Worst than animals

Police have arrested one of two men who they believe broke into an Idaho zoo the night a monkey there died from blunt-force trauma, but questions remain about how and why the animal was killed.

Michael J. Watkins, 22, of Weiser was arrested Monday in Washington County on felony burglary and grand theft charges. Idaho law allows prosecutors to bring a grand theft charge against someone accused of killing livestock or other animals valued at more than $150 dollars.

A tip from a citizen led police to Watkins after identifying a hat found in the monkey's enclosure as similar to one Watkins was wearing the night two intruders were spotted at Zoo Boise. A security guard frightened away the intruders, then discovered the gravely injured patas monkey, which died a short time later.

Masterson said at a news conference Monday evening that Watkins sought care at a hospital for injuries to his upper torso sometime after the early Saturday incident. The story he gave to hospital staff "did not seem to mesh up with the injuries," Masterson said.

The monkey's death has left zoo workers shocked and devastated, zoo director Steve Burns said. The Crime Stoppers organization offered an award of up to $1,000 for information leading to the culprits' arrest.

Investigators had not had a chance to question Watkins extensively and have not revealed whether they think the zoo break-in was a prank that turned violent or something done with more sinister intent. But the police department and community are "angered and outraged over this senseless crime," Masterson said.

"The loss of this patas monkey has touched many lives, including our officers and investigators," he said.

The zoo doesn't have surveillance video. Instead, security guards patrol the grounds when the zoo is closed.

Burns said the guard who discovered the crime spotted one intruder inside the zoo and one outside the perimeter fence near the primate exhibit. Both men fled, with one running into the interior of the zoo.

Investigators believe Watkins is the man who was seen inside the fence.

Burns and police were searching the grounds when Burns heard a groan and found the injured monkey outside its exhibit, near the fence surrounding the zoo. They were able to get the animal into a crate and to the zoo's animal hospital, but the monkey died of blunt-force trauma to its head and neck just a few minutes later.

An inventory showed none of the other animals was missing or harmed.

Police say Watkins was visiting Boise with friends over the weekend from his home in Weiser, an agricultural town about 60 miles away near the Oregon-Idaho border.

Court records show Watkins has been in trouble with the law before, including drug arrests. Police said they do not know whether Watkins may have been under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the break-in.

Officers have spoken with the other man spotted outside the zoo but do not expect charges to be filed against him, Masterson said.

Crimes at the zoo are rare, Burns said.

"I've been here for 15 years, and I don't remember any cases where we've had a visitor intentionally or even accidentally injure an animal," Burns said. "People in Boise are usually pretty respectful. We were just saying the other day that we can't even remember the last time that someone was found inside the zoo after hours. The security guards do a really good job."

Burns said it will take a few weeks before he can decide if the remaining patas monkey will be sent to another zoo or if another patas monkey will be brought in as a companion. The animals are social and need to be around members of their own species.

The crime may have raised interest in the patas monkeys. A donation for the remaining patas monkey under the zoo's adopt-an-animal program came in over the weekend, Burns said.

The monkey exhibit remains open to the public, although zoo workers were keeping some of the larger garage-sized doors to the exhibit closed to keep down noise, and keepers were giving the remaining patas monkey a little more attention, Burns said. The zoo kicked off a fundraiser to build a new exhibit house for the primates in September.

"That primate house was built back in the 1960s and it's just time to update it and provide the animals with more space and things like that," he said.

For now, he said, zoo workers are just focusing on caring for the remaining 300 animals at the zoo.

"We're going to grieve for the animal and make sure the community's OK. But we're going to move on with the plans that we have and continue to take care of the animals. Boise's a really nice place to live, and usually this kind of stuff doesn't happen in Boise," he said.

Wild Dogs killed boy in Zoo

Toddler Killed by Wild Dogs At Pittsburgh Zoo Exhibit Should Make Us Question Zoos

A toddler boy visiting the Pittsburgh zoo somehow managed to fall into the wild dog exhibit and be ripped to shreds while his helpless mother watched from above. The horrific tragedy happened on Sunday and within minutes the story was everywhere with many questioning exactly how the little boy fell into the exhibit in the first place.

It's a good question. Wild "painted" African dogs are about the size of Labrador retrievers, weight about 37 to 80 pounds and are most dangerous in a pack. In this case, 11 dogs attacked the boy, though it is unclear whether he died from the fall or from the attack as yet.

One thing is clear: None of this should have been possible. A woman trying to "give her child a better view" should not have been able to drop him into the exhibit.

Of course, there are questions. Why did the mother not jump in after him? Understandably it happened in a matter of a seconds and the dogs were on him immediately. But imagining myself in that scenario, I can't imagine I would not make the (probably stupid) choice to jump right in and beat off the dogs.

Or maybe not.

Obviously, I can't judge the mom. I don't have any understanding of what that must have been like for her. What I can judge, though, is the zoo. For many reasons.

First of all, zoos are generally just controversial. The last dog -- a species considered endangered -- was shot because of this incident. It's not really the dog's fault. He was not a domesticated dog. He was a wild African beast who should probably be roaming in his native land, not on display for a toddler to be eaten.

Even more to the point, why was a mother able to drop her child into the exhibit? I have been to a thousand zoos from San Diego to Cincinnati and around the world and never once do I remember seeing an exhibit where it was possible to "accidentally" fall into a cage. Sure, someone who WANTED to scale a fence could do so. Stupid people do that regularly. But on "accident"? That just seems wrong.

Maybe we was wiggling. Maybe the mom was holding him in a bad way. Maybe she should not have been holding him in the way she was at all. But really, he should not have been able to fall into the exhibit. Until it is clear how this happened, I will place blame on the zoo.

The poor grieving mom, who screamed for help so loudly she was heard all over the park, is not the first person I would blame. This story is everything that is wrong with zoos.

Painted dogs are not an "exhibit." They are wild animals capable of great destruction. As parents, we trust the zoos to know that and keep us safe. How did this happen? It is unimaginable and my heart breaks for that poor mom.

Stray dogs kill zoo animals in western Russia

A pack of stray dogs has mauled a reindeer and a mountain goat to death at a zoo in Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, a zoo spokeswoman said on Thursday.
"Dogs got through the zoo fence - it has several holes, made by people who wanted free entry to the zoo, so it was not an obstacle for them," she said.

The dogs also attacked and bit several other animals.

"Six deer and two Cameroonian goats are currently being treated by vets, they are in the state of stress," the source said.

Zoo Animals being Attacked

Australia - A 7-year-old boy broke into a popular Outback zoo, fed a string of animals to the resident crocodile and bashed several lizards to death with a rock, the zoo's director said Friday.

The 30-minute rampage, caught on the zoo's security camera, happened early Wednesday after the boy jumped a security fence at the Alice Springs Reptile Center in central Australia, said zoo director Rex Neindorf.

The child then went on a killing spree, bashing three lizards to death with a rock, including the zoo's beloved, 20-year-old goanna, which he then fed to "Terry," an 11-foot, 440-pound saltwater crocodile, said Neindorf.

The boy also fed several live animals to Terry by throwing them over the two fences surrounding the crocodile's enclosure, at one point climbing over the outer fence to get closer to the giant reptile.

In the footage, the boy's face remains largely blank, Neindorf said, adding: "It was like he was playing a game."

By the time he was done, 13 animals worth around $5,500 had been killed, including a turtle, bearded dragons and thorny devil lizards, Neindorf said. Although none were considered rare, some are difficult to replace, he said.

"We're horrified that anyone can do this and saddened by the age of the child," Neindorf said.

Alice Springs police said they are unable to press charges against the boy because of his age. Children under age 10 can't be charged with criminal offenses in the Northern Territory. His name was not released because of his age.

Neindorf said he plans to sue the boy's parents.

The boy's small size is probably the reason he didn't trip the zoo's security system, which relies on sensors to detect intruders, Neindorf said.

"I just want people to learn that they can't let their children go and run amok," Neindorf said. "If we can't put the blame onto the child, then someone has to accept the responsibility."

Zoo attack 5

An eight-year-old Indonesian boy died after being attacked by a Komodo dragon in a national park in the east of the country, an official said.

"The dragon bit his waist, tossed him and dragged him. His right leg was badly scratched," Heru Rudiharto of the Komodo National Park said by telephone.

He said the boy had been attacked on Saturday after entering a bush for a toilet stop in a fishing village in the national park on Komodo, an island 1,500 km (930 miles) east of the capital Jakarta.

His uncle, who had been mending fishing nets nearby, tried to free him by throwing stones at the dragon, he added.

"However, the boy bled to death half an hour after the attack," added Rudiharto.
The official said it was rare for such attacks on humans, although in the dry season that started in April the dragon's normal prey became more scarce.

"It is very common here to see dragons roaming in the residential area in the national park. But it is very rare that a Komodo dragon kills a human," said Rudiharto.

"Usually, people here only suffer minor injuries."

There are about 2,000 of the protected and endangered dragons living in the wild, mainly on Indonesia's Komodo and Rinca islands, he said.

The dragons, which are agile and have a keen sense of smell, can grow to a length of 3 metres (more than 9 ft) and weigh on average 200 lbs (90 kg), according to data from Honolulu Zoo.
Komodo dragons regularly kill prey such as pigs and small deer and have been known to take down an adult water buffalo.

But they are opportunistic feeders and are prepared to eat anything they can overpower -- including small dragons and occasionally humans.

The mouth of the dragon also has virulent bacteria that means even if its prey survives an attack it will probably die of infection later.