When an escaped zebra was chased down by police in Gifu Prefecture last month and died after being shot with a tranquilizer and falling into a pool, I couldn¡¯t help but think of the drills Tokyo¡¯s Ueno Zoo has conducted depicting the escape scenario.
Why did Ueno Zoo use a zebra? Zoo worker Yumi Tamura told reporters that a zebra panics easily. I bet the Gifu police didn¡¯t know that.
Having no practical experience in an emergency situation isn¡¯t necessarily a bad thing, but there are certain advantages to having had some. Perhaps the Gifu police could have saved the zebra if they had the zoo keepers¡¯ knowledge and experience, but 20/20 hindsight is of little help in safeguarding either animals or a nation.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.