Duval County

Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens helping animals, people beat the heat on $5 admission day

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens hosted its $5 admission day on Wednesday, and with very hot weather in the forecast, zoo officials are making sure visitors, as well as the animals they come to see, are safe.

Zoo officials tell Action News Jax with the heat advisory in place, water stations will be provided for visitors, and of course, the animals also have easy access to water. They say they hope this all helps them beat the heat.

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“Our animals have a choice to either go in or outside,” said Kelly Rouillard, the zoo’s director of marketing and sales.

Rouillard said their animals don’t have to stay outside all day.

“They can go into a cooler sometimes air-conditioning room as well. Our wellness team keeps an eye on them and monitors their behavior,” Rouillard said.

RELATED: Not record-breaking, but hottest temps in more than a year

Wednesday was forecast to be very hot. According to the Action News Jax First Alert Weather Team, by the afternoon it will be in the low 90s and the feels-like temperatures will be in the 100s.

We will top out at 96 degrees for the forecast today, with feels-like temperatures of 110 degrees.

Because of this, Rouillard said they are taking even more precautions when it comes to their guests by having water stations throughout the zoo.

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“Zoo’s and aquariums across the nation who are experiencing high heats like us do the same,” Rouillard said.

But these hot temps aren’t stopping people from taking advantage of the $5 day.

Jessie Sherrod traveled to Jacksonville from the Big Apple.

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He said he’s interested to see how the Jacksonville Zoo is compared to Central Park Zoo in New York City

“Just enjoy the day they said. Five dollar day was a special day because it’s 5 dollars. This my first time here at the zoo, I’m from New York, to see if it’s any different from the New York Zoo,” Sherrod said.

According to zoo officials, as of just after noon Wednesday, they had already sold 6,000 tickets thanks to the discounted $5 admission.

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