I am sad to announce that a woman in the Zoo-staff was killed by wolfs today at Kolmården Wildlife Park.
Extremely tragic and extremely unusual. Wolves do not usually attack people - I believe there are no confirmed cases of a gray wolf of any subspecies killing a human being in the wild. In fact this is the first case even in captivity that I have heard of, although according to the article it did happen once before (over a century ago) in Sweden. Does seem unwise to allow a staff person to go in alone with them.
Right now I am devastated and everything feels unreal. I have visited one of the wolfpacks some years ago, and I know how much the keepers feel for their animals, and they have a very close bond to them. I am visiting the park very often, but I don't know when I will go back again. I didn't know the girl personally, but anyway you start to remember the times you have met her... She was only 30 years old. I will try to explain the situation for you. A few of the keepers and zooguides are handraising new packs regulary, and the zoo has several enclosures for wolfs, right now two are used. Visitors could pay for a meeting with the wolfs. Often there were a keeper and a zooguide and a small group of visitors. Sometimes the keepers/guides had to socialize alone with the wolfs, and another keeper stayed outside. They had contact through walki-talkies. Yesterday, when the connection was lost, the keeper on the outside suspected that something was wrong, and found the girl dead... From now on people (staff or visitors) will have no contact with the wolfs what so ever.
It's difficult to argue that statement in regards to what just happened, but Kolmården has allowed guided groups to meet bottle-fed wolves for over 10, maybe 15 years, with no serious incidents. Thousands of people have had the opportunity to meet these wolves and Kolmården have been doing this as a means to add another dimension to the extremely infected wolf debate in Sweden. Everyone in the Swedish zoo community is extremely sad today.
Why do they persist in believing that these wild animals are in any way desirous of contact of any kind, especially human? Kolmarden Wildlife Park: Wolves maul woman keeper to death at Sweden's most popular zoo | Mail Online
I agree with Arizona Docent. I have never heard of any cases of any Grey Wolf species attacking/killing a human. I think though some collections do take them for granted and think there to 'timid' to attack. I also think they're very underestimated.
I was watching fatal attractions on animal planet and I remembered seeing this: Fatal Attractions: Wolf-Dogs Kill Owner : Video : Animal Planet
There are rare recorded wolf attacks (some fatal) of humans. Wolf attacks on humans - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia There are also people who get killed by captive wolves and wolf-dog hydrids.
I couldn't agree more - why can't people just enjoy observing animals? There should be more than enough enjoyment in that activity.
Other than the fact that they are wolves, there are several possible reasons for their decision to attack her. According to Olof Liberg, a wolf expert at a university in Sweden, the ferocious animals can be set off by "a breach in routine," and he said that wolves can be especially dangerous when a zookeeper is in with them alone.
generally speaking, any captive animal is more dangerous than a wild one of the same species because they don't have the same fear of humans that wild ones have ingrained into them. I would have few worries (some, but few ) about being in proximity to wild chimps or wolves, but never in a million years would I ever go alone into an enclosure with zoo chimps or wolves.
My sympathies to you, Kwambeze, and all of the folks there at Kolmarden. I visited your wonderful park last year and I was completely impressed! This tragedy does nothing to change my opinion about your park. I truly do hope you all can recover from this devastating tragedy. I would agree with Arizona Docent, in that I've always heard that there were NO confirmed cases. I remember hearing that after watching a documentary about a Jack London movie ("Call of the Wild"?). So I just can't blame the Kolmarden people -- they were dealing with something they likely thought would NEVER happen. By the way, I've also heard that there are no confirmed cases of a human being killed by piranhas. (Then again, if one was killed, there might not be much evidence left behind.)
Ontario man killed in wolf attack, coroner's jury finds - Saskatchewan - CBC News This article says that this was the first recorded fatal attack of a human by a wolf in North America. I've read that the piranha mythology of human attacks arose from Theodore Roosevelt's account of piranhas in his book about his Amazon travels, but I'm not sure of that. No doubt their reputation as killers is mostly Hollywood fiction, as with wolves also like the recent movie "The Grey". update: just found this article about piranhas: http://animals.howstuffworks.com/animal-facts/piranha-eat-cows.htm
After 3.5 years of investigation, a prosecutor presented the accusation against the zoo earlier today. More info at the link below: Wildlife park, former manager face charges over fatal wolf attack - Radio Sweden | Sveriges Radio You can also to listen at a sound file at the same page (English).
Today, after 4.5 years after attack and a long process in court, presented at last the judgement. Former boss found guilty in deadly wolf attack at Kolmården - Radio Sweden Former Swedish zoo head convicted over fatal wolf attack (Both English) Vargdödad på Kolmården - P4 Östergötland ( Swedish)
