The killing of one tiger by another at the Henry Doorly Zoo is a lamentable loss. It is also an event to be viewed in perspective. The long-haul story is that such incidents at the Omaha zoo are rare almost to the point of nonexistence. The zoo is home to more than 19,000 creatures representing about 740 species.
Workers there are responsible for far more than clean enclosures and proper diet.
The animals' needs also range from proper veterinary care to mentally stimulating environments meant to keep them from developing obsessive, even self-destructive behavior. They're asking visitors who have recently been out of the country to avoid the petting zoo and the drive-through safari park, where they might come into close contact with animals. In addition, the zoo's thousands of charges must be appropriately segregated from predators, from the million-plus visitors who pass through the facility every year and sometimes even from their own kind or near kin. Last week, a failure to do that resulted in the tiger's death. As a result, one zoo worker was fired.