bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

The Washington Post

A jaguar at a New Orleans zoo slipped out of its enclosure and went on a rampage sometime on Saturday night, killing four alpacas, an emu and a fox trapped in their own habitats before zoo officials managed to sedate it.
The big cat was first reported missing at 7:20am, before the Audubon Zoo opened, officials said in a press release.
By 8:15 it had been spotted, tranquillised and returned to its enclosure by veterinary surgeons.

Three other injured animals were being cared for.
No humans were injured, although the circumstances of the escape sparked a worrisome thought at what might have been: The “jaguar jungle” is also home to a children’s play area.
In a news conference on Saturday, zoo officials insisted the facility was safe for the general public, even though they would not say how the predator managed to escape and either kill or injure every alpaca on zoo property.
The jaguar, a 3-year-old named Valerio, did not appear to be eating the animals it went after but rather was engaged in a territorial display, said Kyle Burks, the zoo’s vice-president and managing director.
He was doing what jaguars do.
Zoo curator
The animals it pounced on were unable to escape their own enclosures.
The zoo was closed on Saturday as officials tried to discover how the feline escaped, and grief counsellors were brought in for traumatised staff. The zoo planned to reopen at 10am Sunday.
But the incident was certain to raise questions about the dangers of caging apex, or top, predators that have evolved to hunt and kill, and will quickly pounce on prey animals – or humans – if safeguards break down.

In the spring of 2017, a British zookeeper was mauled after being trapped in the Hamerton Park Zoo’s tiger enclosure with at least one of the big cats.
Horrified witnesses said they could see zookeepers sprinting to the edge of the tiger enclosure, throwing pieces of meat as an unsuccessful distraction.
In 2016, zookeeper Stacey Konwiser, 38, was killed while preparing the “night house” at the Palm Beach Zoo.
The house is where the animals are cleaned and fed, then boarded overnight.
Also that year, at Beijing Safari World, a woman was injured and her mother killed after the younger woman got out of their car and was dragged off by a tiger.
Outrage erupts as Iceland fishermen are accused of killing a blue whale
Such breakdowns, experts have told The Washington Post, do not happen only at shoddy zoos with slapdash animal-care practices.
“These accidents happen, you know, on some kind of a recurring basis around the world,” said Doug Cress, CEO of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
“And it’s because you’re dealing with animals that, at their genetic core, are built differently than we might like them to be. They are designed to be wild animals,” he said.
Joel Hamilton, the Audubon Zoo’s vice-president and animal curator, echoed that sentiment when asked whether there was something particularly aggressive about Valerio.

“He’s a young male jaguar,” Hamilton said. “ He was doing what jaguars do. Certainly his behaviour wasn’t out of the ordinary for that kind of an animal.”
The zoo, originated from a bird habitat built in 1916, is a “58-acre jewel ranking among the nation’s best zoos,” according to the Audubon Nature Institute, which oversees the zoo and other properties. The zoo is in Uptown New Orleans between Audubon Park and the Mississippi River.
The greedy gourmets driving these four animals to extinction
Ron Forman, the zoo’s president and chief executive officer, said Saturday’s series of attacks was the worst in the zoo’s history but told the public the Audubon Zoo was still safe.
“The zoo, it’s been here for 100 years,” Forman said. In that time period, we’ve had over 100 million visitors to the zoo. We’ve never had an incident like that before. So I think statistically there’s nothing to worry about the safety of coming to the zoo. “


Thailand launches wild elephant birth control to stop deadly farm raids

Hong Kong should see animal protection as a shared civic duty

Time to update Hong Kong’s wildlife protection law

Elephant rides at Indonesia’s Bali attractions banned over animal welfare concerns

Conservation

Jaguar escapes at New Orleans zoo and kills four alpacas, an emu and a fox

No humans were hurt but questions are raised about the dangers of caging ‘apex’ predators

The Audubon Zoo closed after a jaguar escaped from its habitat and killed six animals, according to a release from zoo officials, Saturday, July 14, 2018 in New Orleans. (Brett Duke/The Times-Picayune via AP)

Ron Forman, centre, the president and CEO of the Audubon Nature Institute, at a news conference at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans on Saturday. A jaguar killed six other animals at the zoo after escaping from its habitat. Photo: Brett Duke/The Times-Picayune via AP

Outrage erupts after Icelandic fishermen are accused of harpooning a blue whale

The conservation organisation Sea Shepherd provided this photo which it says is a blue whale awaiting slaughter in Hvalfjordur, Iceland. The organisation said that a blue whale had not been harpooned in at least 50 years. Photo: AFP/Sea Shepherd/Robert Read

This handout photo made available by the marine conservation organization Sea Shepherd on July 13, 2018 shows what they report to be a Blue whale awaiting slaughter at the Hvalur hf whaling station in Hvalfjordur Iceland on July 7, 2018. A controversy erupted in Iceland after accusations by Sea Shepherd, claiming that a blue whale was harpooned, a first for 50 years. / AFP PHOTO / Sea Shepherd Global / Robert Read / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / SEA SHEPHERD / ROBERT READ " - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

This handout photo made available by the marine conservation organization Sea Shepherd on July 13, 2018 shows what they report to be the Hvalur 8 bringing in a Fin whale (right) and a Blue whale (left)to the Hvalur hf whaling station in Hvalfjordur Iceland on July 7, 2018. A controversy erupted in Iceland after accusations by Sea Shepherd, claiming that a blue whale was harpooned, a first for 50 years. / AFP PHOTO / Sea Shepherd Global / Robert Read / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / SEA SHEPHERD / ROBERT READ " - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Chinese activist artist Ai Weiwei visits elephant camps in Myanmar to raise awareness of jobless logging elephants in crisis

There are almost 5,000 working elephants in Myanmar, more than half employed by state-run Myanmar Timber Enterprise to haul hardwood trees. However, an export ban put 1,000 elephants out of work. Some were killed, others were abandoned or sent to neighbouring countries

Elephants in Myanmar were used to clear forests but now are unemployed since the logging ban in 2014.

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei in Myanmar in 2018. Photo Four Paws

Elephant logging in Myanmar 2014. Photo Four Paws.

Elephants in Myanmar working in the country’s timber industry, dragging heavy fallen trees to rivers for shipping. Photo: AFP

Lioness is shot dead after escaping from Belgian zoo and triggering evacuation

A lioness is seen with a cub in the Planckendael zoo in Mechelen, Belgium, in 2016. It is unclear if this was the animal shot dead on Thursday after escaping. Photo: Reuters

Pupils on a school trip look out from their bus as it has to remain in the parking lot of Planckendael Zoo, after a young lioness escaped from its enclosure into a service corridor, at the animal park Planckendael in Muizen, near Mechelen, on June 21, 2018. A lioness escaped early June 21 from its enclosure. Visitors were asked to stay in their cars, restaurants or shops, until the animal was caught, according to media reports. The reason why the lioness escaped, is still not known. / AFP PHOTO / Belga / LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ / Belgium OUT

FILE PHOTO: A female Asian lion is seen with its cubs in the Planckendael zoo in Mechelen, Belgium March 30, 2016. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo

Chinese zoo suspends keeper over ‘mistreatment’ of giant panda

Giant panda Weiwei had been Wuhan Zoo’s only panda since 2008. Photo: Weibo

=== NO ARCHIVE IMAGE === ATNX PANDA21 == YEAR 2017 == A keeper of a giant panda at the Wuhan Zoo in Hubei has been suspended and the panda taken back to the Sichuan Conservation Centre for care, after a Weibo blogger's post accusing the zoo of mistreating the animal went viral and sparked outrage online. 
http://www.bjnews.com.cn/news/2018/06/20/491760.html
https://weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309404252291157872385

=== NO ARCHIVE IMAGE === ATNX PANDA21 == YEAR 2015 == A keeper of a giant panda at the Wuhan Zoo in Hubei has been suspended and the panda taken back to the Sichuan Conservation Centre for care, after a Weibo blogger's post accusing the zoo of mistreating the animal went viral and sparked outrage online. 
http://www.bjnews.com.cn/news/2018/06/20/491760.html
https://weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309404252291157872385

Zookeeper mauled to death at Chinese animal centre which sold ‘tiger wine’

The centre claims that it is home to more than 1,300 tigers. Photo: news.163.com

--ATNX5 TIGER-- Wildlife park keeper killed by tiger while cleaning its cage in Guilin; similar case happened in 2004 in the same park. Apparently he was bitten and injured at first but no one cared and all ignored him, then found him dead in the cage only later. Photo: news.163.com

News

World

United States & Canada

No humans were hurt but questions are raised about the dangers of caging ‘apex’ predators


No humans were hurt but questions are raised about the dangers of caging ‘apex’ predators.


Jaguar escapes at New Orleans zoo and kills four alpacas, an emu and a fox

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}No humans were hurt but questions are raised about the dangers of caging ‘apex’ predators

No humans were hurt but questions are raised about the dangers of caging ‘apex’ predators