Zoo News Digest 11th September 2015 (ZooNews 907)
Dear Colleagues,
I have just returned from the 3rd Annual Conference of the Arabian Zoo & Aquarium Conference held in Abu Dhabi.
It was extremely interesting and I would like to believe that we made some headway for the future. The hospitality could not have been bettered both in terms of accommodation and food. In fact I reckon I put on three kilos in weight over the three days. It was good too to meet up with people I have not seen in a while. I don't think I have seen Caroline Lees for fifteen years or more. Abu Dhabi itself has changed a lot...incredibly so. I may live just an hour and a half away but it was ten years since I last came that way. Conference aside, Dennis Miranda and I did manage a bar crawl and discovered a place that I will definitely visit the next time I am in this neck of the woods, maybe I won't leave it so long.
My only regret was that attendance meant that I missed going to the International Congress of ZooKeepers in Leipzig. I had always intended going but you can't be in two places at once. Next month I should be attending the WAZA conference in Al Ain. An hour and a half in another direction. Looking forward to it.
I have just returned from the 3rd Annual Conference of the Arabian Zoo & Aquarium Conference held in Abu Dhabi.
It was extremely interesting and I would like to believe that we made some headway for the future. The hospitality could not have been bettered both in terms of accommodation and food. In fact I reckon I put on three kilos in weight over the three days. It was good too to meet up with people I have not seen in a while. I don't think I have seen Caroline Lees for fifteen years or more. Abu Dhabi itself has changed a lot...incredibly so. I may live just an hour and a half away but it was ten years since I last came that way. Conference aside, Dennis Miranda and I did manage a bar crawl and discovered a place that I will definitely visit the next time I am in this neck of the woods, maybe I won't leave it so long.
My only regret was that attendance meant that I missed going to the International Congress of ZooKeepers in Leipzig. I had always intended going but you can't be in two places at once. Next month I should be attending the WAZA conference in Al Ain. An hour and a half in another direction. Looking forward to it.
I sometimes wonder where we have been going wrong. Back in the early 70's I bred hundreds of axolotls and now they are critically endangered. Practically every pet shop stocked them at the time. Good to see Edinburgh giving them space. Lets hope more zoos will concentrate on these interesting creatures.
There is always something of interest in Animal Keepers' Forum and the September edition is no exception. My attention was drawn to the article 'Not every Trainer is a Keeper, but every Keeper is a Trainer' because this a phrase that I frequently use myself though I usually add "whether they realise it or not" to the end. I then usually run off on a tangent with nothing good to say about that small but 'dedicated' group of 'Trainers' who would not know how to keep if they tried. They know who they are.
There is always something of interest in Animal Keepers' Forum and the September edition is no exception. My attention was drawn to the article 'Not every Trainer is a Keeper, but every Keeper is a Trainer' because this a phrase that I frequently use myself though I usually add "whether they realise it or not" to the end. I then usually run off on a tangent with nothing good to say about that small but 'dedicated' group of 'Trainers' who would not know how to keep if they tried. They know who they are.
Sarah Love of Brookfield Zoo made a thoughtful reply to the subject of Euthanasia in Zoos in Animal Keepers' Forum (August edition) which I read with interest...I suggest you do too. My thoughts have not changed however and you can read those here:
The Good Zoo and Euthanasia
Zoos and Euthanasia
I got to thinking though. We are all different. I am a atheist and a carnivore so surely my views will be different to someone who is religious and a vegan? Does one lifestyle make us more or less right than another? I think not.
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I remain committed to the work of GOOD zoos, not DYSFUNCTIONAL zoos.
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Interesting Links
Pro-hunting group call for BBC’s Chris Packham to be
sacked for his ‘slanted’ animal rights views
TV nature show star
Chris Packham should be fired by the BBC for his ‘slanted’ views on
conservation, a countryside pressure group has demanded.
Tim Bonner, chief
executive of the Countryside Alliance, accused top executives at the Beeb of
letting Springwatch presenter Packham use the corporation to push his own
views.
‘We call on the BBC
to take action as Chris Packham uses it as a platform from which to promote an
animal rights agenda,’ said Mr Bonner, whose group campaigns on behalf of the
hunting, shooting and fishing fraternity.
Aquarium to Test World's First Automated Fish Health
Monitor
England's Blue
Planet Aquarium is going to allow its tanks to be testing sites for what could
turn out be the world's first automated fish health monitoring system.
The system,
developed by Lynne Sneddon, an expert on fish pain and the University of
Liverpool's director of bioveterinary science, places in each tank two cameras
linked to software that scans fish movements in three dimensions.
Behavior data for
healthy fish -- already stored in the system -- is compared with the comings
and goings of the live aquarium fish. If the program spots something about a
fish's behavior that doesn't match up with good health, aquarium staff a
Woman loses arm in zoo tiger attack in central Vietnam
A 21-year-old woman
is recovering after a tiger in a zoo in Nghe An Province bit off her left arm
two weeks ago.
Le Thi Yen of Thua
Thien Hue Province is still terrified when talking about the incident on August
23 at the Muong Thanh Eco-tourism Area.
“I was visiting the
place with my husband. We did not have a tour guide and I wandered into the
prohibited area behind the white tigers’ cage.”
Together with some
visitors she climbed a short wall and clung to the cage to watch the resting
tigers when an animal suddenly woke up, leaped and grabbed her arm.
Inspectors blame tourist for being attacked by tiger
in central Vietnam zoo
Inspectors have
concluded that a 21-year-old woman was to blame for being attacked by a tiger
at a zoo in central Vietnam last month.
Tran Thi Yen should
not have climbed up to take pictures of the tiger, which was resting inside its
cage at Muong Thanh Company’s Trai Bo Eco-tourism Area, said Le The Hieu, a
local official in Nghe An Province said.
Inspectors said the
cage has high concrete walls, with safety iron bars on top.
They launched an
investigation after local media published many reports on the incident.
Yen visited Trai Bo
with her family on August 23.
She said she
accidentally went to the area, without being aware that it is a restricted
zone, because there was no tour guide.
She followed others
to climb up the wall to watch the white tigers sleeping.
When she was about
to jump off, a tiger suddenly leaped and grabbed her left arm.
Others used sticks
to chase the tiger aw
Charity warns world is running out of snake anti-venom
The world is running
out of the one most effective treatments for snakebites, according to medical
experts, putting thousands of lives at risk.
The warning was
issued by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which said 100,000 people died from
snake venom every year.
Another 8000 needed
amputations, said the charity as it raised the alarm over what it described as
“one of the world’s
Meanwhile In The Future: Endangered Animals Live In
Armoured Zoos
Many scientists
believe that the Earth is approaching another mass extinction event. Between
deforestation, pollution, hunting and general human encroachment, all sorts of
species are at risk of going extinct. In this week’s future, humans give up on
saving species where they live and instead put them in armoured zoos.
Scots and Iranians
in effort to uncover rare cats' secrets
David Barclay, of
the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), has been in contact with a
researcher in Iran since 2013.
In a new
development, an abandoned Pallas's cat kitten could be radio-collared for the
first time in Iran.
Efforts to capture
images of the animals in Iran using camera traps have been unsuccessful so far.
Mr Barclay said
putting a radio collar on a young cat and releasing it back into the wild could
help uncover new information on the cats.
He said:
"Should this happen we will be
In the
aftermath of several – in some cases fatal – wildlife attacks, social and
mainstream media have been alive with the debate about whether wild animals,
especially large predators, should be kept in captivity.
Personally,
I try to steer well clear of the emotionally charged, and generally not
evidence-based, social media feeds and instead focus on the bare facts of the
issue. So, what is at play when we start to talk about the merits and problems
of keeping wild animals, particularly ones with large teeth and sharp claws, in
captive or even semi-captive situations?
On the
one hand, animal rights activists argue that no wild animal should be kept in
captivity because it is cruel and unethical.
On the
other, captive facilities offer a slightly more convoluted argument. Some
operations argue that the experience of seeing and sometimes touching an animal
in captivity provides people with an important link to nature th
P135-million zoo, theme park to rise in Pampanga
If all
goes according to plan, a zoo and theme park – to be built at a cost of P135
million ($2.89 million) – will rise inside the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga
by next year.
Th
development comes as firms map out the expansion of their operations in the
freeport, and government implements infrastructure projects to boost Clark as
the Silicon Valley of the Philippines.
State-run
Clark Development Corporation (CDC) said on Tuesday, September 1, that it
recently
http://www.rappler.com/business/industries/171-aviation-tourism/104411-zoo-theme-park-clark-pampanga
Animal-rights activists closely monitoring
P135-million Clark zoo
Animal-rights
activists are keeping a close watch on the P135-million zoo that will soon be
established in this former US Air Force base.
Last
week the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) has signed a lease agreement with Global
Zoo and Theme Park Alliance Inc. (GZTPAI) President Romeo Siccion that would
pave the way for the establishment of a zoo in this free port.
The
CDC said the total leased land is 20 hectares and the project will employ about
140 workers in the next five years.
But
animal-rights activists said that, what is labelled as a tourism-related
project could very well be another venue to exploit animals.
According
to the People for the Ethical T
Orangutan shot dead while trying to flee German zoo
Animal
rights activists have reacted angrily to the killing of an orangutan who tried
to escape from a zoo in western Germany.
The
endangered ape managed to slip out of his enclosure at Duisburg Zoo on Monday
and tried to flee over the outer perimeter fence.
Keepers
shot the male orangutan dead before he could escape, saying a sedative would
have taken too long to take effect.
The
German Animal Protection Association
RZSS Edinburgh Zoo welcomes
critically endangered axolotls
critically endangered axolotls
Credit Katie Paton/RZSS
RZSS Edinburgh Zoo has recently become home to two
rather unusual looking creatures – the critically endangered axolotl. Also
known as a Mexican salamander or a Mexican walking fish, this happy-looking
amphibian, with feathery external gills on its head, is facing the threat of
extinction with recent data suggesting it might even be extinct in the wild.
The pair of axolotl arrived at the Zoo in July where
they first spent some time off-show to allow them to settle in. They can now be seen in the aquariums by the
Brilliant Birds Enclosure. The species was listed as critically endangered on
the IUCN RED List in 2010, but a four month search in 2013 failed to find any
surviving individuals in the wild.
Gareth Bennett, Senior Presenter at RZSS Edinburgh Zoo,
says: “Axolotl populations are diminishing at an alarming rate due to a number
of factors, including increased urbanisation of Mexico which in turn leads to
an increase in water pollution and the draining of their natural habitat. These
fascinating creatures have also been used extensively in scientific research
because of their ability to regenerate limbs. They are probably one of the most
scientifically studied salamanders in the world.”
“It is wonderful to be able to have axolotls at the Zoo.
We have successfully bred this exceptional species previously and hope to do so
again in the future as it is incredibly important to maintain healthy captive
populations to ensure they do not become completely extinct. I am particularly
fond of them because, as well as being an incredibly intelligent species, they
always look as if they are smiling!”
Found only in the lake of Xochimilco, near Mexico City,
the axolotl is unusual amongst amphibians because they reach adulthood without
metamorphosing. Instead of metamorphosing like other amphibians and taking to
land, this rare species remains gilled and prefers to live its whole life in
water; this is known as neoteny. One of the axolotl’s most defining
characteristics is the branch-like gills which protrude from the neck on either
side of the head. The gills are covered in feathery filaments which increase
the surface area for gas exchange, this in spite of the fact that they also develop
lungs, which are very rudimentary.
The name “axolotl” is thought to have originated from the
Aztec word “atl”, meaning water, and “xolotl”, meaning monster. And
whilst they might not look very appetising, axolotls formed a staple part of
the Aztec’s diet.
RIP Masyanya bear: Animals die in flooded zoo in
Russia's Far East, locals say (PHOTOS, VIDEO)
Several
animals, including a lion and a bear, have drowned in their cages in the
Russian city of Ussuriysk after it was flooded by heavy rains, locals say. With
more rainfall expected in the region, animal activists have raised the alarm to
save animals still left in flooded cages.
A tough call: Zoo animals fate hangs in balance;
officials fear backlash
Fairy,
the 16-year-old lioness at the Lahore Zoo, drags her hind legs while attempting
to walk. “She was paralyzed in 2009. She made a partial recovery in 2009 after
extensive treatment but her hind legs remain imbalanced,” Lahore Zoo Director
Shafqat Ali told The Express Tribune on Friday.
“She
is in a lot of pain,” he said adding that chances of her recovering from the
condition were remote. Ali said euthanasia was the only option for animals in
such a state. “It is neither good for the animal nor the herd to keep them
alive,” he said.
Ali
said five animals at the zoo including the lioness, a houbara bustard, some
peafowl and select pheasants had
Johor prince carries out spot check on zoo
The
Johor Zoo that has invited harsh criticism from the public and animal NGOs for
its neglect of the animals under its care had a visit from Tunku Temenggong
Johor Tunku Idris Iskandar yesterday when he headed there to conduct a spot
check on the place.
Taking
to Instagram, Tunku Idris, the third child of the Sultan of Johor, said, “Spot
check. Lots of improvement needed.”
The
prince was there after the zoo came under intense criticism for its obvious
neglect of an 18-year old lion, whose claws had become so overgrown it had dug
into the frail animal’s paw pads causing him injuries so bad, he was unable to
walk without limping or dragging his feet.
However,
the prince in response to the complaints said it was time to fix the situation
by actually doing something concrete about it.
In a
shot posted on Instagram of the prince and a
Polar bear’s death at Berlin zoo finally solved
Knut,
a polar bear that became a global celebrity then mysteriously drowned at age 4
in his Berlin Zoo pen, died of a rare autoimmune disease, a scientist revealed
Thursday.
The
finding solves a mystery that has lingered since Knut’s sudden death in 2011.
Knut, who had been rejected by his mother and hand-reared by a zookeeper, was
the global face of 2007 with his fluffy fur and toddler antics.
Not to forget Thomas Doerflein
Knut keeper Thomas Doerflein is found dead after being
banned from his bear cub 'son' (old news)
The
zoo keeper who raised Knut the polar bear cub after he was rejected by his
mother has been found dead.
There
were rumours Thomas Doerflein committed suicide because bosses banned him from
playing with his cuddly "son" when the animal got too big.
Police
said the 44-year-old, who had been seriously ill, was discovered dead at his
apartment.
Officers
were last night waiting for the results of a postmortem.
Dad-of-three
Doerflein made headlines around the world when he started hand-rearing Knut
after the cub's mother snubbed him at birth in December 2006.
The
move sparked controversy with animal rights groups demanding the bear be
destroyed rather than raised by a human.
Doerflein
lived, ate and slept with K
Last Sumatran rhino at Cincinnati Zoo going to
Indonesia
As a
rare rhino is readied for a new home in the next few weeks, the Cincinnati Zoo
is acknowledging a bittersweet farewell.
Tigress nurses her own along with adopted Amur tiger
cubs — RT In motion
A tiger’s day out in Hyderabad zoo
The
weekend crowds in the Nehru zoological Park here had a harrowing experience
after a tiger jumped off its enclosure to freedom, in the zoo premises though,
on Saturday.
According
to zoo officials, the tiger gained temporary freedom while being shifted to
another enclosure. Fortunately, it walked into a prohibited zone near the snake
park even as the panic-stricken visitors ran helter-skelter.
The
police and zoo officials got the zoo evacuated on a war-footing and
tranquilised the big cat which was on the prowl.
Even
though none was injured, the fact that the tig
USDA complaint alleges Dade City zoo offering 'Swim
with Tigers' mistreated animals
A zoo
in Pasco County has mishandled animals, carelessly forcing tiger cubs to swim
in a pool and pose for cameras, according to an administrative complaint filed
by inspectors with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Officials
said in a filing against Dade City's Wild Things that the company "has not
shown good faith," failing to get in line even after an official warning
in 2012 detailed years of missteps. It alleges that zoo employees have painted
young tigers' fur and forced them to endure stressful and harmful situations.
The
zoo's director, reached Thursday, denied the claims.
"On
principle I won't settle this," said Wild Things director Kathy Stearns.
"I'm going to take it all the way because I know for a fact that I have
not done these things."
The
legal filing was publicized by the activist group People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals, which says its members have complained about Wild Things
to the USDA and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
"For
years, Dade City's Wild Things has forced young tigers to swim while the cubs
have struggled, cried and fought to escape from the water and unwanted
Effort afoot to freeze animal reproductive cells at
Yokohama zoo
From
humboldt penguins to black jaguars, sperm and eggs from dozens of zoo animals
are being frozen and stored at the Zoorasia Yokohama Zoological Gardens until
they can be used for artificial insemination.
Placed
in thin tubes, the reproductive cells taken from over 50 different species
raised in three zoos — Kanazawa Zoo, Nogeyama Zoo and this one — in Yokohama
are stored in tanks and frozen with minus-196 degrees Celsius liquid nitrogen.
“Theoretically
speaking, the frozen sperm and eggs can be preserved semipermanently,” said
Noriyoshi Ichikawa, director of the Yokohama-run Preservation and Research
Center at the zoo that stores the cells.
“If we
preserve these gametes now, they could be used in the future” if the species
face extinction, he added.
Dubbed
Frozen Zoo, the initiative is part of conservation efforts that Japanese zoos
have pursued in recent years, hoping to help breed animals that may disappear
from their facilities in the future, and possibly to save endangered species in
the wild.
Apart
from Yokohama zoo, Tama Zoological Park in Tokyo and Kobe University, which
initially launched the research in the early 1990s, have frozen zoos.
And a
new one is also slated to be created in Sendai Yagiyama Zoological Park in
Miyagi Prefecture by the end of th
*****
Save Vietnam’s Wildlife - August Newsletter
http://us11.campaign-archive1.com/?u=344fa4b75e498b8c29bd1b4cc&id=d4f56a0be8&e=ef15f3a1a1*****
RHINO RESOURCE CENTER – NEWSLETTER 40 – SEPTEMBER 2015
http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/index.php?s=13cf38f3773b270201a8d63279358522&act=refs&CODE=ref_detail&id=1441060380
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www.zoolex.org in August 2015
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Hello ZooLex Friend,
We have worked for your enjoyment!
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NEW EXHIBIT PRESENTATION
The Mink-Ferret Rotation Exhibit at Fasanerie Wiesbaden in Germany is a
display for these two related species. The animal park cooperates with
EuroNerz, an organization dedicated to the breeding and releasing of
European minks. Fasanerie Wiesbaden receives a pregnant female from
EuroNerz in spring and returns it and its off-spring in automn. During
the summer, visitors enjoy the active young minks, while the ferrets
that otherwise use this exhibit are kept off-exhibit. Another ferret
family is permanently on display in a neighbouring exhibit.
http://www.zoolex.org/zoolexcgi/view.py?id=1586
~°v°~
ZOOLEX EDITORS
We are pleased to introduce our new editors:
Corinne Bailey, biologist, conservationist and linguist from Wales who
supported ZooLex as an intern in 2014 and
Stephen Butler, Curator of Horticulture at Dublin Zoo who will
particularly check the horticulture information in ZooLex exhibit
presentations.
http://www.zoolex.org/editors.html
ZooLex editors comment on all newsletters, Gallery presentations and
papers prior to publication and dissemination and thereby ensure the
quality of ZooLex publications.
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ZOOLEX AT ICZ, AZA, EAZA and WAZA
When you participate at one of the above conferences, you will find a
ZooLex poster celebrating 15 Years ZooLex. ZooLex editor and
correspondent Barbara Brem will present the poster at AZA. ZooLex
founder and manager Monika Fiby will attend ICZ, EAZA and WAZA.
We are looking forward to meeting you there!
~°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
contact: http://www.zoolex.org/about.html
~°v°~ ~°v°~ ~°v°~ ~°v°~ ~°v°~
Hello ZooLex Friend,
We have worked for your enjoyment!
~°v°~
NEW EXHIBIT PRESENTATION
The Mink-Ferret Rotation Exhibit at Fasanerie Wiesbaden in Germany is a
display for these two related species. The animal park cooperates with
EuroNerz, an organization dedicated to the breeding and releasing of
European minks. Fasanerie Wiesbaden receives a pregnant female from
EuroNerz in spring and returns it and its off-spring in automn. During
the summer, visitors enjoy the active young minks, while the ferrets
that otherwise use this exhibit are kept off-exhibit. Another ferret
family is permanently on display in a neighbouring exhibit.
http://www.zoolex.org/zoolexcgi/view.py?id=1586
~°v°~
ZOOLEX EDITORS
We are pleased to introduce our new editors:
Corinne Bailey, biologist, conservationist and linguist from Wales who
supported ZooLex as an intern in 2014 and
Stephen Butler, Curator of Horticulture at Dublin Zoo who will
particularly check the horticulture information in ZooLex exhibit
presentations.
http://www.zoolex.org/editors.html
ZooLex editors comment on all newsletters, Gallery presentations and
papers prior to publication and dissemination and thereby ensure the
quality of ZooLex publications.
~°v°~
ZOOLEX AT ICZ, AZA, EAZA and WAZA
When you participate at one of the above conferences, you will find a
ZooLex poster celebrating 15 Years ZooLex. ZooLex editor and
correspondent Barbara Brem will present the poster at AZA. ZooLex
founder and manager Monika Fiby will attend ICZ, EAZA and WAZA.
We are looking forward to meeting you there!
~°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
contact: http://www.zoolex.org/about.html
*****
ZOO'S PRINT Magazine - August 2015
http://www.zoosprint.org/
*****
The International Journal on Conservation & Taxonomy
http://www.threatenedtaxa.org/
*****
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Zoo & Aquarium Video Archive
Top ten bird species surviving thanks to zoos
The
African penguin, the Chinese Blue-crowned laughing thrush and the Ecuador
Amazon parrot are among species staving off extinction thanks to the help of
zoos, according to a new report co-ordinated by a conservation biologist at the
University of York.
Ant colony protests to save the Amazon rainforest
Half a
million ants take part in a ''protest'' at a German zoo calling for increased
protection of the Amazon rainforest.
To Decode Elephant Conversation, You Must Feel The
Jungle Rumble
The
natural world is abuzz with the sound of animals communicating — crickets,
birds, even grunting fish. But scientists learning to decode these sounds say
the secret signals of African elephants — their deepest rumblings — are among
the most intriguing calls any animal makes.
Zoo goes into lockdown after baboon ESCAPES enclosure
by breaking through electric fence
Visitors
to the park in Kent were left out on safari trucks in the reserve due to the
break out - while others were stuck in the gift shop and cafes
“Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty…”: Zoo Barrier Jumpers and
Social Darwinism
Meet
Josh Newell (on right), a 35 year old bartender that recently garnered
attention by jumping the barriers at the Columbus Zoo so that he could
videotape himself petting the cougars.
The hapless bartender then uploaded the video to YouTube to share with
the world (and ultimately the police) his shining “Cougar Love” moment in the
sun. Congratulations, Josh! This chain of inappropriate behaviors and
complete inability to predict the consequences of your actions has earned you
the crown of this week’s “Topic Queen” on Tales From The Wetsuit.
Joan Embery on Why Zoos are Good for Conservation
Keeping
wildlife in captivity is bad. Animals being free to roam the wild is good.
Right?
The
issues surrounding animal rights can seem very black and white to armchair
activists. But what happens when the habitats in which these animals live–
their food sources, their safe havens– are destroyed? What happens when humans
hunt and poach animals to the brink of extinction? How do we save these species
for future generations?
Logistics giant UPS bans shark fin shipments amid
pressure from conservationists
Global
logistics giant United Parcel Service is banning shipments of shark fin amid
worldwide pressure from conservationists.
The
firm announced the move on Twitter, saying it had implemented the ban
"following consultation with [green group] WWF".
In a
separate statement, it said it had enacted the ban "due to concerns about
the enforcement capabilities of the authorities and potential inaccuracy of
visual inspection" under the global Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
It
called the potential for misidentification an "unacceptable business
condition".
The
ban severely limits choice for shippers of shark fin products. At least 31
global airlines, including Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Lufthansa, have
imposed a blanket ban on the
Topeka Zoo director denies PETA's request to discuss
elephants' care
Animal-rights
group contends pachyderms not getting enough social interaction
Topeka
Zoo officials on Wednesday rebuffed claims by activists that the zoo’s two
elderly elephants are struggling psychologically because of a shortage of
social interaction.
On
Aug. 7, a lawyer with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wrote to
Topeka Zoo director Brendan Wiley requesting a meeting to discuss elephants
Tembo and Sunda. Tembo is an African elephant, and Sunda is an Asian elephant.
Rachel
Mathews, with PETA’s Captive Animals Law Enforcement unit, wrote about the
“complex physical, social, and psychological needs” of elephants.
“Without
complex social interaction, elephants are afflicted with loneliness, boredom,
and depression,” Mathews said in the letter.
The
zoo’s two elephants, M
Cub’s arrival creates excitement at Zoo Negara and
around the globe
It may
only be about the size of a palm, but it is fiercely protected by its mother,
watched like a hawk by zoo authorities and is creating excitement around the
world.
The
unnamed newborn baby giant panda of Xing Xing and Liang Liang has not even
opened its eyes but can be heard crying loudly, much to the delight of Zoo
Negara staff.
Malaysian
Zoological Society Giant Panda Conservation Centre and veterinary services
director Dr Mat Naim Ramli said that it was a very thrilling time for the zoo.
“We
can see the legs and some parts of the body but the mother, Liang Liang, is
very protective and is keeping her baby well hidden,” he said.
When
born, giant panda cubs are pink, blind and almost hairless. They typically
begin to open their eyes around 40 days after birth and start developing the
signature black and white pattern in a month.
Dr Mat
Naim said it was also too early to determine the gender of the baby, adding
that officials would be observing the family closely.
“We
can hear it crying. It’s a loud sound and that’s
A New Option for Crocodile Birth Control
When
they live in zoos, Mugger crocodiles happily mate and lay eggs. Maybe a little
too happily: when they produce two clutches of 25 to 30 eggs each year, a zoo
is quickly going be swamped by little croc babies. And rampant habitat loss
means that there are fewer places to return them to the wild. What zoos need is
reliable crocodile birth control.
One
good reason? Keeping males and females in separate enclosures–the current
method of population control–makes the crocs more aggressive than normal. If we
were talking about a mammal, giving the males a simple vasectomy might be an
option. But crocodilians keep their testes and their associated ducts deep
inside their abdome
Spying on Animals: Moments from Zoo Surveillance Feeds
An
orangutan appears to hit its own head with a swing. A panda huddles in the
corner of a sparse, carpeted room. A leopard stands in an artificial cave,
mouth ajar and eyes vacant, like a taxidermied museum exhibit.
These
unsettling scenes come from the live surveillance video feeds of zoos in North
America and Europe, frozen in time by photographer Arko Datto. Instead of using
a camera, Datto made screenshots from the videos available online, revealing
perspectives and moments of distress unseen during a typical zoo visit.
His
series of images, titled CAPTIVECAM, is the t
Rare
Sand Cat Startles Israeli Zoo With Unexpected Birth
It's
just as well for the sand cat species that personal taste isn't a prerequisite
for procreation, it seems. Rotem, the only surviving sand cat at the Ramat Gan
Safari Park, lost her mate a year ago and seemed rather repulsed by Kalahari,
his replacement, a sand cat imported from Sweden last September.
Maybe
he put a bag on his furry head, because three weeks ago, to the astonishment of
Rotem's keepers, she gave birth to three kittens, who have now started to
totter on their tiny legs beyond the nest.
"We
had been extremely worried," confessed Sigal Horowitz, spokeswoman of the
Safari, which is officially called the Zoological Center of Tel Aviv.
"Here we had gone
Drones Used for Wildlife Observation Cause Bears’
Hearts to Beat Significantly
The
researchers came to know that the presence of drones was related to increased
heart rates among bears by as much as 123 beats per minute.
Now,
another group of researchers finds that despite the calm demeanor bears may
display in the presence of airborne robots, drones make bear heart rates soar,
a major sign of stress.
Drones
are being used in South Africa with the goal of wildlife park rangers to look
out for elephant or rhino poachers, but a correspondent observing the animals’
behavior has forwarded the information to Mark Ditmer that there is a
psychological stress placed upon them due to the incessant buzzing of the
device.
In the
news release, researchers admit that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – better
known as drones – have become valuable tools for wildlife researchers, giving
them the means to observe animals that were once hard to reach because of long
distances and inhospitable terrain.
The
National Park Service has already dubbed drones unwelcome, banning their use
withi
Tentacles that think
ALMOST
all intelligent creatures, be they parrots, sharks or human beings, are
vertebrates. This is inconvenient for anyone trying to understand the nature of
intelligence because it means, by and large, that he can study only how it has
developed down a single evolutionary path. But there is an important exception.
Molluscs branched off to form their own lineage before any organism had a
spine—and one particular class of them, the cephalopods, has since become smart
enough to rival some vertebrates.
Modern
cephalopods are octopuses, squid, cuttlefish and an unusual shelled creature
called the nautilus. Octopuses, in particular, are rated as intelligent. Some
carry coconut shells across the seabed to make shelters. Others have worked out
that fishing boats offer easy pickings. There have even been cases of them
climbing out of aquarium tanks to raid a neighbouring tank that contained a
tasty morsel. Many researchers would like to know whether these behaviours have
come about in a differe
Zoo director: We will have to abandon Grand if we fail
to find an elephant by 2017
World
Elephant Day dedicated to the preservation and protection of the world's
elephants is marked today, on August 12. “Visit the zoo to congratulate Grand
Junior the elephant!” the zoo’ officials said in a statement posted on Yerevan
Zoo’s Facebook page.
What
measures have zoo managers taken to make the day of Yerevan Zoo’s only elephant
festive, what presents await Grand Junior?
Panorama.am
learned from Yerevan Zoo that no festive events are held on World Elephant Day,
but the zoo workers providing care for animals assured us that they do their
best to turn every day of Grand Junior into a holiday.
“The
elephant that has lived Yerevan for over a year does not need any gifts at the
moment,” the zoo officials said.
In the
words of Yerevan zoo workers, the joy and pleasure that both children and adult
visitors feel on seeing Grand Junior is the best present for the male elephant
that has turned 8. The most important problem is to find a mate for Grand,
Mosquarium Opens in Russia
People
in Moscow have been flocking to one of the Russian capital's newest
attractions: A massive aquarium.
"Mosquarium"
opened August 5th and is giving the residents of Moscow as well as tourists the
chance to explore life under the sea.
The
centre boasts as being unique, given its size and the variety of exhibits.
Marina
Zhuravleva is the head of the oceanograph
Exotic and exploited? ‘Dangerous’ exotic animals can
be pets in Wisconsin
When
Bekah Weitz’ phone rings, she never knows what is waiting for her on the other
end of the line.
During
one of her shifts working animal control for the Eau Claire County Humane
Association in 2005, a confused officer responding to a house fire in Dunn
County called for backup after being tipped off that a shed attached to the
burning house contained several pet cats -- big cats.
More
specifically, tigers. And no one knew they were there prior to the fire.
Weitz
advised the officer not to act until she and other animal control officers
arrived on the scene. If the tigers were to escape, Weitz said, they should be
considered extremely dangerous, and the officers should take action to defend
themselves and those in the neighborhood if necessary.
While
en route to the scene, Weitz received another phone call from the officer: The
tigers had been found, but all of them had died from smoke inhalation.
Recalling
the incident, Weitz -- now a humane investigator for Monroe County -- said th
Perceived dangers posed by selfie sticks prompt bans
at some tourist venues
As
selfie sticks become popular among young people and foreign visitors, more
tourist facilities in the Chubu region are banning them over the apparent
dangers they can pose.
While
some facilities prohibit use of selfie sticks for the sake of visitor safety,
others allow them, arguing that sharing such pictures on social networking
services helps promote the venues.
Critically endangered species successfully reproduced
using frozen sperm
Black-footed
ferrets, a critically endangered species native to North America, have renewed
hope for future survival thanks to successful efforts by a coalition of
conservationists, including scientists at Lincoln Park Zoo, to reproduce
genetically important offspring using frozen semen from a ferret who has been
dead for approximately 20 years. The sire, "Scarface," as he is
affectionately called by the team, was one of the last 18 black-footed ferrets
to exist in the world in the 1980s. Eight kits, including offspring of
Scarface, were born recently, significantly increasing the gene diversity of
this endangered population that a dedicated team is working to recover in the
wild.
Their
work published Aug. 13 in the journal Animal Conservation "Recovery of
Gene Diversity Using Long-Term Cryopreserved Spermatozoa and Artificial
Insemination in the Endangered Black-Footed Ferret."
Partners
working to save black-footed ferrets from extinction, and recover a healthy
population back to the wild include Lincoln Park Zoo, The Smithsonian
Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
Louisville Zoological Garden, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Phoenix Zoo and Toronto
Zoo.
"Our
study is the first to provide empirical evidence that artificial insemination
with long-stored spermatozoa is not only possible but also beneficial to the
genetic diversity of an endangered species," said David Wildt, lead autho
Shocking video shows young bear being savaged by group
of tigers in Chinese zoo
A
shocking video has emerged of a three-year-old bear being brutally killed by an
ambush of tigers.
The
young Formosan black bear is believed to have wandered into a tiger pen at
Shanghai Wild Animal Park.
Xiao
Heixiong, meaning 'little black bear, as he is known, stands on his hind legs
as the tigers stalk towards him to try to scare them off.
But
the little bear is no match for the tigers and they pounce.
Woman dies from tiger attack in China zoo
A
female tourist died after being attacked by a tiger in a wildlife park in north
China's Hebei Province on Wednesday, local authorities said.
The
woman broke park rules by going out of her own car when touring the wildlife
park in the city of Qinhuangdao and then got attacked by a tiger at 1:55 p.m.,
the city's publicity department said.
The
woman was rushed to hospital but died there after treatment failed, it said.
Sea creature sends Oklahoma City zookeeper to hospital
A zoo
keeper at the Oklahoma City Zoo was taken to a nearby hospital after an
accident with an animal.
Zoo
officials say an employee was clipping the barb of a cownose stingray Wednesday
morning when she was stung.
“When
you work with wild animals, things can happen, but we have professionals,” said
Tara Henson, a spokeswoman for the zoo. “But we’ll be reviewing process to see
if we need to do anything differently and better to ensure that she wouldn’t
have gotten injured.”
The
zoo keeper was taken to a nearby hospital but is expected to be okay.
“Any
one of us could have some sort of reaction to something like that,” said
Henson. “We err on the side of caution. She did not want to go to the hospital
and we said, ‘well you’re going to.'”
Clipping
an animal’s barbs is a routine procedure — similar to a human clipping his or
her fingernails.
Wild intentions
The
Zoological Society of London (ZSL), the parent brand for ZSL London Zoo and ZSL
Whipsnade Zoo, has undergone a rebrand that it hopes will position it better as
the global conservation charity that it is.
The
new tagline, ‘Let’s Work for Wildlife’, is part of the new logo and presents a
clear brand purpose that goes beyond the UK-based zoos.
ZSL’s
previous logo featured typography filled with easily recognisable animal print,
the new rendition stems from ZSL’s London Zoo brand, uniting the sub-brands
with the overarching brand. The previous tagline, ‘Living Conservation’, has
also been dropped for being too unclear in its proposition.
Rich
Storton, marketing director at ZSL, says, “The time was right for us to
consider how the ZSL brand reflected who we are and our role as a modern
conservation charity. ‘Living Conservation’ no longer felt right or active
enough to inspire the public. ‘Let’s Work For Wildlife’ is a strong proposition
that works harder to raise our profile with the public, whose contributions are
so vital to help us create a better future for wildlife.”
Previously,
the ZSL brand was somewhat overshadowed by the popular London Zoo brand. The
new identity should ensure that ZSL receives recognition for the work it does.
Through science and conservation projects ZSL seeks to achieve the worldwide
conservation of animals and their habitats. The new brand
Zoo wolf’s death a senseless mistake
Rebel,
the wolf from the Menominee Park Zoo, took one for the team. When I first heard
the story, my heart ached. I couldn’t sleep that night. Subsequent nights all I
could think about were the wolves left behind. One of the pack was missing.
It was
all a senseless mistake. Someone wasn’t thinking. Someone wasn’t paying
attention. Someone inadvertently left a restricted area gate open at the wolf
exhibit. This didn’t mean the public was free to enter, but some people did. To
further complicate the situation, a child was momentarily left unattended.
Of
course the child was fascinated and naturally stuck his fingers through the
fence. Naturally Rebel was curious and went to investigate. You can’t blame the
wolf for checking out the outstretched fingers.
There
was no serious injury, but the opportunity for the child to take rabies shots
was declined. Rebel didn’t have the opportunity to decline the death penalty,
which caused a great deal of pain for those who loved and cared for the wolf.
Too
bad someone with awareness or a sense of civic responsibility didn’t report the
unlocked gate to a staff member or even intervene in the dangerous
circumstances the child had created.
There
is shared responsibility for this unfortunate situation; the Parks Department,
patrons who entered a restricted area and a child left unattended. According to
the article by Nathaniel Shuda, published in The Northwestern July 29, the
Parks Department implemented safety measure
Stolen Marmosets
Three
pygmy marmosets - which measure less than 15 centimeters (six inches) - were
taken by intruders from a zoo in Dortmund, Germany, between Sunday and Monday,
zoo authorities said Wednesday.
"Small
monkeys are the most irreplaceable for us," Anke Widow, a spokeswoman for
the city of Dortmund, told the DPA news agency.
Two of
the missing South American primates were being used for breeding and the zoo
has since installed a 24-hour surveillance system, DPA reported.
In
recent months there has been a spate of primate abductions from European zoos.
A baby baboon was stolen Tuesday from a zoo in Skopje, Macedonia, this week by
a 26-year-old woman, who had intended it as a gift for her deaf 7-year-old son,
the "Dnev
Mother's love behind abduction of baby baboon
The
mystery of a baby baboon abducted from Skopje's zoo had a bittersweet
resolution: A mother says she stole it as a gift for her deaf son.
The
26-year-old woman told Dnevnik newspaper took that she lifted Luka, an
18-month-old crowd favorite, as a belated birthday present for her 7-year-old
son. The woman said frequent visits to the zoo in Macedonia's capital had left
her boy "in love with the monkey." She was not identified in line
with Macedonian regulations concerning suspects.
Police
said Luka was taken Tuesday by two people who cut nets at his enclosure. He was
rescued about four hours later. Two people have been charged w
Baby Lear's Macaw Hatched In Brazil (PHOTOS)
The
baby parrot is the first Lear's Macaw to hatch in captivity in Latin America.
Parents,
Francisco and Maria Clara - both Lear's Macaws - had laid some eggs in the past
but they were not successfully incubated and were just broken. The next time
the couple laid an egg, zoo keepers made sure that it would hatch. They placed
the egg on an incubator where temperature and humidity can be controlled.
Wallaby study hopes to determine Isle of Man
population
Researchers
in the Isle of Man are to study the island's wild wallaby population which is
thought to be more than 100, according to the Manx Wildlife Trust.
The
animals, which are native to Australia and Tasmania, have populated the
Curraghs since a pair escaped from a wildlife park in the 1960s.
The
project will use a series of hidden cameras and hopes to establish their
populations and asses the impact on the environment.
Manx
Wildlife Trust director Duncan Bridges said: "Their numbers are gradually
increasing b
Parrot
Feared Extinct For 100 Years Is Found
The
night parrot, believed extinct since the last confirmed sighting in 1912, is
found to be alive in arid desert in Queensland.
Belle Vue Zoo tigon goes on display at Manchester
Museum after 65 years in storage
Maude,
who was born in 1932 to a tiger father and lioness mother, has been in the
storeroom of the University of Manchester's museum for more than six decades
No drop in orders for Taiji dolphins despite
restriction
Orders
for dolphins caught in drive hunts in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, this fiscal
year are coming in at almost the same rate as before even though the Japanese
Association of Zoos and Aquariums has banned its members from buying animals
caught via such methods.
A
local fishermen’s union said Monday that the orders are mostly coming in from
facilities that are not members of JAZA and dealers who may be exporting the
dolphins.
Of the
roughly 150 orders placed this year, the only applicant belonging to JAZA was
the Taiji Whale Museum, according to sources close to the purchase.
Orders
from members of the association generally accounted for 20 to 30 percent of
applicants in previous years.
JAZA
introduced punitive measures last month, including possible expulsion from the
body, for members acquiring dolphins captured in drive hunts, in line with the
hard-line stance adopted by the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).
The
world body had threatened to expel the Japanese body if its members continue to
buy such dolphins, criticizing the practice as cruel.
The
practice of herding dolphins into coves has long been used in Taiji.
It
attracted controversy after the 2009
Filmmaker
tries to rebut documentary on Japan dolphin hunt
A
Japanese film is being offered as a rebuttal to the Oscar-winning documentary,
"The Cove," which graphically depicted dolphins being slaughtered in
the tiny town of Taiji.
"Behind
The Cove" has interviews with Japanese whaling officials and footage of a
whaling festival and Hiroshima atomic bomb victims to counter what director
Keiko Yagi thinks is an unfair dosage of "Japan-bashing."
Her
film argues that whale meat provided food in the lean years after Japan's
defeat in World War II and was frequently served in school lunches. The
practice has been phased out, and most Japanese these days though have never
eaten whale or dolphin meat, no more than Westerners have.
"Unless
we can respect each other's food culture, war will be a never-ending
story," Yagi told reporters after a screening Friday in Tokyo.
She
filmed retired whalers reminiscing about the old days, but not today's dolphin
hunters or the people engaged in the lucrative business of selling dolphins to
overseas aquariums and marine shows.
"The
Cove" was named best documentary at the 2009 Academy Awards. It referred
amply to the aquarium industry and contained surreptitiously obtained footage
of Taiji fishermen in small boats, herding a pod of dolphins into the cove,
Aquarium locked in legal battle over denied bid for
Russian beluga whales
The
Georgia Aquarium is locked in a legal battle with a federal agency over the
denial of its request to bring 18 beluga whales from Russia for display in
aquariums in the US.
The
aquarium argues introducing new belugas into the captive population in the US
would diversify the gene pool, make the population more stable and broaden the
database of research on belugas’ needs and capabilities.
The
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries
Service (NOAA Fisheries), said the aquarium’s application for an import permit
failed to meet some requirements of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
The
aquarium filed the application in June 2012, and NOAA Fisheries denied it in
August 2013. The aquarium then filed a lawsuit in September 2013 asking a
federal judge to overturn the denial, and both sides are set to present oral
arguments in court this week.
The
two sides have asked the judge to make a decision on the merits of the case,
based on court filings and oral arguments, without holding a trial.
The
1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibits the capture of marine mammals in US
waters and by US citizens elsewhere and also doesn’t allow the import of marine
mammals and marine mammal p
Nearly entire caribou herd at St-Félicien zoo
mysteriously dies
The
deaths of 19 of the St-Félicien Zoo's 21 caribou in a two-week span have got
zoo biologists scratching their heads.
"We
found one animal dead and another one the next day, and two others the next
day... it was too much. We knew something was going on," said biologist
Christine Gagnon.
Now
just two caribou remain after nearly the entire herd died in July.
"It's
still a mystery for us," Gagnon said. "We are still waiting for the
final report."
Initial
tests seem to point to a blood parasite, but Canadian and American labs are
working to definitively identify the cause of the deaths.
Caribou
have lived at the zoo and animal conservatory for more than 50 years.
This
is the first time so many caribou have died all at once, Gagnon said.
"It's
the first time that we hea
Challenge to St. Louis Zoo's weapons ban fuels
Missouri gun debate
Gun
rights advocate Jeffry Smith says he won’t be packing heat as he originally
planned when he heads to the St. Louis Zoo on Saturday.
Smith,
56, of the Cincinnati area, says he believes the zoo has failed to prove its
ban on guns and other weapons is legal, but he will not defy a city judge’s
order barring him from entering the zoo with a firearm. He had planned to go
armed with a holstered .45-caliber handgun Saturday afternoon — and invited
other armed zoo-goers to join him— to test the zoo’s policy, a move that has
put the St. Louis Zoo in the crosshairs of the gun rights debate in Missouri.
After
Smith announced his protest, the zoo sought a restraining order blocking Smith
from entering the zoo with a gun or weapon. St. Louis Circuit Judge Joan
Moriarty granted the restraining order Friday. The order also applies to anyone
working “in concert” with Smith and is in effect until a hearing set for 1:30
p.m. on June 22.
Smith’s
zoo challenge comes as the city reviews some of its gun ordinances after voters
last yea
| 10.11609/JoTT.26may15.7189-7308/b> Contents Pp. 7189-7308 | |
| PDF (3763Kb) | |
| Download full issue of 26 May 2015 - - Pp. 7189-7308 | |
| PDF (36522Kb) | |
| Artificial deepening of seasonal waterholes in eastern Cambodia: impact on water retention and use by large ungulates and waterbirds | |
| --Thomas N.E. Gray, William J. McShea, Arnulf Koehncke, Prum Sovanna & Mark Wright, Pp.7189-7195 | |
| Abstract HTML PDF (7710Kb) | |
| Documenting the fauna of a small temporary pond from Pune, Maharashtra, India | |
| --Mihir R. Kulkarni, Sameer Padhye, Avinash Isaac Vanjare, Shriraj S. Jakhalekar, Yugandhar S. Shinde, Shruti V. Paripatyadar, Sayali D. Sheth, Siddharth Kulkarni, Samadhan K. Phuge, Kalyani Bhakare, Aboli S. Kulkarni, Kalpana Pai & Hemant V. Ghate, Pp.7196-7210 | |
| Abstract HTML PDF (7609Kb) | |
| Sexual dimorphism in the Kudremukh Bush Frog (Anura: Rhacophoridae: Raorchestes tuberohumerus) of the Western Ghats, India, with a note on its distribution and conservation status | |
| --Anand D. Padhye, Anushree Jadhav, Shauri Sulakhe & Neelesh Dahanukar, Pp.7211-7222 | |
| Abstract HTML PDF (2914Kb) | |
| Reproductive biology of Garra regressus and Garra tana (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) from Lake Tana, Ethiopia | |
| --Akewake Geremew, Abebe Getahun & Eshete Dejen, Pp.7223-7233 | |
| Abstract HTML PDF (4421Kb) | |
| Physiological validation of enzyme immunoassay of fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels and diurnal variation measured in captive Black-tufted Marmoset Callithrix penicillata (Mammalia: Primates: Callitrichidae) | |
| --Cristiane Schilbach Pizzutto, Manuela Gonçalves Fraga Geronymo Sgai, Cláudia Pereda Francischini, Priscila Viau, Cláudio Alvarenga de Oliveira & Marcelo Alcindo de Barros Vaz Guimarães, Pp.7234-7242 | |
| Abstract HTML PDF (1764Kb) | |
| On the present status of distribution and threats of high value medicinal plants in the higher altitude forests of the Indian eastern Himalaya | |
| --P.R. Gajurel, Kh. Ronald, R. Buragohain, P. Rethy, B. Singh & S. Potsangbam, Pp.7243-7252 | |
| Abstract HTML PDF (3438Kb) | |
| On the molluscan fauna of Lakshadweep included in various schedules of Wildlife (Protection) Act of India | |
| --A. Bijukumar, R. Ravinesh, A.R. Arathi & K.K. Idreesbabu, Pp.7253-7268 | |
| Abstract HTML PDF (12034Kb) | |
| A note on the behaviour of Four-horned Antelope Tetracerus quadricornis de Blainville, 1816 (Mammalia: Cetartiodactyla: Bovidae) in lowland Nepal | |
| --Krishna Prasad Pokharel, Pp.7269-7273 | |
| Abstract HTML PDF (1744Kb) | |
| A pilot survey of the avifauna of Rangdum Valley, Kargil, Ladakh (Indian Trans-Himalaya) | |
| --Tanveer Ahmed, Afifullah Khan & Pankaj Chandan, Pp.7274-7281 | |
| Abstract HTML PDF (4710Kb) | |
| Combat and acoustics of the endangered Little Tree Frog (Amphibia: Rhacophoridae: Rhacophorus lateralis) from the Western Ghats, India | |
| --Sunil Sachi & K.P. Dinesh, Pp.7282-7286 | |
| Abstract HTML PDF (3846Kb) | |
| A brief account of Orchidaceae in Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Mumbai, India | |
| --Sweedle Cerejo-Shivkar & Rajendra D. Shinde, Pp.7287-7295 | |
| Abstract HTML PDF (3858Kb) | |
| Harvesting the guano of insectivorous bats: is it sustainable? | |
| --Thet Thet & Khin Mya Mya, Pp.7296-7297 | |
| Abstract HTML PDF (475Kb) | |
| On the breeding of the Slaty-legged Crake (Aves: Rallidae: Rallina eurizonoides) in Nilambur, Kerala, southern India | |
| --M. Divin Murukesh & Peroth Balakrishnan, Pp.7298-7301 | |
| Abstract HTML PDF (7685Kb) | |
| A new range record of Comostola hauensteini Smetacek, 2004 (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Geometrinae) from Bhutan | |
| --Irungbam Jatishwor Singh, Pp.7302-7304 | |
| Abstract HTML PDF (1486Kb) | |
| Eulophia epidendraea (J. Koenig ex Retz.) C.E.C. Fisch. and Thelasis pygmaea (Griff.) Lindl. (Orchidaceae) - new additions to the flora of Karnataka, India | |
| --A.N. Sringeswara & Sahana Vishwanath, Pp.7305-7308 | |
| Abstract HTML PDF (3731Kb) | |
As conservation educators we must often simplify stories of complex ecological relationships, but even we don’t realize how complex -- and amazing -- those relationships really are. June’s stories at www.zooplantman.com (NEWS/Botanical News) show that science marches on:
· How do so many animals share the great African savannas without eating them into oblivion? Is it really so simple as “grazers and browsers”? Of course not. Researchers analyzed DNA in feces to reveal a hidden more complex model.
· Debates over invasive plants are more often emotional, even nationalistic, than reasoned. Now complicating the mix: endangered Galapagos tortoises depend on introduced plants to survive.
· In a uniquely infertile ecosystem in Australia scientists expected all plants to evolve the same efficient root strategy to survive. The scientists were mistaken.
· Giant Pandas depend on healthy stands of bamboo to survive, but they also require old growth forests that have never been logged. Why? Excellent question.
· Bamboo species each flower at the same time, on the same schedule and then die. To understand why requires a mathematician.
Artistic appreciation of nature can take any form. Here are balloon sculptures you won’t see at the local children’s’ birthday party
Please share these stories with associates, staff, docents and – most importantly – visitors!
Follow on Twitter, Facebook Or visit www.plantworldnews.com – new stories every day as well as hundreds of stories from the past few years.
Use the Search feature to find the stories you need. Pandas and forests? Bears and trees? Australian ecosystems? Just ask.
*****
New Meetings and Conferences updated Here
Zoo Conferences, Meetings, Courses and Symposia
If you have anything to add then please email me at elvinhow@gmail.com
I will include it when I get a minute. You know it makes sense.
Recent Zoo Vacancies
Zoo Jobs
Vacancies in Zoos and Aquariums and Wildlife/Conservation facilities around the World
*****
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