Innocent Wolf Killed After Ignorant Visitors Break Zoo Rules

[Darwin]

A wolf has been killed due to repeated human error at one
state's zoo and people are outraged.

The incident began late last month at Menominee Park Zoo, a
small public zoo in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, when a worker left a
gate to an off-limits area of the zoo open. Several visitors
took advantage of the open gate to slip into the staff-only area
and get up close to the zoo's wolf pack.

While one mother was busy snapping pictures of the captive
animals, her four-year-old son approached the enclosure and
stuck his fingers through the chain-link fence. A curious 12-
year-old wolf named Rebel wandered up and nipped the child's
hand.

The child suffered four small puncture wounds, which were easily
patched up after the incident. But when the Wisconsin Division
of Public Health became involved, things got much worse for
Rebel, who was the alpha of his four-wolf sibling pack.

According to the Oshkosh Police Department, the Division of
Public Health (DPH) considered Rebel a rabies threat because the
rabies vaccine hasn't been proven effective in wolves.

Spencer Wilhelm, operations manager for the Wolf Conservation
Center, told The Dodo that the vaccine hasn't been studied
because no one wants to kill the requisite number of wolves to
research it, but that all evidence points to the vaccine
working. Rebel was up-to-date on his rabies shots through 2018.

Despite the zoo's protestations, the DPH let the parents decide
whether to give their child preventative rabies shots. If they
didn't want to, Rebel would be killed so he could be tested.

The parents chose to kill him. Rebel tested negative.

Now, former fans of the zoo are up in arms about the treatment
of Rebel, with many pointing out that the wolf was just acting
naturally and should never have been in captivity in the first
place.

"I don't understand why this wild animal had to suffer for what
idiotic humans did," one person wrote on the zoo's Facebook
page. "Parents should have been punished for allowing their
child into a NON-PUBLIC area."

"Why would a zoo educate children that it's OK to murder a wild
animal who doesn't even belong behind bars?" another person
asked.

Wilhelm said that while rabies vaccines are unpleasant, they
only last a few seconds. To avoid that temporary discomfort, he
explained, "a life was ended that didn't need to be ended."

People have questioned whether Wisconsin's public officials
handled the situation appropriately, considering they
immediately placed killing Rebel on the table. But
unfortunately, Rebel's death is just the latest in a string of
tragic decisions backed by questionable wildlife policies.

In April, Alaska sentenced a family of black bears to death for
exhibiting defensive behavior — because a group of tourists
surrounded them and chased them up a tree. The decision was
fortunately reversed due to public outcry.

In May, a sleeping mountain lion was brutally killed in a minute-
long shower of close-range gunshots in Nebraska simply for
taking a nap next to a building.

And while rabies concerns are certainly valid, Wilhelm said,
Rebel's death was an unnecessary one.

"If the parents were concerned, they should have put their child
through those shots," he noted. "I don't, in my opinion, think
that the wolf should have been put down at all."

Comments:

Alston Chapman · Los Angeles, California
what disgusting and irrisponsible parents. they should've been
charged with trespassing, child endangerment, and any other sort
of law designed to protect innocent animals.
Like · Reply · 106 · 21 hrs

Charlott C. Acuna
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Diane Anderson · Florida Park High School
Charlott C. Acuna OFF THIS PAGE NOT INTEREST IN YOUR WORDS!!!!!!
Like · Reply · 24 · 8 hrs

Mo Jo Cesano · Owner-operator at Amojo Designs
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Like · Reply · 12 · 6 hrs

Andrea DV Streur
How could this on any way be a decision of the parents? They
were supposed to be punished for breaking the rules and bringing
the child in danger, not that poor beast.
Like · Reply · 58 · 8 hrs

Tina Switzer
agreed!
Like · Reply · 1 · 1 hr

Ho Lee Schitt
Disgusting. I want to know the names of the parents. Publicly
shame them.
Like · Reply · 50 · 8 hrs

Johanna Van de Woestijne
Something I still don't get at all about the decision is why
wasn't the wolf given a 10 day observation period? If he were
actively shedding virus, he'd be dead before 10 days.
Behaviorally, nobody has mentioned there was any genuine cause
to suspect rabies and they had the animal in hand, unlike the
situation where an animal can't be found for observation.
Like · Reply · 42 · 20 hrs

https://www.thedodo.com/rebel-wolf-killed-zoo-1180189057.html