Posted on 06/17/2012 1:14:47 PM PDT by null and void
A WOMAN zookeeper was mauled to death by a pack of wolves as she fed them in their enclosure.
Eight of the wolves are thought to have surrounded and attacked the woman, who was in her 30s.
Her body was found by a colleague — but the snarling pack would not let anyone near her. Eventually brave zoo workers formed a human chain and rushed the wolves, forcing them back.
Jan Tengeborg, who organised the attempt to recover the body, said: “We couldn’t get into the enclosure because the wolves clearly did not want us in there. You can’t just walk right into a wolf pack.”
No one witnessed the attack so it is not yet clear exactly what triggered it. The dead woman has not been named.
The same pack attacked TV naturalist Arne Weise when Kolmarden Wildlife Park opened in Braviken Bay, Sweden, in 2007.
He said yesterday: “We have to stop interacting so closely with wolves. It is wrong, the risk is too great. We must recognise they are dangerous animals.”
Armed police were called to the zoo but did not open fire. Mats Höggren, director at Kolmarden — where earlier this year a girl of 15 was bitten on the leg by a wolf — said: “This is is terrible.
“She was alone in the wolves’ yard but had contact with a colleague via two-way radio.
“The colleague thought she had been gone longer than usual, so investigated and found her body.” He said the animals would not be put down.
Coyotes are a fairly common sight here on the fringes of the greater Phoenix area, especially very early in the morning. And of course, you can hear them all night. Was with the family camping up at Usery Park a while back and a noisy pack of them ran past the tents in the early morning hours. I am not sure if they were chasing dinner or whatever, but it was a pretty creepy experience.
“Given the recognizable danger; am wondering why this woman, feeding the wolves - alone.”
That is crazy. 30 wolves at feeding time, all around you?
I have known wolves all of my lives, and am totally comfortable around a couple of domesticated and trained wolves at a time, but even I’d be really uneasy around thirty at once, to say nothing of thirty at once - at feeding time.
That is crazy.
Here’s a hint,they did’nt maul her rather ripped her apart.
“However, there are situations where the animals attack unprovoked, maybe because they want to assert their dominance, something that soon can turn into hunting/killing behavior”
Yep. Wolves will reflexively attack anything which moves fast, especially if it moves away, or suddenly falls under them, even if it is a loved friend. If you trip around a pet wolf and fall out on the ground, you’d better know their psychology inside and out.
All the predatory/aggression stuff with them is robotic, and wholly separate from personality. It’s not really like us, where predatory can be a logical thing, designed to serve a principle, or belief. It can be trained out of most wolves, though they have a lot of variation in their personalities for some reason.
Of course, feeding time is a whole other matter, since they get real worked up over food. I can’t imagine thirty at once, all together, at feeding time, feeding off of each other’s excitement. That’s just crazy, and there is no way you’d have gotten me in there.
I have a partial solution to them. ;)
/johnny
Another reminder that some wild animals are also more dangerous than others.
Reminds me of a Chris Rock bit, referring to the mauling of Roy by the tiger in Las Vegas. He said, "People are saying how the tiger went crazy and nearly killed the guy. That tiger didn't go crazy! That tiger went TIGER!
Mark
We're the only species on the planet that has large carnivores for pets.
We rock. That's what happens when God gives you dominion. And no, I'm not going to be shy about saying it.
/johnny
One night you should get so/many hunters it’s impossible to know and just take care of these packs once and for all. Who knows who was there or who got what?
Well I am there with you on dominion, but dominion doesn’t override stupid.
Stupid almost got you pounced off a porch while peeing.
/johnny
I liked the way I told the story better... but yes, technically, you are correct.
Smart had me carrying in my off hand, and dawgs deployed and ready to go.
I can't be counted on to be smart all the time, just look at my posts. Lord, man, I'm a cook. So I have to rely on preps and dogs and friends. ;)
/johnny
A Chihuahua is just an hors d’oeuvre to a coyote! LOL!
My dog is 45 pounds and I wouldn’t want to see him go up against one of these coyote/dog/ wolves. It wouldn’t be a pretty site. These animals are about twice his weight. The one that we saw was a pup and was about the same weight as our dog.
I live in WA State. We are not supposed to have wolves in our area, but it is a well know story that a man bred coyotes with huskies and got in trouble with the authorities. I guess one of his animals bit someone and they were coming out to take the animals to put them to sleep. The man released all the animals before the authorities got there and we have been seeing the results ever since. The animals are big, much larger than a coyote and look much more like a wolf than a coyote, so it’s hard to tell, but i’d say that that the full grown animals are almost twice the weight of my of my dog, which is 45 pounds, but the thicker hair might be deceptive.
The fact is that breeding the dogs with the coyotes may have introduced traits that were not normally attributed to coyotes, like the pack instinct.
Before these animals showed up, we used to see 7 or more deer in our yard every day, now we don’t see any. They haven’t been here in two months. The logger who cleared my property told me that he saw the biggest buch that he had ever seen on our property, 16 points. Now, nothing.
I don’t even like to let our dog out by himself anymore, or the cat.
They need training from an American cop. /s
No frigging situtational awareness at all. And when he got it, he spun and splatted leather. I spelled that like I meant it. Friggin rookie gonna get someone killed kind of moment. And I was trying to be good.
I gotta work on the not-scary look.
Neighbor had an alarm go off. I was just going to ask.. Go figure. Who knows these things?
/johnny
Agree. Also; all too human. A failing of 'common sense'; or failure to appreciate our own 'blind spot'/weakness; made easier, by any kind of 'group think'. Am sure, each employee here; had feelings of unease per procedures; and had 'in the back of their mind'; ideas for 'change'; i.e. thoughts; in hindsight; that were never 'outed'; but 'would have been'; soon. . .
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