mindy2577
Member
GREAT BEND, Kansas – A mountain lion at the Great Bend Zoo is dead after it escaped and was shot by police Sunday night.
The female mountain lion escaped from her cage Sunday night after a zoo worker left the cage door open.
“There was no failure by the exhibits,” said Zoo Director Mike Cargill. “The enclosures were all secured. It was purely staff error.”
When the cat escaped, visitors were immediately evacuated and police were called to the zoo to help. Cargill says at first the mountain lion was calm, lying in some bushes. But it soon became frightened and began to approach other animal cages.
“That cat has had a history of aggressive behavior and an unpredictable behavior and it rang true during the time she was out of the exhibit,” Cargill said.
Great Bend Zoo workers only have access to a low-level tranquilizer, which wouldn’t have been strong enough to subdue the wild cat. And a licensed vet, who was a half hour away at the time, is the only person authorized to use stronger tranquilizers. So, Cargill made the call to have the animal killed before the situation got worse.
“You don't get into this business to terminate animals,” Cargill said. “But in this case, the cat presented a significant danger to people, my staff, and the patrolmen that were there, so we decided to terminate the cat.”
And while many KSN viewers expressed their fears and concerns about what happened, one visitor who spoke to KSN was not so worried.
“It's just how it is," said zoo visitor Pat Cain. "When you deal with animals, something like that can happen."
And thankfully, no people were injured when the lion got loose.
Great Bend Zoo keepers do undergo extensive training and are taught to always shut cage doors. The employee responsible for the escape is being disciplined.
Why didn't they just use the low tranquilizer until the vet could show up? And this animal has been raised by humans since birth. I personally don't think it was a good choice by the zoo director to shoot this animal.
The female mountain lion escaped from her cage Sunday night after a zoo worker left the cage door open.
“There was no failure by the exhibits,” said Zoo Director Mike Cargill. “The enclosures were all secured. It was purely staff error.”
When the cat escaped, visitors were immediately evacuated and police were called to the zoo to help. Cargill says at first the mountain lion was calm, lying in some bushes. But it soon became frightened and began to approach other animal cages.
“That cat has had a history of aggressive behavior and an unpredictable behavior and it rang true during the time she was out of the exhibit,” Cargill said.
Great Bend Zoo workers only have access to a low-level tranquilizer, which wouldn’t have been strong enough to subdue the wild cat. And a licensed vet, who was a half hour away at the time, is the only person authorized to use stronger tranquilizers. So, Cargill made the call to have the animal killed before the situation got worse.
“You don't get into this business to terminate animals,” Cargill said. “But in this case, the cat presented a significant danger to people, my staff, and the patrolmen that were there, so we decided to terminate the cat.”
And while many KSN viewers expressed their fears and concerns about what happened, one visitor who spoke to KSN was not so worried.
“It's just how it is," said zoo visitor Pat Cain. "When you deal with animals, something like that can happen."
And thankfully, no people were injured when the lion got loose.
Great Bend Zoo keepers do undergo extensive training and are taught to always shut cage doors. The employee responsible for the escape is being disciplined.
Why didn't they just use the low tranquilizer until the vet could show up? And this animal has been raised by humans since birth. I personally don't think it was a good choice by the zoo director to shoot this animal.
