Blaze Destroys Most of Our Precious Zoo

In the early morning hours of Wednesday, March 29, 2006 the main building of our zoo caught fire and was completely destroyed. The building housed all of our exotic birds, reptiles, monkeys and other small animals. All of the animals inside the building with the exception of 2 alligators, perished in the fire. Due to the confusion we neglected to say that our Guard Dog, Cumber, made it out unscathed and one of the babies Ring-tailed Lemurs Bandit; was off site at the time of the fire and was not in any danger. We were told that most of the animals probably died of smoke inhalation and hopefully they did not suffer.

There are no words to describe the feelings we are experiencing right now. Every one of those animals was special to us and in our hearts can never be replaced.

The structure is a complete loss, but we will rebuild! Our beloved animals are irreplaceable to us. We are hoping with the community's support we will be able to reconstruct our main hall and be able to provide a comfortable home for many donated, unwanted, rescued or abused animals once again. The outpouring support from the community has been overwhelming.

For those of you who would like to support us you can go to our donation page for more information. We are now open for the season. So please stop out and visit us! We are so blessed to be surrounded by such a caring community and hope we can bring our zoo back to life and once again be a benefit to the community.

Please bear with us for returning telephone calls and e-mails, we are just overwhelmed and it seems like we are just going in circles. A memorial garden has been started at the zoo to remember our beloved friends. We hope this will provide some comfort and closure for all of you who dearly loved our animals just as we did. Finally, Tractor Supply in LaVale and WCBC radio have both been unbelievably generous and helpful to us throughout this whole ordeal. There are not enough words to express our gratitude towards them.

Below is a list of our beloved animals that perished in the fire. We know that many of you had special attachments to some of our animals and we find comfort that you are grieving along with us. We hope to soon include photos of those we lost.

Peaches - Cockatoo

Kiwi - Cockatoo

Powder - Cockatoo

Daisy - Cockatoo

Dr. Ryan - Pigtail Macaque

Pirate - Blue and Gold Macaw

Tiki - Scarlet Macaw

Elmo - Green Wing Macaw

Zazuu - Hornbill

Boomer - Lemur (baby)

Wally, Whiley, Bruce,Rufus - Alligators 

Stinkey-Armadillo

Scarlet; (along w/her 17 babies just born), Slick,Harley; - Red Tail Boas

Elvis - King Snake

Doby - Capuchin Monkey 

Coati,Wild Bill - Coatimundi

Spike- Serval

Rebel- Caracal

Bond - Rhesus Macaque

2 Hamsters-2 Guinea Pigs

Caiman

Tree Frog

6 Water Turtles- (1 named Terpie)

4 Snapping Turtles

7 Iguana

2 Albino Burmese Pythons

Several Small Species of birds including: Cockatiels, Parakeets, Bourkes, Lovebirds, Conure, Finches, Parrotlettes

3 Prairie Dogs

Buddy - Black-Throat Monitor

Ball Bython

2 Bearded Dragons

3 Baby Sulcatta's (2 were Louis &Louise)

7 Sugar Gliders

Egyptian Fruit Bat

4 Ring-tailed Lemurs

Tank and Goliath (and an unnamed)- 3 large Sulcatta Tortoises

Leonardo -Sulcatta Tortoise

Red-foot Tortoise

South American Wood Turtle

Few box turtles - one of those turtles was found alive in the ruins and is doing great!