Dozens killed, but 6 survivors of US wild animal hunt are doing well in zoo
Source: Agencies |
October 21, 2011, Friday
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A UNITED States zoo says surviving animals set free from an Ohio farm by their owner seem to be healthy.
Some four dozen animals were killed by police after authorities say the owner opened cages at the farm on Tuesday and then killed himself.
The Columbus Zoo yesterday said it is caring for a young grizzly bear, two monkeys and three leopards. It said the rescued animals are doing well.
The animals killed include 18 rare Bengal tigers and 17 lions.
Animal rights advocates have agreed there was little local authorities could have done to save the dangerous creatures once they began roaming the countryside, despite expressions of horror at the killings.
Sheriff's deputies shot them after Terry Thompson, owner of the private Muskingum County Animal Farm, threw open their cages and committed suicide.
"What a tragedy," said veterinarian Barb Wolfe, of The Wilds animal preserve sponsored by the Columbus Zoo. "We knew there were so many dangerous animals at this place that eventually something bad would happen, but I don't think anybody really knew it would be this bad."
As the hunt wound down on Wednesday, a photo showing the remains of tigers, bears and lions lined up and scattered in an open field went viral on the Internet, provoking visceral reactions.
Some local townspeople were also saddened by the deaths. At nearby Moose Lodge, Bill Weiser said: "It is breaking my heart, them shooting those animals."
Authorities said the animals will be buried on Thompson's farm.
Will Travers, chief executive of the California-based Born Free USA animal welfare and wildlife conservation organization, said police had no choice.
"It is a tragedy for these particular animals, through no fault of their own they have been shot, and I can see how difficult that decision was for the police."
Jack Hanna, TV personality and former director of the Columbus Zoo, also defended the sheriff's decision to kill the animals, saying the deaths of the endangered Bengal tigers were especially tragic.
The animals destroyed included six black bears, two grizzlies, a baboon, a wolf and three mountain lions.
"It is like Noah's Ark wrecking right here in Ohio," Hanna said.
Six animals - three leopards, a grizzly bear and two monkeys - were captured and taken to the Columbus Zoo.
A wolf was later found dead, leaving a monkey as the only animal still unaccounted for in the mostly rural community of farms, widely spaced homes and wooded areas about 90 kilometers east of Columbus.
While the sheriff's office said early yesterday that the search for the monkey was still active, Sheriff Matt Lutz said the animal may no longer be a concern.
"We have had no reported sightings of anything, and it is a high probability he could have been eaten by one of the big cats," Lutz said.
He said an autopsy showed Thompson had a bite wound on the head that appeared to have come from a large cat, such as a tiger. He said it appears the bite occurred quickly after Thompson shot himself.
Officers were ordered to kill the animals instead of trying to bring them down with tranquilizers for fear those hit with darts would escape in the darkness before they dropped and would later regain consciousness.
"There were so many animals running at large that I made the decision that we were not going to have wild animals running loose on our streets," Lutz said. "There was no way of telling which animals would lay down - where these animals would end up."
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