Dangerous Prey

Employee gored to death by antelope in Swedish animal park

Earlier this week, an employee at the Oland Animal and Entertainment Park in Sweden was killed by an eland, the Park reported.  As always after tragedies such as these, we extend condolences to the family of the deceased.  The news might surprise many people, who think of antelope chiefly in terms of being prey for lions, cheetahs, and other predators.  I was not particularly surprised.

The truth is, there are a large number of different antelope, some of which, such as eland, can be quite massive.  A bull common eland can weigh over one ton and stand over five feet tall at the shoulder.  Many antelope (the males, and in many species the females too) are equipped with horns, which can vary from massive hoops of bone and keratin, thicker than your arm, to the arguably deadlier short, sharp daggers of small forest antelope.  Some species can be quite aggressive - or, "proactively defensive," if it helps to think of it like that.  Put together size, horns, and a willingness to use them in one animal, and you can have quite a dangerous creature.  Sable antelope - one of the larger antelope, equipped with huge horns and a fiery disposition - have been known to kill lions.

Unlike big cats or bears, many zoo employees work directly with antelope, especially in safari park settings.  Also unlike carnivores, large ungulates, in my experience at any rate, show much more of a willingness to hold their ground when angered.  They aren't easily scarred or bluffed off.  Most potential prey species have that flight or fight response - and in a zoo, the capacity for flight is limited, making fighting all the more attractive of an option.  Of course, flight can be dangerous also, especially if you are in the direction that the animal decides to flee to.  I've been knocked flat on my back before and been treated to the view of what a zebra looks like on the underside as it leaps over you.

I'm actually surprised that we don't have more incidents of keepers being severely injured or killed by hoofstock.  The fact that it doesn't happen more often I think we can attribute to a combination of better facilities, better animal care practices (such as shifting and training), and, that most valuable of resources, good old fashion dumb luck.