Edinburgh Zoo staff turn on bosses in Panda-gate row after narrow escape
IT IS being dubbed, perhaps not surprisingly, Panda-gate. A zookeeper could have been “seriously injured or even killed” after one of Britain’s two giant pandas was accidentally allowed back into its enclosure while the area was still being cleaned.
A photograph of the incident was made public by disgruntled staff who blamed the security lapse on staff shortages at Edinburgh Zoo.
The image shows a female keeper leaving the enclosure through a door with the panda just a few feet behind her. A brush and bucket lie abandoned on the floor.
A leaked email alleged that the worker could have died or been badly maimed in the incident.
It was sent to officials with further claims that the institution is in “crisis”; morale is at rock bottom; and that animal welfare is at risk.
The email also claimed that the giant panda, thought to be the male Yang Guang, could have escaped into the public areas of the zoo. Yang Guang and the female Tian Tian arrived to much fanfare in 2011 after being loaned to the zoo by China. The breeding pair have so far failed to produce offspring.
The zoo, owned by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, initially dismissed the claims of a “near miss” as “scurrilous and unfounded”, but admitted yesterday that the incident had taken place.
The email sent to management stated: “We have found out that there was a very serious near miss last year when a panda was let back into the enclosure with a keeper still cleaning in there and she could have been seriously injured or even have died.
“We got to hear about the near miss with the panda a while after it happened, just through rumour at
first and then the keeper who experienced it went off sick and never came back. She heard it behind her just in time to be able to get out of the enclosure. If she hadn’t she could have been mauled, seriously injured or even killed.
“We also know that the panda could have escaped into the public area of the zoo. Are we going to wait for a disaster to happen before things change at the zoo?”
As well as revealing the panda incident, it made a range of allegations and said staff were worried about their jobs.
It added: “Some of the keepers are concerned about the welfare of the animals as sometimes they are so shortstaffed and have little time it stops them giving proper care to the animals.
“There is a dreadful atmosphere around the zoo with staff morale the lowest we have ever known it.”
The email concludes by stating that the staff involved have no confidence in senior management.
A spokesman for the zoo said: “Staff reported a near miss within the panda enclosure last year. This was fully investigated and Edinburgh Council were kept informed throughout the process. No staff or animals were harmed during the incident.”
The zoo refused to comment on other claims in the email, except to say that it contained “inaccuracies”.