Hi folks,
I was recently searching through some news sites, doing research for an article for my website, and came across the article in The Independent, published in October 2010, that talked about foxes killing penguins at London Zoo in 2009. Reading the article, and other references made to it by other newspapers, it seems that the ZSL published an “inspection report” in 2010 detailing this and other incidents. It wasn't entirely clear from the press coverage whether the attacks on the penguins, mara and flamingo mentioned in the article all relate to London, or whether some ocurred at Whipsnade. (I know from a thread elsewhere on ZooChat that foxes have been a problem at both.) Co-incidental to this, in their 2001 book Urban Foxes, Harris and Baker make reference to a (dubious, given the size of both species?) report of a fox seen walking down a road carrying a flamingo, but give no more specifics than that. If that incident was in London, I guess London Zoo is the most likely place for the fox to have obtained a flamingo?
I've had a look through the ZSL website and done the usual Googling, but can't find a copy of this inspection report online anywhere. Does anyone know whether these reports are available to the public? Also, do the ZSL conduct these ‘inspections’ on an annual basis, or only in response to specific problems?
Cheers,
Marc.
I was recently searching through some news sites, doing research for an article for my website, and came across the article in The Independent, published in October 2010, that talked about foxes killing penguins at London Zoo in 2009. Reading the article, and other references made to it by other newspapers, it seems that the ZSL published an “inspection report” in 2010 detailing this and other incidents. It wasn't entirely clear from the press coverage whether the attacks on the penguins, mara and flamingo mentioned in the article all relate to London, or whether some ocurred at Whipsnade. (I know from a thread elsewhere on ZooChat that foxes have been a problem at both.) Co-incidental to this, in their 2001 book Urban Foxes, Harris and Baker make reference to a (dubious, given the size of both species?) report of a fox seen walking down a road carrying a flamingo, but give no more specifics than that. If that incident was in London, I guess London Zoo is the most likely place for the fox to have obtained a flamingo?
I've had a look through the ZSL website and done the usual Googling, but can't find a copy of this inspection report online anywhere. Does anyone know whether these reports are available to the public? Also, do the ZSL conduct these ‘inspections’ on an annual basis, or only in response to specific problems?
Cheers,
Marc.
