Five Sisters Zoo Park Five Sisters news 2012-2013

Tunanta said:
I hope the Springhaas wasn't in there. Well obviously I hope as few animals as possible were in there but she is a particular favourite of mine. This is the tropical house they were just finishing off months of work on, re-doing the whole thing. The owner was due to go to Trinidad shortly to collect new species for the new enclosures (according to the thread about the work on the reptile UK forum).
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I hope so too - quite a lot of rarities were in that building, including the above mentioned springhare, ornate monitors and Northern sugar glider. :(

Not terribly hopeful though.
 
Very upsetting news. On a personal level, because I'm visiting in a few weeks and was looking forward to seeing the new developments, and on a general level, because I've seen that Five Sisters has grafted so hard over the last ten or so years to continually develop, improve and establish themselves on limited resources/cash/visitors whilst in the shadow of far more showy collections (and done a good job of it).

Here's hoping they can use their obvious skills and enthusiasm to bounce back from this disaster in due course.
 
I'm so gutted by this news, they've worked so hard.

Each time they post on their facebook page it is just getting sadder and sadder.

As well as the occupants in the reptile house they have lost their male otter and all, but two of their meerkats. Devastating.

*** Their last two postings

Fire at Five Sisters Zoo
The tragic fire which broke out in the early hours of Sunday 14th April has devastated us all at the zoo. We have lost so many of our beautiful and precious animals, reptiles and fish, and the pain and hurt we all feel is too bad to put into words. We are however extremely touched and humbled by the many donations and kind offers of help that we are receiving. At the moment we cannot reply to everyone but we want you all to know what this means to us that so many people, both friends and strangers have taken the time to be so kind and for sending their support.
Brian & Shirley Curran

A huge thank you to everyone for your kind words today, especially for the loss of our beloved male otter and all but two of our meerkats.
 
*Edit. Apologies for duplicating info from previous posts, my internet froze while I was trying to post at the same time as the previous. ;)

Indeed any collections worst nightmare :(

From what I am told at present the entirety of the reptile house collection perished; snakes, monitors, spiders, sugar gliders, fruit bats etc. I know the Spring Hare was in there last year but don't know if it still was before the fire. Also a male otter and most of the meerkats, being in the path of the smoke, perished from smoke inhalation. The female otter is being cared for by vets and keepers, as are two meerkats. Conflicting stories say some of the meerkats are missing, possibly out through a tunnel, but people close to the zoo said tonight that all but two died. Miraculously two dwarf crocodiles were saved as they were deep in their pool.

As our nearest 'neighbour' collection we offered our sympathies and available space as temporary accommodation should it be needed.

If anyone wishes to help, a fundraising facility has been set up for donations;

Five Sisters Zoo Fire Fund | Five Sisters Zoo | Get up close and personal at West Calder's premier wildlife attraction | A Gallery of Some of Our Animals
 
Shorts said:
I'm seriously not trying to be controversial or insensitive here, and maybe I'm naive of how things work in the "zoo world", but I'm curious -shouldn't insurance cover rebuilding, restocking and consequential loss?
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Possibly but I know isurance can take a while to pay out. Also, people were asking for some way they could help the zoo.
 
There is talk on the facebook page that a snake or snakes were not in the reptile house at the time because of the work so have survived.

I think at the moment no-one is 100% sure of anything really though.

I think part of the fundraising is because people are thinking about it being the last day of the school holidays up here so it would probably have been busy. Insurance won't cover loss of takings I wouldn't have thought? That could be problematic depending on how long they are closed for. Raised funds could also help with immediate costs of anything that needs to be done quickly to secure exhibits/rehome animals whilst needed etc.
 
This is truly tragic and my sympathies go out to the keepers and owners, must be heartbreaking and I hope all animals that are saved go on to survive despite their injuries.
 
It does look like ornate monitor and springhaas are some of the animals that died :(
R.I.P to all the animals that have died
 
ThylacineAlive said:
Amen.

I wonder what the zoo will do now to move on from this tragedy...

~Thylo:cool:
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It is certainly going to be very hard for them obviously, a fire in a zoo is one of the worst things that can happen in any zoo, but I think it is much harder for a small collection like this to pick up the pieces.

The last UK zoo fire I can remember was the tragic Giraffe House fire where I think two or three Giraffes died. But any loss of animal-life in a fire is truly awful, whether that is a giraffe or an Iguana.
 
Five Sister are opening over the weekend, entry will be free but with the chance to donate to the fire fund:

We have decided that the Zoo will open for this weekend only from 10 - 5pm on both Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st April. There will be no admission charge but should anyone wish to donate towards the fire fund there will be facilities to do so around the Zoo. Members of staff will be on hand to answer any questions or concerns that anyone may have as a result of the fire. We look forward to seeing you.
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Open weekend -
 
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