The park defended the actions of its death squad, claiming that they would have not been able to anesthetize the animals without endangering themselves.
BEN TURNER: ‘Three chimpanzees have been shot dead and four remain on the loose after mysteriously escaping from their enclosure in Sweden’s Furuvik zoo. The animals sprung themselves from their enclosure at midday on Wednesday (Dec. 14) to be met with gunfire from staff, who zoo officials claimed would have been put at considerable risk had they attempted to tranquilize the apes. One chimp was wounded by the bullets and returned to its enclosure by itself, but has so far been unable to receive medical attention, meaning that it could have died…
The decision… has received widespread opprobrium from Swedish animal rights organizations, the public and the press… “It should not have been necessary to shoot the escaped apes,” Ing-Marie Persson, a former caretaker who worked with the chimps for 30 years at the park told the Swedish newspaper Afton Bladet. “It is deplorable. So poorly done.” Swedish police confirmed on Thursday that the incident has been reported as a violation of Sweden’s Animal Welfare Act, which says that animal enclosures have to be escape-proof…
Three of the killed chimps have been identified by the zoo as Linda, Santino and Torsten. Linda, born in 1980, was brought to the zoo after her family was killed by poachers in Liberia. Santino was born in 1978 and was renowned for his love of art… Torsten, a juvenile, was born in captivity in 2019 and was just 3 years old. His parents — Maria-Magdalena and Tjobbe — are among the three survivors. Another chimp, Manda, the adopted daughter of Linda, was heavily injured by the staffs’ bullets and may have since succumbed to her wounds.
The park has defended the actions of its staff, claiming that they would have not been able to anesthetize the animals without endangering themselves. “Anesthesia is not an option when a chimpanzee ventures outside its enclosure at risk to human safety,” The zoo wrote on Facebook. “To shoot with an anesthetic arrow, you need to be very close to the animal. This, combined with the fact that it can take up to 10 minutes for the anesthetic to take effect, would mean a great danger to people’s safety. When a chimpanzee is loose in the park, you therefore unfortunately have to shoot to kill”. SOURCE…
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