Samuel screamed as the giant yellowing paw sliced through the sleeve of his thin work shirt. Instinctively he grasped at the source of the pain, his mind swirling as he encountered too much of nothing, twisted bone and blood, where only seconds ago there had been a fully functioning arm holding the hose.
“It’s all up with me, I’m gone” Samuel cried out as he collapsed on the pavement just out of reach of the paw that probed again through the cage bars. The bear realising that there was no more fun to be had, retreated at the sound of the running footsteps quickly approaching. Dragging his prize with him he lumbered off to the relative sanctuary of a shady patch near the back wall of the enclosure where he could watch the drama unfolding and enjoy the spoils of the day. A welcome change from the boredom, the relentless heat from concrete and steel, so far from his Arctic home.
Mr Minchin the Zoo director was ambivalent. “Well, he’d been warned. I always said you can’t trust these wild creatures for minute”.
“The hot weather? No that doesn’t bother them, they are always bad tempered and the most treacherous animals in the gardens” he responded to the eager pressman.
Bundled off to the hospital, Samuel left the Zoo for the last time. Help had arrived quickly but the shock and loss of blood proved too much for his sixty year old body and within the space of a day he joined the ranks of Zoo keepers past.
Reference:
1920 'ZOO TRAGEDY', Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), 21 February, p. 39, viewed 23 January, 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165671110
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