Why Did Have To Kill It

[emmie]

isn't there some method by way of tranquillisers that could have disabled this beautiful animal. They are so rare any way, now one is lost because of keeper error.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-46398647

[NellieMay]

I hate zoos too. Haven't been to one for years and years.

[Baldric]

Got taken to some as a kid, not been near one since, not my idea of fun.

[Deskdiary]

It was human error - siht happens, and I bet he or she is beating themselves up over it.

Killing the creature was the only option. It was a predator, and as somebody has already said, could have caused problems if it escaped the zoo (they can climb!).

NellieMay - "But I don't agree that humans are more important than animals."

I've heard this a lot over the years and I've always found it a ridiculous thing to say/think, particularly as it's usually said when the creature is handsome, as in this case, or has the 'aaah' factor.

What about sewer rats? Are sewer rats as important as humans? Or wasps? Or flies?

Yes it's very sad this handsome animal was shot, but the threat to human life is much much more important.

[ToraToraTora]

so death by idiot once more. What utter BS they said tranq would not work in time, in time for what? Shoot it with a tranq and wait, no one was in imminent danger. Makes my blood boil. Magnificent creature dead because some eejit left a gate open and another eejit decided to murder it.

[youngmafbog]

I hate zoo's, they should be closd down. It is so wrong keeping an animal like that in a cage.

[dunnitall]

I too despise zoo's IMO animals who exist in the wild should BE in the wild, there is no excuse for keeping them caged. It's only for the money and IMO idiots paying to see them. Quite honestly the human race has lots to answer for and many things to be ashamed of, this is just one of them but where other life is involved we should hang our head in shame that we allow, profit and condone/support what others.

[emmie]

dunnitall
i totally agree, i don't like zoo's at all and would much rather the animals were in the wild where they belong.

[kvalidir]

I tend to agree with Prudie, it was in the confines of the zoo, not roaming loose, I can't see why a tranq dart wasn't used.

[jim360]

I would like to think that the zookeepers would have been more attached to the animals in their care than anyone on AB is. It can't have been an easy decision to take to kill the animal.

[SparklyKid]

I do not see any requirement for zoos any more. There are wonderful tv progs from David Attenborough on BBC I player, fascinating, all of them.

I can see some merit in a breeding programme for endangered species, but that is it.

[jno]

Barmaid, I went to a new game reserve in the south of South Africa aboutu 20 years ago. They were just stocking it up with animals (the far south is where all the animals used to be but they've lost their habitat long ago to humans, so they have to be imported). Anyway, they said they'd just got in a lion, which they'd found behind a bar in Tenerife.

[jno]

emmie, there is no wild where they belong. Humans are encroaching everywhere. There are more tigers in Texas than in India.

https://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/more-tigers-in-texas-than-india/

[Mamyalynne]

hc posted quite clearly on page 1 about how close the zoo is to a busy area, I'm sure they had no other option.


Perhaps it is time to accept that the breeding and conservation that zoos do don't warrant them staying open and allow nature and therefore a further decline or extinction to happen.

A very tough call.

[emmie]

rather they took their chances in the wild than be cooped up in a cage...

[hc4361]

It would have been possible for the snow leopard to escape. The zoo is walled and fenced but there are structures against the wall which the animal could easily climb and then jump over the wall.

[Spungle]

I think zoos are fantastic, and always enjoy visiting them. Chester in particular is a wonderful zoo, always has been. I had no idea there was so much anti-zoo sentiment, or there was such widespread ignorance of why animals need to be kept in captivity.

[Prudie]

I think most zoos, in the UK at least, carry out breeding and conservation programmes that certainly warrant their existence. The days of zoos solely being a place for the public to pay and gawp are thankfully near extinction. Most animals are now kept in enclosures that aim to mimic their natural surroundings rather than the cages of old. In this case I still think they made a poor knee-jerk decision.

[NellieMay]

Desk Diary. I believe every living creature plays an equal part in this world and that man is the biggest destroyer of the worlds natural balance. We are just the strongest with the biggest brain capacity, but we are not special. Obviously, as a human I put humans first because that is natural. We look after our own kind. We after all are just animals.

[youngmafbog]

"Most animals are now kept in enclosures that aim to mimic their natural surroundings rather than the cages of old."

I disagree, they are nothing like the animals proper surroundings. Just breeding to stop going extinct is playing with nature anyway. Far better to tackle the problem they are going extincet if we can and if we must have breeding programs then lets fund places like the Serengeti National Park.

[emmie]

a friend of mine went to take her children to London zoo, only to be asked to fork out 70 quid for 1 adult and 2 children, she didn't pay it, who would. I know it costs a lot of money to keep these places going, but that was absurd.