Dozens of animals – including gorillas, orangutans and chimpanzees – died in the zoo in the German city of Krefeld, following a fire that hit the monkey sanctuary. The guardian.
Police said the fire was caused by illegally launched Chinese lanterns that landed in flames on the scene.
Several witnesses reported lanterns flying in the city on Tuesday night. Three lanterns with handwritten messages were found near the zoo grounds, according to a police spokesman.
The alert was given at 12:38 am local time. When firefighters arrived at the scene, they found that the monkey sanctuaries were being consumed by the fire, which eventually damaged its structure.
In a publication in Facebook, the zoo reports that only two animals in that enclosure survived the tragedy and were slightly injured: the chimps Bally and Limbo.
Beside, the gorilla enclosure was not damaged. A silver male popular with visitors named Kidogo and his family survived.
Opened in 1975, the 2,000-square-foot enclosure housed ten great apes, as well as smaller monkeys, tropical birds and bats. In total, German media report that more than 30 animals have been killed. However, this number has not yet been confirmed by the zoo.
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