Omega Park was in a state of near panic earlier this week as fires raged close to the enclosures of some of the world’s most endangered animals.
Marketing and Commercial Director for the park, Jeanett Bech, described to The Resident the threat that the ever-approaching fire was posing to the safety of the animals, whom the park has worked so hard to keep safe. “We have already evacuated all the red limurs,” she explained, “as well as Toa, our extremely rare Sifaka, some of our macaques and our bamboo limurs.” As Jeanett spoke to The Resident the bombeiros were actually in the car park in front of Omega Park desperately trying to halt the blaze, which was nearing Omega at a “frightening pace”. Six keepers were on hand, ready to tranquillise the animals if a full evacuation became necessary, and Tana the hippo and Gondor the cheetah were tucked away in houses within their enclosures, ready to be moved. “We will only evacuate all the animals once the fire actually reaches the park,” explained Jeanett. “It is so stressful for the animals to be moved, that we will only resort to those measures if absolutely necessary.” At the time of going to press, the animals were still at risk and the fires were still blazing uncontrollably on the outskirts of Omega Park.
