Swedish zoo shoots 12 wolves after several escape enclosure

Jan 10, 2010, 22:16 GMT

Stockholm - A zoo in southern Sweden said Sunday it was forced to put down its entire 12-strong wolf pack after several of the wolves escaped from their enclosure.

The decision to destroy the wolves on Saturday was made after the pack's female and male leaders had escaped their enclosure at the Skanes Djurpark zoo.

'A wolf pack is centred around the alpha couple where the female is the most important. The chance of getting the rest of the pack to remain in the enclosure disappeared once she had escaped,' said chief animal handler Johan Lindstrom.

The zoo near Hoor, some 570 kilometres south of Stockholm, specializes in Nordic fauna and keeps some 75 species. It also cooperates with other parks and zoos in Europe to preserve endangered species.

'This is an extremely tragic event for all of us at the zoo,' Skanes Djurpark director Camilla Jonsson said.

Zoo officials said the first escapes occurred Thursday when two male wolves gnawed through fencing around their enclosure and moved into an adjacent red deer enclosure.

The two were shot Saturday when they managed for a second time to break out from the enclosure.

When three other wolves, including the female leader, escaped Saturday through a different opening, the zoo decided it had no alternative but to kill all the wolves.

Officials at the zoo, which draws around 200,000 visitors each year, said there was no risk to the public Saturday.