They must temporarily be transferred to the parking lot of the Pessac zoo, on the outskirts of Bordeaux.
More than a thousand animals will be evacuated in the next few hours from the Arcachon basin zoo in Teste-de-Buch (Gironde), from where thousands of people are also leaving due to fumes fires, the French Association of Zoological Parks (AFdPZ) told AFP.
“Following recommendations from the authorities, we will do our best to evacuate all animals from the Arcachon basin zoo. Crating operations for transport have begun“Said the director of the French Association of Zoological Parks (AFdPZ) Cécile Erny.
“A unique operation”
“Veterinarians and trainers are also beginning to arrive from several zoos in the territory with vehicles, transport boxes and veterinary equipment to help evacuate the animals and ensure their safety and well-being.“, she clarified.
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Like a Noah’s Ark, the animals, some of which are more sensitive to smoke, such as primates, will then be transferred to the parking lot of the Pessac zoo, on the outskirts of Bordeaux, “the time the cloud of smoke passes“, continued the director of the association based at the zoo of Beauval. “It is a one-of-a-kind operation. There is a strong professional mobilization“, according to Cécile Erny. At the city’s racecourse, there are plans to evacuate 370 horses to Bordeaux or Pau, according to Céline Bobacher, a manager, who describes “a gray sky, a very thick fog, like a time of war”. At 4:00 p.m., no animal had yet left the Teste-de-Buch zoo, where the Operational Command Post (PCO) of the firefighters is also located.
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Some 8,000 people are in the process of “preventive evacuation” of two districts of this commune, had announced a little earlier the prefecture. “La Teste is not threatened by the flames. On the other hand, the neighborhoods are really in the process of being smoked“, explained to AFP the lieutenant-colonel of Sdis 33 Arnaud Mendousse.
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