# What happened to the animals at the zoo? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 31, 2005, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-animals-at-the-zoo/319504 "2005-08-31T23:25:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecd19e/32.png) [@Jojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jojo)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-animals-at-the-zoo/319504/1 "2005-08-31T23:25:42Z")
According to [Audubon Zoo](http://www.auduboninstitute.org/zoo/index.php) website they’ve got ourangutangs, gorillas, white tigers, rhino even a komodo dragon. [This thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=332333&highlight=audubon) dates from a couple of days ago, before the shit really hit the fan, but someone mentions that the zoo is outside the bowl of New Orleans and so may escape the worst of it. Did they evac all the animals? Did the zoo escape the flood? Are all the animals dead? What?? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-animals-at-the-zoo/319504/2 "2005-08-31T23:32:20Z")
I’m not sure if there have been any real media reports about the zoo other than that it was on higher ground and so would hopefully survive. Someone brought it up on the radio yesterday and the host and news guy both said they hadn’t heard anything yet regarding its fate. ---
**Author:** ![Jojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecd19e/32.png) [@Jojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jojo)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-animals-at-the-zoo/319504/3 "2005-09-01T00:58:06Z")
ok thanks. We’ll have to give it another few days I suppose to get the full story of this and (I daresay) lots of other stories. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-animals-at-the-zoo/319504/4 "2005-09-01T01:07:27Z")
Well I just got back from the Audubon Zoo And they all aksed for you, Yea they all aksed for you, Well they even inquired about you! I went on down to the Audubon Zoo And they all aksd for you. The monkeys aksed. The tigers aksed And the elephants aksed me too. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.One-L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@Dr.One-L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.One-L)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-animals-at-the-zoo/319504/5 "2005-09-01T01:50:07Z")
I just got tragic news from my friend who works…or, rather, used to work…at the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans. Due to flooding, escalating violence in the city, and dwindling generator fuel, staff were forced to abandoned the aquarium. She said the animals there have all died. ☹ She also reports that the zoo is taking on water and the situation is uncertain. I don’t believe they had time (or will have time) to do any substantial evacuation of the collection. Updates on all the major zoos and aquariums in the hurricane affected areas are being posted at [www.aza.org](http://www.aza.org); however it does not have the very recent information on the closure of the aquarium. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-animals-at-the-zoo/319504/6 "2005-09-01T02:49:45Z")
> [@Dr.One-L](#): > > I just got tragic news from my friend who works…or, rather, used to work…at the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans. Due to flooding, escalating violence in the city, and dwindling generator fuel, staff were forced to abandoned the aquarium. She said the animals there have all died. ☹ She also reports that the zoo is taking on water and the situation is uncertain. I don’t believe they had time (or will have time) to do any substantial evacuation of the collection. Oh, no! That’s horrible! ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-animals-at-the-zoo/319504/7 "2005-09-01T02:58:09Z")
☹ That’s horrible. I’ve been to that aquarium, and it was really neat. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-animals-at-the-zoo/319504/8 "2005-09-01T03:00:49Z")
I’ve been to both, they were great. This is a real shame. I saw a report on Monday of 3 dolphins relocated to a holiday inn pool somewhere out of New Orleans. I assumed they came out of the Aquarium maybe not. I will try to look for the story and pass along details. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-animals-at-the-zoo/319504/9 "2005-09-01T03:04:16Z")
[http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/08/31/earlyshow/main808258.shtml](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/08/31/earlyshow/main808258.shtml) They were evacuated from a Gulfport, Miss. aquarium. I am glad they at least escaped. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-animals-at-the-zoo/319504/10 "2005-09-01T03:21:26Z")
> [@Dr.One-L](#): > > I just got tragic news from my friend who works…or, rather, used to work…at the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans. Due to flooding, escalating violence in the city, and dwindling generator fuel, staff were forced to abandoned the aquarium. She said the animals there have all died. ☹ She also reports that the zoo is taking on water and the situation is uncertain. I don’t believe they had time (or will have time) to do any substantial evacuation of the collection. Updates on all the major zoos and aquariums in the hurricane affected areas are being posted at [www.aza.org](http://www.aza.org); however it does not have the very recent information on the closure of the aquarium. How sure are you about this? As of yesterday, the director of the Audubon Nature Institute said that only a few flamingoes had died ([link](http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.neworleans30aug30,1,5586970.story?ctrack=1&cset=true)) and the AZA site you linked to says as of 5:30 today that “The staff of the Audubon Nature Institute is safe. The physical plants at both the Zoo and the Aquarium suffered little damage. The staff will continue to assess the impact on the animal collections at all the Audubon facilities.” Nothing about any dead animals. And I think it highly unlikely that all or even many of the animals could have died so quickly. Please check your facts or provide a more authoritative source before making such alarming statements. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-animals-at-the-zoo/319504/11 "2005-09-01T03:34:55Z")
I saw video footage of the Aquarium and if that is “little damage” I’m a dolphin. The place was trashed. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.One-L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@Dr.One-L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.One-L)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-animals-at-the-zoo/319504/12 "2005-09-01T14:55:08Z")
> [@](#): > > How sure are you about this? As of yesterday, the director of the Audubon Nature Institute said that only a few flamingoes had died (link) and the AZA site you linked to says as of 5:30 today that “The staff of the Audubon Nature Institute is safe. The physical plants at both the Zoo and the Aquarium suffered little damage. The staff will continue to assess the impact on the animal collections at all the Audubon facilities.” Nothing about any dead animals. With no electricity, you can lose an aquarium population pretty quickly. Some of the aquarium’s terrestrial animals (birds, reptiles) may have been relocated to the zoo, in which case they may be okay. The aquarium has definitely been vacated, however–I received a confirming message via the zoo registrar’s e-mail list. That was as of 9:00 PM last night (later than the AZA website’s last posting). My info about the fate of the animals is from a friend who is head of the animal stranding program there and who evacuated with one of the veterinarians. Admittedly, communication in and out is tenuous and it’s possible that she overstated the extent of the mortalities. But working at an aquarium myself, I was very concerned about their ability to maintain life support on the aquatic systems for very long without electricity or fresh water supplies. It’s possible the terrestrial animals survived, but the fish and aquatic invertebrate populations likely did not. On the positive front, news as of last night about the zoo is good. They are actually pretty dry and have minimal damage, being located west of the city. Zoos outside of the affected area are coordinating delivery of relief supplies, so hopefully they will remain in pretty good shape. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-animals-at-the-zoo/319504/13 "2005-09-02T01:08:38Z")
Today’s report from the [AZA Website](http://www.aza.org/Newsroom/hurricaneupdate/): > [@AZA](#): > > Audubon Zoo > AZA has gotten an update on the Audubon Zoo situation from Dr. Betsy Dresser, director of the Audubon Center for the Research in Endangered Species (ACRES) facility. A crew of 12 are on site at the Zoo. She reports that they are in good spirits. They have supplies and currently the generators are operational. They do not believe there is a need to move the animals from the Zoo at present. The Zoo is coordinating its future supply needs through Dr. Dresser, who is working with the AZA. > > Aquarium of the Americas > In the past 24 hours, staff has had to vacate the Aquarium of the Americas. The Aquarium is in the area of the city where there is much looting and violence. Ron Forman, President and CEO of the Audubon Nature Institute is coordinating efforts to keep the Aquarium safe through the NO police and fire departments. Once the area around the Aquarium stabilizes, Aquarium staff will return to the facility.