Coati missing from Belfast Zoo thought still alive

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-11097525

Coati missing from Belfast Zoo thought still alive
By Niall Glynn BBC News
White nosed coati The coati has been missing since 19 July

The manager of Belfast Zoo has said he is confident a racoon-like animal which escaped more than five weeks ago is still alive.

The white-nosed coati from Belize escaped from the north Belfast site on Monday 19 July.

"While it remains relatively mild we're presuming it's still alive," zoo manager Mark Challis said.

"They're resourceful, relatively tough animals and there's a good presumption that it's still alive."

The mammal was being held in quarantine after just arriving at the zoo.

It had been hoped the female would take part in a breeding programme with several other coatis recently imported.

Mr Challis said there had been three sightings of the coati on the periphery of the zoo two weeks ago, but none since.
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This is a small mammal, no bigger than a domestic cat and by nature it's not going to be looking for a confrontation with dogs or cats"

End Quote Mark Challis Belfast Zoo manager

"It was quite reassuring to have these sightings close to the zoo, because that's what we thought it would do, because it knew the site and obviously we were putting food out for it as well.

"So we're hopeful that it's still quite close to us," he said.

"If we do get a good sighting of it, we're ready to run wherever we're needed."

The coati is an omnivorous animal and is likely to be surviving on fruits, berries and leaves as well as mice and small birds,

The zoo manager stressed that it was no threat to any domestic pets it may cross paths with.

"This is a small mammal, no bigger than a domestic cat and by nature it's not going to be looking for a confrontation with dogs or cats or anything like that," he said.

"By nature it's going to be more shy and retiring than that."

While so far the coati seems to be staying close to the zoo, two previous escapees were found further afield.

Two different red pandas escaped in 1999 and 2002.

"One was put up a tree by fox hounds in Templepatrick and we caught the other one in a garden on the outskirts of Glengormley," Mr Challis said.

Lion drags girl, 4, into cage in Russian zoo attack

A lion in a Russian zoo dragged a four-year-old girl through the bars of its cage and mauled her neck and arm.

Published: 7:29PM BST 30 May 2010

The girl was visiting a zoo in Tambov in southern Russia on Saturday with her grandparents when she approached the lion's enclosure, the Interfax news agency reported.

The animal dragged her in with its paw, a spokesman for the city's police said.

"The visitors and zoo workers managed to shoo away the animal, which had time to seriously maul the little girl's neck and arm," the police spokesman said.

The girl underwent an operation and on Sunday was in a "very serious" condition in a city hospital, Interfax reported.

A section of the bars around the lion's enclosure was missing, a Tambov district police officer, Sergei Ivashchenko, told Komsomolskaya Pravda daily.

Russian zoos, especially those in provincial towns, often keep animals in inhumane and cramped conditions.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/7786337/Lion-drags-girl-4-into-cage-in-Russian-zoo-attack.html