Monday, faced with the intensity of the fire affecting the town of La-Teste-de-Buch, in Gironde, the prefecture ordered the emergency evacuation, and in a preventive manner, of the zoo of the Bassin d'Arcachon.
During the day, but also during the night from Monday to Tuesday, 363 of the zoo's 850 animals were "transported by special convoys escorted by the police to a security zone set up on the site of the zoo of Bordeaux-Pessac, located 65 kilometers from the Zoo du Bassin d'Arcachon, with the decisive assistance of the French Association of Zoological Parks and State Services, ”said the Ministry of Ecological Transition in a press release.
Other zoos will continue to welcome some of these animals on Tuesday, especially the most vulnerable.
In total, 100 keepers and veterinarians from other zoos and agents from the French Office for Biodiversity came to supplement the teams from the zoo in the Arcachon basin to save as many animals as possible and protect the site from the fire.
If almost all of the animals were saved, "a dozen unfortunately did not survive the high heat and stress", specifies the ministry.
Large animals kept in place
Firefighters and teams of animal caretakers from the zoo ensured the protection of the animals remaining on the site.
These are the largest animals, but they are not “directly threatened by the flames”, assures the prefecture of Gironde.
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Bordeaux
Fire
Zoo
Animals
Firefighters
Arcachon
Aquitaine