Zooicide
The suicide note said he wanted to end it all, but after stripping off and jumping into a lion enclosure, all he got was a serious mauling. If only the two lions had been so lucky. They were shot dead.
Santiago Metropolitan Zoo's 'established protocol' was to save the man's life. That meant robbing two wonderful creatures, who hadn't chosen to live in Chile, of theirs. They were a couple. They wanted to hang on to their lives.
Tranquillisers might have been an alternative, but they had none! Careless in a place with wild animals!
They were just being lions.
- Category: True Stories Told As Fiction
- Tags: Two lions shot dead. Man lives.
11 comments add one below
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Christopher almost 8 years ago
That is tragic. It's like when a shark attacks someone and they try to hunt it down and kill it. If you hadn't been in their natural habitat you wouldn't have gotten attacked. Senseless.
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Christopher almost 8 years ago
Wonderfully written, Neville.
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Neville Hunt almost 8 years ago
Thanks very much, Christopher, your comment means a lot. I wave no animal liberationist flag here, but it seemed absurd, and, with the proper fail-safe planning, so avoidable. The would-be suicidee might well have mental issues, but the two lions didn't and didn't deserve such treatment. None of the three got what they wanted it seems!
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Christopher almost 8 years ago
I'm not a fanatic when it comes to that either, but if they're going to pluck these poor creatures out of their own habitat they should have the proper means for handling them without having to kill them the first time they exhibit their own natural instincts.
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Neville Hunt almost 8 years ago
Hear, hear, Christopher!
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Frenchie almost 8 years ago
That is a superb write, Neville. You highlighted the lack of common sense in some people perfectly. A man with a gun can be a fool (a woman too ). They should have shot the guy who wanted to kill himself instead. He would have had his wish...
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Neville Hunt almost 8 years ago
Thank you very much, Frenchie. Despite my recent drabbles, I'm no great animal fanatic, but it seemed so unfair as it did too with the Cincinatti gorilla assassination last Saturday.
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D.M. almost 8 years ago
couldn't write about the gorilla after seeing the footage...good write, Neville.
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Neville Hunt almost 8 years ago
Thanks, D.M., I couldn't believe the footage of the gorilla. I guess that a tranquilliser wasn't safe in that particular case, unlike the lion episode, but what an avoidable, and unfair waste of life. One can, and should, blame the negligent parents, but the zoo authorities need to get a grip on visitor management.
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Michael D. Brooks almost 8 years ago
Great commentary. Humans are the culprits, but the animals suffer the consequences.
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Neville Hunt almost 8 years ago
Thank you very much, Aspen.
