3 Wolves shot dead

This is such a shame. Bad fencing caused the loss of 3 beautiful Wolves. If they darted one surely the others could have been darted too. Yes I know the police probably acted on Safety reasons but I am sure death didnt need to become the ultimate outcome. The zoo has a lot to answer for with regards to the enclosure. I must admitmthough, that for once it was nice to read in the article that some of the public didnt want the Wolves shot and they were genuinely concerned for them.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2513842/Three-Colchester-Zoo-wolves-shot-dead-escaped.html

littlewid-x-

What a   waste of life, that makes me so sick, carelessness on the part of the zoo has caused the loss of 3 lives. I accept they needed to be caught and rounded up but was it necessary to kill them? If that is the answer I really have strong views about zoos and their duty of care to animals.

A tragic article and I hope the zoo is penalised and fined heavily for not taking care of it's animals. You would think the fencing would be checked weekly. I am really     with this.

Lai

Hopefully the full story will emerge, and we will see it published so that we know whats happend. I suppose its possible that the fence was sabotaged, and I would have thought checks were or should have been on a regular basis. I suppose with the ones that were shot a decision was made with safety of the public taken into consideration, and the area, and situation the Wolves were in. Credit to those of the public that did'nt want them to be shot.

WS

As far as I am aware there is going to be an enquiry as to how the Wolves got out. I too hope they are extremely penalised for letting this happen. My sentiments are the same as yours, it made me bloody mad too and you are right Lai, they had a duty of care to the animals and they were severely let down, big time, by the loss of their lives. This needn't have happened and they shouldnt be allowed to get away with it and I hope they dont try and regain face by saying shooting the wolves was all done in the safety for the public, darting them would have knocked them down and allowed them to be captured. Its all such a terrible waste.

littlewid-x-

I saw this from the Born Free Foundation.

http://www.bornfree.org.uk/news/news-article/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=1460

Let's hope a proper investigation is done, although it is too late for those 3 wolves.

Lai

Well done to Born Free for stepping in and they make a good point of what humane methods were tried to capture them before shooting them.........well asked. Also how did they manage to escape their enclosure as well as the perimeter fence? It will be interesting to hear the outcome of the investigation and I imagine the zoo will be very closely looked at now.

littlewid-x-

Born Free are right to ask what humane methods of capture were considered, because from reading the reports, I dont think ant were readily available to the Police marksmen. The one Wolf that was trapped, and sedated was still within the Zoo confines, where there would be traps, darts, dart guns, and trained staff to use them. These would not be avialable outside where the other Wolves were found, and clearly the question is could they have waited untill someone from the Zoo with the required items could get to the scene, after all they were using a Helicopter in the search, I suppose it would depend where, and in what situation the Wolves were found. I believe with the last Wolf it should have been possible to capture it, as it was hiding in a wooded area for some time, they new it was there, and could have contained it untill someone from the Zoo was brought to the scene with everything needed to effect its safe capture.
They certainly need to review their protocols for escaped animals, they need a plan to have the proper trained people with any search teams to advise, and where nessassary capture the animals in a humane way

WS