Zoo News Digest 24th May 2019 (ZooNews 1027)
Schmidt's red-tailed monkey
Louisville Zoo @LouisvilleZoo
elvinhow@gmail.com
Dear Colleague,
It was with mixed emotions yesterday to find that Facebook had somehow fixed itself. The comments section had somehow fixed itself. That's good I thought and clicked on the button. Then horror as there were hundreds of them spanning the last two weeks. I skimmed down them and then clicked 'mark as read'. I simply don't have the time to go through them. As is often the case with comments the commenters have not read the article anyway or, and I never quite understand why, believe that I have written the article in the first place.
The other problem with yesterday was finding that the last ZooNews Digest had not actually gone out to subscribers. No idea why. Posted it out again. We shall see.
Man holding 98 orcas and belugas in ‘whale prison’ refuses to free them See below. This has all the beginnings of a 'rescue'... which won't be a rescue... like so many it will really be a purchase and I don't suppose there is any organisation out there that has the money to do it.
See below - Animal rights activists score win at Barcelona zoo
If I had to make a wish for the week it would be that those facilities holding Crocodilians learned the difference between teasing and enrichment. They are not difficult animals and really, honestly what purpose does sitting on them serve?
"restrict the breeding of captive animals unless their young are destined to be reintroduced into the wild" - WHAT WILD?... It is the policy of GOOD zoos, like Barcelona to re-introduce genetically viable populations into a suitable wild that is not being poached, polluted or encroached upon by man. That time may not be now but in a 100 years from now. These Animal Rights Anarchists are dooming some species to
extinction.
"good zoos will not gain the credibility of their critics until they condemn the bad zoos wherever they are." Peter Dickinson
*********
Did You Know?
ZooNews Digest has over 110,400+ Followers on Facebook( and over 110,500 likes) and has a monthly reach often exceeding over 1000,000 people? That ZooNews Digest has subscribers in over 900 Zoos in 155+ countries? That the subscriber list for the mail out reads like a 'Zoos Who's Who?'
If you are a subscriber to the email version then you probably knew this already. You would also know that ZooNews Digest pre-dates any of the others. It was there before FaceBook. It was there shortly after the internet became popular and was a 'Blog' before the word had been invented. ZooNews Digest reaches zoo people.
I remain committed to the work of GOOD zoos,
********
*****
***
**
*
*********
Did You Know?
ZooNews Digest has over 110,400+ Followers on Facebook( and over 110,500 likes) and has a monthly reach often exceeding over 1000,000 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,
********
*****
***
**
*
Chester
Zoo's baby elephant Indali could be given all clear in weeks
Two-year-old Asian elephant calf Indali Hi Way
remains in remission at Chester Zoo as she recovers from a killer disease.
Indali had been fighting for her life after a
blood test revealed she had developed Elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus
(EEHV).
But the zoo responded promptly with Indali
undergoing intensive daily treatments including nine anaesthetic procedures,
innovative blood plasma transfusions, interferon therapy, anti-viral
medications and immune boosting treatments.
Animal
rights activists score win at Barcelona zoo
Animal rights activists in Barcelona are
celebrating a victory after the Spanish city ordered its municipal zoo to
restrict the breeding of captive animals unless their young are destined to be
reintroduced into the wild.
Barcelona's town council voted on May 3 to
modify the zoo's bylaws to include a rule to eventually halt breeding programs
unless there is a plan to release the offspring into nature at some point.
Breeding
restrictions in Barcelona spark debate on role of zoos
Animal rights activists in Barcelona are
celebrating a victory after the Spanish city ordered its municipal zoo to
restrict the reproduction of captive animals unless their young are destined to
be reintroduced into the wild.
Barcelona’s town council voted on May 3 to
modify the zoo’s bylaws to include a rule by which any of its breeding
programmes will be stopped unless there is a plan to eventually release the
offspring into nature.
Armed
with goggles and snorkels, a couple of canoeists saved a rare turtle from
extinction
If not for the dogged determination of a
couple of sharp-eyed canoeists and then a raft of agencies and scientists, a
much-loved turtle found only in a single river of northern NSW would be no
more.
In early 2015, Rowan Simon and a friend were
canoeing on the Bellinger River about 10 kilometres up stream from Bellingen
when they spotted a snapping turtle on a rock. Surprisingly, it didn't move as
they paddled up.
At
home with the hyenas of Harar
Most people know hyenas as a weird kind of
ugly and ferocious wild dog that feasts on carrion and preys upon other wild
animals, ravaging its victims in a voracious frenzy of pack attack. They not
only laugh but they also howl, whoop, grunt, growl, yell and whine. They will
prey on baby lions and fearlessly fight adult lions off their meals. They are
known to kill humans and each other. And a group of hyenas can
Vol 34, No 5 (2019): May
Full Issue
Conservation
Charity Marwell Zoo Launches Moo Free Chocolates
Famous conservation charity Marwell Zoo has
invested heavily in Moo Free’s ethical free-from chocolates. From this week,
Marwell Zoo will stock almost all the bars in Moo Free’s premium range, their
entire snack-sized Mini Moos offering, their two 100g nut bars and the
ever-popular lunchtime-perfect Choccy Chums Surprises.
Animals
and Politics: Traveling Exotic Animal Ban Reintroduced
On May 21, 2019 Representatives Raul M.
Grijalva (D-AZ) and David Schweikert (R-AZ) introduced the Traveling Exotic
Animal and Public Safety Protection Act (TEAPSPA), a bill that would amend the
federal Animal Welfare Act to prohibit the use of exotic and wild animals,
including lions, tigers and elephants, in traveling performances. The bill had
previously been introduced in 2017. The bill does not apply to domestic or farm
animals or nonmobile, permanent zoo and aquarium facilities that are accredited
by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) or the Global Federation of
Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS).
The
barking deer enigma
Most forests in India are home to the Indian
muntjac, also called barking deer. Found across southern India, including the
Western Ghats, in the dry forests of central India, the evergreen temperate
forests of the Himalayas and the dense rainforests of northeast India, Indian
muntjacs are a quiet and solitary species.
Relegated to a list of prey animals for
carnivores like tigers, leopards and dholes in India, they are rarely studied
for their own sake and so very little is known ab
Ecologists
find bush dog, native of South America, in remote central Costa Rica
Wildlife ecologists at the University of
Massachusetts Amherst who are studying different conservation practices in the
forests of Costa Rica recently made a startling discovery on a wildlife camera
trap—wild bush dogs documented farther north than ever before and at the
highest elevation.
Botswana
lifts ban on elephant hunting
After a five-year suspension, the government
of Botswana has decided once again to allow sport hunters to kill elephants,
according to a statement issued on May 22 by the Ministry of Environment,
Natural Resource Conservation and Tourism.
Man
holding 98 orcas and belugas in ‘whale prison’ refuses to free them
The owner of a group of beluga whales and
orcas being held in cages in Russia has said he is not planning to release the
marine mammals.
“Any question regarding their release may be
posed only after I’m deprived of the ownership rights, what release are you
talking about?” Alexei Reshetov said.
Mr Reshetov is director general of Afalina,
the company which owns the illegally captured animals.
In
a first, chimpanzees seen smashing and eating tortoises
In a paper published today in the journal
Scientific Reports, scientists report seven chimpanzees breaking open forest
hinge-back tortoises in Gabon’s Loango National Park. The behavior occurred on
multiple occasions over 5,000 hours of observation, and the primates often
shared the meat with others in their group.
This is the first time than any chimpanzee has
been documented eating any kind of reptile. It’s also unique because the way in
which the primates eat these tortoises—slamming them against tree branches and
trunks—is a type of “percussive” technology that is akin to tool use, says study
coauthor Simone Pika, who studies chimpanzees at Germany’s University of
Osnabrück.
PANDA
PAD STORM Edinburgh Zoo in dispute with Scottish Government after demanding £2.5m
for panda enclosure for Sunshine and Sweetie
NATS agreed a secret £2million grant to build
a new den for Scotland’s pandas — after zoo chiefs threatened to block a
windfall for taxpayers.
Bosses at the Edinburgh attraction demanded
cash claiming building work on a neighbouring NHS site flogged for £6million
could kill Sunshine and Sweetie.
Mouse
deer breeding yields good results
After seven years of conservation breeding of
the elusive species at a dedicated facility on the premises of Nehru Zoological
Park, the captive mouse deer population increased from 6 to about 232 till
March 2019. Meanwhile, the first batch of eight individuals was released into
the wild on July 17, 2018. So far, a total number of 72 individuals in eight batches
were released.
36-Koala
Industry Ranking - Part 2
Our current way of living has zoning laws,
with residents living in close proximity to large shopping centers, schools,
hospitals and recreational and leisure parks. But what if we added another
element to the picture? What if we considered adding natural Australian habitat
with wildlife?What gets me is that society has designed a formula that better
suits them, us, and is detrimental to the most important thing in the world:
nature. Humanity has replaced the natural world with a concrete jungle.
Switzerland
has confirmed it's first wolf puppies born there in over 150 years! (Video)
There is a first picture that confirms it: a
photo of a wolf puppy. It was also confirmed by the Office for Hunting and
Fishin, Graubünden, after multiple hunters had spotted three wolf babies.
In early August, it was speculated that the
wolves in Calandagebiet had babies. Now, the babies are around four months old.
The reason why they were not discovered earlier is because the whole area is
very rugged and there are few roads and paths. These are optimal living
conditions for the little wolf family.
Wellington Zoo ditches written exit letters in wake of
bullying claims
Wellington Zoo has ditched
written exit letters in favour of interviews - but says the move is unrelated
to multiple allegations made against some bosses.
Stuff revealed the
allegations in April after being leaked two exit letters which painted a
picture of staff leaving in droves because of alleged bullying from some
managers.
Stuff has since talked to
numerous
Lions wounded by porcupines may be more likely to
attack people
In 1965, an emaciated male
lion attacked and killed a villager in the Darajani region of Tsavo, Kenya.
Locals led American hunter John Perrott to the animal, where he shot and killed
it. While admiring his trophy shortly thereafter, Perrott noticed something
unusual: a sharp quill jutting out of the lion’s left nostril.
White stork pair could become first to breed in wild
in UK for centuries
White storks nesting on top
of an ancient oak tree could become the first wild pair to successfully breed
in Britain for hundreds of years.
The enormous birds are
brooding three eggs on the rewilded Knepp estate, in Sussex, as part of a
project to reintroduce the species to south-east England.
Chimpanzees at the crossroads: adapt to living outside
protected areas
Research carried out into the
impact of changes to chimpanzee habitats found they have adapted to human
developments in a number of ways—including learning how to cross roads safely
and the best times to visit human habitats—but their survival is still
threatened.
Time is running out for these critically-endangered
species in the Philippines
According to The World Atlas,
“megadiversity” refers to countries that harbor a “high total number of species
including a significant percentage of endemic species.” And for a country to be
classified as “megadiverse”, it must have at least 5,000 species of endemic
plants and border a marine ecosystem.
Endangered Bird Returned To South Korean Wild 40 Years
After Extinction
An endangered bird was
reintroduced to the wild by South Korean authorities Wednesday, four decades
after it went extinct on the peninsula.
The crested ibis is listed as
South Korea's National Monument number 198, but was last seen in the wild in
1979 in the Demilitarized Zone dividing the peninsula.
China and Japan are also part
of the species' natural range, but the species was driven to the edge of
extinction -- partially because pesticide use eliminated its food sources --
until captive breeding programmes were set up.
Who
do you believe?
It hasn’t been an easy week to be a killer
whale trainer at Marineland, Antibes.
The week started off with a bunch of protests
from animal-rights activists around the world, as part of their (now annual)
Empty the Tanks Day. A small group of whom had gathered to demonstrate in front
of the Marineland Hotel. Granted, there were only a handful of them, but their
message was clear. Put an end to the keeping of animals in captivity. In fact,
their group was so small that I didn’t even notice them as I was driving out of
work th
**********************************************************************
** ***
** **
***
*
For Updated Conferences and Meetings Please Click
HERE
For Recent Zoo Vacancies Please Click
After more than 50 years working in private, commercial and National zoos in the capacity of keeper, head keeper and curator Peter Dickinson started to travel. He sold house and all his possessions and hit the road. He has traveled extensively in Turkey, Southern India and much of South East Asia before settling in Thailand. In his travels he has visited well over 200 zoos and many more before 'hitting the road' and writes about these in his blog http://zoonewsdigest.blogspot.com/Hubpages http://hubpages.com/profile/Peter+Dickinson
Peter earns his living as an independent international zoo consultant, critic and writer. Until recently working as Curator of Penguins in Ski Dubai. United Arab Emirates. He describes himself as an itinerant zoo keeper, one time zoo inspector, a dreamer, a traveler, an introvert, a people watcher, a lover, a storyteller, a thinker, a cosmopolitan, a writer, a hedonist, an explorer, a pantheist, a gastronome, sometime fool, a good friend to some and a pain in the butt to others.
"These are the best days of my life"
"These are the best days of my life"
|
No comments:
Post a Comment