More animal deaths at the Calgary Zoo

2010-01-18

Michael Platt, Calgary Sun

Oh dear.

Or rather, oh deer: Mule deer that is, four of which have died at the Calgary Zoo.

More deaths, and another dark cloud over St. George’s Island — if the zoo hadn’t already ordered a sweeping review of its practices and policies, this latest quartet of deceased animals would surely be the final straw.

How it happened isn’t completely clear. Two deer were lost in the fall to old age and disease, but the other pair died violently — one in November, after running into a fence; the other in December, of a mysterious broken neck. It sounds shocking, but apparently isn’t. Just another ordinary day, according to zoo officials.

“Like it or not, life and death is a reality within a zoological society, and as sad and upsetting as it is, and I can assure you it is, this is a reality we must manage,” said Simon Scott, the zoo’s new director of Communications.

Scott says they wouldn’t have even mentioned the dead deer, if a malicious tipster hadn’t brought the subject up with a watchdog organization, claiming zoo-keeper error had killed up to four mule deer just last week.

“This is not true — there were no incidents involving our mule deer last week,” said Scott.

“Unfortunately, it seems to be the latest in a series of attempts to undermine us.”

The dead-deer tipster apparently left a phone message with Zoocheck Canada, claiming to work for the Calgary Zoo, while reporting that the animals “were being rounded up and fatally injured in that process.”

Of course, Zoocheck immediately alerted Calgary’s media, and the zoo in turn was forced to admit four deer had died before Christmas.

It wasn’t exactly the fresh start to a new decade the Calgary Zoo had been hoping for.

The old decade ended with a South American capybara crushed under a hydraulic door, and a staff member suspended without pay as punishment.

The giant rodent’s death was the latest tragedy in recent years, which have left the zoo on the defensive as far as animal care and human training go.

In January, a wild goat strangled itself on a rope, while 41 cownose stingrays died in May 2008, after the oxygen level in their tank was allowed to fall. Zoo officials were criticised after a hippo died in 2007 after being transported improperly to Calgary, and again when a baby elephant died from a viral infection in 2008.

In another cringe-worth moment for zoo staff, a gorilla was seen in June gripping a knife left behind by staff.

It was the capybara’s demise that finally forced zoo boss Dr. Clement Lanthier to take the only course of action that might clear the Calgary Zoo of doubt and blame.

Lanthier ordered an independent review of the zoo’s animal care policies, through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in Washington, D.C., and the Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums in Ottawa.

How long the review will take isn’t clear — more information is expected from the zoo next week.

In the meantime, as staff and keepers wait for the review that will hopefully back their claims of sound animal husbandry, there’s the new issue of dead deer to deal with.

Not so much the broken necks and running into fences issue — it’s expected the independent review will determine if violent deaths are, as claimed, just a normal part of zoo operations.

What the Calgary Zoo must face is growing evidence of a serious rift in their operation, which has at least some staff members questioning the ability of other people working there.

Julie Woodyer, spokeswoman for Zoocheck Canada, says the insider tips they have received are from more than one person, and they all claim to work at the Calgary Zoo.

So far, the tips have all had basis in fact, showing an insider’s access to information.

“They know too much, too many details, to not be staff members, as they say,” said Woodyer.

If there are staff members trying to undermine Calgary’s zoo, they have a bigger problem on their hands than proving a few animal deaths are just bad luck.