Caught, caged and displayed, and now killed. This is the end of three, or possibly four (the number is not yet clear) chimpanzees culled after they escaped from the Furuviksparken zoo in Sweden on Wednesday afternoon.
It is not clear how they managed to escape from the enclosure, but the head of the zoo 165 km north of Stockholm, Annika Troselius, initially said that the animals were killed because there was not enough tranquilizer for all. Words then denied by what was published today on the fb page of the structure where it is written: “Chimpanzees can be considered peaceful but they are extremely dangerous. They are fast, very strong and generally fearless. It can quickly escalate into a life threatening situation. Therefore Unfortunately, we had to make the decision to euthanize three chimpanzees who had left the enclosure. This is not something we take lightly. People’s safety is always our number one priority.”
Also in the press release it says that to use the sedative you have to stay very close to the animal and wait ten minutes for the anesthetic to take effect. A period that is too long for people to be saved. Additionally, four chimpanzees are in their home but not trapped in the enclosures. For this there is still risk.
Yesterday the journalists and zoo staff had been removed and snipers were called, policemen all helped also by the use of drones to complete the job. Today, however, the situation is not yet calm.
The killing of the animals is causing great outrage across the country. According to Marie Persson, the zoo’s primate manager for 30 years, they could have been saved. Instead of being shot, the animals should have been stunned while staff loaded the guns with anesthetic when news of the escape became clear.
Given the seriousness of the incident, the zoo said it will launch an investigation to understand how the tragedy occurred and to ensure it does not happen again.
