WOLVES

Yes, very sad.

They could be far more likely to cause a great deal of damage to farm stock than could packs of stray dogs.

I wonder why they weren't tranquillised and returned to the zoo? Poor wolves

That's sad. Understand why it had to be done but I love wolves. I would have thought all they'd want to do would be to get back to the rest of the pack [or were there only three wolves at the zoo?].

Well according to reports one returned of it"s own accord , another was tranquillised and recaptured, but the others !!

I feel

Tranquillisation is not instant. In the time it takes for it to take effect, the animal could become disoriented and upset, and perhaps cause more trouble, and a tranqulliser dart has to go into a fleshy part to get the drug into the system. A lethal bullet would be quicker, and the most obvious place to aim at is the head.

They were probably unlikely to do any damage immediately, as they would not be hungry for a while (assuming that they had recently been fed. Often the natural rhythm of an animal's feeding pattern is replicated in Zoo conditions, and if it was thought to be more natural for it to feed every few days instead of daily, then it could have been a while) Wolves are not a danger to humans except in unusual circumstances.

Quieting public nervousness and concern would be the main problem, and they seem to acted promptly to avoid this. The public are not always sensible about escaped animals - once at Edinburgh Zoo a full-grown chimp went walkabout and the public were being shepherded out of the way. People were bringing their children closer to get a good look! A frightened chimp surrounded by excited onlookers is NOT performing in a Tetleys Tea ad. (And a chimp that grins at you is terrified and likely to attack, not sending you a jolly smile)

This is extremely sad but the saddest part is that these poor animals and other animals are locked into an enclosure in a Zoo. The zookeepers failed in their responsibility to ensure these animals came to no harm.

I will never understand why this had to be done. Surely we have enough wildlife programmes now to let us see all these animals, living as they should, in their natural habitat instead of pacing miserably in a zoo.

AGUS Essex police are at the the moment not saying whether foul play was involved .
However, I agree with you wholeheartly , it is sad to see these animals in captivity. they just pace around , obviously bored out of their skulls

On the subject of animals in captivity did anyone see 'Blackfish' on BBC Monday night [it's probably still on iplayer]. Wouldn't recommend it to anyone with a sensitive disposition but it was a documentary exploring the reasons why one of the Orcas at Sea World turned on it's trainer a couple of years ago, Felt quite traumatised after watching it but it was incredibly well made. Made me feel incredibly sad [still do].

Depends on the enclosure and the amount of thought put into enriching their lives.

I saw that program Tegan and OH and I sat with open mouths, at first I couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing , that those trainers were almost hoodwinked into doing what they did to those animals. I had no idea that they were shipped around the World to different places as it seems they were , breaking up families and babies from their parent it was truly disturbing program. I assume all that we saw still goes on , how incredibly sad and upsetting.

Whales and dolphins are totally unsuited to life in captivity. They have short and unhappy lives.

Well, it said that Tilikum is still performing but the trainers are no longer allowed into the water with the Orcas unless there's a net of some kind between them. I know what he did was awful but I feel so sorry for him, and to see the footage of the mothers when their calves were taken away from them was heartbreaking. Everything about their lives is alien to the way they should be living.

Elegran I have a feeling that all canines tend to grab any food going as soon as it is going because in the wild they almost always lose some of it to other predators. I'm not sure what other bigger and fiercer predators wolves might have to face – something large and fiercely feline or usrsine perhaps – that would make them guzzle when given a chance. Equally, they might be the exception to the general rule.

I was having imaginings last night of what I'd do if I went out late at night to put something in the dustbin and was confronted by a wolf [just as I imagine rustling leaves behind the fence in summer to be tigers].

Turn the dustbin over so that it can get at whatever is inside, and while it is distracted go back indoors. Repeat - it would be very unlikely to regard you as dinner, particularly when the rest of the pack was not there to do the co-ordinated hunting routine. Wolves get a bad press.

Tegan's comment and what if it was a tiger - followed by Elegran's advice on how to deal with such eventuality made me laugh. Which was good, as the rest of the thread made me so sad. 30 years ago, I was part of a group taking children to Chester Zoo. I didn't like zoo's, but entered into the spirit of excitement, until we got to the single Polar Bear. He was pacing, shaking his head, pacing pacing pacing, shaking his head. My colleague and I both "diagnosed" mental health problems, certainly depression. A week later, a news item reported the polar bear at that zoo had drowned in his tiny swimming area. We were convinced he'd committed suicide.
I agree with others who say we shouldn't cage animals in zoo's. I accept some good work is done by the zoo's, but feel it is outweighed by the stress caused to wild animals. The very idea of having performing whales and dolphins, living in small compounds, being shipped around etc is just appalling.
I felt sorry about the wolves being shot, and like others wonder how the escaped, and why it wasn't possible to sedate them and return them.

When my daughter planned a trip to America years ago [she didn't go in the end] I spent ages trying to find out [pre internet] how she should react safely if confronted by a bear [still can't remember whether you should run or hold your ground]. I don't think I've ever seen a wolf in captivity; they're usually in huge pens with 'wolf' written on them but they always keep well away from viewers. Was watching a programme about Orang Utans the other night that said we needed to have some in captivity so at least there will be some left when all their natural habitat had been destroyed. The man in the programme said he was one of the few people in the world whose ambition was to become unemployed because he was no longer needed and that his charges would all be living in their natural state. Going back to wolves, I'm a bit concerned at how huskies have become very popular as pets; probably pretty closely related to wolves inasmuch as any domestic dog is, and incredibly sweet, gentle dogs but with very little [if any] recall. I can see a lot of 'huskie rescue' societies springing up shortly.

This bit about animals in cages has reminded me that when our children were small we built a compost container and called it a "Tiger cage." When we put stuff on the heap said we were feeding the tigers.

Little DS once became very upset when DH lit a bonfire near to the tiger cage as he was worried it might burn the tigers.

You have to be so careful about young children's understanding and imagination.

Just seen a lovely programme on BBC 1 about 'unusual animal relationships'; missed the first half so going to see if it's on iplayer. Part of it featured hyenas, animals that I have a particular fascination for.

It's called Animal Odd Couples. Episode 1 is on i player, tonights episode isn't yet. I thought at first it was one of those 'twee' animal programmes but in fact it was fascinating. It made me ting of my meeting with Fungie the Dolphin in Ireland .

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ting ; my typos are getting worse by the minute

My ? was because when I first went on to this forum there was nothing at all except a lot of numbers and letters.