Brookfield Zoo Loses 54 Stingrays In Tank Malfunction

Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo staff are working to determine the cause of a malfunction in the stingray habitat that ultimately killed all 54 animals housed in their tank, reported the Washington Post.

54 Stingrays Die At Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo

A post from the Chicago Zoo’s Facebook page announced Sunday that the oxygen in the stingray tank dropped to dangerously low levels Friday for an unknown reason.

Bill Zeigler, the senior vice president of animal programs for the Chicago Zoological Society, told the Chicago Tribune that an alarm at the tank went off around 1:45 p.m. Veterinarians arrived on the scene to find the stingrays acting strangely and took immediate action. The staff used an air bubbler and submerged air pumps, which were able to restore safe oxygen levels within 20 minutes, Ziegler explained.

“We are devastated by the tragic loss of these animals,” wrote Bill Zeigler in the Facebook post. “Our staff did everything possible to try and save the animals, but the situation could not be reversed.”

The stingrays were in a shallow saltwater pool that allowed guests to touch and feed the animals. The sea creatures are known for being able to release venom through the stingers within their tails.

“They are taking it apart piece by piece to see what went wrong,” Zeigler pointed out.

Brookfield Zoo lost 16 stingrays in 2008 when a malfunction with the tank’s water heater raised the temperature by 10 degrees, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. At Fresno Chaffee Zoo in 2007, 18 rays died from the same issue after a power outage. In 2009, 11 freshwater stingrays died at the National Zoo, and 41 died in the Calgary Zoo in 2008, all because of insufficient oxygen.

Brittany Peet, deputy director of captive animal law enforcement for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), told the Sun-Times that the stingray tank at Brookfield is a “death trap.”

“At this point, 70 animals have died at the Brookfield Zoo as a result of malfunctions with their tank and it’s time for them to close down their tank for good,” Peet argued.

The Brookfield Zoo will close the exhibit for the remainder of the summer while staff try to determine the source of the malfunction.