Tiger Attacks Keeper @ San Antonio Zoo (NVR)
http://www.ksat.com/news/13684890/detail.html?rss=ant&psp=news :'(
My DH and I were visiting the zoo (my favorite place in San Antonio) in the morning Saturday from 9 am when it opened until about noon. I took a photo with my cell phone camera of one of the tigers. I wonder if it was the one that attacked. All the animals seemed friskier and more alert than I've ever seen them at the zoo. Of course, we usually go in the afternoon and not first thing in the morning. We had a great time. The lions were roaring (it was probably their lunch tme). The hippos bellowing. The bears were out of their cave areas and we actually got to see them and not just where they live (the last two times at the zoo, the bears were inside.) The behavior of one of the elephants was disturbing. It (don't know if it was a he or a she) was kind of rocking back and forth, putting its weight on its front legs and then shifting its weight to its back legs and lifting one of its front legs. One of the children around us kept saying, "He's dancing." I don't know what to think of it. Elephants are very, very intelligent and it could have well realized that people like to see them move so it was putting on a little "show". It didn't seem sick or ill at ease. Maybe it was bored and liked to hear the reactions of the people on the other side of the moat and low fence. I felt so sorry for it. The San Antonio zoo is building a better exhibit space for the African animals so maybe soon, it'll be in a better, more natural, green space. The new exhibit was supposed to open in the Fall but they still have a lot of work to do from what I could see from the places they had to view the construction in progress of the exhibit.
So sad about the keeper, we'll probably never know what provoked the attack, though. My DH just came in and I mentioned that I'm writing this post and he said "Obviously, not a vegetarian tiger." Silly, silly man that I love so much! :D
That's too bad about the keeper, I hope the animal is not put down because of the attack...
I like going to the zoo to see all the animals, but I always end up sad that they have to put up with people staring at them :'( I just hope these animals in our zoo system are kept well!
I personally do not like zoos. I do not believe that ANY animal belongs in captivity....or to be put on display for us "humans" to gawk at. Myself.....I'd prefer to observe videos of them in a natural habitat then to see them on display. Here's an article I found that relates to Elephants in zoos....it tries to show both sides of the story....
http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1641%2F0006-3568(2006)56%5B714%3ADEBIZ%5D2.0.CO%3B2
here are a few highlights:
“Baby steps!” declares Leslie Schobert, a retired general curator at the Los Angeles Zoo, of that and other zoos' planned expansions. “Three acres is better than 1800 square feet , but it is not enough. They really need at least 100 acres. Some zoos are better than others, but none really does it right. If you are going to have elephants, do it right.”
Schobert says zoos should create their own sanctuaries for elephants. Zoos could buy large areas in southern states away from cities, yet still accessible to visitors, with enough space to house herds of elephants. He suggests that several zoos collaborate to build and run regional sanctuaries in different parts of the country. Such zoo-run sanctuaries would be a better, and probably more successful, venue for breeding elephants than their current facilities. “If you're going to spend millions of dollars ,” Schobert adds,“don't do it on a three-acre exhibit.”
Responding to that idea, John Lewis, director of the Los Angeles Zoo, argues that once an elephant goes into a sanctuary, it never comes out. “Sanctuaries would be inaccessible for people with limited money or ability to travel,” Lewis says. “And some don't appreciate large enclosures with animals far away. They want to see the animals close up.”
-like I said....."gawking"
too often baby elephants born in zoos are later separated from their mothers and sent to other zoos. Similarly, elephants that have lived together for years are sometimes split, especially if one is an African and the other an Asian elephant. Further, adult males are rare in zoos because they require separate and costly enclosures because of their size and aggressiveness. And too many zoos, especially those in northern climes, have indoor facilities with concrete floors and outdoor yards with compacted soils that foster foot infections. A foot infection forced the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, DC, to euthanize one of its elephants earlier this year
“Elephants need to be in constant motion,” states Nikia Fico, director of Save Tucson Elephants and a law student at the University of Arizona. “They walk up to 50 miles a day. When they don't move, that's when they have physical problems.” Fico also contends that elephants in captivity typically die at about age 40, while those in the wild live into their 70s.
The "dance" is boredom, stress and "get me out of here." Lions pace, bears swing their heads from side to side like Stevie Wonder, and elephants shift their feet. Like swinging your foot in a meeting when you're bored. He wants OUT of there. I understand the idea behind modern zoos...show people the interesting, beautiful animals and they will care more, and be more active, and pressure more on conservation...but it's hard on the creatures themselves. The sad part is that someday zoos will be the only "habitat" left.
The "dance" is boredom, stress and "get me out of here." Lions pace, bears swing their heads from side to side like Stevie Wonder, and elephants shift their feet. Like swinging your foot in a meeting when you're bored. He wants OUT of there. I understand the idea behind modern zoos...show people the interesting, beautiful animals and they will care more, and be more active, and pressure more on conservation...but it's hard on the creatures themselves. The sad part is that someday zoos will be the only "habitat" left.
There was an article either on MSNBC or on the Yahoo news page about poachers killing elephants in a "sanctuary". I knew it would make me too sad so I didn't read the article. Your point about zoos being the "habitat" is so true and tragic.
I used to not like zoos and thought animals should be in the wild.
Then I saw "March of the Penguins."
All I can say is that if I were a penguin, I'd be RUNNING to sign up for being taken to a zoo! Those zoo penguins have it made. ;D
Of course, I know that's anthropomorphizing (sp?) and penguins probably are indifferent to freezing their tushies off while balancing an egg on their feet and waiting for their mate to come back with food - if she doesn't get eaten along the way.
Nevertheless, I think there's some posh zoos out there for which I'd even sign up. ;)
I saw this story on yahoo. In a way, I'm not surprised - tigers can't be tamed. Every time a human is in contact with one, they're putting their life on the line. No matter how long they've been "friendly" with the tiger. It's a wild animal. Born captive or not, biological drives and instincts of such powerful animals can never be overcome 100%.
If I were the family of the zookeeper, I'd be more concerned with WHY he was out there alone with the tiger. And I'd be pretty pissed that some kind of safety measures weren't in place.
I don't like zoos either but we need them now more than ever. We need them to protect the animals from us. We've destroyed their habitat & hunted them for their ivory or their skins & pretty soon, the only place that you will be able to see endangered animals is in a zoo. A zoo might be the only defense against extinction....that is just so sad :'(
If you like to watch wild animals in their natural habitat, try this...I haven't watched this in a while but there was a lot to see.
http://www9.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/wildcamafrica/index.html
There are also eagle cams (my fave), peregrine falcon cams, heron cam....but the birds have fledged. I've heard about but haven't watched polar bear cams, grizzly bear cams or moose cam.
I used to not like zoos and thought animals should be in the wild.
Then I saw "March of the Penguins."
All I can say is that if I were a penguin, I'd be RUNNING to sign up for being taken to a zoo! Those zoo penguins have it made. ;D
Of course, I know that's anthropomorphizing (sp?) and penguins probably are indifferent to freezing their tushies off while balancing an egg on their feet and waiting for their mate to come back with food - if she doesn't get eaten along the way.
Nevertheless, I think there's some posh zoos out there for which I'd even sign up. ;)
I saw this story on yahoo. In a way, I'm not surprised - tigers can't be tamed. Every time a human is in contact with one, they're putting their life on the line. No matter how long they've been "friendly" with the tiger. It's a wild animal. Born captive or not, biological drives and instincts of such powerful animals can never be overcome 100%.
If I were the family of the zookeeper, I'd be more concerned with WHY he was out there alone with the tiger. And I'd be pretty pissed that some kind of safety measures weren't in place.
The penguins at Sea World also in San Antonio have a real nice environment. They seem really comfortable. But I'm not a penguin, so what do I know. I remember the line in Pink Floyd's "Wish you were here". "A walk on part in the war or a lead role in a cage". We can't ask them if they'd prefer to be out in the wild and risk starvation and getting eaten by predators or in their climate controlled large area where they get free fish at least twice a day.
The current elephant enclosure at the San Antonio Zoo is rather large. It has "toys" in it too. It's not like the elephant didn't have room to walk around. I think the reason why there's no grass or trees in there with the two (one African and one Indian elephant) is that they've stomped down the grass and pulled up the trees. It seemed like that one of the two elephants was doing his "dance" in front of the crowd gathered in front of him "on purpose". Whether it was to get the "I'm so freaking bored" point across, I have no way of telling. Maybe he knows he amuses people.
Our admission fees and the stuff we buy at the zoo goes to feed and otherwise keep the animals. If no one came to the zoo, it would have to be shut down and if other zoos were also shut down, the animals would be euthanized. Again, the question is do we really care about individual animals or the idea of animal rights.