"As a zoo, we are determined that something good comes out of this."
A zebra named Hope has died after being scared by fireworks at a zoo in Somerset. The young animal, who was born during the last lockdown, was reportedly frightened by fireworks over the Halloween period which caused her to run rapidly towards a boundary of her paddock, which she then collided with.
A postmortem was carried out soon after her death which revealed the young zebra died on impact.
The zookeepers at Noah's Ark Zoo are said to be devastated by the loss of young Hope and released a statement saying: "As a zoo, we are determined that something good comes out of this and so we feel it is so important that people are aware of what has happened."
"We would like to use this tragic event as an impetus for change and we really hope that people will now think hard and adopt alternative arrangements like silent fireworks or other more animal-friendly options for their bonfire night celebrations."
The zoo hopes that by speaking out about the incident people will realise how dangerous fireworks can be. If you own an animal, you'll know how uneasy they get when loud noises are going off around Halloween, and these zoo keepers want people to be more aware of the noise and its impact on animals.
Managing director of the Noah's Ark Zoo, Larry Bush added, "We're feeling devastated by the loss of our young zebra Hope. She was so full of energy and life and she was a very healthy young zebra."
"We know this was not the intention of local organisers and people letting off fireworks but it does demonstrate in a tragic way the impact that fireworks can have on animals - whether this be zebras, horses, native wildlife or pets in our homes."
