Evacuated animals return to Merced's Applegate Park Zoo after storm

MERCED, Calif. (KFSN) -- Animals are back at Merced's Applegate Park Zoo after a powerful storm forced an emergency evacuation last month.

The zoo is home to rescued animals that all have reasons why they can't safely be returned to the wild.

In the 60 years it's been open, this is the only time the zoo has been evacuated due to an emergency.

68 animals including deer, bobcats, foxes and monkeys made their way back from the Monterrey Zoo and other shelters where they were taken during powerful storms that flooded nearby Bear Creek.

"This was a historical flood for the City of Merced. So, it's good to know what we didn't know before and we now have an air tight evacuation plan," said Christopher Jensen, the director of Parks and Recreation.

The last to return over the weekend were the black bears.

Non profit ZDR3 helped facilitate the evacuation and temporary housing of these animals.

The organization is even offsetting the cost of transport and shelter, saving the city tens of thousands of dollars.

Luckily, the zoo didn't sustain serious damage from back to back storms last month.

"Overflows of water throughout the walking path, some leaks in our facilities. they are very old facilities so all of the barn have leaks in them now," said Merced Recreation Supervisor Michelle Reid.

Workers had the chance to do some maintenance and make repairs.

"We could get in and do some deep cleaning, we could get in with extra materials, we could get in and do some repairs that needed to be done that you kind of have to work around animals for."

Now, zoo workers are settling the animals back in and preparing for visitors to return Thursday.

A nearly month long closing of the zoo definitely had a financial impact, so they are eager to open back up.

The zoo will return to its Thursday through Sunday schedule this week.