Don't panic, but there's an animal loose in the Zoo Grounds.

11-09-2008

this thread has made chimps just seem a whole lot scarier

11-09-2008

speaking of which...Nine O'Clock

11-09-2008

There was a Hunter Hunted episode about a chimp break out, it explains a lot about Chimps,

13-09-2008

A bull elephant wouldn't scare me all that much. It'd be too easy to get away from him. Same for a hippo...unless I somehow ran across him in water. I don't think a gorilla would do much unless startled.

Chimps have to be #1 for me. Always looking for trouble.

13-09-2008

So is that why Hippos KILL more people on land in Africa than another type of animal???????????????

13-09-2008

How would you get away from an Elephant or Hippo? run?

13-09-2008

Maybe by running and hiding, depending zoo of course with large aniamls like that, but with the large cats I don't think you'd even have a chance to turn around,

13-09-2008

I'm pretty sure both hippos and elephants are faster over short distances than humans... One of the most dangerous places to be on earth is between a hippo and water...

It would be foolhardy to dismiss gorillas or in fact any wild animal fot that matter...

13-09-2008

great point if there were an animal on the lose in the zoo, consisting of 98.9% of what are in exhibits , I'd take great caution or I'd get the hell outta there!

13-09-2008

i think the scariest animals that could get out at the zoo are, as nominated, chimpanzees, bull elephant, big cats and bears.
i think the element of risk from antelope is less, even hippos. think of your typical zoo, with fences, gardens, buildings and moats and in an all hell breaks loose situtation visitors could barricade in buildings, up trees and on roofs etc. these things wouldnt be enough to stop the above.

14-09-2008

There are also certain animals which seem to have natural bastard tendencies... Cape Buffalo, Komodo Dragons for example...

14-09-2008

Because many species of large WILD animals are inevitably dangerous and react aggressively to people- whereas their zoo counterparts have often become extremely tame due to years of close association with their keepers and visitors.

Take Indian rhinos- a highly dangerous species in the wild, yet placid and friendly in captivity. Admittedly an escaped one might become very excitable/aggressive in new/unfamiliar surroundings but it still wouldn't invoke the same fear in me as a wild one would.

On the other hand a captive chimp is far more dangerous than a wild one as it has absolutely no fear of man- wild chimps don't realise they are stronger than people and are normally frightened(or respectful) of them and won't attack(except in very rare cases where they have become over familiar with people -and even then it is not motivated in the same way). The excitable nature of a captive chimp coupled with its total lack of fear is what makes it such a lethal combination.

The reason I nominated Jaguar as my first choice though is because with most of these others, you are going to know where they are and could take evasive action. If a Jaguar(or Leopard?) escaped and went into hiding, it immediately becomes a potentially lethal situation over which there is no control.

14-09-2008

Most dangerous animal in the zoo is without doubt the wasp. They attack hundreds of innocent zoo visitors every summer.

On second thoughts there can be more dangerous creatures on the loose:
http://www.zoobeat.com/22/guns-zoo-21656/

Most escaped animals are frightened and run away and hide, and give visitors time to get away. They aren't malicious or vengeful, and certainly unlikely to start hunting for food the second they are out. I can't think of a single example where as escaped animal has seriously harmed a member of the public. Even the woman bitten by the gorilla at Rotterdam was not badly hurt. Most serious incidents involve keepers, drunken idiots entering enclosures, or animal interactions.

14-09-2008

I believe a Jaguar(or was it two) dug its way out of its enclosure at a French zoo a few years ago and killed at least one child.

The woman whom Bokito(the Gorilla) attacked at Rotterdam was quite badly bitten, covered in blood and in a state of shock. The consensus was that Bokito attacked her as a gesture of dominance.

14-09-2008

I had to laugh, while backing away rapidly, at Paignton recently. There was a sign stuck on the window of the Howler Monkey house so I went over to see what it was about. It was a warning about a wasp nest in a tree next to the house - which you could only stand beside while you were reading the sign! Not a lot of thought went into that - unless the staff were falling about with laughter somewhere.