Sunday, September 14, 2014

Zoo News Digest 7th - 14th September 2014 (ZooNews 898)


Zoo News Digest 7th - 14th September 2014 (ZooNews 898)

Highland Wildlife Park



Dear Colleagues,

I know I have said it before but I am probably told more secrets than a Catholic priest, and like a priest, I will never tell another soul.... especially where someone may get hurt. It is a pity though because I could add another angle to many of the stories you see in the press each week. Today is no different. No doubt that has got you puzzling. Trying to figure out just which I am referring to may get you thinking deeper than usual and that's great because getting people to think is one of the main aims of Zoo News Digest. Remember though to take any news story with a big pinch of salt.


Although I have been based in Dubai these past three years I prefer to maintain a UK address  for my surface mail. This has changed yet again. It is now:

Peter Dickinson, c/o 2 Highgate, Dolwen, Abergele, Conwy, North Wales, 

United Kingdom, LL22 8NP.

Bear in mind it is NOT where I live. You can send books for review, cheques etc to that address. I will get them eventually....although it may take months. If you prefer to send by courier to Dubai then please email me and I will send details. My contact phone number in Dubai remains the same:

00971 (0)50 4787 122





****
***
*


I remain committed to the work of GOOD zoos, not DYSFUNCTIONAL zoos.


Not all of Zoo News Digest links and information appear here. Discover more with comments on the



Join me too on LinkedIn



****

This blog has many thousands of readers in 160+ countries and in thousands of zoos, aquariums and other captive wildlife collections

Is your meeting/conference/symposium listed here?
http://zoosymposia.blogspot.com/

If not why not? You want people to attend, don't you? Zoo News Digest is read by more professional zoo people than any other similar publication. I will advertise up till the event.

****

Please visit the
if you are looking for books for yourself or as gifts.
There is more than books there.

Follow me on
HubPages


Please Think About This

Take two minutes to make a small annual donation to ensure the continuation of Zoo News Digest. Click HERE or on the donate button at the top of the Blog page. Quick easy and simple to do. Donations of any size, small to large are appreciated. In return you will receive more than 400 important or interesting zoo related postings per year plus notification of vacancies and meetings and symposia.



Looking for work in zoo?
Several new vacancies online
Check out
Got one to advertise? email me


****************************************************************************

INQUEST INTO TIGER DEATH AT CUMBRIA ZOO TO START TOMORROW
A VISITOR who witnessed a tiger maul a Cumbria zoo keeper will be among 17 witnesses to give evidence at the inquest into her death.

Sarah McClay was attacked by Padang, a Sumatran tiger, and dragged 100 yards into the enclosure as she worked at South Lakes Safari Zoo on May 24 last year.

The 24-year-old was airlifted to hospital where she later died as a result of her injuries. A hearing to establish the full circumstances surrounding her death will start in County Hall, Kendal, tomorrow. It will be conducted by Mr Ian Smith, the coroner for south and east Cumbria.

A jury, drawn from the Kendal electoral roll, is expected to return its conclusion on Friday, but a decision may run into the following Monday.

On Tuesday, the jury will hear from eye witness Gareth Bell, a visitor from the North East who saw the attack unfold while he looked into the tiger enclosure.

The proceedings will start on Monday, when an officer from Barrow Borough Council, which has been investigating from a health and safety perspective, will describe the broad circumstances for the jury.

Miss McClay’s mother, Fiona McClay, is then scheduled to provide some background to her daughter and her passion for her job.

To begin day two, the jury will visit the zoo to see the tiger enclosure first-hand and understand its layout.

When they return, they will hear from Mr Bell, followed by another witness, Nona Usher, who saw less than Mr Bell, but was close by.

In the afternoon, some staff who were working at the park will give their evidence. Emma Els, who was also involved with looking after the tigers, will be asked questions – as will her husband Cornelius Els, who also worked at the park and was there on the day.

On Wednesday, there are six staff members due to give evidence – one who has since left, and five who still work there. They will be asked to describe how things operated at the zoo.

The zoo owner, David Gill, will take the seat on Thursday. He will be followed by Detective Constable Mark Bowness, who attended on the day immediately after the incident and carried out the investigation.

Faye Wingfield, an officer with





What's So Special About IMATA and AZA Conferences?!
This year's IMATA is really special, because it's paired with AZA's annual conference.  That. Is. Awesome.

So what on earth could the Middle Flipper possibly write about when it comes to a double conference?  Well, as I was thinking about what to write a few days ago, I started remembering all of the questions I've gotten about attending a conference (or if you can't attend one...or if you SHOULD attend one...) over the past several years.  I've gotten a lot of the same questions and comments and figured hey, maybe a few other people out there would be interested to know an answer.

An answer.  This blog is, after all, my opinion.  So take whatever you'd like from this, and know it's all coming from a good place!





Pingtung museum is the first to breed ringed pipefish successfully in captivity
The National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium in Pingtung County has established a new record by breeding the ringed pipefish (Dunckerocampus dactyliophorus), becoming the first institution in the world to do so.
The museum said that the achievement serves as an important reference for future egg-hatching and fish-fry cultivation projects and helps to ease the strain caused by commercial fishing, allowing local fishermen more time to prepare for the imminent challenge of the depleting amount of economic fish faced by fishing communities throughout the world.
By simulating the fish’s living environment with underwater caves and fissured corals, the museum was able to provide an environment where the fish could hatch their eggs, the museum said.
The average survival rate of the fish stood at about 37 percent on the 100th day after hatching, it said, adding that the first batch of offspring began mating in the 11th month post-hatching.
According to the museum, although pipefish are not an endangered species, more than 30 million are caught and sold each year because Asian consumers view them as a precious material for traditional Chinese medicine and it is highly sought after by aquariums around the world. These twin demands have led to






Single and Ready to Mingle but Grounded by Zoo Authorities
It seems finding a suitable mate is harder in the animal world. A skewed sex ratio, a problem in many Indian states, is now a matter of concern for Indian zoos as well.

Endangered animals such as lions and tigers are left waiting for partners in many zoos, which causes behavioural issues such as stress among these animals and even reduces their life span. Concerned over the imbalance in sex ratio, the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has now written to nearly 200 zoos across India asking them not to keep single animals for over six months and make arrangements for procuring viable partners. However, the zoos are not willing to part with or exchange their star attractions.

The CZA, under the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), found that 11 big zoos in the country either have male or female tigers and any effort to bring a partner for them failed as none of the other zoos are ready to part with their animal as these big cats are star attractions in every zoo. The Bannerghatta Zoo in Karnataka has 18 tigers and 16 tigresses and the Nandankanan Biological Park in Odisha has 3 tigers and 13 tigresses.

Similarly, four zoos do not have mating partners for their lions. And attempts to get suitable partners from Sakkarbaug Zoo of Gujarat (that has 20 lions and 3






US warns citizens to avoid Pretoria Zoo
US citizens touring or living in South Africa who planned to visit the Pretoria Zoo were advised on Friday not to do so.

The United States diplomatic mission cautioned citizens to be on the alert while touring the country.

According to the embassy, there had been “a number of armed robberies committed recently against visitors to the Pretoria Zoo.

“Due to these events the... mission to South Africa advises US citizens to avoid visiting the Pretoria Zoo until the security situation at the zoo improves,” the embassy said.

Americans were further urged to remain vigilant in protecting themselves from violent crimes while in South Africa Ä as assaults, armed robberies and other crimes were prevalent around hotels, tourist attractions and public transportation centres in m





Zoos weigh up the costs of China's 'pandanomics'
With China asking £600,000 a year to rent pandas and the price of food soaring, do the sums of having pandas add up?
The webcam shows a pile of bamboo shoots in Edinburgh zoo's purpose-built giant panda house. Yang Guang is asleep off-camera and Tian Tian, his possibly pregnant mate, is in a separate enclosure.

Meanwhile, Iain Valentine, the zoo's director of pandas, paces around the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland's office like an expectant father.

If Tian Tian gives birth, it will be in the next few days. If she were to, the zoo's financial security would be assured – even as Scotland decides its political future. A panda cub would be a conservation superstar, attracting millions of visitors at up to £16 a head. But if Tian Tian isn't even pregnant, the zoo faces declining public interest, rising costs and possible financial ruin.

The next few hours are crucial, said Valentine. "We cannot be certain how long it will be before we call it a day with Tian Tian. We are coming to the end. Shortly she will hit what we call base with her progesterone levels and only at that point will we be certain – she will simply either give birth or not."

Parents or not, Tian Tian and Yang Guang are the animal equivalents of Premier League footballers; they cost a fortune to buy and maintain, but are guaranteed to draw crowds. But academic research into "pandanomics" also suggests that the






How London Zoo made its old water infrastructure more sustainable
From replacing old pipes to developing water efficiencies in the penguin and Komodo Dragon enclosures, a mix of people and technology have led to big water savings
In 1995, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) faced huge water management issues with a water infrastructure that was old and required an ever increasing maintenance and annual water budget.

Streamlining water management was essential and the first step was to define water use and consumption patterns in order to work out a strategy for saving water and saving money. For a zoo, the main area of water usage is unsurprisingly animal welfare, including cleaning, replenishing ponds and moats. The water management systems inherited from the early days of the zoo had had not been constructed with sustainability in mind. With more than 3,000 metres of cast iron Victorian water mains covering an area of more than 36 acres, a major issue was the potential loss of water through leakage.

My brief as water management lead was to come up with a clear strategy to make water use more efficient and to be able to measure the benefits of the initiatives for both water supply and wastewater disposal.

The strategies developed and implemented at the zoo have saved more than £1m since 1995. Moreover, the annual water charge today is only 5.9% higher than 12 years ago. This figure is more significant considering that from 2002 to 2014 the mean cost per square cubic metre of water charged to ZSL has increased by 103.1%.

The initial phase was the introduction of Automatic Meter Reader (AMR), equipment that measures water flow. By mapping out the whole zoo area into manageable zones, we were able to investigate the water use within a given area and identify leaks. This method resulted in reducing external leak detection costs by 90% and improved detection rates.

The AMR data supported the implementation of low cost, or no cost, water saving solutions. For example, we installed 21 water control units in the toilets which operated on an occupancy only basis, saving an estimated 8,000m³ a year. AMR data allowed us to analyse the impact of these initiatives and prepare management reports detailing financial savings and highlighting impact versus cost. These reports have become the basis of assessing the success of the water in






Celebrating Plants and the Planet:
                                                        
If the huge dinosaur, Dreadnoughtus, can lie hidden for 100 million years, then surely there are new discoveries to be made every day about life on this amazing planet. September’s news links www.zooplantman.com (NEWS/Botanical News) reveal five new biological relationships you’ll want to know about:


·         Just how do giant pandas subsist on a diet of bamboo? Apparently they manage their foraging and biology by the rhythms of bamboo growth and nutritional fluctuations. No fast food for them!

·         What are the ecological effects when an invasive plant takes hold? Wolf spiders have found an invasive grass makes a perfect cover for hunting small toads and toad numbers are shrinking.

·         Trees laden with epiphytes define our image of tropical forests. A great deal of work has been done on the relationship between the tree and its passengers, and new research suggests that bromeliads shelter predators who protect the tree from foragers.

·         What do we know about migrating birds and where they rest and fuel up for their travels? New analysis of pollen taken from the warblers’ beaks provides surprising answers. By their messy beaks you shall know them.

·         The way the air smells right after a rain… is it simply something there to delight us? Maybe, but it is also part of a biological feedback system that advises plants against growing in droughty conditions. That doesn’t have to spoil our enjoyment, though.

If you are planning on attending the AZA conference in Orlando this year, be sure to join the discussion on the importance of landscapes to zoos and aquariums! The Lure of Landscape: You Should Catch The Gardening Bug. Why have some zoos and aquariums made a priority of creating high quality landscapes? What’s the benefit to the institution, the visitors, and the animals? Ask the Directors that have been bitten by the gardening bug. September 15

Also, please join me at the Association of Zoological Horticulture (AZH) conference for a discussion of canid exhibits in a session titled “The Dog Ate My Exhibit” in Galveston on October 5
                                                                     

Please share these stories with associates, staff, docents and – most importantly – visitors!
Or visit www.plantworldnews.com –  new stories
every day as well as hundreds of stories from the past few years.





Dozens of endangered ducklings have hatched at Chester Zoo
Thirty little Baer pochard ducklings have hatched at Chester Zoo – and they’re ridiculously adorable.
There were once ten of thousands of this rare species but now, the Asian ducks are critically endangered because of hunting and loss of habitat. There are thought to be only thirty left living in the wild.

Experts fear that soon there’ll be just a few Baer pochard ducks left before the species vanishes altogether, but Chester Zoo are adam





Animal rights group PETA accuses Dublin Zoo of exploiting baby zebra
PETA has also called on the public to avoid the zoo which is one of the country’s top tourist attractions.

The group claims that Dublin and other zoos “serve no genuine conservation purpose” and should not be involved in the “incarceration” of animals.

Last week the zoo announced the birth of a common zebra foal - the first to be born there in 23 years.

But PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) claims that the new arrival has been born into a life of captivity and will never be happy.

Spokesman Ben Williamson said: “Photos of a common zebra foal born at Dublin Zoo highlight the fact that zoos serve no genuine conservation purpose.

“More than a half-million common zebra currently live in more than a dozen African countries, but this particularly unlucky baby will never know anything beyond life in captivity.

“She will never see her natural habitat, and without a natural and adequate social structure, she will never have the opportunity to learn “common” or basic zebra behaviour.

“Dublin Zoo’s purpose in breeding baby animals is to drive ticket sales, and it should not get away with trying to justify its continuing incarceration of animals for public amusement by pretending that it’s doing something useful when it is not.”

But Dublin zoo, which recently celebrated its 183rd birthday, rubbished the claim and maintained that the interests of animals always comes first.

Ben Williamson described the baby zebra as a “crowd-pleaser” which will not be wanted when she grows up.

“People who don’t want to support t






www.zoolex.org in September 2014

~°v°~  ~°v°~  ~°v°~  ~°v°~  ~°v°~

Hello ZooLex Friend,
We have worked for your enjoyment!

              ~°v°~

NEW EXHIBIT PRESENTATION

Trail of the Elephants at Melbourne Zoo, Australia, takes visitors into
the scenery of a South-east Asian forest with a variety of animal
species from this region and a village with fields, paddock, market
place and a community hall. Information is offered on field research in
Asia, conflicts between elephant and men and elephant management at the zoo.


              ~°v°~

ZOOPLANTS ONLINE

www.zooplants.net is a free real time database similar to Wikipedia for
collecting and disseminating information on the use of plants in zoos
and aquariums. It covers the topics forage, nutrition, toxicity,
enrichment and exhibit planting. Entries are reviewed by editors before
being published. The site was set up in 2007 and currently lists nearly
400 plant species. The project is supported by ZooLex.

We invite you to visit the website, get registered for free and share
your expertise:


              ~°v°~

We keep working on ZooLex ...

The ZooLex Zoo Design Organization is a non-profit organization
registered in Austria (ZVR-Zahl 933849053). ZooLex runs a professional
zoo design website and distributes this newsletter. More information and



Online portal for monitoring of zoos launched
Environment and Forest Minister Prakash Javadekar Friday launched an online portal for grant of recognition to zoos and their monitoring besides an E-archival and retrieval management system for the Central Zoo Authority.

A book "Zoos in India 2014" was also released at the event.

The online portal for grant of recognition and monitoring of zoos envisages maintaining and providing real time information about the recognition and evaluation process to the stakeholders, a statement from the environment and forest ministry said.

"The portal intends to reduce the bottlenecks of manual recognition system and fully automates the recognition process. This would increase transparency, efficiency, accountability and also reduce the use of paper," it added.

The e-archival and retrieval management system, on the other hand, is systematic approach to the management of files.

"It is is essential for organisations to protect and preserve files. e-document archival and retrieval management information





Announcing the M. Phil Kahl Postdoctoral Fellowship
The International Elephant Foundation (IEF) supports conservation, awareness and scientific programs that enhance the survival of elephants and protect their habitats worldwide.

Background: Elephant range countries need more well-trained professionals with the knowledge and skills to address threats to wildlife, work in multi-disciplinary teams, and assist in country-wide wildlife policy recommendations. Fundamental science-based information about elephants is necessary to assure that effective conservation efforts can be put into place. The overall goal of this program is to contribute to the scientific knowledge of African and Asian elephant biology, such as inter- and intra-specific behaviors, and how the species interact with their environment. Therefore this program supports the advancement of credible scientific research that can support subsequent long-term elephant conservation initiatives.

Research Description: IEF desires to support up-and-coming scientists from range countries interested in conducting ecological, behavioral, physiological and/or genetic research on free-ranging elephants. No prior experience studying elephants is necessary, but the applicant must demonstrate how his/her skills/expertise can be applied to field research on elephants. Research proposals to conduct policy or management related projects (e.g. those directly mitigating human-elephant conflict or combating poaching) will not be considered. Additionally, r





Phuket dolphin park link to Taiji massacre confirmed: Sea Shepherd [video]
A direct connection between five wild caught dolphins bound for Phuket’s dolphinarium and the annual slaughter of thousands of dolphins at the Taiji cove in Japan has been confirmed, the Asia Director of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society told the Phuket Gazette by email today.

Initial reports said that a total of six dolphins would be transported to Phuket via the Ukraine. However, the CITES* permit issued by the Ukraine Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources identifies eight dolphins and two South American Fur Seals to be exported to Thailand.

Three of the dolphins, two Pacific Bottlenose dolphins and one Black Sea Bottlenose Dolphin, were born in captivity in 2012 and are being directly exported from Ukraine, said Shepherd Conservation Society Asia Director Gary Stokes.

In addition, five more Pacific Bottlenose dolphins are being re-exported from Ukraine; and all five were originally caught in the wild in Japan, he explained.

“The only place in Japan that catches wild dolphins is Taiji. We had 20 Bottlenose [dolphins] shipped from Taiji to Nemo [representatives] in Ukraine a few years back. Nemo has not imported any other dolphins from Japan except these,” Mr Stokes told the Gazette.






Plan to bring jungle beast back to the Kingdom
Wild tigers have not been seen in Cambodia for years, but – despite habitat degradation and financial hurdles – there are hopes the species could be reintroduced

Not seen in seven years, the Kingdom’s most famous predator could be set to return to the wilds.

Dry forests in the Eastern Plains and tropical rainforests in the Cardamom Mountains were once home to a multitude of species – from the wild kouprey to the Indochinese tiger.

But after decades of deforestation, much of the forest has now been stripped bare and experts believe the tiger to be “functionally extinct”.

“In recent years, tiger populations in Cambodia have declined so drastically that resident breeding wild tigers are no longer recorded,” a representative of the Wo





We’re going to the zoo, zoo, zoo – just stay sober and keep your clothes on
Ever had one too many at the zoo and thrown your beer at a tiger, or stripped off and attempted to jump into the penguin pool? I’d hope not, but these are just two examples of inappropriate behaviour by visitors at London Zoo’s controversial party nights.

We all know how alcohol causes people do silly things and temporarily lose control. In a zoo we are there to observe, learn and enjoy – not to interact with the animals and certainly not to bother them. At their best, zoos are a wonderful form of theatre; at their worst, a grotesque pantomime, featuring unwilling animal actors.

Theatres and zoos survive in the days of cinema and wildlife documentaries because they provide a more personal experience. In a world where people share their life through social media a visit to the zoo provides them with something that their friends can experience, without being the cloned experience of watching a wildlife documentary.

Unfortunately, we have all heard a cell phone ringing in a theatre, thereby breaking the suspension of reality. But should zoo visitors be passive observers? If you follow the school of immersive zoo design, where the visitor is transported through enclosure design to the tropical rainforest of Africa, then a cell phone going off is going to ruin that experience. In my experience there is never a signal in such remote places.

Talking during a performance has always been a big no-no in theatres. But in zoos, talking at normal volume is not a problem; however, I personally find it extremely uncomfortable when people start to shout at zoo enclosures. And the animals, how do they feel? Before answering this question we should look at why people shout at animals in zoos.

Many zoo animals are nocturnal and so we are visiting them at their least active time of day. And a number of popular species such as lions are





A Dozen Puffins Will Get You 800 Mackerel: Inside The Weird Economy Of Zoos
Under the endangered species act, buying or selling an endangered animal requires a permit. The permits are hard to get — even for zoos and aquariums.

But there's a loophole.

"If I donate or loan an endangered species to you, I need no permit," says Kris Vehrs of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

So a barter system has sprung up among zoos and aquariums to trade animals without using money. They even do it with species that aren't endangered. But barter can be complicated.

For example: The New England Aquarium in Boston was recently in the market for some lookdown fish, and they knew of an aquarium in North Carolina that was willing to trade some.

The folks in North Carolina wanted jellyfish and snipe fish. The New England aquarium had plenty of jellyfish — but no snipe fish.

Steve Bailey, the curator of fish at the New England Aquarium, wound up making a deal to get snipe fish from an aquarium in Japan, in exchange for lumpfish. Then he sent the snipe fish and some jellyfish to North Carolina. In exchange, he finally got his lookdown fish.

Another time, Bailey says, he traded





Marine park attractions: can they survive?
As SeaWorld is hit with a lawsuit by shareholders – the latest setback for the ailing company – we ask what the future holds for marine park attractions
In August, the leading brand in marine mammal attractions, SeaWorld, made a major announcement. After a year spent defending itself against a barrage of criticism for its treatment of captive whales and dolphins, the company said it would open a state-of-the-art killer whale environment – the world’s largest.

It is a bold move. But it is questionable whether its Blue World Project, which is slated to open in 2018 and gives little indication that SeaWorld will cease its captive whale programme, will be enough to save it.

In July 2013, the documentary Blackfish brought the circumstances of orca trainer Dawn Brancheau’s death - which took place during a show at SeaWorld Florida in 2010 - to an audience of millions, and last month the company’s shares fell by 33%. The bad news continued this week as shareholders filed a lawsuit against SeaWorld, accusing it of misleading investors about the impact the film has had on attendance of its parks. After 50 years as one of America’s most loved family brands, the tide has turned against SeaWorld. The future for attrac





Seaview lions bred for hunting parks – video
LIONS and tigers from Port Elizabeth’s Seaview Predator Park are being sold to game farms known for hunting and the exporting of animal bones.

While the popular park punts itself as a wildlife sanctuary and allows tourists to pet the lions for a price, Eastern Cape Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism (Dedeat) MEC Sakhumzi Somyo has confirmed that:

The park has sent 22 lions to Cradock hunting reserve Tam Safaris since 2008, three of them this year; and
 Two tigers have been sent from the park to South Africa’s leading bone exporter, Letsatsi la Africa, in the Free State since 2008, and nine lions were sent last year.
Somyo was responding last week to a series of questions raised by the DA’s chief whip in Bhisho, Bobby Stevenson, regarding the transport of lions and tigers in and around the country.

This comes after the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality refused to give the Seaview Predator Park a rates rebate earlier this year, saying it





Rescued frogs released in to the wild
One of the world’s rarest frogs, bred as part of an international project to save the species from extinction, has been successfully returned to its Caribbean home ahead of the global day to highlight the plight of their species.
Fifty one Critically Endangered mountain chicken frogs, native only to the islands of Montserrat and Dominica, were released back onto Montserrat this summer following a hugely successful breeding programme at ZSL London Zoo.
The Mountain Chicken Recovery Programme is a partnership between Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Zoological Society of London, North of England Zoological Society Chester Zoo, Nordens Ark and the Governments of Montserrat and Dominica.
Decimated by the spread of the Chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, and facing the very real threat of extinction, conservationists feared that the mountain chicken frog had been all but wiped out from the eastern-Caribbean island and are hailing the reintroduction as a huge step forwards for the amphibians.
One of the planet’s largest frog species, the release of mountain chicken frogs on to Montserrat aims to not only boost the number of healthy individuals in the wild but will help conservationists from the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and Zoological Society of London (ZSL) learn more about their wild behaviour and the disease dynamics for this species.
Fitted with tracking devices, the newly-released frogs are being monitored to gather further information that can be used to aid future conservation efforts.
In 2009 it was reported by conservationists from ZSL and Durrell that the wild population of mountain chicken frogs in Montserrat had severely declined due to disease, and urgent action was taken to safeguard t





Zoo clueless as macaque dies, carcass rots for 3 weeks
Zoo officials have found a badly decomposed carcass of a stump-tailed macaque in its enclosure recently after its keepers gave contradictory reports of whether the monkey was seen or not. The carcass may be about 20 days old as the bones were showing.

National Zoological Park authorities have suspended two zookeepers who are in charge of the enclosure for neglecting the animal and not giving correct report on the status of animals. They won't be allowed to work in enclosures anymore and will be given other work not related to the upkeep of animals.

Officials said the zookeepers reported that the macaque was not seen on August 19 morning; but later claimed they had seen him around 3.30pm. On August 20 and 21, they gave out confusing reports to the authorities who suspected something might have gone wrong. On August 22, the authorities sent other staff members and found the decomposed carcass.

"The two zookeepers have been negligent in their duties. They did not give us the correct report. The doctor who conducted the post mortem said the animal may have died weeks ago," said Riaz Khan, curator (education), Delhi zoo. The job o





Al Ain Zoo Hosts the first Arabian Population Management Plan Workshop for the Arabian Sand Cat
Al Ain Zoo has recently initiated and hosted the Arabian Population Management Plan Workshop (APMP), a two-day event focused on continuing the drive to conserve the Arabian sand cat.

The workshop, which took place from the 10th - 11th September, was attended by representatives from the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, France and the UK in addition to Dr. David Mallon from the International Union for Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission (IUCN).

Commenting on the initiative, H.E. Ghanim Mubarak Al Hajeri, said:

“We are proud to collaborate with The Arabian Zoo and Aquarium Association to host the first Arabian Population Management Plan Workshop for the Arabian Sand cat, and we are confident that this will form the basis to perform APMP’s for other species in the future.”

“We strongly believe that our cooperation with our regional and international partners will showcase great res





Elephant apparently crushes caretaker to death in Maine
A veterinarian with a passion for elephants died Tuesday, apparently crushed to death in "a tragic accident" by one of the giant mammals he spent his life caring for, authorities said.
Dr. Jim Laurita was the full-time caregiver for two elephants on his property in Hope, Maine. His rehabilitation facility and elephant "educational destination" was dubbed "Hope Elephants."
Knox County Sheriff's deputies were called to the facility Tuesday morning after "Dr. Laurita had fallen in the corral and struck his head on the cement floor" as he tended to the elephants, according to Sheriff Donna Dennison.
The 56-year-old was dead before





Dead LION found in freezer during inspection at restaurant near to zoo
The body of a dead lion was found in a restaurant's freezer during an inspection by environmental health officers.

The animal's corpse was discovered stuffed next to food which was due to be served to unsuspecting customers.

The restaurant's owner told health inspectors the lion was donated to him by a nearby zoo to feed to his pack of dogs.

The shocking discovery has been revealed by Ian Brightmore, health protection manager at Chichester District Council in west Sussex.

But he is remaining tight-lipped about when or where he found the frozen animal.

He said: "When I was working in another area I came across a dead lion in a freezer.

"The food establishment was near a zoo and the owner kept pack hounds so it was food for them.

"Because the lion was kept in a place where food for human consumption was stored, of course we ha





‘Depressed’ tigers: Expert says Bengal big cats are mentally ill at Dubai Zoo
Endangered Bengal tigers at Dubai Zoo have become mentally ill due to the “distressing environment” they are cooped up in, a tiger expert believes.

Chris Slappendel, architect of the awareness project Tigertrail.org, believes that the big cats at the zoo are suffering from “zoochosis”.

When 7DAYS visited the zoo on two separate occasions, tigers were seen pacing about in what the Dutchman, 45, described as cramped cages.

In one enclosure at the zoo, two tigers were coo





The story of British zoos
The British public have been visiting zoos since Elizabethan times.

Driven by changing public attitudes, zoos have evolved from places simply of spectacle and scientific research to focus more on conservation and animal welfare.





Zoos Victoria releases five endangered species after successful breeding year
Five endangered species have been released back into the wild after what Zoos Victoria described as one of its most successful breeding seasons.

The organisation said its breeding program had increased the population of some of the Victoria's most endangered species by more than 10 per cent.

Assistant curator at Healesville Sanctuary Dr Melanie Lancaster said many of the animals bred in captivity had been released.

"For Zoo's Victoria that's a really big deal, and it includes Tasmanian devils for the first time," Dr Lancaster said

"We've done really well with our orange-bellied parrot and our helmeted honeyeater program, as well as our corroboree frog programs."

The breeding program also resulted in an increase in the number of mountain pygmy-possums.

Dr Lancaster said the year had been particularly fruitful because Zoos Victoria was successful both with the breeding and releasi





Bindi Irvin Might Be In A Relationship With Mum’s Personal Assistant, Luke Reavley
Bindi Irvin, wildlife warrior and daughter of popular crocodile hunter, Steve Irvin, posted a picture of herself on Instagram on Sunday, along with a caption that hinted that she was in love. This has added to the speculation that the 16-year-old youngster might be in a relationship.





*******************************************************************************

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

**********************************************

Join Zoo News Digest Facebook Page

updated daily



*******************************************************************************


Follow me on

(Click on Follow at the top of the Hubpage)

Read

Peter Dickinson
Dubai: ++ 971 (0)50 4787 122


Skype: peter.dickinson48




Mailing address:
10 Cheshire View
Appleyards Lane
Handbridge
Chester
CH4 7DD
United Kingdom




"These are the best days of my life"

No comments:

Post a Comment