ZooNews Digest 7th -
14th March 2005 (Zoo News 344)
Peter Dickinson :
Peter@elvinhow.prestel.co.uk
Dear Colleague,
Last weekend I
attended the Association of British Wild Animal
Keepers 2005
Symposium. I travelled down to Dudley Zoo on both days
with Michelle P. If
she had not been kind enough to offer a lift I
doubt I could have
afforded to go. She is a good friend and good
company. Thanks
Michelle.
Tom L. joined us the
first day, but could not get the time off work
to attend on both.
Pity then that there was no reduction in fee to
cover eventualities
like this. A case of "two for the price of one"
in reverse. The
conference itself was extremely well organised and
the catering superb.
It was highly enjoyable. My thanks to all
concerned.
The event was well
attended. Sadly though, I reckon over half the
delegates were
students. I suppose in a way that this is good in as
much as many of
these are the zoo employees of the future but sad in
that only a very
small number of UK zoos were represented. One of the
presentations
(within the AGM) dealt with this very subject. There
are huge number of
UK & Eire keepers out there who are not members of
ABWAK.
From a personal
point of view I find this disturbing on many counts.
Firstly, if small
zoos like the Welsh Mountain Zoo can pay for
Association
membership for all staff who are in their employ for more
than 12 months then
why can't larger or other zoos?
Secondly, as British
tax payers zoo employees are entitled to
membership of one
professional organisation (correct me if I am
wrong). This can be
written off your tax, so membership is in effect,
free! Perhaps your
zoo could arrange this on your behalf.
Thirdly, the
`Secretary of State's Standards of Modern Zoo Practice'
in Section 10 and
Appendix 9 promotes `Staff and Training'. I believe
that having all zoo
staff as active members of ABWAK goes some way
towards doing just
that.
I have been an ABWAK
member since the very start. A good proportion
of that time I paid
my own dues, as I do now. It is nice when someone
else foots the bill
but as a professional I feel I owe it to myself
to keep updated on
what is happening in my field of work. Don't all
zoo staff feel the
same?
There was a good mix
of presentations which is always refreshing. As
usual plenty of
opportunity to mix, mingle and socialise. It was nice
to catch up with
people I had not seen for some time and indeed, meet
some who I had only
known by name before. I must admit to being a
little perturbed by
two people I know who went out of there way to
avoid all, including
eye, contact with me. One wonders what I had
done to offend them
so. It is a funny old world.
On the International
scene, Teague Stubbington gave a short
presentation on the
up and coming `Second International Congress of
Zookeepers' which
will be taking place in Queensland, Australia in
May 2006 (see
details at http://www.iczoo.org ). I share
his
enthusiasm that this
extremely important meeting should be a great
success and urge you
to make the effort to attend. You have just over
a year!! Look for a
sponsor (surely most zoos could sponsor one
keeper?), have a car
boot sale, use eBay. Get the cash together.
Teague suggested
that this was a meeting for Keepers and not Curators
and Directors as
they already had plenty of opportunities to meet.
Here I disagree in
part. True the latter do have plenty of meetings
of their own but any
Curator or Director worth their salt is
a `keeper'(or carer
or handler or whatever name you like to throw at
it) too. They should
attend on an equal footing, we can all learn
from each other.
What is in a title anyway. I first got
a `curator/general
manager' moniker back in 1970. I have always been
a `keeper' though.
No delusions of grandeur here.
That being said
though if it comes to only one member of staff from a
zoo attending this
meeting I believe the Director should take back
seat. The age old
arguement is bound to some to the fore. "We can't
spare the
workers!"....And the answer is. If they were ill or injured
or on holiday you
would manage. So pull out the stops. In the end it
is the zoo which is
advantaged in knowledge and morale!
The Wildlife Centre
for sale in Belize, advertised here for the
second week sounds
quite exciting. Fantastic opportunity for someone.
I wish I had the
cash to spare.
Olivia spent a few
days with me which was nice. She treated to me a
couple of meals out
which made her visit even better still. On one
day we drove along
Colwyn Bay prom. Waves the size of houses started
breaking over the
top of the car. We retreated when the said waves
started to include
rocks the size of house bricks. Still, they say
this is a harbinger
of Spring and the forecast is very good for later
this week.
Since the US
chimpanzee attack last week there has been a great deal
more information. I
include further links (though there are a load
more out here). The
whole story is a very sad one and I have sympathy
for those concerned.
I do think it should be noted down and used in
zoo classroom
lectures. If nothing else it shows just how dangerous
an angry chimp can
be.
As I had half
expected my house purchasers have asked for a reduction
in price, in spite
of it already being well under the market value.
This is all I need!
It is a sort of devil and deep blue situation. I
am giving myself a
week to mull things over. Staying in Wales right
now as I have
funeral to attend tomorrow. Hardly worth the running
backwards and
forwards to Derbyshire spending petrol money I have not
got.
Another lengthy
bunch of links. Some very interesting stories out
there.
Sudan's army
slaughters elephants for Asian markets
Sudan's army and
proxy militias are slaughtering large numbers of
elephants in
southern Sudan and parts of unstable central Africa to
fill a growing Asian
market, mainly in China, for ivory.
A report compiled
for the British-based wildlife charity Care for the
Wild International,
said Sudan is now the focal point for the illegal
ivory trade which is
attacking elephant populations in surrounding
nations.
Southern Sudan, the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Central
African Republic,
Kenya and possibly Chad have become major sources
for raw ivory
exports to Asia through Sudan, where the sale carved
items produced
before a 1989 international ban on the trade in ivory
is allowed, it said.
Esmond Martin, a
respected elephant researcher who led the month-long
investigation, told
reporters here that the Sudanese army and pro-
government militias
had virtually invaded Garamba National Park in
the eastern DRC
where "the killing of elephants is out of control."
"The poachers
are mainly members of the Sudanese army who possess the
necessary firearms
and ammunition," he said. "They also have access
to
Zoo cleaning lady
makes fatal mistake
A tiger in a
Ukrainian zoo killed a woman trying to clean the
animal's cage by
mistake, Interfax news agency reported on Thursday.
The incident
occurred at the Kiev city zoo after the 23-year-old
woman confused
enclosure doors, entered the cage of a tiger known to
be dangerous, and
began collecting trash.
The female tiger,
named Svetlana, attacked the woman almost
immediately, biting
the victim in the neck and breaking her backbone.
The woman died in an
ambulance on the way to hospital, according to
Magnolia TV, a
Kiev-produced television programme reporting on crime
and police news.
The tiger, Svetlana,
will not be
Zoo Celebrates Birth
of Flying Squirrel
Singapore's zoo is
celebrating the birth of a red giant flying
squirrel, believed
to be the first born in captivity in Asia. Last
year, the baby's
mother and other members of the mysterious species
were saved from
being eaten in a restaurant in China.
"It's a very
big deal," Dr. Chris Furley, director of zoology and
veterinary services
at the zoo, said Wednesday. "This group of
animals was
originally rescued from a restaurant and confiscated and
given to the zoo.
They were virtually rescued from certain death and
now they're
breeding."
Flying squirrels, a
species belonging to the rodent family, are a
RSSFeeds0312
Maui Ape Preserve
plan faltering
More than a decade
after the Gorilla Foundation announced it was
moving to Maui, an
ape preserve has yet to materialize and the
project remains $3
million short of its fund-raising goal.
Now the California
nonprofit is facing new setbacks: the wavering
commitment of
longtime benefactor Maui Land & Pineapple Co. and a
couple of lawsuits
by former workers that could damage its image and
finances.
"We were moving
along, but there have been so many distractions
lately," said
Mary Cameron Sanford, a member of the Gorilla
Foundation board and
former ML&P chairwoman. "I'm just as anxious as
anyone else to get
them over here."
In 1994, Maui Pine
granted the Woodside, Calif.-based Gorilla
Foundation a
long-term lease on 70 acres of former pineapple land
near Mahinahina. The
foundation's plan was to bring Koko the gorilla
and her friends to a
climate better suited to their
Third 'gorilla
breast' woman sues
A third woman hired
to look after a gorilla is suing her Californian
ex-employer for
allegedly ordering her to show her breasts to the
animal.
Iris Rivera says
Gorilla Foundation boss Francine Patterson told her
to bare her nipples
as a way of bonding with the gorilla, Koko.
Two other women,
Nancy Alperin and Kendra Keller, made similar
allegations last
week in their own legal action.
The Gorilla
Foundation, based in San Francisco, strongly denies the
claims.
Ms Rivera was an
Toledo Zoo
veterinarian blames firing on his warnings to USDA
But officials deny
cause related to 2004 report
The veterinarian
fired from the Toledo Zoo last week said his slide
from grace began
when he spoke frankly to federal officials in 2004
during a routine
annual animal-care inspection.
Tim Reichard was
dismissed on Feb. 28 from his $75,000-a-year
position after 22
years of service. The dismissal followed a yearlong
struggle between Dr.
Reichard and zoo administrators.
Zoo officials
yesterday maintained the veterinarian's dismissal was
entirely unrelated
to the 2004 U.S. Department of Agriculture
inspection, or to
any animal-care issues. A year ago, USDA inspectors
found the zoo failed
to heed warnings from Dr. Reichard about animal
care.
"The
termination was a result of our concerns over Dr. Reichard's
administrative and
management skills that we had worked with him to
address over the
last several years," said William Dennler, the zoo's
executive director,
in a prepared statement. Dr
AID=/20050308/NEWS15/50308002/-1/NEWS
After visit by USDA,
zoo leaders sought out a 'disgruntled' worker
When the Toledo Zoo
received a critical federal report in February
after an inspection
by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, zoo
officials began a
campaign to find out why they were under such
scrutiny.
After the
inspection, zoo administrators began looking into why they
were investigated,
and what was behind the investigators' "aggressive
tone."
Tim Reichard, the
zoo's chief veterinarian for the past 22 years who
was fired last week,
said it was his candor with federal officials
about problems
concerning animal care during their inspection that
led to his downfall.
A review of the
zoo's board minutes from 2004 reveals that William
Dennler, the zoo's
executive director, planned to contact the
supervisor for USDA
inspectors "to try to determine why this
inspection was
conducted at this time and in this manner." Mr.
Dennler also
AID=/20050310/NEWS15/503100451/-1/NEWS
Clash of
philosophies, loss of animals triggered turmoil
The concrete water
bowl was shoved aside. In its place was a hole,
scratched into the
concrete, the last efforts of a dying bear trying
to find water.
Diane Dawson fell
apart when she saw it. She had cared for this sloth
bear for months as
its keeper. And now everything she feared, the
very thing she tried
desperately to prevent, had happened.
"It was awful.
I cannot tell you what an awful experience that was. I
loved her. She was a
wonderful bear," Ms. Dawson said from her St.
Louis home last
week.
"We killed that
bear."
If you're looking
for the roots of what led to the firing of Toledo
Zoo veterinarian Tim
Reichard, this may be as good a place as any:
the death of the
sloth bear named Medusa by dehydration in December,
2000.
It's an emotional
milestone that raised the sense of urgency in the
veterinarian, at the
very moment the zoo's power structure was about
to subtly shift in a
way that would distance him from other middle
managers and
ultimately contribute to his estrangement from zoo
executives. What
followed was the slow but steady downfall of a man
trapped on one side
by management changes within the zoo, and on the
other, by his own
passion to protect and care for animals.
Dr. Reichard was
fired by the zoo Feb. 28 after more than 22 years as
its veterinarian.
Zoo Executive Director William Dennler said the vet
was dismissed
because of "concerns over Dr. Reichard's administrative
and management
skills that we had worked with him to address over the
last several
years." Dr. Reichard maintains he was fired because he
spoke frankly to
inspectors from the U.S. Department of Agriculture
in February, 2004,
about animal deaths and animal care issues at the
zoo.
After the
inspection, top zoo officials were asked to correct 10
problem areas.
Within the comments, the administrators were
told: "The
attending veterinarian has not been given the appropriate
authority to ensure
all aspects of adequate veterinary care."
On Friday, Tina
Skeldon Wozniak, president of the Lucas County
commissioners,
announced the formation of an investigative committee
to look into
problems at the zoo.
Ms. Wozniak, the
granddaughter of Frank 'Curly' Skeldon, former Blade
business editor and
first director of the Toledo Zoo, said, "The
Toledo Zoo is too
important ... to allow these questions to continue."
Also on Friday, zoo
board President Stephen Staelin said he would
convene a special
meeting of the board to hear Dr. Reichard's plea to
be reinstated.
Reichard wasn't told
of action fatal to bear
The death of the
sloth bear was a nightmare moment for everyone at
the Toledo Zoo. As
the story of what happened unfolded, it was clear
that poor
communication and hubris had conspired in a tragic decision
to isolate a bear,
believed to be pregnant, without food or water.
There is an irony to
the role the bear's death came to play in Dr.
Reichard's future.
It is this: Dr. Reichard was out of town when the
bear was put into
the den. He was not told the action had been taken.
He never was
informed of the keeper's pleas to give the bear food and
water. And when he
returned from a research trip, curators did not
tell him that they
had denned the bear.
Denning the bear
without food and water was the decision of Tim
French, large mammal
curator. To all appearances, Mr. French failed
to tell his
supervisors what he was doing. But he did tell his staff,
and Ms. Dawson tried
to talk him out of it.
"He totally
didn't listen to me," Ms. Dawson said.
Wynona Shellebarger,
the zoo's other veterinarian, failed to take up
Ms. Dawson's case,
although she attended the meeting at which denning
was discussed, Ms.
Dawson said.
The daily notes Ms.
Dawson filed in her keeper record, each one an
accounting of her
worries about the bear, brought no attention from
anyone. Finally, her
emotional distress was so great that she asked
to be transferred to
another part of the zoo.
She was working in
primates when she learned her bear had died.
"Dr. Tim
[Reichard] just felt so bad that it had happened. He just
felt very
responsible because I could not reach anyone. I could not
reach anybody. He
just felt so bad there was such a breakdown in the
system and that I
felt so much pressure," Ms. Dawson said.
Mr. French was
forced to resign after the bear's death. But Dr.
Reichard did not
escape blame. As the chief veterinarian, he was
deemed responsible
for the veterinary staff's failure to intervene on
behalf of the
animal.
In Dr. Reichard's
evaluation at the end of 2000, his
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Chimp owners release
letter regarding attack
As the investigation
continues into last week's violent chimpanzee
attack at a Havilah
animal sanctuary, the owners of Animal Haven
Ranch are speaking
out regarding the incident.
In a statement,
Ralph and Virginia Brauer, owners of the Animal Haven
Ranch, said,
"Everyone at Animal Haven Ranch is praying for Saint
James Davis. Also,
we pray for LaDonna Davis, who's strength we so
admire. We want to
give our sincere thanks to the Kern County
Sheriff's
Department, Animal Control, and Fish and Game for the
professional and
sensitive manner in which they responded to this
tragic
accident."
They went on to say,
"Nobody feels more sorrow over the loss of the
two chimpanzees than
Animal Haven Ranch. This was a decision that had
to be made to save a
human life. Animal Haven Ranch continues to care
for the chimpanzees
that so
49B1-98D0-A469B9102C88
Mauled man tried to
'reason' with chimps during attack,
wife says man who
was severely mauled by two chimpanzees at an animal
sanctuary last week
was quickly overwhelmed when the apes attacked,
his wife said
Monday.
"One was at his
head, one was at his foot. But all that time ... he
was trying to reason
with them," a sobbing LaDonna Davis told "Good
Morning
America." "I couldn't do anything."
Davis, 64, and her
husband, St. James Davis, were visiting Animal
Haven Ranch near
Bakersfield on Thursday when two male chimps escaped
their enclosure and
attacked the couple.
"When we made
eye contact, the charge was on," LaDonna Davis
said. "There
was no stopping anything, and the big chimp came around
from behind me and
pushed me into my husband. The male came around
from behind and
chomped off my thumb ... my husband must have
realized we were in
deep trouble because he pushed me backward. At
that time, they both
went for him."
St. James Davis, 62,
lost all the fingers from
a/northern_california/11073633.htm
Davis Family faces
serious challenge after chimpanzee attack
It was sad to learn
that former NASCAR Grand National Division, West
Series driver St.
James Davis is currently in a hospital, reported to
be in critical
condition, after being attacked by two chimpanzees who
escaped from their
cages at a wild life sanctuary near Bakersfield.
His wife and crew
chief, LaDonna Davis, was treated for animal bites.
According to wire
reports, from the Associated Press, the Davises
were visiting the
Animal Haven Ranch -- a sanctuary for retired zoo
animals -- on
Thursday, March 3, in Havilah, Calif., approximately 20
miles south of
Bakersfield. They were specifically there to visit
their pet
chimpanzee, Moe, and throw him a birthday party. Moe had
been placed at the
animal sanctuary in 1999 after he bit off the tip
of a woman's finger
who was visiting the Davis home in West Covina.
Somewhere around
11:30 a.m. Thursday morning, four chimpanzees at the
sanctuary escaped
from their cages. Two of them turned on the Davises
and attacked them.
The vicious primates were killed at the scene by
zoo officials. The
remaining two chimps at large were captured
approximately one
hour later, and returned to their cages. It's still
unknown exactly how
the animals escaped from their confined area.
St. James was
airlifted to the Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield for
treatment where he
was listed in critical condition. According to a
prepared statement
from a hospital spokesman, released via the
Associated Press,
Davis sustained severe facial injuries from the
attack and will need
extensive surgery to reattach his nose. It was
also reported that
his testicles and a foot were also severed during
the attack. LaDonna
was treated for the animal bites she sustained
while attempting to
fend off the attack, and released.
To fully understand
the powerful emotion of this tradegy, you have to
be aware of how Moe
became a part of the Davis family to begin with.
He was adopted by
the Davises approximately 35 years ago and quickly
became the child the
couple never had. Moe's adoption literally saved
his life. At the
time, St. James was in Africa participating in a
boat race. Also at
that time government officials there were
concerned about the
rising numbers of the ape population and
initiated a
reduction program. As the adult apes were killed, their
babies were left
behind to die. Their extremities were cut off and
used to manufacture
afrodisiacs. Their hands and feet were cut off to
be sold while the
rest of their bodies were left lying on the ground.
Moe's mother had
been killed when he was only a few days old. St
James happened to
run into a man on a street corner who had tiny Moe
inside of his
pocket. St. James immediately fell in love with the
tiny monkey and
could not bear the thought that he had been sentenced
to death. He decided
to adopt Moe but, as it turned out, the red tape
and paperwork was
easier said than done and St. James had to spend an
additional three
months in Africa before he could bring Moe to his
new home.
It was immeadiately
apparent that Moe was smarter than the average
monkey and, with
training from his new parents, soon developed quite
a few talents. Moe
soon became a source of income for the Davis
family and did work
in movies and television and even appeared on the
old game show
Bowling For Dollars. St. James noted that Moe loves to
bowl and said
"he can't place his fingers in the holes of the bowling
ball so he uses to
palm of his hand to roll the ball down the alley
and then dances up
and down when the pill fall over."
Moe also made
personal appearances at many functions, such as
birthday parties,
and even signed autographs for his growing number
of fans. It was
LaDonna who taught him how to sign his name. All the
letters in the name
Mogambo were a little too much to learn, so she
taught him how to
write M-O-E and that became the primate's lifelong
nick name.
Moe also developed a
talent for driving that came from a go kart that
St. James made for
him. Moe wasn't exactly good at stopping the cart
and turning off the
engine. Whenever he was through driving he would
stand up on the seat
and jump off leaving the kart to wildly around
the back yard until
it ran into something and stopped itself.
It was that ability
to drive that first brought Moe to the attention
of the Los
Angeles-based media. Every weekday St. James would drive
Moe home from the
studio he was working at and stop at a local gas
station near his
home. He would put some gas in the two-seat roadster
he was driving at
the time and then let Moe drive the remaining few
blocks home.
It didn't take long
for the word to get out about the car driving
monkey and every
afternoon spectators would gather on the sidewalk,
between the gas
station and the Davis home, to wave at Moe as he
drove by. While it
was natural that a car driving monkey would
attract a lot of
attention, it was also natural that someone was
going to have a
problem with it.
When that someone
compained to the West Covina Police it was,
needless to say,
greatly embellished and local authorities thought
that some crazed
animal the size of King Kong was terrorizing the
Davis home. With
local police, a swat unit, animal control and the
Los Angeles media at
the scene, the front of the house looked like it
was under siege that
day. Moe just took everything in his stride and
went to his cage for
a nap. ST James explained to authorities that
everything was fine
and Moe took a nap everyday at the same time and
they would have to
come back tomorrow.
The local court
system in West Covina was in a quandry over this
case. It was clear
that something was going to have be done but no
one knew exactly
what to do. Adding to the situation was the fact
that the media had
completely fallen in love with Moe and was giving
the court hearing
massive coverage because, after all, how often does
a monkey get busted
for driving without a liscense? In the final
resouloution the
judge, who also was captivated by Moe, issued the
monkey an honorary
California driver's liscense and ST James agreed
not to let him drive
on city streets and state highways anymore.
The happy times in
the Davis household came to a crashing halt late
in 1999 when
judicial officials from the City of West Covina alledged
that Moe had
inflicted injury to people. That story was carried by
KTTV, a Los Angeles
based Fox Network affiliate, who back then quoted
West Covina City
Attorney Martin Meyer as saying "this is not a
situation where we
have a cutle little monkey, this is a very
dangerous
animal."
The news report also
stated that a news group caught Moe on videotape
when the chimp got
out of the house and out of control. The report
alledged that Moe
charged an animal control officer and also
alledgely bit the
hand of a police officer. The situation was
compounded later in
1999 when Moe bit off a woman's fingertip. The
woman put her hand
inside of his cage despite the fact that the
Davises warned her
not to do it. The woman had long red fingernails
at the time. It was
pointed out that Moe's favorite treat was red
licorice and when he
saw the red fingernails he mistook it for a
treat.
In the legal
aftermath from 1999, City Attorney Meyer was quoted as
saying "I
believe they love the monkey and I, quite candidly, think
Thorns from dunes to
feed rhinos
coastal park ranger
in north Wales has solved the problem of thorn
bushes growing out
of control on sand dunes- by offering them as food
for rhinos.
The sand dunes at
Prestatyn have become overgrown with sea buckthorns
which are
threatening to interfere with natural movement of the
dunes.
Ranger Alex Lister
came up with the idea of giving the uprooted
bushes to feed rare
black rhinos at Chester Zoo.
The zoo's
nutritionist says the plant is an ideal addition to their
diet.
The plant was
introduced to the Gronant dunes in the 1950s as a way
of holding
Animal rights
protest over resort's aquarium plans
AN ANIMAL rights
campaigner last night condemned plans for a sea life
centre in Southport,
saying it could attract protesters from around
the country.
Tony Moore of Fight
Against Animal Cruelty in Europe (FAACE), said
the aquarium, which
could form part of the resort's £50m seafront
regeneration, would
force marine life out of its natural habitat.
Mr Moore said the
centre would experience the same sorts of animal
rights pickets that
dogged Southport Zoo, which closed last year.
He said: "There
is no justification
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2dprotest%2dover%2dresort%2ds%2daquarium%2dplans-name_page.html
Anheuser-Busch, DDB
Follow Cruel Trend of Exploiting Chimpanzees
Ad agency DDB
Chicago has created a television commercial for Bud
Light in which a
chimpanzee depicted in a cage at a zoo steals a beer
from a zoogoer and
then taunts the man with it in retaliation for his
having teased the
chimpanzee with a banana.
Please contact
Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Bud Light, and its
advertising agency,
DDB Chicago, to politely show your concern about
the cruelty inherent
in using great apes in entertainment. Be sure to
point out t
Ba Ria Vung Tau to
set up safari park
Vietnam-Denmark
Environment Technology joint-venture company
submitted a project
this week to the southern province of Ba Ria Vung
Tau to construct
Vietnam's largest safari park.
With investment
capital totaling US$200 million, the state-or-the-art
park would contain a
natural landscape that meets the technical
requirements of the
International Wildlife Conservation Association
and the
International Society of Zoological Gardens.
The wildlife animal
park, which will have
White tigers at the
Downtown Aquarium
The Downtown
Aquarium is now home to four white tigers. They're part
of a new exhibit
called White Tigers of the Maharaja's Temple.
The Downtown
Aquarium received certification from the American Zoo
and Aquarium
Association in September which allowed the facility to
become home to large
mammals such as white tigers.
These are the only
white tigers in Houston and four of only a few
dozen in the world.
White tigers are even more rare than pandas. The
Aquarium hopes to
raise awareness of the tiger's plight
Oldest gorilla dies
in Erie Zoo
Rudy, 49, believed
to be the oldest captive lowland gorilla in the
world, died in his
sleep yesterday at the Erie Zoo.
Rudy's death
appeared to be from old age, said zoo spokesman Scott
Mitchell. Rudy's
appetite had been declining recently, he said,
adding that it's not
unusual for captive gorillas to begin having
health problems in
their late 20s and early 30s.
Rudy's body was
transported to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
yesterday, where a
necropsy will be performed today by Dr. Chris
Bonar, associate zoo
veterinarian. He said Dr. P.J. Palumbo, the
attending
veterinarian at the Erie Zoo, will attend the necropsy.
Gorillas have about
half the life expectancy of a human," Bonar
said, "so you
would expect 35-50 years. The
Zoo starts
background checks
The Nashville Zoo at
Grassmere will begin this month conducting
security background
checks for employees, both paid and volunteer.
Jim Bartoo, the
zoo's director of marketing and public relations,
said the decision to
conduct the checks was not spurred by any
particular incident
at the exotic wildlife park.
"We're trying
to be proactive with the situation," Bartoo said.
The Nashville office
of Accessing America will run the security
checks on most of
the zoo's approximately 105 paid employees,
including seasonal
staff, and roughly 150 volunteers.
With the standard
rate of $15 per employee, the effort could cost the
zoo at least $3,825.
However, Bartoo said the zoo is likely to get a
reduced rate, given
the number of employees to be checked.
Since 2002, Bartoo
said, the zoo has conducted checks on those
employees who handle
money and work with children. In addition, the
zoo does drug
testing for some positions, he added.
"The question
recently came up, if we're doing checks with some
employees, why not
with others?" he said.
As attendance at the
South Nashville attraction increases — the zoo
drew about 494,000
people in 2004 and
section=9&screen=news&news_id=39789
ORANG-UTANS AT
CHESTER ZOO
"That this
House applauds the outstanding efforts of Britain's zoos
in saving endangered
species from extinction, in particular Chester
Zoo, where efforts
are under way to help save one of humankind's
closest
LV or California
could be Irwin's zoo site
Las Vegas and
locations in California are being considered as
possible sites for
"Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin's first zoo in the
United States, his
manager and business partner said Friday.
John Stainton, who
has produced and directed all of Irwin's
television shows and
movies, said they are in the very early stages
of finding a place
for a zoo in the United States.
He said Las Vegas'
climate and steady stream of tourists make the
city an attractive
location, but he cited the cost of the land here
as a problem.
The availability and
cost
other/2005/mar/07/518405092.html
CORNERED: A LION IS
TAMED
Visitors to Tokyo
Zoo were caught in an escaped animal scare when
a 'lion' went on the
rampage.
The beast roared at
passers-by and romped round the zoo in Japan
before being shot
with a tranquiliser dart.
But the public
really had nothing to fear...
The escape was an
annual exercise staged by staff to test safety
procedures should a
dangerous animal ever escape.
And the lion being
hunted by more than
Judith Ball, who
helped bring sun bears to U.S. zoos, dead at 65
Judith Ball, a
former zoo curator in Los Angeles and Seattle who led
an effort to bring
distressed Asian sun bears to U.S. zoos, is dead
at 65.
Ball died Feb. 10 of
complications from Alzheimer's disease,
relatives and
professional colleagues said.
She grew up in
Chicago, earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in
zoology from the
University of Chicago, then moved to Seattle to
teach physiology and
zoology at Seattle University and Bellevue
Community College.
She was chief of
staff for the Snohomish County Council in the late
1970s and early
1980s, then became general curator in charge of
animal care at the
Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, where she became
fond of a sun bear
called Chama.
During the 1990s,
said Cheryl Frederick, a bear keeper at the zoo,
Ball learned that
the Sepilok animal rehabilitation center on Borneo
had become
overwhelmed with sun bears people kept as pets, then
abandoned when the
animals grew too big.
Confined to cages
that were too small, the bears had taken to pacing
and mutilating
themselves out of emotional distress at a time when
the numbers of the
animals in zoos were declining because they do not
breed well in
captivity, Frederick said.
In 1996 Ball joined
another
a/northern_california/11072200.htm
Zoo builds $16
million habitat especially for special Chinese imports
The somewhat rotund
diner takes only a moment to glance at the people
around him, then
leans back and continues his meal. Suddenly
unsatisfied with the
seating, he moves to another location, gets more
food and begins to
eat again. Obviously accustomed to his celebrity,
he ignores the
pointing, the stares and the camera flashes.
There are a few
differences between him and your typical famous
diner - he keeps his
fur coat on while he eats, leans on a rock or
tree while he
munches away and may fall asleep
inment/1110212101104171.xml
Aquarium to make a
splash in East End
A world-class
aquarium is to be built in the East End as the
centrepiece of a
£1.5 billion riverside housing development.
The £80 million
attraction - to be called Biota! - is expected to
generate one million
visits a year and break new ground on
conservation,
scientific research and education.
It is backed by the
Zoological Society of London (ZSL), which runs
London Zoo, and will
be on an entirely different scale to the London
Aquarium tourist
attraction on the South Bank.
Designed by
architect Sir Terry Farrell, it promises to show aquatic
life in
"breathtaking-reality" while promoting breeding programmes to
safeguard rare
species.
It will be split
into four "biomes" replicating
source=EveningStandard
More women finding
careers in zoos
When Linda Rohr
Bachers was growing up in Wisconsin she thought the
only way she could
be around animals was to marry a farmer. She
didn't know that
careers working with elephants, rare birds, and big
cats existed for
women. Today she keeps track of the daily lives of
1,000 animals at Zoo
New England.
Sandy Elliott loved
animals but assumed zoo work was men's work. She
applied for a
zookeeper job at Zoo New England on a $20 bet with a
male friend who
thought she was a perfect match for the job
description.
"I've never lost awe of being around these animals,"
says Elliott. She
has worked at Stone Zoo for the past 21 years and
is lead zookeeper.
By the time Hayley
Murphy attended veterinarian school there was an
increase in women
training to become veterinarians. Yet to specialize
in zoo medicine
there were only four or five residencies a year
nationwide. The
risks were rewarded. "From hoof stock to birds to
primates
ZOO GOES A LITTLE
APE OVER BABY
A Cuddly new arrival
is winning hearts at Twycross Zoo.
Tamu the Orang-utan
is just a few weeks old and a daughter to proud
mum Theodora and
dad, Batu.
The tiny ape born on
November 29 is extra special because the
Warwickshire Zoo
won't welcome another baby Orang-utan into the world
for several years.
Orangutans are
nodeId=159693&command=displayContent&sourceNode=159423&contentPK=11946
550
It's like working in
a zoo here...
If it had been
Hollywood, someone would have warned Catherine Bowne
long ago about the
perils of working with animals and children.
But for her, working
with the acting profession's two worst
nightmares can be
sheer joy.
Ms Bowne, 27, is
London Zoo's resident primary education officer. And
unlike
Pandas Mating? Zoo
Keepers Waiting
Keepers say Lun Lun,
the giant panda on loan from China, is fertile
now.
Right now.
This is a once a
year event, that only lasts a couple of days! So, go
to it, Yang Yang.
Hopefully, they'll just ignore the crowds.
Otherwise, zoo
keepers will try artificial insemination.
The stakes are high.
There are fewer than two-thousand giant
Zoo Opens New
Pacific Coast Aquarium Exhibit
There's something
strange and new at the Henry Doorly Zoo. The
Pacific Coast
Exhibit is now open in the Scott Aquarium at the zoo.
Visitors can expect
to see something different in the 40- to 200-
gallon tanks in the
exhibit. The animals featured aren't often seen
because they live
off the shoreline between Mexico and Alaska.
These cold-water
animals live in
Zoo Vets
Artificially Inseminate Mei Xiang
Tian Tian Failed To
Get Job Done
Zoo veterinarians at
the Smithsonian Zoological Park gave the zoo's
giant pandas a
little help.
Mei Xiang underwent
artificial insemination Friday morning in hopes
of getting pregnant,
said zoo spokeswoman Peper Long. Scientists used
a new artificial
insemination technique. Dr. Jo Gayle Howard used a
lighted fiber optic
scope to perform the operation. Howard said they
were just in time
for the end of Mei Xiang's peak reproductive
Execs' Volvos cost
zoo $1,200 a month
What's it cost to
keep a zoo executive rolling? These days, more than
$600 a month.
The Toledo Zoo's top
two executives said good-bye to the Jeep and the
Dodge the zoo leased
for them and recently replaced them with a pair
of Volvos.
Executive Director
William Dennler drives a 2005 Volvo SUV provided
by the zoo. The zoo
leases the vehicle for $673.94 a month. That's on
top of his salary of
$173,535 and the $12,750
AID=/20050311/NEWS15/503110415/-1/NEWS
Jumbo in limbo as
criticts fight zoo
RIGHT in the middle
of Taronga Zoo lies a 4000sq m construction zone.
Some of Sydney's
best real estate, with stunning views of the city
skyline, is being
redeveloped into an Asian jungle rainforest.
The star attractions
of the rainforest will be five Asian elephants
imported from
Thailand's tourism industry.
The only problem is
that the elephants are still in quarantine in
Thailand, waiting
for permission from the Federal Government to enter
the country.
Four years ago the
elephants were the centrepiece of the State
Government's Budget.
Back then, as part of a $225 million upgrade of
the zoo, Bob Carr
promised elephant rides to every man, woman and
child in NSW.
Happily for the
elephants,
sectionid=1260&storyid=2796443
SF Zoo's Last
Elephant Leaves For Sanctuary
The San Francisco
Zoo's last elephant left for a sanctuary in the
Sierra foothills.
Zoo officials said
they were sad to see Lulu go Thursday.
Two other elephants
that used to
Mother of girl
attacked by gorilla in '03 sues zoo
The mother of a
4-year-old girl attacked by a gorilla at Franklin
Park Zoo in 2003
filed a lawsuit yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court
alleging that zoo
officials failed to protect the public from an
animal with
''superhuman strength."
The lawsuit calls
for the zoo to compensate the girl, Nia Simone
Scott of Dorchester,
who suffered facial injuries and psychological
damage, according to
Donald L. Gibson, the family's lawyer.
''She underwent
considerable psychological trauma," Gibson said
yesterday. ''Most
little girls and boys that I know of are scared of
the dark; this girl
was attacked and mauled by a 350-pound gorilla."
The gorilla, known
as Little Joe, escaped on Sept. 28, 2003, by
climbing out of a
12-foot moat -- ignoring
her_of_girl_attacked_by_gorilla_in_03_sues_zoo/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+%
20+City%2FRegion+News
No monkey business .
. chimps set for new pen
A NEW life science
centre for chimpanzees is set to be built at
Edinburgh Zoo after
city planners backed the scheme.
The new building
will feature three large chimp areas linked to
research facilities,
exhibition space and an auditorium.
The new area will
include a modern indoor enclosure allowing people
to get closer to the
animals than before.
Raised viewing
stations outside the centre will let visitors see the
animals, one of the
zoo's most popular attractions, roaming around
their new
environment.
The chimps will have
a far bigger area to move around in, with the
enclosure taking up
a large section of the zoo's east side.
Tunnels will allow
the animals to travel from the indoor area to one
of three outdoor
enclosures, while massive climbing frames will also
be built.
The plans are part
of an ongoing 20-year project which will see the
attraction
completely redeveloped on its current site in Corstorphine
Road.
Only the Mansion
House, a listed building, and the penguin pool are
likely to remain as
they are now.
In a report to the
planning committee, head of planning Alan
Henderson
recommended councillors ap
Neverland Staff,
Animals Face Cuts
Michael Jackson got
a loan to cover back pay at his Neverland Ranch,
but may still have
to lay off staff and move animals from his private
zoo, sources tell
CBS News Correspondent Vince Gonzales.
CBS News reported
earlier this week that staff at Jackson's Neverland
Ranch staged a
sickout because they had not
Dolphin 'waves'
artificial fin to admirers
A dolphin, equipped
with what is believed to be the world's first
artificial fin,
demonstrated her swimming and jumping skills today to
celebrate her
recovery at a Japanese aquarium.
The dolphin, named
Fuji, carried a message in a case with her mouth,
splashed the water
with a giant jump and climbed onto a stage in
front of 750
spectators at the Churaumi Aquarium on the sub-tropical
island of Okinawa.
"She waved her
rubber fin a good-bye at the end of the 20-minute
demonstration in an
event to mark her recovery," Miki Yoshido, the
aquarium's director,
told AFP by telephone.
Fuji, estimated to
be 34 years old, lost 75 per cent of her tail fin
due to a mysterious
disease in late 2002.
She wears the
rubber, which weighs two kilograms with a width of 48
centimetres, for
about 20
Protests over new
rhino enclosure
Plans for a new home
for the rhinos at the West Midland Safari Park
have sparked
objections from neighbours who say they are surrounded
on three sides by
animals.
Neighbours say the
proposed 15ft high rhino enclosure follows a tiger
enclosure which was
given planning approval last year.
They say cars queue
to drive through enclosures near homes and they
constantly hear
horns blowing.
Neighbour Mike
Insull, in a letter
Australian couple
acting as pandas' grandparents
Pandas are the
national treasure of China. A couple from Australia
took the job of
adopting several pandas when they visited China. Then
they even quit their
jobs and moved to China to take care of their
babies.
Jaye Alian from
Canberra, Australia, visited the Chengdu breeding
centre in southwest
China in 1997 and adopted panda Chengcheng, which
is now a 19-year-old
bear. After they returned home, they couldn't
get their baby out
of their minds and decided to quit their jobs and
move to Chengdu to
be closer to the bear. They are now English
teachers in Chengdu
and life-term volunteer workers at the breeding
center.
The Panda's adopted
parents spend their
Second breeding
centre for Asia's vanishing vultures
Work is beginning in
West Bengal on a second captive-breeding centre
for three Asian
species of Gyps vulture, which have declined
catastrophically in
recent years. The vultures suffer kidney failure
and death after
feeding on carcasses of cattle treated with
diclofenac, an
anti-inflammatory drug, which in the 1990s was
introduced for
veterinary use across the Indian subcontinent.
Four more breeding
centres centres are planned, in an attempt to
create reservoirs of
birds to be re-introduced once the environment
is clear of
diclofenac.
Meanwhile, 44 birds,
equal numbers of Indian and White-rumped
Vultures (Gyps
indicus and G. bengalensis), have been brought
together at the
first captive breeding centre at Haryana, India. Two
additional colony
aviaries, with trees and artificial ledges for
nesting, have been
built at Haryana, providing
Learning the
language of chimps
SHE might not be
able to talk to the animals, but a Scots scientist
has successfully
tuned into the detailed and subtle intricacies used
by humans' closest
evolutionary relatives.
Katie Slocombe, a
PhD student in psychology at St Andrews University,
has evidence of a
plethora of vocal interactions which were
previously dismissed
as just chimpanzees making an "emotional" racket.
After spending eight
months living with a group of wild chimpanzees
in the Budongo
forest in Uganda, she has discovered up to 70 new
phrases and sounds
used by chimpanzees, including warning each other
of threats of
violence, talking about going off travelling and even
where their
favourite food is hidden.
Previous research by
Jane Goodall, the world's foremost authority on
chimpanzee
behaviour, and who lived with primates in the jungles of
the Gombe Game
Reserve in Tanzania in the 1960s, revealed about
30 "words"
or sounds made by the animals.
Miss Goodall's work
has long been regarded as having made huge
inroads into
scientific thinking regarding the evolution of humans.
Miss Slocombe, whose
findings were revealed yesterday at Edinburgh
zoo as part of
National Science Week, which runs until March 20, said
The zoo's modern
mission
Global conservation
efforts gain traction; Pittsburgh's efforts among
tops in U.S.
With a Ph.D. from
Columbia University and a long list of fellowships,
conservation
biologist Peter Fashing could have found a job as a
professor at a
university and spent his career teaching on campuses
and researching in
the wild.
Instead, he joined
the staff of the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium.
Since arriving at
the zoo in 2002, he's spent time on the zoo's dime
studying monkeys in
Kenya, and is awaiting permission from the
Ethiopian government
to research baboons in the Simian Mountains.
He's one of three
zoo staff members working around the globe on
conservation
projects aimed at maintaining the health of animal
populations outside
of the zoo.
"It's an
alternative avenue becoming more popular in recent years"
among researchers,
said the 35-year-old Fashing. "Most people end up
working in
academics," often because there isn't enough awareness of
the work that zoos
do.
Humans have kept
animals in captivity for thousands of years since
the ancient
Sumerians, and today there are an estimated 10,000 zoos
around the world.
But the zoo isn't
just a place to watch animals anymore.
In the past two
decades, zoos across the country have been focusing
on animal research
and conservation projects around the globe. What
were once Noah's
Ark-like menageries of species
One donation to the
digest this week. Total stands at 80. For details
on how to donate or
if you know someone who would be interested in
subscribing to
ZooNews Digest or Zoo Biology please direct them to
the link below:
*********************************************************************
Wildlife Center for
sale
Wildlife Center for
sale, Belize, Central America. Includes personal
and staff living
accommodation, extensive caging, enclosures, great
potential for
expansion in prime location. US$125,000. For more
information contact
Mark Nielsen at mdnielsen89@yahoo.com
*********************************************************************
The Bottom Line:
Saving Sea Turtles is Good for the Economy
Report Released
Shows Moratorium and High Seas Marine Protected Areas
Would Reverse the
Damage Caused by Industrial Longline Fishing
CONTACT: Robert
Ovetz, Ph.D. +1 415 488 0370 x104
(Forest Knolls,
CA)-—A new report, "The Bottom Line: Saving Sea
Turtles is Good for
the Economy," published by the Sea Turtle
Restoration Project
today has found that industrial longline fishing
in the Pacific not
only causes extensive damage to the marine
ecosystem but has
pervasive negative cultural, economic and social
consequences for
coastal fishing and fish consuming communities.
Implementing a
moratorium on industrial longlining and creating a
network of Marine
Protected Areas on the high seas of the Pacific
would be a boon to
local coastal economies.
"Industrial
longline fishing is a loss-loss situation not only for
sea turtles but also
those who rely on the ocean for their food and
livelihood,"
says Robert Ovetz, PhD, Save the Leatherback Campaign
Coordinator and
author of the report. "Creating a network of Marine
Protected Areas
would reverse the damage to local fisheries,
indigenous peoples,
tourism and food security inflicted by industrial
longline
fishing."
The report comes at
the time when 705 international scientists from
83 nations and 230
non-governmental organizations from 54 countries
have called on the
United Nations to implement a moratorium on
industrial longline
fishing in the Pacific. A recent report found
that industrial
longline fishing in the Pacific catches and kills an
estimated 4.4
million sea turtles, sharks, marine mammals, billfish
and seabirds.
Released during the
meeting of the United Nations Food and
Agriculture
Organization's Committee on Fisheries Meeting in Italy 7-
11 March, the report
gives additional momentum to new guidelines
under consideration
to allow time and area closures of destructive
fishing practices
that threaten critically endangered sea turtles.
"Closing areas
of the ocean off from industrial fishing is good for
fisheries and
turtles," Ovetz added. Recent studies have demonstrated
that Marine
Protected Areas protect not only threatened marine
species but are also
extremely successful at restoring depleted
fisheries.
One of the biggest
problems with industrial longlining is that it
removes fish from
local markets and exports them abroad. MPAs would
reverse this drain
of resources from the developing world. As Ovetz
explains, "MPAs
are crucial for generating job growth by preserving
the very habitats
and species that draw visitors to their shores."
Resources:
*B-roll footage and
interviews are available
*Interviews with
leading fisheries and sea turtle scientists are
available.
*"Last journey
for the leatherback?" documentary film
For a copy of the
report go to:
The Sea Turtle
Restoration Project is an international marine
environmental
organization headquartered in Forest Knolls, California
and with offices in
Costa Rica and Texas. The organization focuses on
protecting and
restoring marine wildlife in ways that address the
needs of local
communities. The Sea Turtle Restoration Project
(http://www.seaturtles.org) is a project of
Turtle Island Restoration
Network, which also
sponsors the Salmon Protection and Watershed
Network (http://www.spawnusa.org) to protect
endangered coho salmon.
SEA TURTLE
RESTORATION PROJECT
POB 400/40 Montezuma
Avenue € Forest Knolls, CA 94933 USA
Ph. +1 415 488 0370
ext. 106€ Fax +1 415 488 0372
robert@seaturtles.org
€ http://www.seaturtles.org
NGO in Special
Consultative Status with the Economic and Social
Council of the
United Nations
*********************************************************************
"Endangered
Elephants - past present and future"
The Proceedings of
the International Symposium on Human-Elephant
Relationships and
Conflicts held in Sri Lanka in September 2003, are
now available as a
book entitled "Endangered Elephants - past present
and future".
This hard back book contains the papers presented at
this symposium by
the world's leading elephant authorities on topics
ranging from captive
elephant management, elephant genetics,
conservation,
biology, ecology to human-elephant conflict and
mitigation. It is
well illustrated. Copies of the book are available
for sale at US $25
plus postage. USA/Europe postage $10. Please
contact Jayantha
Jayewardene at romalijj@eureka.lk or 615/32
Rajagiriya Gardens,
Nawala Road, Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka to purchase a
copy.
*********************************************************************
Elephant Nature Park
Our latest
newsletter has just been posted on site.
Two new elephants
rescued and introduced to the park. Plus exciting
news of a
Netherlands project to walk two more back and provide a
home at our
sanctuary
(follow the news
link at the top of the page)
Enjoy!
Adam
Elephant Nature Park
209/2 Sridornchai
Road, Chiang Mai 50100, Thailand
Tel 053 818754,
818932 Fax +66(0)53 818755
info@elephantnaturepark.org
*********************************************************************
Notice
EXPRESSION OF
INTEREST FOR CONSULTANCY
Pre-qualification /
shortlisting of Consulting Firms
Office of Director
General, Wildlife & Parks, Punjab
Lahore, Pakistan
E-mail wildlife1@wol.net.pak
Phone : 042-9212367,
9212784, Fax.042-9212371
1. Punjab Wildlife
& Parks Department, Lahore – Pakistan intends to
hire services of
International and local consulting firms for
feasibility studies
planning, architectural designing and supervision
of following
projects:
a) Establishment of
Safari Park in Cholistan Desert, Bahawalpur –
Pakistan
b) Establishing of
Lahore Wildlife Park, Raiwind Road, Lahore –
Pakistan
2. Expression of
interest (EOI) invited from local & intl. consulting
firms. Local firms
should be registered with Pakistan Engineering
Council / Pakistan
Council of Architects & Town Planners and
Government of
Punjab, P&D Department, and have got themselves renewed
for the year 04- 05
alongwith following information/documents:
a) Firms name /
address, a copy of registration No., Memorandum and
Article of
Association / Partnership Deed
b) Certificate of
registration with Pakistan Engineering Council /
Pakistan Council of
Architects & Town Planners alongwith the latest
renewal letter.
c) Enlistment /
Renewal letter issued by P&D Department for the year
2004-2005.
d) List of
professional staff alongwith C.Vs of relevant core staff
showing project wise
experience with exact time duration for each
project.
e) List of similar
works completed by the firm during last 5 years
and similar works in
hand, indicating total cost of such works and
cost of consultancy
services received against those works alongwith
date of start and
completion or expected date of completion.
f) Certificate of
strong financial position.
g) A certificate /
affidavit that the firm is not blacklisted by any
Govt. / Authority
and is not involved in litigation with any
Government
Department / Autonomous Body.
h) Updated income
tax registration certificate.
i) Certificate to
the effect that all information provided by the
firm is correct.
3. International
consulting firms can either apply independently or
in collaboration
with local firms. The international firms if apply
independently shall
provide all documents mentioned above except as
at Sl.No.2 b,c &
h.
4. Selection of
consultancy firms shall be done in accordance with
the procedure set
out in "Guidelines for Sel. of Consultant" issued
by Planning &
Development Bd.
5. The para No.5 and
para No.7 may be considered omitted. These
conditions will be
applicable subsequently for pre-qualified firms
only.
6. Punjab Wildlife
Department reserves the right to reject one or all
proposals without
assigning any reason.
7. The para No.5 and
para No.7 may be considered omitted. These
conditions will be
applicable subsequently for pre-qualified firms
only.
8. For any
clarification please contact dealing hand on above
mentioned telephone
numbers.
9. The EOI must
reach the office of Director General, Wildlife &
Parks, Punjab,
2-Sanda Road, Lahore up to 15th March 2005 during
office hours.
CAPT. (R) IFTIKHAR
AHMAD RAO,
DIRECTOR GENERAL,
WILDLIFE &
PARKS, PUNJAB,
2-SANDA ROAD, LAHORE
*********************************************************************
CONFISCATED
CHIMPANZEES IN KENYA TRANSFERRED TO SWEEWATERS
Five infant
chimpanzees that were confiscated at the Nairobi airport
January 31 have been
permanently transferred to the Sweetwaters
Chimpanzee Sanctuary
near Mount Kenya.
The chimpanzees,
three females and two males, were being smuggled
across Africa when
alert customs officials at the Jomo Kenyatta
International
Airport became suspicious of sounds coming from a small
crate that was
registered as carrying dogs. Inside, they found six
infant chimpanzees,
one soon died, and four guenon monkeys.
The chimpanzees were
transported to Sweetwaters on March 5. The
guenons remain in
the care of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).
The chimpanzees are
all believed to be less than 18 months old and
will require
round-the-clock care for the next few months to recover
their health,
according to Sweetwaters manager Annie
Olivecrona.
"Some of them were in a pretty terrible state," she said.
Sweetwaters provides
permanent care and refuge for 39 chimpanzees.
The sanctuary was
founded in 1994 and is a charter member of the Pan
African Sanctuaries
Alliance.
PASA
Pan African
Sanctuaries Alliance
P.O. Box 351651
Los Angeles,
California 90035
*********************************************************************
News from the
Netherlands
Emmen Zoo has more
active nocturnal tree dwellers in its nocturnal
part of the
Americasa now. Sloths aren't very active, there is just
one douroucouli left
now, and the armadilloes are often active, and
mostly non active
out of sight. The new tree dwellers are a pair of
Kinkajous. The
monkey and the kinkajous watch each other but think
that the food of the
other is more interesting, and all seems to go
well. The news is in
the Dutch version of the homepage of the zoo,
with a picture.
Theodoor Westerhof.
*********************************************************************
Great Ape Tour 2005
Dear Animal Lover,
· This year marks
the 20th anniversary of the death of anthropologist
Dian Fossey, famous
for her study on Africa's endangered Mountain
Gorillas.
· To continue her
legacy in both science and conservation, World
experts discuss the
future of the Great Apes and how Australians can
play a role in
ensuring their survival.
· Be inspired by
internationally renowned tropical field biologist
and conservationist
Ian Redmond.. "Dian Fossey gave me an
extraordinary
opportunity to study, get to know and live amongst free
living mountain
gorillas"
· Meet Dr Birute
Mary Galdikas, the worlds foremost authority on the
orangutan...and be
informed by
· Leif Cocks
President and founder of the Australian Orangutan
Project and Curator
of Exotic Mammals at Perth Zoo
*********************************************************************
THE NORTH OF ENGLAND
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
RICHARD HUGHES
SCHOLARSHIP AWARD 2005
Chester Zoo is a
leading Zoological Garden in the U.K. actively
involved in the
conservation of threatened species, habitat support,
scientific study and
the provision of education and recreation to the
general public.
In February 2001
Richard Hughes, a senior keeper at Chester Zoo,
tragically lost his
life working with the elephants that he loved. In
memory of Richard,
Chester Zoo has dedicated an annual scholarship
award to support
individuals wishing to undertake activities or
projects concerned
with elephant management, welfare and conservation.
The scholarship is
open to applications for any type of activity or
project that deals
with issues of elephant management, welfare or
conservation, in the
UK or overseas. The scholarship aims to support
the development of
young people wishing to work with elephants; it is
open to individuals
only and does not support proposals from
organisations or
institutions. Proposals can cover any activity, and
need not be
academically based. Applications are encouraged from
those wishing to
develop their interest in elephants, including
animal keepers,
researchers and students. Details we require for
applications include
an outline of the project, aims and a statement
of its relevance.
Clearly, feasibility will be an important criterion
when judging the
submitted proposals.
The North of England
Zoological Society expects those awarded the
scholarship to
uphold the high standards that it expects of its own
employees and to be
fully acknowledged in any
presentations/publications.
It is a condition of the scholarship that
the Zoo receives a
full report on the completed project/activity and,
if applicable,
copies of any resultant publications.
Scholarships will be
awarded up to the value of £1000 for which the
Society may require
receipted expenses (Any special equipment
purchased will
remain the property of the society).
Application forms
are available from Scott Wilson, Conservation
Assistant, The North
of England Zoological Society, Chester Zoo,
Caughall Road, Upton
by Chester, Cheshire, CH2 1LH or via email from
s.wilson@chesterzoo.co.uk.
Applications should be received no later
than Friday 29th
April 2005.
Applicants will
expect to hear whether or not they may be required
for interview by
27th May 2005.
*********************************************************************
Zoo Staff Personals
Looking for work?
Someone to travel with? Somewhere to stay? Let me
know and I will post
it here.
CAT NATURAL HISTORY
STUDY POSITION SOUGHT
I am a 25 year old
Scotsman looking for a long term cat natural
history study
position. I am interested in leading/assisting on a
project with no
academic restraints rather than a PhD and am
avaialble to take up
a position from May 2005 onwards .
I am committed to
long term exposure in the field and my latest
experience involved
an internship with Dr Rodney Jackson of the Snow
Leopard Conservancy
in the Hindu Kush mountain range, Northern Areas,
Pakistan. I received
training in sign survey transects and camera
trapping techniques
and gave workshops for local game wardens
relating to sign and
survey work.
(View http://www.snowleopardconservancy.org
to see my work).
I have great
experience in carrying out field work in remote and
hostile environments
and my recent experience has included working at
a Breeding Centre
for Endangered Arabian Wildlife in the United Arab
Emirates and as a
jungle guide at the Explorer's Inn Jungle lodge in
the Tambopata
Reserve, Madre De Dios, Peru. Other environmental
experiences have
taken me to the Sinai mountains of Egypt, the cloud
forests of Bolivia
and to the Peloponnesus, Greece where I assisted
on a loggerhead sea
turtle study.
I possess the
determination and flexibilty required for work in this
field.
I would be most
grateful for any information/advise regarding
overseas cat
projects.
Kind regards
Andrew D Chinn
E-mail:
andrewchinn@yahoo.co.uk
chinner1000@hotmail.com
Tel: 00 44 1224
639830
Mobile: 00 7732
902754
*********************************************************************
Situations Vacant
(Please mention you
saw the advertisement in ZooNews Digest should
you apply for any of
these posts, many thanks) Do you have a vacancy
to advertise? Please
email me.
One advert placed
here resulted in over 150 applications!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SECTION HEAD POST
(ANIMAL DEPARTMENT)
BLACKPOOL ZOO
Attractive Salary
Package: Commensurate with experience.
Blackpool Zoo is
looking for an experienced Section Head, to oversee
the day to day
running and future development of one of the 4 animal
sections within the
zoo.
As well as being
responsible for your section, you will also be part
of the Senior Animal
Management team within the zoo. In this role,
you will help to
develop, and move forward, the animal department in
a new and exciting
time within Blackpool Zoos history.
A minimum of 6 years
zoo keeping experience, plus proven people
management skills,
and the Zoo Animal Management Course, or
equivalent, are
essential.
The closing date for
applications is 31st March 2005.
For further details
and an application form, please apply, in writing
enclosing a full CV
and quoting Reference SH/AD/05, to:
Personnel Department
Blackpool Zoo
East Park Drive
Blackpool
FY3 8PP
Please mention you
saw the advertisement in ZooNews Digest should you
apply for this post
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cotswold Wildlife
Park
Deputy Section Head
Applications are
invited for the above full-time position.
The successful
applicant will be working as a member of our
Lower Section animal
husbandry team in this progressive
collection. A
minimum of 5 years relevant experience with
birds and small
mammals is essential, and applicants will need to
demonstrate good
communication skills, be self motivated,
and able to lead and
work as part of a team.
Possession of a
current full driving licence is required.
In return we offer
competitive rates of pay and a company
pension scheme.
Accommodation will be provided.
Please send a
current CV together with a hand-written
covering letter to:
David Edgington,
Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens,
Burford, Oxon, OX18
4JW.
The closing date for
applications is the 17th March 2005
Please mention you
saw the advertisement in ZooNews Digest should you
apply for this post
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Situations Vacant:
New Position
Elephant Program
Manager, AUSTRALIA ZOO.
Australia Zoo (Home
of The Crocodile Hunter) is developing a unique
and highly
progressive management program for Asian elephants. The
program will
encompass a range of extensive and intensive techniques
and facilities
across several of the Zoo's properties.
We are seeking an
experienced elephant manager to assist development
of this program.
The Elephant Program
Manager will be extensively experienced in the
care and training of
elephants in both Free Contact and Protected
Contact management
regimes. She/He will be highly competent
and
experienced in the
application of behavioural conditioning techniques
utilizing positive
reinforcement. She/He will show an
aptitude for
innovation and
creativity in elephant management.
Other selection
criteria include
• Excellent people management skills with
demonstrated ability
to build and manage
an elephant management team of skilled
professional
keepers.
• Demonstrated excellent oral and written
communications
skills, particularly
in the development of procedures and practices.
• Extensive scientifically-based knowledge of
elephant biology.
• A deep understanding for and empathy with
elephant behaviour.
• A high level of physical fitness.
• A knowledge of, and commitment to, general
principles of
occupational health
and safety as they are applied to elephant care
practices.
• Demonstrated experience working with
elephants beyond the
confines of a
traditional zoo exhibit in publicly accessible places.
Reporting to the
Curator and Director, The Elephant Program Manager's
tasks will include
• Assuming responsibility after a transition
period, for the
daily care, ongoing
training and presentation of the Zoo's 3 cow
Asian elephants (all
aged between 40 and 50 years old).
• Assisting the recruitment of other elephant
care staff and
the development of
an Elephant Management Team.
• Assisting the design, documentation and
implementation of an
agreed elephant
management program that will accord with Australia
Zoo's philosophy and
principles of elephant management as well as
with the ARAZPA
Guidelines for the Management of Elephants in
Australasian Zoos.
• Assisting an acquisition program for
additional elephants.
• Assisting the design and development of
facilities for
elephants on the
Zoo's properties.
The successful
candidate will be required to live in the vicinity of
Australia Zoo in
South Eastern Queensland.
Negotiated
translocation costs will be paid by the Zoo.
Immigration will be
assisted where this is necessary.
Applications should
include full education/employment history and the
names of at least
two referees, should address the selection criteria
and task
requirements and may be submitted by Mail, Fax or Email
(EMAIL PREFERRED)
and addressed as follows
For mailed
applications:
Reference: Elephant
Program Manager
Mr Wes Mannion,
Director,
Australia Zoo,
1638 Glasshouse
Mountains Road,
Beerwah,
Queensland 4519
AUSTRALIA
For Faxed
applications:
To: Mr Wes Mannion.
Subject: Elephant
Program Manager.
Fax number +61 3
93782693
For Emailed
applications (PREFERRED)
To:
jodie@australiazoo.com.au
cc: peter@zootica.com
Subject line:
Elephant Program Manager
Attachments should
be MS Word or PDF files.
APPLICATIONS CLOSE
MARCH 31, 2OO5. All reasonable attempts will be
made to notify all
unsuccessful applicants in writing.
Enquires should be
directed to Peter Stroud, Peter Stroud Services
P/L, Tel +61 3
93371453; Fax +61 3 93782693; Email peter@zootica.com
Please mention you
saw the advertisement in ZooNews Digest should you
apply for this post
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MARWELL PRESERVATION
TRUST
ASSISANT DIRECTOR
(ZOOLOGICAL AND CONSERVATION)
An opportunity to
join a highly successful team at Marwell Zoological
Park in developing a
long term strategy for the organisation, and in
particular planning
for the development of the animal collection
and conservation
programmes and to direct the implementation of
annual management
plans.
The appointee will
have a minimum qualification of a first degree or
similar in a natural
science and at least five years experience in a
zoological or
wildlife conservation field. An objective approach to
wildlife
conservation together with good management and communication
skills are
essential. Applicants with no direct zoo experience will
be considered.
The remuneration
package will recognise the seniority of this post.
For further
information on this position and Marwell Preservation
Trust go to http://www.marwell.org.uk
Applications with
full C.V. and the names of two referees to be sent
to:
Lynne Stafford
Acting Director
Marwell Zoological
Park
Winchester
Hampshire
SO21 1JH
Email:
lynnes@marwell.org.uk
Closing date Friday
11th March, 2005
Marwell Preservation
Trust is a registered charity No275433
Please mention you
saw the advertisement in ZooNews Digest should you
apply for this post
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Port Lympne Wild
Animal Park - Committed To Conservation
Small Primate Keeper
Salary depending on
experience
Port Lympne Wild
Animal Park, situated in the south of Kent near
Folkestone, is an
established wild animal park with significant
success in the
captive breeding of rare and endangered
animals.
Due to expansion on
our Small Primate section we are looking to
recruit a motivated
and enthusiastic individual to join our team of
dedicated keepers.
The ideal candidate
will have previous experience in the husbandry of
Small primates and
work well as part of a close-knit team.
A full clean driving
licence is essential
To apply:
Please send a full
CV and covering letter to: Helen Dallimore-Jones,
HR Manager, Howletts
& Port Lympne Estates Ltd, Port Lympne Wild
Animal Park, Nr.
Hythe, Kent. CT21 4PD. Or e-mail
personnel@howletts.net
Please mention you
saw the advertisement in ZooNews Digest should you
apply for this post
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Committed to
conservation - Do you have an interest in wild animals?
Port Lympne Wild
Animal Park situated in the south of Kent near
Folkestone has the
following job opportunity
Seasonal Animal
Presenter
We are looking for a
motivated, enthusiastic and confident individual
with a good basic
knowledge of wild animals, to deliver presentation
talks to the public
during our busy Easter and Summer season.
Our aim is to
educate our many visitors about the groundbreaking
conservation work
that is carried out at Howletts and Port Lympne and
give our visitors a
more informed and enjoyable day out.
Working 40 hours a
week, 9.00am – 5.00pm. Five days out seven,
including
weekends.
Interested?
To apply: Please
send a full CV and covering letter to: Helen
Dallimore-Jones,
Human Resources Manager, Port Lympne Wild Animal
Park. Lympne, Nr.
Hythe, Kent. CT21 4PD.
E-mail:
personnel@howletts.net
Please mention you
saw the advertisement in ZooNews Digest should you
apply for this post
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twycross Zoo (East
Midlands Zoological Society)
Full Time Vacancy
EDUCATION OFFICER
Required to join our
small team, the successful applicant will be
required to teach a
range of age groups but will have special
responsibility for A
level/Tertiary groups. A relevant degree and
teaching experience
are desirable.
Ability to use
simple DTP/word processing packages would be an
advantage.
The successful
candidate will be required to take up the position end
of March/beginning
of April.
Some weekend and
evening work may be required.
£17,500 per annum
Apply in writing
with c.v. to Alan Bates, Head of Education, Twycross
Zoo, Burton Road,
Nr. Atherstone, Warks. CV9 3PX
Or by e-mail to
alan.zoo@btinternet.com
Please mention you
saw the advertisement in ZooNews Digest should you
apply for this post
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Al Wabra Wildlife
Preservation has 2 Open positions for the year 2005
Blue Macaw
Co-ordinator
January 2005
Organization: Al
Wabra Wildlife Preservation, Qatar
Position: Blue Macaw
Co-ordinator
Application
Deadline: As soon as possible, position to be filled
spring 2005
Job Description for
the position as a Blue Macaw Co-ordinator:
• Daily
"hands-on" captive-management of all the Spix's – and Lear's
Macaws including
feeding/food preparation and hygiene. Daily
observation of
behavior and health status, written documentation and
reporting to the
director.
• Enclosure
maintanance, monitor; construction-work, survailance
cameras, prepare
cages and nestboxes routinely.
• Pull eggs, monitor
and preform artificial incubation and hand-
rearing of Blue
Macaw chicks.
• Prepare internal
reports, guidelines, protecols and proposals for
proceedures on the
involved species.
• Organize the daily
routines and personnel in the section including
work and feeding
schedules.
• Seasonally
flexible working hours (feeding around the clock if
necessary).
• Extensive record
keeping, collecting and encoding data on the
birds to computer
programs.
Applicants for the
position must fulfill the following minimum
requirements:
-Demonstrated
ability to work under pressure and with high
responsibilities.
-Significant
experience with keeping and rearing parrots, especially
Macaws.
-Demonstrated
experience in hand-rearing of Macaws. -Basic computer
skill (Word Excel
and Internet as minimum).
-Good oral and
written English skills (futher language skills an
asset).
-Abillity to work
with a highly motivated team, as well as to work
independently.
-Patient and sensitive to the animal's needs.
-Flexibility and
good organizational skills.
-Valid international
driving-licence
For more details
please cotact us: Website:
http://career.alwabra.com/ E-Mail:
awwp.office@alwabra.com Fax: +974-
4719-026
Please mention you
saw the advertisement in ZooNews Digest should you
apply for this post
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Personal Assistant
of Director
January 2005
Organization: Al
Wabra Wildlife Preservation, Qatar
Position: Personal
Assistant of Director
Application
Deadline: Position to be filled June 2005
Job description for
the position as Personal Assistant of Director
• assisting the
director in all his duties and tasks
• assisting in the
management of the wild animal collection
• international and
local correspondence
• independed tasks
performance
• administration of
laboratory results and scientific work
• data
administration, encoding data
• development of
work strategies and work schedules
• organising
appointments and meetings
• 50% management :
50% Veterinary work
• scientific
research and publications
• development of
veterinary health programs
• veterinary
assistance + veterinarian in duty
• visitor tour guide
• publicity work
• assisting of
construction projects
The following
Qualifications must be fulfilled by applicant for the
position
• High level of
loyalty
• Professional
appearance
• Good at
typewriting
• Very good oral and
written English skills
• Experience in data
administration
• Experience in
computer (MS Word and Excel)
• Fully qualified
veterinarian
• Experience in
office administration
• Scientific work
experience
• Patient but
flexible
• Organized and
independent
• German skills
preferred
For more details
please cotact us: Website:
http://career.alwabra.com/ E-Mail:
awwp.office@alwabra.com Fax: +974-
4719-026
Please mention you
saw the advertisement in ZooNews Digest should you
apply for this post
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Join our team as a
Zoo Keeper
Drusillas is
currently looking to appoint an experienced cover
keeper to join in a
team of fourteen permanent and four casual staff.
Successful
candidates must have at least two years relevant
experience in zoo
keeping and ideally hold the City and Guilds
Certificate in
Animal Management. Experience with birds of prey,
invertebrates and
reptiles would be advantageous, as would a full
driving licence. A
relocation package is available. For an
application form and
to find out more, please contact
Sue Woodgate
(Curator) on 01323 874110 or email her at
sue.woodgate@drusillas.co.uk
No Ordinary Zoo!
Alfriston, East
Sussex, BN26 5QS http://www.drusillas.co.uk
Call: 01323 874100
Join our team...
Please mention you
saw the advertisement in ZooNews Digest should you
apply for this post
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Curator - United
Arab Emirates
The Environmental
Research and Wildlife Development Agency
http://www.erwda.gov.ae/ in Abu Dhabi,
United Arab Emirates is
looking to recruit a
Zoo Curator for a major Zoo in the United Arab
Emirates.
Following is a brief
summary of the salary and benefits for this
position:
SALARY
Starting from US
$4,000 or AED 14,500 a month
ACCOMMODATION
Single Basis: AED
60,000 annually
Married with 2
children: AED 90,000 annually
Married with more
than 2 children: AED 100,000 annually
FURNITURE PURCHASE
ALLOWANCE
Single Basis: AED
35,000 (one off payment)
Married with 2
children: AED 45,000 (one off payment)
Married with more
than 2 children: AED 50,000 (one off payment)
EDUCATIONAL
ASSISTANCE
AED 15,000 for one
child
AED 25,000 for 2 or
more children
ANNUAL LEAVE
ENTITLEMENT
34 working days
ANNUAL LEAVE TICKETS
Economy Class for
employee + family on annual basis
For further
information and a position description, please contact;
Mrs. Hanan Al-Abed
Manager, Human
Resources Department
Environmental
Research & Wildlife Development Agency
P.O. Box 45553, Abu
Dhabi, U.A.E.
Tel: +971 2693 4621
Fax: +971 2681 7358
E-mail halabed@erwda.gov.ae
Please mention you
saw the advertisement in ZooNews Digest should you
apply for this post
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lead Elephant
Keeper.
– The Elephant
Sanctuary, Hohenwald, Tennessee.
Please send resumés
and references to: Scott Blais, The Elephant
Sanctuary, P.O. Box
393, Hohenwald, TN 38462 or FAX to: 931-796-4810
or e-mail
scott@elephants.com
Job will be posted
until filled. The Elephant Sanctuary, the nation's
largest natural
habitat refuge for elephants is looking for two
enthusiastic
individual to join our team. Over the past 14 months we
have expanded our
facilities to 2700 acres of elephant habitat and
increased our
elephant population to twelve. We received Delhi; the
first elephant
confiscated by the USDA, completed a 300-acre African
habitat and barn and
acquired three female African elephants, created
a TB quarantine
facility and received two of the Hawthorn elephants,
Lota and Misty.
Plans for 2005 include the completion of fencing to
enclose an
additional 2200 acres of elephant habitat and the
construction of two
additional Asian barns capable of housing 40
elephants.
Responsibilities: The qualified applicant will be charged
with supervising the
maintenance of female African elephants in a
multi-hundred acre
habitat. Responsibilities include but are not
limited to keeper
training and supervision, behavioral data
collection and
record keeping, behavior conditioning; will be trained
(in-house) to manage
the elephants using the non dominance technique
of passive control.
Candidate must be physically fit and able to lift
65 lbs., possess a
strong work ethic and have a progressive attitude
toward captive
elephant welfare. Candidate must be self-motivated and
have the ability to
work unassisted. Due to the job requirement the
candidate must be
mechanically inclined and able to work weekends.
The starting pay
range is between $19,000-$21,500 and benefits; 6
months probationary
period.
Elephant Keeper I -
Responsibilities: The qualified applicant will be
charged with
maintaining female African and Asian elephants in two
separate
multi-hundred acre habitats. Responsibilities include but
are not limited to
cleaning, food preparation, record keeping,
behavior
conditioning, construction and facility maintenance. The
chosen candidate
will be trained (in-house) to manage the elephants
using the non
dominance technique of passive control. Candidate must
be physically fit
and able to lift 65 lbs., possess a strong work
ethic and have a
progressive attitude toward the welfare of captive
elephants. Candidate
must posses the ability to work unassisted and
be self-motivated.
Due to the job requirement the candidate must be
mechanically
inclined and able to work weekends. The starting pay
range is between
$18,000-$19,500 and benefits; 6 months probationary
period.
Please mention you
saw the advertisement in ZooNews Digest should you
apply for this post
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SIERRA LEONE – The
Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary is currently seeking
a volunteer
veterinarian for a six-month residency at the orphanage
in Freetown.
Tacuagama cares for nearly 80 chimpanzees and is seeking
a qualified
veterinarian with primate / great ape experience capable
of handling the
day-to-day healthcare needs of the sanctuary, along
with monitoring
Tacugama's veterinary protocols as its progresses
towards
reintroduction programs. For more information, please contact
Tacugama manager
Bala Amarasekaran at sab@sierratel.sl
Please mention you
saw the advertisement in ZooNews Digest should you
apply for this post
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SMITHSONIAN'S
NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL
PARK
ZOO KEEPER/ELEPHANT
HANDLER
Elephant handling
experience required for keeper position in the
Large Mammal House
exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Zoo. Both
free and protected
contact experience will be considered. The
elephant program
includes three female Asian elephants handled in
free contact
(S.T.A.R.S.) and one (3 year old) male Asian primarily
handled in protected
contact. There are plans being developed to
build a new breeding
facility and perform another A.I. This position
will also require
working with other animals as assigned, currently
hippos, and
capybaras. Applicant must have excellent interpersonal
skills and be
motivated to become part of an established team. Must
also be interested
in public education and research. The position
will require working
weekends, holidays, shift work and overtime as
needed.
The position will be
open – At a Date Yet to Be Determined,
potentially
mid-January. Please refer to the job announcement before
applying.
Once the position is
posted, applications must be on time, no late
resumes can be
accepted! Resumes and/or applications must include the
announcement #: To Be Announced and must be mailed directly
to:
Smithsonian
Institution
Office of Human
Resources
750 Ninth St., N.W.
Suite 6100, MRC 912
Washington, DC
20560-0912.
Call the jobline on
202-287-3102 or check the job listings website
at: http://www.sihr.si.edu/job.htm for
further instructions on
applying.
For further
information about the position or opening date.
Call or e-mail:
Marie Galloway
(Elephant Manager)
202-673-4743 gallowaym@si.edu
or:
Tony Barthel
(Curator)
202-673-4703 barthelt@si.edu
Smithsonian's
National Zoo
Elephant House
3001 Connecticut Ave
N.W.
Washington, DC 20008.
Please mention you
saw the advertisement in ZooNews Digest should you
apply for this post
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amigos de las Aves –
Costa Rica
Amigos de las Aves
is a Costa Rican non profit organization dedicated
to the conservation
of the two endangered species of macaws found in
Costa Rica, the
Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) and the Great Green or
Buffon's Macaw (Ara
ambigua).
Amigos de las Aves
incorporates, breeding techniques, aviary
management,
environmental and key studies and conservation issues, in
order to carry out
controlled release programs in conjunction with
MINAE (Ministry of
the Environment and Energy) and Costa Rican laws.
We are currently
looking for volunteer field assistants to carry us
through for another
year.
Volunteer Field
Assistants
Our release sites
are situated on private reserves in the South West
and North West
coasts of the country. The first Scarlet Macaws here
were released in
1999, and are now established flocks
of birds. We
have recently added
to one of the groups and are very pleased with
the conjoining of
these flocks, which are now self sustainable.
We
are primarily
working towards a larger group.
Juveniles have been
sighted this year and nesting behaviour has been
observed from
several different pairs. Making our work
most
successful with
increased interest for the future.
Our biologist, Dale
Forbes, who is working at one of the release
sites and he has
established work routines at these sites in order to
monitor the bird's
behaviour and survival, as well as studying the
diversity of the
reserve and the feasibility and sustainability of
the macaws habitat.
We are looking for long - term field volunteers
to collect this
data, which we hope will be published.
What you will be
doing
The field study is
now established, but it will be amended and added
to as the study and
situation develops. Generally, you will
be
monitoring the birds
during the day, covering a large area, and
monitoring the
feeding station. Should there be any new
release
birds the study
incorporates behaviours related to the new birds and
the integration of
them into the existing flock.
We are also working
on an education program in the nearby community.
You will be required
to spend at least two or three days at the
breeding centre in
Alajuela. This is in order for you to understand
the working of the
organisation and for us to assess your
capabilities and
reliability.
The type of person
who should apply
We are looking for
someone for a period of at least 2 months or more.
A biology–related
qualification will help your application, but is
not essential, and
previous experience with birds is preferred.
You need to be
responsible and dedicated, relatively fit, for hiking,
and also patient as
long hours will be spent monitoring the birds.
It would be helpful
to have a sense of humour.
You don't need to
speak Spanish, but it would be helpful to have at
least an idea of the
language.
You will be expected
to work a 6 day week with one day off per week.
Working out your day
off is flexible and you can save up days off for
traveling if you
wish. We can work this schedule out with
you in
advance.
We work flexible
time according to the movements of the macaws and
the data
required. Regardless, we usually start
at around 5am and
finish at about
17.45pm
Breakfast, lunch and
supper are worked around your working day.
You may be working
alone at some time, but usually with the biologist
and under his
supervision. There are usually other
volunteers/staff/owners
on site, but not always.
If we have birds to
be fed several times a day in a pre-release
aviary, you will
need to do a fair bit of climbing, collecting food
etc!
The cost of
volunteering is $5 daily and $5 - $8 for food (depending
which site you are
at), accommodation costs are free.
You should not have
any extra costs other than your own personal
ones.
.
What you should like
about working in the field.
- The Scarlet
Macaws. The flock uses all parts of the reserve, and
can be observed in
groups. When monitoring the birds at the feeding
station, you are
able to observe the beauty of them in the wild, at
close range.
- Wildlife. The huge diversity of wildlife here, a lot of
which is
easily seen.
- The Beach. There
are beaches here, and the sea is warm. Surfing and
swimming are both
obtainable. Turtles may be glimpsed at
night.
- Living in a Nature
Reserve. You live in a tree house or
beach
cabin and wake to
the sounds of the forest, with the birds and
monkeys not far
away.
- Nearby
Civilisation. Both sites tend to be a
little remote, one
more so than the
other, but basic facilities are available, either a
bike or bus ride
away.
What you might not like:
Food. The food is good local fare – but be prepared
to like "rice
and beans".
Insects. If you
don't like snakes, scorpion and spiders, then field
work is not for
you.
- Basic
accommodation. The cabins and tree house
are basic! There
are loo's, washing
facilities, and beds. Nothing
fancy. Remember
you are surrounded
by wildlife.
- Restricted
electricity. Being Costa Rica, the
electricity does
fail occasionally,
so candles and torch are worth keeping with you.
- Monitoring can get
tedious. You will have to monitor the macaws at
the feeding station
for hours at a time, and if any nests are
discovered in the
breeding season, they will have be observed most
days.
- Lots of walking.
The release sites cover a large area. You will
certainly get fit !
Rules and
Regulations. The release sites have their own rules and
regulations and you
are requested to abide by them whilst working on
their property.
- Weather. It can be
very hot and humid in Costa Rica. The rainy
season during the
winter months can get tedious! And
sometimes muddy
- – or it can be scorching hot!
- Lack of
communication. There is not readily available internet or
telephone
connections. These facilities are
usually several
kilometers away.
If you are
interested in helping with this highly interesting and
groundbreaking work,
then please contact us, The Head Keeper,
at
richmar@racsa.co.cr with a copy of your c.v. – stating previous
experience with
birds if any – and two references – and a covering
letter.
Please mention you
saw the advertisement in ZooNews Digest should you
apply for this post
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Broaden your
horizons? Great challenges under tropical skies!
The Schmutzer
Primate Centre occupies a separate area in Jakarta's
Ragunan Zoo
(Indonesia). It is a state of the art primate facility
with ambitious plans
for further development. That is why the
Schmutzer Primate
Centre can offer unique opportunities for a number
of differently
skilled craftsmen in Zoo education. We are looking for
people who are able
to develop ánd make educational tools and would
like to share these
skills with their motivated and enthusiastic
Indonesian (English
speaking) colleagues.
Do you* have
experience with...
special acoustical
effects for indoor exhibits & outdoor applications
special light
effects for indoor exhibitions
model making
techniques
anima-tronics
(electronics for moving animal models)
`ape-costume' making
(level of `Planet of the Apes') or painting of
animal portraits on
children
or are you an expert
in …
organising events,
setting up themed restaurants (such as a
vegetarian
restaurant with a jungle menu), setting up a
wildlife `Crime
Lab', developing fund-raising ideas and skills, and
so on?
then we would like
to hear from you. This is a challenging
opportunity to make
a change in a country with an amazing
biodiversity that is
under great pressure.
We offer board and
lodging (up to maximum of 6 months) in the `close-
to-paradise'
guesthouse of the Primate Centre. Other conditions and
possibilities are
negotiable and depend on experience and skills.
(*Or do you know
somebody that meets this qualifications? Please
inform him/her about
this opportunities!)
Send reactions to
priinfo@primata.or.id or to
hannah@primata.or.id
Please mention you
saw the advertisement in ZooNews Digest should you
apply for this post
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Volunteer with the
Orangutan Health Project in Sumatra, Indonesia
A research project,
now in its 5th year, aims to discover more about
the special
behaviours and ecological conditions necessary for the
maintenance of
health in wild Orangutans. MVDr. Ivona
Foitova leads
a truly
international team of scientists in an attempt to improve the
environment of
captive orangutans, and the chances of work on the
ground also helps to
guard the forest against the devastating impacts
of logging on the
natural habitat of one of the last great apes.
As a volunteer you
will be part of the team helping in every way -
from simple data
entry and getting supplies for our base, to
locating, counting
or following wild Orangutans in the forest of
North Sumatra. This
may not always be enjoyable, but it will
certainly be
memorable.
For more information
on the project and our volunteer program, log on
to:
http://www.orangutan-health.org or
email us at:
orangutanhealth@indo.net.id
Please mention you
saw the advertisement in ZooNews Digest should you
apply for this post
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Voluntary primate
keepers needed
The Mona Foundation
is the only primate sanctuary in Spain. Our aim
is to provide a
better life for primates who have been exploited by
people. Here we
rehabilitate and socialize the primates into family
groups.
At the moment, our
sanctuary is home to nine chimpanzees and three
macaques. Our main
enclosure consists of a space of more than 5000
square meters, in
which we aim to provide an environment as close as
possible to that
they would enjoy in the wild.
The Mona Foundation
is looking for hard-working, dedicated people who
are interested in
helping us in our mission. Volunteer duties will
depend upon the
center's requirements which will vary according to
the time of the
year. Volunteer responsibilities include: cleaning,
feeding, enrichment
and general maintenance such as gardening,
painting, and
building work. Volunteers also help with administrative
duties and in
welcoming visitors for which good presentation skills
are needed.
Voluntary primate
keepers must be able to commit to a period of six
months working at
the sanctuary and be present five days and five
nights each week.
All voluntary posts are subject to a one month
trial period.
The following skills
and experience are considered valuable:
-previous work with
animals, particularly wild animals.
-construction,
electrical and mechanical skills.
-administration,
fund-raising, public relations and good writing
skills.
-a good general
level of education.
To apply for a
voluntary position at the Mona Foundation please
contact us by
e-mail: mona1@fundacionmona.org
For more information
about the Mona Foundation please refer to our
web site: http://www.fundacionmona.org
Please mention you
saw the advertisement in ZooNews Digest should you
apply for this post
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VOLUNTEER POSITIONS
AVAILABLE
at Munda Wanga's
Wildlife Park and Sanctuary - Zambia
Three week volunteer
opportunities available to keen and enthusiastic
people looking to
gain hand's on experience working at an African
wildlife park and
sanctuary. Species that you could be
working with
include lions,
tigers, wild dogs, various primates, an American black
bear and a baby
elephant. Volunteer duties will vary
hugely upon
volunteer's
interest, previous experience and the Park and
Sanctuary's
priorities, which will vary according to the time of year
and what
construction/relocation programmes are on at the time.
For more information
contact Lee Stewart through e-mail:
sanctuary@zamnet.zm
or take a look at our website:
http://www.mundawanga.com Longer volunteer periods are available
depending upon
volunteer's experience.
Please mention you
saw the advertisement in ZooNews Digest should you
apply for this post
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
More Zoo vacancies
can be seen by visiting:
American Zoo and
Aquarium Association - Job Listings
American Association
of Zoo Keepers' - Opportunity Knocks
European Association
of Zoos and Aquaria - Vacancies
Australasian Society
of Zoo Keeping (ASZK)
Berufsverband der
Zootierpfleger e.V
ml
Zoo Vets,
Technicians and interns
Bird Jobs in the
Field
Sites worth a visit:
American Nurseryman
Magazine
"It's a Zoo in
there."
The Ultimate
Ungulate Page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meetings
IMATA Regional
Meeting Europe in 2005.
14th March 2005
info@animalconcepts.org
Chemin de la
Suquette
Les Vergers de
ValConstance
Villa 33
06600 Antibes
France
+33.6.18074363
mobile
+33.4.97213291
phone/fax
Fourth Sea Otter
Conservation Workshop
18-20 March 2005
Seattle Aquarium
Pre-registration
required - deadline 18 Feb
Further information
:
shawn.larson@seattle.gov
Primate Society of
Great Britain 2005 Spring Meeting
March 22-23 2005
Chester College
For information
contact: Paul Honess, PSGB Meeting Officer, Dept of
Veterinary Services,
Univ, of Oxford, Parks Rd, Oxford OX1 3PT, U.K.
e-mail:
meetings@psgb.org or see http://www.psgb.org
5th Animal Behavior
Management Alliance Conference
10-15 April 2005
Further information
:
Animal Learning
& Behaviour
21st-24th April 2005
The new seminars
program for 2005 on enrichment, animal learning and
training is
available on http://www.animalconcepts.org
and new
seminars coming up.
ASZK 2005 Conference
"Conservation
and Conditioning"
29 April - 1 May
2005
Ciloms Airport Lodge
Melbourne and Werribee Open Range Zoo
Abstracts must be
submitted by 25 March 2005.
Information can be
obtained from the ASZK website
http://www.aszk.org.au or email Liz Romer on
slromer@bigpond.com
ARAZPA/SEAZA 2005
1st - 5th May 2005
Joint Conference
For further
information please visit:
Fourth Rhino
Keepers' Workshop
5 - 9 May 2005
Columbus, Ohio
Further information
:
Adam.felts@columbuszoo.org
Environmental
Enrichment
5th-7th May 2005
The new seminars
program for 2005 on enrichment, animal learning and
training is
available on http://www.animalconcepts.org
and new
seminars coming up.
Ninth Elephant
Ultrasound and Veterinary Procedures Workshop
Riddle's Elephant
and Wildlife Sanctuary
Tuesday, May 17
through Friday, May 20,
For more
information, or a registration packet, please contact Dr.
Schmitt or the
sanctuary office.
Dr. Dennis Schmitt
217 Karls Hall
SMSU – AG.
Department
901 South National
Avenue
Springfield MO 65804
USA
417-836-5091 phone
417-836-6979 fax
dennisschmitt@smsu.edu
The Eighth (2005)
Canadian Parrot Symposium
Victoria Day Weekend
May 21-22, 2005
The Dunsmuir Lodge
Victoria BC Canada
For information and
registration:
cparrotsw@shaw.ca
Second International Conference:
Animals and Zoos,
Current Research Focus
24th and 25th of May
2005
Malta Training
Centre, Wiankowa Str. 3.
Poznan, Poland
Address for
correspondence
"ZOO
Conference"
Ogród Zoologiczny w
Poznaniu
Ul. Browarna 25,
61-048 Poznan
Tel. (+48 61)
61-8709502
Fax (+48 61) 877 35
33
e-mail:
zoo.cwiertnia@interia.pl
BIAZA & EAZA
Joint Zoo Horticultural Conference
19 - 22 June 2005
Held at Chester Zoo,
Chester, UK
Please contact Mark
Sparrow, Curator of Horticulture,
Chester Zoo
m.sparrow@chesterzoo.org for details and registration
form
Tel: +44 (0)1244
65023-6 / Fax +44 (0)1244 381352
Fifth World Congress
of Herpetology
Conservatorium for
Music, Stellenbosch University Campus,
Stellenbosch on
20-24 June 2005
Please visit the
website http://www.wits.ac.za/haa/
or contact the
organiser at conf@conferencesetal.co.za
Dr Ernst HW Baard
Manager: Scientific Services Western Cape Nature
Conservation Board
Private Bag 5014 7599
STELLENBOSCH
Tel: +27-21-866 8001 Fax: +27-21-866 1523 Mobile: 082-
41 40
424 Scientific
Services office no. +27-21-866 8000 Visit our website:
The 14th Annual
Conference of the
International
Society of Anthrozoology
Exploring
Human-Animal Relationships
11-12 July 2005
Niagra Falls, New
York
Durrell Wildlife
Conservation Trust
COURSES FOR
CONSERVATIONISTS
Summer School
18th July - 5th
August 2005.
This three-week
intensive course caters for 24 students and is aimed
at young people
looking to pursue a career in conservation or
currently working
within a zoo or conservation organisation.
The aim of the
course is to provide students with a theoretical
foundation for
future work and insights into the practical problems
of captive breeding.
A Certificate of
Attendance is awarded.
This intensive
course includes lectures, study projects, practical
instruction and
workshops.
The next Summer
School is scheduled to run from 18th July - 5th
August 2005.
Further details of
the course in PDF format and application form in
Word can be
downloaded from
Closing date for
applications is 31st January 2005.
"International
Theriological Congress" (ITC)
July 31 to August 5,
2005
Sapporo, Hokkaido,
Japan.
In order to
pre-register and /or confirm your paticipation, please
contact the congress
committee by e-mail: MAMMAL2005@hokkaido-
ies.go.jp
Updated info
(newsletters) is available on the IMC9 webpage:
7th INTERNATIONAL
CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT
UNIFYING THE ART AND
SCIENCE OF ANIMAL ENRICHMENT
HOSTED BY THE
WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY
AT COLUMBIA
UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK CITY
31st JULY – 5th
AUGUST, 2005
All proposals must
be submitted by 15th October, 2004 to
ICEE2005@wcs.org The
conference program committee will complete the
selection of
symposia, workshops, and organized discussions for
inclusion at the
2005 conference by 1st November, 2004. Proposal
authors will be
notified of the committee's decision as soon as
possible, so that
organizers can acquire any necessary funding for
their symposium. The
Call for Abstracts will be published in November
2004. For more
information contact ICEE2005@wcs.org All symposia,
workshop and
discussion organizers must register for the conference.
First EAZA Training
Seminar for Zoo Educators
15 - 21 August 2005
Copenhagen Zoo.
For further
inquiries, please contact Peter Haase (pnh@zoo.dk) at
Copenhagen Zoo.
28th Annual Meeting
of the American Society of Primatologists
August 17-20 2005
Portland, Oregon
For more
information, contact: Dr. Kristine Coleman, Chair of the
local organizing
committee, at colemank@ohsu.edu
Second International
Congree of Zookeeping (ICZ)
May 7 - 11 2006
Gold Coast,
Queensland
Australia
Visit website: http://www.iczoo.org for latest information
2006 International
Gorilla Workshop
23 - 26 June 2006
Paignton Zoo,
Devon,
England
More details as
available
21st Congress of the
International Primatological Society
June 26-30 2006
Imperial Resort
Beach Hotel
Entebbe, Uganda
For further info:
wolupot@yahoo.com
First European
Congress of Conservation Biology
23rd-27th August
2006
Please visit the
website (http://www.eccb2006.org) for
details, and
register for new
information.
ZooNews Digest is an
independent publication, not allied or attached
to any zoological
collection. Many thanks.
Kind Regards,
Wishing you a
wonderful week,
Peter Dickinson,
14 David Edwards
Close,
Hen Golwyn,
Bae Colwyn,
Conwy,
Gogledd Cymru,
LL29 9UE
United Kingdom
Peter@elvinhow.prestel.co.uk
peterd482001@yahoo.co.uk
Tel:
0044-(0)1492-514053
Mobile : UK 07732
919 431
Remember where you
have been and know where you are going. Life is
not a race, but a
journey to be savored each step of the way."
- Nikita Koloff -
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