Editorial: That's what wild beasts do

In the old fable, a scorpion asks a frog to carry him across a river. The frog is wary, afraid of being stung, but the scorpion soothes his fears: if it stung the frog, it says, the frog would sink and both would drown.

The frog agrees, and when, in mid-river, the scorpion stings him, dooming the two of them, asks why the scorpion went back on his word. "I'm a scorpion," he replies.

Some versions add "It's my nature", to underline the point. Either way, it's a good one. And the story should be required reading for anyone who runs wildlife parks.

It would take a cold heart indeed not to feel sympathy for the loved ones of Dalu Mncube, who was mauled to death by the biggest white tiger, 260kg Abu, at Zion Wildlife Gardens near Whangarei on Wednesday. But it does not take an animal behaviour expert to see that the attack was predictable.

Abu attacked keeper Demetri Price in February and barely a year ago another white tiger left disfiguring scars on the hand of a park worker. The tigers had already sent an unambiguous message to the park management: they are wild animals and it's their nature to attack.

That being so, the destruction of Abu, one of barely 200 white tigers alive, is an outrage. If wildlife parks are to be applauded for their contribution to the animals' conservation, they must also be condemned for killing them.

The park says that there was no alternative to shooting Abu, since Mncube could not be checked for signs of life until the tiger was disabled. That is doubtless true, but the issue would not have arisen - and the tragedy would have been avoided - if the park did not have such a gung-ho approach to keeping the animals separate. Good fences make good neighbours, as the saying goes. That's particularly true when your neighbours are wild animals.