1st grader climbs over railing at zoo into Leopard enclosure

[Liberal_in_LA]

Leopard mauls child on field trip to Kansas zoo

A first-grade student on a class field trip to a Wichita zoo has been mauled by a leopard after climbing a railing and approaching the animal.

Sedgwick County Zoo spokesman Jim Marlett says the boy climbed over the 4- to 5-foot railing Friday and approached the amur leopard enclosure in the Asian exhibit. The Wichita Eagle reports the animal grabbed him around the head with both paws and tried to bite him.

A woman on the zoo's tram saw what was happening and jumped off the tram and spooked the leopard.

The child suffered lacerations and puncture wounds to his head and neck. He was listed in fair condition.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/05/06/state/n144351D88.DTL#ixzz1Lc2rUuYC

pic of a amur leopard:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~vn43/Isabelle/IsabelleCoolPets.htm&usg=__s_Xw_2lrvRA7Ll5Q0c3y-Rm3hFw=&h=533&w=800&sz=166&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=ZZ4IA4WZItfL0M:&tbnh=119&tbnw=178&ei=Z3PETeiBDI-4sAOeysiTAQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Damur%2Bleopard%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26biw%3D833%26bih%3D624%26gbv%3D2%26tbm%3Disch&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=360&page=1&ndsp=12&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0&tx=115&ty=96

[LiberalAndProud]

1. Lucky kid.

Bet they don't have any field trips to the zoo next year.

[kentauros]

2. Indeed!

Very lucky kid :o

[robinlynne]

3. 5 foot railing? My dog can jump over a 5 ft railing. Can't a leopard?

[FSogol]

5. 4-5 ft on the people side, probably a bigger drop of the leopard side.

[RamboLiberal]

6. There was more than a 5 foot fence separating

A four-year-old Amur leopard in the Asia section of the zoo attacked the boy after the child climbed over a four- to five-foot railing, crossed an eight-foot gap and stood next to the metal mesh fence of the animal's enclosure, Marlett said.

The leopard came to the edge of the cage, reached a paw through the fencing and grabbed the boy by the side of the head. The fence has 4-inch by 8-inch gaps in the mesh.

The boy immediately began screaming, and a man and woman nearby jumped over the railing and ran to help him, she said.

The man kicked the leopard in the head, prompting him to release the boy, Robinson said. The woman was trying to spook the animal.



Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/05/06/1838692/child-mauled-by-leopard-at-zoo.html#ixzz1Lc8SOVlf

[robinlynne]

15. oh. got it.

[Ian David]

4. KITTY!!! n/t

[zappaman]

7. Maybe he will grow up to be president one day

sounds just as dumb as our last one.

[CBGLuthier]

12. You seem to expect an awful fucking lot from a child

Seems to me the dumbness is the idiot adults who did not keep an eye on these children.

[Zephie]

8. What's really sad is that leopard will probably be killed for this

[LiberalAndProud]

9. No.

While the animal was sequestered following the attack, zoo officials said there are no plans to euthanize the animal.

"It was a leopard being a leopard," Marlett said of the attack.



Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2011/05/06/1838692/child-mauled-by-leopard-at-zoo.html#ixzz1LcATfEBO

[RamboLiberal]

10. Nope - zoo said he was a leopard being a leopard

and won't be killed.

I know it is tough to watch kids this age but school was at fault for losing track of the kid. Story said he was alone when he climbed the fence.

And I've seen too many parents who let their kids climb on everything that isn't a jungle gym. I used to have to chase the kids from climbing all over the Nautilus equipment at a karate school while parents stood oblivious.

Wonder if these parents will sue!

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. I hate field trips

So many parents are working that it's almost impossible to get enough adults to go along as chaperones.

[SoCalDem]

13. a petting zoo might be a better option from this point on.

That is a lucky kid..

reminded me of a whale watching field trip my youngest took.. three kids were violently seasick, and one boy fell into the water :)

[Sonoman]

14. Out here the kids just jump off the Golden Gate Bridge.

In the last few weeks, two teenagers have survived the jump. One was a field-trip stunt that resulted in minor bruises, the other was a failed suicide attempt.

I won't even walk across the damned thing.

Sonoman