Thank goodness he wasn't driving, otherwise someone else might have been the victum!

Grace - Thanks for the information from your conservation group and for being a member. It shows you care. I didn't mention reintroduction in my last note because I'm aware of it's drawbacks, but I still applaud the effort. I mentioned "pets" being released in foreign habitats, that then overrun indigenous species. The "owners" do this out of fear of prosecution and sometimes that their beloved "pet" will die in some zoo. As far as captivity virus', it doesn't surprise me, given the living conditions of most zoos. Lastly - Your conservation group's answer is to redirect the almost $500 Million dollar global zoos budget to fund THEIR agenda. Well . . . if you close all the zoos, stopping the income flow, how much of that budget is left? Consider that most zoos are private and operate on profit, good luck getting them to contribute. Many public zoos were set up through endowments, donated by wealthy philanthropists, close the zoo and you lose the endowment that funds it. I wonder how much is left? Most government contributions to zoos are in place because it directly benefits their community, city, state or country. Close the zoo and they will find another way to use THEIR money. How much is left now? Let's just say, for argument's sake, you were able to get only 10% ($50 million) of that global budget, plus your annual dues and other contributions, that your group already gets. Where do you think your group would spend it given their recommendations on where it would be better spent? Where do they spend the bulk of their money now? Lets see: A. Establishing protected reserves:- Animals should be kept as near as possible to their natural habitat. Good luck getting 3rd world countries on board, Oh, where do most of these animals live? B. Funding anti-poaching patrols:- Money is required for even the most basic of equipment such as clothing and transport for wardens, boats, aircraft, fencing etc. What no guns or ammo. "Poachers, stop doing that or I'll have to say 'stop doing that' again" C. In education:- By educating local people to value and protect their wildlife, and teaching them the importance of conservation. Most of these people can't read or write, don't have food, shelter or clean water and you want to spend money there to do what? They do value and protect their wildlife, but they value and protect their own lives more, self conservation. It's a very important motivational tool, you should try it sometime. That's why they poach, feed their family first before other poachers come and take what little they have left. D. Lobbying for legislation to protect wildlife:- Wild animals are killed for fur, ivory, horn, body parts for medicines, ornaments and sporting trophies. (This one's the easiest to achieve) Well, we didn't have any results with our other ideas, but we got all this money left. . . What do you do? Well, you fly all around the world, wine and dine politicians, their wives, their secretaries, who ever will listen, until they promise they'll listen to what our members have to say. We have over a million members and this is what they believe in and if you don't persuade them, well, they won't vote for you. Then what? We can't expect them to actually do anything they're only politicians after all. They'll shake hands and kiss a baby seal or something, so our members feel like we're getting things done and send more money. Jaded, sarcastic, realistic. . . yup. But still and always optimistic. Necessity is the mother of invention, not education. Don't listen to the experts answers, find your own! They can only find the problems. You, Grace can find the solution!

What Chuck said... Hopefully the drunk's parents can find some sort of solace in their grieving and hopefully the drunk had yet to start a family of his own. Shoot the bears? They are innocent and certainly don't need to sacrifice their lives for the careless action of a drunk human.

Eveeryone seems to be missing a very seriuos point here. The zoo is responsible for making sure that all people can't get to there animals, even drunk ones. They need to raise the fences or do whatever will fix the problem. nuf said

Why Was A Drunk Man Allowed Into A Zoo Anyway? Surely That Hints That Something Bad Will Happen

350billion people on this planet and im supposed to be concerned because 1 idiot drunk gets mauled by a bear.I DONT CARE!Zoos are a good place to see animals.its his parents fault. they didnt tell him a bear might kill him.its the zoos fault. their 20 ft fence didnt deter a drunk.One thing is certain !!!its not the drunks fault.

What brand name of alcohol was the man drinking

First off, bears are omnivores, they will eat plant matter as well as meat and most animal once they realize that they can eat people they will. That is why when an animal attacks people for any reason it is put down. Is it sad? Yes. But these bears cannot be released into the wild, that doesn't work to well as pointed out by previous posts. And sadly they may attack their keepers now, no matter how careful their keepers are.