Saturday, May 9, 2009

Rebel Shark Diving - Burgers Zoo

Still unsure of the identities and motives of intruders, zoo officials at Amsterdams Burgers Zoo discovered two men trying to go shark diving in their tropics tanks last week:

AMSTERDAM—Two men broke into Amsterdam's Arnhem Burgers Zoo on Wednesday night and attempted to dive into a pool with three sharks. The men, who had donned some diving equipment that was lying beside the pool, were just about to plunge in when they were intercepted by the director of the zoo, accompanied by two police officers.

“These two were acting completely insanely. They have endangered the animals. The sharks are sensitive to stress and could have died of a heart attack,” zoo director Alex van Hooff was reported as saying in news reports. Blacktip sharks can be dangerous to humans under certain circumstances. They get their name from the black tips on their pelvic and pectoral fins. The sharks can attain a maximum length of nine feet.

The two were arrested, taken into custody and charged with breaking and entering. Dutch media reported that the men were under the influence of drugs.“They broke into the zoo to dive and not to steal. I am really pissed off about this,” Telegraaf quoted Van Hooff as saying.

Editors Note: Died of a heart attack?