The Most Dangerous Game...

When I was young and just starting off in the zoo profession, I was told that zebras used to be the second-leading cause of death among zookeepers.  That was the explanation that was given to me when my supervisors told me in no uncertain terms that I was never to enter the yard with them.  The number one killer, incidentally, has always been elephants.

Most zookeepers who stick with the profession for any length of time are going to start collecting some pretty eccentric injuries.  Now, the majority of workplace injuries are rather mundane - if painful - falling off ladders, cracking skulls on low branches, getting snagged on wire fences, and the like.  What I'm talking about, however, are, of course, those injuries which are animal inflicted.

You get a lot of variations on the "Have you ever been bitten by..." question from visitors.  (The other side of the coin is the "Do you play with the...", usually referencing the cuter animals).  The answer is, quite often, yes.  I have been bitten by (nonvenomous) snakes, lizards, and small crocodilians.  I have been bitten by vultures and (thankfully, small) parrots and taloned by hawks.  I have been bitten by coati, binturong, fennec fox, and - on one very unpleasant occasion - a spotted skunk that refused to let go for some time.  A lot of people have asked me if I'd been bitten by a lion or tiger, and I can say confidently "no", but only because I never go in with one.  In fact, I've never been bitten by a large predator - a big cat, bear, wolf, or hyena - and I suspect that if I did, I probably wouldn't be writing this now.

Ironically, the animals that make me the most nervous are the ones that would never occur to most visitors to fear.  I'll go in with wolves, cheetahs, or crocodiles without batting an eye... but a big, aggressive male bird in breeding mode (cranes, pheasants, ratites)?  That can get downright dangerous.  I'm a bit ashamed to admit that some of those exhibits have gone to hell a tad during the breeding season - it's hard to rake very well or fix perches when you're constantly fighting off a stabbing beak that's aimed at your favorite eye.  Perhaps the one animal that I've worked with that I feared a bite from the most was an aquatic caecilian.  I have no idea why.  Just the thought of being bitten by an animal without a visible face was somewhat unnerving.

Animals that are unlikely to be even remotely dangerous to man in the wild can be lethal in a zoo setting.  Part of it is the close-quarters - an antelope that would run in the wild will charge and gore in a zoo.  Another part of it is that many zoo animals have lost that natural fear of man.  Add some extra factor - mother with babies, breeding season, very hungry animal wanting that food bucket - and you can have problems.

Zookeepers can sometimes spend so much time with their animals that they can become complacent about how dangerous they can be ("Yeah, I know polar bears can be dangerous, but honestly, he likes me!").  Even more commonly, zoo guests, many of whom are not used to being around animals apart from dogs and cats, might not appreciate the danger that they can put themselves in when they hope fences or stretch extra far and reach through the wire to touch the cute monkey or otter.

We try our hardest, but some people seem determined to learn lessons the hard way...