Girl Dies After Elephant Throws Stone In Morocco Zoo

[Satanica]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36914884

The stone got past the elephant's fence and a ditch separating the animal and visitors, the zoo said in a statement.

The girl was taken to hospital and died within a few hours, the zoo added.

The zoo statement said the enclosure met international standards and said "this kind of accident is rare, unpredictable and unusual".

Phyllis Lee, Scientific Director of the Amboseli Trust for Elephants, says that targeted throwing of stones and branches by elephants is very unusual.

"It can happen when elephants are frustrated or bored. In my opinion, it's unlikely the elephant was directly targeting the girl - but exhibiting frustration. You can't predict what animals in captivity will do."

The moments after the girl was struck at Rabat Zoo on Tuesday were filmed by a bystander and uploaded onto YouTube.

The video shows the elephant waving its trunk behind a fence and swerves round to show a stone on the ground.

Metres away people are gathered around the girl, holding her head and stroking her leg.

 

[lithiumgirl]

I dont believe in freak accidents...I wonder if her daddy was diddling her, and mommy was

ignoring it and God just said fuck it, see the elephant now.
[doublepost=1469738243,1469733320][/doublepost]Oh dear @Angiebla ...don't get all WtF-y because i don't believe in freak accidents

or was wondering. We know exactly what goes on in some peoples houses,

and we all know God works in mysterious ways.

 

[Kittyskyfish]

Maybe the elephant was so sick of his pathetic enclosure that it decided to chuck rocks at the humans that were walking around freely. I don't think that humans are the only creatures capable of jealousy and frustration (and elephants are smart animals).

 

[Keepalowprofile]

I dont believe in freak accidents...I wonder if her daddy was diddling her, and mommy was

ignoring it and God just said fuck it, see the elephant now.
[doublepost=1469738243,1469733320][/doublepost]Oh dear @Angiebla ...don't get all WtF-y because i don't believe in freak accidents

or was wondering. We know exactly what goes on in some peoples houses,

and we all know God works in mysterious ways.

God is dead.

 

[lithiumgirl]

God is dead.

Me and God were just hanging out this morning...OMG...what the fuck happened,

What did you do to him?

 

[Deja]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36914884

This is so sad, for the little girl's family and the elephant. Wild animals are not meant to be held captive and confined, and so many are so intelligent, it's criminal. I understand that the zoo was originally for people to experience animals they wouldn't normally see, but we know so much more now about humane treatment and animal intelligence.

And now there's the internet, and Discovery Channel, and NatGeo, and huge drive-through wild animal sanctuaries (helpful tip: don't get out of your car near the tigers) - so many safe ways to see and enjoy them in their natural habitat without putting the animals at risk or causing them such frustration and anger they freak out and attack, it's so wrong.

 

[Sudonim]

Experts at a zoo in the Moroccan capital of Rabat are trying to understand why an elephant hurled a stone toward visitors, killing a 7-year-old girl.

The behavior of the female elephant was “abnormal” and needs to be understood, a veterinarian at the zoo said Friday.

The girl was visiting the Zoological Garden of Rabat with her family on Tuesday, admiring three elephants when one picked up a stone, then tossed it more than 10 meters (yards) over a huge ditch and a wooden barrier toward the visitors. The girl was struck in the head and died hours later.

The elephant exhibit has been temporarily closed, zoo veterinarian Abderahim Salhi said by telephone. He said that zoo personnel remained in shock three days later at what he called an “unforeseeable accident.”

“The behavior … of any animal is very complex,” he said, “and wild animals are unpredictable.”

“We are all surprised. We don’t yet understand,” Salhi said.

The zoo, which opened in 2012 on the edge of Rabat, was designed to show animals living in replicas of their natural habitat – but with no direct contact with visitors, Salhi said. Stones are plentiful inside the elephant habitat, as they would be in their natural surroundings.

“We are very sad at what happened, but it would be wrong to blame the elephant. This was not premeditated,” said Salma Slimani, in charge of zoo administration.

http://nbc4i.com/2016/07/29/zoo-elephand-throws-stone-toward-visitors-kills-girl/

 

[BostonBurns]

This is exactly why I never trust an elephant who has opposable thumbs

 

[GenericUser123]

Reported for dupe: http://www.dreamindemon.com/communi...r-elephant-throws-stone-in-morocco-zoo.85149/

 

[Abroad]

This is exactly why I never trust an elephant who has opposable thumbs

How about one that has an opposable thumb on the tip of his trunk?

 

[Momzilla]

...
The statement released by the zoo stated, the sort of accident that resulted in the death of the young girl was “rare, unpredictable and unusual.” ...
the zoo mentioned a couple of other recent incidents that occurred in the US involving animals and how unpredictable their behavior can be.

One of the incidents the statement mentioned was the one from Florida’s Walt Disney World, in which a two-year-old boy was grabbed by an alligator and carried off by it. The other incident mentioned was in May when zoo keepers at Cincinnati Zoo killed a gorilla after a boy, 3, fell into his enclosure.

Not sure why the zoo found it necessary to mention only cases that occurred in the US? If anything that Chinese tiger story is more recent & the alligator incident didn't even happen in a zoo?

It's like when my son gets in trouble for something & tries to deflect some responsibility by pointing out that his sister was jumping on her bed too!!

 

[JackBurton]

Not sure why the zoo found it necessary to mention only cases that occurred in the US? If anything that Chinese tiger story is more recent & the alligator incident didn't even happen in a zoo?
It's like when my son gets in trouble for something & tries to deflect some responsibility by pointing out that his sister was jumping on her bed too!!

It's Morocco. The impoverished scummy muslim nations aren't hte only disgusting, vile ones.