Bits and Bites from around the World > Alcohol taskforce cop gets drunk shoots another cop; 5 Lions slip away from Zoo Containment

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'Alcohol taskforce' cop gets drunk in Swiss police station

and shoots colleague in the foot

By TOM SCOTSON FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 14:11 EDT, 31 October 2022 |

An alcohol taskforce cop got drunk in a Swiss police station and shot a colleague in the foot, authorities said on Monday. 

The intoxicated officer fired his gun seven times inside the taskforce office's last Friday, a spokesman for the Geneva judiciary confirmed. 

Five of the man's colleagues were there including 'one who was hit in the foot and had to undergo surgery,' he said.

The intoxicated officer fired his gun seven times inside the taskforce office's last Friday, a spokesman for the Geneva judiciary confirmed (file image of Swiss policemen on a Geneva Street)

The officer was questioned by Geneva's top prosecutor and stands accused of endangerment and causing bodily harm through negligence.

He has also been accused of resisting efforts to establish his 'capacity to drive'.

The authorities, who did not provide details on what the man's blood-alcohol level had been at the time, said the investigation was ongoing.

Methinks the fool will be reassigned to a different unit!

Five lions escape enclosure at Australian zoo, sparking emergency

By Darryl Coote

   

Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Officials at an Australian zoo have launched an investigation after five lions momentarily escaped their enclosure Wednesday, sparking an emergency situation.

The incident occurred Wednesday morning at the Taronga Zoo, located along the shores of Sydney harbor.

Park officials said that one adult lion and four cubs were found outside their main exhibit at about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday.

The lions were spotted in an area adjacent to their main exhibit and separated from the rest of the zoo by a six-foot containment fence, whose purpose is to keep the public back from the lion exhibit.

The zoo enacted an emergency response within 10 minutes of the lions exiting its enclosure, officials said.

Simon Duffy, executive director of the Taronga Zoo, told reporters during a press conference that all people on site when the incident occurred were moved to so-called designated safe zones.

"This is a significant incident. A full review is now underway to confirm exactly how the lions were able to exit their main exhibit," he said.

Four of the lions returned to their enclosure on their own, requiring zoo staff to only tranquilize one of the cubs, he said.

"All animals are now safe in their back-of-house exhibit and are being closely monitored," he added, stating the emergency lasted less than 10 minutes.

In a 5 p.m. update, the zoo said an initial review confirmed that the lions exited their enclosure due to an "integrity issue" with a containment fence.

"A full report will now be prepared for the [New South Wales] Department of Primary Industries," it said.

Thai Tiger Temple Monk Caught Fleeing with Skins, Fangs

By AFP

Thai authorities uncovered a trove of animal parts and intercepted a monk trying to leave a controversial "tiger temple" with skins and fangs Thursday, the latest discovery to fuel accusations that the zoo is involved in the illegal wildlife trade.

Dozens of police and park officials have been stationed at the Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua temple in western Kanchanaburi province since Monday after receiving a court order to remove over 100 adult cats from the complex.

For decades the infamous temple has been a popular stop for tourists who pay a steep fee to pet and be photographed with the predators -- which animal rights groups say are heavily sedated.



Thai wildlife officials load a tiger into a cage on a truck after they removed it from an enclosure after the animal was anaesthetised at the Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi province, western Thailand on May 30, 2016 ©Christophe Archambault (AFP/File)

"Today we found tiger skins and amulets in a car which was trying to leave the temple," Adisorn Noochdumrong, the deputy director of Thailand's parks department, told AFP.

He said around 10 tiger fangs were also found in the truck, and that some of the hundreds of amulets contained tiger parts.

In addition to skins that were later found in monks' quarters, officials discovered a living lion, hornbill, sun bear and banteng (an endangered species of wild cattle) inside the temple compound, he said.

They also uncovered around 20 containers of preserved tiger parts holding "both whole bodies and organs to be used for medicines," Adisorn told AFP.

The discovery comes after authorities found dozens of dead tiger cubs inside a freezer at the temple Wednesday.

Animals rights groups and conservationists have long accused the temple of secretly acting as a tiger farm and reaping huge profits from selling animals and tiger parts on the black market for use in Chinese medicine.


A Thai wildlife official speaks with a monk before officials removed tigers from enclosures at the Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi province, western Thailand on May 30, 2016 ©Christophe Archambault (AFP/File)

The temple has always denied trafficking allegations and says it provides higher quality care for the animals than official park facilities.

Repeated efforts to shut down the site over the years have been delayed and complicated by the fact that secular Thai authorities are often reluctant to intervene in the affairs of the clergy.

Park authorities said they have removed 84 tigers so far this week and are transferring the animals to nearby breeding centres.

Police said they have not filed any criminal charges yet and are still investigating the temple.

Previous raids of the temple revealed that dozens of hornbills, jackals and Asian bears were also being kept at the sanctuary without proper permits.


Thai wildlife officials use a tunnel of cages to capture a tiger and remove it from an enclosure at the Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi province, western Thailand on May 30, 2016 ©Christophe Archambault (AFP/File)