Sad Day at Whipsnade Zoo

So very sad :(
 
An unfortunate set of circumstances..........with a tragic and sad outcome :(
 
Very sad indeed :( I know the zoo and the layout of the enclosures very well.
The Boar enclosure only has a chest high fence around it, and its only a short walk from there to the exit gate and the visitors center ( pedestrian entrance and shop)
It doesn't bear ( sorry :( ) thinking about had they headed that way.
I'm sure they had no other option.


Snow white, so named as she was very pale as a youngster


086 by Chris, on Flickr
 
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Very sad indeed, keepers must be devastated, it was a shock to receive the email yesterday

The bears loved climbing the trees, it's easy to see why they would have made the escape,
sad though it is, good to see they still have their natural instincts in hunting the boar.
I remember commenting to someone once before about them being housed between the bears and the Lynx

Apparently the had plans to celebrate their 90th anniversary this sunday
I was planning to go up there sometime this week, weather permitting but doubt I will now
 
My elderly aunt in Scotland looked out her kitchen window one afternoon and thought “that’s a strange cat” turned out to be a Red Panda that had done a similar break for freedom. It was recaptured, but imagine if a bear was quick to run?
 
Marc said:
I've been scanning the local Facebook Groups. It's amazing how many zoological experts we have in the area.
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Have you ever read "Zoo Chat"? ( there is a ZSL section)
I left there a couple of years ago, for the same reason :rolleyes:
 
Marc said:
No and I think I'll give it a miss
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Depends on how interested you are in Zoos and what's moving where.
I treat it like this forum, only ever look at the UK forum and only the subjects I'm interested in.
With many zoos not updating even their members, Whipsnade being one, I find it handy to find out
what's going on
 
Sad news but almost inevitable once the bears were effectively at large" during opening hours. I know that some zoos close when it's windy rather than take the risk of a tree taking an enclosure out - we've had to leave DZP for just that reason.

GordonM said:
but imagine if a bear was quick to run?
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Pretty damn sure that one could outrun me!
 
This is a very sad story. The keepers must be heartbroken.

GordonM said:
My elderly aunt in Scotland looked out her kitchen window one afternoon and thought “that’s a strange cat” turned out to be a Red Panda that had done a similar break for freedom.
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:oops: :$ :oops: :$

GordonM said:
.. imagine if a bear was quick to run?
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I was told when wild camping in Canada that bears could run as fast as a race horse, and if we came across one we should lie curled up and not run. Thankfully I didn't get any first hand experience.
 
Nod said:
I know that some zoos close when it's windy rather than take the risk of a tree taking an enclosure out - we've had to leave DZP for just that reason.
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Whipsnade is very high in the chiltern hills, you can see for miles up there. we have had some pretty strong winds in the area, gusting up to 50 mph
for a couple of days
Nod said:
Pretty damn sure that one could outrun me!
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I'm pretty sure it could too!
Up to 35 Km/h ~ 21 mph.
 
You is just sayin' that coz I is fat! :P
 
Nod said:
You is just sayin' that coz I is fat! :p
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Usain Bolt managed 27.5 MPH over 100 yard,
Average is less than 6 MPH. so yep, we would all be pretty screwed.
 
Nod said:
Sad news but almost inevitable once the bears were effectively at large" during opening hours. I know that some zoos close when it's windy rather than take the risk of a tree taking an enclosure out - we've had to leave DZP for just that reason.



Pretty damn sure that one could outrun me!
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What I read was it was about 8.30am and the zoo was closed, so not yet opened for the public.
 
I don't understand why they didn't dart them?
Knock them out then move to a secure location.
 
hashcake said:
I don't understand why they didn't dart them?
Knock them out then move to a secure location.
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That's all been explained in the above link.
However as the zoo was closed except for staff and "sleep overs" it does beg the question, its not as though the zoo was packed.
But then again, in the 20 mins that it takes them to nod off, they still could have wreaked havoc.
 
Cobra said:
That's all been explained in the above link.
However as the zoo was closed except for staff and "sleep overs" it does beg the question, its not as though the zoo was packed.
But then again, in the 20 mins that it takes them to nod off, they still could have wreaked havoc.
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I didn't read the article because I knew it would make me feel very angry as they always do when it's about animals.
I'm sure there are faster acting tranquilizers as the ones they used in the TV programe Work on the wildside seemed to work very quickly.
 
hashcake said:
the ones they used in the TV programe Work on the wildside seemed to work very quickly.
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I've never seen the program but of course it could always be "Time edited"
TBH I've never used a dart so I have no idea how fast they work in real life..
 
hashcake said:
I didn't read the article because I knew it would make me feel very angry as they always do when it's about animals.
I'm sure there are faster acting tranquilizers as the ones they used in the TV programe Work on the wildside seemed to work very quickly.
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Gut feeling is that whilst human life must always take precidence this solution would have been ideal.

Perhaps the zoo should have beefier enclosurers.
 
Cobra said:
I've never seen the program but of course it could always be "Time edited"
TBH I've never used a dart so I have no idea how fast they work in real life..
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I agree that they may have been time edited and like you I don't know the reaction time of these.
Sadly when I read such stories my heart always rules rather than my head.
I've just read the post about a 13 year old boy stabbing a hedgehog to death.
If I was his parent I would say f**** social services and give him a good hiding.
Is society so screwed up that it's too late for change?
 
SFTPhotography said:
Perhaps the zoo should have beefier enclosurers.
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All the enclosures there are "Beefy" the trouble was the tree falling.
And yet from the viewing point they all looked sturdy enough.
Yes its something that should have been risk assessed.
Lesson learned the hard way I guess
 
Cobra said:
I've never seen the program but of course it could always be "Time edited"
TBH I've never used a dart so I have no idea how fast they work in real life..
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hashcake said:
I agree that they may have been time edited and like you I don't know the reaction time of these.
Sadly when I read such stories my heart always rules rather than my head.
I've just read the post about a 13 year old boy stabbing a hedgehog to death.
If I was his parent I would say f**** social services and give him a good hiding.
Is society so screwed up that it's too late for change?
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I can surmise that the prime difference in reaction speed to the effects of a tranquilliser.....is that darted it is intramuscular.....compared to in controlled veterinary environment done intravenously = rapid sedation. Back in the day I believe they used Immobilon and in case of accidentally self injection a syringe of Revivon was always to hand for emergency administration.

In the case of these bears it is a surmise that the Zoo will have learned a useful lesson in layout, vegetation maintenance and of course risk assessment. Would they have acted differently with different potential risks......I would hope so?
 
Box Brownie said:
I can surmise that the prime difference in reaction speed to the effects of a tranquilliser.....is that darted it is intramuscular..
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The most likely shot would be either IM or IP both act a lot slower than IV.
 
A tragic course of events, caused by extreme weather, not really something you can risk assess for.
Should zoos be felling all trees in animal enclosures or go back to the days of concrete floors and thick bars ?

I'm not an expert but I would imagine it would have been difficult to dart the bears, there are trees in the boar enclosures
and the boars were still loose in there, which could have meant the bears still chasing them, keepers couldn't have gone
in to shut them away without risking their own lives.

I can't even begin to imagine what they all must have felt when the decision was made and my sympathy goes out the them
 
Gremlin said:
A tragic course of events, caused by extreme weather, not really something you can risk assess for.
Should zoos be felling all trees in animal enclosures or go back to the days of concrete floors and thick bars ?

I'm not an expert but I would imagine it would have been difficult to dart the bears, there are trees in the boar enclosures
and the boars were still loose in there, which could have meant the bears still chasing them, keepers couldn't have gone
in to shut them away without risking their own lives.

I can't even begin to imagine what they all must have felt when the decision was made and my sympathy goes out the them
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None too sure that 'Like' is quite right.....but I agree with & understand what you say and the challenge(s) and quick decision making that "they" had to act on.
 
hashcake said:
I didn't read the article because I knew it would make me feel very angry as they always do when it's about animals.
I'm sure there are faster acting tranquilizers as the ones they used in the TV programe Work on the wildside seemed to work very quickly.
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I heard 20 minutes on the radio which is why they had to shoot them
 
The article covers quite a few points asked in this thread. Quoted from the article:


"As brown bears are strong and dangerous predators, our first priority is safety," he said.
"We must quickly make decisions informed by our experience and expertise to protect our people, guests and our other animals."


Mr Fitzpatrick said zookeepers "agreed the only option was to euthanise the bears," adding: "When there's an immediate threat to human life, the decision is made for you."
He said tranquilisers could not be used, as they would have taken 20 minutes to take effect, "during which time the animals can become unpredictable and aggressive as adrenaline is coursing through them".


The boar enclosure has a low fence, which the bears could have escaped over, something the zoo called "a risk we couldn't take".

A third brown bear called Cinderella, which had not left her enclosure, was called to an indoor den and secured. The fallen tree was then removed.

As cobra has already said the location of the boar enclosure is very close to the main entrance and has very limited enclosure fencing (it’s designed for boars and not bears). The main entrance isn’t designed to stop brown bear escaping the zoo. Once out of their enclosure there is probably limited options available. Zoos are very different places to the plains of Africa where tranquillising is possible as there isn’t anything else around. Even then wild animals are still shot if they pose a risk to people.

Its a very sad sequence of events that lead to the final outcome.
 
rob-nikon said:
The main entrance isn’t designed to stop brown bear escaping the zoo. Once out of their enclosure there is probably limited options available.
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The main gates would still have been closed at the time, they don't open till 10am so little chance of the bears escaping from the zoo grounds, but yes, once they had escaped the boar enclosure the end result would have been the same
 
Gremlin said:
but yes, once they had escaped the boar enclosure the end result would have been the same
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And of course if they had headed the other way towards the look out cafe. there is miles of open countryside with small copse across the Chiltern hills
They might well have had a problem tracking them around there.
 
Cobra said:
And of course if they had headed the other way towards the look out cafe. there is miles of open countryside with small copse across the Chiltern hills
They might well have had a problem tracking them around there.
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With probably a high security fence that we can't see. I doubt they'd be allowed free roaming mara etc without some
barrier.
Also without any secure fencing what would stop all and sundry wandering in ?
 
Gremlin said:
I doubt they'd be allowed free roaming mara etc without some
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Maybe there is but a Mara is a tad smaller than a bear.
Gremlin said:
Also without any secure fencing what would stop all and sundry wandering in ?
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I certainly wouldn't fancy that hike up the hill from any of the surrounding villages
I guess we will never know if there is one or not, so its a moot point.
 
Gremlin said:
The main gates would still have been closed at the time, they don't open till 10am so little chance of the bears escaping from the zoo grounds, but yes, once they had escaped the boar enclosure the end result would have been the same
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Even if they couldn't get out there would likely have been staff arriving before the start of their shift. I seem to remember the staff entrance was next to the main entrance too. The boar enclosure is a waist high wooden fence with low electric fence (photo in this article). A bear wouldn't have much trouble getting over or through it. Having bears out of their enclosure would be a big risk to any persons onsite even if they didn't get out of the zoo grounds.

Cobra said:
Maybe there is but a Mara is a tad smaller than a bear.

I certainly wouldn't fancy that hike up the hill from any of the surrounding villages
I guess we will never know if there is one or not, so its a moot point.
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I've just looked on google maps. You can see a security fence at the bottom of the hill. It looks like it surrounds the whole zoo. I'd suggest it still wouldn't be of suitable grade to keep a large animal like a bear in. Any animal like a bear, lion or tiger will always be a risk once out of their enclosure.
 
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