Thursday, May 31, 2012

Zoo News Digest 28th - 31st May 2012 (Zoo News 818)

Zoo News Digest 28th - 31st May 2012 (Zoo News 818)





Dear Colleague,

Apologies. Yes I am aware that I have a lot of email to answer and I will get round to it. As you are aware I have been battling with some weird virus and I have thought a time or three that I had beaten it. Right now, this minute, I feel fine. I am going out on the town and looking forward to it big time. Then I have to settle down and complete the assignment for the course I did the week before last. Then I will start wading into the email. Patience please. Thank you so much for the donations which keep Zoo News Digest going. I am extremely grateful. Thank you too for those who donate for the inclusion of adverts in the Zoo Vacancy blog. It is far reaching and worthwhile.

As always, some interesting news. Dolphins and Whales. Plenty of space for debate.
What do I think? Well I do not believe we should be indiscriminately taking Dolphins, Whales or fish from the wild. We should have self sustaining captive populations. I remember only too well dolphin set ups in the sixties and the hidden losses. It was wrong. The problem is it is still going on in some places. Preaching conservation when you have dirty secrets really makes it worthless in my eyes. Aquariums should/must be pioneers in education and breeding high on the Agenda. I have no problems with the captivity issue if the accommodation and care meet the highest standards. As to swimming with Whales. That should be personal choice. I have and I would again.

So Peter Worthington writes in the Toronto Sun "However concerns have been raised about the possibility of TB being rampant at the PAWS sanctuary. The zoo, apparently, doesn’t want to give up its elephants. Although Toronto is not a comfortable environment for them, some zoo people insist it’s the elephants’ welfare that concerns them – which I’d argue is unlikely. Rather, its pride and bureaucratic intransigence."....Really? He is another one blinkered as to the true story here. I don't think he has a clue and cares even less.


Giza Zoo....what is going on? I have previously drawn attention to the Orangutans. Surely their new accommodation should be ready by now? What are the excuses? And what about the Chimpanzees? There are a lot of people wanting answers. Please expect to get some flak because unless the petty in house politics stops and we get a statement soon you will be getting a mention every week....


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SeaWorld Must Separate Killer Whales From Trainers After Tragic Death, Judge Rules
"Are the emotions inspired by the grandeur of humans interacting with killer whales worth the dangers created by the interactions?"
That was the question, in his own words, with which Judge Ken Welsch grappled in a closely watched case probing worker safety at SeaWorld.
His answer came Wednesday: No.
In a decision that could reshape the theme park's world-famous whale shows, Welsch, an administrative law judge for the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, mostly upheld the safety citations issued against SeaWorld following the tragic death of a whale trainer in Orlando, Fla., in 2010.
The judge also affirmed an OSHA recommendation to which SeaWorld officials had strongly objected: that trainers be separated from killer whales by a physical barrier if the two are near each other in the water. It's a change that will likely alter the whale-trainer dynamic during performances.
OSHA head David Michaels praised the judge's decision on Wednesday, saying his agency's only intent was to "ensure the safety and health of employees who work with SeaWorld’s killer whales" during performances. The judgment, Michaels said in a statement, "is a win for the employees of SeaWorld, because within 10 days after the Judge's order becomes final, SeaWorld must abate the hazards and provide documentation to OSHA's Tampa Area Office that the hazards have been corrected."
SeaWorld officials could not be reached for comment after business hours on Wednesday.
The case stems from the Feb. 24, 2010, death of Dawn Brancheau, a whale trainer at SeaWorld's Orlando park. Brancheau was killed during a live performance when a six-ton, 29-year-old killer whale named Tilikum grabbed her by her ponytail and pulled her underwater. After the highly public drowning, OSHA investigators performed workplace safety inspections of the Orlando park, ultimately accusing the company of not sufficiently protecting its trainers from the killer whales.
Judge Welsch held a two-week hearing on the violations in November, during which SeaWorld argued, unsuccessfully, that the close proximity between whale and trainer was worth the risks. Six months later, he has issued his
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/30/seaworld-whales-trainer-death-osha-ruling_n_1557597.html



Dolphin ban has zoos worried
Parliament’s decision to ban the import of dolphins and whales has been welcomed by supporters of animal rights, but zoos are concerned that the change to Switzerland’s animal protection law could lead to arbitrary legislation.
When the issue was previously voted on in March, the House of Representatives opted for a ban on the keeping of dolphins in addition to the import ban. The chamber has now aligned itself with the more moderate Senate position.
Veteran animal rights lawyer Antoine Goetschel welcomed the decision. “It’s a good starting point. In this case an import ban has about the same consequences as a ban on keeping dolphins,” he told swissinfo.ch.
“It’s a good measure as well because it complies with the Swiss constitution, which is unique in protecting animals’ dignity,” he added.
Double death
The debate about the dolphins’ destiny was sparked by publicity surrounding the deaths of two of the animals in the space of a week at the Connyland theme park in northeastern canton Thurgau last November.
The cause of the mammals’ deaths has not been clearly established, although antibiotics were thought to have played a role. In total eight dolphins died at Switzerland’s only dolphinarium within three years.
The news of the dolphins’ deaths last year came as a revision of the animal protection law was before parliament.
Amongst other amendments to the law, parliament had already voted on changes to include a ban on the trade in dog and cat fur.
Referendum?
Earlier this month, Connyland issued a press release saying the park would launch a referendum against any import ban. But realistically it would need the support of the Swiss Zoo Association to attempt to rally popular support.
The association has previously objected to the “Connyland law” and is considering its position in the light of Tuesday’s developments.
Alex Rübel, director of Zurich zoo said the dolphin import ban marked the beginning of “arbitrary legislation”.
Rübel said his objection had nothing to do with showing solidarity with Connyland.
“The fixation on Connyland is exactly our problem.” Zoos are not about dolphins but about principles, he told Bern’s Der Bund newspaper on Wednesday. “With the import ban the basis of the law is reversed.”
“Swiss animal protection law is based on the quality of the keeping practices. The zoo keeping requirements are laid down specifically for each species of animal,” Rübel said.
With an import ban [..] the discussion in parliament about special regulations becomes a “purely emotional thing”, Rübel argued.
Ethics
Goetschel said the new law again raised the question about the ethics of keeping wild animals in captivity.
“Should we keep elephants, giraffes and so on just for people to look at them? When you consider dolphins live in schools of 300 to 400, using their sonar system to communicate, then even a spacious pool is obscenely small.”
“The new point of view is to look at hu
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss_news/Dolphin_ban_has_zoos_worried.html?cid=32798214



California elephant sanctuary official says no to second planned site visit by Toronto Zoo officials
The co-founder of the California sanctuary that’s supposed to be taking our three remaining elephants says she’s so fed up with the way transfer negotiations are going, she’s saying no to a second inspection visit to her facility by Toronto Zoo officials.
Earlier this month after a closed-door meeting at city hall, city councillors Giorgio Mammoliti, Michelle Berardinetti, and zoo CEO John Tracogna told reporters they’d be taking a trip to PAWS “as quickly as possible’’ as part of a due diligence process.
But Pat Derby, a former Hollywood animal trainer who started PAWS in 1984 with a partner, said in an interview this weekend she’s furious, and “sick’’ of the zoo’s “witch hunt’’ and won’t be agreeing to another visit.
Councillor Berardinetti went to PAWS in December, as did some zoo staff including keepers and two top veterinarians. The councillor has given PAWS the thumbs up, but several Toronto zookeepers and senior staff have deep concerns including reports of tuberculosis at the facility
“They’ve been here (done that) . . . I’m not entertaining any delegation from the Toronto Zoo,’’ Derby said in a telephone interview from California.
Tracogna, the zoo CEO, said it’s the first he’s heard of Derby’s decision.
PAWS acknowledges that some of its elephants have tested positive for exposure to TB, but says there are no active cases.
But the zoo keepers have launched an aggressive campaign, including on Facebook, circulating reports they say confirm the presence of the disease at PAWS. They want the trio of African elephants Toka, Thika and Iringa, sent elsewhere.
The latest documents the keepers point to include a USDA report from last year on two PAWS elephants Rebecca and Sabu, who, PAWS says, died in the last year and a half from arthritis.
The USDA necropsy reports say specimens taken from the two Asian elephants showed mycobacterium tuberculosis, which causes TB. The Star has called the USDA for comment on the case, but it has declined citing confidentiality.
Derby says PAWS tests its elephants every three months for TB, and none have had positive cultures for the illness.
Some of its Asian elephants have shown exposure to TB, PAWS says, but none of its Africans have. The two breeds are housed at the facility separately, thus Toka, Thika and Iringa
http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/article/1201433--california-elephant-sanctuary-official-says-no-to-second-planned-site-visit-by-toronto-zoo-officials



Vintage Zoo Guidebook, 1895 
http://newsdesk.si.edu/snapshot/vintage-zoo-guidebook


Tens of thousands of elephants likely killed last year, experts say
Providing the grimmest count yet on Africa's wildlife crisis, the global body tracking endangered species reported Thursday that tens of thousands of elephants likely were slaughtered last year by poachers after their tusks. Rhinos, while fewer in number, also saw mass slaughter as poachers went after their horns.
Prices for both have skyrocketed due to demand in Asia, where tusks are used for ivory ornaments and horns as a traditional medicine.
The illegal trade is escalating and "pushing these species toward extinction," John Scanlon, secretary-general of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, said in testimony before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
In the case of rhinos, just 25,000 of which are estimated left in the wild, extinction could come "during the lifetime of our children," he added.
In South Africa alone, he noted, 448 rhinos were killed last year -- up from 13 in 2007.
The Senate hearing on the rapid rise in smuggling came as Kenya said that 359 elephant tusks smuggled in shipping containers and confiscated by Sri Lanka had come from its ports.
Scanlon said a report coming out later this year on Africa's elephants will show that "the levels of illegal killing exceed what can be sustained in all four African sub-regions in 2011, with elephant populations now in net decline."
"We have slid into an acute crisis with the African elephant that does not appear to be on many people’s radar in the U.S.," added Iain Douglas-Hamilton, founder of Save the Elephants. "What’s happening to the elephants is outrageous, and the more so since we have been through these ivory crises before and should have found solutions by now."
Even before the most recent escalation, Africa's elephant population had shrunk from an estimated 1.3 million in 1979 to 450,000 in 2007, Douglas-Hamilton noted.
He urged the United States to
http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/24/11864661-tens-of-thousands-of-elephants-likely-killed-last-year-experts-say?lite


Execution by Elephant
Elephants have long been used as a executioners. They were ideal for the gruesome job due to their ability to be trained, indeed they could even be taught in what manner they should execute; kill fast by crushing or to slowly torture the prisoner. Weighing the same as a couple of cars and having the ability to push trees over with their heads was also said
http://www.eversostrange.com/2012/05/29/execution-by-elephant/





National Grid Polar Bear http://youtu.be/1P-0LHH5ETo


Bureaucracy stymies moving Toronto Zoo elephants
We all know that bureaucracy has its own rules, and if it is ordered to do something with which it disagrees, there are innumerable ways to frustrate  achievement.
This is evident in government ministries. Sometimes the minister can order that something be done that the bureaucracy, or “system,” disagrees with, and often the minister is hung out to dry while nothing is done to further his wishes.
That was evident when the late Cliff Wenzel, a multi-decorated WWII bomber pilot, fought for 30 years to get his reduced pension corrected. The bureaucracy stymied all efforts until finally a defence minister more stubborn and adamant than predecessors, forced financial compensation for Wenzel.
Even then, the bureaucracy got even by getting most of the money back through taxes. But Wenzel felt vindicated — thanks largely to the persistence of Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor, who was also a retired Brigadier-General and knew the system.
A case right now of the “system” foiling those who make decisions, concerns the proposed and agreed upon plan to send Toronto Zoo’s three remaining African elephants – Iringa, Thicka and Toka – to an elephant sanctuary in California run by PAWS.
Former TV game-show host, Bob Barker, who has affection for elephants has offered to pay nearly $1 million in moving expense.
City Councilor Michelle Berardinetti, some zoo staff and a couple of veterinarians visited the PAWS sanctuary last December, followed by council voting to send the elephants to PAWS.
However concerns have been raised about the possibility of TB being rampant at the PAWS sanctuary. The zoo, apparently, doesn’t want to give up its elephants. Although Toronto is not a comfortable environment for them, some zoo people insist it’s the elephants’ welfare that concerns them – which I’d argue is unlikely. Rather, its pride and bureaucratic intransigence.
Council wants to send another delegation
http://www.torontosun.com/2012/05/29/bureaucracy-stymies-moving-toronto-zoo-elephants?



                                                 http://indianbears.com/



Zoos’ Bitter Choice: To Save Some Species, Letting Others Die
With fluorescent yellow eyes and tufts of hair sticking straight up behind their ears, Bonner and Etienne look like slightly crazed old men.
These riotous and chatty lemurs — known for elaborate rituals that include grooming and braying — once ranged across eastern Madagascar.
Now scores of these black-and-white ruffed lemurs are being bred here at the St. Louis Zoo and at other zoos across the United States as part of a broader effort to prevent their extinction.
But Ozzie, a lion-tailed macaque, will never father children. Lion-tails once flourished in the tops of rain forests in India, using their naturally dark coloring to disappear into the height of the jungle. Though there are only about 4,000 remaining in the wild, not one among Ozzie’s group here in St. Louis will be bred. American zoos are on the verge of giving up on trying to save them.
As the number of species at risk of extinction soars, zoos are increasingly being called upon to rescue and sustain animals, and not just for marquee breeds like pandas and rhinos but also for all manner of mammals, frogs, birds and insects whose populations are suddenly crashing.
To conserve animals effectively, however, zoo officials have concluded that they must winnow species in their care and devote more resources to a chosen few. The result is that zookeepers, usually animal lovers to the core, are increasingly being pressed into making cold calculations about which animals are the most crucial to save. Some days, the burden feels less like Noah building an ark and more like Schindler making a list.
The lemurs at this zoo are being saved in part because of a well-financed program to rescue rare fauna of the island nation of Madagascar. By contrast, although St. Louis has kept lion-tailed macaques since 1958, other zoos started getting rid of them in the 1990s because they can carry a form of herpes deadly to people. With only an aging population left in captivity in the United States, a species advisory group to North American zoos is expected to put the animals on a phaseout list soon.
If there are criticisms, they are that zoos are not transforming their mission quickly enough from entertainment to conservation.
“We as a society have to decide if it is going to be ethically and morally appropriate to simply display animals for entertainment purposes,” said Dr. Steven L. Monfort, the director of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, part of the National Zoo in Washington. “In my opinion, that model is broken. There needs to be an explicit role for zoos to champion species.”
Dr. Monfort wants zoos to raise more money for the conservation of animals in the wild and to make that effort as important as erecting fancier accommodations for their captive collections. Zoos, he said, should build facilities — not necessarily open to the public — that are large enough to handle whole herds of animals so that more natural reproductive behavior can occur. And less emphasis should be placed on animals that are popular attractions but are doing fine in the wild, like African elephants and California sea lions, Dr. Monfort said, adding that they should be replaced with animals in desperate need of rescuing.
Many zoo directors say that such a radical reordering is not called for and that each zoo does valuable work even if conserving just a few species.
But Dr. Monfort is not satisfied. He wants all zoos within the Association of Zoos & Aquariums to aim higher on conservation efforts. “I am comfortable with raising the standards for zoos so that eventually it will be harder and harder to be accredited unless you are doing that,” he said in an interview. “If you can’t keep up, then you probably need to be dropped off the bottom.”
Established in 1910 and built on 90 acres, the St. Louis Zoo is in many ways archetypal of institutions struggling to adapt from a late-19th-century concept to a 21st-century crisis management center.
In their first century, American zoos plucked exotic animals from the wild and exploited them mainly for entertainment value, throwing in some wildlife education and a touch of preservation. When wilderness began disappearing, causing animals to fail at an accelerating pace, zoo officials became rescuers and protectors. Since the 1980s, zoos have developed coordinated breeding programs that have brought dozens of animals, like the golden lion tamarin of Brazil, back from the brink.
The increasingly difficult challenge is to be a force for conservation while continuing to put on a show.
Under Pressure
Jeffrey P. Bonner, president and chief executive
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/28/science/zoos-bitter-choice-to-save-some-species-letting-others-die.html





Journal of Threatened Taxa
ISSN 0974-7907 (online) | 0974-7893 (print)

May 2012 | Vol. 4 | No. 5 | Pages 2553–2616
Date of Publication 26 May 2012 (online & print)

Contents

Herpetofauna of Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttar Pradesh, India
-- Abhijit Das, Dhruvajyoti Basu, Laurel Converse & Suresh C. Choudhury, Pp. 2553-2568

An overview of fish fauna of Raigad District, northern Western Ghats, India
-- Unmesh Katwate, Rupesh Raut & Sahir Advani, Pp. 2569-2577

The genus Cyrtoptyx Delucchi (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Pteromalidae) from India, with a description of a new species from the southern Western Ghats of Kerala
-- P.M. Sureshan, Pp. 2578-2581

Report of two medicinal and aromatic gingersfrom Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India
-- M. Venkat Ramana, Johny Kumar Tagore & Avishek Bhattacharjee, Pp. 2582-2586

Rediscovery of Uniyala multibracteata (Gamble) H. Rob & Skvarla (Asteraceae) from the southern Western Ghats, India
-- E.S. Santhosh Kumar, P.E. Roy, S.M. Shareef & S.S. Usha, Pp. 2587-2589

Range extension of Alysicarpus naikianus Pokle (Fabaceae) in western India
-- S.Y. Chavan & M.M. Sardesai, Pp. 2590-2592

Exormotheca ceylonensis Meijer - a threatened liverwort in India, rediscovered in Palni Hills, Tamil Nadu
-- Afroz Alam, Sharad Vats & Kambaska Kumar Behera, Pp. 2593-2595

New records of Tubulifera (Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae) from the state of Karnataka, India
-- Kaomud Tyagi, Pp. 2596-2602

Synanthropic acarine population associated with bird nests
-- Sudipta Chaudhury, Salil K. Gupta & Goutam K. Saha, Pp. 2603-2608

Occurrence of Mesostoma tetragonum (Müller) (Turbellaria) in the Deepar wetlands of Assam, India
-- Girindra Kalita & M.M. Goswami, Pp. 2609-2613

Diversity and abundance of nematodes in the sewage of Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India
-- Razia Sultana & Padma Bohra, Pp. 2614-2616
www.threatenedtaxa.org




Kim Jong Un Visits Pyongyang Central Zoo
Kim Jong Un first went round the monument erected to convey the undying leadership exploits of the three commanders of Mt. Paektu down through generations.
He recollected with deep emotion the glorious course covered by the zoo, noting that it had the honor of receiving on-the-spot guidance of President Kim Il Sung and leader Kim Jong Il dozens of times and has creditably fulfilled its mission as a place for joyful rest making visitors laugh and pleasing them and a center for education imbuing them with wide knowledge about animals over the last more than five decades since it was established.
Going round different places of the zoo, he learned in detail about the management and operation of it.
He dropped in at the aquarium to learn about its operation. He asked workers there if there is any problem arising in breeding fish, what measures are taken to provide food and water to it and what species of sea fish are raised.
He was satisfied to hear officials of the zoo say that thorough measures are taken to provide food and the completion of the Nampho-Pyongyang seawater pipe helped settle the issue of seawater, a difficulty in breeding sea water fishes.
He visited the pool for seals and the reptile house. What is important for sprucing up animal houses is to create friendly natural environment to help visitors see animals clearly and learn about their true habitation and provide them with sufficient living conditions, he said.
He went to the gift animal house to watch with keen attention rare animals including Indian constrictor, lemur and flying fox which Jonas Whalstram, director of Skansen Aquarium in Sweden, presented to leader Kim Jong Il.
He dropped in at a shed of wild animals. He met Kim Sun Ok, head of the wild animal work team who has worked at the zoo for 45 years, and Myong Su Il who has tended bears for nearly 30 years and appreciated their efforts.
He also moved to a veterinary hospital built on the initiative of Kim Jong Il. Kim Jong Un underlined the need to take efficient veterinary, anti-epizootic and treatment measures for animals.
He highly praised the officials and other employees of the zoo for having taken good care
http://nkleadershipwatch.wordpress.com/2012/05/27/kim-jong-un-visits-pyongyang-central-zoo/

Attwater's Prairie Chickens Hatch - Time Lapse http://youtu.be/ov2zC4_OnEs



May 2012 | Vol. XXVII | No. 5 | Date of Publication 25 May 2012

CONTENTS

Regional response to the Vulture crisis : A Symposium
-- B.A. Daniel, Pp. 1-4

Efforts To Make Kanpur Zoo Polythene Free
-- K. Praveen Rao, Pp. 5-7

Mixing (Zoo) business with pleasure in Buenos Aires, Argentina
-- Sally Walker, Pp. 8-9

Budapest - Ivy Zoo Symposium, May 2012
-- Sally Walker, P. 10

Education reports
Animal Welfare Fortnightly 2012.... Education Reports
Pp. 11-17

World Forestry day celebrated by OASIS Mumbai
P. 18

Technical articles
Selection and Shifting of Sleeping Sites by Hanuman Langurs in Morni Hills of Haryana, India
-- Girish Chopra, Madhu Bala Bhoombak & Parmesh Kumar, Pp. 19-23
PDF 848Kb

New plant records for Jharkhand
-- C.R. Magesh, P. Lakshminarasimhan and P. Venu, Pp. 24-25

First record of Baillon’s Crake Porzana pusilla from Tumariya Reservoir in the Corbett landscape of District Nainital, Uttarakhand
-- Anushree Bhattacharjee, P. 26

Announcements
Bats in Captivity - Volume 4: Legislation and Public Education
P. 27

The 4th International Congress on Zoo Keeping 9-13 September 2012, Singapore
P. 28

International Aquarium Congress, 9-14 September 2012, Cape Town
P. 32

www.zoosprint.org


Comfort in captivity
Baba Dioum contemplated, “In the end we will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand.” Perhaps that's the reason the greatest conservators of all times have been hunters like Jim Corbett.
Nature depletion to most of us has been reduced to threats of global warming. Our country's education system has succeeded only to paint a doomsday scenario and has failed to form a bond between the young and the great outdoors. With the forest cover depleted to a minimum, animals poached to extinction and holidays in wildlife sanctuaries the interest (or the privilege) of a few — to link with nature seems like a distant possibility. Zoos and zoological parks remain the only places for the multitudes to connect with wildlife and be sensitised towards it.
Traditionally, zoos have provided an economic form of recreation for people from various strata of society, income and educational levels, ages and socio-economic backgrounds. They offer a large vista of possibilities to educate and sensitise people. According to CEE India, “In India there are more than 150 zoos, and they attract as many as 50 million visitors annually. Zoos' potential for making people of all ages aware of the threats to the global ecology is unlimited.”
It's difficult to spot animals in the wild. Many villagers living on jungle fringes pass their lives without seeing a wild animal. The largest chunk of visitors to small town zoos like Udaipur's Gulab Bagh is rural.
Jerry Mander wrote that after sometime, when you ask a child “Where do oranges grow?” He'll reply, “In the supermarket.”
Disconnect with the real
Today, children have a wide disconnect with Nature. An attractive place is required for nature education that is sure to stimulate interest and provide a competition to internet, television and playstations. No one can remain unmoved after seeing an animal at close quarters. Zoos are a place where children get to see the animals, which they've heard of in the stories. It gives form to their imagination and opens a new world of curiosity. Many grow up to become crusaders of wildlife protection.
Colombo's Dehiwela Zoo inspires awe and displays the delightful marvels of Nature. It has a thumping selection of animals including albino cobras, black jaguars and an albino crow! The vast compound with towering tropical trees is complete with a bird aviary, butterfly garden, aquarium, serpentarium, museum and zoo library. There are education programmes, performances of animals and provision for kids' birthday parties. The zoo hospital does research and provides veterinary training.
In India, Reuben David, a champion of wildlife, created the Ahmedabad zoo. People came from near and far to see this man who could go inside the cages of lions and tigers. During his time, Ahmedabad zoo became one of the most remarkable zoos of India and contributed substantially to conservation and research.
Animals are exchanged between zoos of the world. The Maharaj of Rewa in Madhya Pradesh made history when he captured a white tiger in the wild. In time, generations of this white tiger have spread across the world.
The government has failed to implement wildlife laws and provide proper enforcement response. Political commitment to prevention of wildlife crime, human encroachment in protected areas and habitat
http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/society/article3451613.ece



Seven big cats seized from Indiana wildlife sanctuary
Seven big cats were seized from a White County wildlife sanctuary and rescue center Tuesday, effectively clearing out the facility’s inventory in the process.
Four tigers, a lion, a bobcat and a mountain lion being housed at Great Cats of Indiana, 10471 E. U.S. 24 in Idaville, were taken Tuesday by state conservation officers.
Lt. Dan Dulin with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources said conservation officers began their investigation about a week ago after an anonymous tip raised concerns about the facility’s licensing.
Great Cats director Rob Craig of Idaville has permits from the state to keep the animals, but Cpl. Todd Pekny
http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20120530/NEWS06/120530007



Edinburgh Zoo visitors have to take shelter as pigs escape from their enclosure
VISITORS to Edinburgh Zoo had to run for cover after four pigs broke free from their enclosure.
The red river hogs escaped their pen at around 8.30am as they were being moved into a vehicle.
The hogs - two adults and two youngsters - made their dash for freedom when one of the pigs broke through a barrier being used to guide them.
Visitors took refuge in one of the park's monkey enclosures as staff battled to get the pigs back in their pen.
The animals were being moved from the zoo permanently to a private collection.
Darren McGarry, head of animals at the zoo, said: "Our keeping staff are highly-trained for eventualities like this and handled the incident quickly and efficiently, recapturing the animals in a short period of time.
"Select areas of the park were closed, with visitors being moved into internal areas where necessary.
"All of the pigs remained on
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2012/05/28/edinburgh-zoo-visitors-flee-as-four-pigs-escape-enclosure-and-run-amok-86908-23876942/



Efforts to Save Endangered Hawaiian BirdsOne of the great pleasures of learning bird songs comes in the drowsy predawn twilight. Through the window comes the voice of the first bold male offering up his species’ diagnostic song. From my bed in a friend’s cabin 30 miles north of Hilo this morning, the first sound to break the silence is the emphatic, repeated “whit-cheer!” of the northern cardinal, a bird I grew up hearing in southern Michigan. Next comes the soft cooing of Asian spotted and zebra doves, followed by the occasional harsh notes of the common myna, an import from India. Finally, I hear the slurred warbles of the Japanese white-eye. Later, with a cup of coffee, looking out over the pasture and woodlots spreading down to the sea, I hear and see a rich and complex ecosystem, almost none of which belongs here.
It is quite conceivable that a casual visitor to Hawaii could spend a pleasant holiday of a week or two and not see a single native Hawaiian species. Nearly all native lowland ecosystems in Hawaii have been replaced by nonnative species, including nearly all plants, birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects. Human residents and tourists concentrate themselves in these areas near the ocean, so it is even possible to grow up in many parts of Hawaii thinking that mynas, doves, papaya, eucalyptus, geckos and even mosquitoes have always been here.
To see, hear and smell native Hawaiian forests, you need to get away from the beaches and go up in elevation where most of the exotic birds disappear. Our research in these kipuka forests is aimed at understanding how kipuka size and introduced rats influence kipuka food webs and the native birds. But if the birds in these kipuka are imperiled, some listed and others being considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act, Hawaii is also home to a few bird species even
http://scientistatwork.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/30/efforts-to-save-endangered-hawaiian-birds/



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