Man ~ animal – crossing of
paths do occur – what is the result ?? Leipzig
is the largest city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany, located about 160 km
southwest of Berlin at the confluence of the White Elster, Pleisse, and Parthe
rivers at the southern end of the North German Plain. Leipzig has been a trade
city since at least the time of Roman Empire. After WW, Leipzig played a significant role in instigating the
fall of communism in Eastern Europe, through events which took place in and
around St. Nicholas Church.
A couple of years ago,
in a grisly incident, witnessed by scores and captured live on many
cameras, a 200-kg tiger mauled and killed a youth after he fell into the
animal's moat in the Delhi Zoo…… that gory incident went viral on social
media, also raising the Q on why people who were keen on filming the incident
did not respond in any manner trying to help the victim.
In another incident in Chile, a man reportedly stripped naked, jumped
in to lion enclosure, in a bid to feed himself to the big cat – a suicide
attempt of a different order. The man, named by local media as Franco Luis
Ferrada Roman, was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and was said to be
in grave condition. The man survived but in the process, two animals, African lions rare to that place, that did nothing wrong were killed.The attack
occurred in full view of visitors, who could only watch in horror as the man
was mauled and the lions - one male, one female - were killed. One witness,
told Chilean radio station that the man
was 'shouting things about Jesus'. Sadly,
it was the animals which paid with their lives for the insane act of the man.
In yet another incident, at Cincinnati Zoo and
Botanical Garden, located in Ohio, a 400-pound gorilla named Harambe who was shot dead just one day
after his 17th birthday - with emotional mourners
calling it a 'senseless death'. A four-year-old boy, who investigators
believe crawled through a railing barrier and fell into the gorilla exhibit's
moat before he was dragged by Harambe in the water for about 10 minutes. It reportedly was sheer negligence of the
mother, the child entered the enclosure, big gorilla touched the child. The
panicked bystanders may have aggravated the tense situation, according to an
eyewitness. The zoo's dangerous
animal response team shot dead the
gorilla – with some remarking that a beautiful, innocent gorilla had to die
because neglectful parents can't control their kids? According to the officials, the gorilla did not appear to be attacking the
child, but they called it 'an extremely strong' animal in an agitated
situation. It was further explained that tranquilizing the gorilla would
not have knocked it out immediately, leaving the boy in danger.
All these were
humans entering the protected enclosures ~ this incident in German zoo reported
in MailOnline proves that if one animal were to escape and cross human’s
pathway – it would still suffer the same fate.
The lion, named
Motshegetsi, escaped at Leipzig Zoo, along with another one-year-old lion
called Majo. The attraction was closed
while staff tried to find the missing animals.
Later, Majo was tranquilized, but a zookeeper shot Motshegetsi dead
after a tranquilizer failed to stop him – it is not known, how the lions had
escaped - It happened while the zoo was closed to the public. It is reported that last year, a tiger was shot dead at Leipzig Zoo when a
partition was removed by accident.
Zoo director Joerg Junhold
said: 'It's a very, very sad outcome but we had no choice.'Zoo staff
implemented an emergency plan, placing the facility on lockdown so the animals
could not breach the facility's fences.'After Majo was caught and Motshegetsi
was hit with a tranquiliser dart, we were hopeful that the breakout could end
without any loss of life,' Junhold said.But staff soon realised they had lost
control of the situation, and a zookeeper shot and killed Motshegetsi.'Human
safety always comes first,' Junhold said.
The two lions,
originally from Namibia, only arrived in Leipzig last month from Basel Zoo. They had been given weeks to get used to their new home before
being released into an enclosure where they could be seen by the public.The
escape 'surprised all of us because the enclosure had been in operation for 15
years. Of course we assume that it is secure,' Junhold said.
Back home, it was the same African lion enclosure,
slightly different incident, with a much different result. It was a drunken man’s misadventure into the
enclosure of lions, in Hyderabad, seemingly to shake hands with a lioness.
In India – different things do happen – and at Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad, the
alertness of the zoo animal keepers, prevented the loss of life. Indian
Express reported that it was around 4.55 pm when 35-year-old Mukesh Kumar
jumped into the moat, ignoring the warnings of onlookers, calling the lioness
'darling'. As he splashed into the water, the lioness Radhika moved towards
him. Soon her partner, lion Krishna too started approaching the intruder.
Mukesh, however, was not the one to fear. In a fully inebriated state, Mukesh
extended his hand towards the wild animals. As the onlookers screamed in panic
and started throwing whatever they could at the lions to ward them away from
Mukesh, the animal keepers rushed to the spot. Animal keeper R Papaiah called
Radhika, the lioness, to move aside even as Mukesh kept extending his arm to
her.
To the luck of Mukesh Kumar,
Papaiah,native of Rajasthan, who
has been taking care of the two wild cats for the last seven years, also
intervened calling the two to step back. The animal keepers managed to divert
the attention of the wildcats, while Mukesh, after much pleading, was rescued
from the jaws of death without a scratch and then handed over to the
police. Zoo curator ShivaniDogra, who took charge only a day earlier,
appealed to the visitors to follow rules to ensure their safety.
With regards – S. Sampathkumar
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