Animals Are Animals !!!

WELLINGTON (AFP) - - A zookeeper was mauled to death by a white tiger at a wildlife park in New Zealand's north, police said.

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"A male wildlife keeper was fatally mauled by a white tiger while cleaning an enclosure in Whangarei's Zion Wildlife Gardens today," New Zealand police said in a statement.

A report said visitors to the park had seen the attack, although this was not immediately confirmed by police.

An Auckland man told the Fairfax newspaper group he had seen the mauling.

"It was very, very frightening," said the man, who declined to be named.

Despite the efforts of the second keeper and a rapid response from other wildlife park staff, the tiger would not let the park worker go and he died at the scene, police said.

The tiger was later destroyed by wildlife park staff.

Fairfax's Stuff website reported eight foreign tourists at the park were understood to have witnessed the incident.

I was pretty upset by the above article, and was stunned by the ignorance of the zoo officials and management. How could anyone be allowed to clean the tiger's enclosure without the wild animals being locked up.? Do the zoo authorities expect the tigers and other wild animals to understand and think, "How nice, the homo sapiens are making our dwelling clean and neat? Let's give them a welcome lick!" And when the animals attacked, they would be destroyed! It is sad that there was no attempt shown to understand the attack of the animals! Some of these animals are getting lesser as they are depleted with hunt for their fur and other parts of their bodies!

Animals are animals, especially wild ones. Even domestic animals could go bonkers if they were not properly being treated and handled. I remember a church friend in Penang who used to tie up his pet dog day in and day out. One day, the dog just bit and mauled his young daughter. If you were to be tied up the whole day and night long, would you also not go berserk? Tying up the dog with a short leash everyday is tantamount to animal cruelty.

I would urge everyone to always be alert where animals are concerned, especially wild ones. Take the trouble to read up books or information on animals before you adopt a dog or a cat. This will help to preserve your sanity as well as the mental health of your pets.

Gan Chau