Zoo troubles for orderly Singapore

First, a crocodile bit a keeper's leg. Then, a jaguar escaped. And a tourist was scratched.

First, a crocodile bit a zookeeper's leg. A week later, a spotted jaguar escaped. The next day, a big cat strayed offstage at a show and scratched a spectator.

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It's been a tough month for Wildlife Reserves Singapore, the company that runs the city-state's zoo, night safari and bird park, which draw nearly 3 million visitors a year.

The April mishaps have hurt the image of a wildlife complex internationally acclaimed for its innovative, animal-friendly layout and conservation programs. "Are zoo animals stressed out by the crowds?" read a headline on the letters page of Singapore's biggest newspaper, The Straits Times.

Things went wrong on the afternoon of Sunday, April 17, when a jaguar strayed from its enclosure through a small opening used for feeding. The zoo evacuated the area, sedated the animal and had it back inside within an hour.

Then, during the 10 p.m. Night Safari show on April 18, a serval cat wandered off the stage, got past the keepers, and "accidentally" scratched a woman in the audience, Wildlife Reserves said in a statement. The woman, described by local media as a Chinese tourist, was treated at a hospital and discharged. After the cat debacle, the zoo made public an April 10 incident at the reptile garden in which a type of crocodile called a gavial bit a zookeeper while being chased by another gavial. The keeper, who reportedly suffered seven punctures in his leg, is in a hospital.

Zoo officials say they will tighten safety procedures. But in a letter to The Straits Times, reader David Tan Kok Kheng suggested that the zoo study animal stress levels "before something really drastic happens," and consider closing more to give the animals a break.

He said he had tried to take his children to the zoo on a recent public holiday, but turned back due to crowds.

"If I felt irritated by the crowd that day, the animals would have felt worse, having to go through it every day," he wrote. On its Web site, Wildlife Reserves says the 1,400 animals in the 28-hectare (69-acre) zoo "live in spacious and landscaped enclosures simulating that of their natural habitat."

Moats are often used instead of bars, and dangerous animals are kept in glass-fronted enclosures rather than grim cages. In contrast, animals in many other Asian zoos live in cramped conditions, with officials exercising little control over visitors who toss food or garbage into cages.