Animal escapes and enclosure security

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Tig

Tig

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So here in the US, this has been quite the hot topic lately. In the Bronx zoo, everyone has definitely heard about the Cobra escape. A week later, they had a Peacock escape... I believe they free-roam their Peacocks... and it turned up a while later off zoo grounds. So this begs the obvious question... what level of animal security is enough? And how much was being implimented with these situations? Obviously it has happened before, I mean think how often animals must get out, only to be found a few hours later, and it's never reported. But if you have ever been behind-the-scenes of any zoo or aquarium, especially a high-profile one like the Bronx, you'd know it's pretty much harder to get into an enclosure, especially a venomous reptile enclosure, than to get into the safe deposit at a bank. From what I remember hearing, the Cobra was in a sliding glass-door cage. For those who aren't into reptiles, it would look something like this - http://img1.classistatic.com/cps/po/110515/133r2/0369l07_26.jpeg
Now of course, there would be some kind of locking mechanism on the cage. It seems pretty escape-proof. So obviously it was either left unlocked or there was a weak point in the cage that wasn't discovered by staff. As far as the Peacock, how it would be able to exit zoo grounds, is beyond me. Of course there are staff at every entrance/exit gate, and if you have ever been to the Bronx zoo, you will see that they have attendants at the entrance to the parking lot, as well. I know of other places that free-roam Peacocks and other fowl, and I don't recall any escapes, definitely not ones that took several hours to recapture the animal. I have a bit of a "concern" that these huge animal escapes don't help the progression that zoos have made in education over the last few decades.
I apologize if that came off as a bit rant-y, but I guess this is more of a discussion than it is a question. What do you guys think?
 
Tig said:
As far as the Peacock, how it would be able to exit zoo grounds, is beyond me.
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They can fly

Animals have gone wandering out of enclosures for centuries. There are some terrific and terrifying stories that the Bronx Zoo old timers used to tell. But it was easier for a zoo to keep things quiet once upon a pre-digital time.
I am more concerned about the increasing incidents of idiot humans breaking into zoos after hours to steal or brutalize animals. Thanks to the internet, we can now see that such things occur on a regular basis, at least somewhere every month.
 
Tig said:
I have a bit of a "concern" that these huge animal escapes don't help the progression that zoos have made in education over the last few decades.
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A cobra that, dangerous though it could be, never even made it out of the reptile house and a peacock that was already roaming free around the public? I know the cobra was headline-grabbing but I'm not sure these are 'huge animal escapes' - certainly the peacock, a basically harmless animal.
 
That's a good point, I'm sure it was easier to keep animal escapes on the hush when the internet wasn't around.

And most places that free-roam Peacocks clip their wings. At least I'd hope so :p
 
Maguari said:
A cobra that, dangerous though it could be, never even made it out of the reptile house and a peacock that was already roaming free around the public? I know the cobra was headline-grabbing but I'm not sure these are 'huge animal escapes' - certainly the peacock, a basically harmless animal.
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That's very true, but the mentality of people is that "if a Peacock can escape, what's keeping the other animals in?" and the Cobra thing, if it had occured in the summer, the animal could have ended up anywhere in the park. Me and one of my teachers had a running gag of the Cobra sitting curled up on a park bench, with a sign saying "WILL DANCE FOR MICE". :D And even though no harm was done, it definitely put people on edge, and the normal "public" is a large portion of the zoo-going population, right?
I'm pretty much playing devil's advocate here. I find this topic very interesting.
 
Tig said:
That's very true, but the mentality of people is that "if a Peacock can escape, what's keeping the other animals in?"
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But the peacocks are quite openly wandering about, while the other animals aren't. It's a different state of affairs entirely.


Tig said:
and the Cobra thing, if it had occured in the summer, the animal could have ended up anywhere in the park.
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That's only if we assume that once it was out of the tank, it would have been able to get out of the house, which is untested and certainly unproven. I'm afraid I still see these escapes as overhyped.
 
Nope you can still keep animal escapes quite even,now in the times of the internet I know of atleast 4 in the UK,that have happened within the last 2 years in the UK,that never got any where near the press or the internet!What ever design people come up with for enclosures for animals some will always escape,either through human error or poor design,like using the wrong type of netting or mesh thats not strong enough for the job that its doing!!
 
Maguari said:
But the peacocks are quite openly wandering about, while the other animals aren't. It's a different state of affairs entirely.




That's only if we assume that once it was out of the tank, it would have been able to get out of the house, which is untested and certainly unproven. I'm afraid I still see these escapes as overhyped.
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That's an interesting point as well, which also raises the question, are the holding areas and wings designed as a secondary line of defense against escaped animals, and would they prevent them from getting outside.
 
Tig said:
That's an interesting point as well, which also raises the question, are the holding areas and wings designed as a secondary line of defense against escaped animals, and would they prevent them from getting outside.
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If they have been designed properly then the answer is YES!
 
Heh, this has definitely become quite an interesting discussion!

The way I see it, even though we know how rare animal escapes are, and how zoos and aquariums should be totally prepared for such a situation, and often is, the public may not see it that way, Because afterall, if the animal is recovered without incident, the aftermath is the biggest issue, AKA the public's reaction.
 
Tig said:
Heh, this has definitely become quite an interesting discussion!

The way I see it, even though we know how rare animal escapes are, and how zoos and aquariums should be totally prepared for such a situation, and often is, the public may not see it that way, Because afterall, if the animal is recovered without incident, the aftermath is the biggest issue, AKA the public's reaction.
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But does that work against the zoo?

There have been numerous instances when an animal has actually injured someone (keeper or visitor) and public interest and visitor numbers actually increased.
 
Also true - the Bronx zoo actually managed to turn the Cobra situation into a positive. They held a competition to name the Cobra, and allowed visitors to touch its last sheds... pretty gimmicky if ya asked me but hey, it feeds the animals:p
 
zoogiraffe said:
Nope you can still keep animal escapes quite even,now in the times of the internet I know of atleast 4 in the UK,that have happened within the last 2 years in the UK,that never got any where near the press or the internet!What ever design people come up with for enclosures for animals some will always escape,either through human error or poor design,like using the wrong type of netting or mesh thats not strong enough for the job that its doing!!
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Totaly agree i know of a few animal escapes that the public havent known about. Luckly they were all caught.
There is quite a few animals that have escaped from private hands and never been found though. Infact theres currently a raccoon loose in the UK but lots of people are doing all they can to find it.
Stu
 
I think there is more than 1 raccoon loose in the UK. Raccoons in the UK has been raised in another forum and several incidences were quoted,
 
Tig said:
That's very true, but the mentality of people is that "if a Peacock can escape, what's keeping the other animals in?"
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Now my mentality is "A peacock escaped, oh!"

Would never occur to me to think this had any bearing on other animals getting out. Obviously such lack of imagination puts me at risk of being trampled by an elephant escaping via a flimsy peacock fence.
 
Hi, I worked at the Bx Zoo for 21 yrs; the peafowl are full-winged and have roamed free for over 60 yrs. Easy to fly over a fence at any point (265 acres). They just don't seem to do it - I cannot recall others doing so in all my time there.

The cobra escape involved keeper error, from what I'm told.

Other escapes, as in most zoos, were kept quiet - that was easier in past when there was a sense of community at the BZ; now I believe many would jump at the chance to embarrass the institution.

A Gray Wolf escaped from a zoo in Minn in the past day or 2, was shot.

Best, Frank
 
arjaydee said:
I think there is more than 1 raccoon loose in the UK. Raccoons in the UK has been raised in another forum and several incidences were quoted,
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O yes and plenty of other species also. From one careless collection alone skunks both black and white and albino, coati, and arctic fox have all escaped!
I have to add though that most private keepers are very good at security:D
 
Same here in US - capybara, coypu and (probably) jaguarundi, others, breeding in Florida, not to mention herps, birds, fish and inverts,

best, Frank
 
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