Mogo Zoo in path of NSW coast bushfire as staff protect animals

The park's director of life sciences Chad Staples said no animals had been lost and the park had been protected.

He described the scene staff faced on Tuesday morning as like "Armageddon".

"It was pretty scary," Mr Staples said.

"The scariest thing was how fast those winds were. It got so dark it felt like it was midnight which was such a scary feeling."

The team was able to protect the 65 acre park but were battling spot fires on the property for several hours, he said.

It was all thanks to the staff at the site, Mr Staples said, and the large amount of work that went into preparing to fight the fire.

"This last week was about preparing to fight here at Mogo, so that if [the fire] did come we'd be as ready as possible," Mr Staples said.

From 6.00am on Tuesday staff were wetting everything they could and smaller animals were put into boxes and moved into various rooms of the house at the park.

Animals such as lions, tigers and gorillas were moved into their night enclosures where they felt comfortable and were easier to protect.

Large animals like giraffe and zebra were given access to all the outdoor paddocks where grass was kept short and wet.

"Our prayers were answered when the southerly [wind change] came through, [but now] we've got to be vigilant," Mr Staples said.

He thanked the staff at the park who worked so hard to protect the animals because they "love them like their own family".

The Clyde Mountain fire spread rapidly on Monday night and on Tuesday morning had jumped the Princes Highway near Mogo.

The fire is threatening South Coast communities between Batemans Bay and Broulee.

There are about 200 animals at Mogo Wildlife Park and all of them were on site. The fire had spread much more quickly than expected on Monday night and it had not been feasible to evacuate the animals.

Featherdale Sydney Wildlife Park took over operation of the Mogo Zoo in November.

The park houses African lion, cheetah, zebra, multiple primates, Southern White rhino and recently welcomed some tiger cubs.

NSW RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons highlighted Mogo as an area that was at risk of experiencing increasingly volatile fire conditions as the weather changes.