Chester zoo is on fire

[KathrynOfArrogance]

And I really want to go and help the animals but I know they wouldn't let me anyway!
People are important too but the poor animals must be so so stressed!
AIBU to want them to escape :(

No I'm worried too! My partner said "they will get them out" I shouted to him where exactly! It's not like they can instruct them to congregate in the car park is it! I think it's the chimp house too which makes me feel even more sad because they are so intelligent they must be so scared :(

Oh god that's awful

Terrible! Hope they are able to rescue the animals

What?! I hope they manage to put it out soon and no one (human or animal) gets hurt!

It's the monsoon forest

The fire is in the Monsoon Forrest which, apparently, houses crocodiles, snakes, a tortoise, a hornbill, etc. Poor animals, they are making every effort to get them to safety.

They said on Twitter that they are working on evacuating all the animals.

you don't want the animals to escape.
that would be a death sentence!
hopefully they manage to relocate them quickly and safely and that the damage isn't too bad.

Oh No

I hope all the animals are saved

I can’t imagine an escaped crocodile or snakes would be a good thing, OP!

They have contingency plans that they rehearse for these kind of events. The fire has happened in daylight when the park was open, they will have responded very quickly.

fingers crossed all are evacuated safely

There is a post on FB from a visitor who saw the orangutans being led to safety, all carrying blankets

There seems to have been a huge number of fires at zoos recently. Could they be they linked or just poor maintenance?

Do fire fighters have specific training for zoos? As in will they go in if there are wild animals not secured?

Hope all involved are ok. Poor animals.

The zoo has said that their staff are working alongside the firefighters.

tropical house = heating and water/humid air
electrical fires very easily possible.
plus with this cold they might have extra fan heaters running to keep the animals warm.

and yes, zoos often struggle with money, so maintenance will be patchwork.

Monsoon Forest is the bit where you get rained on isn't it? It's like a big dome.

That part of the zoo is only a couple of years old

Chester Zoo isn't like some of the other shitty zoos in the UK. They don't cut corners and they care about their animals.

Not sure about patchy maintenance, that wasnt my experience of working in tropical houses where maintaining temperature is important for the collection. Chester is one of the better zoos so I truly hope that's not the case.

How on earth do you evacuate animals at a zoo? Where do they go??

I used to volunteer at a small zoo that struggled financially and problems were patched up, not done properly.

I have been to Chester and it is very well built and maintained, some of the enclosures are really fantastic for their animals.

The staff all seem really good and the animals are used to them

Do firefighters have specific training for zoo’s? I very much doubt it but staff at the zoo will have procedures in place for what to do if there is a fire, the same as you would in any work place.

I hope all the animals are ok ☹️