No species left behind: how Spain saved its animals from wildfire

By Hira Humayun, CNN

(CNN) — While scores of people were fleeing Spain’s raging wildfires, the staff at Safari Madrid had others to think about.

From birds, to reptiles, to large cats – all were in the path of danger and in need of saving.

As the flames swept closer to the safari park, teams of caretakers stayed behind to tend to the animals, herding them into airconditioned indoor concrete enclosures they hoped would keep them out of the fire’s reach. And as the sky turned orange and the air filled with thick gray plumes of smoke, they hosed down the surrounding areas to keep the flames at bay.

When the wildfires that raged west of Madrid last week scorched their way through 131 square miles of land, Safari Madrid was just one of the bastions that emerged in a regionwide effort to save countless animals from farms and sanctuaries threatened by the blaze.

In San Martin de Valdeiglesias, about 70km (43 miles) west of Madrid, a bullring was converted into a makeshift shelter for horses and ponies, donkeys and goats, cats and dogs, according to Mayor Aránzazu Povedano Fraguela.

Meanwhile, the Spanish Civil Guard swept into action. “We leave no one behind, whatever the species,” it posted on Instagram, alongside social media videos showing its members at farms across the region, evacuating horses and goats, comforting cows and chickens, and checking in on ostriches, camels and crocodiles.

Other videos showed its members rescuing household pets like cats and dogs.

“They look so helpless and confused when we evacuate them, they just freeze completely. But they’re another member of the family and even more so in these circumstances,” the civil guard posted.

Back at Safari Madrid, in addition to its own approximately 1,000 animals, the park took in evacuees from the Kuna Iberica wildlife center, a nearby sanctuary that rescues injured or abandoned animals.

As the flames advanced, Safari Madrid became the temporary guardian of a Eurasian lynx and Iberian wolf, both of which had to be anesthetized during the transfer, and four vultures.

“The evacuation plan was simply to take out everything we could, and everything we could get out, we would get out,” Kuna Iberica’s director, Isaac Navarro said. Some of their animals were moved to the Alfonso X El Sabio University, and others, like birds of prey, were taken in by another Madrid-based wildlife rescue center.

“I had never experienced a situation like this, we had never faced a fire like this, and (the evacuation) was done with all the haste, as best as we could,” Navarro said.

Staff at Kuna Iberica opened the gates to the enclosures for some of the remaining animals to temporarily escape, before rounding them back up and tending to them the next morning. Being rescues that can’t be released into the wild and are fully dependent on human caretakers, the animals stayed nearby and were quick to return home when it was safer. It was a close call as flames crept up to 10 meters (32 feet) from the facility, but the animals were unharmed, Navarro says.

At Safari Madrid, the flames eventually came within 500 meters (1,640 feet) of the park before veering in another direction. But even then, danger remained.

“During the day, we examined the land that had been burned … and put out a log that was still burning and could reignite,” a spokesperson for the park, Jose Luis Cano Becerro, told CNN.

For two nights, the caretakers kept vigil and by the second night felt safe enough to sleep, he said, “although always with some concern, but each day the situation improved.”

Thankfully, all the animals were saved – though some got a little stir crazy.

While the park’s animals are used to spending some time in indoor enclosures for veterinary checkups, being held there for over a day was new to some.

“Some (animals) got a little agitated,” said Cano Becerro. “We think it was because they had to stay inside for so long and couldn’t go out, which is not usual in their routine, especially the male Asian elephants who are adolescents and were a bit more restless, but nothing concerning.”

“In the end you’re left with the bitter feeling that the whole area, the whole region has been burned, but at least our animals are all safe,“ said Navarro from Kuna Iberica, whose animals have all since returned.

At Safari Madrid too, the animals are back in their habitats and the park has reopened to visitors.

But as smoke lingers in the distance and the government cautions the public to remain vigilant, it may be some time before its caretakers breathe easy once more.

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CNN’s Michael Rios, Isa Cardona and Lisa Wong contributed to this report.