Zoo News Digest 17th May 2019 (ZooNews 1024)
elvinhow@gmail.com
Dear Colleague,
It's Endangered Species Day today. Good Zoos should be proud of the work they are doing. Bad Zoos do nothing but harm.
My ZooNews Digest Facebook Page is now reaching over a million people each month. Small for some, large for others. The point is and has always been 'the raison d'être for the Page is to post articles which would be of interest to zoo professionals the world over'. This is something which I manage to achieve most of the time. A lot of the time I think the articles are a lot of nonsense BUT they are articles of interest. I have had a number of emails asking "what has this got to do with zoos?" when it is an article about animals in the wild. My answer is always 'if you can't see the connection then you should'. Professional Keepers/Zoo Staff never ask.
This last week Facebook did something different. Some change in settings has prevented me from seeing comments individually. Now I need to trawl through articles to read them. I haven't found a way to sort the problem yet. In a way though it is a relief because some comments show that the commenter has never even read the article. Others show that the reader is so brainwashed that they will never entertain another point of view. Always keep an open mind.
"good zoos will not gain the credibility of their critics until they condemn the bad zoos wherever they are." Peter Dickinson
*********
Did You Know?
ZooNews Digest has over 110,400+ Followers on Facebook( and over 110,500 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,
********
*****
***
**
*
*********
Did You Know?
ZooNews Digest has over 110,400+ Followers on Facebook( and over 110,500 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,
********
*****
***
**
*
Joe
Exotic: A Dark Journey Into the World of a Man Gone Wild
Joe Exotic was done. For the previous two
decades, 55-year-old Joe had been the heart, soul, and ubiquitous public face
of a massive private zoo in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, an hour north of the Texas
line. He had boasted of owning the largest tiger collection in America. His
sixteen-acre park was lined with metal cages, each filled with majestic tigers,
lions, bears, alligators, and even tiger-lion hybrids called tiligers.
His sun-leathered visage, horseshoe mustache,
and blond mullet adorned signs all over the zoo and all
Lack
of security cover makes zoo a prey for smugglers
From chopping of sandalwood trees, suspicious
death of a squ ..
CHIMPANZEE
DISASTER
For two decades, the Royal zoo was one of
northeast Nebraska’s major tourist attractions and a minor miracle for Royal, a
town of about eighty-one residents. Generations of students on field trips visited
the collection of exotic animals along Highway 20, which included a lion, two
tigers, a black bear, and the zoo’s first (and favorite) chimpanzee, Reuben.
That is, until September 10, 2005—the day the chimps escaped.
Carson Vaughan’s first book, Zoo Nebraska, is
an absurd story, less funny than sad. And it’s about much more than an
impractical dream that became a failed tourist venture. The chimpanzee disaster
captures the story of Royal, but it's a tale that echoes in other rural towns
struggling through the turn of the century: Faced w
Rise
in poaching of spotted seals poses threat to maritime ecosystem
Tian Zhiwei was surprised when he saw a
spotted seal pup at the port in the harbor city of Tangshan, Hebei province, in
February, because the reclusive marine mammal is not usually seen in the area
at that time of year.
Exhibiting aggressive behavior, the lost
2-month-old pup stayed in the water for the whole night, so Tian decided to
bring it to his rescue station near Jingtang port in southeast Tangshan to keep
it safe.
We
must rip up our environmental laws to address the extinction crisis
Humans are causing the Earth’s sixth mass
extinction event, with an estimated one million species at risk of extinction.
Addressing this crisis requires transformative
change, including more effective environmental law and implementation.
Improved legislation is one of five main
levers for realising change identified in the recent United Nation’s global
biodiversity report and the key lesson arising from the Senate’s interim report
into Australia’s faunal extinction crisis.
Nature
or Nurture; is aggression a learned behaviour?
It’s only recently that I had a talk with one
of our experienced keepers who challenged my thoughts about aggression. She
came with the point that aggression is not necessarily a learned behaviour,
whilst my belief was that it is. Aggression has a lot of complex behaviours.
When I asked her why, she responded with, “well if I pick up a new born animal
they most likely will try to bite me, a sign of aggression”.
The biggest news story recently was the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services report detailing implications for humanity of the loss of Earth’s biodiversity. Now, truth be told, the loss of biodiversity has been the biggest news story for almost 35 years so this report probably will not be a game changer.May’s news at www.zooplantman.com (NEWS/Botanical News) looks at a very few of human life-improving and life-saving approaches that have been developed studying nature. Consider these to be products soon to be discontinued:
· Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death, killing about 45,000 people each year. A particularly difficult cancer to treat… but perhaps an obscure vine growing in the Congo will change that.
· Deaths due to opioid use have grown fivefold in the past twenty years. But there is a plant in Morocco that blocks the nervous system’s reaction to pain and has no addictive qualities. It’s also a nice addition to any cactus garden.
· Weeds in agricultural fields cost farmers millions of dollars to control and could cost billions in crop loss if uncontrolled. But harvester ants would do it for free if we’d let them.
· Native American healers from California have long relied on Eriodictyon californicum plants for a variety of medicines. Now the Salk Institute thinks it may provide a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.
· A magnificent fir tree species in China yields a compound which greatly increases the effectiveness of a variety of cancer-fighting drugs. There are only three of these trees left.
The UN report has received lots of coverage. I particularly liked CNN’s headline In a scary world, the biggest worry has to be climate change. Forbes also did a nice job reporting it. Zoos, aquariums, botanic gardens and nature centers have been advocating for sane biodiversity and climate protections for decades. But we need a new vision. Youth activists like Greta Thunberg are showing us the way.
Please share these stories with associates, staff, docents and – most importantly – visitors!
Follow on Twitter, Facebook Or visit www.plantworldnews.com – new stories every day as well as hundreds of stories from the past few years.
The
Frozen Zoo: Noah’s Ark for an Era of Genomic Tools and Rampant Extinction
Headlines trumpeted the dire news: a new U.N.
report says human beings have put one million species at risk of extinction
within decades. They point the finger at five major culprits – habitat
destruction, exploitation, invasive species, pollution, and climate change.
Researchers at San Diego Zoo’s Institute for
Conservation Research are fighting back with what they call The Frozen Zoo.
It’s a collection of frozen cell and tissue samples that might be used to
bolster failing populations of endangered species.
TESTING
THE LINE
As Animal Rights Activists Push Legal
Boundaries, Canada Considers What Makes a Terrorist
A FLASHLIGHT ILLUMINATES the blackened,
detached head and leg of a pig’s corpse as they’re nudged and nibbled by living
pigs. The camera captures another pig lying listlessly on its side and
twitching. Some are afflicted with large growths, one on its belly, another
near its eye. The footage, released by People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals, was provided by anonymous activists who say it depicts the Excelsior
Hog Farm in Abbotsford, British Columbia.
Sheikh
Zayed Falcon Release Programme releases 65 falcons in Kazakhstan
Sixty-five falcons were released into the wild
in the Republic of Kazakhstan this year as part of the Sheikh Zayed Falcon
Release Programme, SZFRP. A total of 1,920 of the culturally emblematic birds
have been released since the programme started in 1995.
The programme, which is held under the
patronage of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is now
in its 24th successive year, and indications showed that the numbers of falcons
in the wild are growing as part of Abu Dhabi's efforts to preserve distinctive
species of falcons, support the principles of environmental sustainability,
protect biodiversity, preserve important species of human heritage, and
increase its ability to address the risks of expanding human activities,
climate change and other natural and human factors.
Zimbabwe
earns nearly $3M selling elephants to China, Dubai, official says
If Zimbabwe can't sell ivory, it'll sell the
whole elephant instead.
Zimbabwe's Environment, Tourism and
Hospitality Industry Minister Priscah Mupfumira revealed Monday the country has
exported 97 elephants to China and Dubai over a six-year period, earning $2.7
million in total.
The country is one of four southern African
nations that are trying to get a global ban on ivory trade lifted so they can
sell their stocks to fund conservation projects.
Vultures
extinction will expose Africa to epidemics, revenue loss — Experts
Conservation experts have raised the alarm
that if the illegal trade in vultures and their use for medicines, charms of
other belief systems persist, Africa and indeed Nigeria will be at a high risk
of exposure to outbreak of epidemics and loss of revenue.
LA
Zoo Discovers New Breeding Technique for California Condors
The discovery of a breeding technique for
California condors never before tried by any other zoo should help increase the
numbers of the critically endangered species, the Los Angeles Zoo announced Monday.
There are only about 500 California condors
left in the world, and the LA Zoo has worked over the last 30 years to refine
the process of breeding the birds, with the goal of releasing them back to
their native habitat.
Extreme
weather kills nearly every prairie dog at Henry Vilas Zoo
Historic flooding and record cold are being
blamed for killing almost every prairie dog at Henry Vilas Zoo.
According to Jess Thompson, the zoo’s
Conservation Education Curator, after this fall’s heavy rain, the water in the
ground rose ten feet higher than average.
In January, the polar vortex brought
record-breaking cold conditions to southern Wisconsin. Despite extra efforts to
isolate the exhibit, it wasn’t enough.
As the prairie dogs burrowed deeper
underground to try and stay warm, they ran into the water, and likely froze to
death.
Lion
rips off toddler's scalp at Heilbron lion park
A 4-year-old girl is in a critical condition
after being attacked by a lioness at Weltevrede Lion Farm in Heilbron on
Sunday, Netwerk24 reported.
A part of Dina-Marie de Beer's skull was
reportedly removed on Monday to relieve pressure on her brain.
How
to be safe while visiting a zoo or other wildlife facility
HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of people visit zoos,
aquariums, and aviaries in the United States each year, many hoping to witness
the beauty and natural biodiversity this world has to offer.
Such facilities get us closer to animals than
we ever could in the wild, in the process teaching us about wildlife and their
environments. Many zoos also play a critical role in studying and conserving
species that are on the brink of extinction in their native habitats.
How
zoos and aquariums can help save 1 million species from extinction
Roughly 1 million plant and animal species are
at risk of extinction, according to a recent United Nations assessment. As
animals find it increasingly difficult to live in the wild, it's important to
leverage the power of zoos and aquariums to protect animals and restore
endangered species, even as some activists seek to dismantle these arks of
hope.
The U.N. report paints a bleak picture — earth
is becoming increasingly inhospitable thanks to irresponsible land and water
use, climate change, pollution and other man-made causes.
Right now, zoos and aquariums should be
rallying points for conservationists. Unfortunately, between 2007 and 2017,
nearly a quarter of Americans became more opposed to zoos and aquariums,
according to a YouGov poll.
IN
FLOCKS OF BIRDS, COUPLES STICK TOGETHER
In a flock of birds, mated pairs are loyal,
first and foremost, to each other, not to the group as a whole, according to
new research.
-----------------------------
www.zoolex.org in May 2019
~°v°~ ~°v°~ ~°v°~ ~°v°~ ~°v°~
Hello ZooLex Friend,
We have worked for your enjoyment!
~°v°~
NEW EXHIBIT PRESENTATION
Reed Family Elephants of the Zambezi River Valley at the Sedgwick County
Zoo in Kansas, USA, is a facility with a two hectar outdoor space for
nine African elephants. The elephants move a lot to explore their
environment and changing enrichment that is provided by keepers and
random timers.
https://www.zoolex.org/gallery
~°v°~
SPANISH TRANSLATION
Thanks to Eduardo Díaz García we are able to offer the Spanish
translation of the previously published presentation of "Dingo Alpine
Country Exhibit" at Healsville Sanctuary in Victoria, Australia.
https://www.zoolex.org/gallery
~°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/ab
www.zoolex.org in May 2019
~°v°~ ~°v°~ ~°v°~ ~°v°~ ~°v°~
Hello ZooLex Friend,
We have worked for your enjoyment!
~°v°~
NEW EXHIBIT PRESENTATION
Reed Family Elephants of the Zambezi River Valley at the Sedgwick County
Zoo in Kansas, USA, is a facility with a two hectar outdoor space for
nine African elephants. The elephants move a lot to explore their
environment and changing enrichment that is provided by keepers and
random timers.
https://www.zoolex.org/gallery
~°v°~
SPANISH TRANSLATION
Thanks to Eduardo Díaz García we are able to offer the Spanish
translation of the previously published presentation of "Dingo Alpine
Country Exhibit" at Healsville Sanctuary in Victoria, Australia.
https://www.zoolex.org/gallery
~°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/ab
Natureland's
tuatara numbers cut in half after four die due to inadequate enclosures
Of the eight tuatara that lived at Natureland,
half of them have died due to inadequate enclosures.
Natureland Wildlife Trust board chair Alan
Hinton, with board member Steven
Standley and acting director Grant Abel, presented their submission to the
Nelson City Council's annual plan on Wednesday, reiterating their request for
their annual funding to increase to $243,000 per year.
As councillors questioned them on their
proposal, it was revealed that half the tuatara living at Natureland had died.
Critically
endangered Hawaiian crows build first nest in the wild in decades
Two Hawaiian crows, or alala, have done
something momentous in the struggle to save the critically endangered species.
They have built a nest.
Extinct in the wild for decades, the alala
were raised at the Keauhou and Maui Bird Conservation Centers of San Diego Zoo
Global, part of its Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Program.
Captive
chimpanzees spontaneously use tools to excavate underground food
Chimpanzees in captivity can successfully work
out how to use tools to excavate underground food, even if they've never been
presented with an underground food scenario before, according to a study
published May 15, 2019 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Alba
Motes-Rodrigo and colleagues and directed by Adriana Hernandez-Aguilar from the
University of Oslo.
2,300
Years of Terror: Why You Don't Want to Fight an Elephant in a War
Elephants
were the tanks of the ancient battlefield.
An elephant charging into a group of soldiers
or horses could decimate a formation. That’s assuming the sheer psychological
impact of watching a giant war beast with pointy tusks—charging and shrieking
like murder incarnate—didn’t first cause the opposing force to flee in terror.
They could smash fortifications, impale people
on their tusks, and stomp people to death under their huge feet and enormous
weight. They towered over the battlefield.
The
sad end of Lao’s elephants
The elephant is a cultural symbol in Lao. This
is probably due to the fact that at one period in time, the country was known
to have a large number of these mighty mammals roaming its lands free, so much
so that before it was ever known as Lao, people used to call parts of the
country Lan Xang (Land of a Million Elephants). Today, both the government and
conservation groups believe the robust Asian elephant population the country
once boasted of has now dwindled to about 800 where 400 are wild elephants and
400 are in captivity; and even these shrinking populations are under threat.
Largest
Aquariums Around The World
There’s something soothing about watching
fish. If you aren’t satisfied with a tank at home, maybe it’s time to take a
trip to check out something bigger. There are aquariums around the world
brimming with gorgeous sea animals from Shanghai, China, to Valencia, Spain.
Let’s take a closer look:
Mass
extinction isn't an abstract idea for scientists who have watched species die
Today, I grieve for the extinction of species
around the world. But I also remain hopeful that we will turn things around. On
May 6, 2019 a Global Assessment released by the Intergovernmental
Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)
announced that nearly one million species are at risk of extinction. Human
activity is the root cause, as we increasingly exploit the natural world to
benefit our species with disregard for nearly all others. We are in a car that
is speeding towards the edge of a cliff. But we aren’t passengers — we’re
driving. Each of us has a finger on the wheel, and we all must take
responsibility for where it goes next.
Humans
are some of the only animals that don't have tails — here's why
Tails are like opinions — basically everyone
has them. Fish, birds, most reptiles, and even some of our closest relatives.
So why are we missing out?
https://www.businessinsider.com/why-humans-dont-have-tails-anatomy-2019-5
Animals in captivity: Is there such a thing as a good zoo?
Do wildlife species find contentment living in standardized zoos or in nature?
During the past years, Tehran Zoological Garden has succeeded in becoming a member of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA). Moreover under the population management program aiming at endangered species reproduction, the Persian leopard and Asiatic lion have been transferred to the Zoo for captive breeding.
In this regard, a male Persian leopard was sent to Iran from Portugal last year in an attempt to revive the species, who mated naturally at the Zoo with a female leopard and at the moment, the leopard is pregnant.
Istanbul's first Bengal tigers born
Istanbul's first ever Bengal tigers were born Sunday at Lion Park the Tuzla district.
Lion Park's veterinarian Gokce Merve Yayla said zoo officials did not intervene in the birth to negatively affect the process. And no one at the zoo has handled the cubs but she said they appear to be happy and healthy.
The cubs weigh less than a pound (300-400 grams) but will grow to 66 pounds (30 kilograms) in two to three months when visitors will able to see them, she added.
How much does an elephant cost? Zimbabwean minister reveals all
Zimbabwe earned nearly $3 million selling close to a hundred live elephants to overseas countries over a period of six years, with four of the animals exported to Dubai, according to public comments made by a Zimbabwean cabinet minister this week.
Tower of London saved from prophesied demise after first ravens in 30 years hatch inside
he Tower of London will be protected from a prophesied demise for years to come, after the first ravens in 30 years were born inside its walls.
At least six ravens have been kept at the fortress since the days of King Charles II, who feared the Tower and the kingdom would fall if they were ever allowed to leave.
Trophy hunting is not the solution to Africa’s wildlife conservation challenges
For decades, the public has been fed the myth that trophy hunting is absolutely necessary for sustainable conservation in Africa. Some sections of the academy, as well as the hunting lobby, continue to argue that banning trophy hunting will have a negative effect on wildlife biodiversity.
Their rationale is that trophy hunting contributes a significant amount of revenue, which African countries rely on for funding wildlife conservation. In essence the argument is: a few animals are sacrificed through regulated quotas for the greater
**********************************************************************
** ***
** **
***
*
For Updated Conferences and Meetings Please Click
HERE
For Recent Zoo Vacancies Please Click
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/Hubpages http://hubpages.com/profile/Peter+Dickinson
Peter earns his living as an independent international zoo consultant, critic and writer. Until recently 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"
"These are the best days of my life"
|
No comments:
Post a Comment