Shock and sadness over seal deaths
LONDON — In 30 years, Steve Bircher has never lost an animal during a move.
That's why he was sent to help transport the four Storybook Gardens harbour seals Friday and that's why he's as shocked as anyone that two of them died during the move to their new home in St. Louis, Mo., and another is in critical condition.
“All the years I've been doing this, I can't explain how difficult this has been for me and all the people at Storybook who fell in love with these seals,” said Bircher, the curator at the St. Louis zoo.
The zoo agreed to take the four Storybook seals as the theme park moved away from exhibiting exotic animals. Zoocheck Canada paid for the move.
Bircher and the driver arrived at Storybook about 9:30 a.m. Friday to move the four seals to the zoo -- heralded as one of the best in North America.
The mammals looked calm and healthy when he inspected them in their crates. They appeared fine when they were inspected again by U.S. wildlife officials at the border at Port Huron, Mich. And yet again, about 2:15 p.m. when they stopped for lunch. The animals were sprayed at every checkpoint, he said.
“At every checkpoint, they were very calm, there were no vocalizations and, in my opinion, they were fine,” he said. “That's why we were all surprised.” Less than two hours after that lunch stop, Bircher stopped to check the seals again and found Nunavut motionless and the truck was diverted for an emergency call to the Fort Wayne, Ind., zoo, where Nunavut was pronounced dead. Soon after, Cri Cri, who was being stored in a separate crate, started showing “abnormal” signs and wasn't as alert as when they first arrived, Bircher said.
She was quickly treated with oxygen and fluids.
While veterinarians were treating Cri Cri, Bircher said he saw Atlantis' “respirations decrease.” She was removed from the crate and zoo staff performed CPR for almost an hour to try and revive it, but she died.
Bircher and zoo staff monitored Cri Cri throughout the night. At 4 a.m. she was still alert so they loaded her and got back on the road. A half-hour into their trip, Bircher said they stopped to check on Cri Cri.
“Cri Cri looked exactly the same,” he said.
Thirty minutes outside of Indianapolis, Bircher said Cri Cri was less responsive and they took her to the zoo there, where she remains in critical condition.
Peanut arrived in St. Louis about noon and is in a standard 30-day quarantine, but doing well.
Bircher said the animals never appeared stressed.
“I think that's why I'm the most surprised of all. They were very calm and looked OK, they looked fine. If I would've suspected any kind of problem we would've aborted. We would not have even left Storybook, we just wouldn't do it, it's not worth the risk,” he said.
The seals were transported in an airconditioned truck equipped with a wireless thermometer to monitor the temperature and were fully misted with water at every check.
There was also no indication from Storybook animal-care staff that they were stressed, said John Riddell, Storybook Gardens manager.
He said a veterinarian visited the four seals at Storybook last Wednesday. They were checked over and approved for the 14-hour trip to St. Louis.
“We're extremely sad. It was a huge shock,” Riddell said, adding there is an “inherent risk in transporting wildlife” even though the seals showed every sign of being healthy before their departure.
A St. Louis zoo spokesperson said the zoo does about 200 animals moves on average every year.