Marco Brunner was quoted as saying in a press release issued by the zoo on Wednesday. "We then reassure them and explain that the animals simply like to cuddle, even in large numbers."
The living hot water bottle
The naked animals can barely breathe. However, they do not have to die because of this. They can survive for up to 18 minutes without oxygen. The animals fall into a kind of shock paralysis with a lower heart rate and lower oxygen demand.
If the animals get too cold despite the mass cuddling, a naked mole rat is chosen as a living hot water bottle. It then sprints through the corridors, heats up and lies back in the cuddly heap to keep its fellow animals warm.
©Keystone/SDA
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