Tag: zoos

This must have been quite a sight for the people in Seoul who saw this zebra running around their neighborhood:

A zebra that escaped from a zoo in Seoul on Thursday was captured in the streets of the South Korean capital after having roamed at large in the streets for about three hours, according to zoo officials and fire authorities.

The zebra reportedly broke free from Seoul Children’s Grand Park’s zoo in eastern Seoul around 2:50 p.m. and roamed around the nearby residential area. 

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the zebra was safely recaptured and returned to the zoo.

Could you imagine the uproar if an American zoo had a chimp doing this?  Also so much for the anti-smoking campaign that was launched in North Korea:

 Pyongyang’s newly opened zoo has a new star: Azalea, the smoking chimpanzee.

According to officials at the newly renovated zoo, which has become a favorite leisure spot in the North Korean capital since it re-opened in July, the 19-year-old female chimpanzee, whose name in Korean is “Dallae,” smokes about a pack a day. Dallae is short for azalea.

They insist, however, she doesn’t inhale.

Thrown a lighter by a zoo trainer, the chimpanzee lights her own cigarettes. If a lighter isn’t available, she can light up from lit cigarette if one is tossed her way.

Though such a sight would draw outrage in many other locales, it seemed to delight visitors who roared with laughter on Wednesday as the chimpanzee, one of two at the zoo, sat puffing away as her trainer egged her on. The trainer also prompted her to touch her nose, bow thank you and do a simple dance.

The zoo is pulling in thousands of visitors a day with a slew of attractions ranging from such typical fare as elephants, giraffes, penguins and monkeys to a high-tech natural history museum with displays showing the origins of the solar system and the evolution of life on Earth.  [Associated Press via a reader tip]

You can read more at the link, but I wonder if according to North Korea the evolution of life on Earth all began in North Korea?

All the information is coming from any anonymous source so who knows how true this claim is?  If it is true it should come as no surprise considering how badly people are treated by the Kim regime much less animals in a zoo:

Exotic animals, including Persian leopards that North Koreareceived from Russia as a gift, are languishing at Pyongyang Central Zoo, according to a source on the country.

A breakdown in ventilation or air-conditioning facilities, most likely due to frequent power outages in North Korea, has contributed to the suffocation of some of the animals, in addition to poor zoo management, South Korean news network Channel A reported Wednesday.

Pyongyang Central Zoo was one of many North Korean institutions that had received special instructions from Kim Jong Un ahead of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Korean Workers’ Party.

But a source, speaking to South Korea media on the condition of anonymity, said that the “self-designed” ventilation facilities devised by North Korean engineers were not suitable for the purposes of animal husbandry, and new construction could not be completed on deadline. Dozens of animals also suffocated when air-conditioning recently stopped running for four hours, the source said.

Aquatic animals scheduled to perform on Oct. 10, the Workers’ Party anniversary, also perished. Casualties included the zoo’s sea lions, seals and dolphins, according to the source.

The gift of animals from Russia to North Korea, delivered in May, included the leopards, African lions, striped hyenas and long-tailed parakeets and were sent to commemorate the North Korean anniversary.  [UPI]

You can read the rest at the link.

A camel is kept in quarantine at a zoo in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, on June 2, 2015, as the zoo decided to have its camels tested to see whether they are infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). South Korea reported its first two deaths from the virus, with the total number of confirmed local MERS patients increased to 25 as of that day. (Yonhap)

What a horrible way to die in what was a preventable accident:

An incident Thursday in which a zookeeper was mauled to death by two lions has led to growing calls for increased safety measures.

The 52-year-old zookeeper surnamed Kim was found fatally bleeding in the wild cats’ enclosure at Seoul Children’s Grand Park in Gwangjin District, northern Seoul.

Both lions, which were supposed to be locked up, were discovered wandering around the body, said another zoo worker surnamed Lee, who first came upon the scene at the enclosure, which measures 374 square meters, about 4,000 square feet.

In CCTV footage examined by the police, Kim appeared on screen alone after taking part in the zoo’s wild animal action development program, which is conducted two or three times a month to help exercise animals’ natural instincts.

During those exercises, workers typically throw raw meat or toys to the animals in their natural enclosures.

Police said Kim was working by himself and remained in the enclosure to clean it without realizing the lion cage was unlocked.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.