Monarto Safari Park rhino escapes

Chlidonias

Chlidonias

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Rhino escapse Monarto Zoo pen in search for mate | The Australian
A randy rhinoceros escaped its enclosure today and went looking for love - but has been sedated near a perimeter fence.
The escapee - an 18-year-old male white rhino named Satara - was reported to have escaped Monarto Zoo, east of Adelaide, around just after 1pm (CST) today.
Relieved zoo keepers then reported the amorous animal lacked an adequate sense of direction and was not able to gain access to the female object of his desire, AdelaideNow reports.
The rhino was tranquilised by zookeepers just inside the zoo's perimeter fence - and they now face the challenge of figuring out how to move the giant African mammal back to its enclosure.
Satara is part of the international breeding program for endangered rhinos at Monarto.
The zoo has been closed for the rest of the day.
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Amorous rhino in zoo escape - Yahoo!7 News
Zoo staff have used a helicopter to track an escaped white rhinoceros at an open range zoo, south-east of Adelaide.
Chief executive of Zoos South Australia , Chris West, says the amorous rhinoceros, known as Satara, broke out of his wood and steel enclosure at Monarto Zoo, near Murray Bridge, trying to reach a pair of female rhinos.
Mr West says the rhino remained within a fenced zone, so posed no threat to wider public safety.
"It was before zoo opening times so as soon as there'd been a realisation then we'd have secured the whole site," he said.
The zoo staff said a media contingent behind a wire fence was at some risk by not leaving the area during the chase.
Keepers fired several tranquiliser shots and eventually calmed the animal down, allowing him to be shephered into another enclosure.
Satara is about 18 and was caught in the wild in Kruger National Park in Africa to be brought to Australia about six years ago.
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wow, just shows that you shouldn't let anyone stop you from achiving your goal! ;)
 
What is disconcerting to me is that they had considered shooting the rhino if it had not been recovered by nightfall. Seems in case of an endangered species other rules should apply.

Endangering the public is a big word if journalists are allowed to hang around the perimeter fence in the hunt for a scoop. Human Vultures ... :mad:
 
jelle said:
What is disconcerting to me is that they had considered shooting the rhino if it had not been recovered by nightfall. Seems in case of an endangered species other rules should apply.

Endangering the public is a big word if journalists are allowed to hang around the perimeter fence in the hunt for a scoop. Human Vultures ... :mad:
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In the event of an escaped animal (in Australia)....not sure what the policy is in The Netherlands....the police can & do assume responsibility and do not have to consult zoo staff to euthanase any escaped animal. They will make a decision based on their perception of risk to the general public and to themselves, so they could legitimately shoot the rhino.

Being an endangered species doesn't come into the equation - one only has to see the incidence of escaped chimpanzee euthanasias to understand that concept.

In my experience, the journalists probably heard the conversations over the emergency radio frequency but should have been moved on by the police or their delegates.:(
 
Well pongogirl,

Then the law is seriously flawed ...! Police should and need to consult with zoo park and animal management. Police have no expertise in the area of game animal capture nor tranquilisation.

We are talking endangered species here, so we have a moral duty to abide both by public safety and the very notion we should not lose an animal unnecessarily. We do no longer live in the seventies when a stressed animal was no longer a candidate for capture given the technical advances at the time.

Your are living in the dark ages ... my dear and so is the public order ... police! Public endangerment ... just? Pffffhh! :rolleyes:
 
If police thought there was a risk to human life they wouldn't hesitate to destroy an animal.
Police would consult with the zoo. I would assume that the zoo would be the informant.
 
Now that's what the world needs - a bit more passion and testicular fortitude to stand up for what you believe is right!

Go jelle - I'm still with you!!!!!!!!!
 
pongogirl said:
In Being an endangered species doesn't come into the equation - one only has to see the incidence of escaped chimpanzee euthanasias to understand that concept.

.:(
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Hey pongogirl, lest they get the wrong impression, perhaps we should point out to folks that this hasn't happened in Australia since ...... when?

I can't recall the last one and I'm [almost] as old as Ara.:D
 
jelle said:
Well pongogirl,

Then the law is seriously flawed ...! Police should and need to consult with zoo park and animal management. Police have no expertise in the area of game animal capture nor tranquilisation.

We are talking endangered species here, so we have a moral duty to abide both by public safety and the very notion we should not lose an animal unnecessarily. We do no longer live in the seventies when a stressed animal was no longer a candidate for capture given the technical advances at the time.

Your are living in the dark ages ... my dear and so is the public order ... police! Public endangerment ... just? Pffffhh! :rolleyes:
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Jelle - I feel you need to understand the law as it applies in Australia before you make an assertion to where I live...which is not actually the dark ages but in Sydney 2008!

My information was relayed via our security staff as well as through our OH&S personel who have made it clear through our training programs to all staff, the operational responsibilities and who will/does assume the right to make decisions based on worst case scenarios ie animal escape from a city zoo.

At no time did I assert the decision would or is made without consultation with zoo personel. What I am saying is that the police will make a decision to euthanase an animal - not based on their conservation status (not sure the conservation status of animals is included in police basic training courses anywhere in the world) if they feel human life is threatened or endangered.

I would suggest you make contact with your local police department and ask them what their response and responsibilities are in the event that an animal escapes from your local city zoo. You may be as unsettled as I am with the answer.
 
One needs to consider the danger to members of the public when choosing a course of action. A family out for a day in the park or a child on the playground certainly takes precedence over an animal, no matter what the animal's status is in the wild. Allowing a zoo animal to endanger the lives of the public is a sure way to turn many folks against zoos and the important work they do. We walk a fine line.
 
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