Original source : http://www.toptenz.net
Posted : November 2013
Author : Isaac Cabe
Many animals pass from this world every day. Some are killed
for food and other things to benefit humans, and others die as a result of
getting hit by a car or other common accident. But every once in a while,
something really emerges as a freak-of-nature type of accident. Here are ten
stories about animals which probably didn’t deserve to go the way they did.
Quan Quan was a panda living at the Jinan Zoo in China. Pandas
are an exceptionally rare animal, and the few in captivity are generally
treated with incredibly high levels of respect and care, in hopes that they can
someday help repopulate the species. Quan Quan was definitely doing her part;
pver the course of her life, she had produced seven panda cubs. Her presence at
the Jinan Zoo had drastically increased zoo attendance as well. Unfortunately, it was the zoo itself that would do her in.
During the cleaning of an air system near the panda enclosure, some of the
chemicals leaked into the ventilation system and into the panda enclosure. Quan
Quan died from inhaling these chemicals at the ripe old age of 21.
9. 70,000 Chickens
Chickens, especially ones on poultry farms, typically don’t
get a lot of sympathy. They’re basically viewed as food and typically live in
harsh conditions as it is. However, farmers still need to be able to keep them
alive, and so have cooling systems, feeding systems, and other such things to
keep them clucking at least until they’ve reached their full market potential. But two things that are very hard to account for are power
outages and drunk guys. Unfortunately for farm owner Mark Shockley, both of
these things managed to happen in the same night. Joshua Shelton was stumbling
around intoxicated one night and ended up shutting off all of the power to
three chicken houses. When the power went out, the cooling systems that
normally provide a decent living environment for the chickens disappeared and
proved to be a fatal loss for seventy thousand chickens. The damages are
estimated at over $20,000.
8. Unnamed Lab Research Monkey
Bristol-Myers Squibb is a company that tests pharmaceuticals
for their safety before they’re sold out on the open market. One of the ways
that they do so is by testing them on monkeys that are raised specifically for
that purpose. In July of 2011, the cages of the monkeys were going through a
routine washing that would prove to be costly. As the cages were going through
the wash cycle, one crab-eating macaque found itself still trapped in its cage.
The cages were submitted to near-boiling water temperatures, and the macaque
was killed in the process. When the cage was removed, an employee discovered
the deceased monkey still in the cage, and Bristol-Myers Squibb became subject
to USDA investigations.
7. Blue The Service Pig
When there’s a sort of disability in a family, many times
the presence of a specially-trained dog can help take care of some of the
stresses that can come in handling whatever disability there is. The Sickles
family in Virginia
had two children that were in need of a service animal. One had a condition
that caused seizures, and the other had Down’s Syndrome. Rather than a dog, the
Sickles family decided to go with Blue, a trained pot-bellied pig who
reportedly did a great job with the children. But one night, Blue got out of his pen and wandered to a
neighbor’s yard. The neighbor mistook Blue for a wild boar, and called the
police. A deputy shot Blue with a bow and arrow without knowing that it was a
trained service pig. In the aftermath, the family was upset at losing Blue, but
say that they forgive the deputy, who was sincerely sorry and even offered to
purchase a replacement pig to make it up to them.
6. Farmer Warwick
Marks’ Cows
Warwick Marks is a cattle rancher in Australia who
keeps losing his cows. In 2005, a lightning storm passed over his farm. Sensing
the imminent danger, the cattle hid under some trees, which unbeknownst to the
cows, serve as natural lightning rods. When lightning struck the area, 68 cows
were killed instantly, and another three were paralyzed (though they
recovered.) What’s especially sad is that this wasn’t the first time it had
happened; five years prior, he lost eleven cows in the same manner. Marks isn’t exactly the only farmer suffering from this
problem. During the same storm, a farmer 200 kilometers away lost 38 cattle
himself. Then in 2008, a farm in Uganda lost 52 cattle to lightning.
And in July 2013, another farm in Canada lost 18 cattle. Cattle are
an extremely expensive asset, and difficult to replace on a farm. So if you own
any, keep them away from the trees.
5. A Display Bison
The William S. Hart Park in Newhall,
California kept 11 adult bison on
display for the enjoyment of visitors. The bison were well-kept until one day
in the summer of 2004. A park worker realized one of the bison was missing, and
later discovered the body in another corral. The dead bison was an
18-month-old bull, and his death was shocking to the park staff. The first thing investigators decided to do was eliminate
the possibility that the bison was lured away and murdered. Additionally,
adaptations were made to improve aspects of the quality of life for the
remaining bison, including diet improvements and better corral security.
Finally, auditors concluded that the young bison had probably just escaped the
corral and gone into another one, where it likely starved to death or died of
dehydration.
4. Tiger Cub Trapped
A group of men on the island of Sumatra
went out into a forest to gather a rare type of wood that is typically
converted into incense. It was going to be a bit of a long trip, so they laid
traps to hunt for food such as deer and antelope. Entirely by accident, a young
tiger cub became caught in one of their traps and was killed. Unfortunately for the group, there was a small pack of five
Sumatran tigers that witnessed the cub’s death, and since tigers don’t
understand the concept of “whoopsie doodles, our bad,” the hunters immediately
became the hunted. The men scrambled up a tree, where the tigers held them for
five days. At one point, one of the men fell from the tree when his branch
broke, and he was quickly killed. After making some frantic phone calls, the remaining
men were able to get a hold of people from their village, who took nearly three
days to reach the group. The tigers were driven away, and the surviving five
men were transported to the nearest village.
3. Methuselina The Sheep
Methuselina was both a literal and figurative black sheep.
In the literal sense, she was a black-faced ewe, and in the figurative sense,
she was a rarity because she lived for such a very long time. At 25 years, 11
months old, it was estimated that Methuselina was the oldest living sheep in
the world. Though it had not been certified by Guinness World Records,
Methuselina likely would have been soon enough, had it not been for an accident
in February of 2012. While tending to his sheep, Methuselina’s owner John
Maciver found her lying against a rock at the bottom of a cliff. We can fairly
safely assume that she fell off.
2. A Yak At A Chinese Zoo
One day at a zoo in China, a female yak was being
ganged up on by some males who wanted to mate. The female didn’t want to have
anything to do with that, and accidentally broke out of her enclosure and into
the tiger pit nearby. The tigers were naturally very curious about the yak, and
took to attacking her. What followed was an attempt by zoo staff to rescue the
yak, but there was really very little to be done. They were able to lasso the
yak out of the enclosure, but not before the damage was done. Yaks are
expensive animals and in a matter of minutes, this zoo was suddenly without
one.
1. Two British Racehorses
At the Newbury racetrack in 2011, the very first race of the
day would end up also being the last. As seven horses lined up in the paddock
to begin the race, several of them immediately went down. One horse, Kid
Cassidy, collapsed and needed to withdraw from the race for immediate medical
attention, though was later fine. A second horse, The Merry Giant, stumbled but
finished the race in last place, looking traumatized. Two of the horses, Fenix
Two and Marching Song, collapsed to the ground and were pronounced dead. It was
later revealed that an electrical cable was under the paddock where the horses
were loading, and they presumably stepped on it. The wet ground conditions,
combined with horses’ already exceptional sensitivity to electricity, proved to
be the right combination for the wrong way to start a race.
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