Animals Relocated At Aussie Zoo After Torrential Rain Caused Flash Flooding

It was only last week that staff at The Australian Reptile Park on the Central Coast, New South Wales, were being briefed about the severity of the bushfires. Suddenly they're being bombarded with torrential rain that's caused flash flooding, as you can see here:

Employees have been racing against time to relocate some of the animals inside the facility after the rainfall began to pose a safety issue.

Water has been gushing through the park and staff have been trying to ensure that all the animals will survive.

The zoo has released images of employees trying to keep alligators at bay as the heavy rain causes their enclosures to fill with water. That's certainly one animal you don't want to be roaming free.

The Australian Reptile Park

Australian Reptile Park Director Tim Faulkner said: "This is incredible! Just last week, we were having daily meetings to discuss the imminent threat of bushfires, just 8km away from the Park here in Somersby.

"Today, we've had the whole team out there, drenched, acting fast to secure the safety of our animals and defend the Park from the onslaught of water

"We haven't seen flooding like this at the Park for over 15 years! We've even had keepers stationed at our Alligator Lagoon to monitor the water levels, which were rising beyond the fence line.

"The contrast between the current bushfire crisis and this sudden flooding is striking. But we are well aware that a huge part of Australia is still burning, and millions of animals are still under threat. The rain doesn't replace the millions of hectares of habitat that has been lost over the last few months.

"The team at the Australian Reptile Park has also been hard at work out in the field helping our animal conservation charity, Aussie Ark, to protect what's left after the fires. Going from drought and fire relief to flooding is all in a day's work for our staff - no two days are the same.

"Our quick action with the flooding this morning has allowed us to get the situation under control and we are confident that we will be business as usual tomorrow.

"We'll be open and ready to welcome visitors for the rest of the summer school holidays! And we could do with the with the help and continued support of our amazing community!"

While the rain is causing a few headaches for these people, it's providing much needed relief for firefighters battling bushfires and farmers in the grips of drought.

Topics: News, Animals, Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie