Because it snowed: Animal enclosure has a very special surprise for its penguins

Springfield (Missouri/USA) - Could it get any sweeter? It snowed in the US state of Missouri on Thursday. A reason for the staff at the "Wonders of Wildlife" aquarium to put on their winter coats and give their charges a little treat!

The 18 penguins in the enclosure had a kind of walking day: the birds and their keepers went outside to a fenced-in area.

A young woman named Luna reported this enthusiastically on X: "There was six inches of fresh snow in my town and the aquarium let the penguins out to play in the snow!"

And "Wonders of Wildlife" itself also shared some videos of the extraordinary outing on TikTok : "We celebrated the snowfall in the only way we know how: with a penguin snow day!"

And the birds obviously enjoyed it to the full. They spent several hours playing enthusiastically in the drifting snow, waddling curiously across the grounds or simply lying down in the soft white and letting the sun shine on their bellies.

Ben Houghton, an employee of Wonders of Wildlife, explained to Springfield News Leader that such outings create "realistic situations in nature" for the animals "that they can explore".

Unfortunately, this doesn't often happen. This was only the third snow day for the penguins outdoors; the last time they were allowed outside was in 2022.

This is because the weather conditions for such a day have to be perfect to ensure that the animals are safe outdoors. Among other things, this means that temperatures must remain cold for several days and not fluctuate too much to ensure a hard floor.

However, this is rarely the case in Missouri, Houghton continues.

So it's all the better when it finally works out. In any case, the Penguins were overjoyed. "Their joy compensates for the fact that I almost froze to death while filming," joked one employee under one of the videos.