A tragic zoo fire sparked by sky lanterns let go to celebrate the new year killed at least 30 animals at the Krefeld Zoo in Germany.
The AP reports: “The zoo near the Dutch border said its entire ape house burned down and more than 30 animals — including five orangutans, two gorillas, a chimpanzee and several monkeys — were killed, as well as fruit bats and birds. Only two chimpanzees were able to be rescued from the flames by firefighters. They suffered burns but are in stable condition, zoo director Wolfgang Dressen said. … The zoo said the Gorilla Garden, which is near its devastated Ape House, didn’t go up in flames and that gorilla Kidogo and six other members of his family are alive.”
Said zoo director Wolfgang Dressen to the media: “It’s close to a miracle that Bally, a 40-year-old female chimpanzee, and Limbo, a younger male, survived this inferno. We have to seriously work through the mourning process. This is an unfathomable tragedy.”
