Snow Leopard at Local Zoo
This happened over the weekend at the local zoo. Looking at all the pics of the Big Cats reminded me and I thought I would share.
Cuts Require 500 Stitches
Boy rests at home after zoo incident
April 14, 2002
By Pam Greene
Staff writer
An 11-year-old Syracuse boy injured Friday by a snow leopard at Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park went through 12 hours of treatment and received more than 500 stitches before he was released from University Hospital.
At 6 a.m. Saturday, Eric River's parents - Terry Wells and Anthony River - brought the boy back to their home at 416 Elliott St., where he spent the day resting and allowing the 10 deep cuts on his face, neck and hand to begin healing.
Eric River was hurt after he and three of his friends sneaked into the zoo about 6:30 p.m. Friday, two hours after it closed. They first encountered an 8-foot-tall chain-link fence with barbed wire on it guarding the zoo's perimeter.
They found a section where the barbed wire was missing, said Quandell Mitchell, 11, one of the boys with River. The boys hopped the fence, ran several yards to a second 8-foot-tall chain-link fence and squeezed through a gap, Mitchell said.
Then they climbed over a 4-foot-tall wooden fence, 10 feet from the leopard cage, that marks the spot from which the public can view Oggan, the 85-pound, 10-year-old snow leopard. The boys went up to the cage, which is covered with mesh. The mesh has 4-by-3-inch rectangular gaps between the wires.
Oggan seemed friendly, rubbing up and down the cage, Mitchell said. River bent down to pet the leopard, found a piece of meat outside the cage and tossed it in.
Oggan then stuck his paw through the gap in the mesh and grabbed River by the neck and shirt, Mitchell said. The other boys ran to the cage to pull him away. As River fought to get loose, he became more entangled with the cat, Mitchell said. After a few seconds, the boys pulled River away from Oggan and ran to get help from a neighbor, Mitchell said.
"When I woke up this morning, I didn't think it had really happened," Mitchell said.
Wells said her son, a fourth-grader at Bellevue Elementary School, had sneaked into the zoo after hours once before.
"I know he shouldn't have been there, and he knows he was wrong," she said. "Eric is miserable."
Anthony River said his son probably didn't realize the severity of what could happen, adding that the parents intend to get the boy counseling.
"Boys are going to be boys," he said. "They're going to get in trouble without understanding the consequences. ... "
Family members said they think there should be more than one night guard protecting the 36-acre site.
Anne Baker, the director of the zoo, opted not to press criminal charges against the boy, said Syracuse police Lt. Joe Cecile.
Baker said she feels sorry for the injured boy but thinks his actions were inappropriate.
"If the boys hadn't been trespassing and hadn't been where they weren't supposed to be, none of this would have happened," Baker said.
"He had to go through some effort (to get to the cage)," she said. "They didn't just wander up to the snow leopard fence. These are wild animals, and you have to know what you're doing and treat them with respect."
The zoo is safe and meets all safety regulations, she said. Adding a thicker mesh to the cage would only obstruct the view of the animals, she said. There is no talk of putting Oggan to sleep, she said.
© 2002 The Post-Standard. Used with permission.
