Another zoo-mistake that claimed the life of a male Amur Tiger... Rest in Peace, Baikal!! 💔 💔 💔 A deadly tiger fight played out in front of horrified high school students visiting a Canadian zoo, according to media reports. An aging male named Baikal slipped into the pen of two young rivals on Thursday, setting off the fatal turf war in Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park Zoo. The students witnessed and filmed the beginning of the all-too-real cage match before zoo staff hustled them away, Assiniboine officials said. “Do you think that one’s going to die?” one of the teens can be heard asking in a video obtained by CBC News. The massive Amur Tigers started to roar as the violent struggle began. “I don’t want to watch this,” cried one of the students. “I don’t want to watch this.” Baikal stood little chance, officials told reporters. At 19 years old, he was considered geriatric for a tiger and was no match for 2-year-old Vasili, who easily overpowered the older cat. Amurs in their prime, like Vasili, can grow to 350 pounds and will instinctually protect their turf from intruders, zoo officials said. “For the tiger, it was just a tiger being a tiger,” Assiniboine veterinarian Chris Enright told CBC. “It was a tiger defending his territory against another male that he would only see as a rival. You can’t fault him for being a tiger.” Officials from Lord Selkirk School Division worried what effect the traumatic incident might have on students. The 25 teens were offered counseling, and their parents were notified about the fight in a letter, the school’s superintendent told CBC. None of the visitors were ever in physical danger, zoo officials said in a statement. Baikal and the younger tigers were supposed to be separated within the tiger exhibit, but a gate between their pens was accidentally left unlocked, zoo officials said. Baikal was able to nose his way into the second cage, sparking the battle that ended his life. “This is a tragic event and our staff are devastated,” Dr. Brian Joseph, director of zoological operations at the facility, said in a statement. “Baikal had lived at the Assiniboine Park Zoo for over five years and this is a heartbreaking loss for our staff and our visitors.”
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 07:57:08 +0000
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