Re: S.F. Zoo's history of mismanagement

On Dec 30, 12:11 pm, "Copasetic" <deepspring...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/27/MNEJU4SVN...
S.F. Zoo incidents

Dec. 25, 2007: A Siberian tiger named Tatiana escapes and kills a
17-year-old San Jose boy and injures two brothers.

Dec. 22, 2006: Tatiana attacks and mauls zookeeper Lori Komejan, causing
deep lacerations to her arms.

February 2001: A zoo employee is attacked and injured by the claws of a
cassowary, a 5-foot-tall, 80-pound flightless bird native to the tropical
forests of New Guinea and northeastern Australia.

November 1994: Two Patas monkeys escape from the Primate Discovery Center.
The monkeys are about 15 inches high and weigh around 35 pounds.

May 1990: Veteran zookeeper Alan Feinberg is attacked and bitten by a
90-pound Persian leopard as a crowd of schoolchildren watches in horror. The
keeper is treated for deep wounds to his head and neck.

February 1990: A keeper suffers a lower back fracture after being knocked
into a 10-foot-deep moat by Tinkerbelle, a 7,000-pound elephant.

October 1988: Tinkerbelle attacks animal health technician Gail Hedberg, who
was treating the elephant for an abscess on its cheek. The elephant knocks
the technician down and does a headstand on her. Hedberg suffers a crushed
pelvis.

July 1985: Two Patas monkeys escape from the zoo and remain at large for six
weeks before being recaptured behind the University of California medical
complex on Mount Sutro.

April 1980: Five female City College students are caught fording the moat
around Monkey Island. Police officers find a dead spider monkey in a duffel
bag floating in the moat. The women are later given suspended jail sentences
and six months' probation.

January 1979: A male Indian elephant injures keepers, knocking one into the
moat.

November 1976: A 175-pound South American jaguar escapes from the zoo's
animal hospital, where it was recovering from cracked footpads. Zoo director
Saul Kitchener fells the animal, named Buster, with a dart from a
tranquilizer gun

February 1976: An antelope leaps over a damaged fence and knocks a visitor
to the ground, causing head injuries.

March 1972: A 3-year-old girl suffers a broken jaw and deep facial cuts when
a camel leans over a fence and bites the child in the face. It drags her
over the fence and tramples her.

March 1971: A 300-pound female tapir escapes from her compound and is found
wandering on Sloat Boulevard. The tapir bounds over two police cars, denting
both, and then knocks a police officer to the ground.

August 1969: An escaped chimpanzee bites two keepers.

April 1968: Amos Watson, a visitor, is mauled by a 450-pound lion, suffering
puncture wounds over most of his body. Watson had climbed over a rail and
tumbled into the moat. The lion is killed by one shot from a keeper's rifle.

August 1967: Zookeeper Robert Caldwell is badly bitten by a 400-pound
orangutan. He was alone near the Great Ape Grotto when Big Red, the male
orangutan, reached under the mesh-covered bars and grabbed Caldwell's left
arm, pulling it into the cage. Then Linda, a female orangutan, chewed on the
keeper's arm.

November 1962: May, a 6,000-pound elephant, attacks her keeper, battering
him with her trunk and butting him with her head.

December 1960: A 500-pound lion reaches between the bars of its cage and
hooks the arm of a keeper, who has to undergo two hours of surgery for his
injuries.

May 1960: A 125-pound black leopard attacks a keeper who had been feeding
the animal.

March 1949: A polar bear reaches through the bars of its cage and hooks a
visitor's arm.

Source: Chronicle research

--
Posted via a free Usenet account fromhttp://www.teranews.com

There also may have been a culture of taunting animals that arrose
around the zoo!

http://www.expertclick.com/NewsReleaseWire/default.cfm?Action=ReleaseDetail&ID=19409

Solution for tiger attack in San Francisco

Dallas, TX 75230 December 30 2007


Samson and me

The tragic accident at the San Francisco zoo was most likely
precipitated by agitation on the part of visitors. The cat had to have
had motivation to decide to leap out of the enclosure and focus on
specific visitors.

This reaction to taunting and teasing on the part of the public has
caused other incidents at other facilities, however none of them have
led to the death of visitors before. Therefore, they have been
overlooked.

I have been advocating for some years that docents/volunteers be
stationed at specific key points in zoos and other facilities that
display wild animals. They should be particularly placed near
enclosures that house big cats, primates, bears, and other potentially
dangerous, sensitive, and intelligent animals that will forcefully
react to agitation.

It should be a quick and simple solution to reactions such as that at
the San Francisco zoo. It could be implemented quickly, and it would
give the public immediate reassurance that changes were being made.
The docents would keep any visitors from in any way agitating the
animals without ruining the appropriate positive experience visitors
should enjoy.

Additionally, the reinforced lack of such taunting would give the
animals housed at the zoo a much better quality of life and relieve
their stress level. It would also help teach the public that respect
for wild animals is a preferable way to share an experience with them.

Louis Dorfman (louisdorfman@xxxxxxx)
Animal Behaviorist
International Exotic Animal Sanctuary
9909 Preston Road
Dallas, TX 75230
Phone : 214 696-4425
Fax : 214-696-1758
.

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