Jaguar Mauling Revives Zoo Debate

An undated family photo provided by the Denver Police Department shows Ashlee Pfaff, who died Saturday, Feb. 24, 2007, after she was attacked by a jaguar at the Denver Zoo. The Bolivian-born jaguar named Jorge that killed Pfaff, a zookeeper, was well-behaved as a young cat, but he had a twin brother who was so mean that his handlers named him Osama, a Bolivian zoo official said Monday. (AP Photo/Family photo, provided by Denver Police Deparment) (AP)

DENVER -- A jaguar's lethal attack on a keeper at the Denver Zoo has renewed the debate over whether big predators should be kept in captivity in the first place.

Ashlee Pfaff, 28, died Saturday after she was mauled by a 140-pound jaguar named Jorge. The jaguar was shot and killed when it approached workers trying to save Pfaff.

Marc Bekoff, a retired University of Colorado biology professor and author of "The Emotional Lives of Animals," called Pfaff's death a tragedy.

"These animals should not be in zoos because of the possibility of these things happening, and for the welfare of the animals," Bekoff said. "What's to be gained by having an animal like that in the zoo?"

Others argue that allowing humans to see such animals up close makes it easier to raise money and public support to preserve the animals and their habitats in the wild.

"Money that's raised by zoos goes a great distance to preserve their habitats. We can do so much with education," said Jack Grisham, vice president of animal collections at the St. Louis Zoo.

Denver Zoo officials said Tuesday they were cooperating with investigations by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and Denver police.

An autopsy found Pfaff died of a broken neck and had extensive internal injuries. Police spokesman Sonny Jackson said toxicology tests from the autopsy will likely take several days.

Pfaff was attacked in a service hallway adjacent to the jaguar's enclosure. Zoo officials said the door to the enclosure was open.

"We don't know if she was going in, and we never will," zoo spokeswoman Ana Bowie said. "Why that door was open and what she was doing, we do not know."

Zoo policy requires doors to be closed when keepers are in adjacent areas and forbids keepers to be in an enclosure when an animal is present. Zoo officials said Pfaff had experience working with big cats and knew the routines.

The animal had no history of abnormal behavior, and a necropsy showed it was in good health.