Local zoos are safe, officials stress
Lincoln Park Zoo literature promises visitors a "perfect afternoon" lunching at the outdoor Big Cat Cafe, which offers a bird's-eye view of lounging lions and tigers.
A fatal mauling Tuesday at the San Francisco Zoo shattered that prosaic image. But Chicago-area zoo officials stressed Wednesday that their zoos are safe.
The Lincoln Park tiger exhibit includes a 15-by-25-foot moat, a large open-air yard with 25-foot walls, and a triple-paned viewing window.
The moat is wider, but not as deep, as the one at the San Francisco Zoo. At least one zoo official has said the tiger appeared to have climbed or leaped out of the enclosure. The tiger killed one man and injured two others.
More Coverage Stories How did tiger escape habitat, kill visitor at San Francisco Zoo? [11/21/07]
Systems also are in place if animals do escape, zoo officials said.
Lincoln Park staff members stage safety drills every month. Every other month, the drills include an escaped-animal scenario, said Robyn Barbiers, vice president of collections at Lincoln Park Zoo.
"I just want to reiterate," Barbiers said, "we feel this facility is very safe."
But no matter how many precautions a zoo takes, predatory animals are inherently dangerous, Barbiers cautioned.
Indeed, Tuesday's incident brought back "bad memories," Barbiers said.
In 2004, two lions seriously injured a Lincoln Park zookeeper when she entered their enclosure. Federal investigators blamed the incident on human error.
"But that was a very different set of circumstances," Barbiers said. "The public was never in danger, and the lions never left the enclosure."
Lincoln Park Zoo is home to two Amur tigers, a 7-year-old male and a 10-year-old female. It was an Amur tiger, commonly called a Siberian tiger, that attacked the San Francisco visitors.
"A large cat is a large predator. They're especially dangerous because of their size," Barbiers said. "We know that, and we deal with that one on a daily basis. They are not pets. They are not tame by any means."
Officials from Brookfield Zoo, the Chicago area's largest zoo, declined to comment Wednesday on any matter related to the San Francisco attack.
A spokeswoman there said new precautions have been introduced since October, when a young male tiger died after he was mauled by his father.
The tiger was attacked after he stuck his paw through a small opening in a door separating him from his father.
In September, Lincoln Park and Brookfield zoos had their accreditation renewed by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
The association, which reviews accredited zoos and aquariums every five years, requires zoos to have extensive safety and emergency protocols that are more stringent than state and local regulations.
The San Francisco Zoo was AZA-accredited.
"AZA-accredited zoos are safe," a statement from the association said. "Until this incident, there had not been a visitor fatality resulting from an animal escape at an AZA-accredited zoo."