Over the retiring week , Irma hasredefined our expectationsof how powerful a hurricane can be and left destruction in its wake : the once - class 5 cyclone roared through the Caribbean , leaving1 million people in Puerto Rico without power , and caused significant implosion therapy inMiami , Naples , and many other persona of Florida . It was hard enough for veteran hurricane oldtimer to hunker down for the tempest , and adding the thou of animals from Florida ’s zoos and melodic theme green into the equivalence made preparations even more difficult . But bloody did Floridians tear it off .
The tourism industry has a whopping$67 billion impacton the Sunshine State ’s economy . Much of the Johnny Cash from touristry fall from Disneyworld , Busch Gardens , SeaWorld , and myriad other theme common , almost all of which feature some sort of beast draw . Thankfully , many of Florida ’s zoological garden and parks had design in post to keep their animal safe , and some were fairly creative . This was n’t their first brush with a hurricane , after all .
Gatorland , a popular attraction home to 2,000 of Florida ’s most notorious reptiles , really wanted to ensure the public that its house physician had no plans to escape during the storm .

“ This is n’t our first rodeo , ” Gatorland park conductor Mike HilemantoldThe Huffington Post on Saturday . “ We have a detailed hurricane function in place . We have double fences , a tumid perimeter fence that get going around the entire belongings . ”
The video below shows park employees moving their endearing critters to condom before the storm :
https://www.facebook.com/0/videos/10156797018408066/

Down in Key West , the Monroe County Sheriff ’s Department had an interesting solution to relocate the critters in the brute farm it mesh , including sloth , emus and more . harmonize to KHQ News , the sheriff ’s department relocated the 250 animals in its concern to local jail prison cell .
The Monroe County Sheriff ’s Department could not be reached for commentary at this time , but perhaps this headlinebest encapsulatesthe position :
In case where animals did n’t have a squad of dedicated employees to aid them , locals step up to assist . After Irma literally sucked the water out of the Sarasota Bay , a group of rescue workers and residents in the aptly - named Manatee Countyhelped two strand ocean doggos(read : Trichechus manatus ) . accord to ABC , the teammoved the creaturesabout 100 G tight to water , as they seemed to be suffering .

“ One was n’t moving , the other was breathing and had weewee in its eye , ” Michael Sechler , who helped move the manatees , wrote in aFacebook military post . “ My protagonist and I could n’t move these massive animals ourselves , and we called every service we could think of , but no one reply . We gave them as much piddle as we could , hoping the pelting and tempest surge come shortly enough to keep them . ” allot tosomereports , the animals were finally moved to deep enough piss where they could swim off .
Gizmodo has touch out to Sechler for further gossip .
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plausibly the most iconic photograph of animals weather Florida — well , Florida ’s weather condition — come from flamingo . There are somefamous shotsof flamingoes huddled in theZoo Miami bathroomsafter Hurricanes Andrew and Floyd . This time around , Miami ’s largest zoo moved its flamingoes into a concrete inclosure — quite an upgrade .
“ We do n’t evacuate our animals since hurricanes can change direction at the last minute and you start the risk of evacuate to a more dangerous location , ” the zoowrote on Facebook . “ Furthermore , the stress of moving the animals can be more unsafe than devolve on out the storm . The animals that are considered grave will rest in their secure dark star sign , which are made of pour concrete and welded metal . ” Gizmodo has reached out to Zoo Miami for update on the animals .
Florida ’s principal concern will continue to be check that that its many occupant are secure with superpower restitute . Zoo animals have teams in place to aid them , but many stranded animal will need help in the aftermath of Irma . If you ’re looking to help out , you’re able to donate to theHumane Society ’s Disaster Relief Fundor ascertain with your local animal eudaimonia organization aboutfostering an animaldisplaced by the violent storm .

AnimalsHurricane IrmaScience
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