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Ash

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http://www.thesun.co...-Adventure.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX07j9SDFcc

Real shame but... Nature innit...EDIT - Here's the HILARIOUS Daily Mirror article for your funnybone...
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Toddler Oscar Harcombe was buzzing with excitement as he arrived at the lions’ enclosure – but seconds later he was in floods of tears.The two-year-old watched in horror as the pride of snarling lions killed and devoured two baby animals at the Chessington zoo.The cuddly-looking binturongs – which live in trees like monkeys and resemble raccoons – had escaped from their enclosure and were ripped apart by the big cats.Oscar was with his shocked gran and dad Jason when they saw the animals being eaten alive.Jason, 32, said: “Oscar was really upset, as anyone would be witnessing two baby animals mauled by a pack of lions. It was horrific.“The binturong stood no chance at all – the lions were tearing them apart. Oscar was crying his eyes out.”Minutes after the zoo had opened for the day, Jason took his family to the Trail of the Kings enclosure to see the rare Asiatic lions.He said: “When we got there we spotted the two baby binturong. They had escaped and were climbing on the lion cage.“Before we even had the chance to alert the keepers the lions snatched the animals and killed them.“It happened right in front of my mother and young son. And they were horrified.” Jason says a zoo keeper admitted that the binturongs – which are endangered – were being held in a temporary enclosure and should have been moved.The family complained and say they were told they would have to leave if they wanted a refund or tickets for another day – before they were escorted off the premises at the zoo and theme park in South West London.Jason, from Dorking in Surrey, said: “We were treated like we’d done something wrong. The customer service was shocking.“We have no desire to go back to Chessington after what we witnessed there.“Oscar was really upset and kept asking what had happened to the animals.“We just hope he forgets about it over time.”Chessington bosses apologised yesterday for the distress the attack caused to its visitors.The company said in a statement: “Despite the best efforts from our zoo team, regrettably the binturong did not survive.“This is an unfortunate incident which Chessington is taking very seriously, but at no point were members of the public or staff at risk.“Our zoo team, particularly the keepers, are very distressed by this event.“We are very sorry for any visitors who may have been upset by witnessing the incident. In light of this isolated incident we are undertaking a series of investigations, and changes will be implemented.”

I really hate the press... Bunch of over-sensationalist numpties...
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Firstly, why were the people mentioned escorted off the park? Or is this just the press exaggerating?Secondly, I see a lot of people saying "Oh well, it's only nature". Surely that's not the issue? The issue is that the bearcat escaped in the first place, right? It was inevitable if it entered the lion enclosure it would be eaten.

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  On 5/27/2011 at 5:07 PM, 'Mer9 said:

Firstly, why were the people mentioned escorted off the park? Or is this just the press exaggerating?

I'm guessing both... They went to GS, who proceeded to probably explain to them that this wasn't the fault of the park and they wouldn't get a refund for something so pathetic, which naturally pissed them off and they may well have made a scene and caused security to come along...Probably with the yelling of "IF I DON'T GET A REFUND, I'LL NEVER RETURN TO THE PARK AGAIN!!" because their day was ruined by watching something natural happen when they could've just simply meandered off like most SANE people would have if they had realised...
  On 5/27/2011 at 5:07 PM, 'Mer9 said:

Secondly, I see a lot of people saying "Oh well, it's only nature". Surely that's not the issue? The issue is that the bearcat escaped in the first place, right? It was inevitable if it entered the lion enclosure it would be eaten.

That is the main issue yes... But there's a whole load of factors like the parents not paying attention, past instances of the babies escaping at least once and a few more...But really, if as a parent would you let your 2 year old watch this? I'd tell them to go look at the Leopards whilst I watched the Lions personally...Really, if there was no faults with the enclosure perimeter (assuming such) then the park really isn't at fault for the incident... Once the bintarongs landed in the enclosure, natural instincts kicked in and the lions fed...EDIT - Saw this comment on Chessie's Facebook, people astound me with their stupidity...
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I used live close by and had debated bringing my kids but after what I heard today in news regarding animals will never come back

*head-desk*
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  On 5/27/2011 at 5:40 PM, 'Benin said:

Really, if there was no faults with the enclosure perimeter (assuming such) then the park really isn't at fault for the incident...

That's the problem. The baby binturongs could squeeze through the fencing of the enclosure. Usually they would return home to their parents but on this occasion ventured too close to the lions and were snapped up as it were.In an ideal situation, the keepers should have removed the mum and babies to a more secure enclosure with smaller-gap fencing - especially when you consider that there are lions right next door to their normal enclosure.Lastly, though the food chain and predator-prey relationships are perfectly natural, witnessing live animals being mauled by lions is not something I would consider as a nice experience. This is speaking as a conservationist who has spent months out in the field following species. Let alone for a 2 year old and mother...
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  On 5/27/2011 at 6:13 PM, 'dragon2000 said:

Lastly, though the food chain and predator-prey relationships are perfectly natural, witnessing live animals being mauled by lions is not something I would consider as a nice experience. This is speaking as a conservationist who has spent months out in the field following species. Let alone for a 2 year old and mother...

So why didn't they leave?I have no sympathy for them as they could have easily just walked off once they realised the situation, but obviously I'm wrong in assuming that logical thought of child protection from stuff that could prove 'traumatic' is a widely used thing...
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Good question. (And playing Devil's advocate here) I suppose you could argue that if you are around the 'mid-point' of the lion enclose/viewing windows, it is still going to take you at least a few minutes to leave the area - travelling in either direction would take you past further windows where you might unintentionally bear witness to the scene at hand.If we are talking about why they made a fuss at Guest Services then I don't know why. Personally if my family had been that shocked by a similar experience I would most likely be leaving the park - taking a refund with me. Perhaps they were in shock and not thinking clearly/rationally ;)

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  On 5/27/2011 at 6:38 PM, 'dragon2000 said:

Good question. (And playing Devil's advocate here) I suppose you could argue that if you are around the 'mid-point' of the lion enclose/viewing windows, it is still going to take you at least a few minutes to leave the area - travelling in either direction would take you past further windows where you might unintentionally bear witness to the scene at hand.

This is a fair point, but you could at least attempt to watch the Leopards/Tigers instead (dependant on your route out)...
  On 5/27/2011 at 6:38 PM, 'dragon2000 said:

If we are talking about why they made a fuss at Guest Services then I don't know why. Personally if my family had been that shocked by a similar experience I would most likely be leaving the park - taking a refund with me. Perhaps they were in shock and not thinking clearly/rationally ;)

They went to GS to ask about the refund, which makes sense, but parks very rarely give out refunds/free tickets to return unless there are extreme cases which cause mass closures (so for example, powercuts), indeed, the T&Cs do say that all tickets are non-refundable, evidently though if they didn't get what they wanted, they may well have increased rage, which never gets you anywhere in my opinion (although this is arguable again, but if people ever had a go at me for following rules, they got bugger all)...
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Just a thought on this, and I could be totally wrong since all I know about this is from the article, but there's a possibility that they went to GS stating they wanted a refund and were told they would have to leave if they wanted one, in which case they would have to be escorted off the premises to prevent them pulling a fast one by staying in the park while claiming a refund - does that make sense? It would be stupid to give them a refund then send them back into the park unsupervised really, especially if they were angry or upset and likely to cause a scene. Saying they were escorted off the park is a bit ambiguous really, they could have been dragged kicking and screaming by security, or the staff may have wanted to see them safely out as a gesture of goodwill if they were upset by what they saw.While I think what they saw is horrible and should have been avoided, it seems as though they hung around long enough to watch everything and have a chat to the keepers. As usual the press have only given enough information so that the worst possible scenario comes to mind without them actually having to write it. I could be totally wrong, but it sounds like someone trying to milk it for all it's worth.

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I'm sorry but if they were so traumatised by it, who took the photos? If you didn't want your kids to see it why stick around long enough to capture the entire event in pics, rather than taking your child to see a different enclosure. In my mind these guests were just idiots and they're trying to get attention and make Chessington look bad in the process. It's sad that the event happened and I'd love to know how the feck the babies escaped and so I do think that needs looking into.

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Ohh interesting! I don't know a definite answer but it could be many things. For instance, the upper half of the Mansion contains many of the park's operational necessities such as HR, Payroll, Control so if there was an issue up there then I would imagine it would affect Hocus Pocus Hall.Alternatively, there could have been a minor issue such as a fire exit sensor, certain effects not working, control panels packing up. I think Hocus Pocus has to shut if a certain number of its effects stop working as well.

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Tonight's topic... PA systems...Basically, Chessie are having some right trouble with many ride PAs atm and need them sorted... Here's my list...1 - Vampire station - This is the WORST one... Firstly, the music is deathly quiet... Secondly, the operator PA is DEAFENING... And when you get operators who love the sound of their own voice, this is a recipe for depressive times... Especially when you're stood under one of the speakers... Someone needs to sort this out ASAP...2 - Tuk Tuk Turmoil - PA was randomly quiet as hell now... No idea why... But needs to be fixed so you can actually HEAR the announcements... (Also, why do we not play the loading announcement anymore?)3 - Griffins Galleon - The ride music hasn't worked all year... Why? Pre-recorded announcements don't seem to work either... Again, needs sorting, because it's actually rather unprofessional...4 - Dragon's Tale Theatre - For some reason the actor's microphone was really quiet... So another sound issue...Don't think there's any others... But it's really poor show and there are a LOT of deafened guests in Vampire's station atm... So it's not just us people who actually give a damn...

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  On 6/13/2011 at 10:15 PM, 'Benin said:

Tonight's topic... PA systems...1 - Vampire station - This is the WORST one... Firstly, the music is deathly quiet... Secondly, the operator PA is DEAFENING... And when you get operators who love the sound of their own voice, this is a recipe for depressive times... Especially when you're stood under one of the speakers... Someone needs to sort this out ASAP...

Absolutely. What I don't understand is why do they need telling? The levels are so obviously wrong the ride ops MUST be able to hear it. Unless by a massive coincidence they have employed only deaf people in Transylvania.
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I believe they have turned down the PA now. I haven't heard it in quite a while to be honest! Although the other day there was an Op who was too lazy to use the PA and decided that he'll be in a mood all day. He didn't even bother to tell his platformers to check the bars when he raised them. Laziness or what.

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  On 6/16/2011 at 9:28 PM, 'Kevin said:

I love peoples views on staff membersVamps PA was turned down due to noise complaints.Griffins PA and rest of LoTD is being split up over the winter as opposed to one big rack that it is at the moment.Tuks PA is loud. That's it really.

Wasn't my views, was the platformers'. :lol: <3
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  On 6/16/2011 at 9:28 PM, 'Kevin said:

I love peoples views on staff membersVamps PA was turned down due to noise complaints.Griffins PA and rest of LoTD is being split up over the winter as opposed to one big rack that it is at the moment.Tuks PA is loud. That's it really.

If this be true then this be very awesome news. Imo it's not people's opinion on the staff, it's their opinion on the stupid levels of audio. Did you experience the stupidity of the loudness of Vampire's PA? I felt like my ears were bleeding, didn't really help that the operator was screaming down it like a screaming banshee on fire either.And yeah, not being able to hear safety announcements (not like anyone really pays attention) on Tuk Tuk was probably against some sort of H&S rule so yeah, very glad they sorted it out.
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  On 6/16/2011 at 9:28 PM, 'Kevin said:

Vamps PA was turned down due to noise complaints.

I wish I could believe this, but if the staff consider that the PA has been turned down, someone needs to actually pay attention...The fact that the actual fencing vibrates with the announcements is an absolute testament to how stupidly loud the operator's PA is, and that something needs to be done...As an aside, I believe that the Conservation Evening appeared to go very well, but suffered from a lack of organisation with some of the feeding events and a distinct lack of food places... More of these kind of events need to happen though...
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