Cameron Park Zoo shares info about flood waters, the effect on wildlife habitats

Cameron Park Zoo Director Brendan Wiley took 25 News through the bird habitats this week, which have some new hatchlings still in the nest.

He shared some information on just how much the birds like the recent rain.

Fortunately, the flooding hasn’t affected them.

“We haven’t seen any adverse effects — we’re on bluffs while it’s been wet no problems caused by rain," Wiley said.

He says some animals love the mud.

“Animals like rhinoceroses enjoy it, so often on sun packed earth, they like the mud," Wiley said.

“They’ll get out and wallow — they enjoy a good soaking.”

The tortoises enjoy the water — they have no problem trudging through the mud.

“They inherently know how to deal with weather — they just roll with it," Wiley said.

The monkeys aren’t too fond of the rain, so they go inside.

Wiley says the Cameron Park Zoo uses 220,000 to 380,000 gallons of water a day.

The rain is helping by filling up the wet areas.

“It’s kept streams and ponds full — it’s helped clean pathways, but we’re ready for things to dry out a little bit," Wiley said.

That’s great news for the birds, especially the newborn babies.