Yahoo News Horror at Chessington as fox breaks in and kills eight penguins
Animal charities have lashed out at Chessington World of Adventures after a fox managed to break into an enclosure and massacre eight penguins.
The playful ‘Penguin Bay’ at the popular theme park in Kingston-upon-Thames was the scene of the gruesome bloodbath at the end of June.
Despite installing ‘special equipment’ to deter foxes in 2015 the pesky predator was still able to gain entry and kill five adult and three infant Humboldt Penguins – which are a threatened species.
Elisa Allen, director of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), said the massacre was a “real tragedy”.
She said: “In the first place, the real tragedy is that these penguins were taken from their faraway homeland and held in an enclosure, meaning they had no chance of escape from a predator.
“Penguins are timid animals, and zoos fail to come close to recreating their natural habitat and social structures.
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“These facilities cannot avoid causing these gentle birds stress – which is why some give them antidepressants.
“Whether because of attacks, illness, or psychological disorders, animals in captivity have sad lives that often end in tragedy.”
She added: “Compassionate people can learn about penguins without visiting zoos, which ruin animals’ lives.”
It wasn’t just animal charities who were angry – zoo goers took to the Chessington Facebook page to criticise park management.
One Facebook user said: “This is very disturbing as it is your paramount duty to protect and maintain the welfare of these animals.
“I am disappointed and angry at your apparent failure to do so. Thank you for addressing this publicly and I hope you will continue to do so in order to reassure the public that animal welfare is your utmost concern.”
Another added: “Very sad but the enclosures should have factored in this.
“No blame on keepers but think people need to realise wild animals have to prioritise survival and if humans are going to put vulnerable animals in an unsecured enclosure its going to happen.”
Others turned their anger towards urban foxes, saying their populations needed to be controlled.
Jim Barrington, a wildlife consultant who works for organisations like the Countryside Alliance, said the slaughter highlighted the UK’s problem with urban foxes.
He said: “This is just what foxes do, they are predators.
“In towns and cities it is a lot harder to control populations because they have an unlimited supply of food, so their territories are much smaller.
“That means killing one fox in an urban situation won’t really do much good, if you are going to do it you would need to get control on a wider scale with a cull, but you can imagine the size of the outcry with that.”
He added: “I don’t know what failed at Chessington, clearly something did, but the only thing I can suggest is that they review their security.”
Top pic: Rex
