Animals at primate sanctuary freeze amid Texas power outage

Updated: Feb 17, 2021 / 05:09 AM CST

FILE – In this Feb. 15, 2021, file photo, icicles form on a citrus tree from a sprinkler system used to protect the trees from the freezing temperatures in Edinburg, Texas. There have been record subzero temperatures in Texas and Oklahoma, and Greenland is warmer than normal. Snow fell in Greece and Turkey. Meteorologists blame the all-too-familiar polar vortex. (Delcia Lopez/The Monitor via AP)

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A chimpanzee, several monkeys, some lemurs and an uncounted number of birds have died after a nonprofit San Antonio-area wildlife sanctuary lost power amid record-low temperatures.

It’s yet another casualty of unforgiving winter weather that has seized much of Texas.

Primarily Primates Executive Director Brooke Chavez told the San Antonio Express-News that the power went out early Monday at the 70-acre sanctuary that houses more than 400 primates.

Chavez, staff and volunteers mobilized generators, space heaters, propane tanks and blankets. And as temperatures reached single-digit levels, the staff broke out carriers to evacuate animals to the San Antonio Zoo.

But Chavez said she and her staff began to find dead animals throughout the sanctuary.