Australia Zoo Tiger Bite

snowleopard

snowleopard

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Tiger handler hurt in rough play at Australia Zoo | The Courier-Mail

If zoos like Dreamworld and Australia Zoo (both in the State of Queensland) continue to let their employees venture into exhibits with adult tigers then it will simply be a matter of time before harmless scratches become deadly maulings. The British zoo Howletts had a few keepers lose their lives to tigers over the years...
 
I'm surprused this thread hasn't had a better response. was expecting at the very least a few "told you so" comments
 
they have to put keepers into the tigers exhibit just to give visitors something to see. sorry now im just being a ****head
 
Jarkari said:
I'm surprused this thread hasn't had a better response. was expecting at the very least a few "told you so" comments
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"Yeah well 'I told you so' has a brother and his name is 'shut the hell up." C. Montgomery Burns. But on a more serious note I have to agree with about it only being a matter of time before we lose someone.
 
Paid a visit to both Australia zoo and dreamworld during the ICZ conference both collections are quite inpressive.But i must say as a carnivore keeper i was disappointed with the way keepers were in with both sumatran and amur tigers at these zoos it is only a matter of time before these cats do what is natural to them. It is never nice to hear of a colleague been injured but if you put yourself in this position it will happen sooner rather than later.Also at dreamworld it was crazy to see large cats been given pasteurised milk as most of us know thar the cats are lactose intolerant.
 
Hmm, bound to happen really.
Actually, I don't think all the Howletts deaths were from keepers playing with the tigers, I think one of the keepers got killed when the tigress climbed over a fence whilst he was cleaning her enclosure. The other two could be from this "play" though.
 
craig65 said:
Paid a visit to both Australia zoo and dreamworld during the ICZ conference both collections are quite inpressive.But i must say as a carnivore keeper i was disappointed with the way keepers were in with both sumatran and amur tigers at these zoos it is only a matter of time before these cats do what is natural to them. It is never nice to hear of a colleague been injured but if you put yourself in this position it will happen sooner rather than later.Also at dreamworld it was crazy to see large cats been given pasteurised milk as most of us know thar the cats are lactose intolerant.
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Amur Tigers? Didn't know we had any amur tigers?

I think you'll find the milk they use in the talks, Pauls??? is or was a sponsor of tiger island. I'm sure Dreamworld would be aware of the cats ability to handle milk.

Anyone knoe how many keepers would be in with the cats at a time at howlett's. Dreamworld and Australia zoo never go in alone. Do you think this makes their interaction safer.
 
Jarkari said:
Amur Tigers? Didn't know we had any amur tigers?

I think you'll find the milk they use in the talks, Pauls??? is or was a sponsor of tiger island. I'm sure Dreamworld would be aware of the cats ability to handle milk.

Anyone knoe how many keepers would be in with the cats at a time at howlett's. Dreamworld and Australia zoo never go in alone. Do you think this makes their interaction safer.
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Does it really matter if the milk is sponsored or not it is not good to give tigers this kind of milk and if the Dreamworld know this they should not give it to them.Tigers will devolope kidney problems as they get older if they are feed this milk as there organs are not constructed to break it down.Interaction with large cats will never be safe no matter how many keepers you place in the enclosure.
 
craig65 said:
Paid a visit to both Australia zoo and dreamworld during the ICZ conference both collections are quite inpressive.But i must say as a carnivore keeper i was disappointed with the way keepers were in with both sumatran and amur tigers at these zoos it is only a matter of time before these cats do what is natural to them. It is never nice to hear of a colleague been injured but if you put yourself in this position it will happen sooner rather than later.
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I know of an ex-Dreamworld keeper who worked with the tigers, and ended up with some serious injuries (not life threatening) during talk and play sessions. As an ex-keeper who worked with large carnivores, I personally have a problem with being a potential meal.
 
tigers

There are major diffences in the programs run by all of the zoos mentioned in this thread. Dreamworld and Marine World (Now Six flags facility since 1970) and Dreamworld since 1995. There have been no fatalities or permanent injuries to any staff member at either faciltity.

It is certanly not for every institution but does have a role to play in providing a different and positive manner of displaying these animals.

Tigers at Dreamworld get a very small amount of milk (200-300 ml) per day during presentations and I have yet to find any evidence that this is harmful either in the short term or long term.
 
Having seen all the Tigers at Dreamworld not long ago I have to say they were all in great shape and very well looked after
 
Jarkari said:
I'm surprused this thread hasn't had a better response. was expecting at the very least a few "told you so" comments
Click to expand...

Some years ago a zookeeper friend of mine visited these tigers and was also scratched/bitten on the arm - enough to put him off work for several weeks. The zoo he worked for were not impressed!

Would be interested to know about the emergency plan in the event that a tiger island tiger cannot be controlled by their handler/s. Anyone on this list familiar with their protocol??
 
ashley-h said:
Hmm, bound to happen really.
Actually, I don't think all the Howletts deaths were from keepers playing with the tigers, I think one of the keepers got killed when the tigress climbed over a fence whilst he was cleaning her enclosure. The other two could be from this "play" though.
Click to expand...

From what I had read some years ago a keeper was killed by a female Tiger who had young cubs (entered the pen) and later the same animal killed another keeper who entered the same place. One other keeper was killed when trying to break up a fight between a male and female Tiger, this male Tiger had a bad rep for attacking other Tigers.
 
Pongogirl not sure about your story about the keeper from another zoo getting scratched/bitten. Know a bit about Tiger Island and that story just does not quite ring correct.

An ex-employee was injured a few weeks after moving to work at another place while coming back to visit but not an arm. If this is not the story it simply did not occur.

Tiger Island does have procedures for operating as well as emergency procedures. Most institutions do.
 
Tiger Island's staff have many years of experience. I believe and Ptig may be able to provide more info but the managers of Tiger Island had many years of providing the same kind of experiences in the US, additional to the near 15 years of operating Tiger Island. I believe that is a pretty good reputation. This time spent with their cats alone reduces, not eliminates but breduces the risks. The handlers get to know the cats and as anyone will tell you, wether it be circus handlers or zookeepers, you get to know the animals and can tell when something isn't right with an animal. I've been injured more times by one horse than incidents Dreamworld has had with however many tigers they have had over the 14 years in operation. All large animals are dangerous and capable of killing someone, it's just wether or not they eat you afterwards :)
 
Media observation

Just an intersting fact that I believe to be true. Anytime there is an incident with a tiger, lion, elephant, or other large or perceived to be dangerous animals the media eats it up.

If a keeper gets bitten by a wombat, kicked by a horse and has worse injuries it does not make the paper or television. Most of the role of the media is to increase viewers and sell more papers. Minor injuries by "glamour" animals sell.
 
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