Explanation from François Gay on the death of the two cheetahs :
Less than a week after its reopening, the Doué-la-Fontaine Bioparc experienced a tragedy. Two of its female cheetahs died before the eyes of visitors. The autopsy revealed severe intolerance to a pest control given on the morning of the tragedy. Explanations and reaction from François Gay, director of the animal park.
The Carnivore Crater is the great new feature of the Bioparc de Doué-la-Fontaine in 2020. After almost a year and a half of work, the site opened its doors in late December 2019. A few weeks earlier, an incident had mourned the inauguration of the site. Two lionesses refused to submit to the male, who consequently fatally injured them.
An unpredictable accident that could just as easily have happened in a natural environment, as François Gay explains: “From the moment we let animals express themselves in large spaces and regain their instincts, we witness natural reactions , sometimes violent like the end of a reign ”or, in this case, a non-submission.
A few months after this event, it was in the second space of the Carnivore Crater that a new drama took place. "On May 21, two of our cheetahs, the oldest in the group, died of acute poisoning in their park," said Bioparc to its Facebook subscribers.
The Doué-la-Fontaine Bioparc presented a group of six cheetah females, three present for several years in the park and three newcomers. Following the ingestion of a antiparasitic on the morning of May 21, two of them, the oldest females in the group, presented symptoms of intoxication and died within 30 minutes, without the team of parc, helped by its director, can do nothing. A third female, also ill, was able to escape. The other three animals showed no symptoms.
Why did some animals develop intolerance and others did not? The park has no answer. The same females had already been treated with this dewormer two years earlier as confirmed by the park manager. "We deworm our animals as soon as they have parasites in the faeces. It is not a preventive but a curative treatment. It is an unfortunate coincidence that this accident took place a few months after the lionesses died, but the two are unrelated. It is absolutely not related to the layout of the Crater. "
The autopsies carried out the day after the deaths made it possible to send samples to laboratories. According to the park, the results confirmed Thursday, June 25, the role of the pest control in the death of the two animals.
François Gay told us that there was a suspicion of this product following some side effects observed in other parks. A suspected toxicity now proven. Consequently, and to prevent other animals from triggering identical intolerance, all of the professionals in the French animal parks were immediately informed, as was the European coordinator of the species and his "vet-advisors".
The Bioparc taken for scapegoat?
Although the Bioparc spoke on its Facebook page and in the press on the death of these two animals, the case took a completely different turn on social networks. The anti-captivity animal protection association, Code Animal, and the 30 million friends association have pointed out the role of captivity in the death of these two cheetahs and in particular through a video made from 'images filmed on site by visitors.
“On this video, everything is distorted and the words are false. Code Animal contacted us the day after the accident and I took the time to explain to them what had happened, but their goal was to make the buzz and play on the emotion aroused by this video. When we lose an animal, we are the first to be affected. [The park's press secretary told us that the second cheetah had died in the arms of François Gay, note.] We monitor our animals on a daily basis, we are constantly exchanging between European zoos to improve well-being of our animals. The Crater, which allows cheetahs to run over a large area, is our third version of enclosures for cheetahs. We are constantly seeking to improve their living conditions and enrich their daily lives. We have no lessons to receive from anyone, "reacts the grandson of the founder of the Bioparc
In recent days, a lure game has been set up to allow animals to demonstrate their ability to sprint.
The video in question - which we chose not to diffuse because it could shock the youngest of our readers -, raises all the same some questions. The association suggests that park staff were slow to respond and that no veterinarian was present at the park to save the animals.
Two questions we asked the director of the Bioparc. “We have always communicated on the deaths of our animals, we are very transparent but this video is clearly truncated. It is not a trainer who speaks but a young man who comes regularly to the park, so he is not part of the team. We have two full time vets in the park. The accident took place over lunch, of course. But their presence would not have changed anything, the animals died in less than 30 minutes, it was dazzling. "
What you don't see in the video footage is that the teams reacted very quickly after being alerted by a visitor. "The enclosure caretaker was in the aisle next door, it took her less than 10 minutes to enter cheetah territory for the first time and then get out to get a transport case to move the sick female. In the pictures, you can see me coming back with her to carry the animal in the crate. We took him to the building, but it was unfortunately too late. When we left the building we were warned that there was a second sick animal, so we decided to bring all the animals inside. "
If the deaths of the two females remain shocking, François Gay regrets that they give rise to an anti-captivity plea "scientifically completely wrong" and deplores that associations use them to create "a case where there is none . "
Suite au décès de deux guépards, le directeur du Bioparc s'explique
Less than a week after its reopening, the Doué-la-Fontaine Bioparc experienced a tragedy. Two of its female cheetahs died before the eyes of visitors. The autopsy revealed severe intolerance to a pest control given on the morning of the tragedy. Explanations and reaction from François Gay, director of the animal park.
The Carnivore Crater is the great new feature of the Bioparc de Doué-la-Fontaine in 2020. After almost a year and a half of work, the site opened its doors in late December 2019. A few weeks earlier, an incident had mourned the inauguration of the site. Two lionesses refused to submit to the male, who consequently fatally injured them.
An unpredictable accident that could just as easily have happened in a natural environment, as François Gay explains: “From the moment we let animals express themselves in large spaces and regain their instincts, we witness natural reactions , sometimes violent like the end of a reign ”or, in this case, a non-submission.
A few months after this event, it was in the second space of the Carnivore Crater that a new drama took place. "On May 21, two of our cheetahs, the oldest in the group, died of acute poisoning in their park," said Bioparc to its Facebook subscribers.
The Doué-la-Fontaine Bioparc presented a group of six cheetah females, three present for several years in the park and three newcomers. Following the ingestion of a antiparasitic on the morning of May 21, two of them, the oldest females in the group, presented symptoms of intoxication and died within 30 minutes, without the team of parc, helped by its director, can do nothing. A third female, also ill, was able to escape. The other three animals showed no symptoms.
Why did some animals develop intolerance and others did not? The park has no answer. The same females had already been treated with this dewormer two years earlier as confirmed by the park manager. "We deworm our animals as soon as they have parasites in the faeces. It is not a preventive but a curative treatment. It is an unfortunate coincidence that this accident took place a few months after the lionesses died, but the two are unrelated. It is absolutely not related to the layout of the Crater. "
The autopsies carried out the day after the deaths made it possible to send samples to laboratories. According to the park, the results confirmed Thursday, June 25, the role of the pest control in the death of the two animals.
François Gay told us that there was a suspicion of this product following some side effects observed in other parks. A suspected toxicity now proven. Consequently, and to prevent other animals from triggering identical intolerance, all of the professionals in the French animal parks were immediately informed, as was the European coordinator of the species and his "vet-advisors".
The Bioparc taken for scapegoat?
Although the Bioparc spoke on its Facebook page and in the press on the death of these two animals, the case took a completely different turn on social networks. The anti-captivity animal protection association, Code Animal, and the 30 million friends association have pointed out the role of captivity in the death of these two cheetahs and in particular through a video made from 'images filmed on site by visitors.
“On this video, everything is distorted and the words are false. Code Animal contacted us the day after the accident and I took the time to explain to them what had happened, but their goal was to make the buzz and play on the emotion aroused by this video. When we lose an animal, we are the first to be affected. [The park's press secretary told us that the second cheetah had died in the arms of François Gay, note.] We monitor our animals on a daily basis, we are constantly exchanging between European zoos to improve well-being of our animals. The Crater, which allows cheetahs to run over a large area, is our third version of enclosures for cheetahs. We are constantly seeking to improve their living conditions and enrich their daily lives. We have no lessons to receive from anyone, "reacts the grandson of the founder of the Bioparc
In recent days, a lure game has been set up to allow animals to demonstrate their ability to sprint.
The video in question - which we chose not to diffuse because it could shock the youngest of our readers -, raises all the same some questions. The association suggests that park staff were slow to respond and that no veterinarian was present at the park to save the animals.
Two questions we asked the director of the Bioparc. “We have always communicated on the deaths of our animals, we are very transparent but this video is clearly truncated. It is not a trainer who speaks but a young man who comes regularly to the park, so he is not part of the team. We have two full time vets in the park. The accident took place over lunch, of course. But their presence would not have changed anything, the animals died in less than 30 minutes, it was dazzling. "
What you don't see in the video footage is that the teams reacted very quickly after being alerted by a visitor. "The enclosure caretaker was in the aisle next door, it took her less than 10 minutes to enter cheetah territory for the first time and then get out to get a transport case to move the sick female. In the pictures, you can see me coming back with her to carry the animal in the crate. We took him to the building, but it was unfortunately too late. When we left the building we were warned that there was a second sick animal, so we decided to bring all the animals inside. "
If the deaths of the two females remain shocking, François Gay regrets that they give rise to an anti-captivity plea "scientifically completely wrong" and deplores that associations use them to create "a case where there is none . "
Suite au décès de deux guépards, le directeur du Bioparc s'explique
if you like lions, this exhibit is as impressive as they come.
