Zoo Intensifies Security After Thefts : Difficulty of Patrolling 100-Acre Facility Acknowledged

At the San Diego Zoo, chickens and small, wild turkeys run free amid the brush, and occasionally an obstinate orangutan escapes his confines to the walkways and visitors below.

Animal runaways have always been a concern at the zoo, officials say. But following the theft of a rare African eagle from its cage earlier this week, zoo workers are increasingly concerned about animals leaving the zoo involuntarily.

The male African bateleur eagle was the second rare, African bird-of-prey to be stolen from the zoo in two weeks. On June 3, a female milky eagle owl was taken from its cage, about 100 yards and over a hill from the bateleur’s enclosure.

“Our primary concern is whether it will happen again,” said Wayne Schulenburg, animal care manager for birds. “Certainly, the zoo is doing everything it can to secure the area.”

Zoo administrators acknowledge that it is difficult to patrol the 100 acres of rolling canyonland, shrouded by tall eucalyptus trees and brush. But during its 73-year existence, the zoo has not been hard-hit by animal thefts. Most notable in recent years was the Feb. 4, 1988, taking of a pair of rare Gang-Gang cockatoos. Other stolen animals, like a snake at the zoo and a cockatoo at the Wild Animal Park, were recovered.

Despite the zoo’s past security record, the recent thefts have prompted stepped up efforts to prevent thefts. More armed security guards have been added to zoo ranks, normal 24-hour patrols have been stepped up and locks on certain cages have been changed. Regular visitors to the zoo are reporting suspicious activity around the cages, said Jeff Jouett, a zoo spokesman. Zoo keepers even have put well-known King Tut, a salmon-crested cockatoo and the official greeter of the zoo, under tighter security, he said.

“It’s not ‘Mission Impossible’ to get in here, but we’re making it a lot harder,” Jouett said.

Zoo administrators say they will not hesitate to prosecute anyone caught stealing animals.

Birds at the zoo are most commonly targeted by thieves because of their rarity and their size. For instance, there now are only five African milky eagle owls and 24 bateleur eagles in captivity in the United States, officials said.

On the other hand, birds have a built-in protection system. Most wild eagles, with their strong wings and large, sharp talons and beaks, would sense danger and injure anyone trying to steal them, Jouett said. But the stolen milky eagle owl and bateleur eagle were unusually tame, and thus didn’t pose much threat to the thieves, who in both incidents probably used meat to attract the birds, he said.

This has led officials to believe that the thieves in both cases had specific knowledge about both species, and about the dispositions of the particular birds.

“We aren’t going to find (the eagle and owl) in some teen-ager’s garage. The birds themselves would have foiled an attempt by someone who didn’t know what they were doing,” Jouett said. “An amateur would have been apprehended in the emergency room of some hospital.”

The milky eagle owl was stolen by someone who cut the barbed-wire fence surrounding the zoo next to California 163, near the Quince Street exit. The thief or thieves then cut out a 2-foot patch in the bird’s wire cage.

In the case of the bateleur eagle, thieves either unlocked with a key or broke the lock on the back door of the bird’s large flight cage. The lock has not been recovered, Jouett said.

Knowledge required to steal birds and other animals would have to be intricate, the spokesman said. A thief would have to avoid the armed patrols and gain access to a cage. Then, without specific knowledge about individual animals and species, the thief most likely would be attacked and injured by a frightened wild animal, or simply would fail to capture it.

In fact, those who have succeeded in stealing the rare owl and eagle still face difficulties, Jouett said. Once people learn of the thefts, selling the birds or showing them in a personal collection will be risky.