The Taipei Zoo on Saturday said it would pursue legal action against a man who was filmed climbing over a railing to tease and feed spotted hyenas in their enclosure earlier that day.
In videos uploaded to social media on Saturday, a man can be seen climbing over a protective railing and approaching a ledge above the zoo’s spotted hyena enclosure, before dropping unidentified objects down to two of the animals.
The Taipei Zoo in a statement said the man’s actions were “extremely inappropriate and even illegal.”
Photo: Screen grab from threads/jojo06260626
In addition to monitoring the hyenas’ health, the zoo would collect evidence provided by the public and its own surveillance video footage so the man can be investigated and dealt with according to the law, the statement said.
The zoo said it would ask its lawyers to examine whether the man’s actions contravened laws relating to public order or animal protection.
Animal Division assistant researcher Peng Jen-lung (彭仁隆) yesterday said hyenas’ bite force can reach more than 400kg, 12-fold of that of human beings.
“Visitors can be severely hurt if they fall into the hyena enclosure,” he said.
The two spotted hyenas were delivered from France to Taiwan in 2011 to take part in director Ang Lee’s (李安) movie Life of Pi and were given to the zoo as a gift, Peng said.
Hyenas are carnivorous animals that feed on simple diets — mainly meat — so visitors are not allowed to drop extra food into their enclosure, he said.
The zoo usually feeds the hyenas beef or whole chickens, and sometimes provides large bones for them to train their bite force and grind their teeth, Peng said.
So far, the two hyenas remain healthy, he said, adding that they were let into the enclosure in the morning yesterday.
They had dinner as usual on Saturday, but the food dropped by the man was not found in the enclosure, Peng said.
As many large carnivores at the zoo are dangerous, including lions and leopards, enhanced measures were used to separate the animals, such as using high walls to enclose the hyenas, he said.
The zoo would not modify the display area of spotted hyenas, as the incident was due to a visitor’s misconduct, Peng said.
It is human behavior that should be controlled instead of animal behavior, he said, calling for visitors to watch animals at the zoo.
Clapping or shouting at animals is uncivilized, Peng added.
READY: The CGA said it closely monitored China’s maritime exercise, deployed vessels to shadow the Chinese ships one-on-one and set up emergency response centers Chinese navy and coast guard ships have returned to China, signaling the end of a massive maritime exercise, authorities said yesterday. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) released images it said showed Chinese vessels sailing north in rough seas past Taiwan on Thursday, on their way to China. “All the Chinese coast guard went back to China yesterday, so although they have not officially made any announcement, we consider it over,” CGA Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said. Beijing has not confirmed the drills and the Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not say whether the maneuvers had taken place when asked at a
People can take the Taipei MRT free of charge if they access it at Nanjing Sanmin Station or Taipei Arena Station on the Green Line between 12am and 6am on Jan. 1, the Taipei Department of Transportation said on Friday, outlining its plans to ease crowding during New Year’s events in the capital. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend New Year’s Eve events in Taipei, with singer A-mei (張惠妹) performing at the Taipei Dome and the city government’s New Year’s Eve party at Taipei City Hall Plaza, the department said. As people have tended to use the MRT’s Blue or
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: As some roads would be fully or partially closed, people are advised to take the MRT, with services expanded to accommodate more riders This year’s Taipei Marathon, which has obtained its first gold label certification from World Athletics, is to be held from 5am to 1pm tomorrow and would have 28,000 participants. The race is to start from the Taipei City Plaza and would go through major roads throughout the city, with traffic control implemented from 6am to 2pm, officials said. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system and New Taipei City MRT Circle line would start operating at 5am on the day of the race, they said. The race would cover Renai Road, Xinyi Road, Hangzhou S Road, Aiguo east and west roads,
Taiwanese professional baseball should update sports stadiums and boost engagement to enhance fans’ experience, Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview on Friday. The league has urged Farglory Group and the Taipei City Government to improve the Taipei Dome’s outdated equipment, including relatively rudimentary television and sound systems, and poor technology, he said. The Tokyo Dome has markedly better television and sound systems, despite being 30 years old, because its managers continually upgraded its equipment, Tsai said. In contrast, the Taipei Dome lacked even a room for referees
RSS