Erfurt (dpa/th) - The Erfurt Zoo will remain closed on Wednesday due to a level 5 forest fire risk. "Because we have an extremely large number of green spaces, we have to close them down to protect everyone," said zoo spokeswoman Anne Protzel on Tuesday. More than eleven hectares of landscaped areas as well as several forest and pasture areas belong to the zoo. The forest path in the zoo has been closed since Monday. This will probably not be accessible to visitors again until next week. The zoo plans to reopen on Thursday.
Due to the heat, there are currently far fewer guests than usual in the zoo during the school holidays. This could also be due to the fact that the animals are not particularly active in the heat. The animals in the zoo, which come primarily from Africa, don't mind the heat, "but of course they also look for more shaded areas or go into the houses," said Protzel. For example, the lions lay in the shade on Tuesday and slept - like most other animals. The elephants retired to the elephant house.
Only the vultures offered a bit of action and went swimming to refresh themselves, because "it's too hot for them". Ostriches and llamas also don't cope very well with the heat and, according to Protzel, are regularly hosed down with the garden hose. As are the beds, grass, shrubs and trees - "everything is watered for eight hours, so all the time". For tomorrow - without visitors - the animals can look forward to "a few ice bombs", according to the zoo. In the feed master's shop, some of the feed is already prepared in the freezer. This is a fine thing, especially for the monkeys, which is sure to cause a little monkey theater.
