Over 30 Apes And Monkeys Burnt To Death In German Zoo Due To Chinese Sky Lanterns

Dozens of apes, monkeys, bats and birds were burnt alive after Chinese sky lanterns allegedly ripped through a monkey sanctuary at Krefeld Zoo in Germany on New Year’s Eve. Most of the animals killed were close to extinction in the wild.

Located near the Dutch border, the Krefeld Zoo specializes in primates and used to be home to more than 30 animals, including several monkeys, five orangutans, fruit bats, birds, and a 48-year-old silverback gorilla. Only two chimpanzees reportedly survived the fire but they are still being monitored after suffering severe burns.

“It’s close to a miracle that Bally, a 40-year-old female chimpanzee, and Limbo, a younger male, survived this inferno,” said zoo director Wolfgang Dressen. “We have to seriously work through the mourning process. This is an unfathomable tragedy,” he added.

Dressen also revealed that animal handlers at Krefeld were in total shock at the devastation. “Our worst fears have been realized,” the zoo wrote on its Facebook page after the incident.

The police are still investigating the cause of the fire, but eyewitnesses reported seeing several fired-up cylindrical paper lanterns in the night sky in the first few minutes of 2020, just moments before the animal enclosure went ablaze. Firefighters reportedly recovered the said lanterns, which bore hand-written New Year’s wishes, in the seething debris after the fire was put out.

According to reports, Chinese lanterns are usually launched into the night sky to celebrate the New Year in that part of Germany. At 12:38 a.m., residents called out the police after noticing an inferno sweeping through the monkey enclosure inside the German zoo. The firefighters managed to contain the flames and prevent them from spreading to other buildings, but the animals in the monkey enclosure did not make it out alive.

Gerd Hoppmann, the city’s head of criminal police, revealed that the police had already launched an investigation to determine if the Chinese lanterns were indeed the cause of the “negligently criminal fire.” Part of the ongoing investigation is the analyzation of the atmospheric conditions and wind direction at the time of the incident, as this will help establish the path of the Chinese lanterns before the fire broke out.