Men crossed two zoo fences prior to tiger encounter

[PMedMoe]

I don't feel one bit sorry for these stupidiots.  :

The Calgary Zoo says two 27-year-old men snuck onto zoo grounds Monday morning and climbed over the public safety fence surrounding a tiger exhibit, where one man suffered serious arm injuries.
Article Link

Zoo officials held a news conference on Monday to discuss the details of the bizarre incident which happened at about 1:00 a.m. local time.

Grahame Newton, the director of corporate services at the zoo, said the men first made "unauthorized access" to the property by climbing over its exterior fence, which stands nearly 2.5 metres high and has three strands of barbed wire at the top.

They next headed towards the tiger exhibit on the west side of the zoo where one of the men then climbed the one-metre-tall public safety fence surrounding the enclosure.

About two metres in from the public safety fence, a second interior fence -- 4.5-metres high and electrified along four separate wires at the top -- cages the tigers off from the outside world. It is designed to "keep the tigers inside their exhibit area," Newton said.

The exterior side of the second fence is where the injured man made contact with a two-year-old Siberian tiger named Vitali, Newton said. It is believed that the man had his arm pulled through the fence after it became hooked by the animal's claw.

"The second man reportedly went to the aid of his companion and they managed to get away from the tiger," he said.

One of the men then used a cellphone to contact a zoo security guard, who apparently did not know that they were at the park.

"As soon as the security officer received this call, she ran toward the tiger exhibit and encountered both men on a public path just east of the tiger enclosure," Newton said.

Security officers called 911 and started performing first aid on the man injured by the tiger. Paramedics arrived soon after and took the man to Foothills Hospital for treatment.

Newton also described the nature of the injuries that the man suffered.

"The information we have is that while his injuries appear not to be life-threatening, they are, however, quite serious," Newton said at the news conference.

The tiger was not injured as a result of the incident.  That's good!  ;D

More on link

 

[PMedMoe]

Further to this story:  Zoo security questioned after tiger-mauling
Article Link

CALGARY -- Short of actually basting your sleeve with gravy beforehand, sticking your arm in a tiger's cage is about as stupid as it gets.

He's an idiot, a moron, a rube and an imbecile -- and not very bright to boot.

Brainless behaviour: It's been the focus of discussion ever since two fools scaled the eight-foot fence at the Calgary Zoo, and then decided a midnight visit to the tigers was in order.

One arm mauling later, police and an ambulance arrived, and the person who's very likely the first tiger-mauling victim in Calgary history was off to the hospital.

Word is, he may lose the arm, as Siberian tigers aren't known for their subtle touch.

And again, there's little sympathy -- an arm is a dear price for being silly, but it's the cost of trying to shake hands with a tiger. He should have known better.

And so it's agreed, Calgary's first tiger victim is a total dolt.

But is that really all we learned here?

Something else is being missed in the rush to chastise the two burglars who tangled with Calgary's tigers -- and that's the safety of the animals inside the zoo.

If people are capable of slipping past security to get within touching distance of a tiger, the potential for harm goes both ways.

Imagine a rifle in the hands of one of these zoo invaders -- it's no more far-fetched than someone climbing into the zoo and sticking their arm in the tiger den.

Sadly, there's past precedent for people hurting zoo animals.

Last October, a seven-year-old boy broke into a popular Australian zoo, bashing several animals to death with a rock, and feeding other creatures to the zoo's resident crocodile.

The boy jumped a security fence at the Alice Springs Reptile Centre, and proceeded to kill 13 animals over the course of half an hour.

Calgary is no newcomer to late-night vandalism and break-ins.

A decade back, a British soldier who crept inside the zoo for an after-hour visit ended up being badly mauled by a polar bear.

The squaddie dropped his smokes inside the pen, and shimmied down a tree to retrieve them -- and that's when a polar bear decided to claw his leg, shredding it.

Then there was the arson attack which took place in 2002.

Arson investigators sifted through reels of security camera footage, but no one was ever arrested for starting the fire which destroyed the $3 million Northern Forest Lodge, killing 10 animals inside.

It's believed three teens entered the zoo during regular hours, hiding until the facility closed before starting the fire, which was reported by motorists passing by. Of course, questions of zoo security arose then too, but were brushed aside.

The official line then, as it was during yesterday's press conference on the tiger mauling, is the zoo can't possibly keep out a determined intruder.

"I think it is fair to say that if anybody puts their mind to it, they certainly can breach any kind of security and that seems to be the case here," said Calgary Zoo spokesman Grahame Newton.

And that, from the perspective of protecting the animals, is scary. The fact two men managed to scale a fence barely taller than themselves, and then creep through the zoo without triggering any sort of alarm, suggests a system that isn't secure at all.

Newton said four security guards were on duty at the zoo at the time of the presumably noisy tiger attack -- yet no one was aware a man had been mauled until the victims phoned for help themselves.

Like the fire noticed by motorists a few years before, it shows the zoo's monitoring of its own property is incomplete and inadequate -- and for the creatures inside, that's unacceptable.

The security fence is clearly too low, while cameras, motion detectors and human guards are too few, or totally ineffective.

More on link

I seem to recall a thread here regarding the break in by the 7 year old at the zoo in Australia.  (Here it is.)  I had no idea he killed 13 animals.  Thirteen in half an hour!!    I see some serious issues with that kid and not too far in the future, either.  As far as the other numpty, if he loses his arm, sucks to be him.

 

[RubberTree]

At least he'll have a good story to tell at the bar...not many people can claim they had their arm ripped off by a man eating tiger (of course he'll have to leave out the part about being an idiot).

 

[Edward Campbell]

Too bad Vitali couldn't aid humanity by ridding us of another couple of really stupid people. Good try, big cat!

 

[TCBF]

- I think the zoo should release their names.  After all, we want to maintain the high quality of the Canadian genome.  Potential female mates should know what kind of idiots they are dealing with before deciding to accept their seed or not.

 

[GAP]

This morning's edition of the CBC's "The Current" noted that while the men and the hospital were not commenting, the Siberian Tiger commented that "they  were Delicious !!!!"

 

[mariomike]

I live across the street from the High Park Zoo. Last month some jokers let some animals out:
http://torontoist.com/2009/09/llamas_now_calmer_in_high_park_zoo.php
They were all rescued unharmed. No word on arrests. In 1999 there was a break-in at the deer enclosure; two deer were slashed with a machete and another taken away, supposedly for its meat, according to Metro Police.
Remember Tatiana R.I.P. the Siberian Tiger at the San Fransisco Zoo?:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Zoo_tiger_attacks
Speaking of S.F. Zoo, just a few days ago, "On September 28, 2009, a person from Sacramento got into the Grizzly bear enclosure. Quickly, the Zoo keepers frightened the two bears away from the intruder. Luckily for him, he wasn't injured."
And this "Silence of the Lambs" story at the same zoo:
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2009/09/no_break-ins_dont_tell_us_an_s.php
"Woman Mauled by a Polar Bear Berlin Zoo":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0pFaQluCZo
This is the worst story of animals lost in a circus fire that I have read:
http://www3.gendisasters.com/ohio/3795/cleveland,-oh-animals-perish-circus-fire,-aug-1942

 

[JBoyd]

I would really like to know the thought process that went through these idiot's heads. Seriously even if your high as a kite.. since when was sneaking in for an up close and personal encounter with a deadly predator ever been a good idea? You'd think that after 1 fence you'd figure that a second was there for a darn good reason..especially if it is 12 feet tall and electrified at the top

 

[2 Cdo]

I would really like to know the thought process that went through these idiot's heads. Seriously even if your high as a kite.. since when was sneaking in for an up close and personal encounter with a deadly predator ever been a good idea? You'd think that after 1 fence you'd figure that a second was there for a darn good reason..especially if it is 12 feet tall and electrified at the top

Didn't Charles Darwin write about things like this over 100 years ago? ;D

 

[Dennis Ruhl]

Didn't Charles Darwin write about things like this over 100 years ago? ;D

How can you have enough security for idiots?  This page mentions 5 people killed in Canada in the last 3 years stealing copper from live high-voltage circuits.

http://www2.canada.com/windsorstar/news/story.html?id=feae05a8-1d23-4ade-b344-f4682dd94b0e

If you put the tiger in a bank vault somebody would break in.

 

[Fatalize]

What does this say about the security at the Zoo? If two people who think it's a good idea to get in a cage with a tiger can so easily sneak in.

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

What does this say about the security at the Zoo? If two people who think it's a good idea to get in a cage with a tiger can so easily sneak in.

It says that when someone wants in to get into something strong enough that they will get in.........

 

[mariomike]

"Tiger victim linked to security guard at Calgary zoo: The man mauled by a tiger at the Calgary Zoo is the common-law husband of a security guard who was working the night he and a friend scaled a fence and snuck up to the cat’s enclosure, according to a police source.":
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Tiger+victim+linked+security+guard+Calgary/2073331/story.html

 

[Fatalize]

It says that when someone wants in to get into something strong enough that they will get in.........

"Tiger victim linked to security guard at Calgary zoo: The man mauled by a tiger at the Calgary Zoo is the common-law husband of a security guard who was working the night he and a friend scaled a fence and snuck up to the cat’s enclosure, according to a police source.":
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Tiger+victim+linked+security+guard+Calgary/2073331/story.html

Apparently not

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Did you read the rest of the article?

 

[PMedMoe]

Apparently not

Did you read the rest of the article?

Bruce is right, nowhere in the article that mariomike linked to does it state that the security guard was suspected in allowing these two idiots access to the zoo.  The first paragraph has no bearing on the rest of the article and is merely a "red herring".  :

Edit to add:  As a matter of fact, it even states in this article, it even says so:

Police say there is no indication the woman, one of four patrolling the 80-acre zoo grounds overnight, was part of the break-in caper.

"They were not let into the zoo," said acting Staff Sgt. Rick Halford.

"There's no indication that the offender had made contact with the security officer prior to entering the zoo. I don't think that was their intention to contact that person; I think it was just something they stumbled onto."

Now, did you get some exercise while jumping to conclusions? 

 

[JBoyd]

perhaps he needs a 'Jump to Conclusions' Mat

Although the security guard was not part of the idiotic break-in.. I have a feeling perhaps that the hair-brained scheme arose through knowledge of the security system(s) that he may have gained through being her boyfriend.

 

[mariomike]

Night watchperson in a zoo must be a lonely job. Add to that the stress of not knowing where your husband is after 0100. Imagine the surprise of finding out that he just happens to be, by co-incidence,  in the place you are guarding when he calls you for help.

P.S. In an unrelated story, that is the same zoo where a "knife wielding gorilla" was reported this summer:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Calgary+cleared+gorilla+knife+incident/1880206/story.html

And in another unrelated story of bad luck, the same zoo's Stingray "petting project" proved to be "controversial in light of unsolved deaths of 35 rays in Calgary tank":
http://www.thestar.com/article/425162
The Star went on to report: "Sabotage has not been ruled out in Calgary. Laidlaw wonders about that, too. There was a public backlash against stingrays in the months after the death of television host and wildlife expert Steve Irwin of The Crocodile Hunter."
Later reports indicated it was a lack of oxygen:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2009/02/03/cgy-stingrays-cause-of-death.html

 

[PMedMoe]

It is certainly a quite a coincidence that "the victim’s common-law spouse, who was on duty at the zoo as a security guard".

And it may be purely a coincidence as well.

 

[TCBF]

And it may be purely a coincidence as well.

- Bad luck or poor judgement, but her employability may be an issue.  John Profumo she ain't, but "pillow talk" will be the rumoured leak.  Doubtful whether her employer will regard her bf being caught in the zoo (no pun intended) she was guarding as a confidence building measure in her abilities.

- I see a "Sorry kid, but you aren't a good fit" debrief in her future.