He disguises himself as an ostrich to simulate an escape from the zoo: exhilarating exercise in Thailand

He disguises himself as an ostrich to simulate an escape from the zoo: an exhilarating exercise in Thailand

Bizarre exercise in a Thai zoo, where a keeper was asked to simulate the escape of an ostrich to test security measures.

In one zoo tailandese, one of the keepers disguised himself as an ostrich to participate (as the main protagonist) in a curious and unlikely exercise of "wild animal management". In simple terms, the man simulated the escape of one of these mighty birds within the zoo, trying in every way to avoid the moral capture tactics and encirclement strategies prepared by colleagues and veterinarians. Eventually, as the hilarious images shared on Facebook by the Chiang Mai Zoo show, the "ostrich" was trapped with a gigantic fishing net and brought back to the "African Animal Show Ring", the enclosure in which these animals are imprisoned.

As absurd and genuinely comical as these drills are, they are nothing new in zoos. In these structures, moreover, animal escape is a safety hazard that should not be underestimated: in addition to being rather complex to manage, in fact, it does not allow for practical staff training. Freeing the real animals - especially the potentially dangerous ones - among the visitors is naturally impractical, so it is necessary to work with imaginative alternative solutions.

Disguising a person as an animal on the run is therefore the best you can have to check the behavior of the employees and plan the management of a possible emergency. In 2019, for example, in the Tobe Zoological Park in Ehime, Japan, two keepers disguised themselves as leone it's yes polar bear for this specific reason. The video of the “lion” wandering around disoriented in the Japanese park and then being captured is probably the funniest thing you will see today: here it is below.

The costumes make these exercises hilarious. Often the escape workers are equipped with anonymous colored t-shirts, but in zoos where a sense of humor is not lacking, real animal-themed costumes are developed. That of man-ostrich Thai is particularly successful, not only for the giant hat used to mimic the bird's neck and head, but also for the white-painted face, bulky foam bust, and other details of the plumage. Unfortunately, his escape did not last long.

But why use an ostrich? Although the most dangerous bird in the world is considered the casuarina Australian, African ostriches are significantly larger and heavier. They can reach 3 meters high, 160 kilograms of weight, and run for short distances at approx 70 kilometers per hour.

They have very strong legs and powerful claws which they do not hesitate to use when they are threatened, which is why in Thailand they have well thought of involving them in a possible emergency (we doubt, however, that man has been able to reach the speed of an ostrich, considering that Usain Bolt he ran the 100 meters in 9.58 seconds at an average speed of about 37.5 kilometers per hour).

The hope is that such drills can avoid a repetition of tragedies like the one that occurred in 2020 in the Amersfoort Zoo, in the Netherlands, where two chimps escaped from a cage and were shot to death to avoid a hypothetical attack on visitors. Another reason why animals should be let loose in their natural habitat is.

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