That's one way to cool off! Elephant gets hosed down at UK zoo on hottest May day ever

Published: 01:39, 27 May 2026 | Updated: 01:58, 27 May 2026 As Britain basked in the hottest May day ever, animals at zoos across the country had to find their own ways to battle the heat. At Chester Zoo, where the mercury hit a scorching 30 degrees yesterday, the Asian Elephants were hosed down by zookeepers to keep the giant animals cool. Adorable pictures show one female elephant enjoying a drink from the hose as she was drenched in water. Meanwhile, one of the male elephants at the zoo was spotted swimming in the enclosure's pool. Elsewhere, one of Chester Zoo's most famous residents - Inka the Jaguar - was one cat that is not afraid of water as she decided to take a dip in her pool while enjoying a refreshing watermelon snack.  The black rhinos didn't go for a swim to fight the heatwave, and instead they were given sips of water through a hose by zookeepers.  Thankfully, for the animals at the zoo, a break in high temperatures is expected to bring showers to the area with temperatures set to reach a high of 25 degrees.  Adorable pictures show one female elephant enjoying a drink from the hose as she was drenched in water One of the zoo's male elephants enjoying a swim  One of the zoo's resident jaguars, Inka, enjoys a cool watermelon snack as she takes a dip in her pool  A black rhino at Chester Zoo enjoys a sip of water during yesterday's scorching heatwave No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.