Goat hangs self in Canadian zoo

Authorities claim tragedy an 'accident'

By Lester Haines • Get more from this author

Posted in Bootnotes, 21st January 2009 14:00 GMT

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Calgary Zoo is one exotic goat short of an Arkful after a Turkmenian markhor "accidentally hanged itself" over the weekend.

According to Reuters, local television carried a shock report into the incident, featuring amateur video showing the caprine corpse "hanging lifeless from a rope in its enclosure".

The zoo claims (pdf) the victim "became entangled in an enrichment toy that had been in the exhibit for several years", specfically a "a ball on the end of a rope", as Reuters puts it. While the video footage did show keepers "trying to resuscitate the animal", the zoo has rather suspiciously still not explained (pdf) the mysterious death of 41 stingrays in May last year.

Accordingly, readers are invited to suggest a possible link between the two. Since I've personally not been to Calgary, I'm hesitant to suggest suicide in either case. ®

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