MOUNT VERNON – Swinging gibbons, curious monkeys and wide-eyed lemurs at D.E.W. Animal Kingdom on Route 41 will soon have a new place to hang out.

At the top of the winter to-do list at the kingdom is a new monkey barn.

The park, owned by Bob and Julie Miner, houses domestic, exotic and wild animals. Many have been rescued from unsuitable owners; others are purchased from zoos or other organizations. The animals co-exist in neighboring exhibits enclosed by more than 18,000 feet of chain-link fence.

The Miners have begun to prepare for the upcoming cold weather, and with that, the park is only open by appointment until spring. But money generated from donations and admissions during the regular season is fueling a slew of new projects, including the monkey barn.

On a recent visit, Julie motioned to their older structure. “This fits our needs for now,” she said, “but we’re always interested in improving. We want to give the best for our animals.”

Their new structure will not only hold monkeys and similar critters but will serve as home to other creatures during the wintertime, such as their ostriches, or the Miners’ latest addition: a male zebra named Zebakanezer.

The zebra came from a Virginia zoo. “We had to build part of the barn on short notice so we’d have a place to keep Zeb, and we did it in five days,” Julie said.

Along with the barn’s completion, the Miners are looking for other ways to improve. “We’re steadily trying to make everything a little bit better,” Julie said.

The Miners said they would love to enhance the lives of all their creatures, not just the barn dwellers.

“We’d also like to get more toys for all our animals, more stimulation.”

Their black leopard – “a leopard,” Julie noted, “not a panther” – lazed in the sun, and swayed its tail back and forth like an overgrown house cat. “It’s not that the cats are bored, it’s just that we have a lot of them, and there’s always room for improvement,” she said.

Acclimating

Do the animals like winter? Julie talks enthusiastically about the upcoming season.

“The tigers love playing in the snow, and they love the cold. Siberian tigers are just that: Siberian.”

The tigers, Tyka and Teniqua, “once it’s not so hot, they get real active. It’s fun to watch,” she said, describing how they romp and play during snowstorms.

Julie also speaks of how their animals from warmer climates react to the cold. Put simply, they adapt.

She stopped in front of the African lion enclosure. “Although the Serengeti is boiling during the day, the night temperatures can get down to around 32 degrees. A cub brought to Maine when he’s very young can adapt to and be prepared for a colder temperature drop for the rest of his life.”

This does not mean animals can immediately survive a switch from central Africa to western Maine.

“An adult lion can be fine for, say, an Ohio winter, because they’re a little bit warmer. But Maine? It gets bitter here. The key is giving a young animal time to adapt.”