Seal death raises questions

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This article was published 26/11/2014 (4154 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The death of a blind harbour seal at Assiniboine Park Zoo should be setting off alarm bells and producing an immediate independent review, a national zoo watchdog warned Tuesday.

Zoo deaths and major problems in a short period of time are not isolated coincidences, there “tends to be systemic problems at the root,” Zoocheck Canada campaign director Julie Woodyer said from Toronto.

At other zoos, “Where we’ve seen these back-to-back incidents, there’ve been serious problems,” Woodyer said.

Zoocheck Canada demanded Tuesday Assiniboine Park Zoo call in an independent reviewer — and not just an organization of zoo operators, Woodyer said.

But the death of the young seal was an isolated incident and a coincidence that it died just two months after a tiger was killed by another tiger, said Brian Joseph, Assiniboine Park Zoo director of zoological operations.

Zookeepers feared something could be wrong when Caelum the blind harbour seal didn’t frolic upon their arrival Monday morning.

A diver hit the water and soon confirmed the worst — Caelum had become stuck in a drain overnight and had drowned.

Combined with a tiger’s death in late September, and problems this summer, it’s time to look at all that’s happening at the zoo, said Woodyer.

She said the zoo had to close parts of the Journey to Churchill exhibit last July when wolves dug under the barrier that separates them from the polar bears. The Journey to Churchill’s underwater tunnel was closed earlier this fall after the polar bears began chewing through the silicone seals on the glass.

Woodyer said the zoo should have known that a seal died in a U.S. zoo in 2010 in similar circumstances, and should have taken precautions here.

“We’re really saddened by his death,” Joseph said Tuesday. “They’re wonderful little animals. We take our responsibility to care for these animals very seriously.”

Caelum — pronounced seal-um — had somehow knocked off a grate and become entrapped, Joseph said — seals can stay underwater up to 15 minutes before they need to return to the surface.

“When we got to work, he was not on the surface where we expected him to be,” Joseph said. “Seals are like little kids, they’re always investigating.”

Caelum had been at the zoo for less than three months, having been rescued on Vancouver Island this summer and being in no condition to survive in the wild.

“He already had damage to his eyes. He was on the beach, dying,” Joseph said.

Caelum shared the tank, next door to the polar bears, with another blind male harbour seal named Neptune.

The zoo has replaced the drain cover, Joseph said: “This accident can’t be repeated.”

Joseph said there was an investigation after the tiger died — caused by human error when someone left a gate open, he said — and the zoo had a lengthy talk Tuesday with the Vancouver Aquarium, which sent Caelum here.

“It’s a very predictable response and I respect (Woodyer’s) perspective,” Joseph said. “That’s exactly what she said when the tiger died. She’s of the mind that zoos shouldn’t be in existence.”

The zoo has room for up to eight seals in that tank, he said. “We’ll explore the options — we have the capability to have room for more seals.”

Joseph said volunteers are advising zoo visitors what happened when they ask about Caelum.

“The harbour seals have been a great addition to the zoo and we know our visitors and volunteers will also be grieving this loss.”

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca