Joe_J.
April 5th, 2010, 05:25 PM
COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - The baboon exhibit at Riverbanks Zoo and Botanical Gardens sits empty Monday night after the death of a newborn baboon.
Zoo officials say the female, Imi, went into labor shortly after noon Monday. Members of the senior animal staff were on-hand to watch the birth as it happened.
However, the display of the miracle of life turned frightening when the male baboon, Makale, attacked his newborn.
Zoo staff worked in vain to save the newborn, who later died in the zoo's hospital.
The Zoo's Executive Director Satch Krantz says about 100 people watched the birth and saw the baby die.
He says right after it happened, they explained what happened to the people saw it.
"These are animals, they're wild animals," said Krantz. "Ninety percent of the time births go perfectly well, very normal, but every once in a while something like this happens, there'd be absolutely no way to get into the male baboon's mind and understand what he was doing."
http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12259416
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Officials at a South Carolina zoo say a newborn baboon died after being attacked by its father in front of nearly 50 people who had gathered after the baby's birth just minutes earlier.
Riverbanks Zoo officials said Monday's birth and attack happened while the animals were in their exhibit and within public view.
Zoo staff knew about the impending birth and were observing when the male picked up the infant and threw it. Mammal curator John Davis says about 50 people had gathered after the birth and saw the attack.
The infant was immediately removed from the exhibit and died at the veterinary hospital.
Davis says male baboons in the wild sometimes kill the infant offspring of rivals, but the zoo has one male.http://www.wlos.com/template/inews_wire/wires.national/2a9e11e0-www.wlos.com.shtml
Zoo officials say the female, Imi, went into labor shortly after noon Monday. Members of the senior animal staff were on-hand to watch the birth as it happened.
However, the display of the miracle of life turned frightening when the male baboon, Makale, attacked his newborn.
Zoo staff worked in vain to save the newborn, who later died in the zoo's hospital.
The Zoo's Executive Director Satch Krantz says about 100 people watched the birth and saw the baby die.
He says right after it happened, they explained what happened to the people saw it.
"These are animals, they're wild animals," said Krantz. "Ninety percent of the time births go perfectly well, very normal, but every once in a while something like this happens, there'd be absolutely no way to get into the male baboon's mind and understand what he was doing."
http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12259416
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Officials at a South Carolina zoo say a newborn baboon died after being attacked by its father in front of nearly 50 people who had gathered after the baby's birth just minutes earlier.
Riverbanks Zoo officials said Monday's birth and attack happened while the animals were in their exhibit and within public view.
Zoo staff knew about the impending birth and were observing when the male picked up the infant and threw it. Mammal curator John Davis says about 50 people had gathered after the birth and saw the attack.
The infant was immediately removed from the exhibit and died at the veterinary hospital.
Davis says male baboons in the wild sometimes kill the infant offspring of rivals, but the zoo has one male.http://www.wlos.com/template/inews_wire/wires.national/2a9e11e0-www.wlos.com.shtml