Zoo News Digest 26th - 31st August 2014 (ZooNews 896)
Badaling Wildlife Park
Dear Colleagues,
Sad to learn of the ZooKeeper being killed by a Tiger in Badaling Wildlife Park, China. Very few details as yet. I am surprised that so few newspapers have picked up on the story. My condolences to friends, family and colleagues.
Sad to learn of the ZooKeeper being killed by a Tiger in Badaling Wildlife Park, China. Very few details as yet. I am surprised that so few newspapers have picked up on the story. My condolences to friends, family and colleagues.
There are more than
a few links with reference to the UAE below. Probably a good move because sadly
there are a lot of people in the Emirates who should not be allowed within two
foot of an animal let alone own one. On the other hand there is some wonderful
work being done in some of the zoos.
It saddens me more than a little that the
journalists who pull these articles together do not a little more in depth
research. So once again we have the oft repeated lie turning up "helping
important local species, such as the cheetah, which is extinct in the wild in
the UAE."….when it has never actually occurred in the UAE.
Sticking with
Cheetahs for a moment. There is mention in one article of a Cheetah being
declawed! I don't know about you but I found that extremely disturbing. I find
the declawing and tooth filing of any cat disgusts me to the core....but a cheetah?. It is my
sincere and deep held belief that vets who carry out such procedures need to
have a serious re-think about their work. More to the point though is the
individuals who ask them to do such things should not own big cats at all. A
couple of weeks back I remarked on this subject in the ZooNews Digest Facebook
group with regards to tiger called 'Jonas' being held by the Bowmanville Zoo
which was described as "had been declawed and had its teeth dulled so it
was essentially harmless."
My remarks stirred
up a hornets nest of abuse and attack upon myself for condemning the practice.
It left me wondering just what sort of people we have out there working in some
of our zoos today.
Though I believe that Facebook is an excellent way to get messages out, more or less instantly (Zoo News Digest has over 14,000 Likes and a post reach of over 43,000....but sadly it includes some of the great unwashed, the trolls and those who have never read a book in their lives. It is unfortunate that it is not possible to reason with such people but maybe, just maybe it might perhaps make one or two of them think just a little. I recall with some amusement the first comment that I had when I wrote White Tiger Breeding is Not Conservation The comment read "1st of all white tigers are rare 2nd of all they are endangered and 3rd of all they are a species!!!! i should know because i did a book report on them when i was 9 and i remember taking out about 15 books about both tigers and white BENGALED tigers... So u have no right to say they aren't endangered,rare, and species!!!!! D=< " That about sums up what we are up against.
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
00971 (0)50 4787 122
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Tigers kill zoo
keeper
A patrolman at the
Beijing Badaling Wildlife Park was killed by Bengal tigers inside the tiger
zone, the Zoo has confirmed.
An investigation is
now underway said Zoo officials.
BBC accused of
animal cruelty for using wild animals in new six-part series about a
revolutionary zookeeper who refused to cage wildlife
The BBC has been
accused of cruelty for using wild animals in a new drama.
Our Zoo tells the
true story of Chester Zoo, which pioneered a freer approach to animal
captivity.
But just days before
it screens nationwide, a coalition of animal rights groups have launched a
bitter campaign against the show's 'cruel' use of wild animals as actors,
calling it 'a shocking use of public money'.
Top ten reptiles and
amphibians benefiting from zoos
A frog that does not
croak, the largest living lizard, and a tortoise that can live up to 100 years
are just some of the species staving off extinction thanks to the help of zoos,
according to a new report.
The British and
Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA), which promotes the values of
good zoos and aquariums, has compiled a list of the top ten reptiles and
amphibians benefitting from the aid of zoos in the UK and Ireland.
The golden mantella,
the komodo dragon and the Ploughshare tortoise have all made it on to the list,
which highlights some of the best examples of how zoos are safeguarding the
future of our planet's wildlife and their habitats.
Dr Andrew Marshall,
a conservation biologist working in the Environment Department at the
University of York and at Flamingo Land near Malton, co-ordinated the list with
input from conservation experts based at BIAZA zoos.
Dr Marshall, a
member of BIAZA's Field Programmes Committee, said: "Zoos are part of a
global conservation community. Last year, BIAZA published a report on the top
ten mammals most reliant on zoos, which highlighted the work being done by zoos
to help safeguard their future. This year, we have focused on ten prevailing
examples of reptiles and amphibians that zoos are working to save from
extinction.The list includes some fantastic species, many of which are facing a
dramatic decline and are in a desperate situation in the wild."
The nocturnal lemur
leaf frog is able to change c
Jungle-style feeding
introduced at zoo
The next time you
visit Vandalur zoo, do not forget to observe the animals feeding together as a
group.
Tigers, chimpanzees,
lion-tailed macaques and bears, all seem to be happily sharing the feed.
The zoo has
implemented a new system called ‘cooperative feeding’, inspired from the wild.
In the jungle, the dominant animal in a group eats its share first, before
leaving some for the subordinate ones. Eventually, every animal in the group
gets its due share.
In captivity,
however, the animals do not belong to a single group, as they are rescued and
brought from various places. Therefore, it becomes imperative to introduce the
‘cooperative feeding’ technique, say zoo authorities.
According to
K.S.S.V.P. Reddy, zoo director and additional principal chief conservator of
forests, this feeding habit has been recorded among primates, reptiles and
carnivores in the wild.
In captivity, the
same system will be adopted now, and the domi
Dallas Zoo Keeper
hospitalizes after the lioness attack
On Saturday, in
Dallas Zoo, a keeper got attacked by the lioness during big cats’ routine
transfer.
The zoo officials
said that keeper was hospitalized but his injuries, including bite on a
shoulder, were not threatening for his life. To secure the area, animal was
later transferred.
Laurie Holloway,
spokeswoman of the Zoo, said that zoo keeper didn’t lock th
Zoo in Bulgaria’s
capital closed over animals death
Sofia. Zoo in the
Bulgarian capital city Sofia has been temporarily closed due to the death of
several ruminant animals during the weekend, the press office of the zoo
announced for Sega daily.
A camel, a bison, a
gaur and several cows died during the weekend.
Sofia Mayor Yordanka
Fandakova ordered the zoo to remain closed on Monday until the laboratory
results were ready because “it will not be a nice thing to see an animal dying
while walking around the
Breakthrough in
clouded leopard project
A female Sunda
clouded leopard has been fitted with a satellite collar - for the first time
ever - by a conservationist studying the movement of the endangered species in
the lower Kinabatangan area.
Rahsia, weighing
9.9kg, was caught in one of the traps set up along the Kinabatangan River in
the vicinity of the Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC) on Aug 15.
Wildlife
Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) team member Andrew Hearn, who is a PhD
student with Oxford University, said the leopard was the fourth one collared
but was the first female to be tagged.
"After more
than a year and a half of setting traps each day, the capture of this healthy
female leopard is a breakthrough for our project," Hearn said.
"We are hopeful
that the data from her collar will provide essential insight into her movements
that will enable the development of appropriate conservation actions for her
species."
The collaborative
project is being carried out b
1st African elephant
born in Arizona at Tucson zoo
It's a girl!
Born at 10:55 p.m.
Aug. 20, at the Reid Park Zoo in Tucson, the baby calf is the first African
elephant ever born in Arizona and the first one born in the United States this
year.
"The calf hit
the ground at exactly 10:55 p.m., took a first breath immediately, stood up
within minutes, and began to nurse within the hour," according to the Reid
Park Zoo website.
At less than a week
old, Arizona's biggest baby weighs 245 pounds. Zoo officials are calling her a
happy, healthy baby elephant, although she'll continue to have 24-hour
monitoring for now.
"I have to give
all of the credit to the amazing staff we have here at the zoo," said
Jason Jacobs, zoo director at the Reid Park Zoo. "They have been watching
this elephant 24 hours a day since early July."
Right now, the calf
is sticking close to her mother, Semba, taking walks in the morning and napping
in the afternoons. Slowly, the calf is integrating with the herd, which
includes her dad, Mabu, and her siblings, Punga
White tiger at
Singapore Zoo put down after developing tumour
A rare white tiger
at the Singapore Zoo in Mandai was put to sleep earlier this month after it
developed a tumour, leaving just one male behind in the popular enclosure.
Winnie, who was one
and a half months shy of being 15 years old, was terminally ill after
developing a tumour in her jaw bone and was euthanised on 12 August after the
zoo’s keepers and vets found that her condition had worsened over time.
“Recent reassessment
has seen worsening of (Winnie’s) tumour and the decision was made to euthanise
her to prevent deterioration of her quality of life,” spokespersons for the zoo
said in a statement to Yahoo Singapore. “Her keepers and the veterinary team
(had) been providing supportive care to her for the past few months to ensure
her quality of life (was) maintained.”
Wildlife Reserves
Singapore,
Dubai: You Can’t
Squeeze a Zoo and an Aquarium Into a Mall
The Dubai Mall is
heralded as progressive — except in it how it treats animals. The United Arab
Emirates is home to one of the largest and most expensive structures of our
time. The mall is part of a jaw-dropping $20 million Downtown Dubai complex
with more than 1,000 shops and a deluxe cinema.
Yet, the Dubai Mall
doesn’t stop there. The mall is trying to squeeze a zoo and an aquarium into a
mall when zoos are usually already too small to meet the needs of captive
animals.
The Shark Tank
The sharks really
set the tone to the 2008 mall grand opening. As reported in The Telegraph, more
than ten percent of the Dubai Aquarium’s sharks had been killed by other sharks
before the mall even opened.
Mall officials are
okay with this. As reported in The Telegraph, the mall’s general manager at the
time explained that it’s “inevitable” that animals will die. Some will die of
natural causes — even though they are in a totally unnatural environment — and
others will die from inflicted injuries. Unsurprisingly, the sharks also
displayed aggressive behavior towards the divers. During the aquarium set-up,
there were two cases of injury that required immediat
Hippo dies in agony
after swallowing TENNIS ball thrown into enclosure he mistook for an apple
A beloved
hippopotamus died an agonizing death in a zoo in Germany after a visitor threw
a tennis ball into his enclosure that he mistook for an apple.
Maikel, 39, wolfed
the ball down... only to die four days later with his bowel blocked up. Zoo
staff said he was in acute agony before his death and had no clue as to what he
was suffering from.
On Thursday morning
he collapsed and died in the water in his enclosure, his lifelong partner Petra
swimming repeatedly over his body and trying to nudge him to get up.
He was voted the
favourite animal in the zoo by visitors last year and delighted children
especially with his gentle nature and
The dark side of
animal tourism in Thailand
When Rihanna, the
pop star, posted an Instagram picture of herself posing with an endangered
animal in Thailand, last year, it caused an uproar. While the furore
surrounding her faux pax might have long since died down, the issue she
inadvertently highlighted has not gone away.
From snapping a pic
with a slow loris – a protected primate – in Phuket, like Rihanna did, to
elephant trekking in Chalong, there are numerous opportunities for British
visitors to engage in some form of animal tourism during the course of their
trip.
Photogenic animals
might be the perfect fodder for Facebook posts but many of the animals in
question, including elephants, are not indigenous to Phuket.
Before paying money
to touts or travel agents, a responsible tourist should think about the
indignities the creature in question might have had to endure to become so
docile and obedient. Indeed two men were arrested on suspicion of animal
exploitation in the Rihanna case, and she took the offending photograph down.
Elephants, for
example, are routinely subjected to a prolonged period of systematic torture
before the
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatlife/11048530/The-dark-side-of-animal-tourism-in-Thailand.html
Another rare deer
killed under protection in Lorestan, Iran
The Mehr News Agency
reports that Keyvan Hooshmand said the deer was male and had been left in the
care of the Khoramabad Zoo since last year by the Lorestan Department of the
Environment.
The assailant and
the motives for the deer's shooting have not been identified so far.
This is the second
time in recent months that a deer in a protected area has been killed by
unknown assailants.
In December, another
yellow deer was
The World’s Oldest,
And Possibly Largest, Wombat Turns 29
What is thought to
be the world’s oldest wombat turned 29 this week. The animal, which looks a bit
like a large gopher or a giant hamster, lives in a wildlife park in
southeastern Australia.
The wombat, known at
Patrick (or sometimes “Fat Pat from Ballarat”—Ballarat being the name of his
home wildlife park) is also quite large, weighing in at about 40 kilograms (188
pounds), the maximum known weight for the animal—though most don’t get this big.
Pat the wombat is so
big that Ballarat Wildlife Park curator Julia Leonard pushes the animal around
in
Bird keeper wins top
award
A WILDLIFE park
worker who delivers amusing talks about penguins has been named the 2014
Oxfordshire Cotswolds Tourism Superstar.
Chris Green, 31, a
bird keeper at the Cotswold Wildlife Park, near Burford, was chosen in an
online poll from a shortlist of five people nominated by their employers, with
857 votes cast.
The competition is
organised by West Oxfordshire District Council’s tourism team, and supported by
Visit England and our sister paper, the Witney Gazette. It was held for the
first time last y
Fota helps to
prevent frogs from leaping into extinction
A frog that doesn’t
croak; another which changes colour; and a giant tadpole are just some of the
species dodging extinction thanks to Fota Wildlife Park.
That’s according to
a new report by the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums
(BIAZA), which promotes the values of good zoos, parks, and aquariums.
These creatures are
among some of the top 10 most endangered species of reptiles and amphibians
benefiting from the aid in Britain and Ireland.
BIAZA says places
like the Cork wildlife park are some of the best examples of how zoos, parks,
and aquariums are safeguarding the future of our planet’s wildlife and their
habitats.
The trio includes a
frog known as the Mountain Chicken. It is one of the largest frogs in the world
and is a critically endangered species. Native to Central America and parts of
Mexico, one of the reasons it is so endangered is that it tastes like chicken
and has been hunted for its meat for generations.
The other endangered
frogs thriving at Fota are Morelet’s leaf frogs. These striking lime-green
creatures with a pink or orange underbelly are rapidly disappearing as their
forest habitat is destroyed in Central America.
They have incredible
jet black eyes with no discernible iris and wide webbing between their toes
which allows them to parachute between trees.
The third is the
Axolotl. The amphib
Story Claims
'Clever' Panda May Have Deliberately Faked Her Own Pregnancy
A story has recently
been making the rounds that Ai Hin, a giant panda at China's Chengdu Research
Base of Giant Panda Breeding, may have faked a pregnancy as a cunning way to
receive better treatment. But this version of events is highly unlikely.
Xinhua, China's
state news agency, reported that what was supposed to be "the world's
first live broadcast of the birth of panda cubs" was called off after it
turned out Ai Hin actually had a "phantom pregnancy," a regular
occurrence among giant pandas. But the article goes on to suggest that this
latest panda pregnancy fake out may have been drawn out after Ai Hin noticed
the special treatment that came with the perception that she was expecting.
"After showing
prenatal signs, the 'mothers-to-be' are moved into single rooms with air
conditioning and around-the-clock care," Wu Kongju, of the Chengdu panda
center, told Xinhua. "They also receive more buns, fruits an
Big cats ‘a threat
to young children’, says Al Ain vet
A leading
veterinarian has warned that keeping exotic animals as pets at home runs the
risk of serious injury not only to the animal but also to people, especially
young children.
Dr Yahya Elnoush, a
veterinarian at Animal Welfare Al Ain, said it is dangerous to keep wild
animals such as big cats at home, saying the unfamiliar habitat is likely to
make the animal lash out.
“How any one can
expect a wild animal, who is only familiar with jungle life, to live happily in
the city house?” said Dr Elnoush.
“They will either
eventually run away or harm any family members.”
Dr Elnoush recalled
an incident that happened in Al Ain last year when one big cat ran away from
its owner’s house and was found hours later roaming the city.
“It created a chaos
in the city. Everyone panicked,” he said.
“Eventually
authorities had to rescue the animal and kept him in the zoo. The animal died
the next day. It must have been sick.”
Debbie Spalton, from
the UAE-based Middle East Animal Foundation, said there were no licences being
issued in the country permitting keeping endangered animals for “personal use”.
“There are laws
which can punish people for keeping these animals as pets. But it’s not really
clear how often they are enforced,” she said.
The trade in wild
animals is regulated by Cites, the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which has procedures in place to
protect rare species. The UAE is a signatory to the convention, which means
rare animals may be traded only with appropriate paperwork.
Ms Spalton said that
some websites in the UAE advertised rare and endangered animals for sale. The
UAE is at the centre of global trade in cheetahs, in particular, and there is
genuine international concern about it.
“We find it very
frustrating tha
Dark side of UAE’s
exotic animal fascination
Dr Ulrich Wernery
has seen the dark side of the fascination with keeping exotic wildlife as pets.
When wealthy people
pay thousands of dirhams for rare animals such as big cats, birds and even apes
without knowing how to care for them, he sees the consequences.
By the time the
animals reach the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory in Dubai, where Dr
Wernery is the scientific director, they are beyond help.
At least once a
month, he and his colleagues receive dead creatures, mostly big cats, hyenas
and birds.
Investigations into
the cause of death usually yield the same answer – diseases or problems caused
by poor diet or other forms of mistreatment by the owner.
This month a cheetah
was taken to Dr Wernery’s lab. A post-mortem examination found pieces of carpet
in the animal’s stomach.
It had probably been
kept in an enclosure with carpeting and had been ripping it apart when hungry,
said the doctor.
“People think it is
nice if they keep an animal on carpet,” said Dr Wernery, who has seen similar
problems in captive Gordon’s wild cats, a rare local species.
“It is not
intentional, they do not want to kill these animals but it is all wrong what
they do.”
The trade in wild
animals is regulated by Cites, the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which has procedures in place to
protect rare species.
The UAE is a
signatory to the conv
UAE at the centre of
global trade in smuggled cheetahs
The global trade in
cheetahs is fuelled by demand, and the UAE is at the centre of it.
“Almost
overwhelmingly that goes to the UAE,” said Dr Richard Thomas of Traffic, the
network that monitors the international trade in rare animals and plants. “The
trade is carried out illegally and it creates the potential for organised
crime.”
The easiest of the
big cats to tame, the cheetah is a long-time human companion, as its other name
– the hunting leopard – suggests.
It is the fastest
mammal on Earth, and smaller than lions and other big cats – two factors that
account for its popularity.
Historically,
cheetahs have not been able to breed well in captivity and the demand for
wild-caught animals has placed additional stress on populations.
With an estimated
7,500 adults left in the wild, they are named on the Red List of Threatened
Species as vulnerable to extinction.
They are also
included in Appendix I of Cites, which means commercial trade in the animals is
not allowed.
A report submitted
to Cites in July this year by Kuwait says the UAE confiscated 32 cheetahs and
four cheetah skins from smugglers between 2007 and last year.
In the first half of
2014, 11 cheetahs were confiscated at the Ghweifat border post with Saudi
Arabia. Most of the confiscated animals came from Somalia.
An analysis of Cites
data by Traffic shows, the UAE declared the import of 151 cheetahs between 1991
and 2011. Of those, 121 were bred in captivity and one was declared as
captive-bred but did not meet Cites’ criteria.
Two animals were
found to have been
Some private
menageries in the UAE strike a meaningful blow for the good cause
Each morning, while
everyone else is commuting to work, Alan Stephenson enters a lush, landscaped
private oasis.
As manager of the
Sheikh Butti bin Juma Al Maktoum Wildlife Centre, he shares his picturesque
workplace with dozens of flamingos, meerkats, antelopes and a host of other
animals in a compound large enough for them to roam freely.
“This is the way I
like to see animals, not in cages,” said Mr Stephenson.
Wealthy collectors
have long been criticised by conservationists for being secretive about the
animals they keep in private zoos.
But this centre,
says Mr Stephenson, is an example of how one person’s interest in rare wildlife
can play a part in conservation efforts.
The centre is home
to animals from all over the world and is focused on helping important local
species, such as the cheetah, which is extinct in the wild in the UAE.
It has 24 animals
capable of breeding, with the youngest cubs just two years old. This year 70
flamingo chicks, some the native Greater flamingo but also the rarer Lesser
flamingo, hatched at the centre.
“We are now trying
to channel the expertise, the management and the finances into something
positive, something for conservation – breeding the Arabian oryx, breeding
local species which are noteworthy, instead of just having a whole collection
of funny animals that are not suited for this climate,” said Mr Stephenson.
The centre also
breeds Lesser kudu antelopes and the northern bald ibis, listed as critically
endangered by BirdLife International.
Responsible
individuals looking to set up their own collection need to consider several
factors, said Mr Stephenson, the first being whether the animal they intended
to buy was suitable for captivity.
“There are certain
animals that really are not suited to captivity, they are very stressed –
things like big cats, like lion
Pesticides in feed
blamed in deaths of animals at Sofia Zoo
Pesticides in grain
and bran have been found to have been the cause of the deaths of a number of
animals at Sofia Zoo in recent days, reports on August 28 said, after the zoo
was closed at the weekend because of the series of deaths.
The deaths were not
linked to the current outbreak of Bluetongue disease in Bulgaria, an
investigation found. In recent weeks, Bluetongue disease has led to the deaths
of several thousand animals in various parts of Bulgaria.
The animals that
died included a camel, a b
San Francisco Zoo
celebrates twin giraffe birth, but mourns as newborn dies
The San Francisco
Zoo is both celebrating and mourning because of a rare event, the birth of twin
giraffes. But one of the newborns did not survive for long.
The male calves were
born Tuesday, with one weighing in at a healthy 100 pounds and standing 5 feet
6 inches tall, while the other calf was weaker at 75 pounds and was not able to
nurse.
Thursday, the
smaller calf died.
"This is a
bittersweet announcement to make, but this very unique twin birth is something
for all of the Bay Area to take pride in," said San Francisco Zoo
President Tanya Peterson. "We hope everyone will come share their best
wishes with Bititi (the mother) and give a warm welcome to our newest
resident."
The zoo has yet to
name the newborn, which can currently be seen at the African Region section
where it lives with its parents and four other giraffes.
Twin births are rare
for giraffes. Out of 8,600 normal births worldwide, there are only 32 twin
births. The SF Zoo's is one of only 10 successful, live births in captivity.
The pregnancy was
11-year-old mother Bititi's f
JHB ZOO'S
INTERNATIONAL LICENSE SUSPENDED
The Johannesburg
Zoo’s international accreditation has been temporarily suspended.
The Association of
Zoos and Aquaria says the decision was prompted by a recent incident involving
the importation of eight sitatunga antelope at OR Tambo International Airport
earlier this month.
It’s understood the
antelope were imported from Prague Zoo in the Czech Republic.
The animals were put
down after it was found they did not have necessary papers to be in the
country.
The association has
launched an investigation to determine whether the process of importing the
antelope into the country was ethical.
John Werth says the
animals arriv
Even Animals in
Gaza’s Zoo Were Slaughtered
Since Americans love
their pets and animals, lavishing upon them last year a record $56 billion (1),
maybe they will at least make a connection with Gaza’s zoo animals that were
recently slaughtered by Israel. Developed in 2008 on what was once the site of
a garbage dump, the Al Bisan Zoo remains the pride of Gaza and important aspect
of Palestinian self-determination. Serving as a major attraction where children
and students can study and learn about a few animals from around the world, it
was also a place of escape. Some could forget, even if was only for a few
moments, the slow strangulation of occupied lands, expansive settlements,
Israeli military incursions, and punitive economic blockade. It is a blockade
that forced zoo keepers to smuggle animals through tunnels and paint black
stripes on two donkeys so as to resemble zebras. Because of the tight Israeli
siege on Gaza and closure of border crossings, they were unable to import
zebras from Africa. Still, and
Wildlife second
largest illegal trade in the world
It is a hard
statistic to measure, but narcotics is said to be the largest community by
volume of illegal trade in the world, with illegal trade of arms and ammunition
coming in at third place. The illegal trade of wildlife species, in most cases
endangered species by volume, takes second place.
The United Nations
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES) closely monitors and controls imports to Canada. I have a friend who is
a butterfly collector and purchases many imported species, but in each case,
these species come with a CITES permit. That means the species was raised on a
farm in a sustainable manner with the intent of it being sold. This activity
causes no negative effects to the ecosystem as it would if the collection
species were taken from the wild.
Kangaroos are
legally harvested for commercial trade and export in Australia and the
commercial harvest of saltwater crocodiles from Australia and New Zealand has
been largely successful. There has been a call from some environmentalists to
include legalized harvest of the white rhinoceros in South Africa. It is being
poached at an alarming rate for its horn, which is sold for high prices on the
black market.
Queen Alexandra
butterflies sell for $8,195 each, tortoises in Madagascar for $10,000, arowana
fish for $20,000 each, ele
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Peter Dickinson
Zoo News Digest - http://zoonewsdigest.blogspot.com/
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"These are the best days of my life"
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