Cute leopard tortoise who was just went looking for a hide-from-all-the-people-hidey-place and found it behind the paneling. The probably young employee did not want them to look silly that the little tort had been there all along. Oopsee. Bad judgement, we all get it. Thank goodness it wasn't a theft. That would have been evil. T
The museum in question, The Dubuque Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium (http://www.mississippirivermuseum.com/) is featuring a big display of turtles and tortoises all summer. The site does not talk about it much but I hope to visit it in the next couple months.
Dubuque is a smaller town on the Mississippi, right where Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois come together. It is about 3 hours from Chicago, Milwaukee, or Minneapolis. It is mostly a college town with nine different universities and colleges. It has an IBM campus and a big John Deere plant. My wife teaches there in the school year and I visit as often as I can. It is a really nice place.
The River Museum is a really nice place that they are trying to make into a regional attraction, but has the same limits on it that so many other places do- not enough money, difficulty in hiring good people and paying what they are worth, etc. From what I have seen, however, they really try to take care of the animals they have- mostly things native to the area, but also a really cool swamp display with gators and big snappers.
So... when we look at trying to blame someone or act like this is some sort of big deal, I disagree. This was an employee who made a mistake that triggered a response that went out of control, then made another mistake to cover it up. He was probably scared for his job and probably not very experienced at animal keeping, especially things like tortoises.
If this had been a reputable zoo, like the world-famous Omaha Zoo, or a zoo that specializes in reptile cares, etc. THEN this would have been a major issue due to the lapses in care, procedures, etc. and the key issue would have been the professionalism of the staff.
Heck- I've goofed up worse than this in my career!
Just goes to show how good tortoises are at hiding. In that sense, this person's mistake serves as a good lesson. Yesterday, I spent 15 minutes turning over our outdoor enclosure looking for one of our tortoises, only to find that he was hiding under a flap of AstroTurf - essentially the same situation as above. Just remember to breathe, and you will find them.