I don’t know the particulars, but it would be unlikely to have an intact male camel around people specifically because of the potential for anything from minor mishap up to death.
Camels are generally more tolerant than any exotics, but they are not pets. They are to be looked at, not touched. No mention of how/why the camel was not confined.
And no one goes to a petting zoo expecting to die.
Yes, I’ve not found further details. This was the most complete article I’ve found so far.
Maybe it was for camel rides, we still have those near here.
There isnt any enclosure but there are staff controlling leads and posts to secure them to when necessary. There used to be a lot more but we still have a couple elephant rides that Im aware of.
Some kind of sloppy negligent supervision of the animal seems likely. There was an elephant that worked at a farmers market when I was a kid. She was well behaved, I cant remember any adults leading her around the property after she started her walk. She would start at her empty trough and when she got back she was payed in split cabbages and bruised apples and things like that and we would climb off.
Imagine something like that happening today.
Since camels arent for petting (walk into enclosure and rub it), it almost must have been for riding and not secured properly.
Oh, um, ya...
My intended point was that maybe “We’ve always done it this way,” finally got out of hand.
Grown men going to a petting zoo? Me suspects there may be some alcohol involved here and perhaps attempts at riding said camel.
After reading this article, I'll avoid any and all petting zoos in the future.
If I wanted to increase the odds of an "unexpected" death, I would go get injected with a dangerous, untested vaxxxxxxxine. To make death even quicker, I'd get a booster or two.