During the Summer of 2019-20, Australia endured some of the worst fires ever in its long history of savage bushfires. These fires burned through an unimaginable 18.6 million hectares of land, destroyed over 9,000 buildings and tragically killed dozens of people. An estimated 1 billion animals were incinerated in the flames. The Summer of 2019-20 is known as Australia’s ‘Black Summer’.
On the final day of 2019, the beloved Mogo Zoo, the centerpiece of Mogo, a small and beautiful NSW coastal town suddenly found itself under attack. Mogo Zoo is home to Australia’s largest collection of exotic species, many of them key to conservation global breeding programs to prevent their extinction. With no place to evacuate to, the animals had nowhere else to shelter and their zookeepers put their own lives on the line to protect the animals they love.
‘The Day We Saved the Zoo’ is an inspiring and hopeful story of human bravery and winning against the odds.