Prague zoo reopens after floods - some animals still traumatised

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Prague zoo reopens after floods

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,5056437%255E1702,00.html

September 08, 2002

 

PRAGUE'S zoo opened today for the first time since being submerged by last

month's record floods, albeit with a host of empty cages once inhabited by

animals now dead or traumatised.

 

As visitors trickled back, the empty cages signified the losses suffered

when raging floodwaters caught zookeepers off guard, making them unable to

save all the creatures in their care.

 

Despite the warm and sunny weather, the zoo received only 800 visitors - a

meagre amount when compared with a record 16,000 visitors on June 1, zoo

spokesman Vit Kahle said.

 

Michal Prochazka, a 28-year-old car salesman, arrived at the zoo early with

his five-year-old daughter.

 

" I salute those heroes who managed to save the animals, " he said.

 

About 1,000 animals were moved to higher ground or evacuated when rising

floodwaters overwhelmed about 50 per cent of the zoo grounds on the

low-lying outskirts of Prague last month.

 

The 71-year-old zoo suffered about $US4.8 million ($A8.91 million) in

damages and repairs could take up to three years, Kahle said.

 

In the frantic rescue effort, animals were dragged, carried, led, put on

trucks and even lifted from the water by cranes.

 

About 90 animals - including an elephant, a gorilla, two hippos, a bear, a

lion and dozens of birds - died from drowning, trauma, injuries or

move-related stress.

 

Four zoo gorillas were so traumatised by the evacuations they remain in

another zoo 100km away in Dvur Kralove nad Labem.

 

" Our four gorillas still keep moving to higher ground because of the shock

from rising waters, " Kahle said.

 

" It would be too dangerous for them to come back.

 

" They certainly remember the shock they suffered here, " Kahle said, adding

that they would never return.

 

However, some animals, particularly the elephants, seemed to have recovered

well.

 

" At first they didn't want to return to a place they experienced that

drama, " Kahle said.

 

" But gradually they realised the water had receded and didn't threaten them

any more. "

 

Employees and as many as 100 volunteers a day worked to reopen as much of

the zoo as possible.

 

" We tried to do our best to allow people to come again to see that our

animals are not suffering any more, " Kahle said.

 

" And of course, we wanted the zoo to be as lively a place as before. "

 

He conceded, however, that things were still far from normal.

 

Many roads remain closed because of the damage inflicted by water and mud,

making the zoo difficult to reach by car.

 

Many of those who reached the out-of-the-way zoo grounds were eager to see

the playful sea lions, several of whom escaped during the floods and swam

long distances down swollen rivers.

 

The Associated Press