Thursday, March 28, 2019

Zoo News Digest 28th March 2019 (ZooNews 1013)

Zoo News Digest 28th March 2019  (ZooNews 1013)


elvinhow@gmail.com

 

Dear Colleague,


I really wonder about Kerala: Safari park planned to rehabilitate stray tigers It's a nice idea but surely it is not the answer? It is a very temporary reprieve. There are just too many tigers in a small area of forest. There will be a continual force out of the old, sick and injured to the perimeter where they will become a problem.

The recent elephant losses are a tragedy. I do hope we come up with a cure in the near future.




"good zoos will not gain the credibility of their critics until they condemn the bad zoos wherever they are." Peter Dickinson


Lots of interest follows. 


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Did You Know?
ZooNews Digest has over 109,000+ Followers on Facebook( and over 109,000 likes) and has a weekly reach often exceeding over 350,000 people? That ZooNews Digest has subscribers in over 900 Zoos in 155+ 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,
not DYSFUNCTIONAL zoos.
********
*****
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Top Brazilian award for Qatar's Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation
The Brazilian government, through its embassy in Doha, has awarded the Order of Rio Branco to Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation on Sunday for helping preserve, breed, and save the Brazilian ‘little blue macaw’ from extinction.

The species, also known as the Spix’s macaw, was popularised by animated film ‘Rio’ in 2011 and has been considered officially extinct in the wild since 2000.

But today, about 130 of these birds are being taken care of in private institutions in Qatar, Germany and Brasil where they have been able to breed and multiply in safety.

“We are very proud and honoured to say that this is the very first time that the Brazilian government bestowed such award to a Qatari institution. We have already awarded some Qatari citizens but not a Qatari organisation,” said Brazilian ambassador Roberto Abdalla who handed over the award to Sheikh Hamad bin Saoud al-Thani, who owns Al Wabra.


A Contract Dispute at the Zoo Turns into a Night at the Opera
Dane County, Wisconsin, is moving forward to replace the Henry Vilas Zoological Society (HVZS), its fundraising and grounds operating partner for the last 103 years, having decided to part ways during a long antagonistic negotiating process. Still, some remain skeptical about whether or not the nonprofit divorce is the right move.

The shift has been said to have been sparked by a review of the zoo itself, which is run by the county, by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). Though the review did raise concerns about future accreditation, HVZS’s zoological vice chair Amy Supple said “the AZA has never mentioned an issue with the nonprofit’s grounds operation or fundraising.”



Animal emotions film raises awareness of Zoo welfare issues
An animal welfare charity has released a film about animal emotions, that delivers simple messaging about good animal welfare and what wild animals held in captivity need to be happy and healthy.

UK-based zoo animal welfare charity Wild Welfare, has released Imagine If, an animated film that discusses animal emotions and asks viewers to imagine if they were a zoo animal, what they might feel.

Very conservative estimates indicate the number of animals held in zoos worldwide exceeds 2.5 million1. Wild Welfare believes that every zoo’s responsibility is to ensure their animals live lives worth living and has produced the short film to raise awareness of some of the current welfare issues facing zoo animals globally.



Jane Goodall sees 'change for the good' as zoos improve conditions for animals
Renowned nature conservationist Jane Goodall, during her visit to the Phoenix Zoo Tuesday, said she has seen a lot of change in zoos throughout the years and has hope for the future of such facilities.

"In my 85 years, I have seen change for the good," Goodall said.

Goodall, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and a United Nations Messenger of Peace, thanked audience members, who were Arizona Center for Nature Conservation trustees and select guests, for their collaboration in making a difference for animals and visitors of the zoo.



Lying, sitting or standing: Resting postures determined by animals' size
Why do we never see cows lying on their sides in fields? In ruminants such as cows, sheep, antelopes, deer and giraffes, the bits of food in the stomach that need to be chewed again are sorted using gravity. In order for the process to work smoothly at all times, the stomach has to stay in the same position relative to gravity whether the animal is standing or lying down. That's the reason why cows always lie on their chests and almost never on their sides. It was therefore assumed that animals that digest food in a different way would be more likely to lie on their sides. To investigate the connection between digestive systems and resting postures in more detail, researchers from the University of Zurich observed 250 mammals in zoos in more than 30,000 rest phases.



 www.zoolex.org in March 2019

~°v°~  ~°v°~  ~°v°~  ~°v°~  ~°v°~

Hello ZooLex Friend,
We have worked for your enjoyment!

               ~°v°~

NEW EXHIBIT PRESENTATION

Gorilla Rainforest at Dublin Zoo is home to a breeding group of Western 
lowland gorillas and a male group of red-capped mangabeys. About 200 
plant species in their outdoor exhibit provide forage, cover, outlook, 
enrichment, shade, shelter, screening, colour, structure and an 
impression of a natural habitat.

http://www.zoolex.org/gallery/show/670/

               ~°v°~

SPANISH TRANSLATION

Thanks to Eduardo Díaz García we are able to offer the Spanish 
translation of the previously published presentation of "European Otter" 
at Animal Park Goldau in Switzerland.

https://www.zoolex.org/gallery/show/1895/

                      ~°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: https://www.zoolex.org/page/about/


'Destructive’ vultures invade central Pa. once again - this time at Hershey’s ZooAmerica
“Historically, the black vultures were limited to the southeast part of the country,” said Matt Rice, staff wildlife biologist with the USDA Pennsylvania Wildlife Services program. “Over the past few decades - really more specifically in central Pennsylvania over the past five years - we’ve seen a large increase in numbers, and with that, the number of calls we get in terms of damage and conflicts.”

While previous calls to Rice’s office have been everything from individual homeowners or restaurants to boroughs and townships, this year they received a call from ZooAmerica.

Thus far at ZooAmerica, the conflict comes from the vultures competing with the zoo animals for the food left for them by zoo staff. Representatives for ZooAmerica were



Joe Exotic's jury shown his online death threats
The jury Tuesday in a murder-for-hire trial saw more than a dozen videos and Facebook posts of Joe Exotic threatening to kill his chief critic, Florida animal sanctuary operator Carole Baskin.

Baskin told jurors she took the "onslaught" of threats seriously, keeping a gun beside her bed at night and getting a concealed carry permit to take it with her to work.

"I felt like my life was in danger," she said. "I believe that he blames me for everything that's gone wrong in his life."






Saving the ‘Asian Unicorns’: How do you protect what you can’t see?
There’s a mysterious creature lurking in the misty mountains of Southeast Asia. It has the body of a large deer, the horns of an antelope and the ability to turn invisible.

Okay, the animal known as the saola (pronounced SOW-la) can’t really turn invisible, but sometimes it feels that way to people trying to protect saolas. Scientists didn’t even know saolas existed until 1992, even though the animals are quite big and can weigh up to 200 pounds!

“It may be the largest animal in the world that’s never been seen in the wild by a biologist,” said Bill Robichaud, a scientist who works to save animals from extinction with an organization known as Global Wildlife Conservation, or GWC for short.



‘ABANDONED’: Zoo in Spain slammed as bears and tiger left in ‘sad state’ after it suddenly closed
TWO bears, a tiger, four baboons, fallow deer and some other animals have been ‘abandoned in a sad state’ in the south of Spain after a zoo suddenly closed its doors to the public more than two months ago.

The animal charity Proyecto Gran Simio (Great Ape Project) has now denounced the zoo to Seprona, the animal welfare branch of the Guardia Civil, for the ‘chaotic situation’ after the municipal authorities closed the Navarro Zoo in Ayamonte (Huelva).

The charity claims that there are still animals at the zoo that are being kept in bad conditions and without the authorities knowing what they should do with them.
https://www.euroweeklynews.com/2019/03/27/abandoned-zoo-in-spain-slammed-as-bears-and-tiger-left-in-sad-state-after-it-suddenly-closed/#.XJt5C5gzY2w


Citizen moves court against Lahore Zoo for not acquiring new elephant
The Lahore High Court on Tuesday heard a petition against the Lahore Zoo for not keeping an elephant for last two years, ARY News reported.

According to details, a citizen named Mohammad Fawad Mughal filed a petition in the Lahore High Court, in which he maintained that the lone female elephant of the zoo, Suzi, had died two years ago.

The petitioner held the view that the Lahore zoo was frequented by people from far-flung areas, who came here to marvel at the rare animals.



Joe Exotic played along with set-up attempt, attorney says
Cat breeder Joe Exotic already had been planning to leave behind the zoo he founded when new owner Jeff Lowe and a "hapless crony"of Lowe tried to set him up, his attorney told jurors Monday.

"He had had it, he was ready to go and he started unloading his inventory," assistant federal public defender Bill Earley said in an opening statement at the former gubernatorial candidate's murder-for-hire trial.

He had even "cozied up" to his longtime nemesis, PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, as part of his extra strategy from the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, the attorney said.



The Benefits of Zoos and Aquariums
For today’s post, I have decided to tackle the benefits of zoos and aquariums. I was prompted to write this article when I saw The Rocks recent Instagram post of him posing with a sea lion. The comment section of this post was upsetting, to say the least, there were a few supportive voices saying it was a nice picture, but the loudest voices on the post were saying things like “OMG stop supporting captivity…. you have the influence to help them not encourage people to see them as strictly entertainment” and “Unfortunate that you choose to support captivity”. In today’s media, there are many loud voices calling for the shutdown of animal care facilities across the world, especially with social media platforms featuring contextless, education-less, anti-zoo content. I’m by no means saying that there is nothing wrong with zoo’s and aquariums, there are pros and cons to everything and since the cons seem to be widely understood and perpetuated, (whether they are true or false) in this article ill simply be going over the benefits of zoos and aquariums. Let’s start off by debunking some myths and misconceptions surrounding zoos and aquariums.



Without intervention, Iran will effectively make environmentalism a crime
Dr. Ladan Boroumand is the founder and research director of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation for Human Rights in Iran and the Omid Memorial Human Rights Library, and a Reagan-Fascell Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy. Irwin Cotler is an international human rights lawyer, former minister of justice and attorney-general of Canada, and longtime parliamentarian who currently chairs the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights.

A court in Tehran will soon decide whether trying to protect the environment is a capital offence in Iran.

Eight members of Iran’s most prominent environmental organization, the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation (PWHF), are being tried for simply conducting surveys of the endangered Asiatic cheetah. Four face the death penalty, including a British-Iranian-American citizen, while the rest face more than a decade in prison.

And it’s a trial that symbolizes a broader assault on environmentalism in Iran.



Financial planning required to keep elephants in zoos in the United Kingdom in accordance with the Secretary of State's Standards of Modern Zoo Practice for the next 30 years
In June 2017, the Secretary of State's Standards of Modern Zoo Practice (SSSMZP) were updated with an appendix relating specifically to elephants (Appendix 8.8: Elephants). This update was published to bring elephant management standards in line with recognized advancing best practice. All zoos in the UK holding elephants are inspected against the new appendix, in accordance with the Zoo Licensing Act 1981, by dedicated Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)‐appointed inspectors. Achieving the standards set out within the new appendix will require financial investment and careful planning from all the zoos holding elephants within the UK. At the time of writing, the annual cost of keeping a breeding group of elephants at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, UK, was calculated from data collected over the last 10 years and the financial investment required to achieve SSSMZP compliance was estimated. The commercial benefit that elephants bring to ZSL Whipsnade Zoo was also quantified using feedback from visitor surveys. The cost of keeping a breeding herd of elephants at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo was estimated at £593 021–£641 863 per year, excluding indirect staffing costs, ground rent and contributions made by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) to field‐conservation projects. Costs for achieving SSSMZP compliance will be considerably greater with substantial capital investment required. The commercial benefit was found to be extensive; with predicted significant increased visitor dwell time and secondary spend in the presence of elephants. Using ZSL Whipsnade Zoo as an example, this paper aims to consider holistically the financial costs when planning and implementing an optimum, welfare‐centred, sustainable future for elephants in zoos.



San Diego and giant pandas: A match made more than 30 years ago
San Diego's love for giant pandas has been a 30-year commitment.

Since 1987, when the zoo hosted two pandas (Basi and Yuan Yuan) for 200 days, San Diego has been enthralled with the giant black-and-white bears.

What would eventually follow would be a 12-year partnership with China's Wolong Panda Preserve to support research and conservation of the animal — and a local appetite as big as a panda's to see the animal up close.



Chester Zoo's baby elephant now showing symptoms of killer disease
Chester Zoo ’s two-year-old Asian elephant calf Indali Hi Way is now showing symptoms of a killer disease but continuing to respond well to treatment.

The result came up in one of three weekly blood tests meaning Elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV) was detected at the earliest possible moment.

Specialists remain hopeful Indali, described as ‘a little fighter’, will pull through.



Koalas should be given endangered listing, environment groups say
Koala populations on the Australian east coast have diminished to the extent the species should now be considered “endangered”, environment groups have said, amid concern that existing protection measures have failed to halt the creeping loss of critical habitat.

In south-east Queensland, once a stronghold for koala populations, habitat continues to be bulldozed through ineffective offset strategies, loopholes in development restrictions and poor planning for population growth, the groups said.



The Cat Who Single Handedly Rendered a Species Extinct
When humans and all they bring move into a new area of the planet, it’s hard to know what the impact will be on the local habitats. Even when we’re trying not to, human habitation can have a major impact on the land around them, influencing the local flora and fauna in unexpected ways. One excellent example of this phenomenon is that of the extinction of the Lyall’s wren.

According to New Zealand Birds Online, the entire species was both discovered and made extinct by a cat belonging to a lighthouse keeper.



FACT CHECKING NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC’S STATEMENTS ON CAPTIVE KILLER WHALES
With animals being well respected on this earth that we share with them, many people don’t give enough credit to places that dedicate their lives for these guys. SeaWorld has long been a victim of animal activists painting them as a bad picture for holding killer whales’ captive. National Geographic, a popular tv show that educates the public on animals, now is targeting SeaWorld’s treatment of orcas. It published an article called, “Why orcas don’t do well in captivity.” This kind of motive of theirs is nothing new, as the education tv show has connections with PETA, whose long-desired goals are to eliminate animals under human care. In this article though we will be fact-checking some of the information given in National Geographic’s article written about orcas under the theme park’s caring hands.

  
Giza Zoo: Zizi, the white rhino, dies at 54 years of age
25 March 2019: Giza Zoological Garden announced Sunday a white rhinoceros died at 54 years of age at Giza Zoo after it surpassed the usual life span of white rhinos, according to a statement published on the garden’s Facebook page.

Zizi, the rhino, arrived at Giza Zoo on October 22, 1983. White rhinos usually live to about 35 - 50 years of age.

The statement said that vets and workers at the zoo exerted all efforts and prepared food that fits its old age but could not save its life. Zizi was announced dead on Wednesday, March 20, 2019.



Joe Exotic’s Trial Begins
Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage, also known as "Joe Exotic," ran for governor as a Libertarian in 2018, but he is perhaps better known for operating a private petting zoo in Wynnewood, Oklahoma. This week he is on trial in Oklahoma City federal court for allegedly hiring two people to murder wildlife sanctuary owner Carole Baskin.

Baskin runs Big Cat Rescue in Florida, and she has been a vocal critic of Joe Exotic, who kept 1,400 animals, including over 150 tigers, on a sixteen acre property.

“A significant part of our mission has been to stop the mistreatment and exploitation of big cats at roadside zoos particularly those who rip tiger cubs from their mothers at birth to charge the public to pet and take photos with them,” Baskin said. “Maldonado ran, in my view, on



Mātauranga Māori and Western science: two worlds meet to save the one we have
In episode two of the Good Ancestors podcast, John Daniell and Noelle McCarthy look at the role of mātauranga Māori in conservation in New Zealand, and as an education tool at Auckland Zoo.
 The interconnectedness of everything is an essential concept in the Māori understanding of the world. Mātauranga Māori – the knowledge, and understanding of everything in our world – starts with Papatuanuku, the earth mother, and Ranginui, the sky father and that everything is related to them.  We are their uri, their children



Kerala: Safari park planned to rehabilitate stray tigers
Faced with the challenge of human-tiger conflicts, the Forest Department is contemplating a proposal to start a safari park to rehabilitate the captured  animals. Human-tiger conflicts are mostly reported from the fringes of the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, which is home to about 75 tigers. Close to other national wildlife sanctuaries like Nagarhole,  Bandipur and Mudumalai, the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary has the second largest tiger population in South India after Karnataka’s Bandipur Tiger Reserve.

This year alone, two tigers were captured from human habitations in Wayanad. While a 10-year-old female cat was caught from Noolpuzha mid-January, a 13-year-old male, that severely injured a forest watcher, was captured from Pulpally.  



Amy reports from Laos
Free the Bears was founded by Mary Hutton in 1995 to protect and preserve bears across Asia from the illegal wildlife trade. For decades poachers have killed or captured bears from the wild via hunting or snare traps to then sell the bears locally or smuggle them further abroad. In the 24 years since it was first established, Free the Bears has rescued hundreds of bears from poachers, exotic pet owners, or from people planning to use bear parts or the bear’s bile in traditional medicine. Over 220 of these bears (both Sun bears and Moon bears) are now cared for in sanctuaries established by Free the Bears in Cambodia, Vietnam, and where I am, in Laos.




A Shaping Plan; How To Build A Proper Plan
Training animals requires a lot of communication from both sides. We are not able to talk with our animals but we can build a language that will connect the animal and the trainer. Clear communication is important, to start, we need the animal to understand what a bridge means and have them see us as a positive. It may sound funny, but how are you able to train an animal that runs away from you?

With a bridge stimulus such as a whistle, clicker, another vocal sound or even a hand signal (Watch the presentation about A Deaf Killer Whale HERE) you can tell the animal that it did a good job and reached the criteria you have asked for. To be able to know what we ask for, we need to set a criteria to the behaviour. How do you know what the criteria is?



China reports H7N9 bird flu outbreak in Liaoning province
China reported an outbreak of a highly pathogenic strain of H7N9 bird flu at a zoo in northeastern Liaoning province, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said.

The virus, first detected in a flock of peacocks, infected and killed nine birds in the zoo in Jinzhou city, accordi


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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
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About me

After more than 50 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/

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 storyteller, 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"



photo 
Peter Dickinson
Independent International Zoo Consultant

Monday, March 25, 2019

Zoo News Digest 25th March 2019 (ZooNews 1012)

Zoo News Digest 25th March 2019  (ZooNews 1012)
American Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber)
Credit: @ajoebowan
instagram.com/ajoebowan/





Peter Dickinson

elvinhow@gmail.com

 

Dear Colleague,


I posted this link this week 'Exposed: Black Jaguar–White Tiger'. I will frequently post out Peta links in ZooNews Digest, not because I am in agreement with them, because I am not, but to share what they are up to. Forewarned is forearmed as they say. There was the usually flurry of comments, emails and private messages telling me what I should or should not post. This time there were less, presumably because most knowledgeable people working in Good Zoos are totally against what Eddie Serio and his Petacub show are up to. Condemnation needs to be spread far and wide. It was noticeable this time that some of those who objected had an alternative agenda.


"good zoos will not gain the credibility of their critics until they condemn the bad zoos wherever they are." Peter Dickinson


Lots of interest follows. 


*********

Did You Know?
ZooNews Digest has over 109,000+ Followers on Facebook( and over 109,000 likes) and has a weekly reach often exceeding over 350,000 people? That ZooNews Digest has subscribers in over 900 Zoos in 155+ 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,
not DYSFUNCTIONAL zoos.
********
*****
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New Observations of Meat Eating and Sharing in Wild Bonobos (Pan paniscus) at Iyema, Lomako Forest Reserve, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Bonobos (Pan paniscus) consume a variety of vertebrates, although direct observations remain relatively rare compared to chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). We report the first direct observations of meat eating and sharing among bonobos at Iyema, Lomako Forest, Democratic Republic of Congo. We collected meat consumption data ad libitum from June to November 2017 over 176.5 observation hours and conducted monthly censuses to measure the abundance of potential prey species. We observed 3 occasions of duiker consumption and found indirect evidence of meat consumption twice (n = 5). We identified the prey species as Weyn’s duiker (Cephalophus weynsi) in all 4 cases that we saw the carcass. This species was the most abundant duiker species at Iyema, but other potential prey species were also available. Meat sharing was observed or inferred during all 3 observations. However, the individual controlling the carcass frequently resisted sharing, and aggressive attempts to take the carcass were observed. This report contributes to a growing body of data suggesting that wild bonobos consume meat at higher rates than previously thought, female control of carcasses is frequent but not exclusive, and meat sharing in bonobos is primarily passive but not without aggression.
https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/496026


THE GREEN SCARE
JOE DIBEE’S 12 YEARS on the lam came to an end last August, when Cuban authorities detained the 50-year-old environmental activist during a layover in Havana and turned him over to the United States.

More than a decade earlier, police and FBI agents had arrested a dozen of Dibee’s associates in the Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front within the span of a few months. They were charged with conspiring to burn down factories that slaughtered animals for meat, timber mills that disrupted sensitive ecosystems, government facilities that penned wild horses, and a ski resort perched on a pristine mountaintop. Dibee, a former Microsoft software tester known for his ingenuity, had slipped away in the midst of it all.




  
Queensland Authorities faces strain to ban dolphin breeding at Sea World Gold Coast for good
An international not-for-profit animal welfare organisation is calling on the Queensland Government to ban captive dolphin breeding at Sea World on the Gold Coast for good.

World Animal Protection has launched a public petition which will later be presented to the Queensland Government.

“We want these dolphins at Sea World to be the last generation kept captive in Queensland. The acceptability of dolphin venues like this is on the way out,” Senior Campaign Manager for World Animal Protection Ben Pearson told nine.com.au.

  
Wildlife Alliance Annual Report 2018



Dolphins’ psychological trauma after being hunted for marine parks revealed in new research
Dolphins are being left traumatised by cruel hunting practices used to supply the international trade in marine mammals for water parks, scientists have warned.

As intelligent animals that many experts believe are capable of complex thoughts and even grief, conservationists say there is no place for the routine capture and slaughter of dolphins in Japan.

In the drive hunts that take place near the town of Taiji, dolphins and small whales are herded from the open sea using a fleet of fishing vessels.
  

Black Jaguar White Tiger
Excellent, common sense 2019 article, about how Black Jaguar White Tiger gets their cubs for celebrities and rich people to pet.  Read it now.

The first thing Pappa Bear fans need to know is why it is always cruel to post images of people petting big cats or their cubs.  See why here: Cubs

May 2, 2018  When clueless celebrities post photos of themselves posing with cubs, their fans let them know it’s a cruel, selfish and ignorant thing to do.  Katy Perry Angers Fans With Tiger Cub Selfies At least Katy Perry got the message and immediately removed the offending photo shoot she did at Eddie Serio’s Black Jaguar White Tiger cub mill.
  

Why not even one company is on track to meet 2020 deforestation pledges
lot of leafy promises were made this past decade. Declarations were signed. Celebratory headlines were written. The world’s chainsaws, you could be forgiven for presuming, were going to let up in unison by 2020 when hundreds of deforestation-free pledges would finally kick in.

One year from that deadline, UK-based non-profit Global Canopy had some less than laudatory news to share on the International Day of Forests, March 21. Not a single corporation is on track to deliver on their deforestation-free pledges.

There have been so many forest-saving announcements over the years it’s hard to keep track of them all. First came the big news of 2010 that 400+ companies in the Consumer Goods Forum would ensure that all their soy, palm oil, beef and pulp and paper would be zero net deforestation by 2020. Then, during a blue-sky day at a UN climate summit in September 2014, over 190 governments, companies (including Nestle, Kellogg’s and Cargill) and civil society organizations signed the New York Declaration on Forests with the goal of halving the loss of natural forests by 2020, striving to end it altogether by 2030. Amidst a lack of firm climate commitments, the forest declaration – while voluntary – felt fairly concrete, it felt good, it felt doable.

  
How 3-D Printed Smart Eggs are Saving the Kakapo
The Critically Endangered Kakapo, a beloved parrot endemic to New Zealand, has seen renewed breeding success thanks to innovative technologies.
The future of the vibrant, forest green Kakapo has long been uncertain, due to human-introduced invasive rats, stoats, and feral cats. However, thanks to 3-D printing technology, this year’s breeding season has surpassed everyone’s expectations. 

The Kakapo is one of the more peculiar species within the avian world. In fact, it is referred to by some as the owl parrot thanks to the owl-like and somewhat comical appearance of its wide beak. It’s goofy and cute appearance aside, it is also the only species of bird in the entire world which is both nocturnal and flightless. However, what makes it unique also puts
China demolishing hydro dams to protect endangered giant salamanders
Central China's Hunan Province has stopped operation of 34 hydropower plants and demolished 10 dams in the past two years in a key reserve of giant salamanders.

Municipal officials of Zhangjiajie, a popular tourist destination, said they planned to demolish most of the 88 hydropower plants, mainly small ones built before the establishment of the National Giant Salamander Nature Reserve.

There are 3,000 kilometers of rivers in the reserve, which was established in 1995 as a provincial level one but upgraded to national level in 1996.

"More and most of the dams will be demolished," said Hu Shenghu, head of the city's water conservancy bureau. "Only those that have flood control, irrigation and water supply functions will be retained."

Officials and conservationists have blamed the hydropower plants for blocking



Kingut crowned as world's oldest tapir at the age of 41 – and he's still loving life
A Malayan tapir called Kingut has been officially recognized as the oldest tapir in captivity at the grand old age of 41 years 45 days.
He has already far exceeded his species' typical life expectancy of 25–30 years – and, according to his keeper, is still very much "in good form" and "loving life". 

Europe's oldest moon bear has died at Dudley Zoo
Dudley Zoo's oldest moon bear died yesterday (21st March) at the grand old age of 38.
Inca continued to shock keepers at the zoo because she outlived her typical life expectancy by more than a decade.
She came to Dudley Zoo from Cumbria in 1990 with her mum and older sister.
The siblings were moved to Glasgow in 1997, before returning to Dudley in 2003 where they lived together until her sister's death 10 years ago.
Curator Richard Brown said: “As she got older she continued to astound keepers and veterinary staff year-on-year as she flew through annual health checks."
Inca thrived on her own and in her later year

Long-time zoo employee retiring after 30 years, leaves legacy in cheetah conservation
Jack Grisham has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the St. Louis Zoo.
“St. Louis has a rich tradition. At one time we had four zoos in St. Louis,” said Grisham, Vice President of Animal Collections at the St. Louis Zoo. “After the World’s Fair when the flight cage was built and the city bought that from the Smithsonian Institution, that was the catalyst to start the zoo in Forest Park.”
Grisham has called the St. Louis Zoo home for 31 years, so he knows a thing or two about the top tourist attraction to town. He’s spent more than 50 years working at zoos in Oklahoma City and the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington D.C., but Jack has been back in St. Louis for some time.

IUCN-TRAFFIC analyses of CoP 18 listing proposals

Sloths in the Water
Over and over again, animals have dipped their toes in the ocean and stayed. Reptiles did it multiple times, becoming majestic sea dragons like the ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs. Whales are an even more celebrated example. How cetaceans went from four-legged landlubbers to streamlined sea blubbers is an iconic example of transcendent evolutionary change. And then there are the giant sloths.
Reconstructed in museum fossil halls, the giant sloths of ages past look about as seaworthy as bricks. Their bones are large, bulbous, and stout, a sturdy framework to hold the immense weight of the herbivorous mammals that could weigh over four tonnes. And yet, in Peru and Chile, in strata between seven and three million years old, paleontologists have found a set of five sloth species, all from the genus Thalassocnus, that together illustrate how gian

Rattlesnake roundups are a southern tradition. They're also an ecological disaster.
Each year, Texas’s Sweetwater Jaycees—“the world’s largest rattlesnake roundup”—begins with a rattlesnake parade. There’s also a Miss Snake Charmer pageant, a snake eating contest, and awards for the most snakes by weight and the longest snake in the show. But the main event, held each year since 1958, is an guided hunt in pursuit of western diamondback rattlesnakes, which can be charmed, judged, killed, and sold.
Int he south, such a pastime is hardly peculiar: rattlesnake hunting dates dates back to the 1700s, when colonists tracked down and killed the reptiles in the hope of protecting human families from its venomous bite. Today, springtime round-ups are still held in many states, including Texas, Alabama, and Georgia. But in the past few decades, a growing body of evidence has shown that round-ups often do more harm than good.

Exposed: Black Jaguar–White Tiger
As people turn their backs on roadside zoos and circuses, captive-animal exhibitors are getting creative and slapping comforting words such as “sanctuary,” “rescue,” and “foundation” onto their names. But no matter how they dress it up, the cruelty and exploitation are the same. The Black Jaguar–White Tiger “Foundation” is one of the best at creating PR spin—and one of the worst at caring for animals.

Groundbreaking Study at Stanford Sequences Generic Tiger Genome
Stanford University’s Hadly Lab has been working with In-Sync Exotics in Wylie and additional Tigers In America sanctuaries to gather genetic samples from a number of generic tigers in order to understand and explore the relationship between the ‘pure’ genetic tiger species and those from tigers which are rescued by sanctuaries like In-Sync Exotics.
Pure sub-species are exemplified by the AZA Species Survival Plan (SSP) tigers (Amur, Sumatran and Malaysian) and the Bengal SSP which is managed by the Indian government. The AZA, the Indian government, and TIA are partners and contributors to this project.

From the Zoo to the Field: A Curator Charts Her Course
From the beginning of my career, I have been fortunate to have women mentors who have helped cultivate my interests and goals, and really shape the path that steered me to the leadership role I now hold as Assistant Curator of Mammals at the Bronx Zoo.
I developed an interest in primates at a young age, inspired by the work of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birute Galdikas, who first demonstrated that women could make significant contributions to conservation. I became determined to work with primates, and I knew that there was one place that would allow me to connect with these fascinating animals and provide me with the foundation necessary to pursue a career in this field: the zoo.

Night parrot finding in Australia not backed up by evidence
An Australian conservation group has been forced to retract published research on the discovery of an endangered bird.
In 2017, ecologist John Young claimed to have found traces of the night parrot, one of the world's rarest birds, in the state of South Australia.
His findings were published by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC).
But last year the evidence was called into question by other scientists.
On Friday, AWC - one of the largest conservation organisations in Australia - said it would retract his published research, after a probe found flaws.
Mr Young denies any wrongdoing, telling the Australian Broadcasting Corporation: "I have no interest in any criticism."
The night parrot had not been seen in decades,

China plans ‘landmark’ biodiversity talks
In 2020, delegates from nearly 200 countries will meet in the capital of Yunnan province, southwest China, to agree on a new framework to halt biodiversity loss and protect ecosystems. The talks will be crucial to restoring the planet’s health.
According to WWF, there has been a 60% decline in mammal, bird, fish, reptile and amphibian populations over the past 40 years. Another recent study that reviewed the evidence on biodiversity suggested that 40% of insects are threatened with extinction in the coming decades from habitat loss, intensive agriculture, pesticide use and climate change. In the Asia-Pacific region where fisheries are a key source of food, there may be no exploitable fish populations left by 2048 if current fishing practices continue.
In 2010, countries party to the Convention on Biological Diversity approved a 2011-2020 Strategic Plan for Biodiversity. As the talks were held in Aichi, Japan, the plan’s 20 overarching goals to end biodiversity loss and restore ecosystems are known as the Aichi targets.
It’s unlikely these targets will be met by 2020 so the talks in Kunming must find a new way forward.



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About me

After more than 50 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' (many more before that) and writes about these in his blog http://zoonewsdigest.blogspot.com/

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 storyteller, 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"



photo 
Peter Dickinson
Independent International Zoo Consultant