Deer jumps into lion’s den at National Zoo

[BSmith1068]

What you would expect to happen next... does:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/08/AR2009110817703.html?hpid=artslot

A deer that jumped a wall at the National Zoo was fatally injured by two lions Sunday as dozens of startled spectators looked on.

Zoo spokeswoman Pamela Baker-Masson described the incident as highly unusual. It began about 2:50 p.m. as visitors lined the perimeter wall of an enclosure that contained two female lions, and it involved a deer that may have entered from Rock Creek Park.

"Everyone was cheering, 'Go, go, go' " to encourage the deer to reach safety, witness Josh Shpayher said. "Everyone was rooting for the deer."

As recounted by witnesses, the deer, over as much as 20 minutes, was in and out of a moat while the lions clutched, clawed or swatted it. A crowd of spectators grew. Some shrieked, cried out or took children away.

The incident began, said witness Rob Ephraim, when the deer "ran between people" at the railing of the low wall around the sunken enclosure.

"It was running and it leaped," he said. After a hoof apparently clipped the railing, the deer plunged into the green, leaf-strewn water of the moat at the bottom of the wall. One lion went in after the deer and "jumped on it," Ephraim said.

The deer escaped, "then [got] caught again," Ephraim said.

As the episode neared its end, one lion dragged the deer to a stairwell area. The deer, a female, broke free and bounded toward the moat, the lion in pursuit.

Zoo personnel sent visitors away and got the lions indoors. With the enclosure empty, the deer left the moat on its own. It was anesthetized and taken for evaluation by specialists.

They found it "pretty evident" that the deer "would not survive," and it was euthanized, Baker-Masson said.

Shpayher said he arrived in the middle of the incident, as the crowd was swelling to at least 100 people.

When he asked what was happening, he said a woman told him that "a deer jumped in and the lions got him."

Video footage shows the deer seeming to wriggle from a lion's grasp and flee, with no obvious wounds.

But Baker-Masson said an examination indicated that besides head and neck scratches, the deer had a serious wound on its belly.

Many deer live in Rock Creek Park, where the zoo is located, and many have been spotted on the zoo grounds. But it is highly unusual for a deer to get into an enclosure, Baker-Masson said.

A video of the incident, shot by Ephraim and Christy Smethers, can be found at http://www.youtube.com/user/crossmax1084#p/a/u/1/2CbPzjhFY8Q.

Has anyone heard of anything link this happening before in other zoos?

 

[Harvin87]

This year at Berlin ZOO... a crazy fat woman jumped into the Polar bears pound... if that resembled something... the difference was that .. everybody wanted the bear to feed himself...

 

[JohnRM]

I have to watch Katt Williams, now.

 

[warpus]

Suicide?

 

[Theige]

This should be the normal way to feed the animals at the zoo.

 

[Winner]

Suicide?

Probably. Or the lions mastered telepathic control. Once people start jumping in, humanity is doomed.

 

[emzie]

This should be the normal way to feed the animals at the zoo.

I agree to an extent, though not at zoos. A deer shouldn't be put into an enclosure with no hope of surviving; however on ranges, I have no problem with it.

Probably. Or the lions mastered telepathic control. Once people start jumping in, humanity is doomed.

Not suicide. The deer wasn't running to lions, but rather, I would guess, away from something. Few animals actively kill themselves. Humans, dolphins (which is just sad... there's not much you can do but swim head first into things repeatedly) and maybe apes though I've not read an account of that.

 

[Winner]

If the ability to commit suicide is a sign of advanced intelligence ( ), maybe this was an extraordinarily clever deer. If he felt the urge to off himself the moment he realized his situation, it might explain his species inherent dumbness. With natural selection like this, no wonder it's not making progress

 

[Formaldehyde]

Has anyone heard of anything link this happening before in other zoos?

No, this sort of thing never happens.

Warning: Graphic footage of it never happening:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=51d_1227199759

http://www.break.com/usercontent/2008/6/Man-Gets-Attacked-By-Lions-518399.html

http://www.russiatoday.ru/Top_News/2008-07-14/Zoo_horror_man_butchered_by_bears_in_Ukraine.html


Link to video.

Unless you are referring to deer and other animals instead of humans. That likely occurs quite a bit less frequently...

 

[holy king]

cool, snuff.

 

[illram]

Would it be unhealthy for the lions to let them eat the deer? Or just bad for business?

 

[AL_DA_GREAT]

Who said zoos where child friendly?

 

[Ecofarm]

Probably Al Q (I heard he knew someone who might have known someone).

This could hurt Obama politically.

Damn terrorist deer... think of the children!

 

[BSmith1068]

Unless you are referring to deer and other animals instead of humans. That likely occurs quite a bit less frequently...

I did indeed mean other animals…. Humans are too dumb sometimes to really justify being at the top of the food chain.

Probably Al Q (I heard he knew someone who might have known someone).

This could hurt Obama politically.

Damn terrorist deer... think of the children!

You might be on to something here...

 

[West 36]

The National Zoo? How long till some horrible political cartoon is made out of this?

"Everyone was cheering, 'Go, go, go' " to encourage the deer to reach safety, witness Josh Shpayher said. "Everyone was rooting for the deer."

Yeah... right.

 

[cardgame]

They found it "pretty evident" that the deer "would not survive," and it was euthanized, Baker-Masson said.

THEY STOLE THE LION'S LUNCH!!!

 

[Cutlass]

There are more and more deer living in areas heavily populated with people. Sometimes in their search for food the deer get separated from their escape routes and wild areas and caught surrounded with people. They panic, and looking for any escape route, can get themselves into even more trouble. Seems like that is what happened here.

 

[Lord Baal]

This should be the normal way to feed the animals at the zoo.

Agreed.

 

[JollyRoger]

The deer was probably fleeing South Carolina.

 

[.Shane.]

Has anyone heard of anything link this happening before in other zoos?

You might find this interesting, especially the 2nd one.