Wolf in zoo dies because kid got bitten

[Shadoewolf]

http://www.thenorthwestern.com/story/news/local/2015/05/27/menominee-park-zoo-wolf-euthanized-biting-child/28019995/

So basically another kid gets loose, sneaks past park officials into a Restricted area and gets bitten on the hand by the wolf. But his loser parents, rather than deal with the consequences (their son needing rabies shots) get an innocent animal killed.

This makes me so mad!!

[TeaGrannie]

I'd be very interested to hear more about this. How did the child end up in a restricted area? There's so much missing here it's hard to know what to think. Except of course how awful I feel that they euthanized that poor wolf. 

[samira_catlover]

*wants to light a candle for the wolf, pending investigation*

Damn it, if you've got kids, protect them---even in "wildlife" areas.  YOU GUYS are the interloping visitors here!

[Rowan]

Something similar happened at the Como Zoo in MN about 10-12 years ago. Except it was meerkats. And they couldn't know which one was the one that bit the kid that was avoiding barriers and reaching over things to get to the enclosure, so they had to put the whole mob down. Those parents should have been ashamed that innocent animals (and the rest of the public) had to pay the price rather than their child learning that sometimes consequences of your actions suck. 

[MatthewDuggar]

I used to live in Oshkosh and I went to that zoo many times.  I actually wouldn't even really call it a zoo as it's so small. (unless it's been expanded since I've been there)   Most of the animals are tame and you can feed them.  The exhibits seemed to rotate and many were temporary.  I'm not surprised the child got into a prohibited are as I think the place was run by volunteers most of the time and was understaffed.  Most of the barricades were chicken wire fencing.

[carebaer]

Unless by "another kid" you mean "this has happened before and no one made a big deal about it", you might note that this incident happened over a year ago.

Apparently a gate was left open. It sounds like the family may not have realized that they were in an employee only area due to lack of signage.

(The follow-up article I found is here:  http://www.thenorthwestern.com/story/news/local/2015/07/28/open-gate-wolf-bite-menominee-park-zoo/30787345/  and an official memo from the zoo here:  http://sinclairstoryline.com/resources/ftptransfer/wluk/PDFs/Menominee Park Zoo wolf bite.pdf

i think the parents suggesting the wolf be put down instead of doing proactive rabies shots isn't respectful of the wild animals kept in cages.  But I could also see parents not wanting their child further traumatized if they felt it was a normal visit to the zoo and they didn't know they were in an area with any danger.

The other issue is not knowing how long the incubation period for rabies is in wild wolves. It's possible that once rabies was speculated it posed an issue for the zoo.  Would they have needed to isolate him from the other wolves even if the boy had the shots?  Did they have that capability?  For how long is necessary?