By Ewen Boey – July 29th, 2010
Five of the six sambar deer who escaped from the Night Safari on Wednesday morning have been found and returned to their enclosure.
One remains at large and it’s believed that it’s still within the vicinity of the Night Safari park.
The deer were discovered to be missing from their enclosure in Singapore Zoological Gardens after a routine check found that a fallen tree had damaged the perimeter fence, hence allowing them to walk out.
Four of deer were found within the park, but one managed to escape into the public Mandai area.
Kumar Pillai, director of zoology at Wildlife Reserves Singapore, told Channel News Asia, “(At) the Deer park, we’ve got the primary enclosure and, if for some reason, the animals do come out of there, we have a secondary fence to keep the animals in. But it’s the secondary fence that got damaged by the fallen tree and they got out of the park.”
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
NZealand zookeeper killed by white tiger
AFP - Wednesday, May 27 WELLINGTON (AFP) - - A zookeeper was mauled to death by a white tiger at a wildlife park in New Zealand's north, police said.
"A male wildlife keeper was fatally mauled by a white tiger while cleaning an enclosure in Whangarei's Zion Wildlife Gardens today," New Zealand police said in a statement.
A report said visitors to the park had seen the attack, although this was not immediately confirmed by police.
An Auckland man told the Fairfax newspaper group he had seen the mauling.
"It was very, very frightening," said the man, who declined to be named.
Despite the efforts of the second keeper and a rapid response from other wildlife park staff, the tiger would not let the park worker go and he died at the scene, police said.
The tiger was later destroyed by wildlife park staff.
Fairfax's Stuff website reported eight foreign tourists at the park were understood to have witnessed the incident.
"A male wildlife keeper was fatally mauled by a white tiger while cleaning an enclosure in Whangarei's Zion Wildlife Gardens today," New Zealand police said in a statement.
A report said visitors to the park had seen the attack, although this was not immediately confirmed by police.
An Auckland man told the Fairfax newspaper group he had seen the mauling.
"It was very, very frightening," said the man, who declined to be named.
Despite the efforts of the second keeper and a rapid response from other wildlife park staff, the tiger would not let the park worker go and he died at the scene, police said.
The tiger was later destroyed by wildlife park staff.
Fairfax's Stuff website reported eight foreign tourists at the park were understood to have witnessed the incident.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Close up with nature
In this enclosure animals roam freely, allowing visitors to have a close up view
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Glass enclosures
View of the Pygmy Hippos exhibits
Exhibits are separated from visitors by glass panels instead of cages
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Singapore Zoo
Tigers stressed by the incident
By Jessica Lim
THE two white tigers involved in Thursday's attack on a cleaner are exhibiting symptoms of stress.
Normally relaxed and languid, they are now on constant alert, zoo officials said yesterday.
Their ears are pricked up, and they are breathing heavily.
This photo was taken by visitors at the tiger enclosure before the cleaner was killed.
These tigers were in the news last November when they killed a cleaner who jumped into their enclosure.Omar the white tiger
Name: Omar
Species: Tiger (Panthera tigris)
Where it's found: Tigers can be found in India, Indochina, Peninsula Malaysia, Indonesia, China and Russia. White tigers are originally from India
Life expectancy: 15 - 20 years
Date of birth: Sept 27, 1999
Diet: Meat like beef, mutton, chicken
Star appeal: On loan to the Zoo from Taman Safari Indonesia, Omar is here with his 2 sisters, Winnie and Jippie. He endears himself to visitors because of his majestic presence and very handsome face.
Humans have a perception of beauty based on symmetry and proportion, and Omar conveys this beauty and grace especially when moving and swimming in his habitat.
He enjoys watching visitors from across the water moat, and has made many visitors happy by willingly posing (without actually knowing it) for memorable photographs
Nov 14, 2008
Cleaner killed by zoo tigers
By Khushwant Singh
According to eyewitnesses, Mr Nordin, who was seen shouting and flinging items about shortly before the incident, vaulted a low wall and landed in a moat in the enclosure, four metres below. -- ST PHOTO: STEPHANIE YEOW
A CLEANER at the Singapore Zoo who jumped into the white tiger enclosure yesterday was killed by the animals as a horrified crowd looked on helplessly.
Malaysian Nordin Montong, 32, was set upon by two of the three big cats in the enclosure at around noon.
White tiger exhibit safe for visitors: Zoo
THE white tigers' enclosure is safe for visitors as long as they stand outside it, the Singapore Zoo said yesterday.
It has closed the exhibit for the moment, but this is to facilitate investigations into the incident rather than for safety reasons, it said.
... more
Singapore Zoo's white tigers
The Singapore Zoo has three white tigers, Omar, Winnie, and Jippie.
Earlier this year, 9-year-old Omar was short-listed as a possible contender to replace Ah Meng as the zoo's icon.
... more
RELATED LINKS
CLEANER MAULED TO DEATH
According to eyewitnesses, Mr Nordin, who was seen shouting and flinging items about shortly before the incident, vaulted a low wall and landed in a moat in the enclosure, four metres below.
Carrying a yellow pail and a broom, he then crossed the 1.75m-deep moat, walked up to a rocky ledge near where the animals were and began agitating them by swinging the broom.
As two of the tigers approached him, he covered his head with the pail, lay down on the ground, and curled himself into a foetal position, two eyewitnesses, an Australian couple, told police. Their identities were withheld pending investigations.
In a flash, two of the extremely rare white tigers were on him. One took a swipe at him with its paw - which is about the size of a softball glove - and he began screaming in pain, said another eyewitness, Dutch tourist W. R. de Boer.
He said many in the crowd of 30 or so onlookers at the enclosure initially thought the intrusion was part of a show.
But when Mr Nordin began screaming, they reacted with horror.
'Some were screaming: 'Go away' to the tigers and others were shouting to scare the tigers,' he said.
The cries alerted zoo staff, and the alarm was raised.
About 20 keepers arrived within minutes. Some tried to prevent the attack from continuing by throwing brooms and dustbin covers, while the rest ushered the shocked onlookers away.
Also deployed were two zookeepers armed with rifles and live ammunition, but these were not used, said the zoo's assistant director of zoology, Mr Biswajit Guha.
Despite the efforts of the keepers, one tiger continued attacking Mr Nordin for several minutes, the zoo said in a statement yesterday.
It only relented after a door to the tigers' feeding area was opened. The animals retreated to it, leaving the cleaner motionless on the ground.
Once the tigers were in the feeding area, the door separating it from the rest of the enclosure was closed, and keepers were able to reach the cleaner.
It was too late, however. Mr Nordin, who hails from Sarawak, had been bitten on the neck and suffered a fractured skull. He died before police arrived.
His colleagues later told zoo staff that the contract worker, who had been working at the zoo for about 41/2 months, had been behaving strangely minutes before the incident.
He had thrown his cutters and meal coupons about before telling them in Malay: 'Goodbye, you won't be seeing me again.'
He then rode off on his bicycle.
The Australian tourists also said they saw him shouting and throwing some things as he walked by the crocodile exhibit, just 10 minutes from the tiger enclosure.
Yesterday's incident was the first time a person had been killed by an animal at the zoo since it opened in 1973.
Before this, the most serious incident occurred in 2001, when Chawang, a bull elephant, gored his keeper of 18 years, Mr Gopal Krishnan.
The keeper suffered fractured ribs and a punctured lung, and was in hospital for close to two months before he eventually recovered.
The zoo, which had to stop the tram ride and prevent visitors from entering during the incident, said yesterday that it would close the white tiger exhibit temporarily as a precautionary measure. It did not say how long the closure would last.
It said the tigers, which are nine years old and were brought in from Sumatra in 2001, would not be put down as they had acted naturally.
khush@sph.com.sg
This blog would not be complete if I don't introduce the zoo at home. Had the opportunity to visit the zoo last weekend and was glad to see new exhibits while the old ones have been improved.
By Jessica Lim
THE two white tigers involved in Thursday's attack on a cleaner are exhibiting symptoms of stress.
Normally relaxed and languid, they are now on constant alert, zoo officials said yesterday.
Their ears are pricked up, and they are breathing heavily.
This photo was taken by visitors at the tiger enclosure before the cleaner was killed.
These tigers were in the news last November when they killed a cleaner who jumped into their enclosure.Omar the white tiger
Name: Omar
Species: Tiger (Panthera tigris)
Where it's found: Tigers can be found in India, Indochina, Peninsula Malaysia, Indonesia, China and Russia. White tigers are originally from India
Life expectancy: 15 - 20 years
Date of birth: Sept 27, 1999
Diet: Meat like beef, mutton, chicken
Star appeal: On loan to the Zoo from Taman Safari Indonesia, Omar is here with his 2 sisters, Winnie and Jippie. He endears himself to visitors because of his majestic presence and very handsome face.
Humans have a perception of beauty based on symmetry and proportion, and Omar conveys this beauty and grace especially when moving and swimming in his habitat.
He enjoys watching visitors from across the water moat, and has made many visitors happy by willingly posing (without actually knowing it) for memorable photographs
Nov 14, 2008
Cleaner killed by zoo tigers
By Khushwant Singh
According to eyewitnesses, Mr Nordin, who was seen shouting and flinging items about shortly before the incident, vaulted a low wall and landed in a moat in the enclosure, four metres below. -- ST PHOTO: STEPHANIE YEOW
A CLEANER at the Singapore Zoo who jumped into the white tiger enclosure yesterday was killed by the animals as a horrified crowd looked on helplessly.
Malaysian Nordin Montong, 32, was set upon by two of the three big cats in the enclosure at around noon.
White tiger exhibit safe for visitors: Zoo
THE white tigers' enclosure is safe for visitors as long as they stand outside it, the Singapore Zoo said yesterday.
It has closed the exhibit for the moment, but this is to facilitate investigations into the incident rather than for safety reasons, it said.
... more
Singapore Zoo's white tigers
The Singapore Zoo has three white tigers, Omar, Winnie, and Jippie.
Earlier this year, 9-year-old Omar was short-listed as a possible contender to replace Ah Meng as the zoo's icon.
... more
RELATED LINKS
CLEANER MAULED TO DEATH
According to eyewitnesses, Mr Nordin, who was seen shouting and flinging items about shortly before the incident, vaulted a low wall and landed in a moat in the enclosure, four metres below.
Carrying a yellow pail and a broom, he then crossed the 1.75m-deep moat, walked up to a rocky ledge near where the animals were and began agitating them by swinging the broom.
As two of the tigers approached him, he covered his head with the pail, lay down on the ground, and curled himself into a foetal position, two eyewitnesses, an Australian couple, told police. Their identities were withheld pending investigations.
In a flash, two of the extremely rare white tigers were on him. One took a swipe at him with its paw - which is about the size of a softball glove - and he began screaming in pain, said another eyewitness, Dutch tourist W. R. de Boer.
He said many in the crowd of 30 or so onlookers at the enclosure initially thought the intrusion was part of a show.
But when Mr Nordin began screaming, they reacted with horror.
'Some were screaming: 'Go away' to the tigers and others were shouting to scare the tigers,' he said.
The cries alerted zoo staff, and the alarm was raised.
About 20 keepers arrived within minutes. Some tried to prevent the attack from continuing by throwing brooms and dustbin covers, while the rest ushered the shocked onlookers away.
Also deployed were two zookeepers armed with rifles and live ammunition, but these were not used, said the zoo's assistant director of zoology, Mr Biswajit Guha.
Despite the efforts of the keepers, one tiger continued attacking Mr Nordin for several minutes, the zoo said in a statement yesterday.
It only relented after a door to the tigers' feeding area was opened. The animals retreated to it, leaving the cleaner motionless on the ground.
Once the tigers were in the feeding area, the door separating it from the rest of the enclosure was closed, and keepers were able to reach the cleaner.
It was too late, however. Mr Nordin, who hails from Sarawak, had been bitten on the neck and suffered a fractured skull. He died before police arrived.
His colleagues later told zoo staff that the contract worker, who had been working at the zoo for about 41/2 months, had been behaving strangely minutes before the incident.
He had thrown his cutters and meal coupons about before telling them in Malay: 'Goodbye, you won't be seeing me again.'
He then rode off on his bicycle.
The Australian tourists also said they saw him shouting and throwing some things as he walked by the crocodile exhibit, just 10 minutes from the tiger enclosure.
Yesterday's incident was the first time a person had been killed by an animal at the zoo since it opened in 1973.
Before this, the most serious incident occurred in 2001, when Chawang, a bull elephant, gored his keeper of 18 years, Mr Gopal Krishnan.
The keeper suffered fractured ribs and a punctured lung, and was in hospital for close to two months before he eventually recovered.
The zoo, which had to stop the tram ride and prevent visitors from entering during the incident, said yesterday that it would close the white tiger exhibit temporarily as a precautionary measure. It did not say how long the closure would last.
It said the tigers, which are nine years old and were brought in from Sumatra in 2001, would not be put down as they had acted naturally.
khush@sph.com.sg
This blog would not be complete if I don't introduce the zoo at home. Had the opportunity to visit the zoo last weekend and was glad to see new exhibits while the old ones have been improved.
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