Fires in Gironde: a jaguar, a gibbon and 20 birds from the Bassin d’Arcachon zoo welcomed by African Safari near Toulouse
Some of the animals at the Bassin d’Arcachon zoo, in La Teste-de-Buch, had to be evacuated to preserve their health following the fires in Gironde. The Zoo African Safari, in Plaisance-du-Touch near Toulouse, participated in the rescue of animals and welcomed some of them to its premises.
Two fires have been ravaging the Gironde for more than a week. The Zoo du Bassin d’Arcachon, at the difficulty Teste-de-Buch, found itself in question of the dense smoke of the forest fires. The animals were in danger and risked inhaling toxic fumes. The French Association of Zoological Parks (AFdPZ) has therefore contacted several zoos that are part of the association in order to provide assistance to the animals.
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African Safari: Welcome Zoo
From then on, the African Safari zoo in Plaisance-du-Touch, in Haute-Garonne, organized itself to help. Elia Bald is the animal park’s communication assistant, she testifies to the smooth running of the operation: “The AFdPZ contacted us to participate in the rescue, around five people have been on site in the last 48 hours to recover the animals. Everything has developed well. For the moment they are all in good health, they are monitored every day to check that their condition is not deteriorating”.
A total of 370 animals were evacuated from the Bassin d’Aracachon zoo and repatriated throughout France. Unfortunately 14 of them died during the transfer, as the AFdPZ explains in a press release.
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A jaguar already visible to the public
For its part, the African reserve to the west of Toulouse is better organized to accommodate around twenty birds, a jaguar and a gibbon.
“The veterinarian has studied the reception capacities of the zoo so that it is not overwhelmed, explains Elia Bald, we welcomed them being sure of our capacities and the quality of our structures”.
This reception remains temporarily “until the situation improves”. This is an emergency rescue procedure that the Plaisance-du-Touch zoo had never found before. However, it seems to be a total success.
The animals have been placed in suitable structures, the jaguar is already visible to the public in its enclosure. The other animals “are not yet visible to preserve their tranquility and limit their stress”, explains the communication assistant.