11-year-old boy mauled by sea lion in Australia

Source: Gulf News

An 11-year-old boy is recovering after being mauled by a sea lion at a popular Sydney zoo in front of horrified visitors.
The boy was identified by his stepmother as Jack Lister. He had been invited by zookeepers to meet the 8-year-old female sea lion during the Taronga Zoo's seal and sea lion show on Friday...

Read more: http://gulfnews.com/news/world/australia/11-year-old-boy-mauled-by-sea-lion-in-australia-1.677418

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Another case of wild animals belonging in the wild... Poor kid though!

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Sea-Lion-Attacks-on-Humans-41338.shtml

Sea lions are one of the main attractions for those who visit the west American coast. But public interpretation of these marine animals might be very far from reality. Even healthy sea lions are best left alone, because at its 300 kg (800 pounds), a male armed with sharp pointed teeth is a formidable beast, but a 100 kg female also could inflict a lot of damage.

Usually, sea lions bite only if they feel threatened or cornered; otherwise, they will rather seek an escape route. But the last months' series of sea-lion attacks on people has triggered the alarm calls of the officials and experts, as these animals are not the cute and cuddly circus pets. "People should understand these animals are out there not to attack people or humans. But they're out there to survive for themselves," said Jim Oswald, a spokesman for the Marine Mammal Center, San Francisco.


In the last month, a very aggressive sea lion bit 14 swimmers and chased 10 more out of the water at San Francisco's Aquatic Park, a sheltered lagoon near the bay, with one victim suffering puncture wounds. In Southern California in June, a sea lion attacked several people on Manhattan Beach and bit a man before waddling into the water and swimming away.

Compared to this high incidence of sea lion attack, less than 10 people have been attacked by sharks off the California coast since 2000, but two were fatal. In Alaska, a huge male jumped onto a fisherman's boat in 2004, knocked him overboard and pulled him underwater; miraculously he escaped without severe injury. Experts have described the most recent attacks as abnormal behavior.

are predators. Dangerous.

they didn't name them "sea sheep" or anything.

But since "The Omen" was just on TV again I remembered that kid freaking out normally docile zoo animals, too.

:hide:

Glad the kid's OK, bet they won't do that again...

It looks like the Oregon Zoo.

I did a Google search on "sealion pic"s and it was in a collection...lot's of pics of sealionsin all kinds of situations, plenty of sites as well. Popular creatures...:hi:

Having worked in a zoo it is risky having wild animals, particularly large ones, interact with the public, especially children who might be seen as prey. Any wild animal can be unpredictable though.

At the sort of animal life you can find even in an urban environment after the lights go out. I've seen deer in downtown seattle, and of course you have the regulars - opossoums, raccoons, skunks, bobcats, coyotes... I've even heard that some cities have otters and beavers.

Nature is constantly working to undo "civilization" and frankly, we're reaching the stalemate point.

In my city of 50,000 there is a marsh in the center of town with lots of wildlife. I have frequently seen deer at night on our city streets and more than once I have seen fox and raccoons with the occasional dead skunk in the middle of the road.

Several well known animals that face extinction are the African elephant and lion, and the Bengal tiger. Along with them are one that all of us have likely and commonly seen--the Monarch butterfly.

One of my earliest memories is the time I momentarily escaped the grip of my adult captors (family members) and jumped onto the fence surrounding the American bison exhibit. I shook the fence & raised a ruckus that attracted their attention, whereupon one of them charged the fence with all its might. I still recall the shouts & gasps from bystanders as they witnessed the huge beast bearing down on me. Someone grabbed me & pulled me off the fence just as the bison's head plowed into the chain-link fence, bowing it outward with enough force to graze me even after having been pulled a couple of feet backward. I could have been horribly gored if my 'guardian angel' hadn't pulled me to safety.

If there's anything to be taken away from my story and that in the OP, it's that people need to keep a close watch on their children, although in some cases even that is not enough.

Now I'm inclined to think it's a good thing. More of them need to be leashed. Muzzling wouldn't hurt some of'em, either. x(

I was too young to feel embarrassed by it, and it definitely kept me out of trouble. I was the sort of child who would take off 'exploring' without regard to personal safety, much less finding my way back to my 'keepers.' Another early memory is of taking off in a department store & scaling a ladder to the upper bunk of a display-floor bed. I still recall the distraught expression on my mother's face as she reclaimed me from an obviously put-out store manager.

who'd escaped her mother and was about to take off into oncoming traffic. I nearly got hit myself, but at least I was tall enough for the driver to see me...unlike the toddler that was about to be smooshed.

What ticks me off about it is how many people on the same side of the street ignored the unfolding scene. They could have stopped the little girl without risk to themselves.

I am grateful I was able to help, and also grateful I was smart and athletic enough to emerge unscathed...the car came to a stop pressing against my shoulderbag. Her mother and I cried in relief together.

not lack of caring, that freezes people into inaction. The brain often takes a moment to wrap itself around an unfamiliar situation. Thank God that there are some quick-thinking, quick-reacting, and BRAVE angels such as yourself! You were the right person in the right place at the right time.

These exhibits build appreciation for these animals.

some of the animals would DIE if released back into the wild, be it the ocelot with only 3 legs (leg lost as a kitten, when an adult ocelot bit the kitten) to the Bald Eagles which were partially blind.

Many of the animals are bred from other animals already in captivity or found injured in the wild and would have died otherwise.

Mystic Aquarium for example treats injured animals (sea lions and seals) and releases them back into the wild whenever feasible.

Zoos are not going into the wild and trying to capture animals just for exhibits anymore, they are actively trying to breed and conserve endangered species (pandas for example) and also care and provide a home for animals too injured to survive on their own in the wild.

the National Park...

The Cheetah cubs and other animals would die in the wild without the care...


However, Sealions are rather common and were PERFORMING in a show.