Saturday, March 31, 2012

An idiot on a Rhinoceros


http://youtu.be/EzAvil56Qb0

Nothing clever, nothing brave, Just a half wit who I hope is prosecuted as far as possible. We don't need copy cat capers by total idiots who should no better.

I have seen similar over the years in Lion, Tiger, Bear and other enclosures. It takes no guts at all. Just a lack of brain cells.

We know who this is, we know who took the movie.

Prosecute!



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The Orangutans need YOUR help TODAY!




President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono being petitioned from around the world to uphold Indonesian Laws

Jakarta, March 30th, 2012

In response to the much publicised devastating fires and orangutan tragedy currently unfolding in the Tripa Peat Swamps, The Coalition Team to Save the Tripa Swamps (TKPRT), their partners, and supporters around the world have launched a global online petition asking that Indonesia’s President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyo, support legal action against those accountable for the illegal destruction of the UNEP/UNESCO recognized and legally protected Tripa peat swamp forests of Aceh, Indonesia.

The petition will be delivered to:

The President of the Republic of Indonesia (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono), Head of Indonesia’s REDD+ Task Force (Kuntoro Mangkusubroto), Chairman of the REDD+ task force working group (Mas Ahmad Santosa), Norway’s Ambassador to Indonesia (Ambassador Homme), Head of the Indonesian National Police (Jenderal [Pol] Timur Pradopo), Minister of Forestry (Zulkifly Hasan), Minister for Foreign Affairs (Dr. R.M. Marty M. Natalegawa), Minister of Agriculture (Dr. Ir. H. Suswono, MMA).

The Petition simply asks them to Enforce the laws protecting the Tripa Peat Swamp and its Orangutan population
Indonesia’s ability to enforce its National Laws is in serious question, leading to increasing public scrutiny.
A legal case is currently ongoing in the administrative court in Banda Aceh, contesting the legality of a plantation concession permit issued to PT. Kallista Alam by the then Governor of Aceh, as it contravenes the National Spatial Plan issued in 2008, in which the entire Leuser Ecosystem, of which Tripa is an integral part, is a designated National Strategic Area for Environmental Protection. The final ruling in the case is due on April 3rd.

Hadi Daryanto, secretary-general of the Ministry of Forestry, told the Jakarta Post that this permit should not have been issued under the terms of a Moratorium on New Permits in Primary Forests and Peatlands, issued by President Yudhoyono in May 2011 : “It’s clearly a violation because the area in question is a peat forest. On the moratorium map it’s clearly marked out as protected, but in the revision that followed, it was somehow excluded. That exclusion in itself is also a violation because it occurred after the moratorium went into effect.

Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, the chairman of Indonesia’s REDD+ Task Force, also gave this critical response to Reuters on hearing of the case :
"While we recognise the need for the palm oil industry to also grow, signing an agreement with a palm oil company to allow the conversion of protected peatland into palm oil plantations, very clearly breaks the moratorium.”

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono himself stated in 2011 that he would : “dedicate the last three years of my term as President to deliver enduring results that will sustain and enhance the environment and forests of Indonesia”.

A failure of Indonesia’s legal system in such an obviously clear-cut case, would represent a major global embarrassment for the country, not to mention its international partners, in its failure to fulfil its commitment to reducing carbon emissions.

Furthermore, all last week numerous huge fires, deliberately and illegally lit by oil palm companies, swept through a significant area of the remaining peat swamp forests of Tripa.
Clearing peatlands using fire is highly illegal. Clearing forests containing Endangered species (HCVF1 category forests) also contravenes the Indonesian palm oil industry’s own legally required standards (ISPO) and unless immediate action is taken to halt and reverse the current wave of illegal destruction, Tripa’s population of the Critically Endangered Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii), could be extinct in a matter of months, even weeks if a prolonged dry spell were to set in. The strongest possible action must be taken against the companies responsible for the crisis, who are acting as if they think that they can break the law with impunity.

The Tripa peat swamp forests in Aceh have long been recognized as a UNEP/UNESCO Great Ape Survival Partnership Priority Site for Great Ape Conservation, and in the early 90's these peat swamp forests are estimated to have contained between 2,000 and 3,000 Sumatran orangutans. But today, only a few hundred survive, and a tipping point has now been reached where just one more serious and uncontrolled fire event could easily wipe out the remaining survivors, and all other wildlife species in these forests, many of them also Endangered and legally protected under Indonesian law. Furthermore, these peat swamps are also critically important to both the local and even international human community, since they serve many vital environmental and ecological functions, such as providing food resources, regulating water supplies and limiting floods and droughts, and since they store huge quantities of carbon,
mitigating climate change. The continuing destruction of Tripa will further exacerbate chronic flooding and droughts, and cause massive carbon emissions from the exposed peat for many decades to come. We ask for your support in expressing your outrage at these events by joining the following online petition:

http://www.change.org/petitions/enforce-the-law-protecting-tripa-peat-swamp-and-its-orangutan-populations?

If enough of us care, we can make a difference.

--oOo--


Contact persons:

1. Deddy Ratih, Walhi / Friends of the Earth Indonesia; Mobile: +62-81250807757, Email: ube.hitar@gmail.com

2. Yuyun Indradi, Greenpeace/Forest Political Campaigner; Mobile: +62-812 2616 1759,Email: yuyun.indradi@greenpeace.org

3. Ian Singleton, Ph.D, Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme/Director of Conservation; Mobile: +62811650491, Email: mokko123@gmail.com

4. Graham Usher, Landscape protection specialist: +6287766008476, Email: kimabajo1@gmail.com



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Friday, March 30, 2012

Zoo News Digest 25th - 31st March 2012 (Zoo News 811)

Zoo News Digest 25th - 31st March 2012 (Zoo News 811)


Dear Colleague,

Right now, right this minute as you sit here in your comfortable office or home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Apocalypse Right Fucking Now: Hundreds of Orangutans Killed in North Indonesian Forest Fires Set By Palm Oil Firms


URGENT HELP NEEDED TO SAVE ORANGUTANS AND PEAT FORESTS IN ACEH, INDONESIA

Meanwhile we have at least four tiny baby orangutans doing the circuit of private hands in the UAE. The one from the Abu Dhabi Kids Park/Emirates Park Zoo* was, I am reliably informed, sold and several more are due to be imported very soon I am told. Who is bringing them in? You may ask. Private jet, no questions asked. That’s it. No questions. But I do question it. At what point do you raise yourself above the law? And here I don’t mean man’s law but the laws of humanity. Do these people care at all that these unfortunate baby animals are ripped from their mothers breasts? Their mothers butchered and eaten or chained down in some slum Indonesian brothel.

Meanwhile Aceh is burning. More baby Orangutans for the evil pet trade.
Sign the Petition. Click HERE

I saw something about Tierpark Berlin and CNN had visited Surabaya Zoo on Saturday, March 24, 2012. But that was it. Was a report made that someone can point me to?

Reminder EARTH HOUR today. Do your bit and make it last 24 hours a day, 365 days a year because one hour of reducing your carbon footprint is simply not enough.

Not for the first time this month I have been asked what a Penguin tastes like. It was not till this week I knew. Read Stewed Penguin and Champagne

And don’t forget April Fools Day. It is almost upon us.


A thought…whatever happened to the story of the Toronto Zoo White Lions? Or perhaps that was a joke.

Then the next momentous event in the calendar…..apart from my holiday that is, back home to La La Land

is


What is your zoo doing?

The python release story was interesting. I was however struck by the statement “From the time they were born on August 21, 2011, the pythons were fed rats and chicken daily.”  Which rather stretched the credibility of the rest of the article.

ACRES hand in hand with Lao Zoo? Why not? The Lao Zoo has one of the best bear enclosures I have seen anywhere!


I don’t wish it upon anybody to get injured but if you piss about with Tigers and Lions (when all of us know it is completely and utterly and totally unnecessary) then the inevitable WILL happen. It WILL! So I hope you mend quickly John Varty. A little puzzled that he is termed a conservationist. What has he ever done for conservation?

*Site currently off line 'launching with an exciting new look on 1st April'. When it comes back perhaps they will tell us what happened to the baby Orangutan and Silvery Gibbon. Will they still be members of WAZA and the IZEA? They advertised the fact before....if they don't on the new site...well.

****

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Gorilla shot by poachers: British vets operate
A young gorilla shot by poachers has been given a new lease on life by a team of East Midlands vets which flew to Cameroon to operate on its wrist.
Shufai, a 10-year-old male, was wounded as a baby when his mother was killed for bush meat.
The bones in his wrist were shattered and failed to grow properly in the next few years, leaving him unable to walk on his knuckles or climb trees.
"He needed surgery to get him out of pain," primate specialist Sharon Redrobe of Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire said.
Dr Redrobe, a veterinarian and trustee with charity Ape Action Africa, was asked to help the injured
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-17460303?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter



Penguin Nesting - Shedd Aquarium (amusing and Interesting)

http://youtu.be/lU45ZdTeit8



Circus bears arrive at Five Sisters Zoo in West Lothian
Three bears who were rescued from the circus have arrived at a West Lothian zoo.
Carmen, Suzi and Peggy spent 20 years living in cages barely bigger than themselves, and were transported around Europe as part of a circus troop.
They were rescued in Belgium and taken on by the Five Sisters Zoo in West Calder.
The bears' new home has a large built-in waterfall and stream with indoor and outdoor enclosures.
One of the bears, Suzy, is said to be so traumatised by the conditions she sometimes still keeps walking in small circles.
'Bears to safety'
All three of the bears were born in captivity and are now aged between 23 and 28 years.
A huge rescue effort was launched when the bears' owner became ill and was taken to hospital with a long term illness.
Officials at the Five Sister Zoo started a fundraising campaign to raise £80,000 to build the bears
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-17560790


Senda Verde Making the Difference

http://youtu.be/qL6LscifpQQ


Stillborn elephant is new tragedy for zoo
Staff at Twycross Zoo are mourning the loss of a baby elephant who was stillborn at the weekend.
The female calf was delivered stillborn to Tara, one of the zoo's Asian elephants, early on Sunday morning.
Three vets and two nurses spent an hour unsuccessfully trying to revive her.
It is the second major blow for the zoo after Ganesh Vijay, an 18-month-old elephant, died of a suspected heart condition last April.
Tara, a first-time mum, gave birth surrounded by the zoo's other elephants – known as a herd birth – while veterinary staff watched anxiously on CCTV.
Head vet Sarah Chapman said: "Immediately after the birth, we could see the calf wasn't moving.
"It's common for elephants to nudge a
http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/Stillborn-elephant-new-tragedy-zoo/story-15634823-detail/story.html


Longleat picks up Island’s penguins
PENGUINS from the Isle of Wight will be the stars of a new exhibit at the world-renowned Longleat Safari Park.
Seaview Wildlife Encounter has been chosen to supply 20 fertilized Humboldt penguin eggs for the Wiltshire park’s new penguin exhibit, due to open in a few months.
Each of Seaview’s ten breeding females recently laid two eggs, which are being incubated by the parents. Shortly before hatching they will be placed in incubators and taken to their new home.
Seaview Wildlife Encounter general manager
http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/news/longleat-picks-up-islands-penguins-43627.aspx


Seaview Wildlife – Meet The Keepers
http://www.seaviewwildlife.com/meet-the-keepers.htm



Bengal to set up rescue centres for stray jumbos
In a bid to reduce man-elephant conflict and rehabilitate jumbos driven away from the herd, the West Bengal government is planning to set up two 'Elephant Rescue Centres' on a pilot basis.
"Instances of elephants straying away from the forests have been on the rise, resulting in man-elephant conflicts in the state. The stray elephants often destroy crops or kill humans or are killed in the process," West Bengal Forest Minister Hiten Barman told IANS.
"In order to rehabilitate the stray jumbos, we plan to set up two rescue centres of 100 acre each in north and south Bengal. Currently, a survey is on to locate the proper
http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/2012/03/27/56--Bengal-to-set-up-rescue-centres-for-stray-jumbos-.html


Tiger attacks conservationist John Varty at South Africa wildlife park
A well-known conservationist was recovering Thursday after being attacked by a tiger at his wildlife park in South Africa.
John Varty, whose work has appeared on the National Geographic Channel, was
http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/29/10926394-tiger-attacks-conservationist-john-varty-at-south-africa-wildlife-park




John Varty of course made claim to breeding the first white tiger in the wild in recent years. Wild? A fanciful story.


Patricia Busch may lose her licence to operate Zion
Patricia Busch's licence as operator of Zion Wildlife Gardens is under threat after revelations an undisclosed party has applied for her job.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry yesterday confirmed an application had been received for operator's status which was being considered.
It refused to identify the interested party or when the application was lodged.
The news follows an announcement that the park will officially re-open on Easter weekend, with Lion Man Craig Busch on hand to welcome visitors and run some tours.
The ministry said it had no involvement in the park's public reopening or its business operations.
"Our responsibilities relate only to the containment and welfare of the animals and these issues are being managed appropriately," said the ministry's director of verification Steve Gilbert.
Beth McVerry and Ian Stevenson of Tauranga are the new owners of Zion, with Mr Busch back at the park with his big cats.
Mrs Busch was not allowed back into Zion shortly after the new owners took charge but she managed to hold on to her operator's licence.
Zion spokeswoman Jill Albrow said the park started running public tours from March 17, although the official opening would not be until next weekend.
She said the response so far had been good, with people either phoning in or turning up at the gates.
"We had some visitors from the UK on Friday and a group came from Auckland on Saturday but it's mostly domestic visitors at the moment because overseas visitors need time to plan their trip."
Ms Albrow said the Easter opening might include a chance to win a "Behind the Scenes" day with Mr Busch.
The park had lowered the entry fees for children from $30 to $25 while adults would pay $60 a head, she said.
A family pass would cost $150.
Guided tours by Zion staff
http://www.northernadvocate.co.nz/news/patricia-busch-may-lose-her-licence-to-operate-zio/1320131/






ACRES and Lao Zoo set up Vientiane centre to curb illegal wildlife trade
Singapore animal welfare group ACRES and Lao Zoo have set up the first Wildlife Rescue and Education Centre in Vientiane, Laos.
ACRES, which stands for Animal Concerns Research and Education Society, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the ACRES Wildlife Rescue and Education Centre (AWREC) in Laos on Wednesday.
Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Law, Mr K Shanmugam and Laos Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Dr Thongloun Sisoulith were present at the ceremony.
"I am delighted to have witnessed the MOU signing between the Lao Zoo and Singaporean charity ACRES," said Mr Shanmugam. "The Bear and Wildlife Protection Programme under the MOU is a timely initiative. Wildlife and environmental conservation is an increasingly important issue, so the joint effort is very encouraging."
Under the agreement, the five-hectare AWREC will provide sanctuary to animals rescued from the illegal wildlife trade, with a focus on rescuing bears.
ACRES said AWREC will also serve as an educational facility to create awareness on the wildlife trade, environmental protection and a host of animal protection issues.
It will have exhibits on a animal protection issues and conduct educational talks, skits and performances to create awareness and inspire the community to make a difference.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1191727/1/.html




The 40th issue of the Journal of Threatened Taxa is online at http://www.threatenedtaxa.org . We thank all the subject editors, reviewers, language editors and authors for their contributions in producing this issue.
March 2012 | Vol. 4 | No. 3 | Pages 2409–2480
Date of Publication 26 March 2012 (online and print)


The state of the ark: Zoos in Indonesia
The Jakarta Post recently reported the death of a giraffe at Surabaya Zoo, found to have ingested 20 kg of plastic. This is extremely tragic, but of course by no means surprising in Indonesia’s zoos, given the appalling way they are managed.
As a former zoo keeper myself in the UK, what is clear to me is that the vast majority of zoos in Indonesia hardly pay any attention whatsoever to investing in their zoo and instead see them only as potential revenue generators.
A good example is the so-called Medan Zoo in North Sumatra. For many years this occupied just a few tree-shaded hectares within the city itself and despite its poor and insanitary conditions, a number of animals somehow managed to survive there for several years. Nevertheless, they were subjected to volumous decibels of dangdut just outside their cage every weekend and public holidays, and a barrage of peanuts were thrown at them every day.
On public holidays, more than 20,000 visitors would visit and almost all would throw copious numbers of peanuts at the animals during the day. Not exactly a nutritious balanced diet.
In its wisdom, the Medan municipality eventually decided to move the zoo to a large area of open, mostly tree-less land on the edge of the city. It was then reported that around 60 percent of the animals died during or after being transferred to the new site, built hurriedly, poorly designed and with little thought to providing shelter from the sun or rain, or clean water supplies to any of the animals.
A few survivors did manage to hang on, but could be clearly seen hiding in the few shady areas, gasping due to the heat and dehydration. The standard of care was also extremely poor. A small clinic building had no drugs or equipment, and not even the tools to anesthetize animals properly. Food was inadequate, generally handed out in the mornings, and left there all day.
All in all, Medan is the only place I know of in the world that has built a new zoo even worse than the old one! What gets me most though, is that managing a zoo is not rocket science. Many animals will survive and even breed if simply given a safe and sheltered enclosure, clean drinking water, and adequate nutrition. But just how possible is it to improve facilities and diets when entrance fees are so disgracefully low?
I have heard many times how admission prices for zoos and other recreation sites are deliberately kept low so that everyone is able to benefit from them. Sure, but the old Medan Zoo cost about Rp 2,000 to enter 10 years ago and even the new one is just a little over Rp 5,000 (US 55 cent) today. With admission prices less than half the cost of a becak (pedicab) or a decent nasi bungkus (meal), I think they could easily be quadrupled and still everyone would be able to visit a few times each year. And that might even allow zoo managers to reinvest some of the takings on their assets, their facilities and their animals.
I am sure too, that given the incredible wealth of the Indonesian “elite” and how they love to have their names displayed in public places, that any zoo showing a genuine commitment to improving, by putting some of its own money back in, could quickly begin to tap the large numbers of rich potential philanthropists around these days, to sponsor their animals and new exhibits. But they would
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/03/26/the-state-ark-zoos-indonesia.html



Penguins dive in for 2012 Games

http://youtu.be/1jxOdy0VmMA


Scott's Antarctic diet: Stewed penguin and champagne
A century ago Robert Falcon Scott and his men perished on their return from the South Pole. But what did they eat as they explored one of the harshest places on earth - and did their diet contribute to their deaths?
They endured months of freezing temperatures and exhausting sledge-pulling, but life for the men of the Terra Nova expedition was not without comfort, at least not in their wooden hut at Cape Evans.
The smell of fresh bread and rhubarb pie was a common feature of life there.
Seal meat - curried, fried, or in soup - was another constant, and it was popular.
"We never tire of our dish and exclamations can be heard every night," Captain Scott wrote in
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17371543



Can zoos save polar bears from extinction?
Global warming is putting polar bears’ natural environment in jeopardy. Some zoos say captivity could help them survive global warming’s assault.
Captivity could help polar bears survive global warming assault, some zoos say
Polar bears are ideally suited to life in the Arctic: Their hair is without pigment, blending in with the snow; their heavy, strongly curved claws allow them to clamber over blocks of ice and snow and grip their prey securely; and their rough pads keep them from slipping.
The one thing they cannot survive is the disintegration of the ice. They range across the sea ice far from shore to hunt fatty seals, whose blubber sustains them.
Heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions caused by burning fossil fuel are making the Arctic warm twice as fast as lower latitudes, and Arctic summer sea ice could disappear by 2030, according to climate models.
So a group of activists, zoo officials, lawmakers and scientists have a radical proposal: Increase the number of polar bears in U.S. zoos to help maintain the species’ genetic diversity if the wild population plummets.
In a worst-case scenario, a remnant group of bears would survive in captivity.
That should be good news for the St. Louis Zoo, which designed a $20 million polar bear exhibit with a cooled saltwater pool and concrete cliffs covered in simulated ice and snow for three to five bears. Its goal was to have them there by 2017. But it doesn’t have a bear lined up, because it’s illegal to import them, captive cubs are rare and finding orphaned bears in Alaska is difficult.
The Fish and Wildlife Service could allow the importation of polar bears for public display through future legislative or regulatory changes but has shown no inclination to pursue those options.
Evolved from brown bears tens of thousands of years ago, polar bears have become an iconic species for their majestic size and ability to thrive in the harsh Arctic. Today the image of a mammoth bear clinging to a piece of ice embodies an environment under siege.
Polar bears would prefer to hunt for seals year-round, but the disappearance of sea ice has forced them onto land or far offshore where the ice remains only over deep unproductive water. “Either way, they’re food deprived,” said Steven C. Amstrup, chief scientist for the advocacy group Polar Bears International and an emeritus researcher with the U.S. Geological Survey.
Advocates of the plan to bring more into captivity, including St. Louis Zoo president and chief executive Jeffrey Bonner, say that saving a species whose habitat is disappearing is an immense challenge.
“Polar bears are simply the first species where we have to get it right,” Bonner said. When it comes to research on how to sustain an exotic species through breeding techniques, “that research is only research that can be done in zoos,” he added.
Based on current projections, federal scientists say two-thirds of the world’s polar bears could be extinct by mid-century, though a significant cut in greenhouse gas emissions could help halt that decline. There are roughly 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears worldwide, 3,500 of which live in Alaska and spend part of the year in Canada and Russia.
There are 19 sub-populations of polar bears living in Canada, the United States, Russia, Denmark and Norway, and since scientists fear ice melt could cause some of these to disappear from their historic ranges, the idea would be to preserve enough genetic diversity in captivity to allow them to be repopulated through artificial insemination of wild bears or other methods. Supporters of the plan say researchers are just beginning to experiment
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/captivity-could-help-polar-bears-survive-global-warming-assault-some-zoos-say/2012/03/21/gIQAkIWFaS_story.html


15 zoo pythons released in Western Ghats
Fifteen Burmese pythons from the Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Vandalur were released into the Kalakad-Mundanthurai tiger reserve in the Western Ghats. Zoo officials involved in the exercise said it was part of the forest department's plan to promote the exterior conservation - conservation of rare species in their natural habitat.
The spot where the reptiles were released was marked with the help of a GPS tracking system to help officials locate them when they visit the forest after 15 days. Till then, the officials said, staff of the tiger reserve would monitor the snakes with the help of local villagers.
Earlier, for nearly a month, steps were taken to help the selected reptiles adapt to the new environment (Western Ghats). "Adequate training was given at the zoo and they responded well," said zoo director and chief conservator of forests, KSSVP Reddy.
They were left to fend for themselves in a large enclosure deep inside the reserve forest area (the Vandalur zoo is located within the reserve forest area). Initially, the daily feed was delayed and officials monitored their movements through closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras. After a few weeks, the officials found that the snakes were able to locate and kill the prey and survive on their own. From the time they were born on August 21, 2011, the pythons were fed rats and chicken daily.
The training "was a laborious exercise as we had to ensure that denying them the regular feed did not affect their health. Besides, the area selected had to be somewhat similar to the area where they would be released," said zoo sources.
Wildlife experts say adequate training is a pre-requisite before species in captivity are released into their natural habitat. Measures like setting up cage-like structures away from the usual enclosure and steps to check their capacity to feed on their own are crucial, they said.
"Every wild species has its own way of survival. Those which have been in captivity for long need to be trained before being released into their natural habitat. This is one
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/15-zoo-pythons-released-in-Western-Ghats/articleshow/12449226.cms



www.zoolex.org  in March 2012

~°v°~ ~°v°~ ~°v°~ ~°v°~ ~°v°~

Hello ZooLex Friend,
We have worked for your enjoyment!

~°v°~

NEW EXHIBIT PRESENTATION

Naracoorte Cave is a themed environment for Australasian cave animals at the Night Safari of Wildlife Reserves Singapore. Each terrarium is designed to display a species in its natural habitat and to provide the necessary climate control. Visitos can also see replicas of various cave phenomena such as dripstones, fossils, crystals and cave paintings.

http://www.zoolex.org/zoolexcgi/view.py?id=1321

~°v°~

MARMOSET CARE

We would like to thank Hannah Buchanan-Smith and Claire Watson, both University of Scotland, for the permission to include a link to their useful, entertaining, and instructive website:

http://www.zoolex.org/publication.html#w
WATSON, C.F.I. and BUCHANAN-SMITH, H.M. (2012) Marmoset Care. University of Stirling. Scotland.
http://marmosetcare.com

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Film on ecology stars real tigers, leopards
National Award-winning director Ashvin Kumar of Inshallah Football fame finally able to release his first ever film, The Forest, after four year wait.The victim in this film has four legs, growls if bothered, and can, with one solid leap, combat the biggest villains that Bollywood’s best have
fought
National Award-winning filmmaker Ashvin Kumar fought the Censor Board for years to protect his documentary, Inshallah Football, from drastic cuts. Ironically, the film won a National Award this year. But even before Inshallah Football, Kumar had directed a film called The Forest which didn’t get to the theatres — until now. On May 4, thanks to a PVR Cinemas initiative, the Nandana Sen-Javed Jaffrey starrer will finally release.
“Inshallah Football should be called Baptism by Fire,” he says, before laughing when asked about the irony in receiving an award from a system that he spent the last few years fighting. “It’s a good milestone, the National Award. It’s tiny, but good.”
Ask him whether his first fiction feature film is seeing the light of day today due to the award and he denies it, saying, “No, the award came much after the deal was settled. My wait has been agonising. Distributors came close to signing, and then plans changed. That’s the thing about Mumbai, no one says no. They’ll make you believe that they’ll do it and then not do it.”
The Forest has been in the cans for over four years. The avid wildlife conversationalist was a regular at Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand when the idea of writing a film about the “anguish about man-animal conflicts in India” came to him. “We are one of the rare countries that has this wildlife, yet we read stories about leopards being stoned to death and burnt in cages,” says Ashvin.
Spread across Jim Corbett, Bandhavgarh and Thailand, the film has been made on a budget of R6.5 crore. This amount also includes the hiring of trained leopards that were flown down from France to Thailand for the shoot.
“The story is about a man who confronts his fear of the animal. All the animals in the film are real — tigers, leopards, elephants — though some scenes were put together during post-production,” reveals Ashvin, adding that the most exciting part of the filming was recording the sound with a 40-piece Philharmonic Orchestra in the iconic Abbey Road studi
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Entertainment/Bollywood/Film-on-ecology-stars-real-tigers-leopards/Article1-828619.aspx


Escaped cheetah dies hours after rescue, as baboons roam Al Ain
The pet cheetah caught last week after escaping its abusive owners died only a few hours later, it was confirmed yesterday.
Dr Majid Al Qassimi, the deputy chief veterinarian at the Al Ain Zoo, said the reasons for the cheetah's death had not been confirmed but it was found "stressed" and severely malnourished.
Dr Al Qassimi said that after escaping from its cage in a private villa, it ate several pets belonging to its owner's Emirati neighbours.
The zoo is awaiting results of a post-mortem examination.
Meanwhile, the second baboon in a week has been found roaming the wilds of the Garden City.
The zoo last Wednesday received a call about an illegally kept baboon that was wandering around Al Masoudi. The female olive baboon jumped from roof to roof, eluding zookeepers before being caught the next morning.
Yesterday another was found roaming Al Ain, but on the other side of town. This one was caught by pest control workers.
Dr Al Qassimi said the cheetah's death was "quite surprising", as there had been no sign of severe illness
http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/escaped-cheetah-dies-hours-after-rescue-as-baboons-roam-al-ain


Debate erupts over elephant training as circus comes to town
Handlers say use of 'bullhook' is crucial to training, health
He stands on a grassy slope, right arm extended upward with an alfalfa treat, addressing his 4-ton companion in the tones of a tender friend.
"You're a sweetie, aren't you? You're special," Mike McClure says. And Dolly plucks the treat from his hand, curls it into her mouth and emits a guttural rumble.
That's the sound of a pachyderm purring, says McClure, the director of animal programs at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore and an internationally known handler of elephants. Dolly, 36, is an African elephant.
It's a remarkable degree of mutual trust — and one that the trainer is sure he'd never have developed were it not for a grim-looking tool some call an instrument of torture.
The so-called bullhook, a 2-foot goad with a pointed end that elephant handlers have used for centuries to train and guide the huge creatures, has been the subject of a national debate that has had Baltimore talking since the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus rolled into town this week.
Elephant trainers around the world still use the tools, now commonly called guides. Animal-rights activists have complained for years that the devices are barbaric.
It's a debate that has pitted Jada Pinkett Smith, a Baltimore-born actress and spokeswoman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, against MayorStephanie Rawlings-Blake. In a sharply worded statement this month, Pinkett Smith noted that, unlike people in her profession, elephants do not choose to perform. Rawlings-Blake brushed off the concerns and sided with Ringling Bros., which calls its practices humane.
The company's annual run at 1st Mariner Arena ends April 1.
"The process of training is a complex equation, one with many components. The guide is one tool in that equation," says McClure, a certified board member of the Elephant Managers Association, an international nonprofit devoted to the species' conservation and welfare. "Our detractors don't have the experience or insight to know what makes the tool important."
On Monday, even as the circus was loading six of the animals onto a specially outfitted train for Baltimore, McClure said the best way to understand his meaning is to take neither side at face value but to observe the tools in use.
At the zoo
The zoo looks different behind the scenes — all locked gates, tall fences and trailers — and when an official finally grants entrance through the proper checkpoint, McClure, slender and sun-reddened at 41, appears to greet a visitor.
He marches down a slope to the edge of the elephant enclosure, where
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-03-23/news/bs-md-ringling-elephants-20120323_1_elephant-training-african-elephant-elephant-enclosure




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Aquatic Animal Life Support Operators Symposium May 20-23, 2012



Aquatic Animal Life Support Operators Symposium May 20-23, 2012, Minnesota Zoological Gardens, Minneapolis, MN, USA

CALL FOR PAPERS

The 18th Annual Aquatic Animal Life Support Operators Symposium will be hosted by the Minnesota Zoological Gardens in Minneapolis, MN, May 20-23, 2012.

The focus of the 18th Annual Symposium will be Blue Water – Green Systems. We are looking for presentations or posters incorporating energy and resource conservation of all types in both retrofits or improvements and new facilities or exhibits. In addition to oral presentations the AALSO 2012 Symposium will include hands-on workshops and numerous vendor exhibitions.

The mission of AALSO is to provide a stimulating, interactive forum for operators, facility managers, engineers, scientists and vendors to present current research, technologies and applications in aquatic life support and related fields.

Aquatic Animal Life Support Operators requests ABSTRACTS for Oral and Poster presentations for the 18th Annual AALSO Symposium. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

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Saturday, March 24, 2012

URGENT HELP NEEDED TO SAVE ORANGUTANS AND PEAT FORESTS IN ACEH, INDONESIA


The above photo was taken in Sarawak. This is exactly what the Peat Forests of Aceh will look like unless action is taken. Endless rows of evil oil palms. The Orangutans will be homeless. There is time...you can help. - Peter

Dear friends,

Please take a few minutes to acquaint yourselves with the following case, which although apparently minor, has very important implications for environmental and forest governance, social justice, spatial planning, carbon emissions, and transparency in Indonesia. Attached are 2 draft letters: one to the judges currently trying a legal case in Banda Aceh, Sumatra Indonesia, and the other to the President of Indonesia.

The case has many threads and aspects, but the basics are as follows:

On August 25th, 2011, the Governor of Aceh, Irwandi Yusuf, issued a permit to a local oil palm company, PT Kallista Alam, to convert 1,605ha of deep peat in the Tripa peat swamps on the west coast of Aceh into an oil palm plantation.

The area is peat swamp forest, and home to the remains of Tripa's population of the Critically Endangered Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii).

The area in question has peat depths of over 3m over most of it is believed to be deeper than 7m in parts.

The Tripa peat swamps are part of the Leuser Ecosystem, which was designated in 2008 as a National Strategic Area for environmental protection, in the National Spatial plan. Under the Spatial Planning Law of 2007 (UU No.26/2007) contravention of the law by Government officials, companies and individuals represents a criminal act, punishable by heavy fines and long prison sentences.

In the first edition (issued in May 2011) of the map showing primary forests and peat lands in which it is forbidden to issue new permits (Peta Indikativ Penundaan Izin) under the Presidential Instruction 10/2011 (known as the “moratorium on new permits”) as part of the Government's commitment to the reduction of carbon emissions from deforestation, the area was very clearly shown as PROTECTED and off limits.

On October 24th, 2011, a coalition of local NGO's sent a legal notice letter to the Governor explaining that unless he immediately withdrew the permit, they would take legal action to demand its revocation. On November 23rd, 2011, the local branch of the national coalition of environmental NGOs in Indonesia (Walhi) filed a case at the Court of National Administration (PTUN) in Banda Aceh against the Governor and PT Kallista Alam.

On the same day, members of disenfranchised local communities in Tripa reported the issuing of the permit as a CRIMINAL ACT to the National Police HQ in Jakarta (MABES POLRI). They reported it to the National Police rather than the Aceh Police, due to suspected collusion of the Aceh Police with the Governor and PT Kallista Alam. Ironically, the National Police then sent a letter to the Aceh Police ordering them to investigate the case, which needless to say, has NOT been followed up.

At the end of November, in the first revision of the Map of Primary Forest and Peatlands protected under the Presidential Instruction (see point 5 above), the area previously clearly shown as protected and off limits, was now shown as unprotected (following lobbying of PT Kallista Alam to the National Land Agency, BPN, and the Ministry of Forestry, even though the permit was issued AFTER its designation as PROTECTED and BEFORE this new revision of the map).

From December 7th, 2011 to March 14th, 2012, the PTUN court in Banda Aceh has held 10 hearings.

A further two hearings still remain to be held: on March 21st, 2012, the Judges will hear the summations of the Plaintiff (Walhi) and the Defendants (the Governor of Aceh, PT Kallista Alam); and on March 28th, 2012 the judges will announce their ruling.

If the judges find in favour of the Governor and PT Kallista Alam, and the permit is allowed to stand, the implications for a wide range of environmental and social issues in Indonesia are huge.

a. It would set a precedent that Government officials can issue exploitation permits in the Leuser Ecosystem National Strategic Area, supposedly protected by the National Spatial Plan and the Law on Governance of Aceh (UU 11/2006), with impunity from the Law.

b. It would make a mockery of Indonesia's commitment to the reduction of carbon emissions from the destruction of primary forests and peat lands, as expressed by President Yudhoyono and in the Letter of Intent between Indonesia and Norway of 2010.

c. It would make of a mockery of Indonesia's laws protecting deep peat lands and highly endangered species such as the Sumatran orangutan and Sumatran tiger.

d. It would devalue the whole Governors' Climate and Forests Task Force (the GCF) initiative, of which Governor Irwandi is a founder member, and calls into question the Governor's much publicizedrole as a champion of "Green Development".

e. The long term environmental impacts, particularly drought and flooding, for local communities that have already lost most of their traditional livelihoods, will be irreversible, with the area ultimately becoming unusable due to coastal erosion and saltwater intrusion, even for the oil palm companies. All at the cost of huge carbon emissions from the degraded peat.

Given the above, we strongly urge you to express your support for the upholding of environmental and social justice in this case by taking the steps outlined below. While we recognize that there is often considerable cynicism regarding the impartiality of the legal process in Indonesia, particularly where rich and powerful government officials and companies are concerned, we believe that in this particular case, we have a short window of opportunity in which expressions of concern and support from a wide range of national and international parties can persuade the judges to make the correct ‘just’ decision, and uphold Indonesia's laws. A win in this case will represent a major turning point for thelong term protection of the Leuser Ecosystem, probably the single most important protected ecosystem in SE Asia, and send a strong message towards improving environmental governance in Indonesia.

We have attached a number of files. If you share our concerns in this case please do the following:

1: Print the “letter to Judges” handling the case on your letter head and sign it. Feel free to make changes to the letter if you wish. Then fax to the relevant numbers in the “destinations” file, and email to the other recipients (the reason we ask to fax certain recipients, is that many government officers in Indonesia do not open emails).

2: Do the same for the ‘letter to President” file, using the relevant fax numbers and email addresses in destinations file.

We have provided some attachments with background on the case which can be sent with the emailed letters to the President: a petition 21 village leaders in Tripa sent to the Governor of Aceh in June 2010 requesting the protection of the Tripa swamps; a chronology of the case. In the letters there are also links to: the “Tripa Truths” information sheets which a wealth of background on Tripa and this case; and a UNEP publication, “Orangutans and the Economics of Sustainable Forest Management in Sumatra”, which contains figures on projected carbon emissions from Tripa under different land uses. Ironically Governor Irwandi wrote a forward to this report.

If you require more information, but especially also to confirm that emails and faxes, please contact T.M.Zulfikar of Walhi Aceh (for Bahasa Inonesia speakers) at tmzulfikar@yahoo.com , or Deddy Ratih of Walhi Nasional at dera@walhi.or.id  or ube.hitar@gmail.com  for English speakers.

Finally, a link to a short film about Tripa can be found on the www.walhi.or.id  website, and the following are links to various press stories covering earlier stages of the case.
 
We thank you in advance for your support in this important case. Please feel free to forward this email to friends and colleagues, and your embassy in Indonesia.

WALHI/FoE Indonesia and partners

I regret I was unable to include the attached letters but I am sure that if you contact the email addresses above they will forward them to you.

Zoo News Digest 16th - 24th March 2012 (Zoo News 810)

Zoo News Digest 16th - 24th March 2012 (Zoo News 810)


Dear Colleague,

Did I do the wrong thing I wonder? Pointing out to the readers of this digest, subscribers in several hundreds of zoos in 153+ countries that the Kids Park in Abu Dhabi were illegally holding an infant Orangutan and Silvery Gibbon? They are not there now...they have disappeared. No one is prepared to say where. Perhaps they have joined the three other baby Orangutans and the even larger number of baby Chimpanzees which have been brought into the UAE in the past couple of months.

You have to remember that these are not captive bred animals. In the case of the Orangutans their mothers were killed to obtain them or perhaps they ended up chained down in a brothel (perish the thought but I am not joking). Then there are the Chimpanzees. Here whole families will have been slaughtered to get just one little animal. No reputable zoo anywhere in the world would take these animals. This is the work of the ignorant, the uncaring, the profit motivated Dysfunctional Zoos and some well meaning but ill informed private individuals...not all well meaning of course.

So sorry to learn about the Rhinos at Dubbo. I know the agony of losing individual animals, but to lose four will be very painful indeed. I share the pain. The importance of the captive populations increases each and every day so any loss is a loss for us all.

"incarcerate animals for our pleasure"...a phrase from the article on 'We Bought A Zoo'. So from the first sentence we know that it is written by someone who has not got a clue. I cover links to similar articles of course because the links I do cover are always based on the stories zoo staff would discuss in the staffroom over break or lunch.

Lots of interesting links for you today.

Does Bob Barker care? Who knows? I believe he is more concerned about the attention he gets than what he is doing....and whatever, he can afford to pay for it.

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Mystery as white rhinos drop dead at Dubbo zoo
AN investigation has been called into the sudden deaths of four white rhinos, including a mother and her calf, at Dubbo's Taronga Western Plain Zoo.
Staff at the zoo in central NSW are shocked and puzzled as to what caused the deaths.
Intombi and her daughter Amira, as well as two other rhinos, Izizi and Aluka, began showing signs of neurological abnormalities a couple of weeks ago.
The first animal died shortly afterwards and the fourth died at the weekend, a zoo spokeswoman said.
The animals' deaths have been a blow to staff, General Manager Matt Fuller said.
"The rhino keepers and veterinary staff know and care for every individual in the herd, so this has been a huge shock. We're all very sad and supporting each other through this difficult time," he said.
"Our focus is on continuing this investigation to pinpoint the cause."
Vets are consulting rhinoceros specialists in Africa and North America, as well as virologists and other experts.
"So far the investigation has ruled out exposure to toxins, bacterial infection, snake venom and
http://www.news.com.au/national/dubbo-zoo-mourns-loss-of-four-white-rhinos/story-e6frfkwi-1226306101785

We Bought a Zoo: why displaying animals can be a grizzly business
We Bought a Zoo may show an idyllic picture of zoo life, but is it really acceptable to incarcerate animals for our pleasure?
You could hardly wish for a more heartwarming film than We Bought a Zoo. Nice people do nice things, prevail over their difficulties and are rewarded with well-deserved success and emotional salvation. This, apparently, is what happens to zookeepers. But what about their charges?
The furred, feathered and scaly denizens of the film's Rosemoor Wildlife Park are incredibly well cared for. They even get Scarlett Johansson to look after them. Yet, in the real world, the fate of zoo animals is still a cause for disquiet.
We were reminded of that last year when dozens of lions, tigers, bears, monkeys and leopards had to be shot by police after the owner of an Ohio zoo deliberately released them. Following this incident, American animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals demanded (unsuccessfully) that We Bought a Zoo should carry a warning about the responsibilities of zookeepers.
Abuses of captive animals continue to be reported. A study of British zoos found that the space provided for the average mammal was less than a hundredth of what its home range would have been in the wild. There's an underlying question that even the rose-coloured lens through which we're asked to view Rosemoor cannot entirely avoid. Is it really OK to incarcerate animals just so people can gawp at them?
In a world where there's so much else to worry about, this may seem a piffling concern. Once, however, people were kept in zoos, and nobody fussed about that. In Paris in 1877, "ethnological spectacles" featuring Nubian and Inuit exhibits attracted more than a million paying customers. Naked "natives" were still being displayed in cages alongside exotic animals into the 20th century.
This practice fell out of favour because races once considered inferior came to be accorded the same rights as other humans. Today, the bedding down of Darwinism has similarly eroded the hitherto sacrosanct barrier between humans and other species. Hence, the treatment meted out to animals now attracts rigorous scrutiny.
In 1939, to get a shot they wanted, the makers of Jesse James – featuring Tyrone Power and Henry Fonda – blindfolded a horse and pushed it off a cliff. It broke its back and had to be destroyed. Today, activists are demanding not only that no animal is harmed in the making of a movie but that all live animal appearances should be replaced by CGI.
Even in Asia, where animal rights have not traditionally been high on the agenda, most people now believe that those who cause animal suffering should be punished by law. Some, particularly the young, refuse to eat meat. Quite a few find wearing fur unacceptable. A minority even oppose experiments intended to save human lives. Not just welfare, but dignity has become an issue. Many circuses have been purged of animals, but zoos somehow remain relatively unchallenged.
This may be partly because they have vigorous backers. Keeping animals in captivity enables us to study them more effectively, say zoologists. Intriguingly, anthropologists eager to avoid the costs of fieldwork were keen supporters of human zoos, while conservationists today want to keep groups of threatened species for reintroduction programmes.
Anyway, such considerations have little bearing on enterprises like the one featured in We Bought a Zoo. Rosemoor is a for-profit leisure business. No scientific work seems to be carried out there. Seven of the 47 species kept are said to be endangered, which means 40 aren't. It's when the office runs out of tickets that success is declared.
It's often argued that such zoos don't just entertain, they also educate. Yet Rosemoor offers little in the way of biological exposition. What it educates its customers to believe, if anything, is that their fellow creatures exist for their diversion. Just as the male gaze is deemed to objectify women, animals become "passive raw material for the active gaze of the human".
In We Bought a Zoo, the inmates' function is entirely instrumental. Their task is to enable Matt Damon's Benjamin and his children to resolve their personal problems. They achieve this by providing the family with a project. It could have been anything.
Just occasionally, some awkwardness is hinted at. When he arrives, new to the game, Ben speaks of "cages". He's quickly slapped down by his staff: they must be called "enclosures". When a grizzly escapes, he's awestruck to see it enjoy freedom. All he can do in response, however, is to increase the size of its enclosure. The animals get talked to nicely, but their opinion is never asked.
If you had to be locked up for the amusement of another species, you couldn't find nicer jailers than Matt and
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2012/mar/19/we-bought-a-zoo-animals?newsfeed=true

Gorilla loose at zoo; contained within facility
A gorilla got loose at the Buffalo Zoo late this morning, but zoo officials working with the police managed to contain it inside the facility, authorities said.
Zoo officials, working with police, managed to tranquilize the animal, initial reports from the scene indicated.
One of the zookeepers, though, was bitten on the hand and leg, according to reports from zoo patrons who were whisked to safety after the gorilla got loose.
"It's my understanding that the gorilla has been contained in some kind of lounge area," Buffalo city and police spokesman Michael J. DeGeorge said shortly before noon.
Buffalo police responded to the scene, and the police SWAT Team also was called to the zoo, as part of normal procedure when an animal gets loose.
Zoo patrons praised facility workers for doing everything they could to keep people safe when the gorilla got loose.
Brian Knoll, 33, of Kenmore, was with his 2-year-old son Elliott in the zoo's barn area, petting farm animals at roughly 10:45 a.m., when the commotion started.
"We were petting the horses and cows, and all of a sudden, we could see panic ensuing and people running from my left to my right, away from the Gorilla House," Knoll said.
The zookeeper in the barn area encouraged the Knolls and others to go into that building barn while she closed the door.
Knoll later overheard, from zoo employees talking on a facility radio, that a male gorilla had gotten out of its pen, into a kitchen/prep area, but not out of the Gorilla House. Public-safety officials later emphasized that the animal never got out of the house and that the public never was at risk.
"There was a keeper there who was afraid for her life," Knoll said. "She was hiding in a corner with a female gorilla and a baby."
Zoo officials, working with the police, managed to tranquilize the gorilla, apparently with a dart, but that didn't ensure that everyone was safe.
Those same officials were concerned, according to Knoll, that once the gorilla was tranquilized, it might go after the zookeeper in that area, because the tranquilizer doesn't take effect immediately.
That's apparently what happened, leading to the female zookeeper being bitten.
Asked how scared he was for himself and his young son, Knoll mentioned the frightening sight of people seemingly running for their lives, when the news first broke.
"You kind of run through every animal in the zoo, and you wonder what might pop out, like a lion," he said.
Then he laughed and mentioned the other extreme: "Or a peacock."
Zoo officials declined comment
http://www.buffalonews.com/city/communities/north-buffalo-hertel/article770671.ece

Al Ain Wildlife Park's white tigers
http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/al-ain-wildlife-parks-white-tigers

Lion king who talks to animals
Tao was kept in a tiny cage and starved for the first nine months of his life.
As a result, he has a hunched back, a limp leg and permanent shackle marks where his legs were bound.
The two-year-old lion would probably have been put down if it were not for the Dr Doolittle of Ras Al Khaimah.
Tao is now "the friendliest lion" at Ras Al Khaimah Wildlife Park, said Jasim Ali Salim, an Emirati trader who began collecting unwanted wild animals from local families 15 years ago.
"He was extremely wild and ferocious when we first got him, you can see even his hair growth is irregular. But by God's grace in one month he was tamed," he said. "People have laughed at me when I told them that I can communicate with animals. But I understand the body language of lions and the roars and groans they make and, accordingly, I act."
Mr Salim's two-acre plot in Awafi is home to more 20 different species, including an Arabian wolf, lions, leopards, hyenas, baboons, snakes, a Nile crocodile and an assortment of wild cats from Asian, African and Arabian origins.
"People keep these animals as a sign of pride or to show off," he said. "They do not realise that when they grow they become more ferocious and dangerous.
"Zoos and reserves also refuse these animals because most of them do not have proper documents but I will accept any neglected wild animal and I refuse to trade in them." Mr Salim is not a vet and has never studied animal handling.
"This ability has come to me because of my love of wild creatures," he said.
This love is evident in the amount he invests in his menagerie - Dh300,000 a year is spent on the animals' food, while a further Dh20,000 a month goes to their upkeep and care.
Mr Salim, 40, a father of four, set up the wildlife park in 2010.
"The RAK government has been very supportive of us and granted us all the licences and necessary permits to set up the zoo," he said.
"The animals are handled by staff that I have hired and are checked regularly by contracted veterinarians."
The zoo has been a big hit with local residents. Ali Abdullah, a teacher in North Thait, brings his pupils to the park.
"Before, I had to take my children to Sharjah and Dubai to see wild animals and learn about them," he said. "Since the launch of the zoo two years ago more than 25,000 people have visited and it has become one of our regular tourist attractions."
Wildlife expert Dr Reza Ali Khan also applauded Mr Salim's efforts.
"This is a wonderful thing that he is doing and if proper care is being provided for these animals I welcome that," he said.
Dr Khan said the trend of keeping wild animals as pets had died down since the 1980s but has picked up again in recent years. "We have seen several cases come up in the past few years where people have kept these wild cats in their homes as pets and this is extremely dangerous."
Mr Salim also has strong words for those who bring wild animals into the UAE. "People who trade in these animals are the ones who should be stopped," he said. "It is completely illegal."
He has been in contact with many local and international animal welfare societies who are able to help him to reintegrate some of the animals back into the wild.
"Some of them cannot be tamed and can survive back in the wild - like the black panther or the wild
http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/lion-king-who-talks-to-animals

Phuket baby elephant probe hinges on DNA maternity tests
Officers who led the raids on three elephant camps in Phuket late last month are back on the island to continue their investigation into whether all the elephants at all three camps were legally obtained.
The investigation focuses on three camps: the ATV @ Hill Adventure Tour camp on the road to the Big Buddha image in Chalong; the Elephant Camp at the Laguna complex in Cherng Talay; and the PhuThai Souvenir Market in Chalong.
“I have visited the three elephant camps again to follow up on our investigation,” Col Watcharin Phusin, the superintendent of the regional Natural Resources and Environment Crime Suppression Division, told the Phuket Gazette today.
“We are now waiting for the results of DNA tests, which were actually supposed to be available about the end of February,” he said.
The DNA tests are expected to prove conclusively whether or not the baby elephants are the offspring of a female elephant seized at the Pang Chang Sai Yok Elephant Park in Kanchanaburi province in January.
That adult female was discovered to have been illegally obtained and has since been seized by National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) officers and transferred to the Thai Elephant Conservation Center (TECC), a state-run enterprise in Lampang, Col Watcharin explained.
“The baby elephants seized have been sent to the Thai Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang. Their mother was seized because the identification document for her that the camp owner of the Sai Yok Elephant Park presented to us didn’t match,” Col Watcharin said.
“Now we are waiting for the DNA test results. After we
http://www.phuketgazette.net/archives/articles/2012/article12615.html

Lie of the tiger – ‘wild’ animal shot by Putin was actually from a zoo
A TIGER can’t change its stripes – which is leading Russians to wonder if Vladimir Putin needs to change his story about which one he shot.
In one of the macho photo moments the Russian leader often indulges in, he was shown on an expedition with preservationists in the Far East in 2008 tracking wild Amur tigers.
According to video footage, Mr Putin shot one of the rare beasts with a tranquilliser gun so Russian scientists could put a GPS collar on it.
Mr Putin’s website later showed photos of what it claimed to be the same tiger, back in the wild.
But environmentalist Dmitry Molodtsov, who runs a website about the big cats, has come to the conclusion that the tiger shot by Putin isn’t the same one shown later in his video – and that the animal tranquillised by the Russian leader wasn’t a wild specimen at all but a comparatively docile animal from a zoo.
Mr Molodtsov insisted the tigress Mr Putin shot had been taken from a zoo and had never lived in the wild. He said photographs of a tiger named Serga at a zoo in the in the eastern city of Khabarovsk made him “99 per cent certain it was the tiger pictured with Putin”.
He said Serga was then taken on the long drive back to the Khabarovsk zoo. In the days that followed, the rare tiger died, unable to recover from the three tranquillisers used by scientists during the PR stunt.
Mr Molodtsov said he felt obligated to publish his investigation. “I thought this to be my civil duty to report this,” he said. “I want to live in a country where a politician will know that he can improve his declining ratings only with real deeds.”
Vladimir Krever, from the Russian branch of the World Wildlife Fund, agreed. “What I have seen online are two different animals,” he said.
But Natalya Remennikova, project co-ordinator at the government-funded Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution in Moscow, which is in charge of the Amur tiger preservation programme, said Mr Molodtsov’s claim was untrue.
“Somebody made it up or they thought they saw something suspicious,” she said, adding that the report could be aimed to smear Mr Putin, the current prime minister and president-elect.
The Russian leader is known for his stage-managed media appearances in an array of manly pursuits – stroking a polar bear, riding a horse bare-chested and hanging out with leather-clad bikers.
The images have endeared him to many Russians but provoked scorn among
http://www.scotsman.com/news/international/lie-of-the-tiger-wild-animal-shot-by-putin-was-actually-from-a-zoo-1-2178589

Preserving Endangered Gametes
http://the-scientist.com/2012/03/01/preserving-endangered-gametes/

Berlin zoo braces for flood of Knut mourners
The Berlin zoo is bracing for a flood of guests Sunday and Monday to commemorate the first anniversary of the death of their polar bear star Knut.
The bear died on March 19, 2011 from brain damage. He was only four.
Knut captured the world’s attention after his mother rejected him and he was raised by zookeeper Thomas Dörflein, who died in 2008.
Pictures of the cub being bottle fed went around the world.
Fans already came out en masse last December at what would have been Knut’s fifth birthday. They visited his cage and put flowers in front of it.
“There will surely be a big rush of fans from all over the world,” said Thomas Ziolko, chairman of the Friends of Tierpark Berlin and Zoo Berlin. Ziolko expects the biggest crowds to come on Sunday.
Germans were so taken by Knut and his story that groups like “Knutitis” a fan forum, were formed. Forum administrator Conny Krautwurst said the group’s “mourning will take place in a private sphere.”
These Knut fans say they loved the bear, but they were mostly ridiculed by the public. Krautwurst defended her group, saying “We are not hysterical Knutianer,’” referring to a term meaning Knut followers.
Still, some writings from fans show a deep devotion. One fan, who gave her name as Birgit, wrote, “When I think of the 19th, I get a stomach ache. Last year everything was okay with the world.”
Since the bear died there have been numerous discussions of what the zoo, politicians, and activists did right or wrong concerning the polar bear. Critics said the zoo used the bear for marketing purposes when it should have directed attention
http://www.thelocal.de/society/20120318-41401.html

Capacity crowd hears more about care and feeding plans for National Elephant Center in Fellsmere
Providing protected contact to the elephants and cultivating partnerships within the local community — such as using vendors to provide food for the animals — were among the highlights of a presentation Tuesday on the National Elephant Center in Fellsmere.
The talk drew a capacity crowd at Capt. Hiram's for the March Sebastian River Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
Chief Operating Officer Jeff Boling and Executive Director John Lehnhardt gave a shared presentation on the facility under development in Fellsmere near the Brevard County line that included the center's approach to elephant care and management. They stressed that the focus will be on "protected contact," and "positive reinforcement."
Lehnhardt vowed to use as many local vendors as possible. He said the center would need large amounts of hay that could be purchased from local farmers in addition to the elephant grass that would be grown on the site.
Boling said the center will potentially house between 290 and 300 elephants from about 70 Association of Zoos and Aquarium (AZA) members, with a goal of helping those members provide better care for their elephants. The center will be funded by AZA members, and Lehnhardt estimates an annual operating budget of about $500,000, with typical annual feeding and care costs of $25,000 per elephant.
The center will offer both short- and long-term care. For example, Boling said a zoo wants to construct a new exhibit to improve the well-being of their elephants. The center could house those elephants during that construction period. The center also could provide long-term, and even permanent housing, for juvenile male elephants, as the social structure of elephants allows multiple females but only one dominant male in a family group.
Boling said every elephant at the center will receive protected contact.
"Protected contact means there is always going to be a barrier between us and the elephant," Boling said. "We accomplish this through positive reinforcement training."
Boiling used a series of illustrations to show how an elephant would submit to having blood drawn from behind its ears by approaching a "target," device, a long stick with a rubber bulb on the end, and willingly working its ear into a gap in the enclosure. While one handler accomplishes the procedure another handler offers treats to the elephant. "I call this pay for pain," Boling said.
Maggie Duffell of Wells Fargo Bank asked Lehnhardt about the use of bull hooks, or "guide" devices. He said some situations might require the tool, but they would be very rare and limited to medical emergencies
"In our day-to-day operation we won't be using the bull hook because we'll be using the target, and positive reinforcement to work with the animals," Lehnhardt said. "In an emergency situation where you might have to share your space with the elephants, you need to have something that will help control that elephant and keep you safe."
Boling said he expected groundbreaking at the 223-acre site to occur in the next few weeks, with the first phase of construction to be completed in seven to eight months, and the first elephants to arrive by late 2012 or early 2013.
Chamber President and CEO Beth Mitchell said the enthusiastic response at the meeting was a positive show of support from the area business community.
"This is something new for our area and we always hope for
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/mar/13/capacity-crowd-hears-more-about-care-and-feeding/

animal cruelty? mosul zoo’s neglected beasts and their devoted keeper
The animals are neglected, the place reeks and neighbours want the second oldest zoo in Iraq closed down. But the zookeeper insists on his dedication to his bestial charges; he has even founded an animal welfare society.
One can barely see down the road which leads to the second oldest zoo in Iraq. It’s lined with dozens, perhaps hundreds, of motorcycles all waiting outside of repair shops along the road. The door to the zoo is dirty and smeared with oil but a large sign on it, decorated with cartoons of animals, enthusiastically proclaims: “Welcome to Ninawa Zoo!”
Any enthusiasm is soon dispersed though. Ninawa’s zoo is located in an old, derelict stone building. Inside the place looks like a cave – rusting metal cages are spread throughout and a horrible smell indicates a lack of maintenance or care. The sorry conditions the animals are in only adds to the unpleasantness of the place.
This place is the only zoo in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, capital of the province of Ninawa and home to around two million people. Entrance costs IQD500 (around USREPLACE.40) but despite the cheap price of entry, locals prefer not to bring their children here to see the animals. Some of them avoid even coming near the building; they believe it’s a health hazard that could cause disease.
The first animal one sees upon entering the zoo is Salem, a monkey. Salem moves very slowly and one gets the feeling he’s sick, just from his progress across the cage. Look at his food dish, filled with sheep offal, and this seems even more likely.
As you move further into the zoo, surrounded by dirty, sick animals and rotten food, you start to wish you could turn off at least two or three of your five senses. Questions come into your mind: What kind of life can exist here? Who comes here?
Still, Dirgham Sharif al-Hamid al-Quraishi says he is proud to be the owner of this manky zoo. “I travelled all over the Iraq to bring animals to this zoo that people would like to see,” says the man, whose father also had animal husbandry as a profession. “And I also imported animals from outside Iraq.”
I ask about Salem the monkey and how he came to Iraq and
http://www.niqash.org/articles/?id=3010

Marineland in for another $1.7M of upgrades
A little more than a year after the Georgia Aquarium bought Marineland , there have been investments in infrastructure, new partnerships and expanded programs, and more changes and improvements are expected for 2012.
The new owner of the attraction south of St. Augustine, now known as Marineland Dolphin Adventure, spent $1.7 million in 2011 on improvements and upgrades that included resurfacing and updating the water circulation in the dolphin habitats.
In 2012, there are plans to invest another $1.7 million to complete
http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/print-edition/2012/03/16/marineland-in-for-another-17m-of.html

Conserving South Asia’s Threatened Vultures
http://www.sospecies.org/sos_projects/birds/vultures_india/

ESCONDIDO: Zoo scientists launch "tadpole mega-unit" to breed endangered frogs
Just in time for frog breeding season, scientists with the San Diego Zoo have launched what they call a "tadpole mega-unit" ---- a clean, green nursery for endangered frog eggs.
Located in the zoo's Institute for Conservation Research near Escondido, the complex of superfiltered tanks houses newly hatched eggs from mountain yellow-legged frogs, a species near the brink of extinction in Southern California.
The large, long-lived frogs were once common throughout high-elevation streams in Southern California but had nearly vanished by the turn of the century.
In 2002, the species was listed as federally endangered, and in 2006, scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey rescued about 80 tadpoles from a dry creek bed in the San Jacinto Mountains.
They raised them at the zoo's research facility, and in 2010, scientists reintroduced the first batch of tadpoles to a stream at the James Reserve near Idyllwild.
Since then, the scientists have continuously refined the way they tend, breed and release the animals.
The "mega-unit" is the latest step in that effort. On Friday, researchers showed the 200-gallon, bathtub-size tanks of constantly circulating water. A series of physical, biological and ultraviolet filters purify the water, creating a healthier environment for the frogs while reducing the need for daily water changes.
In some of the tanks, fishnets cradled gelatinous casings full of tiny, greenish-black eggs that had hatched just days before.
In separate tanks around the room, mating pairs clung together in amplexus, "the love hug of frogs," senior research coordinator Jeff Lemm said.
"The next couple of days should be Egg Central," he said.
The process of frog reintroduction and captive breeding has been one of improvisation, with researchers frequently revising their techniques, often using common gear in unconventional ways.
After poor fertility limited the number of eggs produced the first year, researchers tried forcing the frogs into hibernation by putting them in tubs of mud placed in beverage coolers chilled to 40 degrees. That allowed them to jump-start reproduction, and produce enough tadpoles to begin reintroducing them.
The facility houses 17 adult female frogs, each of which can produce about 200 eggs, research technician Frank Santana said.
Last year they released 300 tadpoles, and have tracked some of them in the stream and its pools. This year, he said, they hope to at least double that number, and reintroduce 600 to 1,000 tadpoles.
Tadpoles released in the stream travel widely and camouflage themselves in its debris, making it hard to track the survivors. Although scientists have seen them regularly in a pool, Santana said, they don't know how many eluded predators.
Scientists marked the tadpoles with tiny fluorescent dots to track them, Santana said.
But this year they'll go a step further and photograph every single tadpole they release, documenting their skin patterns for future identification, he said.
Even the "mega-tadpole unit" itself is a marriage of scientific expertise and old-fashioned handiwork.
A medical equipment company estimated that it could construct the
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/escondido/escondido-zoo-scientists-launch-tadpole-mega-unit-to-breed-endangered/article_07d6b07a-e7d5-5cd6-9d81-2ff3e6814549.html

Social Lessons from Vampire Bats
Vampire bats are accurately named, as they come out at night and drink the blood of sleeping animals. Nevertheless, they are somewhat charming, once you get to know them. In fact, the common vampire bat is one of the few animals known to share food; the others include wild dogs, hyenas, and chimpanzees (Wilkinson, 1990).
Food sharing is a rare behavior because it would, in most cases, decrease an animal’s evolutionary fitness. Fitness describes an individual’s genetic contribution to future generations, and so it is entirely dependent on an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce. Taking care of offspring increases the parents’ fitness, but sharing food with neighbors would be more likely to reduce it. Such detrimental behavior simply would not be preserved through natural selection. But as with most things in nature, there are exceptions to the rule.
Vampire bats are one exception; sharing meals directly supports their survival and fitness. On any given night, when vampire bats go out to feed, 7-30% of them don’t manage to eat. If a bat fails to feed for two nights in a row, it will die (Wilkinson, 1990). If a bat misses a second meal, however, a neighboring bat will regurgitate its own meal for it, keeping the hungry bat alive. The sharing bat is more vulnerable to hunger now, but it is less vulnerable than the receiving bat. And, should the first bat miss a second meal, it can
http://musingsonnature.wordpress.com/2012/03/04/social-lessons-from-vampire-bats/

AN ENDANGERED ISLAND BIRD ON THE BRINK
I've been having tropical thoughts again. It is something I do- flashbacks brought on by a rose-tinted sunset, by a certain houseplant scent, by some seemingly insignificant detail that transports me back to a separate lifetime. It was a long time ago now, the better part of twenty years, and yet it doesn't seem that way. My father warned me that memory was like that. He would speak of exploring the Panama jungle seventy years hence and say it all seemed like yesterday.
My tropics were those of the Pacific and its remotely seductive islands that drove even Darwin to distraction. The natives often described their home islands as paradise and, indeed, there were large elements of those landscapes that were difficult to distinguish from anything other than that hackneyed word. My wife, son and I still talk of personal flashbacks in a kind of private family speak that we agree we largely can't share with others. They could never really understand.
The specific instance of my latest digression began when I realized during an extended conversation that I was thirsty. My thoughts drifted from that present thirst to real thirst- the kind that sets in when even thick jungle shade does nothing to alleviate the saturating humidity of a tradewindless tropical afternoon. A day in the field there always involved carrying at least a half gallon of water and even then, when field time ran to 14 hours, supplimentation of milk from machete-sliced coconuts was a staple. Indeed, to this day I have not shed the machete from my backpack. One never
http://birdconservationresearch.blogspot.com/2012/01/endangered-island-bird-on-brink.html

Chester Zoo unveils £30m Islands development
CHESTER Zoo has released images of its £30m Islands development – a conservation expedition bringing the islands of the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Bali, Sumatra, Sumba and Sulawesi to the heart of Cheshire.
The development will showcase the zoo’s conservation fieldwork and bring together a range of animals including Anoa, Babirusa, Bali Starling, Cassowary, Indonesian Rhinoceros Hornbill, Indonesian Wrinkled Hornbill, Lorikeet, Sumatran Orangutan, Saltwater Sulawesi Macaque, Sumatran Tiger and the Visayan Warty Pig.
Dr Mark Pilgrim, director general of Chester Zoo, said: “Our wildlife expedition will be based on real life, real people and real stories and will be unlike anything seen in a UK zoo.
“These images show, for the first time, a flavour of what can be expected from our new development. Islands will not just showcase the areas that the zoo works but will be a platform for some of the most endangered animals on the planet.”
Visitors will travel through the islands by boat or on foot and will navigate mangroves, swamps, bamboo and tropical forests.
Some of the animals are already in the zoo but new species will include the Saltwater Crocodile and Banteng, a beautiful wild and endangered cattle species.
Islands will also include a major new Indonesian tropical house which will be the largest indoor zoo exhibit in the UK and home to orangutans.
Work is expected to start in autumn this year with opening planned for Easter 2015. A
http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/chester-news/local-chester-news/2012/03/15/chester-zoo-unveils-30m-islands-development-59067-30548181/

Anti-Aquarium Proponents Shun Open Dialogue
In a move that comes as no real surprise, the deeply entrenched anti-aquarium folks at Forthefishes.org have called on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to retract an invitation to MASNA board member and aquarium trade spokesperson, Ret Talbot, to speak at an upcoming meeting at the Maui NOAA Whale Sanctuary. For the Fishes claims that the “immediate” request to withdraw the invitation comes as many Hawaii residents, county councils, and even the Maui mayor find the aquarium trade to be “offensive”. Ret is scheduled to be talking to attendees of the event about the aquarium trade in Fiji, which For the Fishes condems for its collecting of corals and live rock. The press release from For the Fishes goes on to indirectly liken the aquarium trade to the intensely brutal dolphin and whale slaughter when they asked if NOAA would also invite fishermen from those industries as well.
The most disheartening thing about this broadcast email from For the Fishes is that it demonstrates the organizations persistent stance: they want to close all dialogue regarding the aquarium trade. They don’t care about sustainability; they don’t care about scientifically backed data; they don’t care about anything other than shutting down a trade that has far less impact than other ocean-based industries (commercial fishing and tourism). The small orginization ignores all logic and
http://blog.aquanerd.com/2012/03/anti-aquarium-proponents-shun-open-dialogue.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=anti-aquarium-proponents-shun-open-dialogue

Judge rules on animal lover Vera Spear's bequest
HER dying wish was to help a Hampshire haven for sick and injured owls.
Bird-loving Vera Spear was so passionate about the work of New Forest Owl Sanctuary and other animal charities she left them her life savings of £260,000 – minus a small sum for her parrot.
But just days after the 84-year-old pensioner died in her Fareham nursing home in 2007 the Ringwood-based sanctuary closed amid allegations of cruelty.
Attorney General Dominic Grieve QC then decided to settle in court who now deserved the £65,000 slice originally destined for Mrs Spear’s
http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/9598034.Owls_to_get_pensioner_s___65_000_legacy/

Anna Ryder Richardson and Colin MacDougall accused of health and safety breaches
Presenter and wildlife park owner Anna Ryder Richardson is being prosecuted over alleged health and safety breaches after a tree fell on a boy.
The three-year-old and his mother, from Llanelli, were injured on a family day out at Manor House Wildlife Park at St Florence, near Tenby, in August 2010.
Park owners Anna Ryder Richardson and husband Colin MacDougall face two charges each following the incident.
A hearing was held at Haverfordwest Magistrates' Court on Monday.
The case was adjourned until 26 April.
The three-year-old, Gruff Davies-Hughes, sustained serious head injuries and spent time in the high dependency unit at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff.
His PE teacher mother, Emma Davies-Hughes, was also injured.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-17442425

Merlin dives in to acquire Siam Ocean World rights
Merlin Entertainments Group has taken over the management of Siam Ocean World, the biggest aquarium in Southeast Asia, after acquiring Living and Leisure Australia Group, the aquarium's owner.
Merlin is the world's second-largest family attraction operator and operates Madame Tussauds wax museums across the world including in Bangkok. It recently acquired Living and Leisure's 10 attractions in Asia-Pacific including Siam Ocean World.
Located at Siam Paragon, Ocean World has 10,000 square metres of space and hundreds of different marine species on display in a 5-million-litre aquarium.
"This not only underlines Merlin's position as the world's premier aquarium operator with its Sea Life brand but also complements the company's other fast-growing business in the city _ the iconic Madame Tussauds Bangkok wax attraction at Siam Centre," the company said in a statement.
Merlin is looking to make a significant investment to improve the aquarium and the local team, along with Merlin's global marine experts, will be working on these plans in coming months.
Linking the two attractions offers a number of management and commercial benefits. It also provides a platform for Merlin to develop joint marketing activities.
The first is the launch of a joint ticket package for Madame Tussauds
http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/285595/merlin-dives-in-to-acquire-siam-ocean-world-rights


Breeding Cycles of Penguins in the Western Antarctic Peninsula Affected By Global Warming, For Better or Worse
Higher global temperatures from climate change, despite their appeal to the human population, have chilling affects for some penguin species that breed in the Western Antarctic Peninsula. While gentoos are able to adapt to the region’s rapidly warming climate, adélie and chinstrap penguin populations are dwindling, according to research published in Polar Biology, Ecology, and Marine Ecology Progress Series (MEPS).
Using a combination of traditional ecological fieldwork and state-of-the-art satellite imagery to track colonies of the three species in Antarctica, researchers confirmed what scientists already knew about many creatures in more temperate climates: Rising temperatures may affect animals’ breeding patterns and population. Resident gentoo penguins, they found, are able to account for temperature change faster than migratory breeding penguins in the Western Abtarctic Peninsula.
“We don’t think that a gain in the gentoo population is necessarily a loss for the adélie and chinstrap, but in previously-dominated adélie and chinstrap islands, the gentoo
http://magblog.audubon.org/breeding-cycles-penguins-western-antarctic-peninsula-affected-global-warming-better-or-worse

Understanding Sloth Bears — An Interview With Dr. K. Yoganand
I conducted intensive field research on sloth bears (Melursus ursinus) between 1996 and 2000 in Panna National Park (Madhya Pradesh), a partly degraded, dry deciduous forest habitat in Madhya Pradesh, central India. I captured and fitted radio-collars on several sloth bears and followed them to observe their behaviour and learn more about their secretive lives, such as, when did they sleep, what did they eat, how far did they move in a night, where did they give birth, where did they get all the food they needed, what did they do when they met a tiger, what circumstances prompted them to attack humans…
I also assessed the quality of the forest from a sloth bear’s point of view – how much area of the forest was covered by woodland, grassland and other types of habitats; how many different kinds of trees and shrubs were there that produced fruits eaten by sloth bears; how many fruits were produced by a single tree in a year; how many ant nests could be found in a hectare of forest, etc. I put all this information together to form a picture of a typical day in the life of the sloth bears of Panna.
Dry deciduous forests probably hold a major proportion (about 50%) of the sloth bear population in India. Unfortunately, degradation of habitat by humans has been severe in this forest type. For informed conservation planning and management of this habitat and the sloth bears that inhabit it, it was essential to have baseline information on their behaviour and ecology. Further, we felt that conducting a study in a human impacted area would help in objectively assessing how various human-induced impacts affect bear behaviour. From 2002 to 2008 I also periodically conducted additional field research in other sites, including a preliminary assessment of the distribution and status of the sloth bear acro
http://www.conservationindia.org/articles/understanding-sloth-bears-an-interview-with-dr-k-yoganand




March 2012 | Vol. XXVII | No. 3 | Date of Publication 22 March 2012
CONTENTS

Feature articles

Climate Change as new challenge for conservation of Crocodiles
-- Lala A. K. Singh, Pp. 1-3

Note on Environment Enrichment for Better Thermoregulation by Crocodiles in Captivity
-- Lala A. K. Singh, P. 3

2nd IUCN SSC Chairs' Meeting, 23-27 February 2012, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: Report
-- B.A. Daniel and Sanjay Molur, Pp. 4-6

Meeting of the IUCN SSC Invertebrate Conservation Sub-Committee ICSC, Abu Dhabi
-- B.A. Daniel, Pp. 7-9

National Workshop for Zoo Educators on Conservation Education 27 February-1 March 2012, Van Vihar National Park/Zoo, Bhopal
-- R. Marimuthu, Pp. 10-11

Amphibian Awareness Programme
-- Gayathri Selvaraj and Mittal Gala, Pp. 12-13

Indian Zoo Educators leaping for Amphibian Conservation at Bhopal Workshop
-- R. Marimuthu, P. 14

Leap Day programme conducted with kindergartens of HLC (Headstart Learning Centre) International School, Chennai
-- Mittal Gala, P. 15

Measurable impacts of HECx education programmes in HEC areas of Kanchanapuri, Thailand
-- B.A. Daniel, Pp. 16-18

SPECIES FUTURES: What zoos and other organisations are doing for climate change with the CBSG / WAZA Climate Change Task Force
Pp. 19-20

Technical articles

Nocturnal Terrestrial Mammals of Teknaf Wildlife Sanctuary, Bangladesh
-- Mohammed Mostafa Feeroz, Md. Kamrul Hasan and M. Ibrahim Khalilullah, Pp. 21-24

Incidence of Helminthic Infection in captive Carnivores of Sidhharth Municipal Zoo, Aurangabad, Maharashtra
-- S.S. Ghoke, B.S. Naikwade, K.S. Thorat, N.K. Jogdand and P.S. Kalaskar, Pp. 25-26

Announcement

UFAW Animal Welfare Conference, P. 24

Tails to Trails: a Reptile and Amphibian workshops from 4th to 9th June 2012, P. 26

Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research, P. 27

TRAFFIC helps to claw back illegal parrot trade in India, P. 28

International Aquarium Congress 9-14 September 2012, Cape Town, Back Cover, Pp. 26-28

http://www.zoosprint.org/

New Turtle Shelter at Conservation Centre in Sattahip
A new turtle shelter was constructed on Monday at the soon to open Turtle Conservation Centre in Sattahip. Navy officers took time out to help with the construction of the 4 million baht center, which will open
http://www.pattayapeople.com/default.asp?Folder=16&IdArticle=30287

Cheetah takes a stroll in Al Ain neighbourhood
A young cheetah, who escaped from a private captivity, was captured in a neighbourhood of Al Ain on Wednesday and taken to Al Ain Wildlife Park (Zoo) and Resort.
According to residents of Al Yahar South, a small township about 31km west of Al Ain city centre, the cheetah was spotted roaming in the neighbourhood on Wednesday.
The zoo officials, police officers and residents started a hunt for the big cat.
“The cheetah was found in the compound of an Emirati family. They called the police, and soon a strong police rescue team surrounded the house.
“They were later joined by Al Ain Zoo experts. The animal was finally captured,” Noor Mohammed, a local resident told Khaleej Times.
He said that the news of cheetah’s presence triggered panic among the residents forcing them to remain indoors. He added that many shops and restaurants in the area also remained closed.
A spokesperson from Al Ain Wildlife Park and Resort told Khaleej Times that the residents of the house where the cheetah was hiding, called the police for help. “Police team was already there when our experts, including vets arrived there and successfully captured the young cheetah that was tired and exhausted. We rushed the animal to the resort clinic for observation and treatment. The cheetah is recovering and will remain in the zoo and will be looked-after,” the official asking for anonymity said.
Another resident, Omar Hassan, said the news of the cheetah a first broke out through the exchange of Blackberry messages. He also said the young animal was also sighted roaming around different villa compounds in the area, spreading fear among the residents.
“I received a message on my Blackberry at around 5:20pm yesterday (Wednesday) saying a young cheetah has escaped from a private captivity in the area. It also read: ‘Please be cautious, keep your house compounds protected and do not let your children go out because a cheetah is on the street in the area,” he explained.
Hassan added that after the spread of the message, Al Ain Police came in action informing the residents about the presence of the big cat and advising them
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle11.asp?xfile=data/theuae/2012/March/theuae_March683.xml§ion=theuae  

Capacity crowd hears more about care and feeding plans for National Elephant Center in Fellsmere
Providing protected contact to the elephants and cultivating partnerships within the local community — such as using vendors to provide food for the animals — were among the highlights of a presentation Tuesday on the National Elephant Center in Fellsmere.
The talk drew a capacity crowd at Capt. Hiram's for the March Sebastian River Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
Chief Operating Officer Jeff Boling and Executive Director John Lehnhardt gave a shared presentation on the facility under development in Fellsmere near the Brevard County line that included the center's approach to elephant care and management. They stressed that the focus will be on "protected contact," and "positive reinforcement."
Lehnhardt vowed to use as many local vendors as possible. He said the center would need large amounts of hay that could be purchased from local farmers in addition to the elephant grass that would be grown on the site.
Boling said the center will potentially house between 290 and 300 elephants from about 70 Association of Zoos and Aquarium (AZA) members, with a goal of helping those members provide better care for their elephants. The center will be funded by AZA members, and Lehnhardt estimates an annual operating budget of about $500,000, with typical annual feeding and care costs of $25,000 per elephant.
The center will offer both short- and long-term care. For example, Boling said a zoo wants to construct a new exhibit to improve the well-being of their elephants. The center could house those elephants during that construction period. The center also could provide long-term, and even permanent housing, for juvenile male elephants, as the social structure of elephants allows multiple females but only one dominant male in a family group.
Boling said every elephant at the center will receive protected contact.
"Protected contact means there is always going to be a barrier between us and the elephant," Boling said. "We accomplish this through positive reinforcement training."
Boiling used a series of illustrations to show how an elephant would submit to having blood drawn from behind its ears by approaching a "target," device, a long stick with a rubber bulb on the end, and willingly working its ear into a gap in the enclosure. While one handler accomplishes the procedure another handler offers treats to the elephant. "I call this pay for pain," Boling said.
Maggie Duffell of Wells Fargo Bank asked Lehnhardt about the use of bull hooks, or "guide" devices. He said some situations might require the tool, but they would be very rare and limited to medical emergencies
"In our day-to-day operation we won't be using the bull hook because we'll be using the target, and positive reinforcement to work with the animals," Lehnhardt said. "In an emergency situation where you might have to share your space with the elephants, you need to have something that will help control that elephant and keep you safe."
Boling said he expected groundbreaking at the 223-acre site to occur in the next few weeks, with the first phase of construction to be completed in seven to eight months, and the first elephants to arrive by late 2012 or early 2013.
Chamber President and CEO Beth Mitchell said the enthusiastic response at the meeting was a positive show of support from the area business community.
"This is something new for our area and we always hope for
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/mar/13/capacity-crowd-hears-more-about-care-and-feeding/

Shark baby boom at Dubai's Atlantis
Number of sharks tipped to boom by year end as hot weather makes for perfect mating seasonDubai: Atlantis, The Palm is preparing for a baby boom of a fishy kind — sharks and rays. "It is that time of the year. As temperatures rise, we anticipate new baby sharks and rays to be born by end of the year from heavy mating in the lagoons. "Although it is difficult to predict the number, but up to ten new baby sharks and rays can be expected to be born by end of the year," said Nicholas Derbyshire, Manager, Animal Acquisitions, Atlantis. He said aggressive mating behaviour by a breed of giant guitar sharks, zebra sharks, whitetip sharks, grey reef sharks and gorgeous black marble rays have left the females tired and pregnant! "What is more interesting is that once the animals deliver, they are ready to start mating and breeding all over again!" he
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/general/shark-baby-boom-at-dubai-s-atlantis-1.994882

Spy Eggs Help Get to the Bottom of Penguin Trash-Talking
If you think penguins are cute, huggable things, you have not met a little blue penguin (yes, that’s actually the name of the species). Adorably named but fiercely territorial, male little blue penguins will get into bill-slashing, flipper-whacking fights. One-eyed penguins are not uncommon.After winning a fight, the penguins flap their flippers around and engage in loud braying (listen here). After seeing (and hearing) this behavior, researchers wondered: Are the winners just really happy to have both eyes, or are they sending signals of their toughness to “social eavesdroppers” in the penguin colony?To test their hypothesis, the researchers got clever, temporarily swapping a fake, pulse-measuring egg into the nest of an eavesdropping penguin. As the penguin sat incubating on the fake egg, the scientists replayed the sounds of a fight followed by the approaching calls of the winner or loser. The heart rate of male penguins jumped when they heard a winner, but not a loser, approaching. The males were also less likely to call in response to an approaching winner. By advertising their victories, winners may be keeping competition at bay.So male penguins brag to pump up their
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2012/03/15/spy-eggs-help-get-to-the-bottom-of-penguin-trash-talking/

Monkey business seen behind chimp gift to Safari
The Safari Park administration has recently accepted ‘donation’ of a pair of chimpanzees without seeking information about the conservation status of the species and looking into the donor’s credentials, Dawn has learnt.
The park administration failed to give a satisfactory reply when they were asked about the global sensitivities attached to the trade of chimpanzees while the administrator of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), under whom the Safari Park and Karachi zoo are run, responded by saying he might return the animals to the individual.
A pair of common chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes, was reportedly ‘donated’ to the Safari Park by a businessman a few days ago. Both species of chimpanzee, the common chimpanzee and the bonobo, are listed as endangered in the IUCN Red List. They are also listed in Appendix 1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Permits for animal import were earlier issued by the National Council for Conservation of Wildlife (NCCW), abolished under the 18th amendment. The NCCW staff is now part of the forestry wing.
Speaking to Dawn, Umeed Khalid, a conservator of wildlife, forestry wing under the ministry of disaster management, said: “No licence has been issued for the import of chimpanzees in the past 10 years. The species is critically endangered and falls under the Appendix 1 list of CITES, which means trade in these species is prohibited except in cases when the purpose is pure scientific research and education.”
Import permits for such species, he said, could only be issued to government-run facilities for wild animals and that, too, required an export permit from the country from where the animals were being imported and an import permit from the country which would receive them.
“The permission is only for state-run zoos and not for private farms,” he said.
When his attention was drawn to the recently ‘donated’ chimps to the Safari Park, he said that only the Sindh government’s wildlife department was authorised to take up such issues after the adoption of the 18th amendment by the National Assembly.
Upon contact, Salman Shamsi, director of the Safari Park, said: “I am not aware of the details of the donated chimps. You’d better seek details from the KMC administrator.”
KMC administrator Mohammad Hussain Syed said the relevant executive district officer had told him that a businessman was interested in donating animals, and he personally did not know the donor.
“I was told that his name was Mumtaz. He came over one day and left the animals in the park. Maybe he was afraid of being questioned about the animals and preferred to leave without giving any details about himself.
“There are people in the city who keep animals in their homes and at times donate them if they run out of space to keep them,” he said, adding that the park would get more ‘donations’ that would be of peacocks and ostriches.
When Mr Syed was told about the chimps’ conservation status and that the local species of peacocks were protected under the Sindh wildlife rules, he said he was not aware of it and would take care of the regulations in future.
“The peacocks I am talking about are not of the local species, but those being raised in captivity. Anyway, the department will be more careful next time, and maybe we’ll return these chimps to the donor,” he said.
Currently, the Karachi and Lahore zoos are among the only state-run facilities where these species are kept in the country; the Karachi zoo has a pair and the Lahore zoo has three females. Reportedly, two private farms, one in Karachi and the other near Thatta, also keep the animal species.
A pair of chimpanzees, being kept privately, had earlier escaped their cage in the PECHS and troubled residents. The male was shot dead while the female was captured and taken to the Karachi zoo, where she has found another mate.
Replying to Dawn’s queries, Saeed Baloch, heading the Sindh wildlife department, said his department had nothing to do with the import of chimpanzees and he would comment on it once he investigated the case of the chimps’ donation.
“The Safari Park is a government-run facility, so I assume they had made some inquiries before accepting the
http://www.dawn.com/2012/03/16/monkey-business-seen-behind-chimp-gift-to-safari.html

Tensions rise as Longleat meets future
Viscount Weymouth and the new chief executive officer of Longleat told a feisty public meeting that they needed to stop access to the famous estate because they feared poachers could target the rhinoceros in the safari park.
That was among a long list of reasons given to ban dog walkers, joggers, cyclists and ramblers from around 1,000 acres – ten per cent – of the Wiltshire estate, which also included the threat of armed robbery, lead and metal thieves, dog attacks on children and 4x4s churning up the lawn. Ceawlin Thynn, the son of Lord Bath who holds the hereditary Viscount Weymouth title, supported the chief executive officer of Longleat, David Bradley, in giving a presentation to around 220 people in Warminster on Tuesday night.
They outlined their plans to invest millions in Longleat, and said they needed to control access to the area around the house, attractions and safari park to satisfy insurers and protect visitors. Mr Bradley admitted Longleat had been ‘tired’ when the Viscount took over and appointed him to run the West’s most popular tourist attraction, and said they had spent more money in the 18 months since than was spent in the previous 30 years. He outlined new attractions opening this year, including an African village, and said most of the new animal areas were near the house and away from the 45-year-old Safari Park.
The banning of ramblers, dog walkers and cyclists from the area around the house had sparked outrage among local residents, who packed the Civic Centre to voice their displeasure. Viscount Weymouth apologised to anyone upset at being escorted out of the area, but Mr Bradley said his priority was the
http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/Tensions-rise-Longleat-meets-future/story-15521301-detail/story.html

 Minnesota Zoo is no place for a dolphinI venture that most Minnesotans who have watched the documentary "The Cove" would be strongly opposed to seeing the state sink $7 million in public funds to repair and upgrade the Minnesota Zoo's dolphin exhibit.
The award-winning film shines light on the brutal international dolphin trade -- fueled, in part, by the zoo and aquarium industry.
Since its opening, the Minnesota Zoo has been plagued with a series of premature deaths of its captive dolphins. Last month's death of Taijah, a baby Atlantic bottlenose dolphin on exhibit at the zoo, was a case in point.
The final report on Taijah from the pathologist said: "The cause of death is uncertain. It may be speculated that the animal lost significant amounts of blood from the gastric ulcer. The cause of the ulceration was not apparent."
We must consider that captivity itself was the cause of the dolphin's death. Most captive dolphins are confined in minuscule tanks containing chemically treated artificial seawater.
Dolphins in a tank are severely restricted in using their highly developed sonar,
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/144042446.html



Cocodrile Shown to Pope Arrives to Cuban Zoo (sack the proof reader)
The Cuban crocodile shown to Pope Benedict XVI in a recent public hearing in the Vatican will be taken on Friday to Cuba''s National Zoo, officials of the institution announced.
The 40 cm long specimen, belonging to the species "crocodylus rhombifer" is arriving to the island three days before the Pope´s visit to Cuba from March 26 to 28, Cubadebate website reports.
The reptile was symbolically donated to Benedict XVI in January, on behalf of 1, 200 animals that hosts the Rome's Bio Park zoo, which celebrates
http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&idioma=2&id=490636&Itemid=1



Bob Barker funds $880,000 elephant flight to CA Three elephants will travel from the Toronto Zoo to a sanctuary in California aboard a private plane thanks to longtime animal activist Bob Barker.
Three elephants will travel from the Toronto Zoo to a sanctuary in California aboard a private plane thanks to longtime animal activist Bob Barker.
The 88-year-old TV icon offered to fund the $880,000 flight after learning that one of the elephants wasn't well enough to withstand the long trip by truck, Barker spokesman Henri Bollinger said Friday.
He said the Toronto Zoo agreed to move Thika, Iringa and Toka to the Performing Animals Welfare Society elephant sanctuary in San Andreas, Calif., in the Sierra foothills southeast of Sacramento, but that one of the animals suffers from "a serious foot problem."
Barker said the elephants "have suffered so much for so long and now they have an opportunity to live the rest of their lives at what has been described as `elephant paradise.' To think that one of them might not survive the trip
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/entertainment/2017822942_apusbobbarkerelephants.html



Sciquarium construction taking shape at Natural Science CenterIt’s been under construction for months, but the Sciquarium is now starting to take shape at the Greensboro Natural Science Center.
The grand opening of the $10 million interactive aquarium is still a year away. The building is expected to be completed in about six months, but director Glenn Dobrogoz said it will take another six months before it’s ready to be opened to the public.
In the video above, get an update on the progress.
The 22,000 square-foot addition is the
http://myfox8.com/2012/03/23/sciquarium-construction-taking-shape-at-natural-science-center/



Ex-PETA VP: Omnivores are Like Racists or Something
You might remember that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (the ones they don’t kill, anyway) recently sued Sea World, claiming that the park’s famous performing whales were actually slaves. The Daily Show’s Wyatt Cenac made fun of PETA at the time for suggesting that animals were the moral equals of humans forced to toil against their will. However ridiculous the view that giving people greater moral standing than “sea kittens” is a sin akin to racism might be, it’s a key philosophical underpinning of the animal rights movement.
In fact, there’s even a term for it: “speciesism.”
Bruce Friedrich, a former PETA Vice President who now holds a senior position with Farm Sanctuary, promoted a film examining this so-called “speciesism” at the Huffington Post this week. He’s not an outlier in his view among animal rights activists: PETA’s Ingrid Newkirk has claimed “a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy,” and the head of the Humane Society of the United States (which gives just one percent of its budget to local pet shelters) told an animal rights philosopher that he became vegan after he realized he was being a “speciesist.”
In the real world, the view that “speciesism” is some equivalent to racism or sexism is recognized as bunk. One biologist notes that it is impossible not to put humans before at least some animals:
The vegan militia have forgotten that to get their cruelty free vegetables, the land has already been cleared, all competing species have been killed or driven out, those that remain are poisoned (even by organic farmers – they just use “certified organic” methods of pest control or even other animals like ladybugs). We put humans first every time we clear a field, dig a foundation, fence and spray our crops, and burn diesel
http://www.consumerfreedom.com/2012/03/ex-peta-vp-omnivores-are-like-racists-or-something/



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