Zoo 'shoot to kill' action out of order

Published on Saturday 16 February 2008 10:15

THANK you for exposing the scandal of another animal killed at a UK zoo (Evening News, February 9) – this time, a Barbary macaque monkey that escaped at Edinburgh Zoo and was subsequently shot.

Following recent escapes and shootings of chimpanzees at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo (2007) and Flamingo Land (2005), and the euthanasia of a macaque at Newquay Zoo last year for management purposes, more questions should be asked about the safety and management of animals in UK zoos.

The monkey was reportedly a recent arrival from Germany and was in quarantine at Edinburgh Zoo. One might expect quarantine to be the most secure and strictly monitored area of any zoo, and yet a monkey managed to escape – how was this possible?

It is reported that the zoo "tried" to dart the animal on several occasions, but was unsuccessful. Again, this is concerning – tranquillising an escaped animal should form part of a regularly practised protocol at all zoos – what was the cause of failure?

Why was the zoo so hasty to use lethal methods to control the animal? According to reports, the zoo authorities were worried in case the animal "got lost" in the 82-acre grounds, so it would seem that they had already discounted the possibility of rabies. The inference is that the animal was a threat to the public and, therefore, it's interesting to note that visitors can walk unfettered within an enclosure containing 140 individuals of this species at Trentham Monkey Forest in Staffordshire.

Was the potential threat of the Edinburgh macaque exaggerated? Our request for further information from the zoo has been denied.

Will the full story ever be known?

Will Travers, chief executive, The Born Free Foundation

Every second can count in sea rescue

I AM writing on behalf of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution charity in response to the article "We hadn't the foggiest idea we'd been mist" (News, February 12) which referred to a search and rescue operation involving five RNLI lifeboats.

Your article quotes: "The police had even spoken to our shore contact who had told them we ... had decided to stay on the island. Despite the police passing on this information to the lifeboat rescuers, they still launched their boats to 'rescue' us." This is a misrepresentation.

When HM Coastguard requested the assistance of five RNLI lifeboats, it was the genuine belief of both the Coastguard and the lifeboat charity that two people were missing in extremely cold, foggy conditions at sea and could be in trouble.

It was not until the search had been under way for some time that RNLI lifeboat crews were made aware of the kayaker's location and situation. In the initial phase of search and rescue the important factor is to get moving – seconds count and can mean the difference between life and death.

RNLI volunteer crew members would rather launch to a false alarm with good intent than wait around for "definites", only to find some poor soul has perished at sea. I hope you can understand that, as a charity, we rely on the public for donations and would not wish anyone to think we waste those funds; we respond to every request for help when it is suspected people are in trouble at sea – that is the charity's remit.

John Caldwell, divisional inspector, RNLI, Ruthvenfield Grove, Perth

Has crime been taken off streets?

DURING a recent visit to Cornton Vale prison, justice minister Kenny MacAskill was quoted as saying that there is something wrong in Scotland when offending is going down and the prison numbers are going up.

Did he ponder the possibility that offending could be going down as a consequence of more offenders being in jail?

GM Lindsay, Kinross

Leith now plagued by noise and mess

DOES Mr N Mackenzie of the quiet Grange Loan far from the city centre realise the noise, pollution and total chaos there is in Leith and parts of the city centre? With the added bonus of heavy machinery shaking and vibrating our old beautiful historic buildings to bits. I wonder what he would have to say about trams if he worked six days a week or lived here 24/7 in what has become a virtual war zone, enjoying both the mess and stress that the rest of us living in Leith have to endure. Somehow, I think not.

Ray Withey, Croall Place, Leith Walk, Edinburgh

Buses still running in difficult times

CONGRATULATIONS to Lothian Buses who continues to provide a bus service in the face of extreme adversity. As well as running a bus company, it is now having to cope with the daily introduction of new disruptions to bus routes around the city centre, which means continuous re-routing buses and changing timetables.

We should remember that the drivers are not responsible for the current problems and neither is Lothian Buses.

The excavation of Edinburgh city centre and its surrounds is entirely due to the re-introduction of trams which, as we all know, were discontinued in the 1950s because they no longer served the needs of an expanding city.

So now we're replacing our excellent city bus service with an extremely limited tram line hardly worthy of being called a network, which doesn't even serve the Western General Hospital without involving feeder buses from tram stop to hospital.

We should also remember that whatever the tram system costs to run in future years, we, the council tax payers, will be paying for it even if the tram routes are no use to us.

And we can be assured that any shortfall in finances will not result in a cut in tram services but, instead, a cut in bus services – the transport system that was actually designed for working people.

Rosemary Macdonald, Corstorphine Bank Drive, Edinburgh