Worth noting that, sadly, the flock of around 16 Gambian Epauletted Bats which died in the fire were the only ones in Europe.
Zoo Krefeld Fire at Krefeld Zoo
- Thread starter Najade
- Start date
So tragic and heartbreaking to loose a species from zoological facilities in Europe because some selfish idiots with no common sense think their own fun and celebrations are more important than respecting other people, animals and property, or respecting totally reasonable laws for that matter.
The specific Chinese lanterns implicated in this fire have been forbidden since 2009 in the region. They have caused more unwanted fires before. They are still allowed in other parts of Germany, so they are not very difficult to get.
The bats you were forgetting (just a minor detail)!
I do hope they will be able to swiftly determine the cause and how it could destroy the building with all the unfortunate animals that perished in the fire so quickly.
Locally, it remains to be seen how they can move forward after the above with the original plans for new Great Ape House!
The best thing for people to do is to support their Zoofreunde appeal for this new House and get the funding in place for this to become a reality!
Finally, again mein Beileid zu den Krefelder Zoo-Arbeitern: ein harter bitterer Pille der denen noch lange im Trauer beeinhalten werde.
According to the article below and others, after the press conference earlier today several suspects apparently turned themselves into the police and are being questioned.
[URL="https://www.zeit.de/wissen/2020-01/brand-affenhaus-zoo-krefeld-verdaechtige"]Krefeld: Mögliche Verursacher des Affenhausbrandes melden sich[/URL]
Krefelder Zoo: Brand zerstört Affenhaus – Verdächtige melden sich - WELT
At least some people have to decency and common sense to report themselves for their (possible) wrongdoing. If only they had had the decency and common sense not to mess around with illegal Chinese lanterns in the first place...
I really hope the Krefeld police can get together a case against these people and bring them to justice. I hope the people responsible for the zoo fire will be spending many years in prison and will be made to pay extremely severe fines and damage payments. This tragic case should be made an example for those who mess around with and/or abuse Chinese lanterns, fireworks and other dangerous and unnecessary "celebratory" crap to do damage or cause suffering.
[URL="https://www.zeit.de/wissen/2020-01/brand-affenhaus-zoo-krefeld-verdaechtige"]Krefeld: Mögliche Verursacher des Affenhausbrandes melden sich[/URL]
Krefelder Zoo: Brand zerstört Affenhaus – Verdächtige melden sich - WELT
At least some people have to decency and common sense to report themselves for their (possible) wrongdoing. If only they had had the decency and common sense not to mess around with illegal Chinese lanterns in the first place...
I really hope the Krefeld police can get together a case against these people and bring them to justice. I hope the people responsible for the zoo fire will be spending many years in prison and will be made to pay extremely severe fines and damage payments. This tragic case should be made an example for those who mess around with and/or abuse Chinese lanterns, fireworks and other dangerous and unnecessary "celebratory" crap to do damage or cause suffering.
Yeah, those are some pretty depressing news to wake up to.
Do you (or others) know if Cologne is investigating on how to prevent the same thing happening to them? Losing another bunch of great apes as well as all the species in the Hippodom would be terrible...
Do you (or others) know if Cologne is investigating on how to prevent the same thing happening to them? Losing another bunch of great apes as well as all the species in the Hippodom would be terrible...
Both articles only state that several potential suspects turned themselves; however, these could just be pathological attention seekers
Given the current legal system of Germany, that's rather unlikely. Tax evasion, though...
Mind you, I did not see any other sources from this than the guys at the Dutch Zoo Inside podcast, who while not being within the zoo world themselves do have connections in there and are generally well-informed, but not always right.
I don't think that was mentioned in any official reports, and I haven't read anything from other zoos than condolence messages.
I do hope that zoos will take this tragedy into account, consider this matter in their safety planning and think about how they can maybe prevent such an event from taking place again in the future. It is unlikely (unfortunately) that fireworks are going to be banned in the near future and even when it is illegal people will still be using Chinese lanterns and fireworks, so terrible accidents like this could happen again, especially in a time when abuse of and mischief with such materials seem to be on the increase.
Seems it is not better in Germany than it is in other countries.
What would they realistically get if they caught them?
Or, of course, people who did set off lanterns in the area and - although possibly not the culprits - cannot be sure whether or not this is the case and felt the need to confess.
We may never know for sure who precisely was responsible.
As much as I want the wrongdoers in this case brought to justice and made to answer and pay for their actions, I agree that it is sadly somewhat unlikely. Even if they were able to identify everyone in the Krefeld region who set off lanterns, they might not be able to prove exactly whose lanterns caused the zoo fire. I don't think a court of law would be able (or willing) to convict all of the identified lantern launchers without good evidence. Unfortunately the criminal case might well end up classified for lack of evidence.
We will have to wait and see what the results of the criminal investigation will be. I am not going to give up hope that someone might be made to answer for this tragedy just yet.
On another note, I have been reading that charity accounts have been set up for people who want to donate to the zoo in the aftermath of this tragedy. One can hope that at least something good can come out of this with regards to the future of the zoo...
Andrew Swales
Well-Known Member
Surely all structures with flammable roofs are at risk from air-borne naked flames, be they in a zoo situation or elsewhere. Wooden buildings, fences and decking, trees, aviaries made from nylon netting, cars with petrol in tanks... Deliberately releasing naked flames into public areas, is arson....
Apparently that is not regarded as such when it comes to fireworks (which are also dangerous explosives and contain heavy metals), at least in many places and/or part of the year. Even the wretched Chinese lanterns are still legal in many places.
Why should it be better? After all, Germany is run by the same kind of politicians and lobby groups as the rest of the Western world...
I'm not a lawyer; if I were to guess (if they do find the culprit) - a fine for buying and using an illegal lantern in public.
Andrew Swales
Well-Known Member
Fireworks are at least designed to go off in the air and what comes to ground is usually pretty dead when used professionally. It is odd that the public are allowed to buy and use such explosives with little or no restriction. The lanterns are different, they are designed to carry an unprotected naked flame. Releasing them is a deliberate, calculated act and the results in no-way could be called an unintended consequence.
Just wait what the lawyers are going to conjure if it does come to a trial: traditional cultural background, religious beliefs, mental instability / shortcomings, drug influence etc...we've all seen that spiel before. And if they get the "right" judge - they might even charge the zoo for not taking better precautions.
To be honest, building a roof of an enclosure out of highly flammable materials does sound a bit like me decorating the baby-room with firelighters... there have been smarter discisions made?
Still, of course, a great tragedy to all involved. What a massive loss
Was this species breeding or already on its way out? From ZTL it looks like the species went into a decline and disappeared from other zoos just a couple years ago, and a colony of 16 is smaller than what they had in the past. Just curious; either way the lives lost is tragic.
Most collections keeping the species sent their stock to Krefeld to get a proper colony going, if I recall correctly - and sadly, it was actually working too, with regular breeding.