With carrots and strawberries, zookeepers lure Chompers the porcupine into an animal carrier, hoping to keep the creature — and all the rest of the inhabitants of Zoo Tampa — safe from the fury of Hurricane Milton.
Orangutans watch the flurry of activity before allowing their keepers to move them to safety, while African elephants are herded gently to the protected areas.
Tiffany Burns, director of animal programs at the zoo, says it has a few hurricane-proof buildings where they will move all the animals — very carefully.
“We hope that the animals have very minimal stress, that’s always our goal,” the 41-year-old says.
Florida’s west coast is still digging out from the devastation of Hurricane Helene, which roared onshore as a Category 4 storm on September 26, causing widespread devastation.
Now, with the debris from Helene still strewn about, the battered region is bracing for Milton — a potentially catastrophic Category 5 storm taking aim at Tampa.