Caretakers worked through smoke and flames to move vulnerable species into secure, air-conditioned enclosures. Cooperation with nearby shelters enabled evacuations across the burned region.<\/p>\n
While dozens of people were fleeing the blazing fires in Spain, the staff at Safari Madrid focused on a more important mission: saving the animals.<\/p>\n
From birds and reptiles to large cats \u2013 all were in the line of danger and needed saving.<\/p>\n
When the flames closed in on the park, the caretakers stayed on site to move the animals into fire-protected concrete buildings with air conditioning. And as the sky turned orange and smoke filled the air, they sprayed the surroundings to slow the fire.<\/p>\n
Fires that broke out to the west of Madrid last week, sweeping across 131 square miles of territory, turned Safari Madrid into a stronghold of a regional animal-rescue effort for farms and shelters imperiled by the flames.<\/p>\n
Temporary Shelters and Rescue<\/p>\n
In San Martin de Valdeiglesias, about 70 km west of Madrid, the arena used for events was transformed into a temporary shelter for horses and ponies, donkeys and goats, cats and dogs, according to Mayor Ar\u00e1nzazu Povedano Fraguela.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Spanish Civil Guard escalated actions. On Instagram they posted a statement: \u201cWe will not leave anyone behind, regardless of species,\u201d accompanying it with footage from regional farms where horses and goats are being evacuated, cows and chickens are being calmed, and ostriches, camels, and crocodiles are being watched. Other videos show the rescue of companion animals \u2013 cats and dogs.<\/p>\n
We will not leave anyone behind, regardless of species.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Spanish Civil Guard<\/p>\n
Returning to Safari Madrid, in addition to its own roughly 1,000 animals, the park welcomed evacuees from Kuna Iberica \u2013 a nearby shelter that rescues injured or abandoned animals.<\/p>\n
With the flames drawing closer, Safari Madrid became the temporary guardian of the European lynx and the Iberian wolf, both of which had to be anesthetized during transport, as well as four vultures.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe evacuation plan was to move out everything they could, and everything that could be taken was removed,\u201d said Isaac Navarro, director of Kuna Iberica.<\/p>\n
The evacuation plan was to move out everything they could, and everything they could take was removed.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Isaac Navarro<\/p>\n
\u201cI have never encountered a situation like this; we have never faced a fire of this magnitude, and the evacuation was carried out with as much urgency as possible,\u201d Navarro added.<\/p>\n
After this, Kuna Iberica opened the gates of some enclosures so that part of the left-behind animals could temporarily escape, after which they were gathered again and cared for the following morning. Animals that cannot be released into the wild and are entirely dependent on human caregivers stayed nearby and quickly returned home when it became safe.<\/p>\n
It was close to ignition: the flames reached within 10 meters (32 feet) of the facility, but the animals were unharmed, Navarro says.<\/p>\n
At Safari Madrid, the flames eventually reached within 500 meters (1,640 feet) of the park before veering away.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the day we surveyed the burned area and extinguished a still-burning log that could flare up again,\u201d said the park representative Jose Luis Cano Becerro.<\/p>\n
For two nights, the caretakers carefully monitored the situation, and on the second night after the ordeal they felt safe, though always with some worry \u2013 but each day the situation improved.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, all the animals were saved \u2013 though some were a little unsettled by the extended confinement indoors.<\/p>\n
Although animals at Safari Madrid usually spend time in indoor enclosures during veterinary checks, for some the extended confinement there was a new experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome animals are a little agitated,\u201d said Cano Becerro. \u201cWe think that is because they had to stay inside so long and could not go out, which is unusual for their routine, especially the young Asian elephants, who are teens and a bit more restless, but it is not a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately there remains a bitter sense that the whole area, the entire region burned, but at least our animals are safe,\u201d said Navarro of Kuna Iberica, whose animals have since returned home.<\/p>\n
At Safari Madrid, the animals have also returned to their habitats, and the park is open to visitors again.<\/p>\n
Yet the smoke lingers, and the government calls on the public to stay vigilant \u2013 it may take some time before the caretakers can breathe a full sigh of relief.<\/p>\n
This example shows how rapid animal relocation and coordination between shelters help reduce suffering during disasters and demonstrate that no animal was left behind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Caretakers worked through smoke and flames to move vulnerable species into secure, air-conditioned enclosures. Cooperation with nearby shelters…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[25870,82,273,25871,25869,24445,25872],"class_list":["post-64117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-madrid","tag-animal-evacuation","tag-madrid","tag-news","tag-safari-madrid","tag-safari-madrid-wildfire-animal-rescue-spain-wildfires-animal-evacuation","tag-spain-wildfires","tag-wildfire-animal-rescue"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}