Colchester Zoo and their Wolves.

On the 26th November 2013, 5 of the 6 wolves that are in Colchester Zoo escaped from their enclosure from through a hole in the fence. One went back on its own accord, another stayed within the zoo and was then tranquilized and returned to its enclosure. unfortunately the others had gone out of the zoo, all three were found but had to be shot.

There has been a lot of upset about the 3 Wolves being put down. After having a long debate with a few people yesterday I really started to get thinking if their decisions were just.

The zoo did not alert the public immediately to avoid panic from the public but they did corner off the part of the zoo which the wolf enclosure was in. I do think was a correct way for the zoo to handle it.

The media was alerted at 2pm that day and at 4pm the last wolf had been shot. Now a lot of people are saying that the wolves should have been tranquilized and then returned to the zoo because they are shy and timid animals so would be unlikely to to attack anyone. I do agree that it would have been unlikely for them to harm anyone.

However, there are many risks with tranquilizers, as you have to get the correct dosage which can take time to figure out, it would also take time for it to take effect and with the animals under a lot of stress the anaesthetic may not have taken effect. Plus no one knows how much stress the wolves were under (I assume a lot!) and no one knows how this would have changed the wolves behaviour. If they had felt threatened then they would have attacked someone. If this had occured then someone could have been injured and the situation then it would have been a very different situation.

I do believe that the zoo and police involved made the right decisions. It is a very sad event to occur and I hope that it doesn't effect the zoo's reputation. Below is a statement from Colchester Zoo's facebook page:


"Keepers devastated by loss of wolves

At 7.30am on Tuesday 26th November, it was discovered that the perimeter fence to Colchester Zoo’s wolf enclosure had been damaged and five of the six timber wolves had left the enclosure. It is not known at this stage how the damage occurred despite the fence being routinely checked on a daily basis.

One of the wolves returned immediately of its own accord and one was darted and recaptured. Unfortunately, an anaesthetic dart takes 15 minutes to take effect and may not work at all in a stressed animal so two wolves that had left the perimeter of the zoo had to be shot. They are wild animals and in an unpredictable situation they would have posed a risk to the public.

The remaining wolf has now been located and very sadly also had to be destroyed.

We have obviously had a devastating day and would be grateful for your consideration. We have nothing further to add at this time."


Please let me know if you think they made the right decision and your own opinion on the matter.