Zoo pledges action ahead of report on deaths

2010-06-17

Richard Cuthbertson, Calgary Herald

The Calgary Zoo is set to release a highly anticipated special review into animal care, a report one ecologist hopes won't be a whitewash, but rather will come to terms with how to prevent any more "inexcusable" deaths at the facility.

The review was launched in December after a series of strange animals deaths at the zoo during the past few years, incidents which drew significant criticism from animal groups.

The zoo now has the report from a committee of outside experts and is due to release the findings this morning.

One expert in animal behaviour said if the report is fair and unbiased, it could help with public perception of the zoo.

There needs to be a hard look at what happened in those animal deaths and recommendations on how to prevent such incidents in the future, said Marc Bekoff, a professor emeritus in ecology at the University of Colorado.

"There were some extremely serious things that happened there," said Bekoff, who is not involved in the review. "They need to deal with it."

On Wednesday, zoo spokesman Simon Scott wouldn't comment on the contents of the review until its public release.

"We called for the review because if there were issues, we wanted to know so that we could take rapid action to fix them," Scott said.

The review was conducted by experts from the U.S.-based Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and the Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Both organizations accredit zoos. Also on the committee was the dean of veterinary medicine at the University of Calgary.

Some have criticized selecting experts from accrediting organizations, saying they are not independent enough. But Calgary Zoo CEO Clement Lanthier has said in the past the review would be unbiased.

"I think we've taken delivery of a robust report," Scott said on Wednesday. "That's what we asked for."