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ATTLEBORO -- Attendance at Capron Park Zoo may drop when the temperatures do in winter, but behind the scenes the staff is under more pressure to provide care to the animals than during any other season.

While humans may be thinking just now about pulling out the heavy coats as temperatures begin to dip, the zoo started its winterizing checklist in June. The early start is crucial, director Jean Benchimol said, given the need to keep the animals - many of them native to the tropics - in warm quarters, a constant concern especially with older facilities and utilities.

That threat of animals freezing was all too real last winter as the heating system in the rain forest building faltered. The pieces for a new system started arriving late last month, said Rob Verzone, zoo operations manager. The plan is to keep the existing system up and running until the new system is installed and functional, he said.

The heating system, paid for through the city's capital improvements fund, will be located in a small addition outside the building with duct work running inside, so as not to disturb the exhibits and creatures, Brezone said.

Once the system is up and running, Benchimol, for one, will breathe easier, especially after the "big panic" last season. She was even on the phone checking to see if other zoos could take the rain forest inhabitants because was no additional space at the zoo with controlled conditions to put them. The plan is, when funds are available, to replace the 50-year-old heating system in the nocturnal building next; the administration building, the one housing humans, as Benchimol describes it, will be the last. "We can put on coats, the animals can't," she said.

The zoo has stocked up on heat bulbs and heat lamps and has some portable heaters. Administrators have learned to "stockpile" because, as they've discovered in the past, those things get sold out early on in the season, Benchimol said, adding, "This year we're a lot more prepared."

Brezone said a lot of his work is similar to homeowners' rituals for winterizing, including blowing out the irrigation pipes to keep them free of debris and cleaning out gutters.

Bales of hay and bags of shavings are being stored in anticipation of the long winter season. The material is needed so that the animals are not sleeping on cold concrete floors, Benchimol said.

Animal diets have already been bolstered with additional calories for the long winter haul. The lions, who may get 6 pounds of meat a day in the summer, are now getting 7 or 8 pounds. The sloth bears are getting a molasses-and-corn-laced mix added to their regular food. "It keeps the weight on them so that they're not using all of their energy to keep warm," Benchimol said. Otters are among the others that bulk up for the cold.

While the Tawny Frogmouth, an owl-like bird native to Australia, and the prehistoric-looking hornbills native to the rain forests of Borneo, have already been moved inside because of the cooler temperatures, a number of other animals are in and out of their exhibits during the winter, despite not being native to this climate. The zoo is open year-round to visitors who may be fortunate enough to see the lions frolicking in the snow - something the big cats were introduced to last season and had fun playing in, especially swatting the white stuff off the plants, Benchimol said.

Carolyn Eaton, an animal caretaker, said the lions, native to East Africa, particularly liked playing with a snowman built by the staff in their exhibit.

Most of the ponds within the exhibits have already been drained or lowered, including the one for the otters. Eaton said holes are punched in the remaining water when it freezes to allow the otters to swim. Others are drained so that pipes don't burst and so that animals do not fall through the ice or otherwise injure themselves.

When it snows, paths are made within the exhibits for many of the animals so that they don't get buried in the snow or break a leg while walking in it.

Vinyl curtains have been hung in the llama's entryway to try to keep some of the heat in the building since they venture out in the cold. The snow leopards, true to their name, also don't mind the cold, along with the muntjacs and the cranes, Benchimol said. All of the animals are locked inside for the night during the winter. One of the big challenges of the season is keeping the animals - both those in controlled-climate spaces and those that venture out for short periods - entertained. After all, they get cabin fever too, and that can lead to fights and the animals chewing on themselves, Benchimol said.

The staff has to be very creative to keep the animals amused.

Eaton has wrapped meat in newspapers and put them in plastic balls with holes that the lions play with. They also like chewing on bamboo, pine branches and pizza boxes, she said.

For the sloth bears which are native to Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh, she stuffs different boxes with crickets, much to the bears' delight.

"We use a lot of toys and boxes," said Eaton, who gets the recyclables from family members and the veterinarian's office where she works.

The North American river otters have their own balls and PVC tubes packed with smelt treats. "They need lots of toys," Eaton said. The rambunctious critters also like rawhide-like pigs ears and bamboo and playing in and around the log in their holding area. The ocelots, small leopard-like cats native to Central and South America, like to paw at feathers hung from the ceiling and bat around plastic boxes, "just like your own house cat," she said.

With captive audiences, it can make cleaning the holding areas a challenge. It's a juggling act, cleaning while the animals go outside for a short time, having to get rid of the used hay and shavings, washing the floors down and getting them dry - so that they're not wet and get cold - before the animals come back inside.

Eaton said the kangaroos, native to Australia and not particularly fond of the snow and cold, don't mind her working around them - "as long as I move slow." They are kept entertained in the holding areas with things like a punching bag and balls.

But with the shorter days and colder temperatures, it's always a race to get it all done, Benchimol said.

"It's more complicated in the winter than the summer," she said. "It's a matter of keeping the animals safe and warm and also keeping the exhibits functioning."

SUSAN LaHOUD can be reached at 508-236-0398 or at slahoud@thesunchronicle.com.