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Spain forest fires: Thousands of people evacuated, wildlife threatened

Maximum temperatures in the Donana area were forecast to drop to 33 C (91 F) from close to 40 C in recent days.

By :  dr swati srivastava
Update: 2017-06-27 07:48 GMT
A huge forest fire in southern Spain on Saturday night forced the evacuation many people, a government official said. He said 2,100 had to be evacuated over the weekend, many from campsites and houses near the towns Moguer and Mazagon, but that more than half had been able to return by Monday. (Photo: AP)
Emergency services were working to contain the fire but windy conditions made it difficult to predict when the blaze would be brought completely under control. (Photo: AP)
Andalusia's forest-fire prevention department said the firefighters had managed to encircle and confine two of the three blazes raging close to the area, but that a third one closer to the park was still out of control, mainly due to blustery winds. (Photo: AP)
In a statement, WWF said that the organization had been warning \"for years\" that the buffer reserve around Donana presented high risks of forest fires given illegal agriculture and other dangerous activities. (Photo: AP)
Park authorities said one of the lynxes, a female called Homer, died as a consequence of the stress after workers tried to get her and other adults and cubs out of a breeding center close to Donana. (Photo: AP)
Donana National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1994. It protects over 107,000 hectares (264,403 acres) considered of extreme ecological value for their mix of ecosystems including wetlands, dunes and woods. Civil Defence officers led the animals to safety from the blaze. (Photo: AP)
The blaze comes a week after wildfires killed 64 people in neighboring Portugal, which like Spain is suffering a severe lack of rain and soaring temperatures. (Photo: AFP)
By Sunday morning emergency services, 11 planes, 10 helicopters and dozens of land vehicles had been sent to battle the flames in a joint military-civilian operation. (Photo: AP)
According to the environment minister for the Andalucía regional government, José Fiscal, the fire is likely to have been caused by arson. (Photo: AP)
Maximum temperatures in the Donana area were forecast to drop to 33 C (91 F) from close to 40 C in recent days.

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