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Jaguar Mauling Revives Zoo Debate
Bekoff said even experts exercising extreme caution can make mistakes that put them in danger when dealing with predators.
He cited himself as an example: Despite extensive experience studying wolves, he once took a step toward a male gray wolf's food inside an enclosure. The wolf backed him against the fence, stared and growled before eventually backing off.
  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) 
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"I was foolish to do what I did and I know wolves well," he said. "I almost got nailed by a wolf being stupid."
Mara Rodriguez, an instructor at the Exotic Animal Training and Management Program at Moorpark College in California, said Pfaff's neck injuries sounded like the result of a classic jaguar hunting behavior.
"That is how a jaguar kills its prey, and that animal has been programmed to do that for thousands of years," she said.
"Regardless of the handling, the hand-rearing, the years of captivity, that animal is still a jaguar," she said. "Any predator is a predator and it will always have that instinct. They are looking for opportunities to be themselves."
Steve Feldman, spokesman for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, said fatal animal attacks in zoos are "fairly rare." He said it was still too early to know exactly what happened in Denver.
The association, which accredits the Denver Zoo and more than 200 other institutions, requires its members to train its workers and follow safety procedures.
Zoo officials say they continually train employees and evaluate safety procedures and conduct "red alert" animal escape drills at least four times a year.
The zoo has 16 staffers trained in the use of firearms in case of an escape. Four of those employees responded to the attack on Pfaff.
Before Saturday, the most recent fatal attack at the Denver Zoo was a bear attack that killed a zookeeper back in the 1920s.
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On the Net:
Denver Zoo: http:/
Association of Zoos and Aquariums: http:/
Marc Bekoff: http:/
