Tag: zoo

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Celebratory Sky Lanterns Cause Zoo Fire Killing More Than 30 Animals

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Truly tragic. Sky lanterns released to celebrate the new year are believed to be the cause of a zoo fire that killed at least 30 animals at the Krefeld Zoo in Germany. The AP reports:

A fire raced through a zoo in western Germany in the first few minutes of the new year, killing more than 30 animals, including apes, monkeys, bats and birds, authorities said. Police said paper sky lanterns launched nearby to celebrate the arrival of 2020 were probably to blame.

Several witnesses saw cylindrical paper lanterns with little fires inside flying in the night sky shortly after midnight Wednesday near the Krefeld Zoo, Gerd Hoppmann, the city’s head of criminal police, told reporters.

“People reported seeing those sky lanterns flying at low altitude near the zoo and then it started burning,” Hoppmann said.

The zoo near the Dutch border said its entire ape house burned down and more than 30 animals — including five orangutans, two gorillas, a chimpanzee, and several monkeys — were killed, as well as fruit bats and birds.

Only two chimpanzees were able to be rescued from the flames by firefighters. They suffered burns but are in stable condition, zoo director Wolfgang Dressen said.

 

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Woman Climbs Over Barrier For Selfie With Jaguar In Zoo – Any Guesses What Happened?

According to the Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium and Safari Park in Arizona, a woman crawled over a barrier to get a selfie with a jaguar.

According to the Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium and Safari Park in Arizona, a woman crawled over a barrier to get a selfie with a jaguar.

In doing so, the jaguar attacked the woman leaving her with serious injuries to her arm.

Fortunately, the zoo assures nothing will happen to the jaguar.

“We can promise you nothing will happen to our jaguar,” tweeted the zoo. “She’s a wild animal and there were proper barriers in place to keep our guests safe – not a wild animals fault when barriers are crossed. Still sending prayers to her and her family.”

The jaguar should sue the woman for home invasion. #TeamJaguar

What on earth was she thinking?

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Mother Of Little Boy Who Fell Into Gorilla Habitat Defends Her Parenting Skills

The mother of the 4-year-old boy who fell into the gorilla habitat at the Cincinnati Zoo, which led to the death of 17 year old gorilla Harambe on Saturday, took to Facebook to defend herself.

As most folks now know, the little boy crawled through a barrier and fell into a moat, where he was picked up and dragged around by the 400-pound, male gorilla. Deciding a tranquilizer dart could make the gorilla more agitated, the decision was made to shoot and kill the animal.

As the story went out via the media, lots of folks expressed the idea that the mother bears some responsibility for not watching her four year old more closely. If she had, the gorilla would not be dead.

In a now-deleted Facebook post, the mom, Michelle Gregg, slapped back at those she felt judged her parenting skills.

“I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers today,” she wrote. “What started off as a wonderful day turned into a scary one. For those of you that have seen the news or been on social media that was my son that fell in the gorilla exhibit at the zoo. God protected my child until the authorities were able to get him. My son is safe and was able to walk away with a concussion and a few scrapes…no broken bones or internal injuries.”

“As a society we are quick to judge how a parent could take their eyes off of their child and if anyone knows me I keep a tight watch on my kids. Accidents happen but I am thankful that the right people were in the right place today. Thank you to everyone that helped me and my son today and most importantly God for being the awsome [sic] God that He is.”

Witnesses have been quoted as saying they overheard the boy tell his mother he wanted to go into the enclosure with the gorillas. So the idea that he wanted to get closer must not have been a surprise to the mother.

You’ll note Ms. Gregg takes no personal responsibility at all for the fact the boy crawled into the habitat. None.