Monday, March 4, 2019

Zoo News Digest 3rd March 2019 (ZooNews 1007)

Zoo News Digest 3rd March 2019  (ZooNews 1007)
Driftwood - Tony Fredriksson -


Peter Dickinson

elvinhow@gmail.com

 

Dear Colleague,


First, my apologies for the delay. Many of you will be aware that I resigned my position with MAF in Dubai at the end of July 2018. I loved the work, the staff, the penguins and everyone in Ski Dubai. Happily MAF have retained me as a consultant and so I am able to visit and keep up with friends and acquaintances four or five times a year and am in almost daily contact. I am though, at the same time, available for short term zoo consultancy work anywhere in the world. With 50+ years of practical experience from keeper to curator in a wide variety of areas I am able to look at problems in a way that only years can bring. I also have the advantage of being able to travel nearly anywhere at very short notice. I know some of you will know of the discrete private consultancy work I have carried out over the last 30 plus years for zoos and aquaria, government departments, manufacturers and individuals.
Why leave Dubai? Well there were really a combination of reasons but first and foremost I left for love. All a bit complicated to explain and then my personal affairs are not really likely to be of interest to many.

I have moved back to Thailand which is a country I love. Initially I moved around a little looking for somewhere to settle. It didn't quite work out the way I had dreamed so in the end I returned to Pattaya. I know the city well and have friends here. It is a crazy beautiful place but it can be quiet too, all you have to do is find the right corner. If any of you are visiting Pattaya then send me a message and perhaps we can meet up for a coffee or even a beer. There is something for everyone here. Great for a family holiday.
Once I had found somewhere to stay my computer let me down. It froze up and still sits in the corner waiting to be fixed. The pity is there was so much on there that I no longer had access to that it has made life a touch difficult. Somehow I have been scraping by with my phone and laptop. Which I have slowly got used to.
I hope now I have got going that I will be able to stay on top of things. This issue is just a collection of recent links. Next mail out will be more up to date.




"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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The importance of zoos
Dominic Jermey, ZSL's Director General, explains why zoos like ZSL London Zoo play an important role in bringing wildlife back from the brink.  
Last week, four northern bald ibis bred at ZSL London Zoo travelled to Spain to be released into the wild, as part of a global conservation project for the Endangered
species. 

It’s exciting news, as the birds, which were once widespread across Europe, haven’t had a wild population on the continent since the 1700s.  

Quite rightly, we’re thrilled to be part of this project, which embodies one of ZSL’s core aims: bringing wildlife back from the brink.





The Other Zoo Menu
This last week there has been several links to what various zoos have been feeding their animals. These are always of interest to others for discussion and comparison.

It reminded me though of another zoo menu. Back in the latter part of 2005 Chiang Mai’s Night Safari was readying itself for opening.
Guests to the park’s Var



Vol 34, No 2 (2019): February





Oldest reticulated giraffe in U.S. dies at Knoxville
zoo

Patches, the oldest reticulated giraffe in the United States, was euthanized Thursday, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported. The 16-foot-tall giraffe, who has been at Zoo
Knoxville since 1987, was 31 and had been in declining health and was being
treated for arthritis, the newspaper reported.





Brit chimp rescued from pack of bully German rivals at
zoo is seeking comfort in the arms of the enclosure’s ‘cougar’ female

A BRITISH chimp rescued from a pack of bully German rivals has been pictured in the arms of his new girlfriend.

Bonobo Bili, ten, enjoyed an amorous moment with German ape Mahdeblu, who is eight years his senior.
The look on Bili's face is a world apart from that seen in shocking footage of him being attacked by a troop of aggressive German great apes at Wuppertal Zoo.

 At a previousencounter poor Bili even had a part of his ear bitten off by the German troop in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
 The repeated attacks on hapless Bili made news headlines across the world with animal lovers even gathering 300,000 sig



Zoo a world beater in elephant fertility
Zookeepers from all over the world are flying to Dublin to discover the secret to the remarkable fertility of its thriving elephant herd.

There are now a dozen elephants in Phoenix Park after the addition of nine calves in almost as many years.

The remarkable baby boom among the herd has keepers from all over the world arriving at the Irish zoo to find out how they have made giant footsteps in the care of one of the most loved creatures on the planet.

Dublin Zoo's head keeper, Gerry Creighton, has been as far as China, India and the US imparting their methods which have produced a contented herd with one of the biggest group of calves born so close together in a family-related herd outside of the wild.

He said: "Hundreds of keepers have visited from all over the world to see what we're doing and to take away the Dublin phil



RHINO RESOURCE CENTER – NEWSLETTER 54 – MARCH 2019

 ‘Flavia’ the elephant dies after 43 years in solitary confinement at Spanish zoo
A FEMALE elephant passed away on Friday 1 at Cordoba’s zoo after suffering a serious physical deterioration over the past six months.

The Cordoba town hall confirmed the death of the elephant, known as Flavia, after having spent 43 years in the capital’s zoo.

During a press conference, the town hall stated that Flavia’s passing came as a “hard hit” to the zoo and its keepers.

 Zoo collects 30,000 samples of bear poop
An Ohio zoo has become the repository for the world’s largest collection of polar bear poop as researchers work to create a pregnancy test to aid the survival of this threatened species.

The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens is storing 30,000 samples of fecal matter from the U.S. and Canada. It’s being studied by researchers at the zoo’s Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife.

Scientist Erin Curry says researchers are comparing compounds in fecal matter from females that are pregnant with those that aren’t in the hope of finding specific compounds that will help develop a pregnancy test.

Some poop mailed to the zoo can be downright flashy. Zoos with multiple females sprinkle glitter and dye on the samples to help identify whose poop is whose.

A loss of sea ice habitat has threatened the sp


https://aazk.org/animal-keepers-forum/









The conversation: Sumatran rhino sex
Sex. Good, old-fashioned S-E-X. More than 29,000 rhinos and 7.6 billion people walk the Earth because of it. Sex works, right? Parents’ nightmares of teenagers aside, one of the most basic instincts for all species is to reproduce.

Yet, despite their innate drive to have young, some rhino species are notoriously difficult to breed, especially in managed settings. Sumatran rhinos, in particular, have presented captive managers with a steep learning curve. The species has been held in captivity since the mid-1980s but, because of a number of factors, breeding was not successful until 2001, when the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens produced a calf. Under International Rhino Foundation Board Member, Dr Terri Roth’s leadership, Cincinnati subsequently produced three more

Florida zookeeper injured by rhino released from hospital
We have good news! Our keeper has reached out and let us know, "everything is okay."
Executive director, Tony Vecchio shares, “We are extremely relieved and happy to know that our colleague is doing well. We are grateful for the outpouring of support and concern during this difficult time.”
The Zoo is evaluating the accident and reviewing protocols to better understand the circumstances surrounding today’s event. Archie the rhino is a long-term and loved member of the Zoo and is doing well. Again, thank you all for your kind words and prayers for both our keeper and Archie.


Gaza Zoo Rips Out Lion Cub's Claws So It Can Be 'Friendly With Visitors'
Animal handlers at a Gaza zoo are ripping their lion cubs' claws out so that they can play with children - but are leaving their teeth intact.

The procedure has left one lioness distressed as she is left pawing at a tree and hugged by a 12-year-old, according to the Sun.


WRAL Investigates: The steps zoos take to keep animals and visitors safe
WRAL Investigates goes inside the North Carolina zoo for an exclusive look at their emergency procedures to keep animals and visitors safe.


 www.zoolex.org in February 2019

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Hello ZooLex Friend,
We have worked for your enjoyment!

              ~°v°~

NEW EXHIBIT PRESENTATION

Badger Hedge is an exhibit at the Otter Centre in Germany, an 
organization for the conservation of otters, running a special park for 
the display of native mustelids. The badgers can be observed exploring 
their exhibit over and under ground.


Here is the German original version:


              ~°v°~

SPANISH TRANSLATION

Thanks to Eduardo Díaz García we are able to offer the Spanish 
translation of the previously published presentation of "Polecat Swamp" 
at Otter Centre Hankensbuettel in Germany.


              ~°v°~

CONNECTED AUDIENCE

This annual conference in Berlin  takes place from 4th to 6th April and 
is dedicated to visitor research in museums and cultural experiences 
like zoos.


              ~°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


Chimpanzees Build Makeshift Ladder, Break Free From Zoo Enclosure
They saw an opportunity and they seized it, set it up, then scaled it.

Some enterprising chimpanzees at the Belfast Zoo in Northern Ireland's capital, propped a tree branch against the wall of their enclosure Saturday to make an improvised, yet sturdy, ladder.

"Don't escape, you bad little gorilla," a child chimed in as stunned zoo visitors filmed the breakout. (She was right about the absconding, if not the actual animal). Two chimpanzees manage to make it to the top of the



A zoo is being criticized for charging guests $20 to play tug-of-war with its lions and tigers
Zoos are controversial enough — they certainly did not need help from the Dartmoor Zoo, near Plymouth in England, to draw more criticism. The zoo is being condemned for charging visitors $20 to play tug-of-war with its big cats (one lion named Jasiri and one tiger named Dragan).

Dubbed the "human v beast" competition, it allows visitors as young as eight years old to pull a rope attached to a piece of meat in the animal's mouth and try to wrest it from its grip.

Training Swarna for Tooth Radiographs
When Asian elephant Swarna needed her teeth examined, animal keepers Rebecca Riley and Becca Spickler tried something that had never been done at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo before. Over two months, they trained the 44-year-old elephant to voluntarily participate in dental radiographs! Get the scoop on this breakthrough in our keeper Q&A.


Feeding a zoo: Wildlife nutritionist has to cook up a tasty menu for more than 10,000 animals
The orang utans at Singapore Zoo hate Francis Cabana, and he knows it.

That is no surprise because he took away all the food they love - chicken rice, Milo, bread and most of the fruit. He estimates that they had been eating these items - which provided a diet high in sugar - for 45 years, but like a doting mother who knows best, it was with their best interests at heart that he enforced the change.

Cabana is a wildlife nutritionist, and his job is all about feeding the most nutritious food to more than 10,000 animals within the four parks under Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS): Singapore Zoo, River Safari, Night Safari and Jurong Bird Park.


Interview: Cooperation with China yields "amazing successes" in panda protection -- U.S. zoo chief
The cooperation between the United States and China in conserving giant pandas has yielded "amazing successes," a U.S. zoo chief said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

"Working together with our Chinese colleagues, we learned so much from them and we shared our knowledge with them as well," said Steven Monfort, director of the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.

"Together we were able to understand how to best manage and care for this precious species," he said.

The zoo has sheltered giant pandas since 1972 when Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing were given by the Chinese government as a gift to comme








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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.

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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
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