Monday, January 31, 2011

Zoo News Digest 25th - 31st January 2011 (Zoo News 722)

Zoo News Digest 25th - 31st January 2011 (Zoo News 722)



Peter Dickinson


Dear Colleagues,

Some may find that the link "Leave the kids at home for Shanghai Wildlife Park's new live-feeding show" is disturbing. I know I do. I am all against the pointless cruel deaths of any creature. I fully understand the necessity of live feeding in certain cases and have done my share of it. I also understand the absolute need for it when re-wilding carnivores and would play my part in that too. But for the 'pleasure' viewing by members of the public?... never! That is truly sick. Then there is live feeding of vertebrates for enrichment. No I don't agree with that either. It may be enrichment for the predator but it certainly is not for the prey. I don't accept the arguement that the death is very quick and painless. It is sometimes.... but sometimes it is not. I have worked in zoos for more than forty years, man and boy. I am not soft or squeamish. I will kill and have killed more animals than I care to think about. I have always cared though. That is why I worked with animals, because I care. I mention this because I note that results of a zoo live feeding poll which was privately published this week includee these results:

6 b. Our institution feeds live vertebrates only to collection animals that require live vertebrate food to survive.

17 c. Our institution feeds live vertebrates to collection animals that require live vertebrate food to survive and to collection animals for enrichment purposes.

(Note that the number 6 and 17 refer to the numbers of institutions)

So 11 collections feed live vertebrates for enrichment? Sorry but that is wrong. It may be ONLY a mouse or a rat or whatever but it is a living creature. In such cases a quick kill and introduced to the predator whilst warm and twitching would be the kindest option.

***



Moving onto Pandas as they have been in the news quite a bit recently and again today I thought I would include (with her given permission) the interesting comments by Kati Loeffler on the following link:

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/edinburgh-zoo-unable-to-raise-sponsorship-for-new-pandas-1.1081370

Note in particular the final paragraph:

"The zoo pointed out payments included within the loan agreement go to the CWCA, not the Chinese Government, and will support the conservation research that required to secure the future of the species. Mr Wilson said there was no question of the taxpayer footing the bill."

The CWCA is the China Wildlife Conservation Association, which answers directly to the State Forestry Administration, which is the highest level of government that oversees all things to do with wildlife and natural resources. The CWCA oversees all wildlife issues nationally, for animals that live in the wild. Captive wildlife (e.g., in zoos or in the Chengdu Panda Base) are under the administration of the Ministry of Construction. The Wolong panda breeding center is under the CWCA because that breeding center is part of the Wolong nature reserve.

The article shows once again the two hats of the CWCA and a reminder of where the panda loan funds really go in China, and how financially stressful the panda loans are for foreign zoos. The zoos in N. America, Europe and Australia see an increase in visitor tickets for the first year or so after acquiring the pandas, but after that these drop away and the expense of keeping up the loan payments (in the U.S. these are USD 1 million per year) and the obligatory panda-related research programmes and the hosting of Chinese delegates puts the zoos under severe financial stress.

The principal function of zoos, arguably, is the education of the public about wildlife and its conservation needs. As such, the extravagant funds that are spent on panda loans would do much better invested into conservation and education projects that may actually make a difference to the conservation of pandas and sympatric wildlife and their habitats. The money going to China in panda loans is doing no such thing. There has been no China-funded progress in the restoration and protection of panda habitats, in the education of the public towards wildlife conservation (on the contrary: the illegal wildlife trade and consumption of wildlife products from around the globe is burgeoning in China) or in the cessation of human invasion into traditional panda habitat areas. There is a lot of money going to the captive breeding of pandas. This practice is enormously stressful - physiologically and psychologically - to the animals (I can supply plenty of information on this if anyone is interested), produces primarily cubs with inappropriately close genetic relationships, and the cubs are raised under conditions of intensive human handling from the moment that they are born and in such a way that they are behaviorally unfit for natural breeding, much less for reintroduction into the wild. The first critical criterion for reintroduction of captive-bred individuals into the wild in an effort to build the wild population is a demonstrated, long-term effort in the restoration and protection of contiguous habitats for that species. Until this happens, there is no room even to discuss the release of captive-born pandas into the wild.


Kati Loeffler

(This first appeared in the Bear Care Group bearcare@yahoogroups.ca)


***
Walking Gorillas? It appears to be contagious...over big distances. Funny what people will pick up on. We all knew they did that. One wonders what will be next.

***

The award for the most confusing article of the week must go to "Saudi in bid to revive Arabian tiger". The what!!!! They mean leopard of course but then the article talks about:


"In comments carried by the Saudi daily Alhayat on Saturday, he said the Arabian leopard, which had lived in large numbers in the Arabian peninsula, has become extinct because of massive hunting and development plans following the discovery of oil.

“Concerning the Arabian tiger, it could exist in just a few numbers across Jordan’s mountains and the UAE…in Saudi Arabia, we have found two of this animal,” the Prince said."

Get it right newspapers please. Spots and Stripes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is nearly as bad as the rubbish about Cheetah's living in the UAE.

***


'Tiger mum picks the best' Raised my hackles. Today is Monday. These cubs were born on Saturday! Now I agree that any carnivore (and some others besides) will kill/eat weak young but, reading between the lines, this is not what happened here. Unless Johor Zoo has recently obtained some very sophisticated night vision camera then there is no way they would know that four cubs were born, that one was feeble and that one had a limp. This animal in my opinion had not been given adequate denning facilities and had been disturbed from the very start. This would also explain why the litters in 2006 and 2008 were eaten also. Johor...please read Hand Rearing Lion Cubs and Other Carnivores

Some animals you can get away with it but with most not. Proper husbandry is essential.

I have been very busy traveling this week and it has taken a mammoth effort to keep on top of things and get this out, especially as my laptop has been acting up bigtime. Thank you for your patience.

There are a lot of interesting stories and news items in this edition of Zoo News Digest.


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On with links: 

Interview: Illegal Wildlife Trafficking With Karl Ammann
In 2007, Karl Ammann appeared on Time Magazine’s Heroes of the Environment List, and for good reason. Since discovering 2,004 smoked primates and 1,000 fresh carcasses on board Zaire river boats in1988, he has devoted his life to exposing both the bushmeat and illegal wildlife trafficking. His photography and writings have appeared in several outlets including the New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, Stern Magazine, and the National Geographic Almanac, and he has recently co-authored two books namely Conserving Nature with Tony Rose and others, and Eating Apes with Dale Peterson. For his work, he has received a slew of accolades.

We met him this past weekend in Nairobi, Kenya, where we discussed private reserves throughout the Middle East that show off illegal wildlife without any retribution from the authorities. Even CITES, the international organization tasked with regulating wildlife trafficking, has been notoriously lackadaisical about bringing offenders to task.

Karl, you first became interested in bushmeat trade before switching your focus to wildlife trafficking. Can you talk about this?

“I’ve kind of moved away from Bushmeat. It’s a mess in Central Africa with no answers in sight. What’s the point of banging your head against the wall. You’ve done everything you can to expose the situation – policymakers, NGOs, and everyone else can no longer say they didn’t know what’s going on.”

So what you are you working on at the moment?

“Right now I’m making a film about the reptile skin trade – about over-exploitation, CITES export licensing for the Guccis of the world – all essentially illegal.”

Where do you market your films?

“It’s definitely not a moneymaker but I seem to have good luck in South Africa, Scandinavia and Germany. The American market is very difficult because they want happy endings, and my stories don’t have happy endings.”

Africa Geographic did a piece on wildlife trafficking in the Middle East – can we focus on that for a bit?

“I didn’t really do any work there. I mean, I went to Dubai and visited the zoo director there, asked him about his chimps and where they came from and went to Qatar and asked where those chimps came from. It’s a mess – Kuwait, the whole region.

One journalist with Gulf News has been good about picking up stories and running with them, to some extent, but the expat community doesn’t want to confront the issue. They’re afraid to even send emails. If they’re afraid to send emails, that’s a pretty good indication that it’s not safe. People who have helped me have been harassed, they’ve been threatened, and it’s still going on.”

The Egyptian wildlife dealer Heba Abdel Moty Ahmed Saad has eluded prosecution for thirty years. Is she still around?

“I doubt it – she has probably retired by now. But her two daughters are still operating out of Nigeria. There are also another two or three dealers operating who can pretty much get anything you want. The trouble is in Black Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, many wildlife dealers are third generation. This is nothing new to them. In the old days the trade went into Europe. Now there are more restrictions, to some extent, but also more money.”

Who in the Middle East is interested in buying wildlife?

“Mostly private collectors that have a lot of money. Saudi, Qatar, and the Emirates behind their walled estates, the Arabs feel entitled to have lions and tigers in the backyard. And because they have a closed society they get away with it. They have their private jets with crates – no one is going to open those up.

So, okay, Dubai had to open up a bit, but the expat community don’t dare to talk about what happens behind closed doors in Saudi for example. And they have high profile wildlife – Chimps, Gorillas, Orangutans, Lions, Tigers.”

What are some of the challenges
http://www.greenprophet.com/2011/01/wildlife-trafficking-karl-ammann/








San Diego Zoo Safari Park bashed for elephant breeding
Last year, four baby African elephants were born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
That was four too many, argues In Defense of Animals.
All the calves were males, which the animal rights group claims are hard to keep in zoos once they reach adulthood because of their strength and size. The organization is also concerned about the herd’s growing size — now at 17 elephants — as compared to the space the animals enjoy, which is about six acres.
The park’s breeding practice — which IDA called, “reckless” — led it to give the park a “Dishonorable Mention” in its recent annual ranking of the “Ten Worst Zoos for Elephants.”
The park didn’t make the list because it does some things right, such as the use of positive reinforcement, IDA said.
But the Safari Park can’t seem to break free of criticism when it comes to the handling of elephants. It’s been on the top ten list before.
“We try to be fair,” said Catherine Doyle, who directs IDA’s elephant campaign. “But we did feel it was important to address the number of surplus bulls in captivity. The Safari Park is contributing to this problem — hugely.”
The San Diego Zoo defends its breeding practices, saying that the elephant population in zoos is aging and dying off. It hardly matters that males are being born because zoos have become much more sophisticated in housing the animals.
"We keep moving forward," said Robert Wiese, San Diego Zoo’s chief life sciences officer.
Traditionally, zoos haven't liked to house the males because “they’re dangerous and unpredictable and very powerful,” Doyle said. In the wild, the young males roam mostly alone. In some zoos, for that reason, they’re kept isolated, she said.
"They end up living in miserable conditions,” Doyle said.
In all, 155 African elephants live in zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, according to the AZA website. Only 28 are males.
That disproportion is evident at the Safari Park, where the female adults outnumber the males six to two. At the San Diego Zoo, which also houses elephants, it’s virtually the same story. There are six
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jan/27/safari-park-criticized-for-elephant-breeding/





Possible “Jurassic Park” waste of time, money
Recently, National Geographic published an article about a woolly mammoth resurrection. ""Jurassic Park"' Planned" was the tag line. Ambitious. Exciting. The newest attraction. But is it ethically wrong?
Scientists have eagerly planned to take sperm from a frozen woolly mammoth from 10,000 years ago, impregnate an elephant and raise the offspring in a safari park in the Siberian wild.
According to the article, Kazufumi Goto, head scientist at the Mammoth Creation Project, states that this experiment will help scientists learn "more about these animals, their history and why they went extinct."
Unfortunately, the animal would not be a replica of a woolly mammoth from 10,000 years ago. It would take about 50 years of reproduction to make the mammoth only 88 percent true woolly mammoth.
We'd learn no more about their history than we'd learn from the frozen, preserved mammoth.
Considering today's climate, surrounding animals, humans and plants are not the exact same as they were 10,000 years ago, so trying to find out why the mammoth went extinct would be near impossible.
Adrian Lester, a paleontologist at University College London in England, brought up the point that "DNA preserved in ancient tissues is fragmented into thousands of tiny pieces nowhere near sufficiently preserved to drive the development of a baby mammoth." Ultimately, the mammoth would be created merely as a theme park attraction.
Cloning is an expensive process involving large amounts of money and biological proficiency.
In 1996, Ian Wilmut and his associates required 277 tries before producing Dolly, the first mammal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell.
A new cloning technique has recently been developed which is far more reliable. However, even this technique has a two to three percent success rate. Think of the expense and potential success rate of making that happen, assuming no baby mammoths die before being able to reproduce.
This brings up another possible glitch in this mammoth of a project. Clones are derived from an existing adult cell, or in this case, frozen sperm from 10,000 years
http://www.asuherald.com/opinion/possible-jurassic-park-waste-of-time-money-1.2449727







Birth of Rare Tiger Cubs in Asia
There is at last some hope for the Sumatran tiger.
Breeding them in captivity has proven to be difficult but the birth of three cubs at a zoo in western Indonesia today has shown it is possible.
The Taman Rimbo Zoo in Indonesia's Jambi province also said a fourth cub was born but died immediately.
Sumatran Tigers are on the brink of extinction. The World Wildlife Fund has said their numbers have now fallen to around 400. That's down from about a thousand in the 1970's.
The Sumatran tiger is the smallest of the species in the world and amongst the most threatened. It is only found on Sumatra, the largest island in Indonesia and the sixth largest in the world.
In theory the island should be able to host a large population of tigers. But the area they can roam is under enormous threat by the jungles being destroyed by logging and economic development. The huge areas of tropical rain forest each year that are wiped out by logging are easily noticed by Indonesia's neighbors by the huge clouds of smoke that come from there each year and often blanket Singapore and parts of Malaysia.
The smoke cloud is so dense visibility can be as limited to as little as fifty yards as I have experienced.
There are efforts to try to protect the Sumatran tiger by working with companies to leave some areas untouched but with their numbers falling fast there is the real possibility that there will be not enough left for their species to survive.
Tigers here in Southeast Asia have been under serious threat for decades. They have been virtually wiped out in many areas and cling on in the jungles of some countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia.
Once they roamed across the entire region. The last tiger to be seen in Hong Kong, for instance, was shot in 1942 during the Japanese occupation.
One of the main reasons for the demise of the tiger in Asia is the demand for tiger products in China. Their bones and other body parts are traditionally used in Chinese medicine in the belief they can help virility.
There are major ongoing campaigns here in Asia to try to educate the public about the threat to these beautiful beasts by hunting them and using their products. But the reality is now that the tigers and other threatened animals are so hard to get hold of in Asia that traders in these products are going further afield in search of them to countries in Africa and to India where the tiger there is under serious threat.
Tigers in the wild in Asia have fallen from about 100,000 at the turn of the last century to just over 3,000 today according to the WWF. The major problem is that they are scattered in small isolated pockets in 13 Asian countries.
Governments in the region have pledged to try to double
http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2011/01/27/birth-of-rare-tiger-cubs-in-asia/






Former zoo worker's media comments get her fired
A former Chattanooga Zoo worker's comments to a newspaper about animal deaths at the zoo have gotten her fired from her job with a separate non-profit group that has a contract with the city to run the animal shelter.
Deborah Bond told the Chattanooga Times Free Press she was fired by the McKamey Animal Care and Adoption Center after the newspaper published her comments about the recent deaths of 7 zoo animals, including 42-year-old
http://www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13920097





Nepal 'jails' blind rhino for manslaughter
Authorities in western Nepal have slapped a one-year 'jail term' on a blind rhinoceros who killed a man last year.
In remote Bardiya district in the farwest, where nearly two dozen rhinos live in the Bardiya National Park, park officials have slapped the 'jail term' on the recalcitrant male.
Named Bikram by park officials, the rhino used to be a hot favourite with visiting tourists till last year, when it inexplicably attacked the priest of a local temple and the mauled victim succumbed to his injuries.
Nine years ago, Bikram had been transported to Bardiya from Chitwan in southern Nepal that has over 400 rhinos - the largest after India's Kaziranga wildlife park.
He had been attacked by the villagers in Chitwan and was found with injuries, the Nagarik daily reported Thursday. Later, he was also found to have lost his eyesight.
The sightless Bikram held no fears for tourists visiting the park, who would pose close to him for photographs, the daily said.
But after the priest's death, the park authorities
http://www.sify.com/news/nepal-jails-blind-rhino-for-manslaughter-news-international-lb2mkdigiig.html








Gorilla in Kent zoo filmed walking like a human
A Silverback gorilla which has started walking around on his hind legs like a human has become an internet star after video of him was uploaded to YouTube.
More than 300,000 people have
http://newslite.tv/2011/01/27/gorilla-in-kent-zoo-filmed-wal.html



Then 2 days later...it must be contagious



Gorilla at Sydney zoo 'walks like a human'
Amazing footage as a gorilla at Australia's Taronga Zoo in Sydney walks around upright on his hind legs.
http://itn.co.uk/ce6a1be5c9e56c29d3baf64728f13c62.html




Woman jailed for importing shrimp
A WOMAN has been jailed for illegally importing crustaceans into Australia.
Chin-Han Chen, 28, pleaded guilty in the Brisbane District Court today to two counts of illegal importation of animals.
The court was told that on two occasions she arranged for a contact in Taiwan to send her two shipments of live Crystal Red Shrimp.
The shrimp are readily available for purchase in Australian aquarium shops but quarantine laws forbid them from being imported into the country.
The shrimp can sell for up to $1000 each to collectors.
The court was not told how many were in the packages brought
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/woman-jailed-for-importing-shrimp/story-e6frf7jx-1225996073623



Chhatbir lion safari nearing end
From a strength of 87 in early 90s to a mere two in 2011, the population of Asiatic Lions has dwindled alarmingly at Chhatbir zoo. One of the lionesses in the zoo, Divya, who was brought to Chhatbir from Renukaji Lion Safari in Himachal Pradesh, died recently.
People visiting the safari miss the roar of lions as it wears a deserted look, while zoo authorities remain mute spectators with no efforts being made to ascertain the cause of mysterious deaths. Due to scientific mismanagement over the last 20 years lions have paid for human failing with their lives, said sources.
Zoo officials insist they are planning to bring a 'pure' pair of Asiatic of lions from Rajkot which might take some time. Punjab chief wildlife warden Gurbaz Singh said, "We are waiting for a response from the zoo in Gujarat and the cats will be here for breeding."
In 80s, the zoo had a big presence of tigers and lions. Authorities had bought a hybrid lion from a circus, which bred at the zoo and that gave rise to genetic diseases in the safari's population.
Punjab state wildlife board member Gurmit Singh said, "A DNA test was also conducted, the findings of which were rather damning." Later, Central Zoo Authority (CZA) issued instructions to stop the breeding. Moreover, the authorities did not maintain the history of the cat family, giving rise to incorrect diagnoses.
"If the practice had been followed, many lions would have been saved," an expert said.
Sources stated that zoo authorities had not made any effort to procure pure Asiatic lions for breeding. Later, many lions were sent to other zoological parks without any
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Chhatbir-lion-safari-nearing-end/articleshow/7387393.cms


Wild Animals, Domesticated Humans: The Zoo and Modern Society




Denver Zoo celebrates births of rare tadpoles
The Denver Zoo is celebrating the birth of five tadpoles in South America as part of its push to save the critically endangered Lake Titicaca frog.
Denver Zoo staff assisted a breeding project at the Huachipa Zoo in Lima, Peru, in December and met with experts from around the world on strategies to preserve the giant frogs in the lake that straddles the border between Peru and Bolivia at 12,500 feet.
The Lake Titicaca frog is the Denver Zoo's top conservation project. Since 2007, the zoo has spent about $100,000 and advised local conservationists in the effort.
Although the five hatchlings did not
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_17232258




Walking gorilla is a YouTube hit
A silverback gorilla who walks upright like a human has become a big attraction at a wild animal park in Kent.
The male, called Ambam, has become something of a celebrity at Port Lympne near Hythe, where he amuses keepers and visitors.
Phil Ridges, Ambam's keeper, said it was "not a novelty" for
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-12303651





Orang-utans join the genome gang
Orang-utans can now be added to the list of species that have had their genomes sequenced, offering conservationists a wealth of data in their efforts to save the endangered great ape.
A group of researchers in the United States and Europe has published a draft of the genome of a captive orang-utan called Susie, and less complete copies from ten wild individuals1.
"We've developed a resource that could allow conservationists to prioritize populations for saving based on genetic diversity," says Devin Locke at the Genome Center at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, who led the study. "Zoo breeding programmes could also be informed by genetics, allowing them to maintain maximum diversity."
But whether genetic data can really help to conserve orang-utan populations in the wild remains unclear. The apes are native to Sumatra and Borneo, where they are under
http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110126/full/news.2011.50.html





World's first artificial hip for German tiger
A tiger in Germany has become the world's first to be given an artificial hip after a three-hour-operation by a team of vets that she only just survived, Leipzig University said on Thursday.
Girl, as the Malayan tiger at Halle Zoo in eastern Germany is known, had been in visible pain for close to a year because of problems in her right hip joint, the university said.
"Malayan tigers are one of the world's most endangered species, with only around 500 estimated to be living in the wild. This was another reason to operate on Girl," a statement said.
The ferocious feline patient, eight, was not that long in the tooth either, with a life expectancy of 20.
During the operation by five specialists, Girl's heart came close to stopping, however, but anaesthetist Michaele Alef was able to save her.
Girl is now recovering in a separate enclosure back in Halle Zoo, and once a six-week danger period when the new hip could dislocate is over, there is every chance that it will last her the rest of her life.
"We are happy," said Peter Boettcher, another member
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gwXy33BXIAauSRv6doqiOq0qmj0w?docId=CNG.b27ce982d5a2c46fdde0c964ca0fcea9.9c1


Albino Zoo - with 7 Incredibly Rare Albino Species




New ‘secrecy’ law threat to zoo, museums
Civil society organisations believe zoos and museums could be under threat if the Protection of Information Bill is not amended.
Johannesburg Zoo could be crawling with National Intelligence Agency operatives if Parliament does not amend the Protection of Information Bill, civil society organisations warn.
The Institute for Democracy in SA has issued a list of the 1001 state organs that would be able to classify information should the bill be passed in its present form.
It includes oddities such as the Afrikaans Language Museum, the Playhouse Company, the Natal Sharks Board and the Johannesburg Zoo.
"If this bill goes through, we’ll have agents from National Intelligence Agency running around the Johannesburg Zoo," the Right2 Know campaign said yesterday.
Work on the controversial bill — which seeks to create a new regime for the classification of state information — will end today as the mandate of the
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=132723





Monkey captured after 120-person biting rampage
A marauding monkey that attacked 120 people has been captured following a city-wide hunt in Shizuoka, Japan.
The mischievous macaque – named Lucky – had bitten 120 people in a two-month rampage in Shizuoka before becoming Rakujuen Zoo’s most famous resident.
‘We called her name and she came to us,’ said an official.
One of Rakujuen's caretakers found Lucky missing from its cage one morning. It is believed that the monkey may have escaped while
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/853764-monkey-captured-after-120-person-biting-rampage





Second Baby Elephant
Chester Zoo has welcomed its second elephant calf in 6 months.
Asian Elephant Thi gave birth to the female calf just before midnight on Saturday.
Thi, 28, is mum to Sithami, 13, who had her own calf, Nayan, in July.
Proud dad of both calves is Upali, 16.
Tim Rowlands, Curator of Mammals, said the zoo was delighted with the news.
Tim said: “The arrival of an elephant calf is always a cause for celebration but two healthy calves in six months is fantastic. The new arrival and mum
http://www.chesterzoo.org/must-sees/zoo-news/Baby%20Elephant





New face at the zoo welcomes a new era
Groundwork being laid for $200-million reno of prized ‘gem’
Polar bears might be more accustomed to the frigid Manitoba winters than an Australian man, but the freezing cold holds "no worries" for Tim Sinclair-Smith.
The Assiniboine Park Conservancy recently announced that Sinclair-Smith has been appointed as its new director of zoological operations.
Sinclair-Smith succeeds the retired Dr. Gord Glover and is confident that his new leadership role will make him part of Assiniboine Park Zoo’s evolution that he believes will ultimately make the facility "world class."
For more than 20 years, Sinclair-Smith has worked in zoological facilities across the world and was most recently based at Calgary Zoo.
"The plans for the [zoo] are nothing short of spectacular and I’m absolutely thrilled to be part of a great team," Sinclair-Smith said. "Our goal is to move
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/our-communities/lance/New-face-at-the-zoo-welcomes-a-new-era-114595229.html




Cachorros de tigres desaparecen de Zoo
(Tiger cubs missing from zoo - eaten or stolen?)
http://www.elpais.com.uy/110129/pciuda-543980/informe/cachorros-de-tigres-desaparecen-de-zoo/




Australia Zoo execs under fire
TWO senior Australia Zoo executives flew business class to Las Vegas just two days after more than 20 employees were dismissed from the organisation on Monday.
Director Wes Mannion and General Manager Frank Muscillo left the country to pursue business interests in the US.
An Australia Zoo spokesperson said Mr Mannion and Mr Muscillo were in California seeking opportunities that would cement the financial future for Australia Zoo and attract international tourists back to the Coast.
“These business class flights were booked a year in advance on a travel sale,” the spokesperson said.
Last June, Terri Irwin announced Australia Zoo was pushing ahead with a $300 million plan to replicate the famed Beerwah wildlife haven in the gambling mecca of Las Vegas.
She said the plans would employ about 900 people – many of them Australians.
Back on the Coast, dozens of former
http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/story/2011/01/29/australia-zoo-execs-under-fire-las-vegas-trip/





Complaint to USDA causes investigation into animals' welfare
A federal inspector will examine the Chattanooga Zoo at Warner Park after a complaint was filed.
U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman David Sacks told the Chattanooga Times Free Press the agency received an anonymous complaint about the welfare of zoo animals and will send an inspector.
The zoo has also invited the oversight, asking the Animal and Plant Inspection Service of USDA to do an inspection said Darde Long, director of the zoo.
Seven animals have died at the zoo in the past month. One
http://www.whnt.com/news/sns-ap-tn--chattanoogazoo,0,3605791.story






Zoo update included on city agenda
An update on developments at the Topeka Zoo is among topics local governing bodies will take up in the coming week.
The Shawnee County Commission will meet at 9 a.m. Monday in its chambers in Room B-11 at the county courthouse, 200 S.E. 7th, while the Topeka City Council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in its chambers at 214 S.E. 8th.
The commission plans to consider selling a parcel of property encompassing part of a lot at 335 S.W. Polk for $50 to Carl Hughes.
The county acquired the parcel at a judicial tax foreclosure sale in September 2004. The parcel was offered for auction by sealed bid in June 2006, when a bid was made but no payment was received. On Jan. 2, Hughes submitted the $50 bid by e-mail.
Monday's agenda doesn't indicate commissioners will discuss or take
http://cjonline.com/news/local/2011-01-29/zoo-update-included-city-agenda





Researchers Witness Polar Bear’s Epic Search For Ice
Scientists studying polar bears around the Beaufort Sea, north of Alaska, were amazed to witness one polar bear that swam continuously for more than nine days, covering some 426 miles, in search of sea ice.
The scientists said this endurance feat could be the result of climate change.
Polar bears are known to swim between land and sea ice floes to hunt seals. But the researchers said that increased sea ice melts push polar bears to swim much farther, risking their own health and future generations.
In their findings, published in Polar Biology, researchers from the US Geological Survey (USGS) revealed the first evidence of long distance swimming by polar bears.
“This bear swam continuously for 232 hours and 687 km and through waters that were 2-6 degrees C,” said research zoologist George M. Durner. “We are in awe that an animal that spends most of its time on the
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1985194/researchers_witness_polar_bears_epic_search_for_ice/index.html






Phl croc may be extinct in 10 years
The Philippine crocodile, classified as critically endangered by the World Conservation Union, will be extinct in 10 years if no conservation measures are immediately undertaken.
The Mabuwaya Foundation Inc. (MFI), an organization engaged in protecting the species, said only 100 mature Philippine crocodiles are left in the wilds of Isabela and Liguasan Marsh in Maguindanao.
Philippine crocodiles (scientific name Crocodylus mindorensis) are endemic to the country. They thrive in freshwater and are non-threatening to humans unless provoked.
“The Philippine crocodile is the world’s most severely threatened crocodile species. It is at a real risk of going extinct in the near future if no conservation action is taken,” said Marites Balbas, communication officer of Mabuwaya Foundation.
The foundation collaborates with international conservationist group Critical Ecosystem
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=651759&publicationSubCategoryId=68






Leave the kids at home for Shanghai Wildlife Park's new live-feeding show
Many of you are probably already familiar with the live-feeding that goes on up at the Harbin Siberian Tiger Reserve. In case you aren't, visitors to the "breeding center" are allowed to select various animals for a sum, hop onto a modified van and drive around the enclosures as the freshly-bought animal is thrown to the tigers. Last time we were there (which was the previous winter) you could for 'round about a thousand kuai, choose a goat to get torn to shreds.
However, you don't need to go so far up north to do that anymore because there's a live-feeding show in Shanghai's own backyard. The Shanghai Wildlife Park, who was behind the distasteful Animal Olympics a few years ago, has created such a tour to raise revenues. It's selling live chickens at 60 RMB a pop so that visitors can watch as they're thrown to the park's bears, tigers, and lions.
Never mind how cruel it is for the chicken, feeding the carnivores whenever
http://shanghaiist.com/2011/01/25/post_37.php





Conserving the Bornean leopard
The Sabah Wildlife Department wants to launch a Bornean clouded leopard captive breeding programme at the Kota Kinabalu Lok Kawi Wildlife Park.
The move follows the discovery of the endangered leopard. The Bornean clouded leopard is a unique subspecies distinctly different from their relatives in Sumatra.
Sabah Wildlife Department director Dr Laurentius Ambu said the uniqueness of the Bornean clouded leopard put it on the high priority list for conservation.
He noted it has already been listed as endangered on the International Union of Conser­vation of Nature
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/1/24/nation/7856685&sec=nation





Former Tilikum Trainers Take You Behind The Curtain At SeaWorld
Since the death of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau almost one year ago, the world has been learning a lot about more about the reality of life in marine parks for killer whales.
Now two former trainers have just released a powerful report that captures the full range of stresses suffered by orcas in captivity, stresses that likely contributed to the death of Dawn Brancheau (as well as a trainer named Alexis Martinez as a marine park in the Canary Island two months earlier).
The former trainers, Jeff Ventre and John Jett (now a doctor and a professor, respectively), worked with killer whales at SeaWorld Orlando (including Tilikum) for a combined total of 12 years, and both knew Dawn Brancheau. The stresses they catalog include: aggression between whales, medical issues, captive breeding practices, and the total disconnect between marine park life and the natural world and social structures killer whales are used to in the wild.
In particular, Jett and Ventre break new ground by explaining how life at marine parks leads killer whales to damage
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tim-zimmermann/post_1606_b_811528.html




Blind orangutans have twins in western Indonesian rescue centre
A blind orangutan at a rescue centre in western Indonesia has given birth to a healthy pair of twins.
Ian Singleton, who works with the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program, said Thursday that Gober, the mother, so far appeared able to care for the babies herself.
"But vets and staff are ready to step in if necessary," he said, adding that Leuser, the father, also is blind.
There are around 50,000 orangutans left in the wild, 90 per cent of them in Indonesia, with more than 2,000 others in rescue centres.
Some of those at centres were seized in the illegal wildlife trade and others orphaned when their mothers strayed from rapidly disappearing rain forests in search of food.
The twins — a boy named Ganteng and a girl named Ginting — were born last Friday.
"It's hoped that both infants will eventually be released to a life in the wild, something that has been denied both their parents due to their blindness," Singleton said.
The twins' mother, who has cataracts in both eyes, was captured by vets two years ago in an area surrounded by palm oil plantations.
They were worried she'd be killed by villagers for routinely
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jjQ3RmWsgNtksl-9geFjPCR5FPLQ?docId=5776240





Future Main Entry of Al Ain Wildlife Park and Resort takes shape
Al Ain Wildlife Park and Resort (AWPR) today announced that the construction of its ambitious project development is progressing with the new Main Entry landscape taking shape. During an official ceremony, which was attended by HE Majid Ali Al Mansouri, Managing Director of AWPR, Ghanim Mubarak Al Hajeri, Director General of AWPR, and other Senior Executives, the first nine trees were planted at the Main Entry.
The Main Entry is located in a 340,000 square metre landscaped area including oryx and gazelle habitat, and will allow visitors to meander through desert landscapes that signify the character of this unique experience.
Sustainable approaches are being implemented at every step of the Main Entry construction. Sustainable practices include exclusive use of "grey" water for irrigation (Treated Sewage Effluent) and all construction debris will be reduced, reused, and recycled as much as possible.
Most important is the landscaping where plants are chosen to be native and adaptive to the UAE region. Drought and or saline tolerant species will be planted including different types of species that have a proven track record of surviving and thriving in desert environment. In-line with the project's sustainability approach, 90% of the Main Entry plants are native with low to medium irrigation water requirements.
During design and construction, great attention is given to conserving the site's native vegetation. Areas are protected during construction to preserve valuable habitat while more than 500 mature trees have been lifted during 'Operation Green Thumb', the largest tree salvage operation ever undertaken in the region.
Using techniques developed in the US and for the first time applied in the UAE in collaboration with AWPR's strategic
http://www.ameinfo.com/255187.html


Al Ain Wildlife Park and Resort The Orangutans are waiting, the chimpanzees are waiting and the rest of the zoo world are waiting to see what will happen next





Tiger mum picks the best
The law of the jungle applies even in the zoo – a tigress ate three of her newborn cubs at the Johor Zoo here recently.
The seven-year old tigress, Juli, gave birth to four cubs on Saturday, but the joy of the zoo personnel was short-lived when she killed and ate three of the cubs in the following two days.
Zoo chief assistant secretary On Jabbar said the tigress could have eaten her cubs for several reasons, including the cubs’ health and physical condition.
“Three of the cubs looked feeble and one had a limp before they were killed by the mother,” he told journalists when met at the zoo here, adding that a tigress would also kill its cubs if instinct told it that the cubs would not have a chance to reach adulthood.
On said this was the third time that 100kg Juli gave birth in captivity after mating with Jeli, weighing 150kg.
She also ate her litter after giving birth in 2006 and 2008.
He said the zoo was hoping that Juli




Tigress deals a blow to zoo's breeding plan
Over the past three years, the Johor Zoo has been facing a problem with its tiger breeding programme - newborn cubs were mauled and eaten by their mother.
The reason behind the female tiger's behaviour is not known. Of the four cubs that were born four days ago, only one survived.
Johor Zoo manager Zakaria Rosli said it could be because the female tiger was inexperienced in handling its offspring.
He said the female tiger gave birth to five cubs at the end of 2008 and two in 2009. All were killed and eaten by the parent.
The male tiger in the breeding programme is named Jeli Junior while its mate is called Juli. Both weigh between 100kg and 150kg.
"We have yet to ascertain the cause of Juli's behaviour. The incidents occurred even though we increased the quantity of meals given to the mother during her three-month pregnancy period, from 5kg of beef to 7kg.
"All we can do now is to separate the tigers from public view in the hope that they will not be stressed by visitors. We even provide medication to the mother," he said yesterday.
Zakaria said it was a norm for tigers to maul their young if instincts told them that the cubs would pose certain "threats" in the future.
"We only separate the cubs from their mothers at least six months after birth.
"Tigers are solitary creatures. They are not like lions and their prides. And the zoo has no problem breeding lions thanks to their




Saudi in bid to revive Arabian tiger
Kingdom breeds animal in activity and install cameras on border
Saudi Arabia has been locked in an ambitious programme to resurrect the almost extinct Arabian tiger by breeding it in activity, the head of the Gulf Kingdom’s wildlife agency has said.
The National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development (NCWCD) is carrying out the programme which also involves the installation of 50 thermal imaging cameras in areas stretching thousands of miles from the northern border with Jordan to the southern border with Yemen, NCWCD’s secretary general Prince Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saud said.
In comments carried by the Saudi daily Alhayat on Saturday, he said the Arabian leopard, which had lived in large numbers in the Arabian peninsula, has become extinct because of massive hunting and development plans following the discovery of oil.
“Concerning the Arabian tiger, it could exist in just a few numbers across Jordan’s mountains and the UAE…in Saudi Arabia, we have found two of this animal,” the Prince said.
“We have launched a project to breed this animal and study its habitats and the way it lives…the project includes the installation of nearly 50 thermal imaging cameras across the Kingdom’s western region from the border with Jordan to Yemen…we installed them two months ago but so far we have not spotted any animal it is a big project and the study will last at least two years.”
Prince Bandar said NCWCD had launched another programme in parallel with that project involving the breeding of the Arabian tiger in captivity. “We have just had some baby tigers and we expect to have more this year…but there are many other





Elephant refuge starts anew after founder's firing
Nestled on a secluded tract in the wooded hills of rural Tennessee is a sight that would likely startle an outsider, if outsiders were permitted to see it: the nation's largest sanctuary for old, sick and rescued elephants.
For the past 15 years, elephants who had spent lifetimes in zoos and circuses have found a place to retire, rest and roam, far from noisy audiences and free from cramped quarters.
Now, after an unexpected management change and a lawsuit filed by one of the original founders last year, their place of refuge is undergoing changes that may allow the world






Ueno Zoo to get pandas in February
A pair of giant pandas to be leased from China will arrive at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo in February, sources said Saturday.
The giant pandas will be the zoo's first since Ling-Ling, a male panda, died in April 2008, and follows a deal between the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and China to borrow the popular animals for 10 years.
One of the pandas is a male named Bili, and the other is a female called Xiannu. Both are 5 years old. The metro government will pay $950,000 (around ¥80 million) annually to China to lease the animals. Beijing will use the funds to preserve the species' habitat and conduct research on pandas.
The endangered giant panda is considered a





Vizag zoo selected as conservation breeding centre for ‘dholes’
In an effort to recover the population of the endangered wild dogs or ‘dhole’, the Central Zoo Authority has selected Indira Gandhi Zoological Park as the conservation breeding centre for wild dogs in the country and Vandalur Zoo in Chennai as the associate zoo in the pilot project.
“We have identified some areas for the breeding centre in the zoo premises. Once the biologist arrives here by next month, we will conduct a detailed study and submit the proposal by April,” zoo curator G. Ramalingam told The Hindu.
The breeding centre will have 24 hours monitoring unit with CCTV cameras. The dholes are classified as endangered by the IUCN, due to habitat loss, depletion of its prey base, competition from other predators, persecution and possibly diseases from domestic and feral dogs.
Vizag zoo is the only zoo in the country that was successful in the inbreeding of wild dogs for the third time. This time the zoo witnessed the birth of five wild dog pups a month ago.
“The area is now being strictly monitored by guards to prevent any kind of disturbances. Wild dogs are highly sensitive to disturbances and the young ones are vulnerable till they cross five months,” the curator said.
With its sharp ears and piercing eyes, the male and the female keep a track of the movements of kites and eagles hovering over the area. The pack of young ones, however, comes out only in the early hours of the day and in the late evenings when the keeper comes to serve them food. While they scurry along with each other to get their share of food, their parents shoo away the flying kites and eagles that try to nab away the share.
The zoo has two enclosures of wild dogs and a pair of litter was also spotted in the other location by zoo keepers.
Dholes live in packs and the size of the packs indicates






Beetle pest may encourage nesting turtles to move
THE egg is exactly the same shape, size and colour as a ping-pong ball, but soft and covered in a thin, glistening fluid. Just seconds ago it was dumped into a hole in the sand by a female olive ridley sea turtle.
It's midnight on La Escobilla beach on Mexico's Pacific coast, where two biologists and I squat near the solitary turtle. She's one of the stragglers; last week, some 50,000 females swam in to lay their eggs, a phenomenon known as an arribada. The beach plays host to several arribadas each year. In 2007, 1.4 million nests were dug in this 15-kilometre stretch of sand, making it a contender for the largest sea-turtle nesting site in the world.
That's remarkable when you consider that just 20 years ago, the number hovered around 140,000. In those days, the slaughterhouse in nearby San Augustinillo was licensed to kill between 1000 and 3000 turtles a day. The beach, which now attracts a mix of Mexican and European tourists, was drenched in blood and littered with left-over turtle parts. I'm told the bay teemed with sharks, and the stench - so remarkable that it has its own name, chuquilla - could be smelled in the next town, 2.5 kilometres down the coast.
Then, in 1990, a national ban came into force, and La Escobilla was brought under state protection. The locals are allowed onto the beach during the day, says Erika Peralta Buendia, the biologist who runs the beachside monitoring station, but at night you need a permit. The lure of the supposedly aphrodisiac eggs is





More visitors at Plymouth's National Marine Aquarium
The National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth has announced increased visitor numbers for 2010.
Despite a "challenging" year, the tourist attraction said numbers rose to 264,000, which was 6,000 more than the previous year.
Managing director Dr David Gibson said the aquarium's income was expected to reach £2.5m by the financial year end.
Everyone had pulled together to buck the trend compared with many other visitor destinations, he said.
"We're predicting that 2011 will be equally tough... but we're confident we can repeat last year's numbers," Dr Gibson added.
Since its opening in 1998, the aquarium has regularly attracted up to quarter of a million visitors a year, but in 2009 it admitted it was fighting to keep visitor numbers strong





SeaWorld to Reopen Shamu Show after Trainer Death Last Year
SeaWorld has announced that they going to reopen their ‘Dine with Shamu’ show on February 26 in San Antonio, Texas. It will also be reopened in San Diego, California and Orlando, Florida later this year.
This comes a year after the show was suspended when one of the killer whales, Tilikum, dragged 40-year-old trainer Dawn Brancheau underwater by her ponytail, drowning her last February after one of the shows ended. The show was suspended everywhere after the incident, which had several horrified witnesses. A spokesperson says that the male Orca won’t initially be performing in the show when it reopens.
Brancheau had worked at SeaWorld for 17 years after dreaming of working with Orcas since visiting the park when she was little and was one of the park’s most senior trainers. Police initially said that she had fallen into the water, but the witnesses described that she was grabbed by the 6-ton whale while answering questions from visitors.
This wasn’t the first time that Tilikum was involved in a fatality with a trainer. He was also blamed for the drowning of a trainer in 1991 while he was in British Columbia at Sealand. He was also involved in an incident when a homeless man’s body was found on his back in 1999, after




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For more information please contact Sabrina Brando
sbrando@animalconcepts.eu

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John G. Shedd Aquarium Andros Iguana research expedition from
April 29-May 8, 2011


http://www.sheddaquarium.org/pdf/Iguana_Andros_2011.pdf



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The 26th issue of the Journal of Threatened Taxa is online at www.threatenedtaxa.org
January 2011

Vol. 3
No. 1
Pages 1401-1492

Date of Publication 26 January 2011 (online & print)


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Vote for the worst company of the year 2011

Dear friends,



Finish oil and biofuel company Neste Oil is about to become the world's largest buyer of palm oil. They have developed a technology which allows for a much higher percentage of palm oi biodiesel to be used in cars and which can also turn palm oil into jet fuel. Neste Oil has entered into agreements with Lufthansa and Finnair to supply biofuels for passenger flights. Most of their palm oil comes from the IOI Corporation, which is responsible for large-scale rainforest and peatland destruction and violations of people's land rights in Malaysia and Indonesia. IOI is one of the companies behind plans to destroy another 1 million hectares of rainforest, home to indigenous communities, in Sarawak, Borneo.

Please vote here:


Guadalupe Rodríguez
Rainforest Rescue
 
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The Orca Project
Keto and Tilikum Express the Stress of Orca Captivity



The practice of keeping killer whales in captivity has proven to be detrimental to the health and safety of animals and trainers alike. On Christmas Eve, 2009, trainer Alexis Martinez was killed by a male captive bred orca named Keto, who was on loan from Sea World to a facility called Loro Parque, in the Canary Islands, Spain. Two months later, on 24 February 2010, trainer Dawn Brancheau was killed by Tilikum, an animal involved with two previous human fatalities. Medical Examiner (ME) reports described massive trauma to both Dawn and Alexis. Neither death was accidental.

While orca captivity generates large profits for companies like Sea World (SW), life in a shallow concrete tank is greatly impoverished compared to the lives of their free-ranging counterparts. Trainer deaths, whale deaths, and numerous documented injuries to both trainers and whales provide evidence of several key issues related to killer whale captivity.


Tilikum is representative of the many social and health issues plaguing captive orcas. Typically spending their entire lives within tight family groupings, orcas captured from the wild, including Tilikum, have been traumatically extracted from the security, comfort and mentoring which these groupings provide. Captured animals are confined to small, acoustically-dead, concrete enclosures where they must live in extremely close proximity to other whales with which they often share no ancestral, cultural or communication similarities. The resultant infighting amongst captive orcas is exacerbated by virtue of having no place to run, as confinement fails to provide spatial escape options that natural settings offer. As a result, social strife is common in captivity, including aggression, in which whales are cut, raked, and rammed, usually by members higher on the soci

Read Full Article
HERE




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4th International Congress on Zookeeping


9 -13 September 2012

Singapore

Theme “Many Voices One Calling”

Sponsored by Wildlife Reserves Singapore , Singapore Tourism Bureau

Further information to come.

For information on sponsorship or exhibition opportunities email eo@aszk.org.au

Check the ICZ website http://www.iczoo.org/  for latest news.


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Zoo Conferences, Meetings, Courses and Symposia
click HERE 

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ZOO BIOLOGY  


The Zoo Biology Group is concerned with all disciplines involved in the running of a Zoological Garden. Captive breeding, husbandry,cage design and construction, diets, enrichment, man management,record keeping, etc etc




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