Forest Park Zoo devastated by felled trees from powerful storm

An uprooted tree that landed next to the coyote enclosure at The Zoo in Forest Park after a severe storm.
Reminder Publishing photo by Sarah Heinonen

SPRINGFIELD — Passing through Forest Park on Aug. 12, debris had been cleaned from the roads, but forestry crews were hard at work, stacking downed branches and cutting up the trunks of once-mighty trees. The damage could be seen everywhere, but it was nothing compared to the zoo.

Four nights earlier, a powerful macroburst hit the Forest Park neighborhood of Springfield. A macroburst is a downdraft of cold air generated by a storm that spans more than 2.5 miles. When the column of air hits the ground, it spreads out in all directions, creating vortex wind speeds of up to 167 miles per hour. Those winds descended on the Zoo in Forest Park, uprooting enormous oaks, which fell across several of the zoo’s enclosures.

“It’s a miracle nothing was harmed or got out,” said Executive Director Sarah Tsitso, referring to the animals that call the zoo home. “It was really less than six minutes,” she said, explaining that the zoo’s camera feeds cut when the power went down and rebooted when the emergency power kicked on. She said she was shocked at the damage that took place in that handful of minutes.

On the day Reminder Publishing walked the zoo with Tsitso and Assistant Executive Director Gabry Tyson, branches were strewn about and piled along every path. “You look at the front and you think, ‘That’s not so bad,’” Tsitso said of the zoo’s entrance. Tyson added, “Then you see the back…” Several trees that were more than 100 years old were uprooted and dozens more were snapped off partway up the trunk. In one area of the zoo, an uprooted tree created a domino-effect, bringing nearby trees down as it fell.

A downed tree that crashed through the emu enclosure at The Zoo in Forest Park after a severe storm.
Reminder Publishing photo by Sarah Heinonen

Tsitso was out of state when the storm happened. She got a call from the Springfield Police Department and the Forest Park management. Tyson was among the staff that responded after the storm.

“It sounds weird to say we were lucky,” Tyson said. Many of the enclosures and their residents were spared, with trees falling between exhibits. Only one enclosure was “absolutely crushed,” Tsitso said, and it was empty for the season.

Despite the “luck,” several fences were destroyed, including three sections of the exterior fence. A tree that fell at the camel and alpaca enclosure crushed the black metal fence that contains the animals. The tree trunk is now acting as a natural barrier, keeping the large creatures from escaping. Tsitso said her team is devising a plan to keep them safe and contained between the tree’s removal and the installation of a new fence.

The zoo’s emus were found huddled in a corner of their enclosure. Two massive, uprooted trees fell diagonally across their space, mangling part of the exhibit’s fence and damaging the exterior fence on the other side. The emus were able to be moved into an adjacent enclosure.

The enclosure for Atlas, the zoo’s coyote, was also hard hit. Like many of the animals at the zoo, Atlas has medical issues that keep him from being able to survive in the wild. Tsitso said the one-eyed canine cousin with a hip condition managed to escape the large branches that fell through the wire roof.

Tsitso said the zoo has contingency plans for every type of disaster, from fires to storms. She said that is how the staff was able to ensure the animals were safe and cared for, even surrounded by the destruction.

“The staff has been amazing. They just come in and do their jobs,” Tsitso said. She pointed out that the zoo is not like a business that can shut its doors until repairs can be completed. “There are animals here. They still need to be fed and cared for.” The zoo’s nine full-time staff members have been climbing over debris to get to the animals, and some have used chainsaws, cutting up large branches and small trees to clear paths.

The zoo is closed for now. Tsitso said she could not hazard a guess as to the cost of repairs until the trees are removed and the insurance adjuster tours the damage. Each enclosure is insured separately, she said, so it will be a process of tallying the damaged areas.

While the damage was difficult to calculate, Tsitso said the lost revenue was clear — $35,000 for each week the zoo is closed. “We’re losing money by the minute,” Tsitso said. August is the busiest time of the year for the zoo, when it brings in the revenue that sees it through the winter. There is only about one month left in the zoo’s full-time season. Starting in mid-September, it is open on weekends only, before closing on Nov. 1.

The zoo is losing more than daily entrance fees. Its full name is The Zoo in Forest Park & Education Center. Much of that education happens over the summer months through Zoo Camp, a nine-week program for children aged 6 to 13. Keeper-in-Training and Counselor-in-Training programs are also offered for teens aged 14 to 17. With the zoo closed, Tsitso said 40 families were unexpectedly without childcare between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Tyson said the camp season was scheduled to end the following week and she was unsure whether the camp would open by then.

Amid the devastation, something “remarkable” has happened, Tsitso said. “Almost immediately, people started fundraising — just regular people,” she said. Businesses, including A.W. Brown’s Pet & Garden in East Longmeadow and Chicopee bar The Elixir Chic, have hosted fundraisers. “A number of people are itching to get in here and help clean up,” she said. “It shows how much people love the zoo and the animals.”