Zoo News Digest 14th - 20th December 2013 (ZooNews 884)
Wishing everyone a very happy festive season
Dear Colleagues,
Yet again we have a keeper killed by a Tiger*. This year must be something of a record for people being killed by Big Cats. In this instance it was veteran zookeeper Zhou Jianhua, 57, of Shanghai Zoo. Yet again it appears to have been a case of keeper error. It is a sad loss and I extend my sincere condolences to family, friends and colleagues.
It only goes to show that those working within a zoo environment need to be on their toes at all times because if your own mistake doesn't kill or maim you then someone else's could. It is precisely for this reason I have never liked people working in pairs with big cats. There is too much reliance on the memories of others (I thought you latched the door!).
With regards to the other incidents this year. As I have stated on numerous occasions that I believe, regardless of the arguments presented, that actually going into enclosures with big cats is stupid. It is stupid because it is never necessary. The title of Tiger Trainer/Handler does not belong in a good zoo. This is a Dysfunctional Zoo activity. It is an accident, a death waiting to happen.
I note that Dreamworld states with regards to the incident in Australia zoo " it was bad incident, it was not an attack". I suppose it is a matter of interpretation but to me it was, without question 'an attack'. I did not doubt that such a statement would come from Dreamworld as they carry out the same nefarious activity.
When are the licensing authorities in Australia going to pull their fingers out and stand up to these large powerful and popular places and say enough is enough? They should follow the lead of their neighbors in New Zealand.
Please see there was another 'incident' in Australia Zoo today....time is ticking away here....get pulling....maybe they are stuck.
*It saddens me that this tiger has been placed in isolation for the rest of its days. Why precisely?
Peter Dickinson
10 Cheshire View
Appleyards Lane
Handbridge
Chester
UK
CH4 7DD
Bear in mind it is NOT where I live. My mail will be forwarded to me to wherever I am from there. My contact phone number remains the same:
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00971 (0)50 4787 122
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Second tiger drama for Australia Zoo after handler
'falls'
A TIGER handler was
reportedly knocked to the ground at Australia Zoo in a show on Friday afternoon
in what has been described as the second scare for the Sunshine Coast tourist
attraction in a month.
Seven News reported
on the drama but the Zoo was yet to issue any formal statement.
A witness told Seven
that "every adult stood and child gasped" after the male tiger
apparently "pounced" on the handler.
Zoo keepers
reportedly had to help the handler out of the enclosure.
Australia Zoo told
Seven the tiger keeper 'fell and is fine'.
One witness Adam Dew
tweeted about the drama with a hashtag of tiger island and a picture.
Tiger Island is
Dreamworld's tiger enclosure on the Gold Coast.
The picture looked
as though it was from Australia Zoo, however.
Last month, senior
handler David Styl
Jersey Durrell staff aim to save tortoises with
tattoos
An expert from
Jersey's Durrell Wildlife Park has been helping protect critically endangered
tortoises from smugglers by marking their shells.
It is estimated
there are only 400 ploughshare tortoises left in the wild in Madagascar.
They are sought
after as exotic pets and because of their high domed shells.
The Jersey vet flew
to Singapore Zoo and engraved identifying codes on to tortoise shells to reduce
their value on the black market.
At the Tattoo the
Tortoise event, Durrell's Malagasy veterinary officer Tsanta Fiderana was
responsible for engraving the shells of the rare reptiles.
Mark Brayshaw, head
of animal collection at Durrell, said: "We are facing a huge challenge to
prevent the ploughshare tortoise from being lost forever in the wild due to
smuggling for the pet trade.
"With continued
commitment from the local communities, the Malagasy Government and the
international conservation community we can protect the tortoise's habitat and
halt the illegal trafficking."
Ploughshare
tortoises are being bred at Singapore Zoo to establish an "assurance
colony".
This would ensure
their survival in the ev
Last remaining Madagascan fish discovered following
worldwide appeal
Aquarists
at ZSL London Zoo are celebrating the phenomenal success of a worldwide appeal
to find a female mate for a critically-endangered cichlid species – after a
small population was found in remote Madagascar.
The Mangarahara
cichlid (Ptychochromis insolitus) was believed to be lost in the wild due to
intense deforestation and river diversions created for rice farming and
agriculture drying up its native habitat of the Mangarahara River in Madagascar
(pictured above) and two of the last known individuals — both male — were
residing in ZSL London Zoo’s Aquarium.
After launching a
desperate appeal in May 2013, hundreds of private aquarium owners, fish
collectors, and scientists got in touch with the Zoo’s Aquarium Curator, Brian
Zimmerman, to offer up advice, support and suggestions.
One of those to
respond to the appeal was a farm and business owner in Madagascar, who
recognised the fish as one he’d seen in a secluded north-Madagascan town.
An exploratory
expedition was arranged with vital support from HM Ambassador in the British
Embassy of Madagascar, so that, along with aquarists from Toronto Zoo
15 zoos in the country to be closed
More than 15 zoos in
the country will be closed down, as these zoos lack proper facilities and are
not fit to be continued, said B S Bonal, Member Secretary, Central Zoo
Authority, here on Monday.
He was delivering
the key-note address at a five day all India zoo directors workshop organised
by Ministry of Environment of Forests, Central Zoo Authority (CZA), Zoo
Authority of Karnataka and Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens.
There were around
500 zoos in the country, before CZA was established. After CZA took shape, the
numbers came down to 195, out of which 95 per cent are with the forest
department. The priority of zoos have changed from entertainment to
conservation, he said.
“In the West,
linking between ex-situ and in-situ conservation sites (such as zoos) are
difficult, as zoos are not managed by the Forest department. Even though, such
linkage is successful in India, we still have a long way to go in emulating the
success of conservation seen in zoos of the West,” he said.
Even though CZA has
closed more than 300 zoos in the country in the past, there are several
applications to open new zoos in the country. “Despite the growing number of
applications, no zoo can be established without consent from CZA and an order
by the Supreme Court of India,” he s
Poachers Are Using Scientific Papers to Guide Them to
Their Next Victims
When scientists
publish a paper on a particular species, they’re generally not imagining that
they’re helping out poachers. But that’s exactly what’s happening for some
scientists. According to Laurel Neme at Mongabay, scientists discovering a new
species have been inadvertently contributing to wildlife trading. Take the
story of Bryan Stuart, who has discovered 27 different species of newts:
Shortly after Stuart
described the previously unknown species Laotriton (Paramesotriton) laoensis in
a scientific paper published in 2002, commercial dealers began collecting this
Lao newt for sale into the pet trade. In essence, the dealers used Stuart’s
geographic description in the paper as a “roadmap” to find the rare newt.
Collectors came from
all over to the two tiny streams where Stuart found the newt and began
illegally collecting the critters and selling them for over $250 a pop. And
Neme says that Stuart’s story isn’t even that uncommon:
This situation is
not unique. It’s also happened with a turtle (Chelodina mccordi) from the small
Indonesian island of Roti, which was so heavily hunted that today it is nearly
extinct in the wild. Similarly, a rare gecko (Goniuros
Mongolia’s mini zoo makes an appearance in Darkhan
Darkhan residents
had a busy weekend at Zaluuchuud Theatre. Starting on Friday, Mongolia’s mini
zoo made a three day appearance at the city’s theatre with 40 animals, and on
Sunday evening, the weekend came to a more glamorous close with a concert by
Mongolian diva, Sarantuya and special guest musicians.
Mongolia’s mini zoo
was once located in Buddha Park in Ulaanbaatar. Prior to its location in
Zaisan, it was located in Central Stadium. Last Spring, the UB Post featured an
interview with the zoo’s founder, L.Sainbat, as he was hoping to open his zoo
for the summer. At the time of the interview, the zoo was facing eviction and
asking for government support to maintain their facilities and continue
operations.
The zoo was unable
to make a permanent home in Zaisan, but L.Sainbat continues to take his animals
around the country to share with provinces that rarely see many of these
species of birds, mammals and reptiles up close.
The mini zoo is a
combination of domesticated and wild animals. Most of the wild animals are
indigenous species that L.Sainbat was able to rescue, or were brought to him
with injuries for rehabilitation. They have been rehabilitated, but are no
longer able to survive in the wild, and now travel with the zoo to educate
visitors and give them an up close look at the unique wildlife that Mongolia is
home to. The domesticated animals are mostly pets that were abandoned.
When the zoo isn’t
on the road, the animals live with keepers in Darkhan-Uul and Umnugovi
provinces, and in Yarmag in Ulaanbaatar. Finding a permanent home for the zoo’s
animals remains a challenge, due to the financial burden of building a facility
that can provide year-round accommodations for the wide variety of animals and
grounds suitably located for attracting a steady stream of visitors.
The cost of
admission has remained 2,500 MNT for adults and 2,000 MNT for children, and the
opportunity to purchase photo souvenirs taken with the zoo’s Golden Eagle and
reindeer was also available. The proceeds from the zoo go back into the costs
for feeding and keeping the animals.
The zoo was set up
in a second floor hallway of the theatre, and saw a constant stream of visitors
once local schools had closed for the day.
The first two animals on display were the Golden Eagle and a very
friendly reindeer – both indigenous to Mongolia. As promised, over 40 animals
were on view. Uncommonly bred domesticated ducks, turkeys and guinea hens were
on view, as were wild pheasants. The domesticated rabbits sharing the display
area with the ducks were friendly, and eager to meet visitors, as were the
guinea pigs, and white kittens. Even these animals, more familiar as pets, were
crowd-pleasers for both younger and older visitors. Each animal’s enclosure had
a placard that gave the name of the animal in Mongolian and English, and some
information about its species.
Behind a small fence
that kept visitors from being able to reach in and touch them, in the corner of
the theatre’s long hallway, were two adult wolves lazily watching the crowd.
L.Sainbat sa
Mammoth proposal: An elephant reserve in Tehama County
Group pitches
elephant reserve in Tehama County
A group of
philanthropists and animal researchers believe Tehama County would be the ideal
location for - of all things - an elephant reserve.
Representatives from
the Oakland Zoo and Ndovo Foundation shared their vision Thursday at a Tehama
County Planning Commission meeting of a 4,900-acre facility that at peak
capacity would house around 50 African elephants.
The proposed site
would be at Diamond Ranch, located northwest of Bowman Road, about 1,400 feet
north of State Route 36W within the unincorporated area of northern Tehama
County.
The proposal
includes several accessory uses such as a large barn, housing quarters for
research and security personnel, out buildings, specialized fencing, feed
storage areas, veterinary services and internal and external education and
research facilities.
Don't expect Earth's
largest terrestrial animal to begin roaming Tehama's rolling hills anytime
soon.
The project's
leaders said the entire plan would be developed in three phases that would take
between 50-100 years to compete.
Roger McNamee, a
founding member of the Ndovo Foundation, said it would take at least three
years of planning and construction before the reserve was ready to house its
first elephant.
The reserve would
then begin with a handful of elephants that would take up just a small portion
of the Diamond Ranch property, abou
Sanctuary "Solutions"
I had a coworker
once who used to intern at a big cat rescue in Texas. She used to talk all the time about “the
sanctuary”, getting misty eyed with nostalgia.
Sure, the staff were psychos who treated the interns like dirt. Sure, there was never enough money for even
the basics. Oh, and sure, the
owner/operator insisted on going in with many of the cats, resulting in at
least one mauling (after which the cat involved was killed). But you got to work with big cats! And it was better than a zoo… it was a
SANCTUARY!
Click on any news
article about zoos and scroll to the comments section. Seek out the animal rights folks clamoring
for an end to zoos. They will generally
offer one of two solutions – release the animals back into the wild (and we all
know how well that will work out), or send them to “sanctuaries.” To respond properly to the second suggestion,
I feel that I must quote from The Princess Bride: “You keep using that word. I
do not think it means what you think it means…”
Despite the
noble-sounding title, defining a sanctuary can be incredibly difficult. Some of them are just what the name would
suggest – havens for animals that have been rescued from homes where they were
mistreated, abused, neglected, or were otherwise not receiving proper
care. These are the good ones. Others are simply animal hoarders who like to
collect cats, primates, or other exotic pets.
Some are shady zoos with skilled marketers. Others are worse still. They breed animals (something a true
sanctuary would not do), sell them to high bidders (thus worsening, not
alleviating the problem
FMT does its part to protect Sun Bears
FreeMalaysiaToday
(FMT) today joined forces with a Sabah-based conservation group – Borneo Sun
Bears Conservation Centre (BSBCC) – to launch a four-month campaign to save Sun
Bears in Sepilok.
The campaign, aimed
at raising funds for the Sun Bear conservation programme in Kabili-Sepilok
Forest Reserve near Sandakan will run until April10, next year.
“We are proud to be
part of this campaign to protect the Sun Bears,” FMT editor-in-chief K Kabilan
said.
FMT also announced
its expansion to cover Borneo with more in-depth reporting with the launch of
its sister site FMT Borneo Plus.
Kabilan said FMT
Borneo Plus will be a dedicated news portal catering for Sabah, Sarawak and
other parts of Borneo and its periphery.
“FMT Borneo Plus
will officially go online Jan 15, next year,” he added.
He said FMT Borneo
Plus will start a series of articles on conservation efforts in Sabah and
Sarawak as well as invite readers to support the cause by donating directly to
the Borneo Sun Bears Conservation Centre.
“We are having a two
day soft launch exercise in Kabili-Sepilok and
Perhilitan still ignoring Johor Zoo
In February this
year Malaysian Friends of the Animals exposed cruelty to sunbears in one of
Malaysia’s worst zoos, the Johor Zoo. Prior to that, Shirley the orangutan made
headlines around the world when she was photographed smoking cigarettes, many
times over. While Abu, another orangutan at this horrific zoo, spent most of
his days caged.
While Shirley was
taken out of her hell Johor Zoo’s chimpanzees are still spending their daily
lives in boredom and at the mercy of visitors. We have previously highlighted
the problem of the chimps begging for food from the public, but Perhilitan
never took action.
We recently received
pictures from a concerned supporter and they proved the problem of public junk
food feeding of the chimps is still ongoing. Infact one visitor was seen trying
to get the chimps to smoke a cigarette. Isn’t this a violation of the new law
which Perhilitan was boastful about?
Let’s not forget
Johor Zoo were also exposed for abusing a baby elephant called Paloh in 2011,
and it took a campaign to force Perhilitan to confiscate her and another
elephant form the zoo. The elephant enclosure at Johor Zoo is still not suitabl
Recommendations for zoos and animal parks after Dalu
Mcube inquest
A coroner has
recommended that the Government look at new regulations surrounding the
operations of zoos and animal parks after a big cat handler was mauled to death
at Whangarei's Zion Wildlife Gardens.
Dalubuhle Ncube,
also known as Clifford Dalu MnCube, died after being mauled by a male tiger
named Abu after he and fellow handler Martin Ferreira had entered its enclosure
to clean it on May 27, 2009.
After holding an
inquest into the death in June this year, Northland Coroner Brandt Shortland
today released his formal findings.
Mr Shortland said
the inquest had illustrated the complexity of the legislative framework and
regulatory bodies required to work with parks like Zion and others, with three
different legislations and various bodies involved.
"It is complex
and difficult,"; Mr Shortland said.
"Evidence
provided by Dr Barry Ward and Howard Hamilton (a specialist advisors from the
Ministry of Primary Industries) suggested in my view a realignment or
reconsideration of the regulatory framework in making the workings of the law a
lot easier to administer and comply with. What is required is a better
inter-agency alignment.
"As Dr Ward
submitted the Biosecurity Act and the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms
Act are proactively enforced while the Animal Welfare Act and Health and Safety
in Employment Act are reactively enforced."
He also endorsed the
review of the zoo industry guidelines in that zoos or parks like Zion should be
required to comply with guidelines covering relevant aspects of containment,
animal welfare, and health and safety prior to receiving approval to hold and
display animals and that this be proactively audited on a regular basis.
"Regulatory
reform should be considered on a number of levels from changes to existing
legislation to potentially forming new legislation," MR Shortland said.
"At the inquest
it was submitted (zoo industry stakeholders) believed the previous legislation,
prior to the HANSO Act, the Zoological Gardens REgulations 1997 (repealed in
July 2003) was more
Fatal tiger attack 'points to flaws in zoo management'
A South China
tiger's fatal attack on a keeper at the Shanghai Zoo on Tuesday morning exposes
shortcomings in the zoo's management, experts said.
Human error always
lies behind such tragedies, an expert said, as authorities investigate how the
veteran keeper Zhou Jianhua came to be mauled to death by the 9-year-old cat at
the zoo's breeding site, a section closed to the public.
"Every zoo in
China has its own operational standards on how to keep wild animals," said
Tian Xiuhua, a council member of the Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens.
"No casualties would happen if a zoo's managers and workers strictly followed
the rules."
However, the tragedy
does not necessarily mean the overall management levels at Chinese zoos are
lower than in other parts of the world, she added. Zoos in more developed
regions, including Los Angeles and Taiwan, have also reported animal attacks on
people.
According to the
Shanghai Zoo, Zhou was attacked at about 10:30 am on Tuesday. The 57-year-old
Shanghai native, a keeper for almost 30 years, was killed by the South China
tiger, which was bred and born at the zoo and has given birth to several cubs.
Zhou's colleagues
found him dead on the floor of the tiger's cage during lunchtime after
realizing he had been missing all morning.
"Zhou might
have forgotten to close the door after cleaning the tiger's cage," said a
director at the zoo's breeding department named Tu.
Medical workers
pronounced Zhou dead at the scene.
Zhou and another
zookeeper had been taking care of the tiger for several years since it reached
adulthood, Tu said. The tiger has lived its whole life in the zoo, Tu said.
The animal will not
be killed or punished, zoo officials said, but will remain in its usual place.
This is the second
time an animal has killed a keeper at the Shanghai Zoo. In 2010, a Bengal tiger
killed its keeper a
Killer tiger moved to isolated area in zoo
A SOUTH China tiger
that mauled an animal keeper to death on Tuesday will be kept isolated from the
others for the rest of its life, the Shanghai Zoo said yesterday.
The tiger has been
kept in isolation since the incident.
The South China
tigers fall under critically endangered category and cannot be killed, the zoo
said. Besides, according to the Chinese law, human beings who raise animals
should bear responsibility when they hurt people. The nine-year-old male tiger
has sired cubs.
The breeding area
where the incident happened did not have video surveillance cameras or alarm
facilities because it was supposed to be dismantled and rebuilt under a
relocation plan.
Tu Rongxiu, director
of the zoo’s feeding division, said the area would have been reconstructed and
installed with security facilities but delayed them because of relocation
plans. The park has strengthened safety patrols, fixed cages, and checked fa
Only 195, of India’s 500 zoos, made the cut: CZA
B.S. Bonal,
Member-Secretary, Central Zoo Authority (CZA), New Delhi, on Monday said 15
zoos in the country were being shifted from their present locations to places
that offered natural habitats for housing animals and birds, in accordance to
the CZA guidelines.
Out of 500 zoos in
the country, only 195 zoos that got CZA recognition were functioning; the rest
had been shut down, he added.
Speaking at the
inauguration of the All-India Zoo Directors’ Workshop, held on the theme ‘Zoos
— window to biodiversity, organised by the CZA and hosted by the Mysore zoo
here, Mr. Bonal said 90 per cent of the CZA-recognised zoos were controlled by
the Department of Forests. There is a need for linkage between in-situ and
ex-situ conservation, he added.
Mr. Bonal said
animals from zoos which were “unfit” to function could be transferred to some
other zoos that have natural surrounding for displaying them.
Indian zoos attract
nearly five crore visitors annually. They play a key role in biodiversity
conservation, spreading the much-needed awareness among visitors.
All zoos must
function in accordance with the National Zoo Policy of CZA, Mr. Bonal said. The
focus of zoos has shifted from entertainment to wildlife conservation; zoos
must emphasise on providing enriching enclosures and premises and a forest-like
ambience for visitors.
Inaugurating the
workshop, Minister for Forests and Environment B. Ramanath Rai stressed the
need for stepping up conservation efforts.
So far, conservation
activities have helped improve the number of elephants and tigers in our
forests. “Wildlife protection must be our prime agenda, and some serious
thoughts are necessary to achieve our goals.” Commending the Mysore zoo’s
conservation work, Mr. Rai said it [Mysore zoo] was one of the country’s
prestigious zoos successfully playing the key role in biodiversity
conservation.
Minister in-charge
of Mysore district V. Srinivas Prasad suggested that steps be taken to
facilitate more animal exchanges with foreign zoos for enriching animal
collections.
Efforts should be
made to bring a companion for Polo, the lone male gorilla at Mysore zoo, he
added.
Presiding over the
function was M.K. Somashekar, MLA, urged Mr. Prasad to ensure the handover of a
plot of land belonging to the Mysore City Corpora
Is this Europe's most interesting zoo?
You've seen
elephants, hippos and bears, but never in a setting like the Budapest Zoo
A zoo doesn’t sound
like the obvious place to start an architecture tour.
Yet by a happy quirk
of fate, when Budapest Zoo was given a makeover in 1910, some of the best
architects in town were hired for the job.
That’s why it has
some of the most striking buildings in a city already renowned for its
architecture.
So one of the finest
collections of animals in the region is held in a setting with few rivals
anywhere in Europe -- two good reasons to visit.
Another reason is
that the zoo, just off Heroes Square behind the Museum of Fine Arts, is a haven
of calm in the city.
Stepping through its
monumental gateway, with great stone elephants supporting an archway topped
with a ring of polar bears, you’re immediately surrounded by a curtain of tall
trees offering enticing glimpses of what lies beyond.
Rare white lions born in Tbilisi zoo
None exist in nature
anymore, says zoo chief Zurab Gurielidze.
A litter of rare
white lion cubs was born Monday in a zoo in the Georgian capital Tbilisi.
According to the
zoo, four cubs were initially born on December 10 but one died shortly
afterwards. This is not rare in multiple-birth litters.
The surviving cubs,
two males and one female, were separated from their mother shortly after birth.
They are now being looked after 24 hours a day and are being bottle-fed by
handlers.
The zoo's director
said it was a very special moment. "White lions were born in Tbilisi Zoo a
few days ago. It's a very important event - as any animal birth in a zoo is an
important event. And especially when it's about a rare breed of an animal like
the white lion," Zura
Gorilla Polo still solo, waits for a mate
It appears it’s not
only people who have a hard time finding
soul mates, but gorillas too. India’s only gorilla, Polo, who lost his mate
Sumati in 2000, has had a checkered love
life since.
Now 50, Polo is
lonely and his stress levels are rising, according to his keepers at the Sri Chamarajendra
Zoological Gardens in Mysore.
A Western lowland
gorilla, Polo was gifted as a mate for Sumati to the zoo on May 12, 1995.
Sumati and her first mate, Sugriva were brought to Mysore in 1977 and soon
became a star attraction.But Sugriva died within a year of his arrival and in
the 80s Israel gifted a male gorilla, Bobo to replace him.
But it too did not
live long. Polo, who arrived in 1995 is
clearly unlucky in love as Sumati
reportedly did not find him "perfect " and later died of cardiac
arrest on October 4, 2000. The zoo authorities have hunted for a mate for Polo
for years now, but have met with failure every time.
In 2009, the Mysore
zoo had almost convinced the Gorilla Foundation, a US non-profit corporation
dedicated to the protection and well-being of gorillas to find him a mate, but
the deal did not go through.
At the inauguration
of the five-day All India Zoo Directors' Workshop organised by the Sri Chamarajendra Zoological
Gardens in collaboration with the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), New Delhi, Mysore district-in-charge minister V.
Srinivas Prasad made a rather emotional
appeal to the gathering to find a mate for Polo. A special request has also now
been made to the Leipzig Zoo in Germany to find the lonely gorilla a companion.
According to
official records, there are around 850 gorillas housed in 100 zoos around the
world with a male-female ratio of 1:2. The Howletts Zoo Park in England
has the highest number , 43 (nine mal
Rebuttal: A Stronger Case for SeaWorld
I would like to
thank those who took the time to comment on my previous blog post, as it allows
for scholarly debate. In regards to the comment that my earlier post sounded
like a public relations statement for SeaWorld, I would like to point to the
title of the article, in particular “A Case for SeaWorld“, and to the fact that
I am in no way affiliated with SeaWorld. This article was intended to provide a
different side of the story than that portrayed in the documentary film
Blackfish, which was an extremely one-sided piece of propaganda.
The death of Dawn
Brancheau was a true tragedy. The world lost a very passionate, and
accomplished woman who was a pioneer in the field of marine research and an
integral part of SeaWorld’s mission to bring the wonder and awe of marine life
to those who visit SeaWorld parks. After Dawn’s death, The Dawn Brancheau
Foundation was founded in memory of Dawn by her family. The Foundation’s
website provides a detailed outline of Dawn’s lifelong dream to become a whale
trainer at SeaWorld and that Dawn “left this world doing what she loved.”
Unfortunately, Blackfish exploits the death of this wonderful woman by
portraying Dawn’s work with orca whales as appalling and horrific, but this is
not the case
Anthony Kaufman, a
freelance journalist who has written for The New York Times, The Los Angeles
Times, and The Chicago Tribune, mocked Blackfish for its obvious
sensationalism. The one-sidedness of the documentary is exemplified when the
film “opens with a sensationalistic emergency call, which recounts how a
trainer was eaten by a killer whale…In one manipulative moment, trainers
recount an incident in which a mother orca was separated from her offspring,
and then emitted a kind of wailing sound. Her shrieking cries are then
simulated on the soundtrack for extra effect.” Kaufman further states that
“there’s also something unseemly in the tactics employed by Blackfish, whether
it’s teary-eyed testimonials from suffering loved ones or sensationalistic tales
of death…[the film is] full of ominous undertones and heavy dramatic beats—also
displays a lack of subtlety, as do freeze frame images of SeaWorld
representatives leaving a courtroom, which makes them look like mob bosses
caught in surveillance photos. And the film’s sentimental, strangely cheery
coda, in which the trainers rejoice in the wonders of witnessing free Willies
while on a whale-watching expedition, is less affecting than affected.”
It is true that orca
whale behavior is not 100% predictable, but given a large enough sampling size
(the millions of whale shows SeaWorld performs), SeaWorld can predict with
reasonable certainty how many interaction may result in some type of injury. As mentioned in the original article, that
risk of injury is roughly .0012%. A preceding comment mentioned that my
calculations were incorrect because “There have been more than 100 potentially
injurious interactions at SeaWorld parks alone.” I would like to point out that
in the Secretary of Labor in his brief to the United States Court of Appeals
for the District of Columbia Circuit stated that there have been 100 incidents
of whale aggression from in a 20 year time span.
SeaWorld has
implemented significant safety precautions within the past 20 years, and the
vast majority of the documented whale aggression occurred towards the beginning
of that 20-year period. Additionally, the recorded incidents of whale
aggression do not necessarily correlate with aggression during trainer-whale
interaction. Furthermore, the Secretary of Labor corroborates my .0012% chance
of injury calculation by admitting that between the years of 1989-2009 only 11
injuries resulted from a trainer-whale interaction (the death of Dawn Brancheau
adds to make a total of 12 injuries). It is unfair to try and impute any other
trainer-whale related injuries to SeaWorld occurring at other marine parks,
such as Loro Parque, which do not have facilities nor training requirements
nearly to the caliber of SeaWorld. The poor condition of the whale facilities
and training is not disputed in Blackfish.
A previous comment
also mentioned “When you actually look at the number of individual whales who
have been involved in these dozens of negative interactions, it comes out to at
least two dozen different whales. That is, more than 10% of all the orcas ever
held in captivity anywhere have been involved in at least one negative
interaction (minor to serious injury/death of trainer). Just looking at
SeaWorld whales, it’s more like 25%”. This method of calculation is flawed. For
example, if one were to calculate the risk involved with flying on an Airbus
320 aircraft and compared the percentage of engine failures of Airbus 320
planes to the total amount of Airbus 320’s, that percentage would not t reflect
the true risk one is exposed to for flying on an Airbus 320 aircraft. Instead,
one should compare the percentage of engine failures on Airbus 320 aircrafts to
the total amount of flights flown on an Airbus 320 aircraft. Airbus currently
has approximately 5,000 Airbu
buttal: A Stronger
Case for SeaWorld
Blackfish / White Lies? (Pt. 1): Sorry, I Forgot To
Mention, They're All Activists
Former Chief Justice
of the United States Supreme Court William Rhenquist wrote these words nearly
30 years ago. They are as true in the
Court of Public Opinion as they are in a court of law. Blackfish has a lot of “testimony” that is
presented without any hint of potential bias – quite the opposite
actually. Director Gabriela
Cowperthwaite strongly suggests the outright credibility of most of the people
who appear in the film. After all, who
better to speak about what is going on with SeaWorld’s whales than a bunch of
ex-trainers who spent years working with them?
Who better to explain the science behind orca behavior and biology than
experts in the field and a neuroscientist who has studied the brain of a killer
whale up close? Since Blackfish provides
no background on any of these individuals, other than what is necessary to
establish their credibility, the “jury” in the Court of Public Opinion is left
with nothing to assess the true credibility of their “testimony.” In a court of law, questions of bias are
raised through cross examination.
Similarly, in true journalistic pieces, the journalist “cross examines”
his or her source by, for example, playing the “devil’s advocate” and
challenging them to explain, debunk, or address potential sources of bias. Cross examination and journalistic honesty
are vital tools that allow the audience to decide for themselves whether what
is being said is “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” But in Blackfish, there is no “cross
examination” of the "witnesses" the "jury" is expected to
believe. Consequently, it is easy to
view Blackfish as telling its story though an objective lens. But that’s
Giza Zoo in Cairo is beset by poverty, tear gas and
suspicious animal deaths
The giraffe
committed suicide, an Egyptian newspaper reported. And the government pulled a
former zoo director out of retirement to deal with the resulting media storm.
“The problem is with
the press,” Nabil Sedki said on a recent afternoon, taking a deep drag on his
cigarette as he settled into a giraffe-patterned armchair in his office. He was
five days into the job. “The media fabricated the suicide.”
The deceased animal
in question was a 3-year-old giraffe named Roqa, who, Sedki said, inadvertently
hung herself in early December after getting tangled in a wire inside her
enclosure.
The state has
launched three separate investigations — one purely forensic, another by the
government’s official veterinary body and a third by a legal committee — “to
see who will hang instead of the giraffe,” Sedki said with a wry laugh.
Zoos are prone to
bad publicity, especially when something goes wrong. The government-run Giza
Zoo, in the heart of Egypt’s chaotic capital, may be particularly susceptible,
given the country’s floundering economy, the tumult of nearby political
demonstrations and an overall poor track record in animal care.
In May, three black
bears died in a single night under mysterious circumstances. Zoo authorities
called it a bear “riot.” In 2007 and again in 2008, local media reported that
zookeepers were slaughtering the camels for meat — to eat themselves, an
Bangkok's Zoo Animals at Center of Protests
Keepers Warn Animals
are Frightened by Nearby Demonstrations
Protesters in
Bangkok's streets, blowing whistles and drawing clouds of tear gas from police
in recent weeks, have upset sensitive deer and tigers at the city's zoo, what
had been an island of peace in Thailand's chaotic capital city.
"We tried to
explain that the whistles could make the tigers panic and maybe jump over the
hedge and escape into the open," said Wisid Wichasilp, the zoo's deputy
director. In a subsequent promenade past the compound, protesters shushed each
other to keep their whistles down.
Deer are especially
sensitive to the stress, says Kachon Subsatien, a 45-year-old keeper. The herd
of delicate Axis deer, whose brown coats are decorated with white spots,
descend from animals donated at the zoo's opening by King Ananda Mahidol, late
elder brother of current monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who turned 86 on Dec.
5.
"Deer panic
when they see strangers,'' Mr. Kachon said. "Their ears will keep moving
when large crowds are around. They can tell the difference between the zoo
keeper's voice and a stranger's voice. When they think something is wrong, they
will be aware of it and are ready to move.''
In one instance last
month, riot police rushed to block demonstrators clamoring outside the zoo
entrance, hoping to use it as a shortcut to the parliament building. But the
police unknowingly began stomping through a pen of deer, shields, boots and
all. The terrified creatures darted in all directions.
Mr. Kachon said the
police cooperated on their way out by tiptoeing past the enclosure, but the zoo
keeper had to keep the water sprinkler on for almost two hours afterward to
calm the deer down. The deer find the spray cooling and refreshing, he said.
Staff grew worried
when they realized one of the females was about to give birth as protests
spiked again two weeks ago. They closely watched the pregnant deer as she
walked more tentatively around the pen. The moment the f
Endangered crayfish project is a success in Cornwall
A CONSERVATION
project aimed at protecting endangered white-clawed crayfish has been
celebrating success after moving 4,000 of the creatures to safe havens.
The South West
Crayfish Project was launched in 2008 and aims to protect the UK’s only native
crayfish which was under threat of extinction in the south west due to the
spread of the non-native American signal crayfish.
Under the project
the creatures have been moved to safe haven Ark sites – including one in
Cornwall.
The project is led
by charity Buglife and also involves Avon Wildlife Trust, Bristol Zoo Gardens
and the Environment Agency.
As well as moving
the crayfish to protected sites the project has also
- surveyed our
remaining wild crayfish populations and assessed the threats to them
- bred over 1,300
White-clawed crayfish at an innovative captive breeding programme at Bristol
Zoo
- taught over 1,600
school children about the White-clawed crayfish and the wildlife in their local
rivers.
- monitored the
spread of North American Signal crayfish on many of our rivers.
However, despite the
success of the project the crayfish continues to be under threat and, as a
result, a new five-year strategy has been drawn up so that the work can
continue.
Andrew Whitehouse,
south west manager for Buglife, said: “The South West Crayfish Project has
ensured that the region’s White-clawed crayfish have a brighter future, and is
a great example of how a large number of organisations can work together to
save some of our most threatened species. We look forward to the next phase of
the project and to checking on our crayfish next year to see how they are
getting on in their new Ark site homes.”
Lydia Robbins,
species officer at Avon Wildlife Trust said: “We hope that by moving animals to
Ark sites we have prevented highly threatened p
The Silent Crisis: Vietnam’s Elephants on the Verge of
Extinction
As the slaughter of
the remaining elephants in Africa continues without interruption, elephants in
Vietnam—without media attention and a pack of NGOs calling for their
protection—are quietly disappearing.
Victim of an
intensely and increasingly fragmented habitat, weak environmental laws,
human-elephant conflicts, logging, and poaching, elephants in Vietnam are
teetering on extinction.
According to some
reports, there were approximately 1,500 to 2,000 elephants in 1980. Today they
may number as few as 70.
“The situation is
extremely grim,” says Barney Long, Director of the Species Program at World
Wildlife Fund (WWF). “They’re right on the edge. And it will take a lot for
them to recover. Not only a huge conservation shift but a huge cultural shift
as well.”
Long spent a number
of years working for WWF in Vietnam and says that in general the country
“hasn’t demonstrated a real commitment to conservation. It has made some very
bold statements, and it has done a good job of setting up some protected areas.
But those protected areas in terms of elephants are way too small and the
management of them is very ineffective.”
According to Cao Thi
Ly, head of the Department of Forest Resource and Environment Management (FREM)
at Tay Nguyen University in Vietnam, elephants live in eight or nine patches of
forest around the country, including on the borders of Laos and Cambodia.
According to a 2012
report by Ly, Vietnam’s remaining elephants are extremely isolated.
In some provinces,
such as Nghe An, six to ten elephants roam on one piece of land.
In other provinces,
Son La or Lam Dong, for instance, there are even fewer: only one or two
individuals. Their habitat is highly fragmented, and few, if any, corridors
connect these patches.
Biologically, the
elephant herds are made up almost entirely of related females, Long explains.
“So even if Vietnam could get the landscape scale and population plan sorted
out, they would still have a problem of genetics. Apart from the populations
that mix with the Laos and Cambodia herds, the remnant and isolated herds are
exactly that. In the long term, their genetic viability is to be questioned.”
Long says that
currently no international NGOs are working specifically to save wild elephants
in Vietnam.
Meenakshi Nagendran
is a wildlife biologist and Program Officer with the Asian Elephant
Conservation Fund at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). When asked if
70 elephants is a viable population, she said it could be: “If Vietnam has 70
elephants, and the country were to actually to protect habitat and create
corridors, the number could bounce back.”
How Many Elephants
Are There?
Nagendran is quick
to point out that she’s not sure if the number 70 is accurate. “We do not know
if they really even have 70 wild elephants. There are lots of unknowns.”
When it comes to
getting exact data, she said, Vietnam is something of a “gray hole. Not a black
hole but a gray hole. This information is not confirmed by many—a lot of NGOs
say there are only 10 to 15 wild elephants left in Vietnam.”
Ly said that
collecting information is challenging and that “insufficient data are given.”
The elephant is now
listed as “critically endangered” in the
Red Data Book of Vietnam. The country is a signatory of CITES, which means that
“all exporting and importing of elephants and products for commercial purposes
are prohibited.”
However, CITES in
March 2013 also identified Vietnam as one of the eight primary source, transit,
or consumer countries in the current illegal ivory trade.
In October, two
massive ivory seizures occurred in Vietnam. In one, 2.4 tons of tusks were
hidden inside bags of seashells, and in both cases, the ivory was imported from
Malaysia.
A Positive Step?
Officials in Dong
Nai province recently announced a 3.5-million-dollar emergency fund to help
protect elephants and strengthen law enforcement in the area.
“This is a fantastic
statement,” Lon
Elephants in danger
How the illegal
ivory trade now threatens them with extinction in the wild
At the beginning of
the 20th century, there were 10 million wild elephants in Africa. Today, their
numbers hover around 400,000. And the Wildlife Conservation Society estimates
elephants are being slaughtered by poachers for their ivory at the rate of 96 a
day.
"They are
taking the big bulls, the breeding bulls. They are taking the matriarchs and
the older females. The ones in the herd that have all the knowledge and all the
information on how to get to water holes, and where the feeding areas
are," said the Pittsburgh Zoo's elephant manager, Willie Theison.
Theison oversees
Pittsburgh's flourishing African elephant herd, which has several young
elephants, a matriarch and two breeding females.
The Pittsburgh Zoo's
breeding bull, Jackson, is one of the most prolific bulls in captivity in North
America. He is now at the zoo's second breeding facility, the International
Conservation Center. Jackson is slated to breed with one of three female elephants
rescued from Botswana. The government had ordered them to be killed, and the
zoo here stepped in and flew them all the way to the ICC from South Africa.
And there is a
pressing reason for this.
"Heaven forbid,
if there are no elephants left in the wild. If we lost the captive populations
of elephants, then we have no chance of reintroducing animals to depopulated
areas in Africa," said Pittsburgh Zoo CEO Dr. Barbara Baker.
The threat is real.
The international ivory trade has come to resemble the international drug
trade. Last month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service destroyed six tons of
ivory seized, to highlight the escalating global poaching crisis which is
driven by organized crime syndicates.
The demand for ivory
has never been higher. That demand is fueled in large part by a growing middle
class in China. Ivory objects have been
an important part
Seven Distinct African Crocodile Species, Not Just
Three, Biologists Show
African crocodiles,
long thought of as just three known species, are among the most iconic
creatures on that continent. But recent University of Florida research now
finds that there are at least seven distinct African crocodile species.
The UF team's latest
discovery, led by then-doctoral candidate Matthew H. Shirley, is that what had
been believed to be a single species of slender-snouted crocodile, is actually
two.
The findings, which
have major implications for policy-makers and conservationists, are outlined in
a paper published online last week by Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
The results
emphasize how little is known about crocodile biogeography, or how species are
distributed geographically over time, in Western and Central Africa, said Jim
Austin, a co-author on the paper and Shirley's doctoral adviser at UF.
In the paper,
Shirley and his team describe that West African populations of the
slender-snouted crocodile do not share the same genetic or specific physical
features as those populations in Central Africa -- and they estimate the two
populations have been separated from each other geographically for at least 7
million years.
Biologists and
conservation agencies need to know the precise taxonomy of animals and plants
to avoid allocating precious conservation funding and effort working to protect
species that may be more plentiful than believed, or -- as in this case --
ensuring that those resources can be directed toward species whose numbers are
lower than believed.
Now that researchers
know the West African slender-snouted crocodile is not the same species as its
Central African cousin, Shirley said, that changes its standing.
"The West
African slender-snouted crocodile is actually among the three or four most
endangered crocodiles in the world," Shirley wrote in an email last week.
"By finally recognizing that it is a unique species, we are in a much
better position to advance its conservation and ensure its future."
Shirley likened the
plight of the West African slender-snouted croc to the American alligator,
which was on the cusp of extinction in the 1960s, but because it was protected,
can now be easily observed in nature, be legally harvested at times, and helps drive
Florida's tourism economy.
In Africa,
crocodiles are traded and consumed as bush meat, making them a significant
protein source for residents. They also play a major role at the top of the
food pyramid, with significant influence on fish and crustraceans, much as
lions control antelope populations.
"If we remove
them from the ecosystem, then there may be profound effects on fisheries
resources in the future," he wrote.
Crocodile species
are often difficult to identify by physical characteristics alone. Most
non-scientists can barely tell the difference between an alligator and a
crocodile, in fact. So to bolster their genetic
Zoos through the Lens of the IUCN Red List: A Global
Metapopulation Approach to Support Conservation Breeding Programs
Given current
extinction trends, the number of species requiring conservation breeding
programs (CBPs) is likely to increase dramatically. To inform CBP policies for
threatened terrestrial vertebrates, we evaluated the number and representation
of threatened vertebrate species on the IUCN Red List held in the ISIS zoo
network and estimated the complexity of their management as metapopulations.
Our results show that 695 of the 3,955 (23%) terrestrial vertebrate species in
ISIS zoos are threatened. Only two of the 59 taxonomic orders show a higher
proportion of threatened species in ISIS zoos than would be expected if species
were selected at random. In addition, for most taxa, the management of a zoo
metapopulation of more than 250 individuals will require the coordination of a
cluster of 11 to 24 ISIS zoos within a radius of 2,000 km. Thus, in the zoo
network, the representation of species that may require CBPs is currently low
and the spatial distribution of these zoo populations makes management difficult.
Although the zoo community may have the will and the logistical potential to
contribute to conservation actions, including CBPs, to do so will require
greater collaboration between zoos and other institutions, alongside the
development of international agreements that facilitate cross-border movement
of zoo animals. To maximize the effectiveness of integrated conservation
actions that include CBPs, it is fundamental that the non-zoo conservation
community acknowledges and integrates the expertise and facilities of zoos
where it can be helpful.
Celebrating Plants and the Planet:
Winter holidays
can’t help but celebrate plants.
December’s news links at www.zooplantman.com
(NEWS/Botanical News) offer seasonal plant news and a few holiday treats:
· One day will Christmas Oaks grace the
living room? New report lists more than a third of the world’s conifer species
as threatened.
· As frankincense trees are torn out
cleared for farmland, researchers want farmers to know a more reliable
living can be made from the trees than
from farming. We Three Kings as financial advisors.
· Mistletoe seed dispersal is a marvel.
That birds are dispersers is well known. But for some mistletoe species,
marsupials are the preferred transport.
· Another blow to neat and tidy
explanations. Coevolution is not as basic as we were told. But you have to look
to the Cretaceous period to see that.
· Deforestation is tied to a variety of
causes all having to do with commodity supplies. This free e-book outlines the
problem and offers regulatory and market based solutions.
End of year
newsletters must have some sort of cavalcade of oddities for us to marvel at. I
shall offer this wonderful Pinterest collection “Nature So Crazy”: https://www.pinterest.com/johnrhutchinson/nature-so-crazy/
Images you won’t forget
Please share these
stories with associates, staff, docents and – most importantly – visitors!
Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/PlantWorldNews – a new story every day as well as hundreds
of stories from the past few years.
Rob
Revealed: How much zoo animals eat in a year
Just how much do
animals in the Kamla Nehru Zoological Park eat during a year came to be known
when the authorities produced a bill before the standing committee on
Wednesday. The requirements of the zoo included 50 quintals of juwar, 125
quintals of chickpea, 11 quintals of rice, besides red meat, chicken and mutton
worth Rs 59.06 lakh. The requests included live chicken as well.
In terms of daily
consumption, the zoo requires 100 kgs of red meat, 5 kg mutton, one live
chicken and 12 eggs. While among regular vegetarian diet were sunflower seeds,
cattle feed, corn, 0.6 quintals of vanaspati ghee, peas, peanuts, 100 dry c
Dreamworld's tigers to roar into action on Boxing Day
Bites and scratches
are inevitable when working with big cats.
But a recent
incident involving a tiger handler at Australia Zoo was not an attack,
according to Dreamworld tiger trainer Patrick Martin-Vegue.
Tiger handler Dave
Styles was last month mauled by a Sumatran tiger during a performance at the
Sunshine Coast zoo before a crowd of shocked spectators.
Mr Martin-Vegue said
while it was bad incident, it was not an attack.
“Unfortunately he
got bitten in a bad place but we are dealing with tigers,” he said.
“We review our
procedures and have policies in place but that doesn't mean you won't get
bitten or scratched.”
Mr Martin-Vegue,
manager of Tiger Island at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast, made the distinction
as the theme park revealed a new show would start on Boxing Day.
He has been training
Baru and Ravi, two 21-month-old tiger cubs that will star in Cub College on
Tiger Island.
In the past few
months, the cubs had been learning the routines while getting used to the
shows.
“It doesn't always
work out exactly how it would be planned, but they are getting better over the
course of time,” he said.
“They're learning
jumping and climbing, sitting on their hind legs and running as well.
“Sometimes Baru is a
bit less energetic than we'd like but they are going well.
“We've had them
since they were four weeks of age and they know they have to follow certain
rules in training like not biting and scratching.”
Mr Martin-Vegue said
the shows were designed to promote
Couple used tiger charity to fund luxury lifestyle,
court hears
A woman claims money
for a charity set up by her and her estranged husband to save Chinese tigers
was used to fund their extravagant lifestyle, as she takes her claim for her
share of their wealth to the High Court
A couple used a
charity set up to save Chinese tigers as their personal piggy bank, funding a
lifestyle of extravagant dinners and wine, a court heard.
Li Quan claimed
money for the Save China’s Tigers charity was used to fund the lavish personal
lives of her and her estranged husband Stuart Bray as she told the High Court
she was entitled to more of the couple’s assets than Mr Bray is prepared to
give.
Ms Li claimed money
put into the charity, which counts Jackie Chan as an ambassador, was directly
used by the pair. She says more than £50 million worth of assets is at stake.
"We were using
the money to fund our personal things,” she told the High Court.
”We had expensive
dinners. We had exp
Need a Peacock for your garden?
A new business, this
time not on Instagram, is opening up in Kuwait. The Kuwait Zoo will begin
selling animals from its collections including peacocks, European and red deer,
pygmy goats, parrots, ponies, wildebeest and others. Need a peacock for your garden
or a pony for your children’s birthday parties? Head to the zoo starting from
December 30 to pick out the perfect less-than exotic pet.
Hippie Chimps: New Clue May Explain Bonobo
Peacefulness
Bonobos have a
reputation among the great apes as "hippie chimps," and new research
hints that high levels of a key thyroid hormone may play a role in keeping the
animals' aggression in check.
Found in the lowland
forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, bonobos (Pan troglodytes) are
closely related to chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) but the two diverge in
behavior.
Bonobos seem to
diffuse social tension with an impressive repertoire of sex acts rather than
physical fights. Males in particular show low levels of aggression — they even
maintain platonic friendships with females and stick by their mothers into
adulthood. The life of male chimpanzees, meanwhile, revolves aroun
What a load of Crap! Research????????????????????????????????????
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