German zoo Tiger kills keeper and is then shot.

[TiMopar]

This happened over the Bank Holiday weekend, and it's been bothering me ever since. I am of course, saddened that the poor keeper was killed, but do not understand why the Tiger concerned was then shot dead. As I understand, it was still enclosed, so this act just seems like revenge. Could it not have been tranquilised if it was a safety threat? I am sure the last thing it's keeper would have wanted was for it to be killed. Any thoughts?

[Jasandjules]

Humans are morons....

[Robb F]

TiMopar said:

Any thoughts?

Live by the sword, die by the sword?

[Hugo a Gogo]

becuase they wanted to get in and try to rescue the zookeeper as she lay dying on the floor with a fking great tiger circling around her

no winners, tigers don't really belong in zoos though

(I've been there and seen that tiger btw)

[Jasandjules]

Hugo a Gogo said:

becuase they wanted to get in and try to rescue the zookeeper as she lay dying on the floor with a fking great tiger circling around her

A tranq could have solved that problem though?

[Hugo a Gogo]

Jasandjules said:

Hugo a Gogo said:

becuase they wanted to get in and try to rescue the zookeeper as she lay dying on the floor with a fking great tiger circling around her

A tranq could have solved that problem though?

yeah, I'm sure they had plenty of time, considering that her injuries were so severe that she died anyway

[Simpo Two]

I expect that if the tiger eats one zookeeper, then it is likely to do it again.

[Hugo a Gogo]

they are very more-ish

[TiMopar]

Hugo a Gogo said:

Jasandjules said:

Hugo a Gogo said:

becuase they wanted to get in and try to rescue the zookeeper as she lay dying on the floor with a fking great tiger circling around her

A tranq could have solved that problem though?

yeah, I'm sure they had plenty of time, considering that her injuries were so severe that she died anyway

One would think that they would have tranquiliser darts on standby for just such a situation...

[Hugo a Gogo]

I don't think they are anything like instant though, and the animal could always lash out more when it was first hit

[TiMopar]

Simpo Two said:

I expect that if the tiger eats one zookeeper, then it is likely to do it again.

This is the issue I have with this; It's a Tiger, that's what they do given the opportunity... I think it incredibly arrogant of humans to expect them to differentiate between us and 'food'. Even more so if they are kept in captivity? I would be interested to hear the opinion of anyone who is a zoo keeper on this...

[Robb F]

Simpo Two said:

I expect that if the tiger eats one zookeeper, then it is likely to do it again.

I would expect a tiger to eat anything that moves. So wouldn't get in a cage with one.

[Butter Face]

Robb F said:

Simpo Two said:

I expect that if the tiger eats one zookeeper, then it is likely to do it again.

I would expect a tiger to eat anything that moves. So wouldn't get in a cage with one.

Quite.

Although there is a big difference between 'kill' and 'eat'.

[Robb F]

Butter Face said:

Quite.

Although there is a big difference between 'kill' and 'eat'.

Not when you're being killed or eaten there isn't

[Butter Face]

Robb F said:

Butter Face said:

Quite.

Although there is a big difference between 'kill' and 'eat'.

Not when you're being killed or eaten there isn't

[GG89]

A tiger escaped its enclosure at Cologne Zoo in western Germany over the weekend and killed a female keeper before being shot dead by the zoo's director, police said.

The tiger slipped through a passage between the enclosure and an adjacent storage building, where it fatally attacked the 43-year-old keeper, said police spokesman Stefan Kirchner.

So it wasn't in the enclosure.

[longshot]

I agree that Tigers shouldn't be in zoos but unfortunately there isn't much "wild" left for them to live in either

Tigers are bright and lethal so will only need half a chance to have you.
You have to assume that there is a procedure that wasn't being followed in this case.

[bexVN]

But it still wasn't in the public domain.

I think it's wrong it was killed, trains work fast. The excuse that it could do it again is rubbish. It'd only do it again if given the opportunity again. A human error caused this tragic turn of events, not the tiger.

I have a big problem with most zoos and this sort of thing only reinforces my feelings.

[longshot]

Most zoos are an anachronism. With TV and the internet, they no longer have a purpose and ofcourse they are cruel.

There are zoos that have breeding programmes to save endangered species that we have made endangered. It's so fked up it's scary.

[Simpo Two]

bexVN said:

But it still wasn't in the public domain.

I think it's wrong it was killed, trains work fast. The excuse that it could do it again is rubbish. It'd only do it again if given the opportunity again. A human error caused this tragic turn of events, not the tiger.

I think the word is 'maneater' (or possibly that's lions). But whilst tigers are rare and humans are far too numerous, we still take the view that a human life is worth more than an animal's.

At the time it may have seemed that if they had got to the keeper quickly, a life could have been saved, and it wasn't worth risking more lives to do so. Sadly, tiger loses.

'This tiger just killed its last keeper. Would you mind taking this lump of meat into it?'

Hmm!

longshot said:

Most zoos are an anachronism. With TV and the internet, they no longer have a purpose and ofcourse they are cruel.

I suggest that watching a wildlife programmes is not the same as seeing animals for real. Did you not go to the zoo as a child, and did you not enjoy it? Should you have been shoved in front of the telly to rot instead...?

longshot said:

There are zoos that have breeding programmes to save endangered species that we have made endangered. It's so fked up it's scary.

Perhaps, but preserving animals/gene pools in zoos is feasible, whereas reducing the global population of humans to a sustainable level is not...

Edited by Simpo Two on Thursday 30th August 21:47