Lightning struck New Jersey’s popular Turtle Back Zoo as severe storms swept through the area Wednesday night. Authorities said it sparked a fire but did not seriously injure any animals.
The Sea Turtle Recovery Building was reportedly hit. The zoo was closed at the time, so no people were in the building, NJ.com reports. The building is a separate nonprofit facility within the zoo that helps sick and injured sea turtles until they are ready to be released back into the wild.
The West Orange Fire Department and Police were dispatched to the scene.
In a Facebook statement, Sea Turtle Recovery said the sea turtles in the building were exposed to heavy smoke and were moved to a secure building within the zoo for further treatment.
One of the turtles, an endangered Atlantic ridley turtle named Pickles, was in the animal hospital battling a respiratory infection, and her condition was critical for a moment, but she made it, officials say.
All five turtles that were in the building are stable and will continue to be monitored.
“We cannot even estimate the damage and do not know at this time how much of the filtration and tank damage was done. Again, right now our focus is on our animals,” the group said. “All we can say is that this hospital was a dream 7 years ago and now 122 animals have been released. The turtles never give up and they have taught us to never give up on them or ourselves. Sea Turtle Recovery is the only long-term care hospital in New Jersey and WE WILL NOT give up. Again, the turtles are stable. We are making sure they are OK. We were lucky with so many circumstances following that first lightning strike. So many things that could have gone wrong did not go wrong.”
