Tigers rescued from house fire

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Firefighters responding to a house fire at 02.51 on Monday morning in Quezon City, Manila were stunned to find a number of exotic animals being held there.

These included five tigers, two Burmese Pythons, three Indian Starred Tortoises, several fighting cocks, four dogs and a number of cats. Only the fighting cocks were killed in the fire. The fire was quickly put out due to the rapid response by the firefighting team.

All of the animals were said to be in good condition and the tigers were securely held in a 50 by 15 feet enclosure. Although the animals were legally held under Philippine legislation they were not meant to be accommodated within the city and had been transported there illegally.

The animals were owned by Robert Co who was not at home when the fire occurred. He now faces investigation for contravening the Wildlife Act and to see what other laws may have been broken.

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Animals Die In Zoo Fire

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The loss of life in any fire is tragic. To me it seems all the moreso when it involves trapped animals, unaware of what is going on and unable to escape. I recollect several zoo fires over the years, some accidental and some arson.

An alarm was raised at 04.00 Friday at the Karsruhe Zoo in Germany. Sadly it was already too late to save 26 animals which perished in the fire in the petting zoo. These included ponies, goats, sheep and alpacas.

The alerted zoo staff hurried to the zoo and were able to move other animals, which included the elephants and hippos away from the blaze.

The combined efforts of 100 firefighters and zoo employees were able to get the spreading inferno under control and prevent further loss of life.

I am sure I speak on behalf of the world zoo community in saying how sorry we are to the staff of Karlsruhe Zoo.

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Chimpanzees and Fire

Strange to relate that on the 6th January we had the story below posted by New Scientist and today we have the fire in the chimp enclosure in Wellington Zoo. Happily it was an unventful incident but one from which both Wellington and all of us can learn. I often wish that there was some sort of 'fire door' to release animals. My stomach churns when I think of Zoo Fires. I know of several and all ended in tragedy. There should/must be some sort of fire risk assessment done on all zoo buildings and enclosures. It is all very well hanging up fire extinguishers and notices on what to do but can the animals reach them? Or read? What happens in the wee small hours? Is there an alarm fitted? Does your zoo have a night watchman? Food for thought! - Peter

Photo By: http://www.flickr.com/photos/compasspoint/2115431356/

Chimp's dance suggests a mental grasp of fire

Chimps have been reported dancing in rainstorms – and now it seems our closest relation has a "fire dance", too. A dominant male chimp performed such a dance in the face of a raging savannah fire in Senegal.



Anthropologist Jill Pruetz of Iowa State University in Ames recounts that the male faced the fire with "a really exaggerated slow-motion display" before redirecting his display at chimps sheltering in a nearby baobab tree. Barking vocalisations from the male, never heard in more than 2000 hours of monitoring the group, were also heard.



Pruetz and co-author Thomas LaDuke at the East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania suggest that the chimps were cognisant enough to predict the fire's movement, retreating short distances at a time while staying calm. Other animals, in contrast, panic when fire approaches.



"If chimps with their small brain size can conceptually deal with fire, then maybe we should rethink some of the

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Zoo Chimps Discover Fire
 
A fire at Wellington Zoo's chimp cave started after the heating was turned on to warm up the chilly primates.




The blaze, at noon yesterday, was thought to have started from an electrical fault in one of the cave's heating pads – turned on so the chimps could ward off Wellington's cold summer weather.



Zoo spokesman Matt Kennard said all 11 chimpanzees were in the enclosure when the fire started but none were injured.



"They quickly moved away through natural instinct when they smelled the smoke."



The fire service attended the blaze, which was put out within

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A MUST FOR ALL ZOOS - Fire safety risk assessment: animal premises and stables: Animal Premises and Stables