How Has The Miami Zoo Protected Its Large Animals

More than 50 Caribbean area flamingos take shelter in a men's restroom at the Miami Metrozoo (at present Zoo Miami) on Sept. 25, 1998. Zookeepers rounded up the birds to protect them from the furnishings of Hurricane Georges. This was non the first time the zoo had to corral flamingos in a restroom. They were also in there during Hurricane Andrew, six years earlier. Max Trujillo/Getty Images hide explanation

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Max Trujillo/Getty Images

More than 50 Caribbean flamingos accept shelter in a men'south restroom at the Miami Metrozoo (now Zoo Miami) on Sept. 25, 1998. Zookeepers rounded upward the birds to protect them from the effects of Hurricane Georges. This was not the first time the zoo had to corral flamingos in a restroom. They were also in there during Hurricane Andrew, 6 years before.

Max Trujillo/Getty Images

When you're edifice a zoo disaster programme, there'south one thing to keep in mind: Irish potato'south law. If annihilation could go wrong, it will.

Just ask the flock of flamingos that weathered Hurricane Andrew in a public restroom at Zoo Miami in 1992.

Or you could inquire the zoo personnel across the coast who've been running emergency drills since the start of hurricane flavor.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which represents more than 230 animal care facilities in the U.S. and abroad, requires all of its members to practice an annual disaster preparedness drill to keep their accreditation. And many facilities review or update their protocols every year, including Zoo Miami, which is now buckling down as Hurricane Irma approaches Florida.

Meal prep

The skeleton of a zoo disaster plan is similar across the board: Staff members remove loose droppings from the park, tarps and signs are taken down, generators and gas tanks are prepped. Cleaning supplies and nutrient for animals and staff are stockpiled in advance — basically anything the zoo tin can ready to operate without any outside assistance.

Facilities will also often choose members of a ride-out crew: select facilities staff, fauna nutritionists and other key team members who will bunker at the zoo through the tempest. Lee Ehmke, CEO of the Houston Zoo, says 15 squad members stayed on the first night of Hurricane Harvey last calendar month.

"We were sleeping here at the zoo, on cots or on the floor," he says. "We prepared food so everyone was fed ... There was a lot of radio and Internet communication to make sure the correct diets were given to the animals."

Backups for your backup

Beyond the standard operating procedures, emergency protocols vary somewhat from zoo to zoo — something AZA spokesman Rob Vernon says is intentional.

"We don't necessarily say, 'Hither's the plan, simply insert your name hither,' " he says. "We definitely have guidelines, but we leave it up to each facility to come up upwardly with their own plan considering each one is unique."

Rich Toth, vice president and managing director of downtown facilities at the Audubon Nature Constitute, says they have several tiers of energy at the ready — including primary power, secondary power and backups for the fill-in.

And because the Audubon likewise oversees an aquarium, which faces dissimilar challenges than its zoo in disaster situations, it needs those extra safety nets.

A penguin rescued in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina swims in its onetime habitat in the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas on May 22, 2006, after returning to New Orleans following an viii-month refuge in California. Mario Tama/Getty Images hide caption

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Mario Tama/Getty Images

A penguin rescued in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina swims in its old habitat in the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas on May 22, 2006, subsequently returning to New Orleans post-obit an eight-calendar month refuge in California.

Mario Tama/Getty Images

When Hurricane Katrina striking New Orleans' Audubon Aquarium of the Americas in 2005, information technology knocked out the emergency generator, killing a big portion of the aquatic collection.

"While we did have some fish brand it, the animals that made it were nigh all our air-breathers, if you lot volition," Toth says. "So our bird collection, including our penguins. Our sea otters were fine. Our big green body of water turtle."

He says staff members were able to pack up and temporarily relocate those animals to other AZA zoos and aquariums later the storm passed, but it's tougher when you're dealing with fish. For 1, water is heavy — only too, a fish's respiration and bodily functions greatly depend on the h2o it's already in. So, for the most part, information technology's all-time to just endeavour to conditions the storm in-house.

"Nosotros are never going to evacuate"

In grooming for Hurricane Irma this calendar week, Zoo Miami's plan is to stay put, too, says communications director Ron Magill. The reasoning, in part, is considering the path of hurricanes can change quickly, and transporting an fauna could actually mean moving information technology into more danger.

"That's probably the No. 1 question I become asked: 'Oh my God, when are you going to evacuate animals?' Nosotros are never going to evacuate animals," Magill says.

He says the stress of evacuating alone can be plenty to kill an animal. Instead, the birds and small mammals of Zoo Miami will ride out the storm in independent kennels or buildings. The larger residents, peculiarly the carnivores and great apes, will stay in their usual indoor property areas.

"Those dark houses are fabricated of poured concrete, welded metal, to withstand the force of the animal itself," Magill says. "And fortunately, information technology'south as well strong enough to withstand the strength of a major hurricane."

The zoo has reserved in accelerate a freezer and refrigerator truck, a do it picked up after Hurricane Andrew blew away its walk-in freezers and refrigerators, Magill says.

That element of adapting is key when preparing for disasters at animal care facilities — learning from past surprises to amend prep for the time to come.

Zoo Miami's former aviary, Wings of Asia, for case, was decimated by Hurricane Andrew, despite the staff'southward prior grooming.

"Although the netting for that asylum was tested for 150 mph winds," Magill says, "it was not tested to be able to withstand the bear on of a mobile home that was picked up in those winds and launched into the aviary similar a torpedo."

Wings of Asia was where Zoo Miami took its greatest losses during Hurricane Andrew, which killed nearly 100 birds. Throughout the residuum of the zoo, Magill says, only five animals died.

A very large family unit

In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, several zoos and aquariums reportedly brought supplies and assist to facilities that were heavily affected by the tempest — including the Texas Zoo in Victoria.

Officials from the Houston Zoo, Zoo Miami and the Audubon Nature Plant confirmed that kind of collaboration is common in the customs.

"The AZA-accredited facilities in particular are a very big family," Vernon says. "Information technology's incredible to see people willing to drop everything and come downward to Texas and assist in whatsoever style they need it."

Merely that community extends beyond ensuring the welfare of their animals. A major priority for zoos after natural disasters is their staff members, some of whom might accept lost everything in the storm or flooding.

"Many of them did take significant damage or may have actually lost their homes in the flood," Ehmke says, "including a number who spent time here helping accept care of the animals and the facility while their personal belongings were in danger."

"We're going to do what we tin to assistance our employees as nosotros get a clearer picture of the extent of their losses," he says.

In response, the AZA has set up a Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund across its network to raise money for employees and their families affected by the storm and flooding. Vernon says the system will probable establish a similar fund after Hurricane Irma, should it striking any AZA facilities.

"We became a better zoo"

Looking ahead this week to Hurricane Irma, Magill says information technology unfortunately isn't Zoo Miami's first rodeo. Simply having survived previous disasters, he is confident the zoo and its animals will come out OK.

"For a lot of people — and I'm speaking for myself in Andrew — the zoo became almost a haven for u.s.a.," Magill says. "We became a better zoo. And equally bad every bit this storm looks, I know nosotros'll be able to make information technology through this as well."

Source: https://www.npr.org/2017/09/07/548981618/flamingos-in-the-men-s-room-how-zoos-and-aquariums-handle-hurricanes

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