There's Nothing Good about Shooting Exotic Pets

People keep asking me for my two cents on the story today about the escaped exotic animals in Ohio that were killed by law enforcement agents.

This really isn't my idea of hunting invasive species. I don't think that there was much chance of any of these lions or tigers surviving and reproducing in Ohio. The ideal resolution of the situation would have been for the animals to be captured live and placed in zoos, or possibly reintroduced into the wild if appropriate.

That wasn't a realistic option here. I think that the Sheriff made the right decision given the fact that he had no time or specialized resources for live capture. It is easy for people on the sidelines to complain and criticize. Its very easy to just say 'they should have tranquilizer darts and capture the animals alive,' if the critic doesn't know anything about how this is done.

Dangerous, hungry animals were running around in the dark. Animals which probably had minimal fear of humans due to having been fed in cages by a human for a long time. Something had to be done immediately. It would have been impossible to obtain enough tranquilizer guns quickly enough, let alone appropriate darts. Then there is the need for proper training in how to use these specialized tools.

What the Sheriff and his deputies had to work with were firearms. It was an ugly business but I can't blame them. The loss of at least one cheetah is particularly disappointing, given the critically endangered status of that species.

I am surprised that none of these deputies were harmed. Taking on a grown tiger (it is referred to in the media as a Bengal, but I really doubt that any of these journalists or law enforcement agents have the slightest idea exactly what it was) with a service pistol is scary stuff. Professional hunters would not even consider going after a predator like that with such light armament. Then consider that few of these people are likely to have really understood the anatomy of a lion or tiger and probably didn't even know exactly what part to aim at.

For example, if a grown male African lion is running straight at you, what part of the thing would you shoot at? The head seems like a good choice but that is a really big head coming right at you. The mane over the face tends to throw people off. The skull actually slopes backward right away over the eyes, but the bulk of the mane makes the head look taller than it really is. Many hunters have made the mistake of thinking that they were gunning right for the brain when in fact their bullets were only hitting hair or creasing the hide.

Try to keep this little bit of trivia in mind the next time there is an escaped lion running around your neighborhood. Little mistakes like that have cost many African hunters their lives and its really remarkable that these deputies managed to get through the night without human losses.

If there is a lesson to be learned here it is that someone with a long history of animal abuse and neglect charges should not be allowed to continue keeping exotic, dangerous animals around like this.

[Photo copyright 2010 by Helenah Swedberg. All rights reserved.]