As winter comes, animals must adapt to a number of changing conditions, often by transitioning to an entirely new everyday routine.
Tortoise species native to temperate zones, for instance, have evolved to enter a kind of dormancy called ‘brumation’ for the cold months.
Brumation involves a massive reduction in body temperature and vital functions such as heart and respiratory rate and a total break in eating.
Hermann’s tortoises brumate by burrowing themselves in the ground at a level where they can maintain a body temperature of 2 to 5 °C.
In order to help them do so, we have provided them with an easy-to-dig layer of soil by mixing earth and hay, and a wooden house to shelter them from adverse weather conditions.
Then, eventually, warmer weather will draw our shelled friends out to eat and mate.
Debrecen Zoo and Amusement Park
