![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/tigerPixabay.jpg&operation=CROP&offset=0x132&resize=1920x1078.jpeg\" "\\"File")
<\/div>A zookeeper took some of his animals home as the Australian bushfires neared \u2013 housing a tiger in his garden and monkeys in his house.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
With the flames now visible from space, the death toll climbed to at least 18 last night, with others missing.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, pleas were issued to tourists to cancel their holidays and flee affected areas.<\/p>\n
But amid the chaos, Mogo Zoo boss Chad Staples had kept all his 200 animals safe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Many of the creatures were sheltered at the site in New South Wales, which boasts Australia\u2019s largest collection of primates, along with zebras, rhinos and giraffes.<\/p>\n
However, Mr Staples said the situation had been \u2018apocalyptic\u2019 and that it \u2018felt like Armageddon\u2019, so he took those that needed extra care into his own home.<\/p>\n
\u2018Right now in my house there\u2019s animals of all descriptions in all the different rooms, that are there safe and protected… not a single animal lost,\u2019 he told broadcaster ABC.<\/p>\n
Sara Ang, from the wildlife park, told BBC 5 Live that \u2018some of the smaller monkeys had to be moved to the house, the red panda is in the house and there\u2019s a tiger in the back area of the house\u2019.<\/p>\n
Mr Staples added: \u2018Everything else… it was safer to protect them where they call home.<\/p>\n
\u2018What we did with the dangerous animals \u2013 lions, tigers, orangutans \u2013 is encourage them to the night den, kept them calm, like nothing was happening, and we were able to protect them at that site. The only animals that saw any sort of signs of stress were the giraffes and zebra, but that was more to do with the activity of keepers being all hands on deck.<\/p>\n
\u2018We were moving vehicles around that had huge amounts of water and pumps and things on them to get to spot fires.\u2019<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, heartbroken residents in the south-east corner of Australia returned to stare in horror at the remains of their homes.<\/p>\n
Officials were shocked to learn that determined holidaymakers were ignoring warnings to stay away from the area because they said they had made accommodation bookings. One man was even reported to have made an official complaint after police ordered him to turn back from a road threatened by fire.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
New South Wales transport minister Andrew Constance, speaking yesterday from the stricken area with his face streaked by ash, told tourists: \u2018Just get out of here.\u2019<\/p>\n
He warned: \u2018Yesterday morning the fire moved at a pace no one expected \u2026 people just have to leave. The tourists \u2013 just get out of here before the weekend. The trees are coming down like there\u2019s no tomorrow and I\u2019ve got a photo of someone who drove under a tree and they\u2019re lucky to be alive because it\u2019s come down on their boot.\u2019 As shocked homeowners who were able to return to their towns and villages wept at the sight of their lost houses, New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian said she was consumed by a \u2018feeling of helplessness\u2019 after seeing the destruction.<\/p>\n
\u2018It\u2019s very difficult to console people when they\u2019ve lost everything,\u2019 she said. \u2018We\u2019re assuming that on Saturday, weather conditions will be at least as bad as yesterday. That is something all of us have to brace ourselves for.\u2019<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Seven more people were confirmed dead yesterday and four others remained missing, after victims either died in homes they tried to defend, or in vehicles as they attempted to drive away from the inferno.<\/p>\n
But in one incredible escape, four firefighting crews \u2013 16 men \u2013 survived after being engulfed by flames as they drove their trucks near the town of Nowra. Deputy captain Jasper Croft said later: \u2018Everything was alight, both sides of the truck, the top, everything. It was like being in an oven.\u2019<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, those unable to leave the safety of beaches yesterday were helped by Australian Defence Force members and police in helicopters and ships, either flying them clear, taking them on to craft or dropping water and food.<\/p>\n
\nDaily Mail
\n<\/div>\n