Zoo News Digest 5th February 2018 (ZooNews 982)
Peter Dickinson
elvinhow@gmail.com
Dear Colleague,
The Animal Keepers,
Trainers and Wildlife Professionals of the Middle East night out last week was
a big success with staff from around eight different collections attending. It
was very much a knees up and drinking type of event and a lot of fun was had.
There was much catching up done and new friends made. I think all agreed that
we must do it again soon…before Ramadan.
I note that South
Lakes are getting it in the neck once again….this time unfairly. A lion died of
barbiturate poisoning. All very sad but it is hardly the zoos fault and so why
drag up all of the past. I have no special affection for the South Lakes but they
do need a chance. If I cast my mind back over the past fifty years I recollect
two carnivores under my care poisoned by barbiturates. Both survived but they
were asleep for a very long time. I daresay there are many out there in the zoo
world with similar experiences. Meat is received from the supplier in good
faith who, in turn receives it from their suppliers in good faith. Sometimes
there is a glitch along the way but it is hardly the zoo to blame.
Lots of interest follows.
*********
Did You Know?
ZooNews Digest has over 73,000 Followers on Facebook( and over 73,000 likes) and has a weekly reach often exceeding over 350,000 people? That ZooNews Digest has subscribers in over 823 Zoos in 154+ countries? That the subscriber list for the mail out reads like a 'Zoos Who's Who?'
If you are a subscriber to the email version then you probably knew this already. You would also know that ZooNews Digest pre-dates any of the others. It was there before FaceBook. It was there shortly after the internet became popular and was a 'Blog' before the word had been invented. ZooNews Digest reaches zoo people.
I remain committed to the work of GOOD zoos,
********
*****
***
**
*
*********
Did You Know?
ZooNews Digest has over 73,000 Followers on Facebook( and over 73,000 likes) and has a weekly reach often exceeding over 350,000 people? That ZooNews Digest has subscribers in over 823 Zoos in 154+ countries? That the subscriber list for the mail out reads like a 'Zoos Who's Who?'
If you are a subscriber to the email version then you probably knew this already. You would also know that ZooNews Digest pre-dates any of the others. It was there before FaceBook. It was there shortly after the internet became popular and was a 'Blog' before the word had been invented. ZooNews Digest reaches zoo people.
I remain committed to the work of GOOD zoos,
********
*****
***
**
*
Top French court
reverses ban on breeding whales, dolphins
France’s highest
administrative court on Monday overturned a ban on breeding killer whales and
dolphins in captivity after ruling there had been irregularities in the decree
putting the legislation into place.
HSUS—AZA: Golden
Bridge to Zoo Obsolescence
Why has Wayne
Pacelle and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) taken such a
proactive interest in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)? After
decades of opposing zoos and all forms of captive conservation, Wayne Pacelle
appears to have changed tactics in his bid to close the book on zoos. What if
he could harness the active cooperation of AZA? He may then be able to
influence a change of direction from within. To that end Pacelle spent the
summer of 2017 speaking about how collaboration between HSUS and AZA is the way
of the future. With long time friend and political ally, Dan Ashe, now at the
helm of AZA, Pacelle may be empowered to usher zoos into a self enforced
obsolescence.
The new twist in the
HSUS—AZA partnership was unveiled when Dan Ashe announced that Wayne Pacelle,
CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, would be the keynote speaker at
the AZA Annual Conference 2017. Ashe added, “[Wayne] Pacelle has an important
perspective to share with conference attendees.” Facebook blazed with
opposition posts, and an online petition to disinvite Pacelle from the
conference garnered more than 700 signatures. Nevertheless, Wayne Pacelle was
welcomed as the keynote address.
January 23, 2018
Dear Council member
O’Farrell:
It is my
understanding the Los Angeles City Council Arts, Entertainment, Parks and River
Committee is scheduled to hear Councilmember Paul Koretz’ motion (council file
# 17-0453) to relocate the Los Angeles Zoo's male elephant, Billy, to a
sanctuary. It is to oppose this motion that I am writing to you today.
The Los Angeles Zoo
has been a continuously accredited member of the Association of Zoos and
Aquariums (AZA) for nearly 40 years. AZA accreditation is regarded as the gold
standard for animal care in a zoological setting, an honor for only 10 percent
of U.S. zoos. The zoo and their staff represent the very best in the zoological
profession, and it is demonstrated every day as they care for their elephants.
In 2011, the AZA
Board of Directors adopted even more rigorous and detailed standards specific
to the care of elephants at AZA-accredited zoos. They have been refined and
updated several times since then to reflect the state of the art in modern
science and zoological practices related to caring for elephants. AZA affords
the very highest priority on the health and safety of elephants and the
professionals working with elephants, and we monitor both of those aspects
through our rigorous accreditation process.
The Los Angeles Zoo
last went through AZA’s accreditation process in December 2016. As part of that
comprehensive inspection, the AZA accreditation team reviewed the zoo’s
elephant program. During that inspection, the team found that the zoo’s
elephant program met or exceeded all of AZA’s Elephant Standards, and reported
those findings to the AZA Accreditation Commission.
In addition to
providing superior care to their elephants, the Los Angeles Zoo is part of the
96 Elephants coalition, seeking to educate the public on the poaching of
African elephants and the resulting illegal ivory trade. The elephants at Los
Angeles Zoo are ambassadors to their cousins in the wild, and help tells the
story to the tens of thousands of visitors to the zoo each year.
As you may know, I
was nominated by former President Barack Obama, and confirmed by the United
States Senate, to be U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director from 2011- 2017.
During my tenure we were able to lead the global fight to protect elephants
from illegal trafficking, ban domestic ivory sales, establish global leadership
by crushing ivory stockpiles in Denver and in Times Square, and apply
successful diplomatic pressure to secure commitment from China to close their
domestic ivory trade. We could not have achieved these things for wild
elephants without the support of the Los Angeles Zoo, and more than 120 other
zoos who joined with us. The public who visit these great zoos, and who see
elephants in excellent care, are more likely to support efforts like our
regulations banning domestic ivory sale. I understand that you care for
elephants, and applaud your dedication, but respectfully ask your
reconsideration.
It is the sincere
hope of the AZA that you reconsider this motion, and keep Billy at the Los
Angeles Zoo.
Best regards,
The Honorable Daniel
M. Ashe
President and CEO,
AZA
Former Director,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Top 10 Zookeeper
Qualities!
Working in a Zoo is
a special type of lifestyle. You are a devoted keeper taking care of the
animals you work with. Zookeepers work day and night if necessary, they work
any day of the week to give the highest standard of care to the species on
their sections. When animals are sick the zookeepers are there to give them
that special care no matter the day or time. Zookeepers have a mission and that
mission all comes together through protecting species through educating
families and give them a lifelong experience about the nature we have to
protect.
MP calls for
'criminal investigation' into lion's death at Furness zoo which features in TV
documentary
THE Furness MP has
called for a 'criminal investigation' into the death of a lion at South Lakes
Safari Zoo, which features in a BBC documentary being broadcast next week.
BBC Two documentary,
Trouble at the Zoo, charts the journey of the new company that is working to
turnaround the Furness animal park, and will be broadcast on Thursday at 9pm.
BBC Studios filmed
the observational documentary between April and September last year. It follows
the zoo hitting the headlines when it was revealed that almost 500 animals had
died there in under four years and that zoo founder David Gill was denied a new
license to run the park.
Cumbria Zoo Company
Ltd took full control of the park in January last year. The new company made
improvements to the zoo's animal welfare, enclosures and facilities and
inspectors noted those changes. Cumbria Zoo Company Ltd was awarded a license
ZOO OF DOOM STRIKES AGAIN Lion dies after being poisoned at South Lakes Safari zoo
Credit: Jedimentat44/flickr, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
Naked mole rat found
to defy Gompertz's mortality law
A team of
researchers at Google-owned Calico Life Sciences LLC has found that the naked
mole rat defies Gompertz's mortality law. In their paper published in eLife,
the group describes their study of the unusual-looking rodent and describe some
of its unusual traits.
Naked mole rats are
very nearly hairless. They evolved that way by living in a harsh underground
environment. They are also almost ectothermic (cold blooded). And now, it seems
they do not age—at least in the traditional sense. Reports of long-lived mole
rats prompted the team at Calico to take a closer look—they have a specimen in
their lab that has lived to be 35 years old. Most "normal" rats, in
comparison, live to be just six years old, and they age as they do so.
Naked mole rats also
have some other interesting biological features—they very rarely develop
cancer, they experience very little pain and they have been found able to
survive without oxygen for up to 18 minutes by going into a plant-like
vegetative state. Also, they never reach menopause, and can have offspring
right up until their death—and their hearts and bones never show signs of
aging. But it was their longevity that was the focus of this new effort.
The team collected
what they describe as 3,000 points of data
Monterey Bay
Aquarium Seafood Watch Launches First-of-Its-Kind Seafood Slavery Risk Tool
The Monterey Bay
Aquarium Seafood Watch® program – already the global standard for
environmentally responsible seafood – today launches the Seafood Slavery Risk
Tool, the first solution of its kind to help businesses assess the potential
risk of forced labor, human trafficking, and hazardous child labor in
fisheries. The tool is available at seafoodslaveryrisk.org.
The Seafood Slavery
Risk Tool – originally created with Liberty Asia, Seafish and the Sustainable
Fisheries Partnership (SFP) and now jointly run by the aquarium with Liberty
Asia and SFP – produces a rating indicating the likelihood that human trafficking,
forced labor and hazardous child labor are occurring on fishing boats in a
specific fishery. Businesses can use the tool to identify seafood sourced from
fisheries that have these issues and take steps to address them.
"Understanding
the environmental impact of fishing and aquaculture is key to seafood
sustainability," said Monterey Bay Aquarium Executive Director Julie
Packard. "The working conditions of
International Animal
Training Month – February 2018
2). Match to Sample
training penguins with Anna Svensson (Swedish trainer)
Recipient of the
IMATA (International marine animal trainers association) research advancement
award in 2015.
To celebrate
international animal training month – 2018 we are going to focus on Sweden
& learn about some amazing animal training projects from some amazing
Swedish trainers. You will receive the following 5 items below for FREE over
the month of February …
Watch the Video
Saudi bug hits zoo
keepers in Kerala
R. Deepu, a keeper
at Thiruvananthapuram Zoo, is making a beeline to Riyadh Zoo in Saudi Arabia as
an animal keeper on a salary of 2000 Riyal (Rs 34, 000 plus). Already four
keepers from the city zoo had joined zoos in Saudi Arabia and Fujairah in UAE
recently seeking better lives.
Deepu began his
stint as a daily wager mahout in 2001 to take care of Maheshwari, the
88-year-old elephant which breathed its last on July 2017. Four years ago, Vellayani native Deepu was
made a permanent keeper where currently he is taking care of 10 Liontailed
Macaques and three Nilgiri Langurs. Deepu comes from a poor family backg
Senate bill to ban
plastic straws in Hawaii passes committee
Most food and drink
establishments have them, but a senate bill that would get rid of plastic
straws in Hawaii is moving forward.
The bill passed the
Committee on Agriculture and Environment Wednesday afternoon.
"This law can
start a ripple effect if straws are banned from companies like McDonald's and
Starbucks," said Riley Brooke Kamahele, a 10-year-old who runs a
non-profit called the The Plastics Project.
Kamahele was just
one of many who testified in support of the bill.
"Plastic straws
are absolutely one of the most picked up and littered items we find," said
Rafael Bergstrom, of the Surfrider Foundation as he talked about beach
clean-ups.
Kathleen Penland,
who submitted testimony on behalf of Hawaii Association for Behavior Analysis,
also supports the plastic straw ban.
"It's harming
our animals it's harming our honu, and it's polluting our beaches,
terribly," said Penland.
The bill would
outlaw the sale and distribution of plastic straws in Hawaii-- any violators
would be fined. Violators will also be required to pi
Top French court
reverses ban on breeding whales, dolphins
France’s highest
administrative court on Monday overturned a ban on breeding killer whales and
dolphins in captivity after ruling there had been irregularities in the decree
putting the legislation into place.
HSUS—AZA: Golden
Bridge to Zoo Obsolescence
Why has Wayne
Pacelle and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) taken such a
proactive interest in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)? After
decades of opposing zoos and all forms of captive conservation, Wayne Pacelle
appears to have changed tactics in his bid to close the book on zoos. What if
he could harness the active cooperation of AZA? He may then be able to
influence a change of direction from within. To that end Pacelle spent the
summer of 2017 speaking about how collaboration between HSUS and AZA is the way
of the future. With long time friend and political ally, Dan Ashe, now at the
helm of AZA, Pacelle may be empowered to usher zoos into a self enforced
obsolescence.
The new twist in the
HSUS—AZA partnership was unveiled when Dan Ashe announced that Wayne Pacelle,
CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, would be the keynote speaker at
the AZA Annual Conference 2017. Ashe added, “[Wayne] Pacelle has an important
perspective to share with conference attendees.” Facebook blazed with
opposition posts, and an online petition to disinvite Pacelle from the
conference garnered more than 700 signatures. Nevertheless, Wayne Pacelle was
welcomed as the keynote address.
January 23, 2018
Dear Council member
O’Farrell:
It is my
understanding the Los Angeles City Council Arts, Entertainment, Parks and River
Committee is scheduled to hear Councilmember Paul Koretz’ motion (council file
# 17-0453) to relocate the Los Angeles Zoo's male elephant, Billy, to a
sanctuary. It is to oppose this motion that I am writing to you today.
The Los Angeles Zoo
has been a continuously accredited member of the Association of Zoos and
Aquariums (AZA) for nearly 40 years. AZA accreditation is regarded as the gold
standard for animal care in a zoological setting, an honor for only 10 percent
of U.S. zoos. The zoo and their staff represent the very best in the zoological
profession, and it is demonstrated every day as they care for their elephants.
In 2011, the AZA
Board of Directors adopted even more rigorous and detailed standards specific
to the care of elephants at AZA-accredited zoos. They have been refined and
updated several times since then to reflect the state of the art in modern
science and zoological practices related to caring for elephants. AZA affords
the very highest priority on the health and safety of elephants and the
professionals working with elephants, and we monitor both of those aspects
through our rigorous accreditation process.
The Los Angeles Zoo
last went through AZA’s accreditation process in December 2016. As part of that
comprehensive inspection, the AZA accreditation team reviewed the zoo’s
elephant program. During that inspection, the team found that the zoo’s
elephant program met or exceeded all of AZA’s Elephant Standards, and reported
those findings to the AZA Accreditation Commission.
In addition to
providing superior care to their elephants, the Los Angeles Zoo is part of the
96 Elephants coalition, seeking to educate the public on the poaching of
African elephants and the resulting illegal ivory trade. The elephants at Los
Angeles Zoo are ambassadors to their cousins in the wild, and help tells the
story to the tens of thousands of visitors to the zoo each year.
As you may know, I
was nominated by former President Barack Obama, and confirmed by the United
States Senate, to be U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director from 2011- 2017.
During my tenure we were able to lead the global fight to protect elephants
from illegal trafficking, ban domestic ivory sales, establish global leadership
by crushing ivory stockpiles in Denver and in Times Square, and apply
successful diplomatic pressure to secure commitment from China to close their
domestic ivory trade. We could not have achieved these things for wild
elephants without the support of the Los Angeles Zoo, and more than 120 other
zoos who joined with us. The public who visit these great zoos, and who see
elephants in excellent care, are more likely to support efforts like our
regulations banning domestic ivory sale. I understand that you care for
elephants, and applaud your dedication, but respectfully ask your
reconsideration.
It is the sincere
hope of the AZA that you reconsider this motion, and keep Billy at the Los
Angeles Zoo.
Best regards,
The Honorable Daniel
M. Ashe
President and CEO,
AZA
Former Director,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Top 10 Zookeeper Qualities!
Working in a Zoo is
a special type of lifestyle. You are a devoted keeper taking care of the
animals you work with. Zookeepers work day and night if necessary, they work
any day of the week to give the highest standard of care to the species on
their sections. When animals are sick the zookeepers are there to give them
that special care no matter the day or time. Zookeepers have a mission and that
mission all comes together through protecting species through educating
families and give them a lifelong experience about the nature we have to
protect.
MP calls for
'criminal investigation' into lion's death at Furness zoo which features in TV
documentary
THE Furness MP has
called for a 'criminal investigation' into the death of a lion at South Lakes
Safari Zoo, which features in a BBC documentary being broadcast next week.
BBC Two documentary,
Trouble at the Zoo, charts the journey of the new company that is working to
turnaround the Furness animal park, and will be broadcast on Thursday at 9pm.
BBC Studios filmed
the observational documentary between April and September last year. It follows
the zoo hitting the headlines when it was revealed that almost 500 animals had
died there in under four years and that zoo founder David Gill was denied a new
license to run the park.
Cumbria Zoo Company
Ltd took full control of the park in January last year. The new company made
improvements to the zoo's animal welfare, enclosures and facilities and
inspectors noted those changes. Cumbria Zoo Company Ltd was awarded a license
ZOO OF DOOM STRIKES AGAIN Lion dies after being poisoned at South Lakes Safari zoo
Credit: Jedimentat44/flickr, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
Naked mole rat found
to defy Gompertz's mortality law
A team of
researchers at Google-owned Calico Life Sciences LLC has found that the naked
mole rat defies Gompertz's mortality law. In their paper published in eLife,
the group describes their study of the unusual-looking rodent and describe some
of its unusual traits.
Naked mole rats are
very nearly hairless. They evolved that way by living in a harsh underground
environment. They are also almost ectothermic (cold blooded). And now, it seems
they do not age—at least in the traditional sense. Reports of long-lived mole
rats prompted the team at Calico to take a closer look—they have a specimen in
their lab that has lived to be 35 years old. Most "normal" rats, in
comparison, live to be just six years old, and they age as they do so.
Naked mole rats also
have some other interesting biological features—they very rarely develop
cancer, they experience very little pain and they have been found able to
survive without oxygen for up to 18 minutes by going into a plant-like
vegetative state. Also, they never reach menopause, and can have offspring
right up until their death—and their hearts and bones never show signs of
aging. But it was their longevity that was the focus of this new effort.
The team collected
what they describe as 3,000 points of data
Monterey Bay
Aquarium Seafood Watch Launches First-of-Its-Kind Seafood Slavery Risk Tool
The Monterey Bay
Aquarium Seafood Watch® program – already the global standard for
environmentally responsible seafood – today launches the Seafood Slavery Risk
Tool, the first solution of its kind to help businesses assess the potential
risk of forced labor, human trafficking, and hazardous child labor in
fisheries. The tool is available at seafoodslaveryrisk.org.
The Seafood Slavery
Risk Tool – originally created with Liberty Asia, Seafish and the Sustainable
Fisheries Partnership (SFP) and now jointly run by the aquarium with Liberty
Asia and SFP – produces a rating indicating the likelihood that human trafficking,
forced labor and hazardous child labor are occurring on fishing boats in a
specific fishery. Businesses can use the tool to identify seafood sourced from
fisheries that have these issues and take steps to address them.
"Understanding
the environmental impact of fishing and aquaculture is key to seafood
sustainability," said Monterey Bay Aquarium Executive Director Julie
Packard. "The working conditions of
International Animal
Training Month – February 2018
2). Match to Sample
training penguins with Anna Svensson (Swedish trainer)
Recipient of the
IMATA (International marine animal trainers association) research advancement
award in 2015.
To celebrate
international animal training month – 2018 we are going to focus on Sweden
& learn about some amazing animal training projects from some amazing
Swedish trainers. You will receive the following 5 items below for FREE over
the month of February …
Watch the Video
Saudi bug hits zoo
keepers in Kerala
R. Deepu, a keeper
at Thiruvananthapuram Zoo, is making a beeline to Riyadh Zoo in Saudi Arabia as
an animal keeper on a salary of 2000 Riyal (Rs 34, 000 plus). Already four
keepers from the city zoo had joined zoos in Saudi Arabia and Fujairah in UAE
recently seeking better lives.
Deepu began his
stint as a daily wager mahout in 2001 to take care of Maheshwari, the
88-year-old elephant which breathed its last on July 2017. Four years ago, Vellayani native Deepu was
made a permanent keeper where currently he is taking care of 10 Liontailed
Macaques and three Nilgiri Langurs. Deepu comes from a poor family backg
Senate bill to ban
plastic straws in Hawaii passes committee
Most food and drink
establishments have them, but a senate bill that would get rid of plastic
straws in Hawaii is moving forward.
The bill passed the
Committee on Agriculture and Environment Wednesday afternoon.
"This law can
start a ripple effect if straws are banned from companies like McDonald's and
Starbucks," said Riley Brooke Kamahele, a 10-year-old who runs a
non-profit called the The Plastics Project.
Kamahele was just
one of many who testified in support of the bill.
"Plastic straws
are absolutely one of the most picked up and littered items we find," said
Rafael Bergstrom, of the Surfrider Foundation as he talked about beach
clean-ups.
Kathleen Penland,
who submitted testimony on behalf of Hawaii Association for Behavior Analysis,
also supports the plastic straw ban.
"It's harming
our animals it's harming our honu, and it's polluting our beaches,
terribly," said Penland.
The bill would
outlaw the sale and distribution of plastic straws in Hawaii-- any violators
would be fined. Violators will also be required to pi
Saving zoo has cost
me my marriage
Moving on: Anna with
a rhino at Manor House Wildlife Park, which she is leaving to rebuild her life
in France. She is divorcing her husband Colin MacDougall, the father of her
daughters Bibi and Dixie. And she’s in no doubt at all about what caused the collapse
of her 16-year relationship.‘The stresses and strains and expense of running
our wildlife park have destroyed our marriage,’ she declares. ‘I’m moving lock,
stock and barrel to France, and I’m getting divorced. ‘I still well up thinking
about all the beautiful Welsh countryside and the nature. I had the best of
times there, but they became the hardest of times. We had so much work to do we
never saw each other. I’m having to start all over again with nothing and it’s
A salty cure for a
deadly frog disease
It's been described
by scientists as the "most devastating wildlife disease ever known" —
a deadly fungus that has caused the mass global extinction of hundreds of frog
species.
But researchers at
the University of Newcastle have discovered a simple solution in the form of
salt.
The deadly disease
Chytridiomycosis is
an infectious disease caused by the chytrid fungus and blamed for wiping out
more than a third of the world's frog species.
It is a type of
fungus that spreads infection by releasing small bodies known as
"zoospores."
It gets into the
skin of frogs, disrupting the flow of electrolytes and eventually gives them a
heart attack.
University of
Newcastle ecologist Sim
Saving zoo has cost
me my marriage
Moving on: Anna with
a rhino at Manor House Wildlife Park, which she is leaving to rebuild her life
in France. She is divorcing her husband Colin MacDougall, the father of her
daughters Bibi and Dixie. And she’s in no doubt at all about what caused the collapse
of her 16-year relationship.‘The stresses and strains and expense of running
our wildlife park have destroyed our marriage,’ she declares. ‘I’m moving lock,
stock and barrel to France, and I’m getting divorced. ‘I still well up thinking
about all the beautiful Welsh countryside and the nature. I had the best of
times there, but they became the hardest of times. We had so much work to do we
never saw each other. I’m having to start all over again with nothing and it’s
A salty cure for a
deadly frog disease
It's been described
by scientists as the "most devastating wildlife disease ever known" —
a deadly fungus that has caused the mass global extinction of hundreds of frog
species.
But researchers at
the University of Newcastle have discovered a simple solution in the form of
salt.
The deadly disease
Chytridiomycosis is
an infectious disease caused by the chytrid fungus and blamed for wiping out
more than a third of the world's frog species.
It is a type of
fungus that spreads infection by releasing small bodies known as
"zoospores."
It gets into the
skin of frogs, disrupting the flow of electrolytes and eventually gives them a
heart attack.
University of
Newcastle ecologist Sim
Vol 6 No 1 (2018)
Activist demands
answers over death of Siberian tiger at zoo
Stop Global Warming
Association president Srisuwan Janya will file a petition to Prime Minister
General Prayut Chan-o-cha on Monday, demanding an inquiry into the Ubon
Ratchathani Zoo over the alleged delay in investigating the “unnatural death”
of a Siberian tiger.
Srisuwan said the
endangered tiger was killed after it ate food mixed with pesticides on April 13
last year but nobody at the zoo or the Zoological Park Organisation had
provided any information about the death. In fact, he alleged that they had
tried to cover it up.
Canned lion hunting
- a buffer against what?
Canned lion hunting
– SA Govt ‘Scientific Authority’ says
everything is awesome.
But even Safari Club
International has thrown PHASA and canned lion hunting under the bus – making
this insane Non-Detriment Finding ( NDF) largely irrelevant..
In government
Gazette No. 41393 published 23rd January
2018, the South African government Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) set out its non-detriment
findings (NDF) for the African lion.
This is of extreme
importance to the hunting industry since without an NDF, no lion hunts would
TRAINING FOR SCIENCE
How do seals and science intersect at the Alaska
SeaLife Center?
Through scientific
research training!
As a mammalogist at
ASLC, my responsibilities through our training program are to first train our
resident marine mammals for husbandry and veterinary care to ensure their
well-being, and second, to train the animals to cooperate in behaviors and
activities that support science.
Wellington Zoo
picked to help world zoos go green
False advertising on
sea turtle CT scanner costs S.C. Aquarium $400,000, lawsuit claims
A $443,000 CT
scanner for sea turtles that required no special shielding seemed like a good
deal at the time, but it didn’t turn out that way.
It wasn’t until the
room to house the scanner in the South Carolina Aquarium’s new Sea Turtle
Recovery Center was finished that staff found out they had been misled,
according to the suit filed Wednesday against Epica Medical Innovations and
parent company Epica International, maker of the Pegaso CT scanner.
In April 2015, the
staff was corresponding with an Epica sales representative about their scanner.
The diagnostic machine is d
In pursuit of the
tortoise smugglers
In February 2016,
Richard Lewis, a wildlife conservationist working in Madagascar, was contacted
by a veterinary clinic with an unusual request. “Someone went to a vet and
said: ‘Can you take a microchip out of a ploughshare?’” Lewis recalled. “So
they called us.”
The ploughshare
tortoise is one of the rarest tortoises on the planet: with fewer than 50
adults thought to be left in the wild, each one is worth as much as $50,000 on
the global exotic pet market. Like gold or ivory, their very rarity is part of
what drives smugglers’ interest. Lewis runs the Madagascar programme of the
Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, which operates a captive breeding site
where ploughshares are reared for more than a decade before being released into
the wild. Both buying and selling ploughshares, or keeping them as pets, is
illegal, and the breeding site is heavily defended, with barbed wire and
round-the-clock armed security. As a further measure against smuggling, the
organisation implants every ploughshare it encounters with a microchip. Anyone
hoping to remove the microchip is likely to be involved with tortoise
trafficking.
The Durrell Trust’s
staff vet met with the man a few days later. It turned out that he had five
ploughshares in total. As soon as the vet told him that what he was doing was
illegal, he disappeared. But the very next day, alerted by staff at Durrell, an
off-duty police officer was on hand at another clinic when the man tried once
again to have the microchip removed.
For Lewis, what
happened next was deeply dispiriting. “The person was arrested, went to court,
was found guilty, and gi
Subtropical
Paradise: A Conversation with Eric Stephens, Retired Director of Zoo Miami
Eric Stephens worked
at Zoo Miami for the first 35 years of its history, 17 of those as director. He
led the 324 acre zoo (the only one in the continental United States in a
subtropical climate) through immense growth. Among Stephens' accomplishments
were obtaining a $180 million bond, dramatically improving the zoo's attendance
and business operations, building the 27-acre Amazon and Beyond (a massive
departure from the zoo's previous habitats) and expanding the zoo's
conservation efforts. Here is his story.
Escaped small
mountain cat recaptured at Salt Lake City zoo
A small mountain cat
who escaped at a Salt Lake City zoo has been recaptured after two days on the
lam.
Zoo officials say
they used mice to lure the young Pallas’ cat named Mushu into a live trap late
Monday.
Hogle Zoo
spokeswoman Erica Hansen says in a statement that Mushu was holed up in a small
construction area near his enclosure, an ideal hiding spot for the elusive
creature.
The Pallas’ cat is
smaller than the average housecat and not dangerous. Mushu will be examined by
vets before he’s returned to his exhibit.
The Sunday-morning
disappearance mar
From the Newspaper
to the Indianapolis Prize: A Conversation with Paul Grayson, Executive Vice
President at the Indianapolis Zoo
Paul Grayson is the longest-tenured employee
of the Indianapolis Zoo and has been with the institution for its entire
history at its White River State Park location. Currently the zoo's Executive
Vice President, he has served in a variety of different roles and watched the
zoo evolve into a world-class institution at the forefront of conservation.
Here is history.
Can Israeli
scientists save Darwin’s finches?
Early discoveries
from these tiny songbirds, which measure no bigger than a sparrow, are credited
for having helped Charles Darwin develop his theory of evolution by natural
selection. Now, 11 of the 13 finch species found in the Galápagos are in danger
of extinction due to a parasitic fly’s fatal impact on the populations.
A research team from
the Hebrew University’s Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and
Environment is embarking next week on an expedition to the islands to help save
the iconic birds that have become the Galápagos’ symbol.
Hong Kong votes to
ban ivory sales one month after China embargo comes into force
Hong Kong has voted
to ban the trade of ivory in a landmark decision after years of campaigning.
Politicians voted in
favour of amending an existing law to outlaw sales of ivory in the Chinese
territory by 2021.
The proposal also
includes significantly stiffer penalties for the smuggling of ivory and other
highly endangered species to deter black market sales.
Researchers say Hong
Kong is the world’s largest ivory market.
Did human-chimp
hybrid ever exist? Scientist claims 'humanzee' was born in lab before being
killed by panicked doctors
A renowned scientist
has made a sensational claim that almost 100 years ago, a human-chimp hybrid
was created in a lab in the US - before later being killed by panicked doctors.
Evolutionary
psychologist Gordon Gallup claims his former university professor confirmed
that a successful 'humanzee' experiment occurred in Orange Park, Florida in the
1920s.
It would mean that a
female chimp was artificially inseminated with human sperm, before successfully
falling pregnant with a half-human, half ape child.
Gallup told The Sun
: "They inseminated a female chimpanzee with human semen from an
undisclosed donor and claimed not onl
BORTH WILD ANIMAL
KINGDOM - Statement on Facebook Page
We apologise for
being quiet on social media lately, but we have been working day and night for
the whole of January on improvements to the zoo. The mood since the new year
has been a lot more positive as we work towards tackling the many problems that
were highlighted in our inspection last November.
As you may have
heard we were given 120 conditions, or faults that need to be addressed, on our
license which is the most any zoo in the UK has ever been given. Well in the
past few months we have met or are working towards meeting 119 of those
conditions. Some are minor, such as keeping the petrol can for the quad bike in
a locked shed, rather than behind a locked gate, some are major such as
updating the electrics (so far two thirds of the entire site have been
completely rewired).
Practical work has
been carried out on every single enclosure to make sure they are fit for
purpose. Our focus has been on safety and animal welfare rather than cosmetic
improvements, so we have put in new double door systems for the keepers and
climbing apparatus for the animals with lots of enrichment to keep them busy.
Lots of rusty wire and rotten wood has been ripped out and replaced. Much of
what we have had to address has been record keeping and paperwork. Our staff
have always been dedicated to the care of the animals, but we have brought in a
new, highly experienced managerial team to teach them about modern zoo
protocols and how to document everything. We are confident that we will meet
all 119 of those 120 conditions.
The only condition
that we are contesting is number 80, the recommended removal of our category
one animals. This refers to our cats, crocodiles, large snakes and monkeys. We
believe this was judged on the basis that Tracy and Dean as managers did not have
enough experience with these animals to give them the specialist care they
require. Maybe they were right, but we have always had the animals’ welfare as
our main concern. Not only have we brought in new experienced managerial staff
we have also been consulting with many industry experts at other zoos on best
practice. Our current enclosures have all been given a makeover, but we will be
building new, much bigger enclosures for our animals when we open access to the
hill in the near future and we want to make sure they are the best we can
possibly make them.
The appeal hearing
date has been set for 27th April but before that we have a pre-trial review on
the 22nd March to assess the evidence and study expert witness statements. We
are hoping that by that date we have enough evidence to prove that we addressed
any concerns that Ceredigion Council may have with our establishment and it
doesn’t have to go any further. We hope to work in partnership with the council
and create a suitable home for these animals that is safe and secure and that
we can all be proud of.
We continue to be
closed at the moment while we finish some of our refurbishment work, but we do
intend to complete it and reopen on Saturday 17th February in time for half
term. We are sorry for any inconvenience, but I hope you will like the changes
we have made when you next visit.
Animal Trainers Are
Key to Argentine Zoo’s New Mission
Personal trainers
not only work in gymnasiums – they’re also on duty at zoos where they keep the
animals in good condition and ease their move to new environments that give the
wild creatures a new sense of freedom, a vital aspect in the renovation of the
Buenos Aires Ecopark.
Close to 100
trainers are supervised by the Animal Behavior Sector, which in the case of
Ecopark – one of the most popular zoos in the country – is coordinated by Maria
Eugenia Dahdah.
In an interview with
EFE, the Argentine specialist said it’s essential to get the animals used to
the presence of veterinarians, to the food they are given and to their
enclosures as part of the new mission of this zoo with its 100-year history.
Since 2016, this zoo
spanning 16.7 hectares (41 acres) has been reconstructing much of its area and
restoring historic monuments on its grounds to make it more suitable for animal
life and send its vis
Architect of Animal
Experiences: A Conversation with Gerry Creighton, Operations Manager, Animals
and Grounds and Elephant Program Manager at the Dublin Zoo
Dublin Zoo has evolved into a leader in animal
wellness and modernization among European zoos. Having its origins in 1831 as a
Victorian zoo, many enclosures were extremely dated and in desperate need of
help when Gerry Creighton started working as a member of the Animal Care Team
in 1985. “The Irish government stepped in during the 1990s and gave us
financial support and provision of additional land in Phoenix Park” Creighton
recalled. “Now, it’s one of the most progressive zoos in Europe. We have very
high standards of animal care and our habitats are some of the finest you’ll
see. The people of Ireland have taken the zoo to their hearts [as] they
appreciate these habitats where the animals can express specific species
behaviors. We have reached 1.2 million visitors per year, with the population
of Ireland less than five million. The zoo is a real part of Irish society.”
Pandasia: the
revitalisation of Ouwehands Zoo
How a radical
redesign – and Xing Ya and Wu Wen, the giant pandas – transformed the Ouwehands
Zoo into a thriving attraction and a centre for conservation.
Robin de Lange is
the Director of Ouwehands Zoo in Rhenen, in the Dutch province of Utrecht. He spoke to Blooloop about how the zoo has
turned from a struggling attraction into a huge success. He also discussed its conservation
initiatives and the exciting arrival of giant pandas Xing Ya and Wu Wen from
China.
Robin de Lange’s
background is in marketing and management. He first worked as marketing manager
for Duinrell, an amusement park based in Wassenaar, The Netherlands. Then,
fourteen years ago, he joined Ouwehands Zoo as Director.
CCTV captures
elephant's jumbo crossing
How drones are being
used to protect the Amazon's dolphins
The drone is
hovering above the Amazon river, but its battery is running low. André Coelho,
the chief pilot, steers it back to safety with skills perfected by playing
video games. Long hours practising on Need for Speed have become a surprising
asset in the effort to conserve the dolphins that live in the river.
Marcelo Oliveira, a
conservation specialist at WWF Brazil, stands on the bow of the boat with arms
aloft. He plucks the white drone from the air, changes the battery, and swiftly
sends it back into the sky.
How illegal wildlife
trade decimated Nigeria’s vultures
At a market in
Ibadan there are some fifty women selling both dead and live vultures, and they
are part of a growing ring of bird merchants. Unknown to many, international
vulture routes criss cross Nigeria, conveying vulture eggs, heads and feathers
to eager patrons, who then pass them on to the traders, the next link in the
chain. But the bird has been prohibited from any form of sale or usage by
CITES, the convention on international trade in endangered species. Yet, in
many markets across Nigeria the vulture is openly, sometimes secretly, sought,
sold and bargained for, despite the fact that the country has an endangered
species act.
Holding lions,
conservation and Brand South Africa captive
Earlier this year,
officials in the state of Florida, USA introduced legislation to ban the
captive breeding of orcas as well as the keeping of them for entertainment
purposes. Seen as a necessary and progressive step in line with our greater
understanding of wild species, this move follows on from California
successfully passing similar legislation in 2016.
It is against this
backdrop that it’s worth reviewing South Africa’s current situation with
regards to lion breeding and the commercial exploitation of these animals.
It’s been almost
three years since the release of the feature documentary Blood Lions, and its
global campaign to bring awareness around the issues portrayed in the film.
Done in partnership with numerous local and international agencies, the film
and campaign aims to do for lions what Blackfish has done for orcas.
To date, these
efforts have brought numerous successes, at times way beyond initial
expectations, and for this we owe huge thanks to all these committed partners.
However, there is much work that remains as the indiscriminate breeding
continues and thousands of predators remain on farms or i
Tail-fin first: See
a baby dolphin born at a Swedish zoo
Watch the tail-fin
slowly emerge from his mother Fenah, as the third generation of dolphins is
born at Sweden's Kolmården zoo.
The baby, who has
yet to be named, was born on January 4th at Sweden's biggest zoo, which is two
hours' drive south of Stockholm.
"He's
practising using his fins, swinging from side to side and steering
himself," zookeeper Filip Johansson said in a statement.
"Those first
weeks in a dolphin calves lives are critical. We can thank our expertise and
experience that further animals in our care have one again had a successful
birth."
The calf was just
one meter long at birth, and weighed just 15kg. When fully grown he will weight
more than 200kg.
Dolphins raised in
captivity will soon get a new, more natural home
The National
Aquarium in Baltimore is re-examining what counts as humane when it comes to
the life of its dolphins. Facing increased disillusionment over such
spectacles, the aquarium plans to move its dolphins to an enclosed outdoor
sanctuary that mimics a natural environment. How much can change for dolphins
that were raised in captivity? Science correspondent Miles O’Brien reports.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/dolphins-raised-in-captivity-will-soon-get-a-new-more-natural-home
Realistic venomous
snake bite emergency exercise at John Ball Zoo
John Ball Zoo's
venomous reptile keepers, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
students and professionals from Spectrum Health teamed up Thursday, Jan. 25,
for a venomous snake bite emergency exercise.
Over 80
professionals from the three institutions combined their skills for the
five-hour simulation. A combination of simulated human patients, computer
controlled manikins, along with human actors helped re-create symptoms of a
venomous bite.
The collaborative
drills were an excellent opportunity for the zoo staff, medical students and
professionals to gain experience in the emergency of handling venomous snake
bites.
"There's
actually about 5,000 to 8,000 snake bites a year in the united states,"
said Bryan Judge, whi is a medical toxicologist and emergency medical phys
4 Months After Zoo’s
Release, 11 Endangered ‘Alalā Thriving in Hawaii
You usually hear
them before you see them. There’s no mistaking the loud and often synchronized
cacophony of caws from 11 ‘Alalā, also known as Hawaiian Crows, released into a
Hawai‘i Island Natural Area Reserve last fall.
These birds, seven
young males and four young females, represent what conservationists hope is the
beginning of a recovered population of this critically endangered Hawaiian crow
on the island.
‘Alalā have been
extinct in the wild since 2002. Since the birds took flight from a remote
forest aviary in September and October 2017, they have been under the daily,
watchful eye of a monitoring team from San Diego Zoo Global.
In partnership with
the Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service and others, San Diego Zoo Global reared the ‘alalā at its
Hawai‘i Endangered Bird Conservation Program centers on the Big Island and on
Maui.
The ‘alalā are
tracked daily by researchers monitoring signals from the lightweight radio
transmitters each bird wears, as well as watching them with the naked eye or
through binoculars. Their movements, their flights, what they eat, where they
roost, their behaviors and virtually everything else about these birds is
closely monitored and carefully recorded. Of high interest to all the folks
involved in The ‘Alalā Project is how the birds individually and collectively
react to threats from predators. An initial release of ‘alalā in 2016 was
halted and surviving birds were brought back into captivity after two were
attacked by another native bird—their natural predator, the ‘Io or Hawaiian
hawk. Prior to their release, the birds now living in the Pu‘u Maka‘ala NAR
received extensive anti-predator training.
Paris zoo reopens
after last truant baboons found
Paris's main zoo was
set to reopen Saturday after the last of around 50 baboons who had escaped from
their enclosure were found overnight, the zoo authorities said.
A spokeswoman for
the National Museum of Natural History said two females and a baby were tracked
down at around 4:15 am.
The zoo was expected
to reopen around noon.
"The
professionalism of the wildlife teams at the Paris zoo allowed for a happy
ending ... we are analysing the precise circumstances of the incident,"
the spokeswoman said.
The baboons remain
in the area of the "grand rocher", a landmark central mountain
inaccessible to the public at the zoo in the lush Vincennes area of the French
capital.
The breakout was
first noticed by a zoo worker, who saw the primates gathering in a service
corridor used by personnel
Mass call to rescue
EL’s zoo animals
Thousands of
wildlife lovers, many from Buffalo City, have signed a petition to rescue the
bears, lions, a tiger, wolves, a jaguar, chimpanzees and other animals at the
ailing 82-year-old East London zoo.
Paris zoo is
evacuated after around 50 baboons escape their enclosure
The biggest zoo in
Paris went into lockdown today after around 50 ‘large and potentially very
aggressive baboons’ escaped from their enclosures.
All were seen
running amok in the French capital’s Zoological Park, in the Vincennes woods,
soon after midday, but it is thought just four remain on the loose.
‘It’s not known how
they got out, but everything is being done to try and get them under control,’
said a source at the zoo, which opened in 1934.
‘The whole area has
been shut down, with only trained professionals involved in the security
operation.
Baby chimp makes
surprise arrival at Wingham Wildlife Park
The birth of a chimp
at Wingham Wildlife Park has surprised keepers - because the mum was on the
pill.
But they are hugely
excited by the new arrival 11 days ago, which is the first chimp born in Kent.
The troop of seven
chimps arrived at the park in October 2016 after a long campaign to bring them
to Wingham from a research centre in America where they had spent all their
lives.
Eight Humboldt
penguins arrive at Fakieh Aquarium
Fakieh Aquarium, one
of the popular attractions offered by Tarfeeh Fakieh, has proudly welcomed the
latest residents of Jeddah – eight Humboldt penguins who now live in their
beautiful penguin tank which opened to the public on Jan. 29.
“Everyone loves
these adorable birds and we are delighted to bring the first ever group of
penguins to Saudi Arabia,” said Zaki Sadayo, executive manager of the aquarium.
“After their long journey from Peru they are now happily settled in their new
home at Fakieh Aquarium where we care for them with love and affection, and
where they will delight children and adults alike with their irresistible
cuteness.”
At the unveiling of
the new penguin tank, Ms. Sara Al-Ghamdi, head of education at Fakieh Aquarium,
informed the attendees that the eight Humboldt penguins were born in Peru and
range in age from two to four years. Their previous home was the Parque Zoologico
de Huachipa, where they were cared by the zoo keepers since their birth.
Humboldt penguins
can live for 15 to 20 years and can grow as high as 70 cm and weigh from 3.5 to
6 kg. The species is native to South America, mainly to the coasts of Chile and
Peru. They have feathers that protect them from the weather and
Orcas can imitate
human speech, research reveals
High-pitched, eerie
and yet distinct, the sound of a voice calling the name “Amy” is unmistakable.
But this isn’t a human cry – it’s the voice of a killer whale called Wikie.
New research reveals
that orcas are able to imitate human speech, in some cases at the first
attempt, saying words such as “hello”, “one, two” and “bye bye”.
The study also shows
that the creatures are able to copy unfamiliar sounds produced by other orcas –
including a sound similar to blowing a raspberry.
Scientists say the
discovery helps to shed light on how different pods of wild killer whales have
ended up with distinct dialects, adding weight to the idea that they are the
result of imitation between orcas. The creatures are already known for their ability
to copy the movements of other orcas, with some reports suggesting they can
also mimic the sounds of bottlenose dolphins and sea lions.
Amid SeaWorld
lobbying, bill to ban orca breeding in Florida is killed
state bill to ban
orca breeding and future captivity in Florida was killed by a legislative
subcommittee, the Tampa Bay Times is reporting.
The Florida Orca
Protection Act, which aimed to turn into law what SeaWorld voluntarily adopted
in 2016, was pending in the House of Representative’s Natural Resources Public Lands Subcommittee but did not make the agenda of bills to be heard
Tuesday, the newspaper reported.
"This shouldn’t
be a controversial issue because it’s just making law out of what SeaWorld says
its corporate policy is," Animal Legal Defense Fund attorney Lindsay
Larris told the newspaper. "There’s no accountability. It should be the lawmakers
holding them accountable."
SeaWorld spokesman
Travis Claytor had said the Orlando-based company has already committed to end
orca breeding. “The legislation is unneeded and distracts from the great work
being done to positively impact Florida’s wildlife,” he said, according to the
Times.
SeaWorld had three
lobbyists regi
SeaWorld spurns orca
protection bill
SeaWorld Orlando has
worked hard to change its image in the wake of the "Blackfish"
documentary. Among those changes was the end of its orca breeding program.
However, as Channel
9’s Jamie Holmes has discovered, SeaWorld has lobbied against The Florida Orca
Protection Act, which would have made it a Florida law to permanently stop
whale breeding in captivity.
World’s oldest
flamingo dies aged 83 at Adelaide Zoo
At the ripe old age
of 83, the greater flamingo was put down on Friday morning after the bird's
quality of life had significantly deteriorated due to complications associated
with old age.
Known as Greater,
the flamingo – whose sex is unknown – arrived at the zoo in 1933 but records
are not clear whether it came from Cairo or Hamburg Zoo.
Giraffe Care Workshop
Activist demands
answers over death of Siberian tiger at zoo
Stop Global Warming
Association president Srisuwan Janya will file a petition to Prime Minister
General Prayut Chan-o-cha on Monday, demanding an inquiry into the Ubon
Ratchathani Zoo over the alleged delay in investigating the “unnatural death”
of a Siberian tiger.
Srisuwan said the
endangered tiger was killed after it ate food mixed with pesticides on April 13
last year but nobody at the zoo or the Zoological Park Organisation had
provided any information about the death. In fact, he alleged that they had
tried to cover it up.
Canned lion hunting
- a buffer against what?
Canned lion hunting
– SA Govt ‘Scientific Authority’ says
everything is awesome.
But even Safari Club
International has thrown PHASA and canned lion hunting under the bus – making
this insane Non-Detriment Finding ( NDF) largely irrelevant..
In government
Gazette No. 41393 published 23rd January
2018, the South African government Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) set out its non-detriment
findings (NDF) for the African lion.
This is of extreme
importance to the hunting industry since without an NDF, no lion hunts would
TRAINING FOR SCIENCE
How do seals and science intersect at the Alaska
SeaLife Center?
Through scientific
research training!
As a mammalogist at
ASLC, my responsibilities through our training program are to first train our
resident marine mammals for husbandry and veterinary care to ensure their
well-being, and second, to train the animals to cooperate in behaviors and
activities that support science.
Wellington Zoo
picked to help world zoos go green
False advertising on
sea turtle CT scanner costs S.C. Aquarium $400,000, lawsuit claims
A $443,000 CT
scanner for sea turtles that required no special shielding seemed like a good
deal at the time, but it didn’t turn out that way.
It wasn’t until the
room to house the scanner in the South Carolina Aquarium’s new Sea Turtle
Recovery Center was finished that staff found out they had been misled,
according to the suit filed Wednesday against Epica Medical Innovations and
parent company Epica International, maker of the Pegaso CT scanner.
In April 2015, the
staff was corresponding with an Epica sales representative about their scanner.
The diagnostic machine is d
In pursuit of the
tortoise smugglers
In February 2016,
Richard Lewis, a wildlife conservationist working in Madagascar, was contacted
by a veterinary clinic with an unusual request. “Someone went to a vet and
said: ‘Can you take a microchip out of a ploughshare?’” Lewis recalled. “So
they called us.”
The ploughshare
tortoise is one of the rarest tortoises on the planet: with fewer than 50
adults thought to be left in the wild, each one is worth as much as $50,000 on
the global exotic pet market. Like gold or ivory, their very rarity is part of
what drives smugglers’ interest. Lewis runs the Madagascar programme of the
Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, which operates a captive breeding site
where ploughshares are reared for more than a decade before being released into
the wild. Both buying and selling ploughshares, or keeping them as pets, is
illegal, and the breeding site is heavily defended, with barbed wire and
round-the-clock armed security. As a further measure against smuggling, the
organisation implants every ploughshare it encounters with a microchip. Anyone
hoping to remove the microchip is likely to be involved with tortoise
trafficking.
The Durrell Trust’s
staff vet met with the man a few days later. It turned out that he had five
ploughshares in total. As soon as the vet told him that what he was doing was
illegal, he disappeared. But the very next day, alerted by staff at Durrell, an
off-duty police officer was on hand at another clinic when the man tried once
again to have the microchip removed.
For Lewis, what
happened next was deeply dispiriting. “The person was arrested, went to court,
was found guilty, and gi
Subtropical
Paradise: A Conversation with Eric Stephens, Retired Director of Zoo Miami
Eric Stephens worked
at Zoo Miami for the first 35 years of its history, 17 of those as director. He
led the 324 acre zoo (the only one in the continental United States in a
subtropical climate) through immense growth. Among Stephens' accomplishments
were obtaining a $180 million bond, dramatically improving the zoo's attendance
and business operations, building the 27-acre Amazon and Beyond (a massive
departure from the zoo's previous habitats) and expanding the zoo's
conservation efforts. Here is his story.
Escaped small
mountain cat recaptured at Salt Lake City zoo
A small mountain cat
who escaped at a Salt Lake City zoo has been recaptured after two days on the
lam.
Zoo officials say
they used mice to lure the young Pallas’ cat named Mushu into a live trap late
Monday.
Hogle Zoo
spokeswoman Erica Hansen says in a statement that Mushu was holed up in a small
construction area near his enclosure, an ideal hiding spot for the elusive
creature.
The Pallas’ cat is
smaller than the average housecat and not dangerous. Mushu will be examined by
vets before he’s returned to his exhibit.
The Sunday-morning
disappearance mar
From the Newspaper
to the Indianapolis Prize: A Conversation with Paul Grayson, Executive Vice
President at the Indianapolis Zoo
Paul Grayson is the longest-tenured employee
of the Indianapolis Zoo and has been with the institution for its entire
history at its White River State Park location. Currently the zoo's Executive
Vice President, he has served in a variety of different roles and watched the
zoo evolve into a world-class institution at the forefront of conservation.
Here is history.
Can Israeli
scientists save Darwin’s finches?
Early discoveries
from these tiny songbirds, which measure no bigger than a sparrow, are credited
for having helped Charles Darwin develop his theory of evolution by natural
selection. Now, 11 of the 13 finch species found in the Galápagos are in danger
of extinction due to a parasitic fly’s fatal impact on the populations.
A research team from
the Hebrew University’s Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and
Environment is embarking next week on an expedition to the islands to help save
the iconic birds that have become the Galápagos’ symbol.
Hong Kong votes to
ban ivory sales one month after China embargo comes into force
Hong Kong has voted
to ban the trade of ivory in a landmark decision after years of campaigning.
Politicians voted in
favour of amending an existing law to outlaw sales of ivory in the Chinese
territory by 2021.
The proposal also
includes significantly stiffer penalties for the smuggling of ivory and other
highly endangered species to deter black market sales.
Researchers say Hong
Kong is the world’s largest ivory market.
Did human-chimp
hybrid ever exist? Scientist claims 'humanzee' was born in lab before being
killed by panicked doctors
A renowned scientist
has made a sensational claim that almost 100 years ago, a human-chimp hybrid
was created in a lab in the US - before later being killed by panicked doctors.
Evolutionary
psychologist Gordon Gallup claims his former university professor confirmed
that a successful 'humanzee' experiment occurred in Orange Park, Florida in the
1920s.
It would mean that a
female chimp was artificially inseminated with human sperm, before successfully
falling pregnant with a half-human, half ape child.
Gallup told The Sun
: "They inseminated a female chimpanzee with human semen from an
undisclosed donor and claimed not onl
BORTH WILD ANIMAL
KINGDOM - Statement on Facebook Page
We apologise for
being quiet on social media lately, but we have been working day and night for
the whole of January on improvements to the zoo. The mood since the new year
has been a lot more positive as we work towards tackling the many problems that
were highlighted in our inspection last November.
As you may have
heard we were given 120 conditions, or faults that need to be addressed, on our
license which is the most any zoo in the UK has ever been given. Well in the
past few months we have met or are working towards meeting 119 of those
conditions. Some are minor, such as keeping the petrol can for the quad bike in
a locked shed, rather than behind a locked gate, some are major such as
updating the electrics (so far two thirds of the entire site have been
completely rewired).
Practical work has
been carried out on every single enclosure to make sure they are fit for
purpose. Our focus has been on safety and animal welfare rather than cosmetic
improvements, so we have put in new double door systems for the keepers and
climbing apparatus for the animals with lots of enrichment to keep them busy.
Lots of rusty wire and rotten wood has been ripped out and replaced. Much of
what we have had to address has been record keeping and paperwork. Our staff
have always been dedicated to the care of the animals, but we have brought in a
new, highly experienced managerial team to teach them about modern zoo
protocols and how to document everything. We are confident that we will meet
all 119 of those 120 conditions.
The only condition
that we are contesting is number 80, the recommended removal of our category
one animals. This refers to our cats, crocodiles, large snakes and monkeys. We
believe this was judged on the basis that Tracy and Dean as managers did not have
enough experience with these animals to give them the specialist care they
require. Maybe they were right, but we have always had the animals’ welfare as
our main concern. Not only have we brought in new experienced managerial staff
we have also been consulting with many industry experts at other zoos on best
practice. Our current enclosures have all been given a makeover, but we will be
building new, much bigger enclosures for our animals when we open access to the
hill in the near future and we want to make sure they are the best we can
possibly make them.
The appeal hearing
date has been set for 27th April but before that we have a pre-trial review on
the 22nd March to assess the evidence and study expert witness statements. We
are hoping that by that date we have enough evidence to prove that we addressed
any concerns that Ceredigion Council may have with our establishment and it
doesn’t have to go any further. We hope to work in partnership with the council
and create a suitable home for these animals that is safe and secure and that
we can all be proud of.
We continue to be
closed at the moment while we finish some of our refurbishment work, but we do
intend to complete it and reopen on Saturday 17th February in time for half
term. We are sorry for any inconvenience, but I hope you will like the changes
we have made when you next visit.
Animal Trainers Are
Key to Argentine Zoo’s New Mission
Personal trainers
not only work in gymnasiums – they’re also on duty at zoos where they keep the
animals in good condition and ease their move to new environments that give the
wild creatures a new sense of freedom, a vital aspect in the renovation of the
Buenos Aires Ecopark.
Close to 100
trainers are supervised by the Animal Behavior Sector, which in the case of
Ecopark – one of the most popular zoos in the country – is coordinated by Maria
Eugenia Dahdah.
In an interview with
EFE, the Argentine specialist said it’s essential to get the animals used to
the presence of veterinarians, to the food they are given and to their
enclosures as part of the new mission of this zoo with its 100-year history.
Since 2016, this zoo
spanning 16.7 hectares (41 acres) has been reconstructing much of its area and
restoring historic monuments on its grounds to make it more suitable for animal
life and send its vis
Architect of Animal
Experiences: A Conversation with Gerry Creighton, Operations Manager, Animals
and Grounds and Elephant Program Manager at the Dublin Zoo
Dublin Zoo has evolved into a leader in animal
wellness and modernization among European zoos. Having its origins in 1831 as a
Victorian zoo, many enclosures were extremely dated and in desperate need of
help when Gerry Creighton started working as a member of the Animal Care Team
in 1985. “The Irish government stepped in during the 1990s and gave us
financial support and provision of additional land in Phoenix Park” Creighton
recalled. “Now, it’s one of the most progressive zoos in Europe. We have very
high standards of animal care and our habitats are some of the finest you’ll
see. The people of Ireland have taken the zoo to their hearts [as] they
appreciate these habitats where the animals can express specific species
behaviors. We have reached 1.2 million visitors per year, with the population
of Ireland less than five million. The zoo is a real part of Irish society.”
Pandasia: the
revitalisation of Ouwehands Zoo
How a radical
redesign – and Xing Ya and Wu Wen, the giant pandas – transformed the Ouwehands
Zoo into a thriving attraction and a centre for conservation.
Robin de Lange is
the Director of Ouwehands Zoo in Rhenen, in the Dutch province of Utrecht. He spoke to Blooloop about how the zoo has
turned from a struggling attraction into a huge success. He also discussed its conservation
initiatives and the exciting arrival of giant pandas Xing Ya and Wu Wen from
China.
Robin de Lange’s
background is in marketing and management. He first worked as marketing manager
for Duinrell, an amusement park based in Wassenaar, The Netherlands. Then,
fourteen years ago, he joined Ouwehands Zoo as Director.
CCTV captures
elephant's jumbo crossing
How drones are being
used to protect the Amazon's dolphins
The drone is
hovering above the Amazon river, but its battery is running low. André Coelho,
the chief pilot, steers it back to safety with skills perfected by playing
video games. Long hours practising on Need for Speed have become a surprising
asset in the effort to conserve the dolphins that live in the river.
Marcelo Oliveira, a
conservation specialist at WWF Brazil, stands on the bow of the boat with arms
aloft. He plucks the white drone from the air, changes the battery, and swiftly
sends it back into the sky.
How illegal wildlife
trade decimated Nigeria’s vultures
At a market in
Ibadan there are some fifty women selling both dead and live vultures, and they
are part of a growing ring of bird merchants. Unknown to many, international
vulture routes criss cross Nigeria, conveying vulture eggs, heads and feathers
to eager patrons, who then pass them on to the traders, the next link in the
chain. But the bird has been prohibited from any form of sale or usage by
CITES, the convention on international trade in endangered species. Yet, in
many markets across Nigeria the vulture is openly, sometimes secretly, sought,
sold and bargained for, despite the fact that the country has an endangered
species act.
Holding lions,
conservation and Brand South Africa captive
Earlier this year,
officials in the state of Florida, USA introduced legislation to ban the
captive breeding of orcas as well as the keeping of them for entertainment
purposes. Seen as a necessary and progressive step in line with our greater
understanding of wild species, this move follows on from California
successfully passing similar legislation in 2016.
It is against this
backdrop that it’s worth reviewing South Africa’s current situation with
regards to lion breeding and the commercial exploitation of these animals.
It’s been almost
three years since the release of the feature documentary Blood Lions, and its
global campaign to bring awareness around the issues portrayed in the film.
Done in partnership with numerous local and international agencies, the film
and campaign aims to do for lions what Blackfish has done for orcas.
To date, these
efforts have brought numerous successes, at times way beyond initial
expectations, and for this we owe huge thanks to all these committed partners.
However, there is much work that remains as the indiscriminate breeding
continues and thousands of predators remain on farms or i
Tail-fin first: See
a baby dolphin born at a Swedish zoo
Watch the tail-fin
slowly emerge from his mother Fenah, as the third generation of dolphins is
born at Sweden's Kolmården zoo.
The baby, who has
yet to be named, was born on January 4th at Sweden's biggest zoo, which is two
hours' drive south of Stockholm.
"He's
practising using his fins, swinging from side to side and steering
himself," zookeeper Filip Johansson said in a statement.
"Those first
weeks in a dolphin calves lives are critical. We can thank our expertise and
experience that further animals in our care have one again had a successful
birth."
The calf was just
one meter long at birth, and weighed just 15kg. When fully grown he will weight
more than 200kg.
Dolphins raised in
captivity will soon get a new, more natural home
The National
Aquarium in Baltimore is re-examining what counts as humane when it comes to
the life of its dolphins. Facing increased disillusionment over such
spectacles, the aquarium plans to move its dolphins to an enclosed outdoor
sanctuary that mimics a natural environment. How much can change for dolphins
that were raised in captivity? Science correspondent Miles O’Brien reports.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/dolphins-raised-in-captivity-will-soon-get-a-new-more-natural-home
Realistic venomous
snake bite emergency exercise at John Ball Zoo
John Ball Zoo's
venomous reptile keepers, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
students and professionals from Spectrum Health teamed up Thursday, Jan. 25,
for a venomous snake bite emergency exercise.
Over 80
professionals from the three institutions combined their skills for the
five-hour simulation. A combination of simulated human patients, computer
controlled manikins, along with human actors helped re-create symptoms of a
venomous bite.
The collaborative
drills were an excellent opportunity for the zoo staff, medical students and
professionals to gain experience in the emergency of handling venomous snake
bites.
"There's
actually about 5,000 to 8,000 snake bites a year in the united states,"
said Bryan Judge, whi is a medical toxicologist and emergency medical phys
4 Months After Zoo’s
Release, 11 Endangered ‘Alalā Thriving in Hawaii
You usually hear
them before you see them. There’s no mistaking the loud and often synchronized
cacophony of caws from 11 ‘Alalā, also known as Hawaiian Crows, released into a
Hawai‘i Island Natural Area Reserve last fall.
These birds, seven
young males and four young females, represent what conservationists hope is the
beginning of a recovered population of this critically endangered Hawaiian crow
on the island.
‘Alalā have been
extinct in the wild since 2002. Since the birds took flight from a remote
forest aviary in September and October 2017, they have been under the daily,
watchful eye of a monitoring team from San Diego Zoo Global.
In partnership with
the Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service and others, San Diego Zoo Global reared the ‘alalā at its
Hawai‘i Endangered Bird Conservation Program centers on the Big Island and on
Maui.
The ‘alalā are
tracked daily by researchers monitoring signals from the lightweight radio
transmitters each bird wears, as well as watching them with the naked eye or
through binoculars. Their movements, their flights, what they eat, where they
roost, their behaviors and virtually everything else about these birds is
closely monitored and carefully recorded. Of high interest to all the folks
involved in The ‘Alalā Project is how the birds individually and collectively
react to threats from predators. An initial release of ‘alalā in 2016 was
halted and surviving birds were brought back into captivity after two were
attacked by another native bird—their natural predator, the ‘Io or Hawaiian
hawk. Prior to their release, the birds now living in the Pu‘u Maka‘ala NAR
received extensive anti-predator training.
Paris zoo reopens
after last truant baboons found
Paris's main zoo was
set to reopen Saturday after the last of around 50 baboons who had escaped from
their enclosure were found overnight, the zoo authorities said.
A spokeswoman for
the National Museum of Natural History said two females and a baby were tracked
down at around 4:15 am.
The zoo was expected
to reopen around noon.
"The
professionalism of the wildlife teams at the Paris zoo allowed for a happy
ending ... we are analysing the precise circumstances of the incident,"
the spokeswoman said.
The baboons remain
in the area of the "grand rocher", a landmark central mountain
inaccessible to the public at the zoo in the lush Vincennes area of the French
capital.
The breakout was
first noticed by a zoo worker, who saw the primates gathering in a service
corridor used by personnel
Mass call to rescue
EL’s zoo animals
Thousands of
wildlife lovers, many from Buffalo City, have signed a petition to rescue the
bears, lions, a tiger, wolves, a jaguar, chimpanzees and other animals at the
ailing 82-year-old East London zoo.
Paris zoo is
evacuated after around 50 baboons escape their enclosure
The biggest zoo in
Paris went into lockdown today after around 50 ‘large and potentially very
aggressive baboons’ escaped from their enclosures.
All were seen
running amok in the French capital’s Zoological Park, in the Vincennes woods,
soon after midday, but it is thought just four remain on the loose.
‘It’s not known how
they got out, but everything is being done to try and get them under control,’
said a source at the zoo, which opened in 1934.
‘The whole area has
been shut down, with only trained professionals involved in the security
operation.
Baby chimp makes
surprise arrival at Wingham Wildlife Park
The birth of a chimp
at Wingham Wildlife Park has surprised keepers - because the mum was on the
pill.
But they are hugely
excited by the new arrival 11 days ago, which is the first chimp born in Kent.
The troop of seven
chimps arrived at the park in October 2016 after a long campaign to bring them
to Wingham from a research centre in America where they had spent all their
lives.
Eight Humboldt
penguins arrive at Fakieh Aquarium
Fakieh Aquarium, one
of the popular attractions offered by Tarfeeh Fakieh, has proudly welcomed the
latest residents of Jeddah – eight Humboldt penguins who now live in their
beautiful penguin tank which opened to the public on Jan. 29.
“Everyone loves
these adorable birds and we are delighted to bring the first ever group of
penguins to Saudi Arabia,” said Zaki Sadayo, executive manager of the aquarium.
“After their long journey from Peru they are now happily settled in their new
home at Fakieh Aquarium where we care for them with love and affection, and
where they will delight children and adults alike with their irresistible
cuteness.”
At the unveiling of
the new penguin tank, Ms. Sara Al-Ghamdi, head of education at Fakieh Aquarium,
informed the attendees that the eight Humboldt penguins were born in Peru and
range in age from two to four years. Their previous home was the Parque Zoologico
de Huachipa, where they were cared by the zoo keepers since their birth.
Humboldt penguins
can live for 15 to 20 years and can grow as high as 70 cm and weigh from 3.5 to
6 kg. The species is native to South America, mainly to the coasts of Chile and
Peru. They have feathers that protect them from the weather and
Orcas can imitate
human speech, research reveals
High-pitched, eerie
and yet distinct, the sound of a voice calling the name “Amy” is unmistakable.
But this isn’t a human cry – it’s the voice of a killer whale called Wikie.
New research reveals
that orcas are able to imitate human speech, in some cases at the first
attempt, saying words such as “hello”, “one, two” and “bye bye”.
The study also shows
that the creatures are able to copy unfamiliar sounds produced by other orcas –
including a sound similar to blowing a raspberry.
Scientists say the
discovery helps to shed light on how different pods of wild killer whales have
ended up with distinct dialects, adding weight to the idea that they are the
result of imitation between orcas. The creatures are already known for their ability
to copy the movements of other orcas, with some reports suggesting they can
also mimic the sounds of bottlenose dolphins and sea lions.
Amid SeaWorld
lobbying, bill to ban orca breeding in Florida is killed
state bill to ban
orca breeding and future captivity in Florida was killed by a legislative
subcommittee, the Tampa Bay Times is reporting.
The Florida Orca
Protection Act, which aimed to turn into law what SeaWorld voluntarily adopted
in 2016, was pending in the House of Representative’s Natural Resources Public Lands Subcommittee but did not make the agenda of bills to be heard
Tuesday, the newspaper reported.
"This shouldn’t
be a controversial issue because it’s just making law out of what SeaWorld says
its corporate policy is," Animal Legal Defense Fund attorney Lindsay
Larris told the newspaper. "There’s no accountability. It should be the lawmakers
holding them accountable."
SeaWorld spokesman
Travis Claytor had said the Orlando-based company has already committed to end
orca breeding. “The legislation is unneeded and distracts from the great work
being done to positively impact Florida’s wildlife,” he said, according to the
Times.
SeaWorld had three
lobbyists regi
SeaWorld spurns orca
protection bill
SeaWorld Orlando has
worked hard to change its image in the wake of the "Blackfish"
documentary. Among those changes was the end of its orca breeding program.
However, as Channel
9’s Jamie Holmes has discovered, SeaWorld has lobbied against The Florida Orca
Protection Act, which would have made it a Florida law to permanently stop
whale breeding in captivity.
World’s oldest
flamingo dies aged 83 at Adelaide Zoo
At the ripe old age
of 83, the greater flamingo was put down on Friday morning after the bird's
quality of life had significantly deteriorated due to complications associated
with old age.
Known as Greater,
the flamingo – whose sex is unknown – arrived at the zoo in 1933 but records
are not clear whether it came from Cairo or Hamburg Zoo.
Giraffe Care Workshop
October 1 – 5, 2018
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Colorado Springs, CO USA
Join us for this exciting workshop that aims to create a community of giraffe professionals who leave the conference committed and empowered to continually improve giraffe welfare, both in situ and ex situ.
The workshop will be a hands-on, exciting new way to learn about giraffe. While there will be some lecture material throughout the week, most of the time will be spent allowing attendees the chance to gain valuable experience participating in roundtable discussions, hoof trimming demonstrations, operant conditioning techniques, and more!
The workshop will focus on areas where Cheyenne Mountain Zoo staff currently has strengths. Attendees will be split into groups to move through the various giraffe-specific modules. Participants will gain knowledge and experience in the following topics: training, browse, hoof care, conservation, teamwork, roadblocks, enrichment and guest/giraffe interactions.
http://www.cmzoo.org/index.php/giraffe-care-workshop/
*****************************************************
Join us for this exciting workshop that aims to create a community of giraffe professionals who leave the conference committed and empowered to continually improve giraffe welfare, both in situ and ex situ.
The workshop will be a hands-on, exciting new way to learn about giraffe. While there will be some lecture material throughout the week, most of the time will be spent allowing attendees the chance to gain valuable experience participating in roundtable discussions, hoof trimming demonstrations, operant conditioning techniques, and more!
The workshop will focus on areas where Cheyenne Mountain Zoo staff currently has strengths. Attendees will be split into groups to move through the various giraffe-specific modules. Participants will gain knowledge and experience in the following topics: training, browse, hoof care, conservation, teamwork, roadblocks, enrichment and guest/giraffe interactions.
http://www.cmzoo.org/index.php/giraffe-care-workshop/
*****************************************************
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New Meetings and Conferences updated Here
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
Vacancies in Zoos and Aquariums and Wildlife/Conservation facilities around the World
*****
About me
After more than 49 years working in private, commercial and National zoos in the capacity of keeper, head keeper and curator Peter Dickinson started to travel. He sold house and all his possessions and hit the road. He has traveled extensively in Turkey, Southern India and much of South East Asia before settling in Thailand. In his travels he has visited well over 200 zoos and many more before 'hitting the road' and writes about these in his blog http://zoonewsdigest.blogspot.com/
or on Hubpages http://hubpages.com/profile/Peter+Dickinson
Peter earns his living as an independent international zoo consultant, critic and writer. Currently working as Curator of Penguins in Ski Dubai. United Arab Emirates. He describes himself as an itinerant zoo keeper, one time zoo inspector, a dreamer, a traveler, an introvert, a people watcher, a lover, a thinker, a cosmopolitan, a writer, a hedonist, an explorer, a pantheist, a gastronome, sometime fool, a good friend to some and a pain in the butt to others.
"These are the best days of my life"
Peter Dickinson
Independent International Zoo Consultant
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
Vacancies in Zoos and Aquariums and Wildlife/Conservation facilities around the World
*****
About me
After more than 49 years working in private, commercial and National zoos in the capacity of keeper, head keeper and curator Peter Dickinson started to travel. He sold house and all his possessions and hit the road. He has traveled extensively in Turkey, Southern India and much of South East Asia before settling in Thailand. In his travels he has visited well over 200 zoos and many more before 'hitting the road' and writes about these in his blog http://zoonewsdigest.blogspot.com/
or on Hubpages http://hubpages.com/profile/Peter+Dickinson
Peter earns his living as an independent international zoo consultant, critic and writer. Currently working as Curator of Penguins in Ski Dubai. United Arab Emirates. He describes himself as an itinerant zoo keeper, one time zoo inspector, a dreamer, a traveler, an introvert, a people watcher, a lover, a thinker, a cosmopolitan, a writer, a hedonist, an explorer, a pantheist, a gastronome, sometime fool, a good friend to some and a pain in the butt to others.
"These are the best days of my life"
Peter Dickinson
Independent International Zoo Consultant
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