Argentine zookeeper dies after anteater attack

Simon Hampel

Simon Hampel

Administrator
Staff member
20+ year member
From the SMH:

Argentine zookeeper dies after anteater attack

A young Argentine zookeeper who worked on a giant anteater conservation project has died after she was attacked by an anteater who mauled her abdomen and legs with its sharp front claws.

"Her injuries were very serious and when she was admitted she was already in critical condition," Jose Potito, director of the hospital, said.

Potito said Melisa Casco, 19, died after an operation to amputate one of her legs.

Casco worked at the Florencio Varela zoo outside Buenos Aires as part of a conservation and reproduction project involving endangered giant anteaters.

The zoo was closed on Thursday and not available for comment, but a zoo worker yesterday described the attack as an accident.

Zoo workers told local media they did not see Tuesday's attack on Casco. Different reports said the anteater was male, or female, and may have been protecting offspring or was in heat.

Anteaters, which can measure up to 2.8 metres long and weigh as much as 50kg, are native to Latin America and have toothless snouts.

They are usually not aggressive, but their long, knife-like claws can do serious damage to predators when they defend themselves.
Click to expand...
 
bizarre! i think this was the zoo that i went to when i was in buenos aires.
i even went just to see the anteater!!!!
 
That's unusual, giant anteaters are usually placid. One of Singapore's keepers got slashed on the hands by an anteater last year but the wounds were not deep, didn't even require stitches. The anteater attacked because she was startled while sleeping.

To read of such a vicious attack, its really bizarre as patrick put it!
 
I heard that a tapir attacked a zoo keeper. It bit her arm when the keeper went too close to the baby. Shocking!! I always thought that tapirs and Anteaters were nice. Anteaters are becoming more common in european zoos.
 
malay tapirs are shocking- happened at taronga years ago, whole story, basically keeper wasnt educated on species, and she had only worked with brazilians, malay tapir mauled her, she was seriously injured, completely her own fault
 
i read the argentine zookeeper is still alive (albeit in a critical condition) in a different report. was thhis older news perhaps?
 
i ahve been in with with wpz tapir, so kool, the older male there just sat as i patted him all over

yea this story of taronags tapi aint well known, but malayans all over i belive are very vicious
 
Zoo_Boy said:
malay tapirs are shocking- happened at taronga years ago, whole story, basically keeper wasnt educated on species, and she had only worked with brazilians, malay tapir mauled her, she was seriously injured, completely her own fault
Click to expand...

Not the ones in Singapore! They're the sweetest. In fact Malayan tapirs are often the first large wild animal that student zoo volunteers get to interact with. The worst our tapirs have ever done was shower a poor volunteer with pee!

Having said that, our female tapir is heavily pregnant now and the male does get a bit agitated when the keepers get close to her, but not to the extent of attacking. As with any animal, reading warning signs is important and knowing when to back off.
 
when i did work experience at Taronga they told me that the tapirs were very dangerous and had even bitten off a keeper's arm/fingers? in the US. they were also classed as dangerous in the information i was given as part of the carnivores unit. it was very interesting experience, the keeper had trained the mother to allow them to put eye cream on her and then a fly net. i wasn't allowed to go near them and the keepers had minimal contact with them. Not my most favorite animals i got the job of cleaning out their inside pool and i filled a green trolly bin full of ****. i stunk the rest of the day.
 
When did you do work experience? I would love to but didn't get in at melbourne.
 
i did work experience gosh.. two years ago around ANZAC day it was at taronga in the carnivores unit about six months after the snow leopard cubs were born and i got to go in with them!!!
 
Giant anteaters kill two hunters in Brazil

Giant anteaters in Brazil have killed two hunters in separate incidents, raising concerns about the animals' loss of habitat and the growing risk of dangerous encounters with people, researchers say.

The long-nosed, hairy mammals are not typically aggressive toward people and are considered a vulnerable species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

However, they have poor vision and if frightened, may defend themselves with long front claws that are as long as pocketknives.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top