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Ice Pops Cool Down Monkeys in Brazil at a Rio Zoo during a Rare Winter Heat Wave

A spider monkey opens its mouth as frozen fruit is served at the BioParque do Rio amid a heat wave in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. (AP)
A spider monkey opens its mouth as frozen fruit is served at the BioParque do Rio amid a heat wave in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. (AP)
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Ice Pops Cool Down Monkeys in Brazil at a Rio Zoo during a Rare Winter Heat Wave

A spider monkey opens its mouth as frozen fruit is served at the BioParque do Rio amid a heat wave in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. (AP)
A spider monkey opens its mouth as frozen fruit is served at the BioParque do Rio amid a heat wave in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. (AP)

Upon spotting a zookeeper laden with a bucket full of fruit-flavored ice pops, black spider monkeys in Rio de Janeiro’s BioParque gracefully swung their way towards him on Friday, chattering excitedly.

While it's technically still winter in Brazil, with spring due to start on Saturday, a heat wave has engulfed the country since the beginning of the week, causing humans and animals alike to eagerly greet any chance of cooling down.

“Normally they get a break from the heat in the winter, but it’s been so hot. They have even shed their winter layer of fur,” said zookeeper Tadeu Cabral, who handed out some treats, while others were scattered around.

The ice pops are part of the monkeys’ well-being program. They provide thermal comfort, and dispersing the popsicles in different locations also stimulates their behavioral need for foraging.

For the monkeys, the ice pops are watermelon, pineapple or grape flavored. But for Simba, the zoo’s lion, the ice treat is made up of blood or minced meat.

Koala the elephant, now more than 60 years old, was rescued from a Sao Paulo circus in the 1990s. She wrapped her trunk around the block of frozen fruit, placed it under her foot and squashed the treat, before slurping it up.

To cool her down even more, a zookeeper sprayed Koala with a hose.

“Elephants love water. She also throws mud on her back to protect herself from the heat and parasites, like mosquitoes. When wet, the mud layer gets thicker and helps her even more,” said Daniel Serieiro, a biologist at the zoo.

Carlos Acuña, a tourist from Costa Rica, looked on as Koala was sprayed with water.

“It’s great that they’re showering her, that they are making her feel comfortable. The heat is so intense,” he said.

Temperatures are due to exceed 40 C (104 F) in Sao Paulo state and the central-west and north regions, according to the National Institute of Meteorology.

Abnormally high temperatures, caused by global warming, increase the risk of wildfires. On Thursday, firefighters in Brazil’s northeastern Bahia state battled flames fanned by strong winds.

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Letter Written Onboard the Titanic before It Sank Sells for Almost $400,000 at Auction

This undated handout picture provided by the auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son, England, shows a lettercard, penned by one of the Titanic's most well-known survivors from onboard the ship days before it sank, which has sold for 300,000 pounds ($399,000) at auction. (Henry Aldridge & Son via AP)
This undated handout picture provided by the auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son, England, shows a lettercard, penned by one of the Titanic's most well-known survivors from onboard the ship days before it sank, which has sold for 300,000 pounds ($399,000) at auction. (Henry Aldridge & Son via AP)
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Letter Written Onboard the Titanic before It Sank Sells for Almost $400,000 at Auction

This undated handout picture provided by the auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son, England, shows a lettercard, penned by one of the Titanic's most well-known survivors from onboard the ship days before it sank, which has sold for 300,000 pounds ($399,000) at auction. (Henry Aldridge & Son via AP)
This undated handout picture provided by the auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son, England, shows a lettercard, penned by one of the Titanic's most well-known survivors from onboard the ship days before it sank, which has sold for 300,000 pounds ($399,000) at auction. (Henry Aldridge & Son via AP)

A lettercard penned by one of the Titanic's most well-known survivors from onboard the ship, days before it sank, has sold for 300,000 pounds ($399,000) at auction.

In the note, written to the seller's great-uncle on April 10, 1912, first-class passenger Archibald Gracie wrote of the ill-fated steamship: “It is a fine ship but I shall await my journeys end before I pass judgment on her.”

The letter was sold to a private collector from the United States on Saturday, according to auction house Henry Aldridge & Son in Wiltshire, England. The hammer price far exceeded the initial estimate price of 60,000 pounds.

The letter is believed to be the sole example in existence from Gracie from onboard the Titanic, which sank off Newfoundland after hitting an iceberg, killing about 1,500 people on its maiden voyage.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge described it as an “exceptional museum grade piece.”

Gracie, who jumped from the ship and managed to scramble onto an overturned collapsible boat, was rescued by other passengers onboard a lifeboat and was taken to the R.M.S. Carpathia. He went on to write “The Truth about the Titanic,” an account of his experiences, when he returned to New York City.

Gracie boarded the Titanic in Southampton on April 10, 1912, and was assigned first-class cabin C51. His book is seen as one of the most detailed accounts of the events of the night the ship sank, Aldridge said.

Gracie did not fully recover from the hypothermia he suffered, and died of complications from diabetes in late 1912.