Yesterday, the ADI Wildlife Sanctuary team fought back a fire after sparks from a broken national power line ignited a wildfire and high winds propelled it into the sanctuary.

ADI scrambled multiple mobile fire fighters and we were joined by ten neighbours who worked in often thick smoke to fight the blaze.

The lions and tigers were moved into their safe zones (feeding camps and houses) and the areas soaked. Crates were positioned in case evacuation was needed. All of the lions and tigers remained calm, including guests Elsa and Lei-ah who we feared the smoke might bring back frightening memories. One of our wild tortoises was moved to safety and the fire was successfully stopped well away from animal habitats but left a significant area in the north of the sanctuary scorched. One member of our Resident Welfare Team was injured fighting the fire, received hospital treatment and is back at the sanctuary.

Huge thanks to our team and our local friends for battling to protect our sanctuary and the animals in it.  The incident highlighted the importance of our fire-fighting training and protocols, the equipment supporters have helped us purchase, staff living on site and collaborating with neighbours.  The ADIWS team has gone out to help fight fires in many locations and we certainly appreciated the help when we needed it.

The animals seemed to remain blissfully unaware of the crisis and finished the day with some Halloween treats and fun!

We will continue to invest in measures to protect the sanctuary and our residents. In future we would like to add a fire hydrant system fed by huge tanks at the top of our hill. One of our pick-up trucks carrying a fire fighter was also damaged and will require repairs – a donation today will help with these.

Please consider donating to help protect our sanctuary residents: Donate US $, CA | £, Euros, Rand