Sawt Falasteen - Spain safari park animals grazed calmly amid 'terror' of fire

"The animals that were outside kept very calm," one of the park's veterinarians, Christian Cabrera, 36, told AFP.

Of the 2,000 animals at Safari Madrid, only the giraffes get stressed. "They are easily frightened and have had difficulty eating."

At the height of the blaze, which scorched 77,000 hectares in the Madrid region and the neighbouring province of Avila, the fire blazed visibly along the ridges of the surrounding hills.

"At night, the sky was red," said Cabrera.

"We had to keep the animals safe one way or another -- that was our top priority. There was terrible anxiety."

- Fire 'terror' -

As the flames advanced, most of the 26 keepers on site had to be evacuated, leaving only four behind, said the vet, who had slept little for five days.

"We were really frightened. We have become attached to some of these animals over many years. We are hugely responsible for them," he said.

"We went through hours of real terror when we saw the fire getting close and we did not know if we would be able to stop it."

Unlike thousands of people in the fire zone, the big animals could not be evacuated.

"Moving an elephant requires months of preparation," Cabrera explained. Preparing to anaesthetise a pachyderm alone can take 10 hours.

The largest animals, including the big cats, were confined to their shelters.

Others, such as deer, camels and monkeys, remained outdoors in their vast enclosures.

"There is no grass there because they eat it, so the fire could not reach them," Cabrera said.

- Visitors return -

A small number of visitors were once again driving through the park, which reopened on Wednesday morning after six days of closure during the fire.

Ostriches and dromedaries hurried towards each passing vehicle in the hope of food, while lions napped in the shade of a tree and alligators basked in the sun.

Like the tigers, elephants and rhinoceroses, they had remained calm during the wildfire despite the smoke, sirens and constant movement of fire engines and police vehicles.

That came as a relief to the keepers. "If we had also had to deal with agitated animals, we would have had many problems," Cabrera said.

Around the park, the vegetation on the hills still bore the scorch marks of the fire.

From the monkey enclosure, visitors saw blackened earth and charred vegetation.

Elena Alonso, a 21-year-old language student, came from the northern city of Valladolid to visit the zoo with three friends.

"We passed lots of places that were are blackened and burnt -- it was really sad," she told AFP.

"I think the firefighters did an amazing job. We would not have bet a penny on being here today," she says.

As it was, she enjoyed driving through the park and seeing the animals come up close.

"We had no problems with any of them."

- Houses protected -

Located close to residential areas, the park was protected by firefighters not only to save the animals but also to stop the blaze spreading to nearby housing developments around the village.

Susana Barrul lives next to the wildlife park, at a campsite where the fire caused some damage.

She discovered it on Tuesday evening upon returning after several days spent in a sports hall in a neighbouring town.

Thanks to the firebreaks dug by firefighters to stop the blaze reaching the zoo, her plot too escaped the flames, said the 39-year-old homemaker.

Now, she said, "we are trying to get back to normal life."

S.Barghouti--SF-PST