Child mauled to death after felling into Pittsburgh zoo African painted dog exhibit

Boy falls into Pittsburgh zoo exhibit, mauled to death by African painted dogs

 African painted dogs, also known as African wild dogs, Cape hunting dogs, spotted dogs, and painted wolves (not hyenas), are found in the open plains and sparse woodlands of sub-Saharan Africa. The long-legged canines have only four toes per foot. There is an African wild dog exhibit at the Wilds.

One of my friends who lives in the area posted this on Facebook today:

"Horrified. To all the many people I know were working today I feel for you having to hear that call over the radio and witness something so tragic. To the zoo your exhibits are unsafe it is not hard to see, this just further proves it. I can't believe this happened. May the little one rest in peace."

I've never been to the Pittsburgh Zoo so I can't comment on the quality or safety of their exhibits.

Gorillas Escape at Kansas City Zoo

Some exciting events happened at the Kansas City Zoo on Sunday when two gorillas were able to wander away from their habitat after zookeepers forgot to lock two interior doors. The public was never in any real danger but were required to go indoors until the all clear was given. The two male gorillas were herded back into their cages with water hoses and were not injured. All in all, its really just a non-story as no persons or animals were injured and proper procedures were followed. Move along now.

Update: 49 Loose Exotic Animals Killed in Ohio

ZANESVILLE, Ohio --
Forty-nine animals are killed and six were rescued after the owner of an animal preserve released his exotic animals and killed himself. It played out Tuesday evening at the 73-acre Muskingum County Animal Farm at 270 Kopchak Road in Zanesville. Deputies found wild and exotic animals on the loose and the farm's owner dead in the driveway from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

A news conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday. NBC4 and nbc4i.com will provide live coverage on-air and online.

Officials said the owner, Terry Thompson, opened pens and cages before he committed suicide.

The farm housed animals including Bengal tigers, mountain lions, grizzly and black bears, primates and wolves. A total of 56 animals escaped. Six black bears, two grizzly bears, nine male lions, eight lionesses, one baboon, three mountain lions, 18 tigers and two wolves were killed by authorities.

Six animals were caught and transported to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium: one grizzly bear, three leopards and two macaques (a breed of monkey).

One animal remains loose: a monkey that is carrying the Herpes B virus. According to Jack Hanna, the director emeritus of the Columbus zoo who was working with the emergency communications group, the monkey may have been eaten by another animal. Officials are still asking the public to be on the lookout for the monkey. Consultants recommended to law enforcement that the monkey be shot and killed. The Herpes B virus is not harmful to the monkey but is considered extremely dangerous to humans. A bite wound by the monkey would be considered very dangerous.

"I'm sorry for what happened to these animals. But also for what could have happened to people. Let's hope this never has to happen again in any state. This is a tragedy for the animal world. It could have been a bigger tragedy for the human world," Hanna said.
 
"You cannot run from it. It doesn't see you as a human. It sees you as something fleeing, or something to play with," Hanna said.

There also were horses also being kept on the farm and officials said Wednesday afternoon that some of the wild animals were charging at the horses when deputies arrived.

Hanna said the animals that were captured will go into quarantine before being brought into the zoo.
The Columbus zoo reached out to other zoos for possible placement, but the animals still belong to Thompson's wife legally.


The zoo called in extra security after reports of death threats from people who are pro-animal rights. The Zanesville Chamber of Commerce also received a few emailed threats. The Wilds, a conservation center in Zanesville, was helping out as well, Hanna said. No human injuries were reported.
Schools in the area were closed at the recommendation of Lutz Wednesday. Lutz said he would recommend to districts that they can open school for Thursday.

Someone attempted to steal the carcass of one of the big cats Tuesday night. The animal was recovered, and the person was taken into police custody. Charges will be filed, the sheriff said.
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Trainer crushed by elephant at Tennessee zoo

Sad news out of the Tennessee today. An 8,000-pound elephant at a Tennessee zoo backed a trainer into a wall and crushed her to death, and the zoo said on Saturday it had temporarily closed its elephant exhibit. The trainer was taken to nearby University of Tennessee Medical Center, where she died Friday of internal injuries. Rolen said Edie, one of three zoo elephants, will not be punished or disciplined in any way. "Our training program is based on positive reinforcement," she said. The zoo was open on Saturday but the elephant display was closed. Our thoughts and prayers go out everyone involved in this tragic event.

Read the full article here.

Update on SeaWorld Whale Situation

While SeaWorld issued a statement late Friday that killer whale shows would begin again on Saturday, the animal trainers said they would not be getting in the water again with any of the whales until they had time to go over all of their safety procedures. SeaWorld currently has no plans to remove Tilly from the park however, while various groups have been crying out to the media asking for the whale to be either released into the wild (where is would surely die on its own) or even destroyed.
    While looking into this story however, I came across another story I had not seen before. About 5-6 years ago several SeaWorld whales were sent to Loro Parque in the Canary Islands on a long term loan from SeaWorld. Just this past December 24th, another accident took place at that park involving a former SeaWorld whale that caused a death of a trainer there. The whale there involved was thought to be Keto, which I believe is one of the many offspring of Tilly. You can read more and find links to other reports at Wikipedia.