Tame Leopard Shot Dead!

I CAME across this news early this morning and got terribly upset that an innocent animal had been shot dead simply because his “animal instincts” got the better of it!

The news was featured on Yahoo! News, my regular source of information on what goes on around the world: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/38/20110317/twl-tame-leapoard-kills-tv-crew-member-6ae0455.html

The leopard, known for its “gentle nature” was often used by the German television company for various filming sessions. Crew members have in the past experienced close contact with the leopard without getting into any harm as the animal is said to be “docile”.

However, while on location at Namibia recently, the animal somehow went on the aggressive on the day of the shoot and attacked one of the crew members.

Immediately after the attack the leopard was shot DEAD! Can you believe that?

This is an animal that was supposed to be left in the wild and if there is anyone who should be taking precautions, no matter how gentle the animal is said to be, it should be the television crew!

The news reported on http://uk.news.yahoo.com/

How can anyone take for granted that a wild animal such as the leopard can easily be controlled? Safety measures should have been taken into serious considerations and the crew should have been prepared for any untoward accidents that could take place. Wouldn’t a gun loaded with tranquilisers be a better option?

Why KILL the animal when it is very clear that it is us humans who miscalculated. The leopard is a wild beast. No matter how much it is tamed it will always have its killer instincts buried deep inside. And, on a bad day, anything can happen.

They used the leopard to serve their purpose, the least they could do was to take extreme care of the animal and its unpredictable instincts.

An accurate shot is all it takes to snuff the animal’s life out but isn’t that going beyond cruelty?

While I pity the victim I pity the animal more because it didn’t have a choice. We humans put him there!