Florida: ZooTampa, Florida Aquarium Staffers Plan To ‘Ride Out’

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Employees move an African porcupine named Chompers to a pet carrier at Zoo Tampa ahead of Hurricane Milton's expected landfall in the middle of this week on October 7, 2024 in Florida. In the midst of this turmoil, Tiffany Burns is preparing a different kind of evacuation. The 41-year-old, director of the Tampa Zoo's animal program, oversees where the zoo's guests - elephants, rhinos, orangutans, etc. - will be spending the storm. The zoo has several hurricane-proof buildings where it plans to move all of its animals in the next few hours. — Employees move an African porcupine named Chompers to a pet carrier at Zoo Tampa ahead of Hurricane Milton’s expected landfall in the middle of this week on October 7, 2024 in Florida. (Photo by BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Staff Abril Elfi
1:15 PM – Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Volunteers of the ZooTampa and Florida Aquarium will be reportedly riding out Hurricane Milton alongside its animals, hoping to safeguard all of the animals as much as possible.

A ZooTampa spokesman told reporters that roughly a dozen zoo staffers, including care staff and a medic, are set to seek shelter with the animals after giving up the chance to evacuate the region themselves.

They also noted that the much larger animals, such as elephants and giraffes, have been moved to onsite barns that are built to withstand major storms, while smaller mammals and birds are caged up in the facility’s main buildings.

“During the storm, a ride-out team made up of animal care, animal health, safety, maintenance, and horticulture will stay on-site to care for the animals, monitor life support systems, manage generators, and assess damage,” the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, at the Florida Aquarium, staffers have reportedly evacuated a smack of moon jellies, six snakes, three lizards, three turtles, two alligators, two toads, and a hermit crab. Nine African penguins were also moved to higher ground on Tuesday, and thousands of corals have been relocated as well.

The employees residing in the facilities with the animals will be monitoring the life support systems of the marine animals and they are set to manage generators in order to make sure the aquarium filtration systems remain active.

“The safety of our animals is our top priority,” Florida Aquarium president Roger Germann said. “And we take every precaution to ensure their well-being during extreme weather events like Hurricane Milton.”

Additionally, at Croc Encounters Reptile Park, staff members could be seen rushing to get their more than a hundred alligators, crocodiles, and snakes ready for the impending storm. The park’s owner, John Paner, spoke with the Washington Post outlet, saying that the crocodiles and alligators are being placed in a steel shipping container, alongside the double-bagged up snakes.

“You can drop a tree on it and not have a problem,” he said, regarding the steel container.

“You got to hope for the best,” Paner added of the storm prep. “And it goes from there.”

As Milton is headed towards the Florida coast, millions of local residents have been ordered to evacuate. With a population of over 3.3 million, the Tampa Bay region has not experienced a direct hit from a major hurricane in over a century.

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