Comments on: Why don’t zoo animals die in front of visitors all the time?

By: Antonia

Antonia — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 17:22:45 +0000

The Living Desert in Palm Desert, CA has a section of the zoo specifically for their veterinary unit and recovering animals. These areas are available for public touring (within reason). All around the park they have signs in almost every cage outlining why exactly this animal cannot be released into the wild. It’s often because of a genetic illness or abuse case in which the animal was kept illegally and later captured by the authorities and donated to the zoo.

Frankly, your post makes zoos look totally evil which I don’t think is the case at all most of the time. Oftentimes zoos are actually doing a very beneficial thing–I.E. providing education and awareness for animals who are endangered and need special care. I’ve never been to a zoo where I felt that the conditions weren’t appropriate and trust me when I say that I would be the first to question the zookeepers if I felt that were the case (I am an animal lover, advocate of animals rights, and biology major with the intentions of becoming a wildlife biologist and/or wildlife veterinarian). Obviously I haven’t been to every zoo on earth and unfortunately there are probably some horrible zoos out there that are more like circuses than zoos (don’t get me started on circuses…THEY are evil) but I believe that we can give most zoos out there the benefit of the doubt and respect the hard work and intentions of very caring biologists and veterinarians.

By: Lorax

Lorax — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 17:11:04 +0000

I agree with the third reason. How often do we see a pet die? They get hit by cars or euthanized. Having grown up with too many cats, dogs, hamsters, rabbits, and rats, I can think of 1 case when I knew an animal was dying in front of me. I expect zoo animals, much like pets, are maintained as long as they have a modicum of quality of life. Once that point is reached, they are euthanized. So we don’t see them die in front of us.

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:48:47 +0000

“…BLOOD COVERED THE AVENUE,
and off in the distance the awestruck spectators looked on in breathless fear. Finally the two sanguinary brutes rushed from each other as a bullet from the rifle of General Wingate, who came promptly on the ground, whistled between their ears. Lester Wallack took aim at the same moment from behind the unfinished iron building on the east side, and perforated the tiger to some slight degree. Many other gentlemen came rushing to the scene in the meantime, among them ex-Mayor Hall, Erastus Brooks, of the Express; Manton Marole and Mr. Bangs, of the World, who had been visiting Governor-elect Tilden, and were on their way uptown in a carriage; Judge Daly, Judge J.R. Brady, General Arthur, Hugh Hastings and Prosper Wetmore. But they were all a trifle nervous from running, and the beasts escaped on their raid down town, where, as everybody knows by this, they had a bloody and fearful carnival….”

Those were the days, when zoos were zoos and men were always there to shoot something …

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:44:30 +0000

Could be this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Zoo_hoax

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:42:08 +0000

Then there was the time a tornado or hurricane or something hit Manhattan and all of the animals in the Central Park Zoo escaped. I believe it was either the Mayor or the US President (who would have been Teddy Roosevelt, if this is even half true) shot the escaped rhino.

(From the “Things I Read in a Waiting Room” part of my brain. Sound familiar?)

By: Laurent

Laurent — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:34:43 +0000

â??Zoo animals may die in front of all people some of the time, zoo animals may even die in front of some of the people all of the time, but zoo animals cannot die in front of all of the people all the time.â? I think Abraham Lincoln said that.

By: Gerry L

Gerry L — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 23:12:14 +0000

Greg,
Granted, there are probably still some instances of institutions where inconvenient animals are ‘put down,’ but that is probably not happening at accredited zoos — the kind most people are likely to visit.

And yes, if a raccoon expired in the manner you describe, and if it were caught on video, it would likely go viral. But people are more inclined to capture images of critters pooping or doing other more common things.

BTW, our previous anaconda would only eat live food, so on feeding days, the windows were papered over — for human sensibilities.

And just so you know, we have an ancient chimp. The old lady is almost 60 and is looking her age. She can no longer climb and spends all her time at floor level. She is ‘on exhibit’ and not hidden away. And she gets lots of loving attention.

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 17:00:24 +0000

I don’t buy the fact that if someone is standing there and a racoon in a zoo clutches its chest and squeals, and falls to the ground with its four limbs sticking up in the air and it’s tongue hanging out of its mouth, eyes rolled back in its head, that it would not become memic on our highly volitile social networks. Especially if there is a video.

Gerry, yes, I think we are pretty much in agreement on all points. but while it usually isn’t nefarious, the phrase “nothing nefarious” (as in “never nefarious”) is not accurate. Perhaps we haven’t been in the back rooms of the same zoos.

By: MadScientist

MadScientist — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 16:55:17 +0000

Another reason would be that animals dying in zoos is not news – unless it’s Knut, or one of the human visitors – and in the case of the humans, only if they’re a celebrity or they were killed by another animal (including other humans – gang wars make good news).

By: Gerry L

Gerry L — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 02:38:50 +0000

Some animals do die in public. You are unlikely to know about it unless 1) you are there, 2) you are associated with the zoo and learn about it from your contacts or 3) the individual was a ‘celebrity’ (like Knut) and the event is covered in the local press.
Some animals die in their sleep and are discovered by their keepers in the morning. Many/most are ill and are being treated before they die or are euthanized when their condition is so poor that their quality of life would make it cruel to keep them going. Count among these the ones who never make it out of surgery.
The ones who are being treated are kept ‘off exhibit’ for the same reason you might be tucked into a hospital bed instead of in a department store window when you are seriously ill. (Happily, many do make it out of the hospital and go on to live many more healthy years.)
As a long-time zoo volunteer, I am personally familiar with all of these situations. In all of my hundreds of hours at the zoo (mostly with primates), I have thankfully witnessed only one death (devastating) and I have monitored ill animals, some of whom survived, some of whom didn’t.
Nothing nefarious.