National Zoo Director: Animals Dying Because We Are
Stretched Too Thin
Wednesday, 11 Dec 2013 11:54 AM
By Sandy Fitzgerald
Animal deaths, escapes, and
attacks are happening at the National
Zoo because the landmark's money and staff are stretched too dangerously
thin, Director Dennis Kelly says.
"I can’t spread this staff
any more thin than it is now," Kelly told The Washington Post Tuesday.
"It's really the whole zoo —
I dare say the whole Smithsonian, as a result of the almost three years now of
budget uncertainty and budget cuts," he said.
The zoo is still feeling the
effects of the across-the-board sequester ordered earlier this year, which took
$40 million from the budget for the Smithsonian Institute, which operates its
19 museums and the zoo.
Internal investigations were
ordered following the deaths of three animals during the past year at the zoo's
Cheetah Conservation Station. A female red river hog died of septicemia last
December after losing a quarter of her weight in eight weeks. The hog, named
Holly, weighed 79 pounds when she died, but had weighed 110 pounds when she
first arrived at the zoo.
Another animal, a pregnant kudu
antelope, died after she ran into a paddock wall, breaking her neck less than a
month after she arrived at the zoo.
In addition, the report revealed
that veteran zookeeper Wayne Millner was bitten and kicked by a Grevy's zebra
after he went into its compound, leaving him hospitalized with severe injuries.
The third animal's death occurred
when a Dama gazelle in an adjoining compound, which was startled by the zebra
attack, ran into the enclosure's wall.
The National Zoo is famous for its
high-profile exhibits such as the giant pandas and Asian elephant. On Dec. 1,
it held a large ceremony, complete with a video from first lady Michelle Obama,
to announce the name of its female giant panda cub, Bao Bao.
And while the pandas live in a
multimillion dollar habitat, and the zoo recently spent $56 million creating a
state-of-the-art Elephant Trails complex for up to 10 Asian elephants, Kelly
insists the zoo isn't "staffing pandas or elephants any more or less with
the international standards" because money for the panda habitat and the
elephant exhibit comes from private donations.
"The actual zookeeping aspect
of it is at the proportions that are safe and normal for our profession,"
he said.
National Zoo
Friends
of the National Zoo is a support organization for the National Zoo.
Note: James C. Weinberg
is a director at the Friends of the
National Zoo, and a VP for Booz
Allen Hamilton.
Edward Snowden was
an employee at Booz Allen Hamilton,
and leaked information about the National
Security Agency (NSA).
Robert S. Osborne
is the EVP & general counsel for Booz
Allen Hamilton, and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
R.
Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP.
Michelle
Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin
LLP.
Barack
Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin
LLP, and is the president for the Barack
Obama administration.
Joseph R. Biden Jr.
is the vice president for the Barack
Obama administration, and a regent at the Smithsonian Institution.
National
Zoo is a member institution of the Smithsonian
Institution.
Newton
N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
Commercial Club of Chicago,
Members Directory
Please note: This link for the
members of the Commercial Club of Chicago can no longer be found.
W. James McNerney
Jr. is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and the chairman & president & CEO for the Boeing Company.
Barbara G. Fast
was a VP at the Boeing Company, a VP
for the CGI Group Inc and is a
friend of Keith B. Alexander.
Keith B.
Alexander is a friend of Barbara G.
Fast, and a director at the National
Security Agency (NSA).
CGI Group Inc.
was the Obamacare contractor that
developed Healthcare.gov web site.
Obamacare
is Barack Obama’s signature policy
initiative.
Donna
S. Morea was the EVP for the CGI
Group Inc., and a trustee at the Committee
for Economic Development.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Committee for Economic Development, and the Brookings Institution (think tank).
George
Soros is the chairman for the Foundation
to Promote Open Society.
Shirley Ann
Jackson is a trustee at the Committee
for Economic Development, a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a regent for the Smithsonian Institution.
National
Zoo is a member institution of the Smithsonian
Institution.
John G. Roberts
Jr. is the chancellor for the Smithsonian
Institution, and an honorary member of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club (Gainesville,
VA).
Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is the president
emeritus of the Robert Trent Jones Golf
Club (Gainesville, VA), an honorary trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank), Valerie B.
Jarrett’s great uncle, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg
(think tank), was the president of the Economic
Club of Washington, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant
(think tank).
Valerie B. Jarrett
is Vernon E. Jordan Jr’s great niece, the senior
adviser for the Barack Obama
administration, and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
Cyrus F.
Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
David M. Rubenstein
is trustee at the Brookings Institution
(think tank), the president of the Economic
Club of Washington, and a regent at the Smithsonian Institution.
National
Zoo is a member institution of the Smithsonian
Institution.
Friends
of the National Zoo is a support organization for the National Zoo.
James C. Weinberg
is a director at the Friends of the
National Zoo, and a VP for Booz
Allen Hamilton.
Edward Snowden was
an employee at Booz Allen Hamilton,
and leaked information about the National
Security Agency (NSA).
Robert S. Osborne
is the EVP & general counsel for Booz
Allen Hamilton, and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
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