Tinder realized it had a tiger problem in the
summer of 2017. Too many of its users were featuring photos of themselves
crouched next to big cats like tigers and lions, animals that, had a random
Tinder user approached them under normal circumstances, would probably try to
eat them.
That is what tigers and lions do when they are
living in the wild and going about their business. But the tigers “posing” with
Tinder users weren’t roaming free; their handlers at zoos and entertainment
venues had made them available for pics through sedation or other harmful
practices. Over the course of the 2010s, taking a selfie cuddling a tiger
became easier and cheaper than ever.
https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/4/12/18306590/tiger-selfie-thailand-tiger-kingdom
FAECAL
ATTRACTION...
Pertinax is one of the elder statesmen of
Paignton Zoo in Devon. The 37-year-old Western lowland gorilla has long been
dogged by constipation; animal experts decided on this move after oranges and
even a course of tinned prunes failed to bring relief.
There are some good scientific names for the
technique: microbiome restorative therapy; faecal transplant; transfaunation.
It’s used on humans, on farm animals and is even being used to help save
endangered species. Call it what you will, it’s still not something you want to
dwell on at mealtimes…
Pertinax weighs-in at a healthy 200 kilos,
achieved on a vegetable diet. The old boy is effectively retired and living
separately from the Zoo’s three boisterous youngsters, Kiondo, Kivu and N’Dowe.
One of his keepers, Gemma, says: “He’s always had a problem with constipation.
He eats the same diet as the others and lives in the same environment, but they
poo normally and he doesn’t.”
An
Enduring Conservation Legacy: The San Diego Zoo Panda Team
Successful and enduring conservation
inherently demands that a cross-disciplinary team approach be implemented. So,
when I look back at the San Diego Zoo’s Giant Panda Conservation Program, I can
say without hesitation that when—more than 25 years ago—San Diego Zoo CEO Doug
Myers and, former giant panda program head, Don Lindburg forged a team-centric
strategy for our efforts, they set us up for success. Through the persistent
efforts of scientists, animal care, and public outreach specialists, the San
Diego Zoo Giant Panda Team dedicated itself to improving the plight of giant
pandas through the application of scientific findings to panda management, and
engaging the public in the plight of this once-endangered conservation icon.
https://institute.sandiegozoo.org/science-blog/enduring-conservation-legacy-san-diego-zoo-panda-team
Developing
a Metric of Usable Space for Zoo Exhibits
The size of animal exhibits has important
effects on their lives and welfare. However, most references to exhibit size
only consider floor space and height dimensions, without considering the space
afforded by usable features within the exhibit. In this paper, we develop two
possible methods for measuring the usable space of zoo exhibits and apply these
to a sample exhibit. Having a metric for usable space in place will provide a
better reflection of the quality of different exhibits, and enhance comparisons
between exhibits.
Connecting
spots, connecting cultures through Persian leopard conservation in Turkmenistan
The Ustyurt Nature Reserve is a spectacular
place. The Ustyurt plateau was once the bottom of the Tethys ocean. As you walk
on it you come across relics that are as far as 100 million years old: shell
traces in the limestone, and ferromanganese nodules of different size. And
shark teeth. The terrain broken by chalk deposits in the form of rocks and
random cracks looks like Mars. Steep cliffs called chinks tower over the
plains, used by goitered gazelles. Its muddy and salty portions, called
salanchak, are the gazelles’ refuge from wolves, as their heavy paws sink into
them, giving a breather to these lanky ungulates who can then safely escape.
The chinks have dee
How
birders helped pinpoint hotspots for migratory bird conservation
Many bird populations are crashing, largely
because they migrate such long distances and are at risk from human influence
at every link in their migratory chain.
One favourite, the tiny Canada warbler, is
among those that find themselves in trouble. Although this bird weighs only as
much as a AAA battery, each spring it flies more than 5,500 kilometres from its
winter home in South America to breed in Canada, stopping in Mexico, Texas and
Michigan along the way. The Canada warbler makes this incredible journey as
many as eight times over the course of its life.
No
sightings of Sumatran rhinos in key areas of Sabah, extinction likely
No Sumatran rhinoceros have been detected in
Sabah by the latest surveys, indicating that the species may have become
extinct.
However, Sabah Tourism, Culture and
Environment Minister Christina Liew expressed optimism that these habitats
remained suitable for this species during the question-and-answer session in
the state assembly sitting on Wednesday (April 17).
"My ministry, through the Wildlife
Department, has in the past collaborated with non-governmental organisations
(NGOs) like Borneo Rhino Alliance and WWF Malaysia to conduct rhino population
surveys at the forest reserves of Ulu Segama and Ulu Malua as well as Tabin
Wildlife Reserve, and identified as the key areas for this species.
Ethical
considerations on Parrots in presentations and current recommendations by the
EAZA Parrot Taxon Advisory Group
Arrival
of Belugas Postponed
The arrival of two beluga whales from
Shanghai, scheduled for Keflavík International Airport tomorrow, has been
postponed, Morgunblaðið reports. The reason: inclement weather in Iceland this
week and the fact that Landeyjahöfn harbor, from where the whales were supposed
to sail to Vestmannaeyjar islands, is yet to open for the season.
Merlin Entertainments and the charity Sea Life
Trust, organizers of the project, do not believe the belugas would survive the
three-hour ferry ride from Þorlákshöfn harbor to Vestmannaeyjar islands. The
ferry ride from Landeyjahöfn harbor, located about 80 km (50 mi) farther east
and open only part of the year, takes only half an hour.
Competing
conservation ideologies: Troubled times for reporting on Namibian wildlife
Two competing ideological narratives have
emerged in African wildlife conservation. The one is based on so-called
‘compassionate conservation’, aligned with the mostly Western animal rights
movement, the other based on the human rights of the owners of the wildlife,
the local people who live with wild animals. In Namibia, wildlife is thriving
under the second narrative, which endorses consumptive use of wildlife.
It's
science: Viewing zoo animals reduces your stress levels
Imagine a beautiful day checking out the
animals at the Detroit Zoo in Royal Oak, feeling a bit calmer and happier.
There's actually some science to that.
The results of a recent wellness study
conducted by the Detroit Zoological Society and Michigan State University
researchers found that viewing animals reduces stress levels.
According to a news release, study
participants were hooked up to electrodes in a lab, given a verbal math test
and then asked to deliver a speech off-the-cuff.
Then the participants were separated into
three groups and showed a video of either a plain white screen, Detroit traffic
or animals at the Detroit Zoo.
MSU scientists measured stress indicators,
like heart rate, skin conductance, and facial reaction. The results showed that
stress levels were lowest in the group who were shown animals.
Stop
feeding the animals, says zoo
Shanghai Zoo is urging visitors to stop
feeding the animals, saying that swans, wild geese, bears and tortoises are
suffering health problems as a result.
The number of visitor has been rising this
spring, along with an increase in the number of animals with intestinal
obstruction and digestion problems, the zoo said.
The zoo is taking measures including enhanced
patrols, more signs and more leaflets. It is also organizing activities to
drive home the message that unnecessary feeding is not welcome.
Swans, wild geese and ducks are particularly
vulnerable, said keeper Zhang Zhihao.
"Many tourists bring bread and biscuits
to attract swans, wild geese and ducks at the water platform," he said.
"However, swans, wild geese and ducks never eat these foods in the wild.
Importance
of Zoo Animal and Wildlife Research
Chick
hatches on Sado Island from egg of crested ibis gifted to Japan by China
A chick has hatched from an egg laid by a crested
ibis, an internationally protected species, which was given by China to a
conservation center on Sado Island off Niigata Prefecture, the facility said
Monday.
The Sado Japanese Crested Ibis Conservation
Center confirmed that one of the eggs laid by 3-year-old Guan Guan had hatched
for the first time since she arrived in Japan last October.
Conditioning
Animals With A Social Structure
Since starting my career, I’ve worked with a
huge amount of animals with different social structures, from Killer whales and
dolphins, to Chimpanzees, Takins, Bush dogs, Lions, and even Elephants. I’ve
also worked with a lot of humans, perhaps the most complex of all but we can
agree all of these species have a completely different type of social
structure. Because of the often complex relationships these animals have with
each other when training social animals there are a few things to remember.
Often for our blogs and Facebook group we are
constantly searching for interesting training/enrichment videos to share on
social media. These videos often inspire me and others here at Zoospensefull,
to think about what can b
400,000
African pangolins are hunted for meat every year – why it’s time to act
Pangolins, a group of unique African and Asian
scaly mammals, are considered to be one of the most heavily trafficked wild
mammals in the world. They are hunted and traded for their meat, scales, and
other body parts, and used as traditional medicines in parts of Africa and
Asia.
Of the eight pangolin species, four are found
in Africa. These are the white‐bellied, black‐bellied, giant, and Temminck’s
ground pangolin. Three of these species live in Central African forests. The
tree-dwelling white-bellied and black-bellied pangolins, weighing approximately
1.5 to 3kg (comparable to a small rabbit), and the ground-dwelling giant
pangolin can weigh up to 33kg (the weight of a small Labrador dog).
Tree
dens play a critical role in panda lifestyle
In a paper recently published in the journal
Biological Conservation, an international team of conservationists highlights
the importance of tree dens for pandas raising infants in native habitats. The
study, conducted in Fengtongzai and Foping Nature Reserves in China, analyzed
the difference in microhabitats of cave dens and tree dens used by female
pandas. The result of the research suggests that conservation efforts need to
take into account key resources, such as large old trees that provide important
microhabitats that support rare and endangered wildlife.
"Pandas are found in different kinds of
forests in China," said the study's lead author, Wei Wei, an associate
professor at China West Normal University. "Old growth forests provide
large tree cavities for den sites, but pan
Network
ensured Kumamoto zoo's survival during 2016 quake crisis
The night the Kumamoto quake struck three
years ago, veterinarian Atsushi Matsumoto, 46, was working overtime at the
Kumamoto City Zoological and Botanical Gardens, when everything around him,
himself included, began shaking violently.
First, he checked the safety of the zoo's
ferocious animals. All five, including a tiger, a snow leopard and a lion, were
safe and sound. But phone calls started pouring in from worried local
residents, asking, “Has a lion escaped?”
Lions
rescued from 'Europe's worst zoo' have been stranded in tiny pens in Albania
over bureaucratic red tape preventing them from leaving the country to finally
start a new life
Three lions rescued from 'Europe's worst zoo'
are stranded in Albania – held in bare, tiled pens just a few metres square.
Twelve-year-old Zhaku and his eight-year-old
sons, Boby and Lenci, are caught in a bureaucratic wrangle over documents
allowing them to leave the country to start a new life.
Since October they have been held at Tirana
Zoo after being released from a private animal park in southern Albania where
they were malnourished and kept in shocking conditions.
How
Dangerous Are Cassowaries, Really?
Today, it’s time to revisit the Tet Zoo
archives, and post this (now very old) section of text on cassowaries. It first
appeared here (at Tet Zoo ver 2) back in May 2007. I haven’t finished on the
Mesozoic maniraptorans, by the way (for parts published so far see part 1, part
2, part 3).
South
African police seize 167 rhino horns after tipoff
South African police have seized 167 rhino
horns believed to have been destined for Asia.
Two suspects were arrested in the sting
operation in the North West province on Saturday, which followed a tipoff.
Police said it was one of the biggest hauls of rhino horns in the country.
“We arrested them on Saturday in the Hartbeespoort
dam area. They were driving in a vehicle and they were intercepted,” said Brig
Hangwani Mulaudzi, a spokesman for the Hawks, an elite police unit. “It was an
intelligence-driven operation that led to the arrest of the two. They were
found in possession of those 167 rhino horns.”
The suspects, aged 57 and 61, are expected to
appea
Massive
haul of ivory seized in anti-smuggling crackdown
China customs recently seized 2,748 ivory
tusks weighting a total of 7.48 metric tons after cracking down on a major smuggling
case in a joint operation.
Tusks are illegally transferred from African
countries and imported into China under the guise of "wood", officers
from the General Administration of Customs said on Monday.
The smuggling case was cracked on March 30 after
a joint operation lasting three months. The action was conducted under the
cooperation of police forces from several cities including Hefei, Nanjing,
Beijing, Fuzhou and Qingdao.
KILLER
CASSOWARY: World's most dangerous bird kills Florida owner
A large, flightless bird native to Australia
and New Guinea killed its Florida owner when it attacked him after he fell,
authorities said Saturday.
The Alachua County Fire Rescue Department told
the Gainesville Sun that a cassowary killed the man Friday on his property near
Gainesville, likely using its long claws. The victim, whose name was not
released, was apparently breeding the birds, state wildlife officials said.
“It looks like it was accidental. My
understanding is that the gentleman was in the vicinity of the bird and at some
point fell. When he fell, he was attacked,” Deputy Chief Jeff Taylor told the
newspaper.
Cassowaries are similar to emus and stand up
to 6 feet (1.8 metres) tall and weigh up to 130 pounds (60 kilograms), with
black body feathers and bright blue heads and necks.
Petting zoos harbour nasty bugs – research
Wash your hands extra carefully next time you
visit a petting zoo.
New research presented at this year's European
Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in
Amsterdam, Netherlands this weekend has shown that petting zoos can create a
diverse reservoir of multidrug resistant (MDR) bacteria, which could lead to
highly virulent drug-resistant pathogens being passed on to visitors.
The study, by Professor Shiri Navon-Venezia of
Ariel University, Ariel, Israel and colleagues, explores the prevalence,
molecular epidemiology, and risk factors for animals in petting zoos becoming
colonised by MDR bacteria.
Petting zoos are a popular attraction around
the world, allowing direct and indirect exposure of both children and adults to
a diverse range of animal species.
After
Columbia Theatre show, what's really best for the tigers?
A national debate over the plight of tigers
came into local focus last week when Montana-based illusionist Jay Owenhouse
brought two rare Bengal tiger cubs to perform at Longview’s Columbia Theatre on
Thursday.
The theater received thousands of emails after
“Big Cat Rescue,” a Florida animal sanctuary, took opposition to Owenhouse’s
show. No protesters appeared to show up, and Owenhouse’s show debuted without a
hitch to about 350 attendees.
The conflict raised an elemental question:
What is the best way to ensure tigers and other endangered animals have a
future on this planet? And what role do zoos and other forms of captivity or
management have in preserving them?
SeaWorld
lays off undisclosed number of employees
SeaWorld has laid off an undisclosed number of
employees around the country in a move it says is aimed toward improving
efficiency.
SeaWorld Entertainment spokeswoman Suzanne
Pelisson-Beasley told the Orlando Sentinel on Saturday that the layoffs
occurred Friday. She declined to say how many employees were let go or where or
how much the company is saving.
Consommé
of cane toad, anyone? MONA puts a feral feast of invasive species of the menu
Cane toad, sea urchin and fermented weeds
aren’t on most people’s dinner plates.
But that’s exactly what is being served up at
Hobart’s controversial Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) over the next few
months.
The ‘delicacies’ are part of an exhibition
dubbed Eat the Problem, which aims to challenge ideas of conventional eating
and sustainability.
“Invasive species are a problem but we can
re-frame them; how are they actually a resource?,” artist and curator Kirsha
Kaechele said.
When
Cleethorpes was home to a two-ton killer whale named Calypso
From the tropical creatures at The Jungle Zoo
to the sea lions that used to perform at Pleasure Island, Cleethorpes is no
stranger to amazing animals from around the world.
However, there was a time when the resort was
home to one of the most impressive and recognisable mammals to have ever
existed, a species whose captivity has provoked fierce controversy ever since
they were first plucked from the oceans to entertain theme park guests – the
killer whale.
The black and white predators, also called
orcas, have been a source of fascination to people for centuries, and are known
for their highly social behaviour and striking intelligence, not to mention
their awe-inspiring size with some growing to more than 30 feet (9.8m) in
length and weighing up to 6 tons.
Vulnerable
smooth-coated otters face poaching threat
China
devours Asia’s wildlife
There is a monster chewing its way through the
wildlife of its smaller, weaker Southeast Asian neighbours. The monster can
change forms – like a shape-shifter – but it goes by one name: China. The
region’s wildlife is rapidly disappearing, being sucked into the vortex of the
illegal wildlife trade that leads to China.
In the Myanmar border town of Mine Lar, Shan
State, everything from tree-dwelling civets to clouded leopards, from tiger
claws to elephant skin, and from pangolin scales to bear gall bladder is on
sale, with the vast majority of customers coming over the border from Yunnan.
In its September 2018 issue, National
Giant
turtle faces extinction as last known female dies in a Chinese zoo
The Yangtze giant soft-shell turtle (Rafetus
swinhoei) may become an extinct species after the only captive female, and one
of only four known living individuals, died at a zoo in Suzhou City yesterday,
April 13.
The turtle, a member of the largest freshwater
turtle species in the world, died after an attempt to artificially inseminate
the more than 90-year-old specimen by a team of scientists, Friday, April 12.
Chinese language media reports say that the
turtle, which is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for
the Conservation of Nature, showed abnormal signs after the procedure, and died
after a 24 hour rescue attempt.
‘Panda
Diplomacy’: A $24 Million Zoo Enclosure Angers Some
It was designed by Bjarke Ingels, the renowned
Danish architect, and cost $24 million to build. It was inaugurated by Queen
Margrethe II, Denmark’s reigning monarch. And it now accommodates a celebrity
couple with peculiar eating habits and an almost year-round animosity toward
each other.
Welcome to Copenhagen Zoo’s new panda house.
Officials at the zoo estimate that the
combination of adorable animal starpower and innovative Danish design will draw
an additional 400,000 visitors per year.
“For such an iconic animal, we needed an
iconic setting,” said Bengt Holst, the zoo’s director. “You wouldn’t put the
Mona Lisa in an ugly frame.”
Critically
Endangered Echidna among wildlife menagerie seized in Philippines
A large seizure of 450 live wild animals from
the island of New Guinea has been made in the southern Philippines, comprising
hundreds of birds, dozens of reptiles, and a single Critically Endangered
Western Long-beaked Echidna Zaglossus bruijni.
Former
SA Zoo employee says nighttime themed events traumatize animals
A former San Antonio Zoo employee is blowing
the whistle on what she describes as routine trauma for animals.
Her concerns stem from the popular themed
attractions being held at night.
The former employee says she raised the same
concerns to management during her time here but nothing was done.
"I was not fired, I quit," said
Marjorie DeRusha-Morris. "I am disgruntled there is no question about
that. I am disgruntled because of the treatment of the animals and the treatment
of staff that stood up for the animals."
First
sighting of gaur in Surin wildlife sanctuary in 15 years
For the first time in 15 years, a gaur has
been spotted inside a wildlife sanctuary in Surin's Kap Choneg district, a
wildlife official said on Saturday.
Wutthikul Ngampanya, chief of Huay
Thapthan-Huay Samrarn Wildlife Sanctuary, said the gaur, which appeared to be
around 10 years old, was spotted on Tuesday and Thursday.
The motion sensor camera, mounted on a tree
near a small pond where wild animals come to drink, captured monochrome
pictures of the gaur.
Wutthikul said it was the first time that a
gaur has been seen at the spot in 15 years.
Verify:
Are there more tigers in Texas than in the wild?
Texas is a national leader in a lot of obvious
ways like energy, technology and construction. But have you ever heard there
are more tigers in Texas than in the wild? Sounds crazy enough that I needed to
verify it.
I first read that claim in a new book by
Pulitzer Prize winning author Lawrence Wright in his new book “God Save Texas.
Here’s what he wrote: “The Humane Society of the United States estimates there
are more tigers living in captivity, in Texas, then the 3000 that are thought
to be living in the wild.”
The
big cat con: Inside Africa's shocking battery farms for lions
The growing appetite for 'conservation
holidays' has shone a light on the dark – and poorly regulated – industry of
lion farming, where felines are destined not to be 'released into the wild' -
but to be shot by trophy hunters and their bones exported to Asia for use in
traditional medicine.
Beth Jennings, 25, is mad about animals. After
leaving school she worked for Dogs Trust, and then opted to spend a holiday
looking after lion cubs rather than lying on a beach. Though it was called
‘volunteering’ she had to pay to do it: £1,500 for two weeks working at a game
park in South Africa, plus £1,000 for flights and jabs. But she knew the wild
lion population was in crisis, and this was her chance, according to the UK
agency that sold it to her, to prepare orphaned cubs ‘for their eventual
release into the wild’. She saved for more than a year, using her 21st-birthday
money.
What
it's like to visit the largest bat house colony in the world
Without bats, there’d be no tequila.
So, with Cinco de Mayo less than a month away,
you might consider toasting the world’s only flying mammal on April 17, which
is National Bat Appreciation Day.
You might also consider a trip to see these
incredible creatures – roughly 500,000 of them! – as they emerge from the bat
houses at Gainesville’s University of Florida, the largest colony in the world
living in purpose-built structures.
Paul Ramey is the assistant director of
marketing and public relations (and bat advocate, his e-mail signature states!)
for the Florida Museum of Natural History – also on the UF campus – and he
fields countless inquiries from local and out-of-state visitors eager to watch
the nightly show.
And what a show it is.
Japan's
otter and owl cafes are Instagram hotspots, but experts warn of 'a lifetime of
cruelty'
It's not every day you get to sip a latte and
snap a selfie with an otter, an owl or a hedgehog — and an increasing number of
cafes in Asia are cashing in on the novelty.
Penguin
hatched through artificial insemination growing quickly
The world’s first king penguin conceived
through artificial insemination is growing so quickly that he's now as big as
his parents.
The fluffy brown-feathered Kamogawa Sea World
resident was born in September 2018.
In July 2018, the theme park, working with a
U.S. research team, artificially inseminated several female king penguins. One
of them deposited eggs, and the male chick was hatched.
