Kondoru said:Sadistic people always used to terrify me with `Albert and the Lion`
Now you know why I have no sympathy with big cats
(and Im mildly worried at our local one, but its only a leopard so its only a mildly worrying big cat)
Scunnerlugzz said:Any word on how it escaped?
From the reports I've seen the zoo was nearly empty, early dark and the victim was beside the cage.
My cynical first thought is the victim may have had a hand in the tigers release.
Hey, references, please!sundance67 said:I heard today that the fence was only 12.5 feet high, which was shorter than it should have been, so the tiger was able to get over it without much difficulty. Word is that the 'victims' were antagonizing the tiger, throwing rocks at her, etc. and she didn't care much for it. :shock:
Hey, references, please!rynner said:sundance67 said:I heard today that the fence was only 12.5 feet high, which was shorter than it should have been, so the tiger was able to get over it without much difficulty. Word is that the 'victims' were antagonizing the tiger, throwing rocks at her, etc. and she didn't care much for it. :shock:
You're just making excuses for the zoo/tiger.Vodka or no vodka,catapults or no catapults,the wall was too short & the thing shouldn't have been able to get out!I see $$$ in their future & rightfully so!
Red panda escapes from London Zoo
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/engl ... 255906.stm
An inquiry has been set up to determine how the animal escaped
Zoo-keepers had to return a red panda to its enclosure at London Zoo after it escaped into Regent's Park.
The small mammal was spotted at 0300 (BST) on Monday by the zoo's night security as it climbed a tree.
Staff in the on-site living quarters stayed under the tree to monitor the escapee during the night.
By dawn, they made an unsuccessful attempt to coax the male red panda down. Eventually a tranquiliser was used and he was brought to safety.
The zoo has ordered an inquiry to work out how the animal escaped.
Martin Ellerbeck, a cameraman and director who lives near the park, saw the zoo-keepers with the red panda.
He said: "It looked pretty much under control. There were lots of people and it looked like a jovial atmosphere.
"I could not really see it. There was lots of police but I do not think it was going to attack anyone."
'Rampaging' ostrich killed on M56
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/engl ... 315504.stm
Ostriches can reach running speeds of up to 45mph
One of two ostriches that went on the rampage after escaping from a farm in Cheshire has been killed on a motorway.
The 4ft (1.2m) tall birds, described as aggressive, went on the run in Helsby, near Frodsham, after getting free.
One of the pair died when it strayed on to the M56 and was struck by a lorry. The driver, from Wrexham, was not injured but the vehicle was damaged.
Officers recaptured the other ostrich in a field just after 1430 BST and it has been returned to its owner.
A spokesman for Cheshire Police said: "The RSPCA, the owner of the ostrich, and police patrols contained the second ostrich."
Ostriches are the largest living species of bird and cannot fly, but are able to run at speeds of up to 45 mph.
Zoo visitors stay indoors as curious gibbons go walkabout
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ire ... 87876.html
EOIN BURKE-KENNEDY
Tue, Aug 03, 2010
THERE WAS something of a role reversal at Dublin Zoo yesterday when some 200 visitors found themselves locked into the venue’s main restaurant after a pair of gibbons escaped from their enclosure and went on a short walkabout.
The siamang gibbons, Sasak and her baby son Gizmo, temporarily left their island habitat on the zoo’s main lake at about 10am yesterday.
Carrying her three-year-old infant, Sasak is thought to have swung from the island on to a low-hanging branch on the shore, in an apparent bid to sample life on the mainland.
While the primates posed little threat to their human cousins, zoo authorities took the precaution of locking down the complex while the gibbons remained at large.
Dozens of bewildered visitors were ushered into nearby buildings or directed to stay in the zoo’s main Meerkat restaurant while keepers attempted to cajole the runaways back home.
A Dublin Zoo spokesman said: “At no time were the gibbons out of sight of zookeepers and the pair never left the perimeter of the zoo. The gibbons were never further than five metres from their habitat and the pair returned of their own accord within 30 minutes.
“The animals were never in any danger and of no threat to anyone else. They are both back in their habitat in the zoo unharmed and everything has returned to normal.”
Gibbons are species of tropical forest apes, and unlike monkeys with which they are often confused, lack a tail, have a more-or-less upright posture and a well-developed brain.
The black siamang variety is native to the dense rain forests of Malaysia, Thailand, and Sumatra, and is the largest of all the gibbons, growing to about one metre in height. They are extremely agile and the most accomplished of all gibbons at walking on two legs.
Yesterday’s drama at the country’s most popular vistor attraction is the second unusual incident at the Phoenix Park venue in as many months.
Last month, one of the zoo’s prized Humboldt penguins was discovered by gardaí wandering Dublin’s inner city. The bird had been abducted by three men who had scaled the zoo’s perimeter fence.
Fortunately, the penguin was returned to the zoo unharmed.
280 crocodiles escape in Mexico
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/wor ... 32695.html
MEXICO CITY – At least 280 crocodiles have escaped from a Mexican refuge near the Gulf of Mexico after heavy flooding caused by Hurricane Karl, Mexican media said yesterday.
The endangered Morelet crocodiles were roaming in six coastal areas in the Mexican state of Veracruz and residents were told not to try to capture or kill them, El Economista reported.
The governor of Veracruz told reporters about 280 crocodiles were missing from the reserve in La Antigua. Some media put the number at closer to 400. – (Reuters)
Escaped pot-bellied pigs on the loose in Southampton
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-12201768
Vietnamese pot-bellied pig The pigs are believed to be of the Vietnamese pot-bellied variety
At least two pigs are on the loose in Southampton after escaping from a farm.
Police said they had received a number of sightings of the animals, thought to be pot-bellied Vietnamese pigs, since Saturday afternoon.
Officers said the RSPCA was dealing with the incident and have advised people to contact them if they see the animals, which should not be dangerous.
Police said the incident may be linked to a "breakdown in the relationship" between the couple which own the farm.
One of the pigs is white while the other is black and white.
A spokesman for Hampshire police said: "We have a number of sightings but they are still on the loose.
"It is a bit unusual but we have passed the case to the RSPCA.
"It appears there has been a breakdown in the relationship between the couple at the farm and somehow the pigs got loose."
A woman who contacted the BBC said she had spotted the pair behind Coxford Community Centre on Saturday.
Cow knocks down four in Ennis
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ire ... 24743.html
PAT FLYNN
Wed, Jan 26, 2011
A COW knocked down a garda and three members of the public after it escaped from a local mart and ran wild along a busy road in Ennis, Co Clare, yesterday.
The incident occurred at about 11am, when the cow was observed running along the Clon Road in Ennis, one of the main routes through the town.
The animal had escaped minutes earlier from the mart on the Quin Road and travelled almost a kilometre before it was forced back along the road.
The exceptionally agitated animal was so much out of control that efforts by a vet to put it down were abandoned for safety reasons. The cow was eventually herded back to the mart, where it still failed to calm down.
Only after a number of farmers got involved was the cow finally forced into a nearby field.
A garda who had been in the area at the time attempted to corral the animal but it ran him down and dragged him along the road. Several members of the public attempted to control the cow but they were also knocked over, witnesses said.
The garda and three others sustained minor injuries and did not require hospitalisation.
Despite repeated warnings from gardaí to members of the public to take cover, some people still attempted to stop the animal.
“This cow was rogue and was out of control. This was a serious situation and rogue animals like this can be extremely dangerous,” said Clare ISPCA animal welfare officer Frankie Coote, who was called to the scene.
“Members of the public should never try to approach an agitated animal like this. I was shocked to see the people ignored warnings from the guards to get out of the way. People should consider their own safety first, take cover and raise the alarm.
“The vet was called in to put the animal down but he couldn’t get anywhere near her.”
Cow that ran wild after escape from mart has lost her calf
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ire ... 58736.html
PAT FLYNN
Fri, Jan 28, 2011
A COW that ran wild in Co Clare on Tuesday morning was pregnant and has since lost her calf.
The carcass of a dead calf could be seen yesterday close to a bush where the cow rested on Wednesday and again yesterday morning.
The cow was placed in a field on Tuesday after she escaped from Ennis mart while being unloaded from a cattle box.
The agitated animal escaped from the mart at about 11am on Tuesday, and raced along the Quin Road towards Ennis town. Members of the public prevented the cow from travelling up Station Road, which would have led her straight into the centre of Ennis.
Instead the cow ran up Clon Road, where she ran down a garda and three members of the public, who sustained minor injuries.
The cow was eventually herded back along the Quin Road to Ennis mart, where, after running wild for several more minutes, she was guided into a field by a group of farmers. The cow later managed to move into another field by forcing her way through a galvanised gate and has remained in the same area since then.
It is believed the pregnant cow became agitated while being removed from a cattle box and that it had been the first time she was transported in a box.
One farmer said: “This cow was used to one person all her life; the farmer who owned her. She went wild because she was handled by people who didn’t know how to handle her. It was all new to her and she got spooked.”
Another mart-goer said: “I was here on Tuesday, and I could see that she was reluctant to come out of the box. She was probably never in a box before in her life and had only ever been between fields. All the excitement of the cattle box could have set her off, but the way they were trying to get her out of the box with sticks and all, they definitely frightened her.”
Following the incident, the welfare officer in Clare of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals called for the animal to be put down humanely as she posed a danger to her owner and members of the public.
“The cow was rogue for whatever reason. She was wild and very dangerous. It could have been a far more serious incident,” said Frankie Coote.
A spokesman for Clare Marts confirmed that the cow has lost her calf, but would not speculate on how or why this occurred. Several farmers said they believed the animal became so distressed that her unborn calf died.
It is now believed the cow’s owner will try to move her back to his farm today.