Two baboons die of exposure at Moncton, NB zoo after being locked outside

2008-12-24

Canadian Press

Two African baboons froze to death at a New Brunswick zoo after their keeper accidentally left them outside all night as temperatures dipped to -20 degrees, the facility's manager said Wednesday.

Bruce Dougan of the Magnetic Hill Zoo in Moncton said the animals were discovered Tuesday morning after they were mistakenly locked outside their interior cage for more than 16 hours.

"It was a tragic error that had terrible consequences," he said in an interview Wednesday. "This is not something that has ever happened in my experience and I've been in the zoo business for almost 40 years."

Ernie, a 20-year-old male baboon, was suffering from extreme hypothermia when he was found huddled against the cage door waiting to get inside.

Dougan said a veterinarian tried to save the animal by providing him with heat, but he died about two hours later. Lisa, the 20-year-old female, was already dead when she was found in an outside shelter.

Dougan said the animals were put outside at around 3:30 p.m. Monday to allow the keeper to safely clean their interior cage and prepare their food. Normally, they would be let back inside, but the keeper apparently forgot and left. Dougan said the keeper was experienced and had never been involved in any previous incidents.

"The entire staff is very distraught about what's happened," he said. "Nobody's more distraught than the keeper who made the tragic error."

Rob Laidlaw of the watchdog group Zoocheck Canada said mistakes are made routinely at zoos across the country that result in harm to animals, but he added that he had never heard of this type of primate freezing to death because of human error.

He said some animals have escaped and been killed because a latch hasn't been locked.

"I'm not shocked that this occurred, but I think it should really force the zoo to take a look at its own procedures and make sure this doesn't ever happen again," he said from Toronto.

"It's really inexcusable."

The zoo is investigating the incident, but has already changed its procedures for cold-sensitive animals to try to prevent a similar accident.

"We're going to add another level of inspection, so the zoo foreman will go to each area and ensure those animals are in for the night," Dougan said.

The animals were born at the zoo to parents that had come from a research facility in Dartmouth, N.S., in 1986. They were Olive baboons, a species found in mid-west African countries that can live up to 45 years and weigh as much as 30 kilograms.

They were the only baboons at the zoo, which has 110 animals. Dougan said they were kept in an exterior enclosure that's 108 square metres.