Fur Corners: Night Howler Nightmare

Anchor Jada Whiscolson [Serval]: The great city of Zootopia is a unique and beautiful place that was jointly established over 200 years ago by our ancestors of both prey and predator animals. It is where we, as animals of two different races, are supposed to be living in harmony and celebrating our differences and where everyone can be given a chance to become anything they want if they try and put the effort in. Until we evolved and joined together in peace, predators had ruled the world and prey became victims of the overpowering forces that could never be matched by their own defences.

Unfortunately, another powerful force has recently threatened to reignite this terrifying existence and create fear to divide the city: Predators going uncontrollably savage without any initial knowledge as to why, and viciously attacking the residents. At first impression, it was assumed that predators were reverting back to their biologically savage instincts as it was still in their genetics, thus throwing away the trust between races and renewing unwanted racial tension that the city strongly opposes.

This would have continued had the root of the problem not been discovered and eliminated by two highly skilled rabbit and fox officers from the Zootopia Police Department - well, the latter was not officially on the force until after the case was solved. Together, they discovered the psychiatric effects of a toxic flower and it's illegal use on innocent predators by a criminal mastermind.

In this report, investigative journalist Darren Striperush will take a deeper look into the scandal that attempted to destroy everything that the city of Zootopia holds so dear and the importance of unity in such desperate times.

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Darren Striperush [Zebra], Fur Corners correspondent: The bright bustling city of Zootopia, with its many diverse ecosystems to accomodate the appropriate needs and resources for each and every animal, is a unique place where predator and prey alike roam and appreciate each other's values and differences. Since evolution, savage rivalry between races has become extinct and unity has taken over for the benefit of peace and harmony. That is precisely what the city was built for and what it holds close to its heart. 

But a recent scare caused by an initially unknown source indefinitely reversed that with predators going savage, thus sending the city into a state of fear. So much so that Mayor Leodore Lionheart falsely imprisoned the afflicted animals so that he felt the city would be safe, only to be found out and imprisoned before any further investigation into the case could be undertaken.

Leodore Lionheart [Lion], Mayor of Zootopia: I was the first to understand that certain animals in the city had gone savage before it had a chance to catch the ears of reporters and spread the news to the media. I was afraid that if that would happen, the city would break out into a state of fear and everyone and everything would be destroyed. I don't like to be selfish, but I was also afraid of what everyone would feel about their predator mayor and potential thoughts about him turning against them in a savage manner. Therefore, for the sake of the city and the responsible individual in charge of it's citizens, I acted out of desperation by hiring experts to capture and imprison the affected animals until a solution to the problem could be found. I even hired a badger doctor to analyse the extent of their behaviour, but even she was unable to give an immediate and clear diagnosis as of yet.

Dr. Madge Honey Badger [Honey Badger], Zootopia Central Hospital: Mayor Lionheart secretly hired me to do some testing on the inflicted predators, but I could not find an initial diagnosis since very few individuals in the city knew anything about the Night Howler flowers or their dangerous side-effects. Until this point, us doctors had never seen any such case like this. Not in this part of the world anyway, considering that it could have happened elsewhere without a word being spread. Therefore, out of fear, I made a biased assumption that the biology of predators was the cause. Lionheart did not like the concept, and begged me to keep quiet about it.

Striperush: Lionheart, Doctor Acacia and their wolf henchman were the only ones in the city to know, and they were desperate to keep it that way. Consequently, distraught families of the kidnapped animals reported to the ZPD and created stacking numbers of missing mammal cases.

Chief Bogo [Cape Buffalo], Zootopia Police Department: It was quite absurd, really, that 14 mammals went missing in less than two weeks alone. At the rate that it was going, only more were going to stack up and our officers had to intervene ASAP. We did not know why or who the culprit behind this was. All we knew was that we had act before it got worse. So I sent our officers out to find them.

Striperush: Included in the case, by initial reluctance, was first-ever rabbit officer Judith Hopps, a fresh graduate and valedictorian from the Zootopia Police Academy.

Bogo: I was aware of her award for the hard work she put in at the Academy, but I have to admit that I did not think much of her at the time because she was a lot smaller than the larger mammals on the force and I assumed that she was not physically capable enough to handle tough field work. I didn't even want her on the force despite the mayor's insistence. Therefore, I confined her to parking duty. But after seeing her impressive work in cracking the entire case in less than two days, I know now that it really was selfish thinking and an act of bigotry. I do indeed regret not trusting her and giving her a chance in the first place.

Officer Judith Hopps [Rabbit], Zootopia Police Department: I was hoping that I would get some exciting field work on my first day on the job, but instead Chief Bogo gave me easy and safe work because he could not trust me. I did take it to heart because I wanted a real challenge as I had worked my whole life to get to this stage. Luckily, Assistant Mayor Bellwether insisted that I take the case, and despite threats of resignation if I failed to solve the case in two days, I was not going to let that distract me from doing my job.

Lionheart: I introduced the Mammal Inclusion Initiative into the city, which allows greater opportunities for employment for a wider range of animals. Officer Hopps was a big part of that deal, and I assigned her to the main precinct for good reason. Her hard work at the Academy was a real eye-opener that could not be missed so easily, and despite being smaller, it was her speed and intellect that worked in her favour.  It is a matter of mind over matter, if you will, and that is way more important than brute strength. 

Bogo: I realised now that with the city being plagued with cases, we needed all the help we could get, and that this was the worst time to be arguing about who should or shouldn't be taking important cases. The truth is, only the very best officers are assigned to me, and Hopps definitely proved herself a cut above everyone else.

Striperush: But as Hopps was left by herself with an unlikely chance at solving the case within the limited timeframe that she was given, she needed extra help from an outside source.

Judy Hopps: It was fox Nicholas Wilde who last saw the animal I was assigned to find - florist otter Emmett Otterton - and I had already met him a couple of days before, so he gave me my first lead. Through some tough persuasion, he managed to help me create a trail that would eventually lead us to finding not just Otterton, but the other missing mammals as well. We did have to overcome a few tough obstacles along the way, and he was a very valuable asset in providing the resources and connections to overcome that.

Officer Nicholas P. Wilde [Fox], Zootopia Police Department: We first met when I was pulling off a legal hustling job that she thought she could take me in for, and I had to sort of, uh, give her a reality check about Zootopia's actual imbalance between everyone, which is not quite understood by those who live elsewhere and who believe what they hear about the city. My words did come off a little harsh because I seriously doubted her ability in becoming a true cop. Well, two days later, we met again, and she asked me to cooperate in her missing mammal case since I knew Mr. Otterton and was the last one to see him. She was very persuasive in the way she hustled me and proved that she can indeed hold her own as opposed to my words against hers, but that is a different story. Let's just say that I am glad that she did in the end. So anyway, I managed to help her build a connection to the case through my knowledge of the city, and despite facing perilous situations, we managed to find all of the missing mammals and catch Mayor Lionheart out.

Striperush: But the missing mammals was far from being a part of the bigger issue that the city was about to discover, when Hopps and Wilde witnessed a predator going savage and almost killing them both. It was then that the real investigative case bloomed.

Judy Hopps: Our case trail led to a jaguar limousine driver called Mr. Renato Manchas, who explained that he was escorting Mr. Otterton to a business partner before the florist viciously attacked the driver halfway through the journey to the destination. It was the first of the savage attacks we heard about before Manchas himself went savage.

Wilde: Then when we got to the Cliffside Asylum where the mammals were being held and saw that they were all predators who had gone savage, we immediately knew that something wasn't right. The real issue was then discovered, and it was going to be very tough to see why this was happening.

Striperush: A controversial theoretical approach by Hopps at a Town Hall press conference following the cracking of the case