Sedgwick County Zoo, Tanganyika preparing for severe weather
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The Sedgwick County Zoo and Tanganyika Wildlife Park are both ready for the severe weather heading into the Wichita area.
Both parks practice severe weather preparedness all year for expected storms like these.
Tanganyika said the park has a response team that will stay on staff in a basement in case of a tornado. Most animals, like the giraffes and gibbons, will be shut inside Friday night after dinner because of the risk of lightning.
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“So we do tabletop drills, we do live drills where we practice, like, if an animal got out or something, and then from there, we just keep an eye on the weather,” Matt Fouts, the director of Tanganyika Wildlife Park, said.
Both Tanganyika and the Sedgwick County Zoo say they have designated tornado shelters for guests, as well as places for their animals.
“All of our animals have a safe indoor shelter for them to go into,” Jennica King, the marketing and PR manager for the Sedgwick County Zoo, said. “And part of our plan is knowing where all of those areas are and which of those areas house a potentially dangerous animal.”
Tanganyika Wildlife Park and the Sedgwick County Zoo both plan to be open on Saturday.
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