Dad's cologne will keep zoo's lions and tigers entertained

The lions and tigers at the Naples Zoo smelled merely like wet cats Sunday.

Today, if the rain stays away, they may smell more like Eternity for Men or Old Spice.

This weekend was the zoo's annual Father's Day weekend "Call for Cologne," where fathers who donate a bottle of cologne to the zoo get in free. The animals don't actually wear the cologne, rather it is sprayed in their enclosures to stimulate their sharp senses of smell, said Jayne Hardwick, the zoo's curator of animal behavior and enrichment.

"If you've ever been to a zoo and seen an animal pacing, usually that's a sign that an animal is bored," Hardwick said. "One of the big things we do is scent enrichment. An animal's sense of smell is so keen we can provide different smells for them in different places."

While tigers would probably never encounter the scent of men's aftershave in the jungles of India, Hardwick said the fragrances can be used year-round at the zoo to get them to exhibit their natural behavior.

"They might smell it and run away," Hardwick said. "They might roll in it to put their smell there instead. They might scent mark — basically spray it — to try to erase that smell."

Zoo officials said they collected about 45 bottles of cologne through Sunday afternoon.

The cologne was used in "Meet the Keeper" talks highlighting the African lions, Indochinese tigers and spotted hyenas on Friday and Saturday. The talks were canceled due to rain on Sunday, and most of the zoo's visitors were gone by mid-afternoon.

Don Johnston, 58, of Miami tried to make the best of the rainy Father's Day at the zoo with his wife, Martha, 48, toddler daughter, Lilly, and infant foster son, Paul.

Although the Johnstons have been taking care of Lilly for years, they adopted her a few months back, so Sunday was Johnston's first Father's Day as an official father.

"I'm not that disappointed that it rained because I'm not a big sun person," Johnston said. "The rain is refreshing but we'll have to come back another time."

The "Call for Cologne" continues today, but for people who don't have an extra bottle of cologne in the medicine cabinet, a coupon is available at www.napleszoo.com . The "Meet the Keeper" talks are scheduled for 12:30 p.m., African lions; 2 p.m., Indochinese tigers; and 3 p.m., spotted hyenas.

"Hopefully the weather will be better," Hardwick said.