Mom2all said:
Another sad story yesterday in Pittsburg, PA. Mom sat her two year old on the top of the enclosure so he could see the wild African painted dogs. He fell 11 feet into the pit and was mauled by a pack them in front of his parents. He was pronounced dead shortly after. I can not see why someone would put their child on the top of the barrier, but my heart breaks for them as I could never imagine what they went through. Sickens me.
I just read this story in the news.
They ended up shooting one of the dogs.
This is a highly endangered species, which is only just starting to recover its numbers. Every single dog represents a very valuable genetic variation in a species where genetic diversity is dangerously low.
And between then, this idiotic mother and the zoo staff caused the death of one of them. This is exactly what I was talking about - humans act irresponsibly and then the animal pays with his life.
Seriously - Painted Dogs will maul anything that moves. It's what they do. If it moves, its food, and a pack of them will leave very little behind. So what was this dog's crime, exactly? Being a wild animal? Is it the dog's fault that the child fell into IT'S enclosure?
/singledad stalks off to fume in privacy