MTV, local frat, zoo = prosecution

[hoosier]

BUFFALO ZOO
Fraternity prank may lead to charges
By TOM BUCKHAM
News Staff Reporter
3/27/2003

The Buffalo Zoo will prosecute three University at Buffalo students who apparently climbed into the facility after hours last fall in a prank videotaped for "Fraternity Life," an MTV reality series.
Zoo President Donna M. Fernandes said Wednesday she will ask the Erie County district attorney's office today to pursue charges against Tim Kukulka, Earl Altheide and Steve Paul.

In an episode of "Fraternity Life" scheduled for broadcast Wednesday night, the Sigma Chi Omega pledges were shown scaling a wall near a zoo entrance and walking around between the hyena and roan antelope exhibit near the center of the zoo, said Fernandes, who viewed a copy of the tape after UB alerted the zoo to the incident.

The students talked briefly about stealing an animal as a mascot for the fraternity house before one of them said, "This is dumb," and the three climbed back over the wall, "got in Land Rovers supplied by the MTV producers and drove off," Fernandes said.

It's uncertain whether the camera crew got into the zoo with the students, although the activity in the segment apparently was shot from outside, she said.

Entering a zoo after hours "is not only a danger to the animals, but sometimes people get injured or killed," Fernandes said.

In 1985, police were forced to shoot two Buffalo Zoo polar bears to death after an intruder climbed into their enclosure one night and was mauled.

And in 1989, a Buffalo Zoo zebu - a pygmy Brahma bull - was put to death after being severely beaten at night by an unknown assailant.

The decision to prosecute the UB students "was not made lightly," Fernandes said. "We are the stewards of this animal collection for the entire community. We will take any and all steps necessary to ensure the safety of our animals."

MTV has not responded to the zoo's complaints about the incident, she said.

The zoo will consider bolstering its nighttime security, which includes officers, maintenance workers and strategically placed cameras, Fernandes added.

Kukulka, Altheide and Paul were subpoenaed March 18 to appear before the Student-Wide Judiciary, according to the Spectrum, UB's student newspaper.

Altheide told the paper that the incident had nothing to do with pledging and that the three brothers sneaked out of the house in the hopes of stealing a chicken from the zoo to keep as a pet.

The three left after realizing they could not get into any of the cages, Paul told the Spectrum.

"It's not like we were harming the animals or anything," he said. "We were just, like, patrolling the zoo."

Sigma Chi Omega already is in trouble with UB over earlier scenes from the MTV series. The chapter was suspended earlier this month after university officials decided some activities caught on film might be hazing.