Zoos and conservation centers hunkered down Friday to protect their wildlife, including rare and engendered species, as deadly Hurricane Irma appeared on track to strike South Florida this weekend.
At the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society in West Palm Beach, workers began moving smaller animals into facilities that doubled as hurricane shelters on Wednesday morning, said Communications Director Naki Carter.
“Our goal is to have all the animals safe and sound and moved to their appropriate locations by [Friday] night, with a final walk-through of the zoo on Saturday,” she said Thursday evening.
The zoo’s tiger, jaguar, bear, and Komodo dragon populations would be staying put, she said, because their habitats already double as hurricane shelters.
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“They will be locked inside of those shelters before the storm comes,” she said, adding that the zoo’s storm team would continue monitoring the situation.
That team of up to six people will remain on the ground throughout the storm, based in the zoo’s Animal Care Center, the largest hurricane shelter at the facility, she said.
“That is our command center, that is also our surgery and triage center,” she said.
The zoo has a total of more than 150 animals, 30 percent of which have already been relocated to the center, she added. Among the relocated animals are birds, smaller mammals, howler monkeys, dingoes and turtles.
Carter said the zoo had about ten days of food on the ground generally for its animals, with about a month’s worth of food for its larger animals. The zoo also has made arrangements to get additional food in once the storm passes, she said.
Workers were boarding up windows, and there were hurricane shutters and hurricane-proof glass in place throughout the 23-acre facility as well.
“We are prepared for the worst and hopeful for the best, we are preparing for a Category 5 to make direct impact with our zoo,” she said.
Meanwhile, Zoo Miami put out a statement Wednesday saying they also do not evacuate their animals in response to hurricanes “since hurricanes can change direction at the last minute and you run the risk of evacuating to a more dangerous location.”
“Furthermore, the stress of moving the animals can be more dangerous than riding out the storm,” the zoo said on its Facebook page.
Animals considered more dangerous will be kept in secure night houses made of concrete, the statement said, adding that those animals survived the devastating Hurricane Andrew 25 years ago unharmed.
Additional food, water and generators were ready to go, the statement added.
News of the hurricane conjured images of wildlife riding our previous storms from public facilities instead of their enclosures, like the iconic image of more than 50 flamingos taking shelter from Hurricane Georges in a men’s bathroom in 1988.
As of 6 a.m. on Friday, Miami was about 46 hours from feeling the first effects of the storm, which has been blamed for at least nine deaths.
And at the Rare Species Conservatory Foundation in Loxahatchee, founder and president Dr. Paul Reillo said Thursday night that he and other staff members would ride out the storm with the hundreds of rare and endangered animals cared for at the non-profit.
“We’re with them every step of the way,” he said. “You can’t crate them and walk away — our prime directive is to save lives here.”
The foundation had boarded up all of its structures and was preparing to bring its small animals indoors beginning late Friday or early Saturday morning, depending on the path of the storm, he said.
Some larger animals would have to ride out the storm in their outdoor spaces, Reillo said.
“We have large African antelope here and unfortunately they cannot be caught up and put in small spaces they’re out in their environment and hopefully they’ll hunker down and be fine,” he said.
Reillo said many zoos and centers can’t evacuate their animals because there are just no available facilities that can house the large numbers needed and give them the special care many of them, especially endangered species, need.
“The animals in our care are endangered species, they require very special care — facilities are not provisioned to do that on normal day, much less in an emergency,” he said. “We’re kind of stuck with riding these things out.”
Reillo also said many wildlife facilities were under a waiting game of seeing just where and how severe the Hurricane would strike.
“A mile or two can make a huge difference for a wildlife facility, and it’s not just the stress on the animals of catching them up, but then realizing you have to have enclosures to release them into after the storm passes,” he said.
And facilities in the area would work together to help others in need after the storm, he said.
“We work as team and do whatever we can to save lives,” he said.
“It’s our life’s work, it’s not about the people — this is bigger than us,” he said. “It’s about believing that wildlife deserves a chance for the future, we should do all we can to prevent extinction.”