When the mercury reaches above 40, Tilly the parrot begins to pant, and the staff at Wagga's Botanical Gardens zoo and aviary know it is time to turn the sprinklers back on.
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More than the usual heat management concerns that plague the zoo at this time of year every year, now the staff are having to monitor animal respiration during the smokey conditions.
"Animals are similar to humans. It's not one species that struggles with the smoke any more than another, it's an individual response," said Henry Pavitt, council's parks and strategic operations manager.
"It does come down to age too, like with humans the younger ones seem to be more susceptible to smoke. We're definitely watching the juveniles."
Among the newest inclusions in the park are several deer fawn who were born before Christmas.
The council has made the decision to close the zoo and aviary at 3pm on any day that exceeds a 40-degree forecast.
"We don't want animals to be in distress, so closing it early helps us to be able to monitor what the animals need during the heat of the day," Mr Pavitt said.
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Newly-installed sprinkler systems are also being used around the aviaries as a means of keeping the bird population cool.
"After lunch, [the staff] give the sprinklers a flick to give some relief to the birds," Mr Pavitt said.
"Especially since they're there under the metal roofs that really hold the heat in."
Garden horticulturist Louis Reid is one of the staff tasked with turning the sprinklers on and off when required.
"Having the zoo closed gives us that chance to get around to all the birds and animals to spray them down if they need to be," Mr Reid said.
"Most of them are native [Australian] so they're pretty used to the heat, the parrots deal well with it.
"You do notice when the kangaroos are hot, they will lick themselves so it looks like sweat, and a lot of the birds will start panting."
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Those animals that do not originate in Australia, however do cause considerable concern.
In particular, the zoo's newly-arrived alpacas that hail from the cold heights of Peru.
"We're keeping an eye on them and keeping the sprinklers on there for them," Mr Pavitt said.
"There are three new young ones that have come to us from Canberra, we've had them since early December and they're adapting well."
To manage the onslaught of summer's heat, the grounds have also been refurnished with shady trees and shrubbery.
"We've established more grass and trees, and making sure they have readily available troughs of water," Mr Pavitt said.
"It might mean they need an extra trough or for it to be topped up and cleaned more regularly to make sure they're getting plenty of water."