Risky Rescues

Watching the video of a Guatemalan zookeeper diving into the moat to rescue a drowning antelope, I wasn't too worried.  I'd seen the video posted on one of those sappy, motivational/inspirational Facebook pages, so I had a pretty good idea in how it was going to turn out, and that everyone would be okay.  If this had been live, and I'd been standing there watching the action unfold with no idea on how it would end, I'd be feeling very differently.

When an animal is in danger, especially in a life-or-death situation, there is an immediate impulse to help.  Zookeepers, the humans who are closest to those animals, are obviously the ones who feel that urge most keenly.  The problem is that when you go to the aid of an animal in danger, you aren't just dealing with whatever is endangering the animal itself - a severe weather event, a fire, whatever.  You also have to  deal with the animal itself.  And that can real up the ante on the danger.

We should probably be clear on this point - the animal does not know and does not understand that you are trying to save their life.  In the wild, this is the exact sort of situation in which a predator would move in for the kill to take advantage of a trapped or weakened animal.  That's literally the story of the La Brea Tar Pits outside of Los Angeles and why there are so many predator bones found there.  Prey animals would get themselves stuck in the muck... and then wolves, saber-toothed cats, and other carnivores would rush in for the easy kill, only to get stuck themselves.

A blackbuck isn't particularly big, even as antelope go.  It does, however, have very powerful, sharp little hooves which would not feel great connecting with the softer spots of your anatomy... and a terrified, drowning blackbuck is going to kick and flail for all its worth.  This particular individual was a male, meaning it has extra accessories.  Those corkscrew horns, thrashing around as the animal swings its head trying to get air, could easily go into an eye - or through it, into the brain.  This is all while you're trying to lift that heaving, struggling sack of wet fur and muscle out of moat, trying not to drown yourself.  

Oh, and that's not counting the fact that there is an elephant standing right there... and who knows for sure how she's going to react to all of this as it unfolds.

Situations like this are always tricky.  On one hand, human lives are generally regarded as trumping animal lives, though it's certainly not a position everyone would take.  In emergency training situations, we are told that the first step is to make sure that we don't become additional victims, complicating the rescue effort.  That said, it's almost impossible to rescue an animal without some risk to oneself - a bite, a scratch, a kick, a headbutt.  That just comes with the job.  Zookeepers have been seriously hurt, even killed, caring for their animals, either from the animals themselves or from the circumstances, such as a hurricane... or, say, the invasion of your country by your next-door neighbor.

Each situation is different - the scenario, the risks, the keepers, and the animals.  In many cases, there is no unarguable right answer.  I'm just glad that this case turned out for the best.