Zoo News Digest 14th March 2019 (ZooNews 1009)
Peter Dickinson
elvinhow@gmail.com
Dear Colleague,
The Austin Zoo story
lingers on with resignations now on top of the dismissals but I don't suppose
we will ever get to the truth of the story. Reporters tend to be a bit
selective when they pull their stories together.
The same applies to
the so called 'Jaguar attack' at the Phoenix area's Wildlife World Zoo,
Aquarium and Safari Park. She says she never went over the barrier but
witnesses claim she did. So what really happened. I think the barrier looks
fine in the footage I have seen. We really have to credit our visitors having
some common sense. Mind you it would not work everywhere. At one place I worked
we had a perfectly adequate four foot barrier around the leopards and that set
back six foot from the cage proper. It was not a success so we had to increase
it to six foot in height and top it off with barbed wire.
I find it surprising
when I see some comments to Kevin Buley's (Auckland Zoo director) statement
that " the majority of zoos around the
world should be closed". Comments by other zoo staff who disagree
big time. I happen to agree with Kevin and have been saying much the same thing
for the past thirty plus years because, like it or not, the majority of zoos
are bad zoos.
"good zoos will not gain the credibility of their critics until they condemn the bad zoos wherever they are." Peter Dickinson
Lots of interest follows.
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Did You Know?
ZooNews Digest has over 109,000+ Followers on Facebook( and over 109,000 likes) and has a weekly reach often exceeding over 350,000 people? That ZooNews Digest has subscribers in over 900 Zoos in 155+ countries? That the subscriber list for the mail out reads like a 'Zoos Who's Who?'
If you are a subscriber to the email version then you probably knew this already. You would also know that ZooNews Digest pre-dates any of the others. It was there before FaceBook. It was there shortly after the internet became popular and was a 'Blog' before the word had been invented. ZooNews Digest reaches zoo people.
I remain committed to the work of GOOD zoos,
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Did You Know?
ZooNews Digest has over 109,000+ Followers on Facebook( and over 109,000 likes) and has a weekly reach often exceeding over 350,000 people? That ZooNews Digest has subscribers in over 900 Zoos in 155+ countries? That the subscriber list for the mail out reads like a 'Zoos Who's Who?'
If you are a subscriber to the email version then you probably knew this already. You would also know that ZooNews Digest pre-dates any of the others. It was there before FaceBook. It was there shortly after the internet became popular and was a 'Blog' before the word had been invented. ZooNews Digest reaches zoo people.
I remain committed to the work of GOOD zoos,
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*****
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Something to Crow About: The
Rise of Conservation Genomics
Understanding the genomes of
endangered species could help stop their slide toward extinction
The death on New Year’s Day
of the last member of a Hawaiian tree snail species (Achatinella apexfulva),
affectionately named George, rang 2019 in on a sad note for conservationists.
But there are reasons to be hopeful that this year will end better than it
started, as advances in DNA and RNA sequencing are enabling a new era of
conservation genomics.
Not far from the habitats of
George and his other endangered snail cousins, another native species brought
to the edge of extinction is making a comeback thanks to intensive genome-based
conservation efforts.
Disease, predators and
shrinking habitats led to a complete loss of Hawaii’s only remaining lineage of
the crow family, the ‘alalā (Corvus hawaiiensis), in the wild. A captive br
Capturing wild animals for study can stress them to death. Is it worth it?
A gray wolf is dead in
Oregon, and people may be to blame.
The animal had been trapped
by federal biologists in October and fitted with a radio-tracking collar that
reported on its movements. It was a member of the first pack since the 1940s to
establish territory on an Indian reservation in central Oregon. Just over a
month later, the signal went still.
The wolf was neither shot nor
poisoned, according to a necropsy. No one can say for sure how or why it died,
according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist John Stephenson. But the
animal was visibly lean and had a wound on one of its front paws. And given
that a baited leg-hold trap was used to catch the wolf, it’s
Newly created role filled at Welsh Mountain Zoo
A FORMER Chester Zoo manager
has been appointed director of living collections at Colwyn Bay's Welsh
Mountain Zoo.
The newly created role will
see Kim Wood take overall managerial responsibility for all animal and plant
collections at the National Zoo of Wales.
Kim has worked for several
zoos across the UK. She was formerly an assistant team manager at Chester Zoo.
Kim has studied HND Animal
Care and Manage
2 Chinese pandas to arrive in
Denmark in April
The Copenhagen Zoo says two giant black-and-white
visitors are heading to Denmark as part of China's so-called "panda
diplomacy."
Park manager Joergen Nielsen
says the arrival of the pandas April 4 "is going be one of the biggest
moments in the zoo's 160-year-long history."
Nielsen says the public will
see the panda couple, from the zoo in China's southwestern city of Chengdu, in
the newly built, 160 million-kroner ($24.2 million) Panda House from April 11.
Nielsen said Wednesday Danish
officials will officially open the enclosure a day earlier.
Denmark is latest country to
receive the Chinese diplomatic gifts. Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen
visited Chin
SAD TWIST AFTER AN EMU WOUNDED A KEEPER AT ADELAIDE
ZOO
“I just wanted to clear up --
there’s a lot of people commenting saying he attacked me and that’s not the
case at all.
“The actual situation is
Cecil is extremely sick, he’s been tube fed the last week… yesterday was
another case where we were tube feeding. There were four of us there… as he
went to get back up from tube feeding he accidentally rolled on his back and
kicked out twice to get up and that’s how I copped it in the face and the
armpit…
“There’s a lot of people
commenting that weren’t there saying that he attacked me and that’s not the
case at all.
“He’s a beautiful hand raised
bird. We’ve been able do conscious x-rays, blood draws, everything from him and
he hasn’t done one thing to us. He drops at command, he’s fully trained, and
he’s been hand raise
Arkansas wildlife safari park pays $75K fine, hopes to
reopen this weekend
The Wild Wilderness
Drive-Through Safari in northwestern Arkansas has agreed to pay a $75,000 fine
and plans to reopen this weekend after taking action to resolve a U.S.
Department of Agriculture complaint that it violated the Animal Welfare Act.
The January 2017 complaint
accused the safari in Gentry of 68 violations from 2012 to 2016. It says the
safari failed to provide sufficient veterinarian care and kept animals in dirty
or otherwise insufficient conditions, and accused it of not providing adequate
distance and/or fences between animals and the public.
Head of Austin Zoo steps down from board, remains
director
Embattled Austin Zoo leader
Patti Clark stepped down as president of the nonprofit’s board of directors but
will remain its executive director, the zoo announced Monday in an email to
supporters.
Clark and the zoo have faced
outrage on social media since an American-Statesman story published in January
detailed zookeepers’ claims of mismanagement and animal mistreatment. The zoo’s
email Monday said Clark will no longer be a voting board member. It also
announced four new members — Bernie Tejada, Richard Heinichen, Leslie Starnes
and Sherri Wicker — expanding the group to seven.
Thirty current and former zoo
staff members have spoken to the Statesman, nearly all of them detailing
similar accounts of unorthodox animal care techniques, an unwillingness to
euthanize suffering animals and acts of retaliation against keepers who shared
concer
The animals who live a better life in the zoo than the
wild
Auckland Zoo director Kevin
Buley believes the majority of zoos around the world should be closed. However,
he says Auckland Zoo is one of the few good ones. He showed Alex Braae around
the zoo and explained why he believes the animals here live better lives than
they would in the wild.
A spider monkey carrying a
baby on her back is a simultaneously breathtaking and nerve-wracking sight. At
the top of a tree, it’s spindly but sure arms flung out, the monkey swings like
a pendulum to push itself forward. Tiny fingers dig into her fur, and a thin tail
is wrapped around the mother’s tail as they sail through the air. They’re
literally metres off the ground, with nothing but air beneath them, and they
look like they don’t have a care in the world.
What animals can teach us about politics
I n July 2017, when Sean Spicer, then the White House
press secretary, was discovered hiding in the bushes to dodge questions from
reporters, I knew Washington politics had become truly primatological. A few
weeks earlier, James Comey had intentionally worn a blue suit while standing at
the back of a room with blue curtains so as to blend in. The FBI director hoped
to go unnoticed and avoid a presidential hug. (The tactic failed.)
Making creative use of the
environment is primate politics at its best, as is the role of body language
such as sitting on a throne high above the grovelling masses, descending into
their midst with an escalator or raising one’s arm so underlings can kiss your
armpit (a pheromonal ritual invented by Saddam Hussein). The link between high
evaluations of debate performances and the candidates’ heights is well known –
taller candidates have a leg up. This advantage explains why short leaders
bring along boxes to stand on during group photos.
Born Free calls to end captive misery for elephants in
UK zoos
International wildlife
charity Born Free has today called for a phase out of elephants from UK zoos,
in light of continued concerns about elephant welfare and shortened lifespan.
The charity- which was
originally founded as Zoo Check in 1984 after the death at London Zoo of a
wild-caught African elephant named Pole Pole – is concerned that the needs of
elephants cannot be met in a zoo environment. And it seems that the UK public
also has concerns with a new survey, carried out by Ipsos Mori on behalf of Born
Free, indicating that more than half (56%) of those polled think that elephants
should not be kept in zoos in the UK.
In 1984, there were 20 zoos
in the UK keeping around 50 elephants, of which 44 had been taken from the
wild. Today, 35 years later, there are 52 elephants in 12 zoos across the UK.
Now, Born Free is calling for there to be no elephants in UK zoos within the
next 35 years.
Queensland Government faces pressure to ban dolphin
breeding at Sea World Gold Coast for good
An international
not-for-profit animal welfare organisation is calling on the Queensland
Government to ban captive dolphin breeding at Sea World on the Gold Coast for
good.
World Animal Protection has
launched a public petition which will later be presented to the Queensland
Government.
“We want these dolphins at
Sea World to be the last generation kept captive in Queensland. The
acceptability of dolphin venues like this is on the way out,” Senior Campaign
Manager for World Animal Protection
Shedd Aquarium joins effort to rescue 15 endangered
Bolivian dolphins
Veterinarians from Maryland
Zoo, Saint Louis Zoo and Chicago's Shedd Aquarium joined an international
effort to rescue and relocate a group of 15 endangered Bolivian dolphins.
The Shedd's Animal Response
Team and the other groups traveled nearly 4,000 miles to central Bolivia, where
they performed first-ever medical exams on the animals, created invaluable data
benchmarks on their health and attached satellite tags to a select few,
aquarium officials said.
The dolphins, also known as
bufeos, have been trapped in a shrinking remote lake in Bolivia.
"This species is endemic
to Bolivia," said Dr. Ellen Bronson, senior director of animal health,
conservation, and research at The Maryland Zoo.
Anthropomorphism: An unhealthy trend
Anthropomorphism:the
attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities.
It is considered to be an
innate tendency of human psychology. Something that’s extremely common,
especially in our hobby. It’s something I’ve seen for many years at varying
degrees, and always seems to annoy experienced keepers. The reality is there
are a lot of negative unhealthy actions in the care of these animals that stem
from this. I don’t want this blog to be perceived as negative by the many many
folks who are guilty of it…but I do want you to
People and crocodiles, side by side in Dewa
Living in Ahmedabad for eight
years, I’ve come to appreciate the bond the city’s residents share with
animals. It has often been explained to me as stemming from the Jain tenet of
jivdaya (compassion for animals). I am very used to the big group of langurs
that visits our lane. Peacocks and peahens make regular appearances. Weaver
birds build nests on neighbourhood trees. I have been a happy parent, giving my
four-year-old lessons on the animal kingdom in a way books possibly cannot.
List of non-AZA Accredited Facilities
This list of zoos, aquaria,
and centers not accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) was
researched and is indexed state-by-state. This list is presented to the zoo and
aquarium industry in the spirit of professional fellowship. Graduate and
undergraduate students in related areas of study may also find this list
helpful.
Medical Procedures; The Open
Mouth Behaviour
It seems like in the training
world there are many discussions about how to train specific behaviours. The
training world is slowly moving towards focusing initially on more medical
behaviours. One of the challenging behaviours is an mouth open behaviour.
In my career I’ve only
trained this behaviour 3 times. The last one I have yet to succeed completely,
but I would like to share what with you what my techniques are.
There are many reasons to
train an mouth open behaviour. One of the main reasons is to check the health
of the mouth. One classic sign of ill health in an animal is a loss of
appetite. This could be caused by a number of factors but being able to check
in the mouth for a wound, to get a good look at their teeth or even further in
their throat. A mouth open behaviour is a very useful behaviour to have when yo
‘Unique species in the brink
of extinction’
On March 3 Philippine
authorities intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport more than
1,500 live turtle species being smuggled into the country by an unidentified
passenger from Hong Kong.
Incidentally, the
confiscation of the assorted turtle species, the cost of which range from
P8,000 to P25,000 each, came at a time when the Philippines is celebrating
World Wildlife Day 2019, which is aligned with Goal 14, or Life Below Water, of
the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations.
Airport authorities turned
over the contraband to wildlife law enforcers of the Biodiversity Management
Bureau (BMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
after the suspect flee.
Both a buyer and seller of
illegally traded wildlife, particularly for the lucrative pet trade, the
Philippines has been identified as a transshipment point of illegally traded
wildlife products and by-products used for health and wellness, medicine or “mystical
cure
Why It’s Time for China’s Zoos to Go Local
In China’s zoos, the African
exhibits rule the roost. Most children are barely through the gate before
rushing off toward the lions, zebras, giraffes, or hippos. There, they
excitedly rattle off all they’ve been taught about exotic ecosystems like the
Serengeti to their parents.
Ask them about domestic
species, however, and you’ll get blank stares. Apart from the obvious favorites
like pandas, crested ibises, or Chinese alligators, few Chinese are familiar
with their country’s rich array of native wildlife. High-quality nature
documentaries focused on China are few and far between, and — with the
exception of pandas — few Chinese zoos roll out the red carpet
Man claims he also was attacked by jaguar at Arizona
zoo
Interesting video
Former zookeeper says jaguar attacked her at Wildlife
World Zoo
A former zookeeper says she
was attacked by a jaguar while working at Wildlife World Zoo.
Morgan Johnson says she had
been working at the zoo for about five months before the attack that left her
and her coworker injured.
Reports of injuries pile up at SeaQuest Interactive
Aquarium, State confirms ongoing investigation
Colorado Parks and Wildlife
officials confirmed Wednesday there is an active investigation involving
SeaQuest Interactive Aquarium that was initiated following dozens of
complaints.
Denver7 obtained documents
from the state showing at least 30 reports of injuries at the aquarium from
June of 2018 through January of this year.
The injuries range from minor
scratches to other cases that appear to be more serious. SeaQuest is required
to self-report any injuries to the state as a part of requirement to maintain
Spatial considerations for captive snakes
Captive environments for
snakes commonly involve small enclosures with dimensions that prevent occupants
from adopting straight line body postures. In particular, the commercial,
hobby, and pet sectors routinely utilize small vivaria and racking systems,
although zoos and other facilities also commonly maintain at least some snakes
under broadly similar conditions. Captive snakes may be the only vertebrates
where management policy commonly involves deprivation of the ability and
probable welfare need to freely extend the body to its natural full length. In
this report, we present background information concerning some relevant
physical and behavioral characteristics of snakes, discuss pervading beliefs or
folklore husbandry and its implications for animal welfare as well as factors
concerning stress, its manifestations and measurement, and provide criteria for
the assessment of captive snake welfare. As part of this review, we also cond
Not emu-sed: Zoo worker is rushed to hospital with
scratches to her face and arms after being attacked by a rogue bird named Cecil
during feeding
A zoo worker was attacked on Tuesday while she feeding
an emu named Cecil that hadn't eaten in a week.
Cecil kicked the Adelaide Zoo
employee and scratched her face and arms.
The 20-year-old zookeeper was
taken to Royal Adelaide Hospital in a stable condition.
Crazier than Fiction: the Elephant Rangers of Laos
Four years ago, as monsoon
rain streaked down dusty windows, Sebastien Duffilot, the founder of Laos’
Elephant Conservation Centre (ECC) in Xayaboury, near Luang Prabang, and I sat
discussing the possible fate of Laos’ elephants. We sipped a good French red
wine, which encouraged dreaming and fantasies about a land whose tradition was
founded on the courage and tenacity of these great beasts, but which now is
prey to the cold-eyed attention of poachers.
Laos’ current elephant
population is estimated at between 400 wild and 450 domesticated variants.
Laos, once known as The Land of a Million Elephants, has seen a devastating
drop in numbers – almost 90 per cent – since 1988. Deforestation leading to
loss of income for mahouts (elephant handlers), habitat fragmentation, human
elephant conflict, slow breeding c
Historic release bolsters one of Canada's most
endangered birds
With the release of 66
greater sage-grouse into the wild, the Calgary Zoo, in partnership with the
Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) and Parks Canada, has significantly boosted
one of Canada's most endangered birds at a time when fewer than 250 remain in
their habitat.
This milestone release is the
result of a five-year program by the Calgary Zoo, which is working in
collaboration with NCC and Parks Canada, with funding support from the
Governments of Canada and Alberta.
New report: A tail of suffering for captive dolphins
Animal Welfare NGO calls for
a captive dolphin breeding ban at a popular NZ tourist destination - Sea World,
Queensland
12 March 2019: With almost
half of Kiwi tourists to Australia visiting Queensland and New Zealand being
the largest source market for The Gold Coast, World Animal Protection is
calling on the Queensland Government to ban captive dolphin breeding at a
popular attraction, Sea World.
With 30+ dolphins, Sea World
on the Gold Coast is one of only two captive dolphin venues left in Australia and
one of the biggest in the world. Unless the Queensland Government bans captive
dolphin breeding, there will be nothing to stop Sea World from breeding more
dolphins, who can endure up to 50 years of captivity.
Community acceptance of
keeping dolphins in captivity is declining and the long-term viability of
venues like Sea World is poor. Many jurisdictions in Australia and overseas
have already banned captive dolphin venues, while travel companies are starting
to distance themselves. Breeding more dolphins that will live up to 50 years in
these circumstances is unjustifiable.
The demand follows the
release of the 5th edition of the - Case Against Marine Mammals in Captivity
report - a damning global portrait of the behind-the-scenes cruelty of zoos,
aquariums, and marine theme parks that trade and exploit captive marine mammals
for entertainment.
Ben Pearson, Senior Campaign
Manager for World A
Cortisol and oxytocin show
independent activity during chimpanzee intergroup conflict
The oxytocinergic system is
involved in a range of functions, from attachment and social bonding to
aggression and stress responses. Whether oxytocin is released in response to a
stressor, shows contradictory results across species and potential
contexts-dependent differences. To avoid unintended contextual changes due to experimental
procedures, we tested this question non-invasively in wild chimpanzees in an
ecologically valid context. We collected endogenous hormonal measures during
exposure to a known natural stressor, intergroup conflict. Specifically, we
tested for potential synchronous activation patterns between urinary oxytocin
and cortisol in male and female chimpanzees during stressor exposure.
Oxytocinergic system reactivity during chimpanzee intergroup conflict has
already been established in this study population.
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New Meetings and Conferences updated Here
If you have anything to add then please email me at elvinhow@gmail.com
I will include it when I get a minute. You know it makes sense.
Recent Zoo Vacancies
Vacancies in Zoos and Aquariums and Wildlife/Conservation facilities around the World
*****
About me
After more than 50 years working in private, commercial and National zoos in the capacity of keeper, head keeper and curator Peter Dickinson started to travel. He sold house and all his possessions and hit the road. He has traveled extensively in Turkey, Southern India and much of South East Asia before settling in Thailand. In his travels he has visited well over 200 zoos and many more before 'hitting the road' (many more before that) and writes about these in his blog http://zoonewsdigest.blogspot.com/
or on Hubpages http://hubpages.com/profile/Peter+Dickinson
Peter earns his living as an independent international zoo consultant, critic and writer. Currently working as Curator of Penguins in Ski Dubai. United Arab Emirates. He describes himself as an itinerant zoo keeper, one time zoo inspector, a dreamer, a traveler, an introvert, a people watcher, a lover, a storyteller, a thinker, a cosmopolitan, a writer, a hedonist, an explorer, a pantheist, a gastronome, sometime fool, a good friend to some and a pain in the butt to others.
"These are the best days of my life"
If you have anything to add then please email me at elvinhow@gmail.com
I will include it when I get a minute. You know it makes sense.
Recent Zoo Vacancies
Vacancies in Zoos and Aquariums and Wildlife/Conservation facilities around the World
*****
About me
After more than 50 years working in private, commercial and National zoos in the capacity of keeper, head keeper and curator Peter Dickinson started to travel. He sold house and all his possessions and hit the road. He has traveled extensively in Turkey, Southern India and much of South East Asia before settling in Thailand. In his travels he has visited well over 200 zoos and many more before 'hitting the road' (many more before that) and writes about these in his blog http://zoonewsdigest.blogspot.com/
or on Hubpages http://hubpages.com/profile/Peter+Dickinson
Peter earns his living as an independent international zoo consultant, critic and writer. Currently working as Curator of Penguins in Ski Dubai. United Arab Emirates. He describes himself as an itinerant zoo keeper, one time zoo inspector, a dreamer, a traveler, an introvert, a people watcher, a lover, a storyteller, a thinker, a cosmopolitan, a writer, a hedonist, an explorer, a pantheist, a gastronome, sometime fool, a good friend to some and a pain in the butt to others.
"These are the best days of my life"
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