Some animals dead, keepers needing treatment for smoke inhalation.. London Zoo closed after 70 firefighters sent to battle blaze
That's quite a few firefighters! It must be a massive blaze. How sad for the aardvark, and the meerkats. I do hope they're found. I have an understanding of the air quality issues associated with fire firsthand as we in California are still battling what is now the states largest fire in history! Smoke inhalation can occur even if you're not very close to the fire. I have a dust mask in my car, though I'm honestly not sure how much good it does. Good luck! I hope they put it out soon.
Melia, I've had a baby meerkat in my home, when daughter worked in one zoo, she used to do night feeds for baby's of all kinds of animals... So would bring them home sometimes, my house has seen a lot of strange animals lol Sad news on the zoo though.
That's really sad... as if zoos aren't sad enough already. The poor animals don't deserve that, and the firefighters get gold stars for fighting the blaze... hope all is well.
Makes me think of a John Irving novel, "Setting Free The Bears." I went to London Zoo once in the last few years. The Gorillas looked so sad. They were intelligent enough to know what they were. That they were a spectacle for observation. You could see it in their eyes. Me and my girlfriend had to leave.
I also believe in conservation not spectacle. There are places where wild animals are attempted to be rehabilitated and sometimes that is not possible. So the only choice is living in captivity. Those places take donations but that is NOT a zoo. Places like Sea World say it's for conservation it's not.
I feel the same way and can't bear to visit a zoo... last time I did was in Washington DC in about 1985... truly sad scene...
When I saw the first reports of the fire, I immediately thought that a fryer had been left on in the cafe the previous evening. Once the extract system was turned off and the doors closed for the night, fat vapor would build up until the whole lot reached flashpoint. This could have been when the oil evaporated to expose the fryer elements. This scenario causes dozens of restaurant fires every year, including the incident back in the 60s where the building flashed as air entered when firefighters broke the front window and 2 firefighters were killed. I suppose that even if my theory is correct, their will still be a few 'nut jobs' who will claim that it was deliberate.
