It’s hard to evacuate a zoo

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Zoo Director John Lewis said that winds were keeping banks of orange and white smoke away from the complex. He said most of the zoo’s 1,200 animals were put inside holding quarters and that staff was monitoring them.

He said there were no reports of animals getting out of control.

If the fire gets closer, he said that the staff would start soaking animal barns and moving smaller animals, like condors, into the parking lot for evacuation. He said the larger animals would remain at the zoo.

‘Capturing them would be more dangerous,’ he said, noting that the first concern was the safety of the staff.

-Paul Pringle