Gabrielle Russon
A family of orangutans suddenly had new, interesting neighbors at Tampa’s zoo thanks to Hurricane Milton.
In advance of Hurricane Milton, a massive effort went on behind the scenes at Florida’s tourism attractions from ZooTampa at Lowry Park to Walt Disney World to get ready.
In two days, ZooTampa employees relocated about 400 animals into their night houses to protect them from the strong hurricane that pummeled Florida Wednesday night into the early Thursday hours. For some zoo animals, it meant getting paired with different critters from their normal habitats.
Twelve staff members rode out the storm at the zoo.
“It was all hands on deck,” said Tiffany Burns, senior director of animal programs. “It really was a team effort where everyone comes together to really ensure the zoo is set for the storm.”
All the animals are safe and doing OK, Burns said Thursday afternoon, as the zoo assesses the damage, like broken fences, and decides when it can reopen to the public again.
Meanwhile Disney World parked some of the monorails inside the Contemporary Resort and covered lights in the Magic Kingdom, according to reports.
Disney said in a statement Thursday, “We’re grateful Walt Disney World Resort weathered the storm, and we are currently assessing the impacts to our property to prepare for reopening the theme parks, Disney Springs and possibly other areas on Friday, October 11. Our hearts are with our fellow Floridians who were impacted by this storm.”
At ZooTampa, some animals, like the alligators, survived on their own just fine. The zoo lowered the water levels in alligators’ pool in anticipation of the heavy rain to prevent flooding. Nobody wants an alligator on the loose.
Other animals got moved into better shelter indoors.
And so the family of six critically endangered orangutans ended up in their indoor nighttime habitat. They had their favorite possessions with them and a place to climb. But more curious were the new birds located in the hallway nearby.
“We have very intelligent animals, like our orangutans, that know immediately when something is different,” Burns said. “This time we added in some different birds and things that they’re not used to seeing. They were able to watch and observe.”
