The Seneca Park Zoo is closed today, Wednesday, since of “air quality concerns” for zoo animals and visitors, according to the center’s social networks channels.
On Tuesday, a county representative said zoo staff were keeping track of the air-quality circumstance in Rochester — which intensified on Wednesday — which animals revealing indications of distress would be moved inside. It isn’t clear that the zoo has actually needed to turn to that.
The social networks posts did not suggest when the zoo will resume.
At 11:41 a.m. Wednesday, as a smoky haze and strong campfire odor from Canadian wildfires continued to swallow up the location, Rochester’s Air Quality Index, or AQI, was at 210. An AQI variety of 50 or listed below represents good air quality, while an AQI worth over 200 is categorized as really unhealthy, according to airnow.gov, a collaboration of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other federal, state and regional air-quality firms.
In contrast, the AQI late Tuesday afternoon was 157.
Tips to secure your animals (American Veterinary Medical Association)
- Keep animals inside as much as possible, and keep your windows shut.
- Birds are especially vulnerable and must not be permitted outside when smoke or particle matter exist.
- Let dogs and cats outside just for quick restroom breaks if air quality notifies are in impact.
- Avoid extreme outside workout throughout durations of poor air quality. Exercise animals when dust and smoke has actually settled.
- Have a pet evacuation kit prepared, and include your animals in your catastrophe readiness preparation.
Tips to secure animals (American Veterinary Medical Association)
- Limit workout when smoke shows up. Especially don’t require animals to perform activities that substantively increase airflow into and out of the lungs.
- Provide plenty of fresh water near feeding areas.
- Limit dust exposure by feeding low-dust or dust-free feeds and sprinkling or misting the livestock holding area.
- Plan to give livestock 4 to 6 weeks to recuperate after the air quality returns to normal. Attempting to handle, move, or transport livestock may delay healing and compromise your animals’ performance.
- Have a livestock evacuation plan ready in advance. If you do not have enough trailers to quickly transport all of your animals, contact neighbors, local haulers, farmers, producers, or other transportation providers to establish a network of reliable resources that can provide transportation in the event you need to evacuate your animals.
- Good barn and field maintenance can reduce fire danger for horses and other animals. Make sure barns and other structures are steady, without delay get rid of dead trees, eliminate brush, and preserve a defensible space around structures.
Reporter Marcia Greenwood covers basic projects. Send story ideas to [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @MarciaGreenwood.