Dresden Zoo
The Dresden Zoo in Germany faced its hard times just like other zoos in this time. Animal trainer Otto Sailer-Jackson was in charge of the Dresden zoo during World War II. He watched in horror as his beloved zoo was bombed and said,
The elephants gave spine-chilling screams. Their house was still standing but an
explosive bomb of terrific force had landed behind it, lifted the dome of the house,
turned it round, and put it back on again... The baby cow elephant was lying in the moat
on her back with her legs helplessly reaching up toward the sky, suffering severe
stomach injuries unable to move. The hippopotamuses were drowned when debris
pinned them to the bottom of their water basin. In the ape house, a gibbon reached out
to the trainer, only bloody stumps left of its arms. Nearly forty rhesus monkeys escaped
to the trees but were dead by the next day from drinking water polluted by the
incendiary chemicals. The next day, a U.S. aircraft pilot flew in low, firing at anything he
could see was still alive... In this way, our last giraffe met her death. Many stags and
others animals which we had saved became victims of this hero.
The Dresden zoo lost most of its collection from Allied bombings.
This unfortunate event was an all too common occurrence in zoos and even farms around Dresden. Animals in barns were set afire and owners were forced to let them run free to try and escape more harm.
The elephants gave spine-chilling screams. Their house was still standing but an
explosive bomb of terrific force had landed behind it, lifted the dome of the house,
turned it round, and put it back on again... The baby cow elephant was lying in the moat
on her back with her legs helplessly reaching up toward the sky, suffering severe
stomach injuries unable to move. The hippopotamuses were drowned when debris
pinned them to the bottom of their water basin. In the ape house, a gibbon reached out
to the trainer, only bloody stumps left of its arms. Nearly forty rhesus monkeys escaped
to the trees but were dead by the next day from drinking water polluted by the
incendiary chemicals. The next day, a U.S. aircraft pilot flew in low, firing at anything he
could see was still alive... In this way, our last giraffe met her death. Many stags and
others animals which we had saved became victims of this hero.
The Dresden zoo lost most of its collection from Allied bombings.
This unfortunate event was an all too common occurrence in zoos and even farms around Dresden. Animals in barns were set afire and owners were forced to let them run free to try and escape more harm.