Zoo fire kills animals

Police have said a fire at the Karlsruhe zoo in southwestern Germany has killed 26 animals including Shetland ponies, goats, sheep and alpacas.

Karlsruhe police said elephants and hippos were saved from their enclosures next to the petting zoo that caught fire and burned down early Saturday.

"All of our petting zoo animals, our domestic animals, goats, sheep, the alpacas which just gave birth to two puppies last week. Our Sardinian donkeys and the ponies could not be rescued anymore," Zoo director Gisela von Hegel said.

Some 100 firefighters fought against strong winds which threatened to spread the flames from wooden structures of the petting zoo to neighbouring buildings.

Von Hegel explained what she saw when she was called out: "I went out immediately and I saw that not the elephant house, but the petting zoo buildings were totally in flames.

"There was no possibility to rescue the animals from there because the roof had already collapsed, so it would have been too dangerous.

"Then I prepared different possibilities to free the elephants and flamingos and hippos and discussed the emergency exits with the fire fighters," she said.

Authorities have launched an investigation. No cause has yet been determined.