An “unauthorized” pair of pants in an otter enclosure at the Calgary zoo has brought disciplinary action onto two employees, who were blamed for the death of a 12-year-old otter called Logan.
The zoo said that an investigation has revealed that an “unauthorized enrichment item” – a pair of slacks – were given to the otters by a zookeeper. The sartorial gift had tragic consequences: Logan the otter became entangled in the garment and drowned last Thursday.
The zoo’s management said that two employees will be disciplined over the incident but declined to elaborate on whether they would be fired, citing privacy reasons. Staff will be reminded, however, not to give clothing to the animals, otters or otherwise.
“This error is simply unacceptable,” said Colleen Baird, general curator of the zoo. “Our animal care protocols are among the most stringent in the industry and must be followed. We will be reinforcing our protocols with every member of our animal care staff to prevent an incident like this from ever happening again.”
Baird said Logan got trapped in one of the legs and drowned despite a frantic rescue attempt by a zookeeper who jumped in the water to try to revive the otter.
The Calgary zoo has faced previous criticism over its treatment of animals. In 2007, a hippo died after being transferred from the Denver zoo, and visitors were astonished to see a gorilla wielding a knife that was accidentally left in its enclosure in 2009. A year later, a newborn Siberian tiger cub died after staff failed to realize that Katja, the mother, was pregnant.
“Incidents do happen at zoos, people do make mistakes,” said Baird. “The pair of pants were unauthorized. What is OK for a gorilla isn’t OK for an otter. It wasn’t appropriate.
“Since 2010 we have improved our processes and training, this is the first incident of its kind since then. The hippo isn’t related to how a gorilla got a knife or how an otter got stuck in a pair of pants.”
The zoo has said that the incidents are unrelated and that it maintains standards that meet or exceed industry norms. The other otters have not changed their behavior following Logan’s death, the zoo said.
