Dublin zoo tapir mauls mother and child

Adam Khor

Guess you've all heard about this by now:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23629660

Not the first time a tapir mauls someone, either.

Mickeroo

Yeah was big news here alright

Shouldn't have had people in the enclosure so soon after the tapirs giving birth pretty much.

OpenYourEyes

Threads in AH and Nature and Birdwatching too.

Thankfully Dublin Zoo confirmed that the Tapir won't be put down or punished in any way!

dodderangler

What the fuq was the keeper thinking bringing a woman and child near a tapir and animal who is certainly not in the slightest tamed and especially as it has a newborn calf around.
It is terrible what happened to the child and scars are never going to go away.

In a way they were blessed that they weren't killed.
Tapir has a serious set of teeth on them and a good weight to back it up.
Could've easily killed that little child.

singsong321

I know this is a relatively old headline, but feel it highlights important issues. That poor child and her parents suffered needlessly down to the illogical actions of the dublin zoo staff. The decision to allow members of the public interact with animals is illogical because 1)they are wild animals and like all animals can be unpredictable, 2)the tapir had offspring, they should've known the situation was hazardous. Either way the victims family deserve a large compensation for the damage done.

Howard Juneau

Really? Would you as a mother ask to let your child into an enclosure with a wild animal & after said child got mauled, try to sue the zoo?
The mother is every bit as culpable, if not more so imo. You don't put your child in dangerous situations, end of.

singsong321

Howard Juneau wrote: »

Really? Would you as a mother ask to let your child into an enclosure with a wild animal & after said child got mauled, try to sue the zoo?
The mother is every bit as culpable, if not more so imo. You don't put your child in dangerous situations, end of.

Yes, but the zookeepers gave them permission, I seriously doubht the mother had any inclanation that the situation was dangerous! This sitaution could have been avoided if the keepers had taken fully measures to protect public safety. Therfore, the victims family deserve full compensation and dublin zoo need to review how the zoo is operated.

OpenYourEyes

singsong321 wrote: »

Yes, but the zookeepers gave them permission, I seriously doubht the mother had any inclanation that the situation was dangerous! This sitaution could have been avoided if the keepers had taken fully measures to protect public safety. Therfore, the victims family deserve full compensation and dublin zoo need to review how the zoo is operated.

Well it was individual safety rather than public safety - public safety makes it seem like they were letting dangerous animals wander around the place!

And they should be compensated for the cost of any medical bills, plus I'm sure there'd be a bit extra for the psychological harm and impact etc. of the whole ordeal, but that being said I don't think they should abuse the situation and take the Zoo to the cleaners either.

Adam Khor

singsong321 wrote: »

Yes, but the zookeepers gave them permission, I seriously doubht the mother had any inclanation that the situation was dangerous! This sitaution could have been avoided if the keepers had taken fully measures to protect public safety. Therfore, the victims family deserve full compensation and dublin zoo need to review how the zoo is operated.

I agree. Even though common sense dictates that one should always be careful around animals of all kind, especially if they're bigger and stronger than you, you can´t as a zookeeper expect visitors to know just how dangerous they can be, especially little known animals such as tapirs. The visitor will also assume that if the keeper says its ok to interact with an animal, it is because its actually ok...