CHILDREN KILL LEOPARD

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27628, 7 April 1955, Page 12

CHILDREN KILL LEOPARD

Wellington Zoo’s Loss

SPEAR DROPPED FROM HEIGHT OF 20FT

(New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, April 6. Using a home-made spear, children recently killed a valuable six-month-old leopard at the Wellington Zoo. It was one of two Sumatran golden leopards bom at the zoo, and the first of their kind to be bred successfully in captivity in the world. The leopards are in a deep pit into which the public can look from a height of about 20ft. To prevent stones being thrown, the zoo authorities long ago put close-meshed netting over the top of the enclosure. To entice the leopard near to the wall beneath where they were standing, the children first dropped a piece of meat. When the leopard went to get it they dropped on it from a height of 20ft a spear made of bamboo with a point of sharpened fencing wire. The spear pierced the leopard and it died soon afterwards. It was killed during the lunch-hour of the keepers. The zoo has suffered considerably from the viciousness of some groups. Children have in the past crept through the wire fences at dusk and used dogs to hunt and kill ducks and ducklings, have thrown fireworks in cages, and have fed poisonous plants to monkeys. The zoo authorities have decided from May 1 to charge children admission fees.