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Shooting bears in Bedfordshire
After two brown bears were shot at Whipsnade Zoo, PETER FROST considers if zoos are still an acceptable way of entertaining and educating us about wild animals
A file photo of a brown bear

LAST week I heard the appalling news that two brown bears (Ursus arctos) had been shot and killed after escaping their enclosure at Whipsnade Zoo, part of the Zoological Society of London.  

The escape has been blamed on a storm battered tree which fell onto their enclosure fence and enabled them to scramble into a neighbouring wild boar enclosure.

This must be a deeply distressing time for those who cared for the bears, named Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. 

Pic: Brocken Inaglory / Creative Commons
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