Jaguar fatally mauls zookeeper at Denver Zoo

[donheld]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17319283/


Park closed indefinitely, 140-pound cat shot dead after attack

Updated: 5:26 p.m. MT Feb 24, 2007

DENVER - A zookeeper died Saturday after a 140-pound jaguar mauled her in its enclosure, and the big cat was fatally shot when it approached emergency workers treating the injured woman, the zoo said.

The zookeeper, whose name was not immediately released, was taken to Denver General Hospital, where she died, police spokesman Sonny Jackson said.

The park closed after the shooting and it wasn’t immediately known whether it would reopen Sunday, spokeswoman Amy Sarno said. “Obviously, everyone is very upset,” she said.

Zoo officials did not know how the mauling occurred or what led up to the incident, Sarno said.

[Eurobabe]

1. WTF??? They shot it dead?

:wtf: I hate zoos.

[donheld]

5. That annoys me as well n/t

[LeftyMom]

2. So they shot a predator for doing what predators do?

When will people figure out that keeping wild animals in pens so lackwitted people can gape at them is torture?

[XemaSab]

3. Exactly

These creatures are not tame. Not only are they not tame, but housecats are only cute because we are WAY bigger than we are.

[LeftyMom]

4. I've had a few housecats go nucking futs on me with no warning

If any of them had weighed more than ten pounds, I'd really be hating life.

The worst were my mother's crazy female DSH that tried to bite my nose off for no reason I ever figured out (mom's explanation: "she's just a bitch") and my ex's senile russian blue that one day just grabbed my arm and started biting and clawing as if his life depended on it, then let go, kinda shook his head and slunk off as if he wasn't sure what had overcome him.

Cats are volatile. Big cats are volatile and quite capable of killing you before they figure out the situation. People'd run into more problems with the wild ones if they weren't for the most part very shy of humans.

[SquireJons]

6. Why kill a killer?

This must be the vegetarian wing of DU, based on the comments so far. I've worked inside of a small zoo for a bit, and nowhere are there more dedicated animal experts than you will find at most zoos. The work that they have done with endangered species is remarkable and if undone, will greatly increase the likelihood of the total extinction of many animals that are high in the conscience of most humans.

Zoo's love their animals with a passion. It's totally unlike a circus where the animals are abused regularly by handlers who don't know what they're doing and don't care either. Zoo people really do care and spend hundreds of millions of dollars in efforts to best care for the animals that they have. So don't dump on the people who work at zoo's, especially the handlers. They love their animals much more than the arm chair moralists. Bean counters are the assholes in every business or endevor... so if you really need to hate, hate them.

But, of course the larger question is why did they kill the animal? And the answer is beyond easy. Any predator that kills humans is put down. Everywhere and every time. Once they see humans as prey, they will not go back to being docile. If release into the wild, they probably would not survive, but if they did, they would view humans as potential prey and seek them out.

In conflicts between humans and carnivores, I'm firmly in the "pro human" camp. Especially if the conflicts are initiated by the carnivore. If a grizzly bear ate your mom, would you say how cute he is and feed him potato(e) chips, or would you shoot that bastard? If it were my mom... that'd be a hard call, but for most of us it's a pretty easy decision.

Do those of you who are so offended by zoos wear leather? Most likely. Do you have pets? Most likely. Do you eat meat? Probably, at least some of you. Do you have a plan for the co-existence of humans and large predators? Probably not. Are you throwing vast resources into this problem? Probably not, unlike the majority of Zoo's in the industrialized nations.

Zoo's, when properly administrated do far more good than harm, and if fact are very good to the animals that they keep. Without zoo's, the public would have zero exposure to 99% of the species in the world, which would only serve to decrease public interest in them and their welfare throughout the world.

Get off you're damn soap boxes and have some feelings for the poor woman who was killed doing a job that she loved, probably by an animal that she in fact did love. It's a tragedy compounded by ignorance and indifference.

[politicat]

8. Whay SquireJons said.

I can't say it better, and it's exactly what I think.

[meldroc]

7. Apparently, the jaguar was shot when it approached emergency workers treating the zookeeper.

I can't say I disagree with shooting the jaguar - it had already mortally wounded one person, and was coming at the paramedics trying to treat that person. It is a shame though. I'm suspecting someone seriously dropped the ball with safety procedures around the big cats. I know with ordinary house cats, they can be very affectionate one minute, rubbing your leg & such, then turn and bite you in a flash. Big cats are the same way, except they also see us as lunch, while house cats find humans too big to be easy prey.

[blondie58]

9. has anyone heard any updates on the

reason why the gate was left open? I have not heard one bit, although I don't watch the news on tv anymore.

The poor zookeeper and poor Jorge.