Zoo Story Read online

  69 raised the height of Lowry Park’s perimeter fence: Author learned this while listening to Lee Ann Rottman’s talk in front of the docents in October 2003.

  69 red paint and paint thinner: Jane Fritsch, “Animal Activists Deface Homes of Dunda’s Keepers,” Los Angeles Times, October 15, 1988.

  70 a compelling example: “On the Brink of Extinction: Saving the Lion Tamarins of Brazil,” The Encylopedia of Mammals, pp. 342–343.

  70 none had ever been selected: Author e-mail exchange with Lex Salisbury.

  71 not even attempt to climb into the trees: Vicki Croke, The Modern Ark, p. 195.

  71 Bornean orangutans were so endangered: Michael Casey, “Orang-utans on ‘Fast Track to Extinction,’ ” Independent, July 6, 2008.

  71 “not all it’s cracked up to be”: Author interview with Lee Ann Rottman.

  5 ROYALTY

  72 Liberia, December 1966: Account of Herman’s early life and history are based primarily on the author’s interviews with Ed and Roger Schultz. The details of the baby chimp’s purchase, including the thumbprint, are also based on a copy of the original receipt, provided to the author by Ed Schultz.

  74 tumbled into a snow bank: Scene based on a family photo taken by Roger Schultz and shared with the author by Ed Schultz, as well as the author’s interviews with both the father and son.

  75 incident in Stamford, Connecticut: This account is compiled from several news reports, including Andy Newman, “Pet Chimp Is Killed After Mauling Woman,” New York Times, February 16, 2009; Stephanie Gallman, “Chimp Attack 911 Call: ‘He’s Ripping Her Apart,’ ” CNN.com, February 18, 2009; Anahad O’Connor, “Woman Mauled by Chimp Has Surgery, and Her Vital Signs Improve,” New York Times, February 18, 2009; and John Christoffersen, “Brothers: Victim of Chimp Attack Feared Animal,” Associated Press, June 28, 2009.

  77 sued the city for discrimination: Shannon Behnken, “Tuskegee Airman Demanded Equality,” Tampa Tribune, August 14, 2007.

  77 Razor blades were flicked: David Smith, Evening Independent, August 31, 1976.

  77 Sea lions collapsed: “Kindness Kills Old Sea Lion,” Associated Press article published in the St. Petersburg Times on June 6, 1963.

  77 Two Bengal tigers died: “Youth faces charges for tossing Tylenol tablets to otter at zoo,” United Press International article published in the St. Petersburg Times on May 29, 1983.

  77 “I didn’t even want to talk about it”: Richard Danielson, “Lowry Park Zoo Has Record Number of Visitors,” St. Petersburg Times, December 6, 1966.

  77 stole one of the zoo’s lions: “3 Charged in Lion Theft,” St. Petersburg Times, February 19, 1976.

  78 the chimp hurled away: “Mayor Greco Gets a Hand,” Associated Press article published in the St. Petersburg Times, Sept. 27, 1972.

  78 Herman read the nonverbal signals: Author interviews with Kevin McKay, Lee Ann Rottman, and Andrea Schuch.

  78 staff left Schultz a key: Author interviews with Ed Schultz. This detail was confirmed by Lowry Park staff.

  79 “Wonderful,” she called him: Details of Jane Goodall’s affection for Herman and Lowry Park are taken from Mary Dolan’s “Noted Expert on Primates Visits ChimpanZoo Site,” St. Petersburg Times, May 7, 1987; and Sue Carlton’s “Primate Expert Touts Zoo Project,” St. Petersburg Times, May 9, 1990.

  79 a wild chimpanzee call: Dong-Phuong Nguyen, “A Girl’s Curiosity Nurtured Expertise,” St. Petersburg Times, March 23, 2005.

  79 just as Gombe’s chimps did in the wild: Jane Goodall, In the Shadow of Man, pp. 35–36.

  80 termite mound was not real: Vicki Croke, The Modern Ark, page 39.

  80 distaste for seeing animals in cages: Eric Baratay and Elisabeth Hardouin-Fugier, Zoo, p. 237.

  80 simulated bird droppings: Phillip T. Robinson, Life at the Zoo, p. 90.

  80 “imitation freedom.”: Baratay and Hardouin-Fugier, Zoo, p. 244.

  81 In one gruesome case: Frans de Waal, Chimpanzee Politics, pp. 211–212.

  81 “an assassination”: Richard Wrangham and Dale Peterson, Demonic Males, p. 128.

  81 waging war on other chimp groups: Jane Goodall, Through a Window, pp. 98–111.

  81 eating their flesh: Jane Goodall, Through a Window, p. 108.

  81 while others dismember him: Jane Goodall, Through a Window, pp. 104–108; also Wrangham and Peterson, Demonic Males, pp. 17–19.

  81 “so naturally aggressive”: Author interview with Andrea Schuch.

  81 just to maintain his dominance: This account of Chester’s dominance, and of Herman’s confusion during that time, is based on author interviews with Lee Ann Rottman.

  83 play through the scenarios: Author interview with Rottman.

  83 a hand on his daughter’s shoulder: Author witnessed this scene.

  84 their protector and leader: This account of Herman’s reign in the renovated Lowry Park, including his reaction to Dr. Murphy’s dart, is based on author interviews with Rottman.

  84 imbued with ruthless purity: This account of Enshalla’s history and behavior is based on the author’s interviews with multiple members of Lowry Park’s staff, including Brian Czarnik, Pam Noel, Carie Peterson, Lee Ann Rottman, and Lex Salisbury, as well as interviews with Ged Caddick and Don Woodman, who worked with the tiger in earlier years, and from the author’s own years of observing her at the zoo and shadowing her keepers as they cared for her.

  85 Tigers have distinctive personalities: Lee S. Crandall, A Zoo Man’s Notebook, p. 133.

  85 “true to her species”: Author interview with Pam Noel.

  85 “tofu shaped to look like their prey?”: Ibid.

  86 she treated him as an intruder: Mary Jo Melone, “Tigers Take Time Breaking the Ice,” St. Petersburg Times, June 28, 1989.

  86 Shere-Khan struggled and suffocated: Kathleen Ovack, “Tiger Kills Rare Cub as Visitors Watch,” St. Petersburg Times, May 6, 1990.

  87 “she wasn’t seeking human companionship”: Author interview with Ged Caddick.

  87 walked into the Bengal tiger exhibit: “Fatal Mauling a Metrozoo Mystery,” Miami Herald, June 7, 1994; and “In the Zoo World, a Mistake Can Be Lethal,” Boston Globe, June 11, 1994.

  87 lion bit down on her hand: Logan Mabe, “Lion Bites Off Worker’s Arm,” St. Petersburg Times, May 13, 2002; and Kathryn Wexler, “Zoo Keeper Put Fingers in Lion’s Cage,” St. Petersburg Times, May 14, 2002.

  87 nothing like holding a housecat: This description is based on the author’s firsthand experience at the home of Don Woodman, a veterinarian who worked with Enshalla as a young tiger. At the time of our interview, his family was foster caring for a litter of ten-week-old tiger cubs orphaned after they were confiscated from a facility where they were being neglected. During our interview, one of those cubs kept climbing into my lap and trying to gnaw on my notebook.

  88 cubs were an instant hit: Marty Rosen, “Tiger Kittens Make Debut,” St. Petersburg Times, November 27, 1991.

  89 the explosions startled him: Author interviews with Don Woodman.

  89 they found Rajah dead: Ibid.

  89 something set them off: Janet Shelton Rogers, “Zoo’s Female Tiger Dies after Fight with Mate,” St. Petersburg Times, March 12, 1994; also “Crushed Windpipe Killed Tuka,” St. Petersburg Times, March 16, 1994.

  90 trained to check and recheck every lock: Author interviews with Pam Noel, Carie Peterson, Brian Czarnik, and Lee Ann Rottman.

  90 answered with a half-roar, half-snort: Author witnessed this scene.

  91 “All our girls are like that here”: Author interview with Carie Peterson.

  91 chasing his minders: Author interviews with Kevin McKay, Andrea Schuch, and Lee Ann Rottman.

  92 race toward her, running on all fours: Author interviews with Pam Noel and Lee Ann Rottman.

  6 COLD-BLOODED

  93 died in Virginia’s arms: Author interviews and e-mail exchanges with Virginia Edmonds.

  94 “They’re good at birthing”: Author interview with Dan Costell.


  95 calculus of life and death: Author interviews and observations of the herps staff.

  95 “Whoever hatches first, wins”: Details on frog eggs and mortality rates among K-selected and r-selected species based on author interviews with Dan Costell, Dustin Smith, and Kevin Zippel.

  95 running catalogue of stereotypes: The author heard these stereotypes constantly bandied among the zoo staff during his years of reporting.

  96 Dustin and Dan—as they were invariably called: The portraits of the two herps keepers’ personalities are based on many interviews with them and other keepers, as well as years of observing them both at the zoo and outside the zoo.

  97 the minor god who held sway: The author followed Dan Costell many times as he nurtured the frogs and their artificial rain forest.

  98 a Komodo dragon coiled itself: Author witnessed Dan Costell getting this tattoo.

  98 “Loser,” he would say, smirking: Author witnessed this exchange, and many others like it, while following Dustin Smith on his rounds.

  98 hurled her droppings at him: Author interviews with Dustin Smith. Lee Ann Rottman confirmed the orang’s general dislike of men.

  99 Gabremariam had visibly shuddered: Author witnessed this moment on the elevator while following Gabremariam and Lex Salisbury to a Tampa city council meeting.

  99 Dustin could quote the studies: These studies were confirmed in Vicki Croke’s The Modern Ark, p. 97.

  100 a cluster of howler monkeys: Author witnessed these keeper scenes, including Kevin McKay’s comment on Grimaldi, Carie Peterson’s encounter with the geese, and Dan Costell’s fascination with the frogs.

  101 Led Zeppelin wailed on: The author noticed that Zeppelin songs almost always happened to play on the radio inside the venomous snake room. ZZ Top also serenaded the snakes regularly.

  101 “I’m no bunnyhugger”: This section on keeper culture is based on the author’s numerous interviews and months of reporting with Costell, Carie Peterson, and many other members of Lowry Park’s staff.

  103 especially fond of Bamboo: Author interviews with Costell, Carie Peterson, Dustin Smith, and Lee Ann Rottman.

  7 FRONTIER

  104 Code One drill, again: Author witnessed the scene.

  105 Lowry Park’s Code One protocols: Based on author interviews with Lee Ann Rottman, Lex Salisbury, and many other keepers.

  105 At the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo: Phillip T. Robinson, Life at the Zoo, p. 77.

  105 most likely to kill humans: Vicki Croke, The Modern Ark, page 105.

  105 rainstorm flooded the polar bear moat: Ibid.

  106 Hurricane Andrew roared: Tai Abbady, “Miami’s Zoo Teems with New Life 10 Years after Hurricane Andrew,” Associated Press, 2002; also, the Miami zoo’s Web site describes the devastation of the hurricane at http://www.miamimetrozoo.com/about-metro-zoo.asp?Id=93&rootId=8.

  106 Lowry Park . . . had never taken a direct hit: In the decades prior to 2003, the worst hurricane to come close to Tampa Bay was Hurricane Elena, a Category 3 storm that stalled just off the central Florida coast in 1983 before turning northward.

  107 a Siberian tiger named Tatiana: This account is based on numerous San Francisco Chronicle articles and on a fifteen-page report compiled by several AZA inspectors in the wake of the attack. The inspectors interviewed many of the San Francisco zoo employees who were on the grounds the evening of the attack, and together their accounts offer a comprehensive and detailed time line of the incident. The inspection report was completed in March 2008 and was accessed by the author on the San Francisco Chronicle’s Web site at http:www.sfgate.com/ZCTQ.

  107 “My brother’s going to die”: The excerpt of the 911 call is taken from a transcript published in the San Francisco Chronicle on January 16, 2008.

  109 alerting him to the bad news: Justin Scheck and Ben Worthen, “When Animals Go AWOL, Zoos Try to Tame Bad PR,” Wall Street Journal, January 5, 2008.

  109 dismissed zoos as wretched prisons: “Zoos: Pitiful Prisons,” article on PETA Web site, accessed July 10, 2009, at http://www.peta.org/mc/factsheet_display.asp?ID=67.

  110 first time a zoo escape had resulted: Scheck and Worthen, “When Animals Go AWOL,” Wall Street Journal, January 5, 2008.

  110 “ ‘I am the lion now!’ ”: Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower, p. 231.

  111 tried to approach Knut: “Lonely Man Jumps Into Cage With Polar Bear Knut,” Associated Press, December 22, 2008.

  111 teacher despairing over her inability: “Woman Is Mauled by Polar Bear after Jumping into Berlin Zoo Enclosure,” Associated Press article published in the Los Angeles Times, April 15, 2009.

  111 into a pit with a pride of ten lions: “Lioness Kills Man Who Jumped into Zoo Pit,” Reuters, January 25, 2002.

  111 a keeper discovered her body: This description is based on several Washington Post articles, including Avis Thomas-Lester’s “Autopsy Says Lion Attack Killed Woman; Police Try to Establish Identity of Woman Found in Lion’s Den,” March 6, 1995; Phil McCombs’ “In the Lair of the Urban Lion,” March 7, 1995; and Toni Locy’s “Lion Victim Spent Final Day at Court; Clerk Says Woman Wanted to File Suit for Custody of a Daughter,” March 10, 1995. In addition, Kay Redfield Jamison provides a haunting summary and analysis of the case in “The Lion Enclosure,” a chapter of her book Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide, pp. 154–159.

  112 zoo’s most serious Code One: This brief history of animal escapes at Lowry Park is based on author interviews with Dan Costell, Rachel Nelson, Lee Ann Rottman, and Heather Mackin. The author observed the guinea fowl on the loose and heard the “code one, chicken” call.

  112 Lex called to Rudy: Salisbury’s success in safely retrieving the orangutan was reported in the St. Petersburg Times on June 28, 1991. In addition, Salisbury shared some details of the incident in an e-mail exchange with the author.

  112 orangutans are known as escape artists: Eugene Linden, The Octopus and the Orangutan, p. 96.

  113 a set of Code One recommendations: The author saw this advice on a bulletin board in the herps building and wrote it down.

  114 “The night before she died”: This account of Char-Lee Torre’s last weeks and her death is based on the author’s interviews with Torre’s family and with Lex Salisbury; on the Tampa police report on the attack, #93-050287; and on several St. Petersburg Times articles, including Marty Rosen’s “Elephant Kills Young Trainer at Tampa Zoo,” July 31, 1993, and Rosen’s “Elephant Had Challenged Her Trainer Before,” August 7, 1993.

  115 Asian elephants typically show more patience: M. Gore, M. Hutchins, and J. Ray, “A Review of Injuries Caused by Elephants in Captivity: An Examination of Predominant Factors,” International Zoo Yearbook, 2006, p. 60.

  115 New trainers . . . particularly vulnerable: Same study as above; also Amy Sutherland, Kicked, Bitten, and Scratched, p. 270.

  115 Tillie had spent three decades in captivity: Details on the elephant’s history are available in The North American Regional Studbook—Asian Elephant, p. 51.

  116 a particularly ugly scandal: This account of the elephant controversy at San Diego is based on a series of articles by Jane Fritsch published in the Los Angeles Times between May and December of 1988.

  116 Protected contact . . . showed another way: The section chronicling the development of protected contact is based on numerous sources, including Gary Priest’s “Zoo Story,” published on the Web site of Inc. in October 1994; an article by Priest and others titled “Managing Elephants Using Protected Contact,” Soundings, First Quarter 1998, pp. 21–24; and a collection of pieces written by Tim Desmond, Gaile Laule, and Margaret Whittaker, three consultants who worked on the new protocol with Priest. One article, “Protected-Contact Elephant Training,” was presented by the consultants at the 1991 AZA conference. The other articles are available online at http://www.activeenvironments.org.

  116 caring for an elephant’s feet: Gary Priest, “Zoo Story,” and Ian Redmond, Elephant, p. 16.

  117 rearing up like Godzilla: Tim De
smond and Gail Laule, “Protected-Contact Elephant Training,” pp. 4–5.

  117 they vandalized his car: Amy Sutherland, Kicked, Bitten, and Scratched, p. 271.

  118 “one of the very best zoological parks of its size”: Jennifer Orsi, “Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo: From Bad to Best,” St. Petersburg Times, March 3, 1994.

  118 risk was minimal and manageable: E-mail exchange between author and Salisbury.

  118 Tillie’s warnings began almost immediately: Larry Dougherty, “Zoo Cleared in Elephant Handler’s Death,” St. Petersburg Times, April 3, 1997.

  119 “Don’t hurt the elephant”: Lex Salisbury recounted this detail in an interview with the author.

  120 Mourn not for us: Torre’s family showed the paper and its handwritten verse to the author. The lines are from “The Star,” a Twilight Zone episode based on a short story by Arthur C. Clarke.

  120 photos of Char-Lee Torre still hung: Observed by author during his reporting.

  8 BERLIN BOYS

  121 Msholo weave his trunk: Scene described to author during interview with Brian French.

  121 Elephants are skilled tool-users: A detailed list of their abilities, and an account of them blocking the cull roads, is available in “Tool Use by Wild and Captive Elephants,” an article by Suzanne Chevalier-Skolnikoff and Jo Liska, published in Animal Behaviour, Volume 46, p. 210.

  122 their abstract works have been auctioned: Hillary Mayell, “Painting Elephants Get Online Gallery,” National Geographic News, June 26, 2002. To view or buy examples of elephant artwork, go to http://www.novica.com/search/searchresults.cfm?searchtype=quick&txt=1®ionid=1&keyword=elephants&keywordsubmit=. The paintings are accompanied by articles about the artwork and discuss the differences between paintings where a handler guides the elephant’s brushstrokes and where the animal has been allowed to move the brush across the page however she likes.

  122 large rocks on electric fences: Joyce Poole, Elephants, p. 36.

  122 Burma hoisted a log: “Elephant Escapes after Dropping Log on Electric Fence,” New Zealand Herald, January 23, 2004; also Peter Calder, “One Morning Out Walking an Elephant Crosses My Path,” New Zealand Herald, January 24, 2004.