A zoo in Arizona has confirmed that a jaguar who attacked a woman that tried to take a selfie with it will not be euthanized.
Here's the full story...
Over the years, there has been an endless debate over the humanity of zoos.
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Keeping animals locked up behind bars for their entire lives is, quite simply, inhumane and cruel.Zoos have argued that they serve an environmental purpose in the past...
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But this has been repeatedly shot down by many animal welfare organizations. "Despite their professed concern for animals, zoos can more accurately be described as 'collections' of interesting animals than as actual havens or homes," PETA said in a bold statement about animal captivity.Yet millions of people visit zoos every year all around the world.
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And while animals are the ones who pay the price, visitors and staff can also suffer.
When a wild animal is locked up against their will, they often end up in lashing out...
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And this doesn't just apply to animals living in zoos.Animals kept in any form of captivity are bound to experience high levels of stress...
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And it's important for people to remember that at the end of the day, they are wild animals.
Well, one woman who visited the Wildlife World Zoo in Arizona back in 2019 didn't take this into consideration...
And the incident has not only shocked people, but it has also caused a lot of anger.
In March 2019, a woman visiting the Arizona zoo tried to take a selfie with a jaguar...
And she decided to lean against the metal bars that contained the wild animal.
​The jaguar swiped out at the woman's arm as she tried to take the selfie...
Which resulted in her suffering some seriously deep scratches.
She was rushed to the hospital but thankfully, the woman didn't lose her arm...
And she went on to make a full recovery.
Of course, this was completely the woman's fault...
Please understand why barriers are put in place. Sending prayers to the family tonight. pic.twitter.com/2MPb8bXhwR
— Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium & Safari Park (@ZooWildlife) March 10, 2019
And the zoo issued a tweet explaining that this is why barriers are put in place between guests and the animal enclosures.
In the days following the incident, many began wondering about what would happen to the jaguar who attacked the woman.
The zookeeper who raised #Harambe says the gorilla was "never aggressive or mean." https://t.co/NM73yQRQ2k pic.twitter.com/Wuie1N1FWN
— People (@people) June 2, 2016
Of course, many were thinking about the story of Harambe the gorilla - who was shot and killed after a child fell into his enclosure, despite the gorilla not majorly harming the child.
But thankfully, the zoo had the right intentions...
We can promise you nothing will happen to our jaguar. She’s a wild animal and there were proper barriers in place to keep our guests safe- not a wild animals fault when barriers are crossed. Still sending prayers to her and her family.
— Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium & Safari Park (@ZooWildlife) March 10, 2019
And officials explained that they had no desire or plans to euthanize the jaguar.
"We can promise you nothing will happen to our jaguar. She's a wild animal and there were proper barriers in place to keep our guests safe - not a wild animal's fault when barriers are crossed. Still sending prayers to her and her family."
It's so important to give wild animals space and respect their boundaries...
Both in the wild and in captivity.
For more on animals in captivity, scroll on...