Prague Sitatungas Killed in South Africa

kuba said:
South African media: Prague Zoo Sitatunga antelope euthanised in South Africa: NSPCA - Times LIVE

Prague zoo information: Sitatungas donated to Johannesburg Zoo

How sad!
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We are appalled at how the South African authorities and NSPCA are facilitating a regular wildlife zoo-to-zoo transfer of an - endangered / threatened antelope species. When in port / cargo bay off the boat / plane there is an obligation of authorities to accomodate the animals in transit and allow them to be watered / fed prior to transfer to the Johannesburg Zoo.

The unnecessary delay in handling at destination airport is IMO to blame for their compromised condition in the first place. To simply blame despatch from Frankfurt or the transport by Praha Zoo officials is too preposterous for words and lamentable / questionable when shifting the blame game away from the animal health authority responsible at the South African end. Well it is an SPCA anyway, which deals in cats and dogs and not .... wildlife. Still - whatever the outcome might have been - there was an obligation on the local animal health inspectorate to make sure the wildlife on transfer remained healthy or would have been recovered to a healthy state before any legal wrangling or sending back. The simple euthanasia of is a total disgrace!

It is the sheer incompetence of the NSPCA and their hiding behind some bureacratic veterinary regulations or notions (why the paperwork was not in order) that the welfare of these animals was so compromised and the animals thus euthanised. This might be all well and good in case of domesticated stock / cattle, not so in wildlife (and certainly not in an endangered species which this particular subspecies of sitatunga are.


I seem to recall a not too dissimilar incident with rhinos and giraffe on transfer from South Africa (by boat this time around) to Spain. When mumbo jumbo had it that foot-and-mouth ban was slapped ... The animals on this particular transport were completely healthy (and fully tested) and shipped to Spain. Upon arrival the Spanish authorities discarded all the vet tests and claimed that as South Africa was now a foot-and-mouth disease country the animals could not enter. The transport remained in limbo for some weeks and was eventually via a third transit country returned - by sea - to South Africa. Upon return - after a few weeks- a good number of the animals on the transport were euthanised on arrival ... for the deplorable state they were in.

What bugs me most is that international vet authorities always seem to hide behind their regulations were exotic / endangered wildlife is concerned and never take full responsibility for the - in my view foremost - welfare of the animals under impoundment / ban. The end result usually is meager and most deplorable and quite frequently the animals in question - healthy or not - are then simply euthanised.
 
This isn't just sad it is outrages a dreadful state of affairs from start to finish, Prague zoo was obviously duped, and the Jo burg zoo was allegedly complicit in the duping. Even worse was the jumping on the band wagon by the NSPCA spokes person trying to link a perfectly legal and acceptable international animal exchange agreement as far as Prague was concerned to the illegal trade in wildlife, if the vets refused to kill the antelope they can't have been quite as ill or distressed as the NSPCA spokes woman has insisted they were.

I hope Prague zoo doesn't let it rest there and seeks an apoligy at the very least from all concerned
 
Really a sad event.

We may ask who made the decisive mistake that led to this, even through there seems to be more then one party to be blamed.

Prague zoo takes its part too in my opinion.

- It shouldn´t rely on info provided by Joburg zoo vet only. Prague spent 3/4 of year on prepairing the documents for this export. They could have contacted the state authorities in SAR to get the info on all required disease-free certificates directly.
- Prague also believed blindly in Joburg zoo´s profesionalism just because they are a WAZA member. Both WAZA and EAZA are admitting new members mainly to get more member fees it seems.
- Prague zoo shouldn´t send the animals on Friday. Some complications may happen easily with intercontinent transports. And weekend means that all offices are closed and you just can´t get the stamps and reach resposible persons in charge to solve the complications (they were euthanised on Sunday).
- The decision to use the animal transporteur Interzoo (Roy Smith) seem to be wrong if they wouldn´t even provide water to the animals during the 3 days they spent in the crates.

I suppose this will lead to a much stricter way how Prague zoo will decide where to send its animals in the future. I hope this case will be investigated in detail internally and Prague zoo would identify its mistakes, neglects or weak points to prevent such thing to ever repeat.
 
Jana said:
Really a sad event.

We may ask who made the decisive mistake that led to this, even through there seems to be more then one party to be blamed.

Prague zoo takes its part too in my opinion.

- It shouldn´t rely on info provided by Joburg zoo vet only. Prague spent 3/4 of year on prepairing the documents for this export. They could have contacted the state authorities in SAR to get the info on all required disease-free certificates directly.
- Prague also believed blindly in Joburg zoo´s profesionalism just because they are a WAZA member. Both WAZA and EAZA are admitting new members mainly to get more member fees it seems.
- Prague zoo shouldn´t send the animals on Friday. Some complications may happen easily with intercontinent transports. And weekend means that all offices are closed and you just can´t get the stamps and reach resposible persons in charge to solve the complications (they were euthanised on Sunday).
- The decision to use the animal transporteur Interzoo (Roy Smith) seem to be wrong if they wouldn´t even provide water to the animals during the 3 days they spent in the crates.

I suppose this will lead to a much stricter way how Prague zoo will decide where to send its animals in the future. I hope this case will be investigated in detail internally and Prague zoo would identify its mistakes, neglects or weak points to prevent such thing to ever repeat.
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This suggests they communicated with local authorities as well
Pražská ZOO to ale odmítá. „To je prostě jen vypouštění kouřové clony. Je to nehoráznost, zkrátka hledají něco, čím by svůj postup ospravedlnili,“ řekl Radiožurnálu ředitel pražské ZOO Miroslav Bobek.

Podle něj se česká strana opakovaně ptala, jaké dokumenty má se zvířaty poslat. Jihoafrické úřady ale prý komunikovaly laxně.
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via rozhlas.cz (haven't found an english version of this yet to quote)

While Prague Zoo may knew better, this seems to be fully South African issue and I would take any of their cover up claims with a grain of salt.
 
docend24 said:
This suggests they communicated with local authorities as well via rozhlas.cz (haven't found an english version of this yet to quote)

While Prague Zoo may knew better, this seems to be fully South African issue and I would take any of their cover up claims with a grain of salt.
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Updated -> Pra?ská zoo kritizuje JAR za utracení antilop. Ú?ady se brání, ?e zví?ata kolabovala | P?íroda

So what I quoted above looks like a not precisily trancsripted (audio of the) interview, from the audio it is clear Bobek (the director) complained about lax approach of Johannesburg zoo regarding the papers not the authoritiešs. On the other hand later in the interview he says the south African side wasn't able to state what paper they need while Prague Zoo kept blood samples just in case to do any extra tests. Meanwhile sitatungas were culled.

looks to me like either astonishing incomptenece on SA side from the start or missing baksheesh-like bribe produced missing papers and then incompetence of (N)SPCA (possibly coupled with obstruction of the authorities- not opening crates) kicked in.

Last note - the supposed missing test was on [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmallenberg_virus]Schmallenberg virus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame] of which no cases in Czech republic occured so far. Just to quantify the alleged danger. Sad that the soft-headed people on NSPCA facebook page praise them how they dealt with it :confused:
 
The NSPCA Wildlife Protection Unit’s Ainsley Hay said, “The extensive international and domestic trade in wild animals is responsible for untold cruelty and suffering to wild animals.

"The transport of these animals appears to have had nothing to do with bona-fide conservation that will see their progeny returned to the wild and far more to do with individual greed, financial gain and entertainment purposes."
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Wow. They have no shame.
 
I´m still surprised by the alledged bad state those antelopes were in.

Prague zoo put them in crates on Friday morning. Here is a pic. On Friday afternood they reached Joburg airport and were refused an entry to South Africa. On that moment they should have a "gruelling journey" behind them, be dehydrated and covered by blood? How comes after less then 24 hours? Prague organizes antelope transports regularly and even when you travel just within Europe, it may take 48 hours to reach the destination. Prague zoo produced over 400 young sitatungas in last 50 years, many traveled abroad, so there must be sufficient knowledge I guess... Are sitatungas more fragile compared to other antelopes or zebras/wild horses?

10544390_10152144691217581_1011643386327979961_n.jpg
 
Here is a link to (zoos and animal trade are bad POV written) article with few pictures supposedly after crates were open. Illegally imported sitatunga euthanised | Africa Geographic Blog

I guess the key is who were in charge of taking care of them while there wre in the crates, if no zoo/Smith's staff had access to them would it make a difference? I spotted a claim one male couldn't reach his bowl because of its placements due to his horns... On the other ahnd Bobek said antelopes were transported the was to be able to manage 4-5 days for case of delays. Haven't said anything about in what regime though.

I don't want to go into the area of speculating how much would be poor state of animals desired to play into justification of their culling, I hope it is just incompetence on one side or another not deliberate neglect.
 
endangered / threatened antelope species.
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Regardless of this whole situation, calling the sitatunga threatened or endangered is wrong. It isn't, which is why the IUCN have given it the lowest possible rating, least concern. Same rating given to all widespread species where large and healthy wild populations remain in at least a part of the range
 
In the UK, I have had experience of using Roy Smith (Interzoo) and I have always found him to be both very experienced and knowledgeable, I find it hard to believe these animals were not provided with what they require for the journey.
Another aspect to the transfer is that these animals were actually meant to go on to a private facility, not the zoo, however the zoo failed to make that clear and claimed they were for them. This is nothing against the private facility involved BUT the problem is the zoo lied about their real destination and that was the problem, both zoos involved should adhere to the regulations laid down by the authorities and they simply did not do that.
The whole situation was a disaster from start to finish, it is only tragic that the poor animals caught up in it suffered as a result of bad planning and lies.
 
Nanook said:
In the UK, I have had experience of using Roy Smith (Interzoo) and I have always found him to be both very experienced and knowledgeable, I find it hard to believe these animals were not provided with what they require for the journey.
Another aspect to the transfer is that these animals were actually meant to go on to a private facility, not the zoo, however the zoo failed to make that clear and claimed they were for them. This is nothing against the private facility involved BUT the problem is the zoo lied about their real destination and that was the problem, both zoos involved should adhere to the regulations laid down by the authorities and they simply did not do that.
The whole situation was a disaster from start to finish, it is only tragic that the poor animals caught up in it suffered as a result of bad planning and lies.
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What regulations Prague Zoo did not adhere to?
:eek:
 
Nanook said:
In the UK, I have had experience of using Roy Smith (Interzoo) and I have always found him to be both very experienced and knowledgeable, I find it hard to believe these animals were not provided with what they require for the journey.
Another aspect to the transfer is that these animals were actually meant to go on to a private facility, not the zoo, however the zoo failed to make that clear and claimed they were for them. This is nothing against the private facility involved BUT the problem is the zoo lied about their real destination and that was the problem, both zoos involved should adhere to the regulations laid down by the authorities and they simply did not do that.
The whole situation was a disaster from start to finish, it is only tragic that the poor animals caught up in it suffered as a result of bad planning and lies.
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Here the Jo'burg Zoo was definitely at fault ... for not disclosing the final destination of 3/4 of the sitatunga import to the Czech authorities or Praha Zoo and neither did they disclose to them a swap deal with the private ranch!!!

That Interzoo / Roy Smith than (may have) failed to provide adequate care for the extended period that the sitatunga import was in their hands was also highly questionable.

It is also not done to single out Praha Zoo management, transport and husbandry staff (which had consigned the sitatungas on the South African side's assurances that their management in South Africa would be zoo standard+ - to which Interzoo also is party - that fell through too.
 
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