Wild Animal Park plans for fire threat

By: ERIKA AYN FINCH - For the North County Times | Saturday, November 8, 2003 12:16 AM PST ∞

SAN PASQUAL ---- As the Paradise fire crept closer and closer to the San Diego Wild Animal Park on Oct. 26, many people sat glued to their televisions and wondered, how do you evacuate elephants, zebras and lions?

According to the park, you don't.

While 200 birds, mammals and reptiles from the park's behavioral management division and bird sanctuary were evacuated to a fire-resistant veterinary hospital on site, the other 3,300 creatures were safest fending for themselves, said Christina Simmons, park spokesperson.

"These are wild animals with very specific environmental needs," Simmons said. "They don't like to be in restricted places. The exhibit areas have been constructed so they retard fire."

Simmons said park personnel keep brush away from the perimeters of the park and the large field exhibits are free of fuel for fire because most of the animals in the exhibits are herbivores. They eat any brush in their areas, essentially fireproofing their own homes.

Each exhibit is several hundred acres, Simmons said, making it difficult for fire to jump from one exhibit to the next, particularly with a lack of fuel. Simmons said the animals also know what to do in case of a fire.

"Theoretically, these animals are all from savannahs and wildfires are part of their environment," Simmons said. "They already have behavioral mechanisms."

The trainers and staff at the park have seen these mechanisms when the park has conducted controlled burns. Simmons said the animals react calmly during the burns.

"They just moved away from the fire," she said.

The park also has its own wells, making it easier for firefighters to battle any blazes that threaten the area.

As the fire approached the park on Oct. 26, several trainers spent the night to monitor the situation. By noon on Oct. 27, the park was closed and trainers began evacuating the park's "ambassador animals" ---- creatures used in park education and encounter programs.

Susie Ekard, animal training manager, was one of the trainers who stayed at the park Sunday night and took part in Monday's evacuation. She said her team moved 50 animals in 40 minutes.

"I can't tell you how proud I am of our staff," Ekard said. "Everyone was so good. We were very efficient and we worked as a team."

Evacuated animals included a cheetah, aardvark, porcupine and several African cat species such as servals and a caracal.

The animals were crated by seven trainers and driven to the park's veterinary hospital. All of the animals stayed in their crates except for the cheetah and aardvark, which were given larger enclosures. Staff and animals stayed at the hospital overnight and were taken home on the morning of Oct. 28 when they received the all-clear signal.

Thanks to constant training, Ekard said, the animals were not agitated nor were they upset about remaining in their crates.

"They reacted really well," she said. "Most of them are crated daily but they had to sit in their crates overnight. They were very calm and relaxed."

In fact, most of the animals regard their crates as a safe home, as was evidenced when Ekard and senior trainer Kim Caldwell brought out the caracal that was evacuated. The 33-pound tan cat with long black fur on the tips of its ears wandered around on a leash for a while, inspecting the foliage, before he sauntered back into his crate on his own.

In addition to the animals Ekard evacuated, 150 birds and condors also spent the night in the veterinary hospital. Ekard said the only problem throughout the night was Aarvan the nocturnal aardvark pacing in his concrete enclosure and keeping everyone awake.

Caldwell, who also assisted with the evacuation, said the trainers also grabbed records, documents, scales, food and toys before they left for the hospital. She said she was not worried about the other animals left in the park but was worried about the park's facilities.

"I was really worried about the park and all the mums," she said, referring to the 14,000 chrysanthemums that fill the park during the current Mum Festival. "Don't let the mums burn!"

During the days after the evacuation, as the fire still remained close to the park, trainers kept a careful watch on animals for changes in breathing or behavior. Primates, lions and tigers were kept indoors as a precaution against the smoke.

"We really didn't have much smoke out here and the animals were not nearly as jumpy as I thought they would be," Caldwell said.

The fire burned to within five miles of the park, Simmons said. The only animal emergency they had during the fire came from a pigeon that had respiratory problems but Simmons said they could not confirm that it was due to smoke inhalation. The bird was treated and recovered.

Ekard said the fire actually alleviated some of her concerns.

While the park does not conduct fire drills, they discuss evacuation plans regularly.

"Before this happened I actually had nightmares about not doing this right," Ekard said, "but now I feel a lot better."