Friday, April 18, 2014

Zoo News Digest 30th March - 18h April 2014 (ZooNews 892)


Zoo News Digest 30th March - 18th April 2014 (ZooNews 892)

Beer and Brew
Unusual for a Zoo




Dear Colleagues,

Earth hour….Lilli and I took a walk out around the lake in front of Mall of the Emirates. The Kempinski Hotel turned off its tower lights. That was it. No other changes could be seen. I daresay from a higher point we may have seen more. We wandered into the Mall. No changes there apart from Ski Dubai. They had turned out their lights. Using the hour to their advantage the skiers came down the darkened slope decked in colour LED's. Quite spectacular.

Only one email this time with regards to my zoo euthanasia comments…..but the Marius story has not gone away. This time it is Terry Maple author of  'Ethics of the Ark' and 'Zoo Animal Welfare'. (Both worth  reading) The article starts out with  "The inexplicable decision to kill this charismatic animal and the circumstances surrounding its death are deeply disturbing even to us battle-tested zoologists."  It makes an interesting read. It is a different take to previous authors and reading through it I came away realising that Terry Maple knew exactly why the deed was done…there was no "inexplicable decision" at all. I feel that Mr Maple may have been forced into a corner and felt that he must write something on the subject. Following a day or so later there was another zoo euthanasia. This is why I wrote why I wrote  'Cruel Slaughter of Hunting Dogs in New Zealand Zoo'
It was simply to make a point. Because sadly….very sadly even now some people are missing the point altogether. I know I must be boring the pants of some but if Zoo News Digest has a mission, it is to educate and to get people, and zoo staff in particular to really think about their work. Euthanasia is one of these and breeding freaks and passing them off as conservation is another. Some highly reputable collections have purchased White Lions and White Tigers in recent years. Still others have considered doing so. Probably worse than purchasing such beasts is dumping them on collections which know no better. This is just is happening now at Thiruvananthapuram Zoo in India. Somebody has persuaded them that White Lions are of immense Conservation importance. They are not.

I have a special dislike for the tactic of some animal dealers and others to persuade Dysfunctional Zoos that White Tigers and White Lions are something rare and special when they are not. It is a cruel cheat. The reputable zoos of the world know that in monetary terms that these animals are worthless. Reputable zoos will give/exchange animals for free. It is all about managed conservation.

Of course it is not just dealers. Some zoos and individuals are just as much to blame. They look for collections on which to dump their surplus stock without a care to their management or well being. They have failed to manage their animals through breeding separation, contraception OR euthanasia and so pass the problem on to the gullible

It's been a big couple of weeks for escapes. Chimpanzees and Cheetahs. Happily both were dealt with without any risks to lives or limbs. It is great when it all goes according to plan. Sharing what happens with the rest of the zoo community is all important so that action plans can be improved upon and adjusted accordingly.

Politics have delayed the proposed move of the Pandas to Malaysia. I knew this would happen almost as soon as MH370 disappeared. Pandas and Politics go hand in hand all the way down the line.

Dr. Paula Kahumbu ‏on Twitter made an interesting point ' If South Africa wants to sell rhino horn to China - If just 1% of the Chinese population were to use just 1 gram per year then South Africa will need to produce 15 tons of horn per year'. The figures just won't work. This is without considering how Vietnam fits in and the growing recreational use.

Today I try and ignore White Tiger stories but still find the promotion of these freaks irritating especially when accompanied by statements like "There are practically no white tigers in the wild. Most of them currently live in nature reserves or at zoos"…Come on  Buenos Aires Zoo….where in the wild?



My surface mail mail box is just not working out. Mail is going astray. Even lost my last but one passport for a while. So for now please send all paper mail, books for review etc to :

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:

00971 (0)50 4787 122





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Zoo now on a white lion trail
After clearing the hurdles to bring in white tiger and anaconda, the capital zoo is gearing up to possess a white lion. Regarded as a rarest and an endangered species with its white fur and pale blue-green eyes, white lion will be flown from Dubai along with cheetah and jaguar soon.

The zoo officials here have received an offer of sponsorship from a Dubai-based agency to transport white lion to the zoo. In 2010, Al Ain zoo, UAE had received two 18-month-old white lions from Sanbona wildlife reserve in South Africa.

"We are arranging the transfer either from the zoo or from sheikhs who rear exotic species as pets. Initial agreement regarding sponsorship has already been finalized and hopefully we could soon bring a white lion, cheetah and jaguar from Dubai," museum and zoo director B Joseph said.

White lions were first spotted in 1970s in Timbavati wildlife reserve, South Africa. White lions acquire their unique colour from a recessive white gene through a phenomenon known as Leucism, a rare form of colour mutation. They are born to normal parents. In 1975 lion-researcher and conservationist Chris McBride had first encountered a lioness with three cubs: one a tawny male, and the others snow-white, which were later tran







Honest answers to aquarium ethics questions aren’t simple
The debate over whether whales and dolphins ought to be kept in captivity at the Vancouver Aquarium is about as perennial as the cherry blossoms in this city, and like the blossoms it is often intense and fleeting.

As for what sparked it this time around, I think you can split the credit equally between COPE – the Vancouver civic party which is calling for a referendum on the upcoming civic ballot – and Netflix, which has recently offered up the documentary Blackfish, a film that makes a strong case against keeping captive cetaceans.




Copenhagen Zoo's giraffe killing was wrong and disturbing
When the 2-year-old giraffe, Marius, was euthanized by gunshot, dismembered by staff and fed to a group of lions at the Copenhagen Zoo in full view of the public, it was a shot heard around the world. The inexplicable decision to kill this charismatic animal and the circumstances surrounding its death are deeply disturbing even to us battle-tested zoologists.

Giraffes are among the most popular of all animals and can live to 25 years or longer in a zoo. The sacrifice of Marius was defended by rational professionals in Europe, but the appropriateness of the decision can and should be debated.

Compounding the error, soon after Marius died, the same zoo euthanized four resident lions to make room for another unrelated male. Denmark operates highly innovative, professional zoological parks, but their practice of discarding healthy animals by euthanasia is discomforting. A zoo animal can be humanely euthanized when it is suffering from a chronic, painful or irreversible medical condition. Management euthanasia - which is dictated by lack of space or resources, physical or behavioral anomalies, or a low breeding priority - is counterintuitive to the mission of the zoo community globally.

At modern zoos and aquariums, select species are thoroughly reviewed by zoo committees organized to advocate for the benefit of the captive population. Because the genetic contribution of each animal is monitored to prevent inbreeding and optimize genetic diversity, many animals do not qualify for breeding. However,




Zoo’s licence to thrill
Animal attraction sanctioned on condition it runs education initiatives
Malta’s Wildlife Park in Mtaħleb has just been given a zoo licence on the remit that it operates an educational and research programme.
Chris Borg, who runs the park, said the licence was only issued after the veterinary and agriculture departments ensured the animals’ pens adhered to international zoo standards.
Mr Borg applied for the licence after the planning authority finally regularised his position in February and sanctioned his set-up in the limits of Rabat.
It has been his dream to formally open up the park to the public and this has finally been realised after he had first homed the 380-kilogram Bengal tiger, Lentilka, at the top of a Mosta warehouse in 2009.
Four years on, the park has some 100 animals, from big cats, to lemurs, several primates and birds, as well




Buenos Aires Zoo puts white Bengal tiger triplets on display
The Buenos Aires Zoo has put its white Bengal tiger triplets, who were born three months ago, on display, officials at the Argentine wildlife park said.

"The cubs, two females and a male, weighed around one kilo (2.2 pounds) at birth after being born nor



Bristol zoo appoints new head of conservation
A WORLD-leading primatologist has been appointed as the new director of conservation at Bristol Zoo Gardens.

Dr Christoph Schwitzer has joined the senior management team at Bristol Zoological Society, which operates Bristol Zoo Gardens and the new Wild Place Project at Cribbs Causeway.

He now has responsibility for a broad range of the society's activities, including projects to protect endangered wildlife, the animal collection, the on-site veterinary team and the zoo's learning and research departments.

Competition for the position was tough, with applicants from all over the world. Dr Schwitzer, who was previously head of research at the Zoo for seven years, starts the new role on May 1.

He said: "I feel honoured to have been offered this position, and it is a fantastic privilege.

"Bristol Zoological Soci




Jobs saved as Blackbrook Zoo sale agreed
STAFF at a zoo forced to call in administrators after a severe drop in visitor numbers can look forward to a secure future after a buyer was found.

Blackbrook Zoological Park, in Winkhill near Leek, had been in the hands of Newcastle-based adminstrators Barringtons Corporate Recovery since March 4, before a bid was accepted on Monday.

Now the jobs of the seven members of cafe, shop and gamekeeping staff will be safe when the deal for the park, which opened in 1991, is finalised.

Shop manager Mark Gains, of Uttoxeter, said staff had been working for free during the last five to seven months to keep the zoo open.

Now he felt relieved that there was 'light at the end of the tunnel'.

"It certainly has been a bit of a struggle," the 43-year-old said. "The fact the staff haven't been paid demonstrates how professional they have been through all this and how determined they were to keep the park open.

"We are all pleased and relieved a buyer has been found, but obviously until they cross the 't's and dot the 'i's, we are cautiously optimistic.

"We hope to meet the




Suffering is the core issue with whale and dolphin captivity at the Vancouver Aquarium
Do whales and dolphins suffer in captivity?
That is the core question. All of the rationalizations for captivity (needed profit, educational value, scientific research value) are dependent on the answer to that question.

And the scientific answer to that question is an unequivocal yes. Captive whales and dolphins do suffer greatly from the very condition of their confinement. Suffering is imbedded in captivity.

And they suffer whether or not they were captured from the wild or bred for a lifetime of captivity. It is a self-serving misconception, propagated by institutions like SeaWorld and the Vancouver Aquarium, that whales and dolphins born into captivity do not suffer because they have never experienced their natural habitat. They don’t know any better. As if millions of years of evolution and genetic programming can be drastically altered in one generation. Do humans born into slavery not suffer from being denied the qualities of life that freedom bestows?

When Vancouver city councillors were discussing enacting a bylaw to ban all wild animals in circuses in 1992, one of the key questions councillors asked was if wildlife born in captivity was still wildlife. The Vancouver Humane Society at the time provided enough scientific evidence that convinced councillors that even after many generations of being born in captivity, wild animals’ instincts remained wild.

The American Humane Society has stated that keeping small cetaceans in concrete tanks is “inhumane beyond comprehension”. They suffer from the very definition of their confinement. There is no way that the aquarium can come close to replicating the social and natural environment that whales dolphins experience in the wild.

They suffer from being deprived of their echo-location capability, which is the same as taking away human eyesight.

They suffer from being in a confined space, like humans in a cage or in prison. John Nightingale, the CEO of the aquarium, told the Globe and Mail (April 8, 2014) that b



Chinese bear bile farm to become a sanctuary
Historic agreement sees Animals Asia working with farm to rescue 130 bears
Animal welfare organisation Animals Asia will convert a bear bile farm in Nanning, China, into a sanctuary following an unprecedented request by the farm to rescue and care for its 130 bears.

 From May 5, Animals Asia will take 28 of the sickest bears, 1,200km in a multi-vehicle convoy back to our existing sanctuary in Chengdu for urgent veterinary attention. Then Animals Asia will also take over the care of the bears on the Nanning bear farm and start the two-year process of turning it into a sanctuary.

The move was instigated by Mr Yan Shaohong, General Manager of Flower World, which runs the bear farm as part of a wider state-invested horticultural business.

The move has been hailed as historic by Animals Asia CEO and founder Jill Robinson MBE, who sees it as a significant step in our ongoing campaign to end bear bile farming. She said:

“China has long been outraged by this cruel practice and our statistics show 87% of Chinese are against bear bile farming. This negotiation is a result of years of growing awareness and increased opposition, with the bear farmer showing the moral integrity to do the right thing. We believe it can be the start of a wider conversation, with all parties represented, with the aim o






Griffith Park Mountain Lion Suffering From Rat Poison, Scientists Say
A much-celebrated Los Angeles puma whose image graced the pages of a national magazine last year is suffering serious health effects from exposure to rat poison, according to biologists working with the National Park Service.

P-22, the Griffith Park puma who gained worldwide fame last year when his photo with the Hollywood Sign appeared in National Geographic, is suffering a bad case of mange, likely as a result of eating prey that contained commonly available rat poisons.

Though National Park Service biologists treated P-22 for his mange, his prognosis is uncertain. In 12 years of study, only two other pumas in the Santa Monica Mountains have developed mange. Both of those cats ultimately died of rodenticid




The trade in rhino horn: asset stripping on an apocalyptic scale
The South African government’s plan to legalise rhino horn sales will simply make life easier for the organised crime cartels that are exterminating the species
I am sitting in a large meeting room at Pretoria University in South Africa at a conference to discuss the trade in rhino horn. Expecting a fierce debate pitting conservationists against hunters and traders, instead I find myself confronting my own impotence against the most horrific poaching of rhinos. What is happening in South Africa is truly in a league of its own.

I already knew that over 1000 rhino are being poached each year in South Africa. But these were just statistics. The fact that it was happening in a far away country made me feel that this was not my problem. Besides, those are white rhinos, the South African species that is still relatively numerous. In Kenya we are mostly concerned about our own species, the critically endangered black rhino.

In short I had many reasons and excuses to not engage with this ‘South African’ problem. Now I am seeing the photos of heartbreaking suffering that poachers are inflicting on rhinos. Faces hacked open, blood saturated soil.

Then, just when I think I am getting used to the images, the videos start flowing.

In one, an animal, barely recognisable as a rhino because its head is just a bloody pulp, moves and tries to get up. I cover my face, then turn to watch, tears streaming down my face. The pain I feel in every cell of my body can not be a fraction of what this once beautiful animal was experiencing.

I look around the room of 50 or so participants, rhino owners, conservationists, scientists, veterinarians, hunters. Every face is a mask of horror and despair.

The rhino without a face tries to walk.His front left leg is broken and he stumbles and snorts in pain, it is a high pitched squeak that sends bubbles of blood out of the hole that was his horn. He struggles painfully, in circles, he can’t see the bush he s



Rhinoceros Farming in China



G.W. Interactive Zoological Park cited by OSHA for multiple violations
The Garold Wayne Interactive Zoological Park in Wynnewood has been cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for multiple violations.

OSHA confirmed Tuesday that the park now owes thousands of dollars in penalties for 5 citations issued March 31st, after an investigation spanning close to four months.

OSHA cited the zoo for failing to "properly protect employees from wild animals", as well as, from potentially harmful chemicals.

Entertainment director and animal caretaker for the park, Joe Schreibvogel, says they have been following USDA regulations for the past 15 years.

Schreibvogel said, "And they're the ones who tell us how to build these cages and protect the public and protect the a





Inside Tiger Farming: A Long Chain of Profiteers
During a recent documentary film shoot with a team from Spiegel TV in Germany we investigated aspects of tiger farming in Thailand and Laos before I traveled on to China and Myanmar. There I looked into not only aspects of tiger bone consumption and the trade in tiger derivatives but also the commerce involving live animals. I presented some of the findings to members of the diplomatic community in Vientiane, Laos PDR who had expressed interest in our inquiries, especially in the context of the U.S. State Department announcement of a reward concerning Vixay Keosavang and his continued involvement in the wildlife and lion/tiger bone trade which we documented during an earlier visit.




Tiger Farms



Tiger Farming Exposed



If Tiger Farms Were To Close





WATCH: Seals released in Penrhyn Bay by Colwyn Bay zoo keepers
Four grey seal pups that were rescued and then cared for by zoo keepers have been released back into the sea.

The mammals, named Rooster, Billy, Wyatt Erp and Seal with No Name! were today set free at Penrhyn Bay near Llandudno.

The rescued seals spent over three months rehabilitation in two specially designed pools at Colwyn Bay's Welsh Mountain Zoo.

Experts said they have been carefully monitored and have made great progress.

Now weighing 40 kilos each, keepers at the





Noah's Ark Zoo Farm fire: Elephant evacuated
A fire broke out at Noah's Ark Zoo Farm yesterday evening, and Buta the elephant had to be evacuated from her home.

The fire took hold in an adjacent shed containing two propane gas cylinders.

Firefighters put out the blaze and cooled the cylinders before allowing the animal to return.

An Avon Fire and Rescue spokeswoman said: “At 17.06pm fire engines from Nailsea and Avonmouth were called to Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm in Wraxall to reports o





Animal escapes rarely happen, but they can give zoos some wild rides
In custody again but chattering only among themselves, the seven chimpanzees that briefly escaped Thursday from their habitat at the Kansas City Zoo are offering no clues as to exactly when they hatched their plan to go over the wall.
Maybe it was spontaneous.

Or it could have been plotted long ago.

When animal escapes happen — and they do — zookeepers know the reasons, which can be human error or the more naturalistic designs of modern zoos.

In the chimp case, Kansas City Zoo director Randy Wisthoff and other experts on Friday acknowledged that the peripatetic primates certainly had the tools they needed:

• Big brains.

• A scalable tree branch.

“My assumption is that the chimps were planning this for a long time,” said Matt Schindler, president of Wichita-based WDM Architects, which in part specializes in zoo exhibit design. “Sometimes when they have nothing but time on their hands, they can do a lot of thinking and figure out ways to get out of things.”

Oh yeah, speaking of those hands, don’t forget:

“They have thumbs,” Wisthoff said. “They have the ability to use — whether you want to give this credit or not — to use and make tools. Because of that, it becomes a constant vigil on our part to prevent that process from taking place.”

Zoo animal escapes happen rarely, about five times a year on average over the last five years, said Rob Vernon, spokesman for the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, which represents and accredits 213 zoos and aquariums in 47 states.

Most often, Vernon said, animals escape because of zoo staff error, typically after a door or enclosure is left often.

In March, the staff at the Spring River Zoo in Roswell, N.M., left the water running into a moat that helped confine a baby bear cub. The moat filled up enough to allow the cub to swim across, scale the exhibit cage and clamber onto its roof. The zoo was evacuated as the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish was called to u




Salzburg cheetahs great escape
For the third time in two years a cheetah has broken out from Salzburg Zoo this week.

"Ginger" the female cheetah left two cubs behind as she scaled a 2-and-a-half metre wall at 11.00 on Wednesday morning, only to return after ten minutes back to the enclosure.

But that was not before she was spotted having a curious wander around by visitors enjoying a day at the zoo, who quickly raised the alarm.

"We are please she returned - we were at our wits end," said Managing Director Sabine Grebner. The cheetahs were secured into the inner section of their enclosure immediately after the breakout and have been kept there since while the zoo look at how to make the enclosure safer.

After earlier outbreaks in June and July 2012, the cheetah enclosure was rebuilt - at the cost of 220,000 EUR and was described as "state of the art" and "absolutely safe" by the zoo.

But it was not too tricky for Ginger who, going by the mud on her belly when she was spotted after her escape, had managed to pass through the pond in the enclos







Celebrating Plants and the Planet:

In the North the buds are opening; dormant trees are reasserting themselves
after the winter. The stirring of the forest may slip by many people, but I
think they can't miss its influence. April's news links at
http://www.zooplantman.com  (NEWS/Botanical News)
focus on forests:

. Who plants the forest? Consider the humble ant. Many plants' seed
dispersed primarily by birds are, in fact, missed by birds and rescued by
ants. Unsung gardeners!

. Who manages the healthy forest? Executive Secretary of the U.N.
Environment Programme Convention on Migratory Species makes the case for
saving animal species in order to protect forests.

. Who designed the forest? Human manipulation of forests has now
been traced back 11,000 years to when indigenous Asian people burned forests
to plant fruit trees. 

. How can lost forest be replaced? When forest trees fruit, why do
some seeds grow and thrive while others fail? Researchers in Nouabale-Ndoki
National Park planted 40,000 tree seeds in order to answer that question.
Reforestation efforts may be redesigned as a result.

. And why do we care? When the atmosphere gets hot, the plants make
it cooler. A further look at plant-produced aerosols and their effect on
global warming.

For those who are not sufficiently impressed with our Earth's flora, a short
guide to the flora of Pandora (from the movie "Avatar"). Sometimes it is
better not to ask.

http://www.pandorapedia.com/introducing_pandoran_plants_and_animals_on_earth

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
Zoo Horticulture
Consulting & Design
Greening design teams since 1987







http://www.eaza.net/activities/technical-assistance/Documents/Zoo%20Management%20Manual.pdf






China pledges to send pandas to Malaysia 'at appropriate time' after delay over MH370 search
China said the two pandas promised to Malaysia to mark the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties will arrive at an "appropriate time".

The announcement was made after Malaysia announced their scheduled trip next week would be delayed, at the request of the Chinese government.

Giant pandas Feng Yi and Fu Wa were supposed to leave the Sichuan conservation centre on April 15 and arrive early the next day, according to a spokesman for Malaysian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

This afternoon, the Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur issued a statement saying that negotiations were being carried out and that the pandas would arrive "at an appropriate time in the near future”.

“Bilateral relations will not be affected by any individual incident,” it said.

A Chinese embassy staff member told the South China Morning Post earlier today that the delay was a gesture of respect for the passengers, mostly Chinese, and the crew on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 and their aggrieved families, as the chances of finding t




New app to build awareness and information on illegal wildlife trade in South-East Asia
From bear paw soup to pangolin scales, people can now report suspected illegal wildlife trade in South-East Asia using a smartphone app developed by the Taronga Conservation Society Australia in partnership with TRAFFIC.

The ‘Wildlife Witness’ app enables users to report suspected illegal wildlife in trade in the region easily and quickly by taking a photo, pinning the exact location of an incident and sending these important details to TRAFFIC.

Reports by app users will be analysed by a Wildlife Crime Data Analyst and over time, the information will help build data and enrich understanding of illegal wildlife trade across the region, help prioritise response action and highlight areas in need of increased enforcement resources.

Wildlife Witness will also feature information on species threatened by trade, how they are often traded, as well as tips for reporting wildlife crime safely.

Its current focus is the South-East Asian region which serves as source, consumer and transit hub in both the legal and illegal trade of wildlife.

It is hoped app users will include the growing number of tourists to South-East Asia as well as the region’s own smartphone users and over time will expand on what is known about illegal trade here.

“With just a few taps on their smartphones, users can do two important things—learn how their purchasing decisions influence the illegal trade that threatens wildlife and contribute reports that will help build a more informed picture of this threat,” said Chris R. Shepherd, TRAFFIC’s Regional Director-South-East Asia.

“Being aware, and ensuring you are not supporting the illegal trade in wildlife is essential if people are to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem,” he added.

“Wildlife Witness is the first global community action tool to tackle illegal wildlife trade. The app makes reporting these activities simple for both tourists and locals and will help give TRAFFIC the information they need to help address t




A visit to the zoo, Senegal style: Porter
No gift shop at Dakar zoo, Senegal, but you can buy lion's urine to ward off thieves and asthma
A visit to Dakar’s zoo is like a trip to the CNE — equal parts thrilling and horrifying.
We go there sometimes to feed the chimpanzees.
That’s right. Feed them.
The zoo officially prohibits this in the same way the government prohibits child labour, which is to say: Bananas and oranges are on sale outside the zoo’s mosaic front gates.
When the chimps see us coming, they jump up and down like excited toddlers, scurry up the bars of their miserable cage and stretch out their long, chapped fingers in expectation.
Edgar, the youngest female, will even shake your hand.
That wouldn’t happen at the Toronto zoo!
The zoo sits among the eucalyptus and pine trees of Dakar’s only real park. It was built in 1935, when Senegal was still a French colony, and has since remained frozen in sepia time.
An adult ticket cost 60 cents. The chipped cobblestone pathways are lined with box hedges and faded hand-painted signs. And, most of the animals are housed in tiny, barren prison cells with green metal bars and Spanish-kitchen tile floors.
If you’ve read that 1939 kids’ book Madeline, you’ll recognize the tiger cage. “To the tiger in the zoo, Madeline said pooh-pooh.”
That’s the depressing part. While other zoos have expanded and at least pretended to care about their animal prisoners, the Dakar zoo makes no pretense. Its mandate is entertainment.
It shows similar disregard for the safety of humans.
That’s the thrilling part. While at the Toronto zoo, you might squeeze against a glass wall to glimpse the tiger, here the only thing keeping you from touching him is a waist-high metal fence, a gap of two feet and yo



Giraffe Monitoring in Kenya

Contact us:    Dr. Dusti Becker  - dbecker@lifenetnature.org 




Cruel Slaughter of Hunting Dogs in New Zealand Zoo
The title caught your attention did it? Of course it did. But actually it was nothing of the sort. Wellington Zoo has kindly euthanased a couple of their aged African Wild Dogs. The story has not caught the attention of the worlds press and I very much doubt that it will. There have been no more than a dozen articles and all were precise and to the point. There were regrets, sadness but a sensible recognition that quality of life was and is important.

I used the words 'Cruel' and 'Slaughter' because these are just two of the words used when Copenhagen zoo euthanased their surplus Giraffe and when L




SeaWorld Trainers Barred From Killer Whale Pools and Rides (2)
eaWorld Entertainment Inc. (SEAS:US) lost its bid to overturn U.S. limits on trainers’ contact with killer whales imposed after one of the animals drowned an amusement park employee during a 2010 show.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s requirement that trainers not be in direct contact with the whales during shows without protective barriers or keeping a distance was justified, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington ruled today. OSHA acted under the “general duty” clause of a workplace safety law, which obligates employers to maintain safe working conditions.

Existing safety measures “were inadequate to eliminate or materially reduce the hazard to SeaWorld’s trainer employees performing with” the animals, U.S. Circuit Judge Judith Rogers wrote for the majority of the





Fifty shades of fur? Exposing the dark side of a sea otter’s sex life (with video)
Whiskers wasn’t your average sea otter.

Rather than hang out with his own kind off Nootka Island on the west coast of Vancouver Island, he would often come ashore to socialize with humans.

He’d crawl onto the lap or around the neck of the assistant lightkeeper’s 14-year-old son, Gabe, and would even go after balls tossed into the ocean.

Sure, he was adorable. But Whiskers’s behaviour also troubled Ed and Pat Kidder, who served 44 years on “the lights” before retiring in 2003.

“He was a real cute little guy,” Pat recalls from their current home near Qualicum Beach. “But he’s a wild critter and you don’t know what he’s likely to do. Those teeth can crack an oyster shell.”

Whiskers also used to tease the dogs from the neighbouring First Nations reserve at Friendly Cove, where British explorer Captain James Cook made first contact in 1778 and the commercial slaughter of sea otters ensued shortly thereafter.

Whiskers would whistle from the water in the mornings so that the dogs would run to the shoreline and bark at him. The Kidders described them as “northern dogs” with Husky blood: Nipper, Killer and Tuk, the biggest and oldest of the three at an estimated 10 years of age.

One day the dogs were down by the rocks barking and Whiskers pushed a log towards them, daring them to jump onto it and come even closer.

Pat recalls thinking: “‘Don’t go out on there or he’ll have you and you’ll wind up dead.’ Whiskers was a smart animal.”

None of the dogs fell for it. Not then, at least.

A dark cloud descended on the cove a couple of days later. The Kidders heard more commotion and cast their eyes toward a ramp on a wharf.

Tuk was floating in the water — drowned.

Whiskers was there, too, copulating with the carcass while parading past the other two wildly barking dogs.

“He’d go back and forth, holding Tuk’s head up out of the water,” Pat relates. “He was humping it. It was so bizarre. We had never anticipated anything like that.”

Who would? After all, cute and cuddly — no




Belgium’s elephant ivory crush will create ripples throughout Europe
Worldwide momentum is building, with the Belgian government the latest to heed our call to destroy stockpiles of confiscated illegal ivory. Our collective resonating gestures will make the world understand that the very survival of elephants depends on ending the ivory trade.

Belgium joins the ranks of key nations whose stockpile crushes have helped to strategically position the ivory trade as a major international security issue. Last fall, I stood up to speak on behalf of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) at the US Fish and Wildlife’s historic demolition of its entire cache of ivory in Denver, Colorado. Months later, IFAW representatives were present as the Chinese government destroyed a six ton stockpile of ivory.




Al Oeming: Nature lover and wrestler was larger than life
For Al Oeming, a zoologist who had live-trapped grizzlies before the advent of bear tranquilizer, bottle-feeding a grizzly on his Alberta Game Farm was business as usual, until it wasn’t.

One day in the mid-1970s, as Big Dan – four years old and 272 kilograms – guzzled his breakfast of milk, nutrients and maple syrup from an oversized baby bottle in Mr. Oeming’s hands, an elk broke out of its pen and leaped into the grizzly compound. Panicking, Big Dan knocked Mr. Oeming over and then sank his canines into his handler’s back near two lower lumbar vertebrae and lifted him off the ground. If it hadn’t been for Mr. Oeming’s muscular physique, which he had maintained since leaving professional wrestling, the damage probably would have been much worse. “He was incapacitated for weeks,” remembers Jim Poole, a keeper on the game farm. “Then he was right back at it. He was one of the toughest guys I’d ever met.”

Injuries were rare on the farm, located 35 kilometres east of Edmonton, and never deterred Mr. Oeming from his mission to educate and inspire future conservationists. His work often took him on the road, travelling across Canada with pet cheetah Tawana to speak at schools and amphitheatres. He also became a TV personality and documentary filmmaker. At its peak, his game farm housed more than 3,000 animals and 166 species.

“Every time you turned around, it was a new adventure,” recalls his eldest son, Todd. “If you weren’t catching big-horn sheep to trim their feet, you were tranquilizing a Siberian tiger to clean out the pus in its mouth.”

The adventures ended in the late 1990s as the public’s attitudes toward animal captivity soured. Mr. Oeming sold all but a few horses and chickens to zoos, but he never left. On March 17, he died from surgical complications, just weeks before his 89th birthday.

The middle child of German immigrants Albert and Elspeth, Albert Frederick Hans Oeming was born in Edmonton on April 9, 1925. Smart, ambitious and macho, young Al learned to speak fluent German and read Latin, but loved nothing more than wrestling his neighbour Stu Hart, the godfather of Canadian pro wrestling, who was like a big brother to him.

The two remained best friends until Mr. Hart died in 2003. Their machismo grew while they served together in the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War, bench-pressing each other and fellow seamen. Mr. Oeming was a gunner on HMCS Stadacona in the South Pacific. He didn’t see much action, but in 1946, along with his discharge papers, he brought home two 20-kilogram artillery weights he had purloined, and connected them to a pulley and headpiece to work out his neck. This e




British Wildlife Conservation In Action
Date: Saturday 10 May 2014

Time: 10.30am until 5pm

Location: Chester Zoo's Lecture Theatre (free parking)

Book online before 7 April and you'll save 20% with our early bird prices




Last evidence of Glasgow Zoo erased
While it’s not a particularly recent event, this is the first time I’ve been able to visit the former entrance to Glasgow Zoo and grab a pic to show that it has now gone completely, together with any remains of the zoo which had survived on the ground behind. This was the last piece of zoo grounds which the developer consumed to build houses on. Although I’ve been past a few time since the turn of the year, it should come as no surprise to learn that the weather was usually




Zoos & Aquariums and Their Visitors Can Be Critical Advocates for Conservation Action
If you have visited a zoo or aquarium in recent years, there's a good chance that you've noticed something new. In addition to providing up-close encounters with some of the planet's most magnificent species, today's zoological parks are placing a growing emphasis on conservation awareness and action.

Indeed, if you were to ask the staff of almost any zoo or aquarium what is their main mission, they would underscore the education of guests regarding the conservation status of the animals they are observing and the threats those species face in the wild.

Zoos and aquariums are living museums where children and adults alike are witness to the wonders of the natural world. Encounters with species both exotic and familiar fill guests with awe and excite them to learn more about park animals' wild habitats, many of which are in serious decline. That process helps instill a conservation ethic within the general public that can pay dividends w




Heated Debate: Should SeaWorld Ban Killer Whale Shows?
A California bill that sought to ban killer whale shows at SeaWorld has failed to pass the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee.

Instead, the committee will revisit the issue after it conducts a study over the next year.

Sean Hannity discussed the issue tonight with former SeaWorld killer whale trainer Bridgette Pirtle Davis and Lisa Lange, PETA senior vice president of communications.

Pirtle Davis said that the animals at SeaWorld are not mistreated and she did not feel in jeopardy there. She said her decision to leave was for her family, who feared for her safety after the tragic death of whale


Melbourne Zoo Vintage Poster





‘Dead’ meat being supplied to zoo
Animals in the Bahawalpur Zoo are being supplied with dead meat due to which a lioness has eaten its two cubs and killed two others.  On March 16, the lioness gave birth to four cubs but due to alleged starvation, it ate its two cubs. The zoo awarded a contract of supplying meat to the zoo animals and the contractor is bound to supply 40 kg of meat including 5kg bones daily at a rate of Rs38 per kg surprisingly.
Last year, a contract had been awarded to supply the meat at Rs187 per kg. After that, another contract was awarded for provision of the food at Rs82 per kg. However, the DG Livestock cancelled the contract declaring the meat substandard. But as soon as the DG Livestock was transferred, the zoo administration signed another contract for getting meat at Rs38 per kg. Sources said that the new contractor had been supplying dead meat to the animals thereby affecting their health.
When contacted, Bahawalpur Zoo’s C




Lion dies in Hungary zoo from anthrax-infected meat
A lion in a Hungarian zoo died after it ate beef infected with the deadly anthrax disease identified in a nearby farm in the eastern region of the country, national news agency MTI reported on Thursday.

Citing the local veterinary authority, MTI said the infected meat came from the village of Esztar. It went to the zoo in the city of Debrecen.

Two lions, two leopards and a tiger ate from the infected meat, Istvan Tischler, director of the local veterinary authority told MTI. One of the lions died, while the rest of the animals are being monitored after receiving preventive medicine.

He said the farm, where the infected cow had been identified, had been placed under quarantine and the pigs and dogs got preve





Zoo now on a white lion trail
 After clearing the hurdles to bring in white tiger and anaconda, the capital zoo is gearing up to possess a white lion. Regarded as a rarest and an endangered species with its white fur and pale blue-green eyes, white lion will be flown from Dubai along with cheetah and jaguar soon.

The zoo officials here have received an offer of sponsorship from a Dubai-based agency to transport white lion to the zoo. In 2010, Al Ain zoo, UAE had received two 18-month-old white lions from Sanbona wildlife reserve in South Africa.

"We are arranging the transfer either from the zoo or from sheikhs who rear exotic species as pets. Initial agreement regarding sponsorship has already been finalized and hopefully we could soon bring a white lion, cheetah and jaguar from Dubai," museum and zoo director B Joseph said.

White lions were first spotted in 1970s in Timbavati wildlife reserve, South Africa. White lions acquire their unique colour from a recessive white gene through a phenomenon known as Leucism, a rare form of colour mutation. They are born to normal parents. In 1975 lion-researcher and conservationist Chris McBride had first encountered a lioness with three cubs: one a tawny male, and the others snow-white, which were later transported to Pretoria zoo for breeding purpose.

According to estimate, there are only less than 300 white lions and those in the wild are practically extinct. At present the white lions are born in captivity in various zoos across the globe.

The capital zoo officials are also gearing up for a trip to Nagaland. Two Himalayan bears will be brought from Rangapahar Wildlife Sanctuary and Zoologic





Escaped chimpanzees at Kansas City Zoo back in captivity
The chimpanzees escaped from their enclosure earlier on Thursday afternoon.  One of the chimps was seen scaling and walking on a wall.

Zoo Director Randy Wistoff said that a tree fell in an enclosure in the zoo's Africa exhibit. Seven of them climbed the tree and got onto a perimeter wall and two or three of them wound up on the other side of the wall.

"Our problem becomes chimps are so much stronger than humans that they can go up in a tree and pull on something long enough and pull a piece of log off. That's apparently what happened," Wistoff said. "We had one ring leader, not sure who that was, but he got that log, put it on the wall got up on top, somehow then he beckoned other chimps to come over and join him and lured about six of the





Panda Sutra – the Ups and Downs of Getting Grumpy Bears to Have Sex
There is nothing intrinsic to pandas that makes them bad at breeding. It is true that they only have one menstrual cycle each year, but this is true of many creatures. Animals that have multiple cycles per year, such as humans, cows, dogs and sheep, are the unusual ones.

Pandas are no different in their menstrual cycles from deer, stoats and badgers. The reason why pandas are going extinct is nothing to do with these cycles. It is because so much of their natur




Why some animals eat their young
Stacey Tabellario and Mindy Babitz are like many new mothers. They are with the baby every second she’s awake. They watch her on a monitor while she sleeps. They prepare bottles, talk to her and carry her and get little sleep themselves.

But the baby is a sloth bear (think Baloo from “The Jungle Book”), the only one of its kind born in captivity in the United States this year. And she is in Tabellario and Babitz’s care for a reason that’s simple and hard to




Endangered Wild Cats Harmfully Bred In Zoos For Profit, Not Protection
Although the wild cats on display in zoos seem to be the kings and queens of their exhibits, the reality of their lives in captivity is far from royal.

Illegal poaching, trophy hunting, retaliative persecution and habitat loss subjects wildlife species to extinction or captivity, and has brought populations of wild cats in the world to staggering lows.

Many zoos have made efforts to save wild cats and stimulate procreation, but the threat is the largest for the white tiger and the white lion species. Despite the educational goals and hopeful life-saving conditions of zoos, containment of these white cats has become inhumane and harmful due to selective inbreeding for the sake of profit, not protection.

In over a century, 97 percent of all tigers have been lost, leaving as few as 3,200 in the wild today, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) states. Resources to safeguard and protect the habitats of tigers are limited, and poaching remains pervasive even within countries that have protection laws, such Cambodia, China, Laos and Vietnam. In Central and West Africa, lions are now classified as an endangered species and are extinct in 26 countries, according to wild cat conservation group Panthera.

Exhibitors and breeders favor white tigers and lions because they are so rare. A subspecies of the orange Bengal tiger, the white tiger’s fur coat is the result of a recessive gene that must be carried by both parents. The Global White Lion Protection Trust states the fur of white lions is due to a genetic marker that has not even been identified yet.

Though beautiful, their bright coats make it difficult to




Rescuing Lebanon's big cats
“It’s a very complicated process to send animals. There are about 20 people involved,” Maggie Shaawari, vice president of Animals Lebanon, says as she drives up a steep dirt road in northern Lebanon and juggles Facebook updates, taking photos of the lion and tigers in crates ahead of her and calling on her iPhone to the animal welfare organization’s office, people at the airport, press contacts and other staff members.




Ukraine crisis leaves animals in Kharkiv zoo fighting for life
Ukrainian zoo that survived both World Wars struggling for funds amid political crisis leaving its six thousand animals "on the verge of starvation".
Campaigners and Ukrainian citizens are facing a daily struggle to keep animals in a Kharkiv zoo alive while the political crisis in the country continues.
The government began in January to divert funds away from the Nikolaev zoo, which houses nearly six thousand animals, including big cats, bears, monkeys, crocodiles, boa constrictors and elephants.
The dire situation at the 114-year-old facility, which has survived two World Wars, was highlighted in March by a letter sent by zoo director Alexey Grigoriev to Ukraine's prime minister that said: "The Kharkiv animals on the verge of starv




A big victory for SeaWorld
In a victory for SeaWorld, lawmakers on Tuesday shelved legislation that would have closed the San Diego park’s main attraction by outlawing the use of trained captive orcas in shows at world-famous Shamu stadium.

However, the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee included a measure of consolation to supporters of the bill by suggesting they come back next year with a new version based on more detailed studies of the potential repercussions on research, the well-being of the 10 whales at SeaWorld and the economy of the San Diego region.

“This is a positive step forward. The issue remains alive here in Sacramento. This gives us an opportunity to discuss the great variety of issues regarding orcas,” said Assemblyman Richard Bloom, a Santa Monica Democrat who introduced the bill. “Good things take time.”

SeaWorld President John Reilly was clearly relieved over the reprieve. He does not see much room for negotiation next year given SeaWorld’s firm belief that its prized orcas are we





With new look, 80-year-old Paris zoo to re-open
Its gray, man-made mountain that might lure King Kong still protrudes over treetops, but nearly everything else has changed as Paris’ zoo prepares to re-open after a multi-year, multimillion-euro (dollar) makeover.

A lone lion was lounging, the baboons burrowing, and lemurs leaping from branch to branch as the Zoological Park of Paris opened for a herd of journalists on Wednesday before a grand re-opening this weekend.



Chimp rescued from zoo after eight-year struggle
An animal rights group confiscated Lebanon’s last imprisoned chimpanzee from a zoo over the weekend, nine years after it was smuggled into the country.

Accompanied by seven police officers and a court clerk, Animals Lebanon entered a zoo along the Nahr al-Kalb river Saturday and took Charlie the chimp into their care in a court-approved operation supported by the Agriculture Ministry that took around 30 minutes.

“Charlie, a 9-year-old chimpanzee, was smuggled to Lebanon in 2005 and sold from a pet shop before ending up in Animal City zoo,” said a press release from Animals Lebanon. “The Ministry of Agriculture declared in 2006 that Charlie was smuggled into Lebanon and that no permits have been issued for his importation. An attempted confiscation in early 2006 failed after the zoo removed Charlie the day before the confiscation was to take place.”

Animals Lebanon Executive Director Jason Mier expressed relief at securing safekeeping of Charlie.

“My first reason for coming to Lebanon eight and a half years ago was this chimpanzee,” he told The Daily Star Monday. Mier said the failed visit to the zoo in February 2006 s




Debunking Captivity: 3 Reasons Not to Keep Dolphins in a Tank
I have spent much time in the company of wild dolphins over the last twenty-something years. I’ve built a career following their everyday movements and observing their behavior both from shore and from research boats. When I began my studies, I knew these creatures primarily as the objects of my research but, as the years passed, I came to recognize them as single individuals, not solely for their unique dorsal fin notches, but also for their cognitive abilities, personalities, and emotions.

Spending thousands of hours at sea, I began to know some of them by sight and, like my human friends, they became an integral part of my life. I learned of their needs, not only for space but also for companionship, and I witnessed their fluid, complex societies, which in many ways are quite similar to our own.

I have also witnessed first-hand the very different lives of these animals in aquaria and marine parks and I cannot help wondering about the reasons for keeping such magnificent creatures captive. In my line of work, I’ve heard all kinds of justifications for keeping dolphins confined, the most frequent being education, conservation, and research. (See: “First Person: How Far Will the Blackfish Effect Go?“)

Let’s consider whether any of these reasons are valid. And let’s do this keeping in mind that we are an allegedly intelligent and caring species with the ability to reflect and analyze what we currently know about dolphins and make sensible decisions based on these evaluations.

Keeping cetaceans (and personally I would stretch this to include other animals as well), in a restricted environment may have been more ac




Bern zoo faces flak over second bear cub death
The two cubs were born in mid-January to Misha and Masha, brown bears donated to the Dählhölzli zoo in 2009 by then Russian president Dmitry Medvedev and his wife as a gift to the Swiss capital.

Last week, critics slammed the zoo for not separating the bears after Misha, a 360-kilogram adult, killed one of the two cubs, known as “Baby Bear 3”.

The zoo maintained it wanted to give the animals the most natural environment possible and it feared that separating the adults would be disastrous, leading to “massive behavioural disorders”.

But it said on Monday it was forced to subject “Baby Bear 4” to euthanasia to prevent “further distress and pain” to the cub, which was being batted around by the father bear.

Animal rights groups said the zoo took the wrong approach and the deaths of the two cubs could have been avoided.

“We strongly condemn the incidents that have led to the unnecessary and painful death to bred bear cubs,” the Swiss Animal Protection group said in a statement.

Last week, the zoo’s management said it was not planning to separate the parent bears to protect the re




G.W. Zoo releases music video attacking animal ownership laws
USDA looking into video as part of investigation
The G.W. Zoological Park in Wynnewood is under federal investigation after a tiger attacked an employee last year -- but that didn’t stop the zoo from featuring the big cats interacting with people in their new video.

The owner of the G.W. Zoo, Joe “Exotic” Schriebvogel, sent KOCO a link to his video but he wasn’t at the park Monday to talk about it.

No one else on staff at the zoo would comment.

According to the facility’s website, the zoo is planning on taking in 30 more exotic animals that were taken away from their previous owners. They hope the new video will help raise the funds to pay for the project.

Schriebvogel, a self-proclaimed country music artist and owner of the zoo, is featured in the video asking for donations for the United States Z



BLACKFISH ANALYSIS: Misleading and/or Inaccurate Content
The Opening Sequence is false and misleading. It consists of separate pieces of
innocuous training and show footage taken by SeaWorld’s underwater cameras cobbled
together (under actual 911 calls regarding Dawn Brancheau) to mislead the audience
into believing it is viewing footage of the fatal incident between Ms. Brancheau and
Tilikum on February 24, 2010. However, the Opening Sequence does not contain
footage of an attack, and neither Ms. Brancheau nor Tilikum are depicted in the
Opening Sequence.
In addition, the Opening Sequence casts SeaWorld in a false light, misleading the
audience into believing that SeaWorld trainers, including Ms. Brancheau, swam with
Tilikum, which never occurred. From the date that Tilikum arrived at SeaWorld in
1993, SeaWorld had special s




Fish House Confessional: The Water Cooler of Marine Mammal Trainers
We've all heard the phrase "water cooler gossip".  We've seen the TV shows or movies where office workers gather around the water cooler and exchange clandestine information. 
Oh, the glorious Fish House.  The Fish House has all of the glorious benefits of a fort with some major added bonuses.  Remember the forts you envisioned as a kid?  In my experience, the fort I had imagined and designed with painstaking details (such as bay windows, plush couches, a donut nook, and air-lock doors that went whoosh) never really turned out the way I wanted.  The last fort I remember well involved some big sticks, black garbage bags taped together, and a pot I stole from my house to make the fort seem more livable.  My sister and I built the Garbage Bag Fort in our backyard when the snow was melting, so the





Tenn. agency rules with iron fist to end wildlife adoptions, some say (with video)
Dudley loved his pacifier. His sister Opossum loved vanilla ice cream.

And every day the 2-year-olds sat on the couch with stuffed animals and watched "How The Grinch Stole Christmas."

At night, when they couldn't sleep, they'd crawl up into Tisha Morgan's bed and nuzzle into her face. She would lull them back to sleep with a bottle of warm infant formula.

"That's just how much babies they were," said Morgan, who was given the two raccoons in the spring of 2012.

But those tender moments are gone now.

Last October, while Morgan was out of town, seven state wildlife officers and a Polk County officer entered her opulent, 11,000-square-foot home in Delano, Tenn., and took the animals. A woman who rents a room from the Morgans and was h






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www.zoolex.org in April 2014


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Hello ZooLex Friend,
We have worked for your enjoyment!

              ~°v°~

NEW EXHIBIT PRESENTATION

Leopard Heights at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park is an open top exhibit 
that allows leopards 24 hour access. This is worth mentioning since most 
leopard exhibits are either fence roofed and small or open top, but 
often only accessible for the animals during the staff work time.

The breeding programme (EEP) for these animals is planned to be part of 
a re-introduction programme. The design therefore aims at keeping the 
leopards as physically and mentally fit as possible, so that their 
offspring have the best chances of being chosen for release and will 
survive.

http://www.zoolex.org/zoolexcgi/view.py?id=1454

              ~°v°~

TESTIMONIAL

The new book "Zoo Animal Welfare" by Terry L. Maple and Bonnie M. Perdue 
recognizes ZooLex as a major zoo design resource:

"To find evidence of excellence in newly constructed zoo exhibits it is 
helpful to first go online to ZooLex, a website devoted to the 
publication of exhibit ideas and technical details (including budgets) 
replete with photographs and diagrams."

http://www.zoolex.org/testimonial.html

              ~°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: http://www.zoolex.org/about.html



China’s tiger parks under fire from conservationists, animal cruelty experts
The tourists piled into the bus, which took them through a series of gates into an enclosed, snow-covered field. Within minutes, the bus _ modified so that a steel cage covered the windows _ was surrounded by more than 20 Siberian tigers.

A Toyota Land Cruiser pulled into the enclosure and someone inside tossed out two live chickens that landed near the left side of the bus. Cameras clicked and blood splattered. Within seconds, the tigers had ripped the birds apart.

As inhumane as this scene from February might appear, it is just a small part of what happens each day at China’s “tiger farms.” Sanctioned by the government but accused of routinely violating Chinese laws and international agreements, these farms exist mainly to breed and kill tigers for the marketing of pelts and tiger bone wine.

A visit by a McClatchy reporter to China’s two largest tiger farms, in the northern city of Harbin and in the southern city of Guilin, found animals in deplorable conditions. In both cities, merchants openly sold bone wine, despite a 1993 ban by China on bone products sourced from both domesticated and wild tigers.

China’s treatment of tigers was further thrust into the spotlight last week, when 15





Nightingale Feces Facial
The use of Nightingale Feces as a facial treatment originated in old Japan. Here the preparation is known as 'Uguisu-no-Fun' and is today in popular use among Geisha and Kabuki and has been in common usage for at least five hundred years. The 'Nightingale' which produces the raw product is the Japanese Bush Warbler Cettia diphone and 'Uguisu' is the name given to this bird in Japanese. One does not have to be very clever to work out what 'no-Fun' means.

Today the product is gaining in popularity as the list of famous clients increases. Needless to s



EAZA Nutrition Conference 2015

This popular conference will take place from 22-25 January  2015 at Burgers Zoo, The Netherlands. Topics and themes will vary from nutritional basics to nutritional needs across all taxa.   It will also be accompanied by an EAZA Academy workshop. The call for papers and posters will be published soon. Please keep checking the EAZA website for updates.
http://www.eaza.net/Pages/European%20Association%20of%20Zoos%20and%20Aquaria.aspx




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