Showing posts with label zoo news. zoo news digest. zoonews digest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label zoo news. zoo news digest. zoonews digest. Show all posts

Friday, July 15, 2016

Zoo News Digest 15th July 2016 (ZooNews 930)

Zoo News Digest 15th July 2016 
(ZooNews 930)



Peter Dickinson

elvinhow@gmail.com

Dear Colleague,

I wonder to myself with increasing frequency how I can take the World Zoo Associations seriously. Good honest people tell me things in confidence and ask that I say nothing for fear of exposing them and so I am double disturbed. In fact I am hurt that there are so many blind eyes and feigned ignorance of just what is going on. Money and politics should never take priority over caring and conservation. If this may seem a little bit cryptic it will be very very clear to those to whom I refer.

I take it you all saw the story about the snake killer in Karachi Zoo. Just what kind of spectacle is this? All and apart from the fact that it is so wrong on so many levels it was the statement by the zoo director Fahim Khan which I found so alarming  “The show is being held only for a few days and in no way damages the public image of the zoo”. The F*** it doesn't. It puts the zoo and this stupid ignorant man in the worst light possible. He should never have been in this post and the sooner he is kicked out the happier I, and the animals of Karachi Zoo, will be.

"BMC TO BREAK NEW GROUND WITH BYCULLA ZOO’S WORLD-CLASS AQUARIUM" - To me this sounds like a joke. Similar statements have been made for new zoos and safari parks over the past couple of years and no doubt will be made for facilities yet to open in the next couple. NOTHING is world class until it has proven itself to be so through commitment to the Five Freedoms, to genuine conservation, education, research and more….and returning to my opening statement none should ever be granted membership to any of the World Zoo associations until such time as they have proved themselves. There should be none of this 'you pat my back and I'll pat yours' nonsense.

One of the most disturbing things I have heard during the last week was of members of a large zoo visiting the Congo and asking about obtaining baby Gorillas. Can you believe it? Unfortunately I can. I did a bit of thinking about this. How on earth could they 'sort of' legally obtain them. Well, where there is a will there is a way and I reckon I have figured out how it could be done. I will say no more right now but will expose if it happens.

We don't want the whole Taiping 4 saga all over again….how many of those are still alive?



Did You Know?
ZooNews Digest has over 25,000 'Like's' on Facebook and has a weekly reach often exceeding over 250,000 people? That ZooNews Digest has subscribers in over 800 Zoos in 153+ countries? That the subscriber list 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, 
not DYSFUNCTIONAL zoos.

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Animal Welfare; Petition to Develop Regulations to Prohibit Public Contact with Potentially Dangerous Animals





Support grows to close 'world's saddest zoo' in China
More than 150,000 people have signed an online petition to close what's been called a "prison for animals" at a Chinese shopping mall.
The Grandview Mall in Guangzhou is a multi-storey shopping centre which is also home to a number of animals, including polar bears, a wolf and whales, kept in enclosures where they're constantly bothered by shoppers wanting selfies.





Zoos lead the fight against animals' extinction
The recent death of the gorilla shot at the Cincinnati Zoo after a child fell into his enclosure first prompted unfair criticism of the child’s parents. Then pundits piled on by second-guessing the zoo’s decision to kill the gorilla to save the child.

That led to yet-another spate of zoo-bashing with no fewer than a dozen mainstream media outlets questioning whether zoos should exist at all.

It was as if the writers of these articles (none of them scientists or conservationists) were in a time warp that took them back decades when the focus of zoos was purely entertainment, rather than education, and when zoo animals were often in cramped cages and fed without much thought to nutrition.

Today, at the St. Louis Zoo, we have a Ph.D. nutritionist working hard to match the diets of animals in our care to those of their kin in the wild. Veterinarians, who spend years studying zoo medicine, are on call to handle every situation, and more importantly, to offer active preventive medicine and disease surveillance programs. Animals at our zoo and at other accredited zoos live in spacious habitats where highly trained animal care professionals work to keep them mentally and physically energized through a range of enrichment.

What we have learned in zoos has also been used to treat and benefit animals in the wild. We are transferring research findings from our reproductive management experts, endocrinologists, veterinarians and other scientists to the fie





BMC TO BREAK NEW GROUND WITH BYCULLA ZOO’S WORLD-CLASS AQUARIUM
With BMC Commissioner Ajoy Mehta already giving a go-ahead, the city is all set to get a world-class aquarium at Byculla zoo, which will be the first of its kind in the country and the sixth in the world. With close to 450 marines species, the aquarium is all set to provide an underwater three-dimensional experience to visitors.

Work on the project worth Rs 25 crore has already started after Mehta cleared plans submitted by SIVAT, a US-based company, in collaboration with M/S Highway Construction, the aquarium plans to open its doors by the end of this year. Though the initial plan was approved in March, the project took a while to begin as Tanmay Rai and SIVAT's IBrett Cavaliero proposed the building of an under-water tunnel to provide a three-dimensional experience to visitors. Mehta asked the duo to incorporate this within the same estimated cost, which took them some time to submit the final plan.

The ongoing project, the designs of which are loosely based on Denmark's national aquarium, is tipped off to become bigger crowdpuller than the Taraporewala aquarium. Project coordinator Dr Tanmay Rai said, "The design will consist of a 20-metre tunnel that will be surro






  
www.zoolex.org in July 2016

~°v°~  ~°v°~  ~°v°~  ~°v°~  ~°v°~

Hello ZooLex Friend,
We have worked for your enjoyment!

              ~°v°~

NEW EXHIBIT PRESENTATION

Predators of the Serengeti is an exhibit complex at Oregon Zoo for some
of Africa's endangered carnivores, such as lions cheetahs and African
wild dogs. The pictures of this presentation are focussed on the caracal
and dwarf mongoose exhibits that present a predator-prey relationship:


              ~°v°~

SPANISH TRANSLATION

Thanks to Eduardo Díaz García we are able to offer the Spanish
translation of the previously published presentation of the Watani
Grasslands Reserve at North Carolina Zoo in the United States:


              ~°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




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Proving crime committed against cetaceans
On yet another wet day when gardening is shelved I had intended to write a blog, but was wondering what might be relevant to summer time (summer time, try telling that to folks at T in the Park today!) Summer is probably the quietest season of the year for wildlife crime but, apart from the destruction of the nests of some birds such as house martins and swallows, one of the more unusual, and thankfully rarer, wildlife crimes that police investigate, is the intentional or reckless disturbance or harassment of cetaceans.

This is an extremely difficult offence to prove, and may well be under-reported. This short chapter on cetaceans from my book Wildlife and the Law outlines some of the difficulties encountered, and may allo






All zoos must become ‘firewalls against extinction’
What will zoos look like in the future? That’s a question several experts have tackled on Animalia during the past week. We’ve heard from a zoo director, an American zoo designer, an Australian zoo designer, a neuroscientist and a sociologist. The final submission comes from Steve Monfort, a veterinarian who is director of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Va.

Zoos must focus on becoming effective conservation organizations while sustaining excellence in providing for the health and well-being of wildlife in human care. Next-generation zoos must invest large amounts of money in what’s known as “conservation infrastructure,” including much more space (on or off zoo property). These steps are essential for effectively managing genetic diversity over the long-term, and for positioning zoos as vital players on a conservation continuum that spans from intensively managed populations in human care to free-living animals in nature.

Today, zoos around the world invest more than $350 million per year in field conservation. But the majority of that money is provided by a minority of zoos. Moving forward, all zoos will increasingly be held accountable for their contributions to conservation. Make no mistake: As the biodiversity crisis worsens, the world will look even more to zoos as firewalls against extinctions and as leaders in





100 snakes killed in Pak. zoo ‘magic show’
Around 100 snakes have been ruthlessly killed as part of a so-called magic show at the Karachi zoo, it was reported on Tuesday.

Titled ‘The snake-eating man’, the stunt has been attracting hundreds of visitors since the first day of Eid and is likely to continue for a few more days, the Dawn reported.

Breaks necks

The snakes are killed by a performer who breaks their necks with his teeth before skinning them, and tasting their blood dripping from their mutilated bodies.

This act is done in front of a large audience, mainly children, Dawn said.

“I have been holding these shows in all major cities of the country for a long time. No government official has ever stopped or fined me on my acts,” said performer Talib, who hails from Nawabshah.

Snake population stable

The 31-year-old, also a snake hunter, said the number of snakes in Pakistan had not declined over the years despite their frequent killing in his shows.

“I eat all kinds of snakes that include cobras and vipers but they are often not easily available,” Dawn quoted him as saying.

According to him, he has developed immunity against snake poison and suffers no effects from a snake-bite. He added that he was also fond of frogs







Cherry Brook Zoo still silent on Collrin departure
The board of trustees at the Cherry Brook Zoo is still keeping quiet about the departure of zoo founders Lynda and Leonard Collrin after a closed-door board meeting Monday night on how to proceed.

A statement was expected on Tuesday morning, but when contacted to ask for the statement, Alice O'Neill, chair of the board of trustees, said, "No comment on that, but you will know."

The Collrins opened the Cherry Brook Zoo in 1978 at its current location. The zoo has expanded to include a number of new animals, a mini-golf game, and a park featuring statues of endangered animals.





  
Two chimps escape from Jos zoo
Residents of West of Mines in the central parts of the Plateau State capital, Jos are apprehensive over the escape of two chimpanzees from a nearby zoo.

 The two chimps - a male and a female, escaped confinement at the federal government owned National Museum and Monuments, on Tuesday, Daily Trust learnt.

The circumstance of the escape was not immediately known, but it was rumoured that the apes forced their way out of a rusty cage, in search of food.

 Early reports suggested that the female was lured back into the cage after hours of banters with the apes on Tuesday, while the male, named Yellow, outsmarted the zoo keepers, luring them rather into his trail but staying too far for their easy reach.

 “We gave up chasing this ape after it got dark,” a zoo keeper, who pleaded not to be named, told Daily Trust. “Yellow is too smart; he kept tricking us, jumping from place to place, until it ended up on a tall tree far beyond our easy reach.”

 He said Yellow displayed jungle skills, jumping from tree to tree in a jungle-style swing that dragged over eight hours until the keepers deployed to lure him back got tired.

 By today residents who were alerted by the development went out on a search, although it was not clear if they did so to help get the ape back into the zoo, or simply out of curiosity.

 “Residents were able to spot it far off from where we left it the night before,” the zoo keeper said. “We joined them in the banters, and had to invite men of the Fire Service to assist.”

 By 3pm when this report was still in the maki







Three monkeys dead after dogs break into Baton Rouge Zoo
Three monkeys at the Baton Rouge Zoo are dead after dogs broke into the zoo in the early hours of Tuesday morning and attacked the primates as they reached out of their exhibit.

Kaki Heiligenthal, the zoo’s director of marketing and development, said Wednesday that zoo officials are still trying to figure out the sequence of events that led to the monkeys’ deaths. But surveillance videos have helped them put together some of the clues





Sinister move against Dehiwala Zoo
The Movement for the Protection of the National Zoo (MPNZ) yesterday said that there were moves by certain elements with vested interests to have the Dehiwala Zoological Garden closed.

Media Co-ordinator for the movement Shantha Jayaweera said the objective of those elements was to reduce the size of the present Zoological Garden on a 21-acre plot to around 2-3 acres.

Addressing a news conference in Colombo, Jayaweera said, "A newly formed foundation which claimed to be fighting for animal rights in Sri Lanka is spreading falsehoods claiming that animals in the Dehiwala Zoo were subjected to cruelty and some of the photographs they have posted on the Internet have been taken overseas. It has o





Monkeys in Brazil 'have used stone tools for hundreds of years at least'
New archaeological evidence suggests that Brazilian capuchins have been using stone tools to crack open cashew nuts for at least 700 years. Researchers say, to date, they have found the earliest archaeological examples of monkey tool use outside of Africa. In their paper, published in Current Biology, they suggest it raises questions about the origins and spread of tool use in New World monkeys and, controversially perhaps, prompts us to look at whether early human behaviour was influenced by their observations of monkeys using stones as tools. The research was led by Dr Michael Haslam of the University of Oxford, who in previous papers presents archaeological evidence showing that wild macaques in coastal Thailand used stone tools for decades at least to open shellfish and nuts.





Why We Are All Failing Orang-utans
On Friday 8 July the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) declared that the Bornean Orang-utan is one step closer to extinction. Upgrading the species from endangered to Critically Endangered, the Bornean Orang-utan now joins its genetic cousin, the Sumatran Orang-utan in this most desperate of situations.

The announcement, while not unexpected, has landed a very large blow to many of us working to save threatened species across the world.  We are failing the orang-utans. We are letting them slip away right before our eyes. We are not heeding the calls of our children who keep telling us that they want orang-utans safe in the wild, not just in zoos.

We have witnessed the bulldozing, slashing and burning of orang-utan habitat to make way for palm oil. And we have not done enough, despite the fact that it is our food that is driving this devastation.

When you work in the business of saving species, you get used to set backs. But this one feels harder because it is deeply personal. Zoos Victoria has been campaigning for the past seven years in Australia to achieve something very basic – the transparent labell





Thoughts for Behaviour: An upgrade in history…
Operant and classical conditioning is not new as we know. The foot steps have been made a long time ago by for example Sir I.Pavlov and Sir B.F. Skinner. Skinner discovered how you can connect behaviours to causes and how you can actually train an animal with reinforcement as response from the trainer towards the animal, what is nowadays called operant conditioning. Even before B.F.Skinner in the 1800s Sir I. Pavlov discovered how animal can predict that a food source is comming by using a sound before hand, what we call classical conditioning. In the 80s K.Pryor started to introduce operant and classical conditioning in Zoological facilitys with great succes. I mean till today we still do what she introduced back in the 80s. These scientists beside a couple others changed the world of animal training drastically. Sour





For zoo elephants, social lives may be more important than space
There’s a churning national conservation about the welfare of animals in zoos, and one of the biggest debates is about elephants.

Infertility, obesity and shortened lives are common afflictions among the zoo populations of these highly social, intelligent and enormous animals. Scientists have probed, in a limited way, how captivity affects them. Some zoo managers have closed elephant exhibits, saying their facilities couldn’t adequately support the animals’ needs. Critics say elephants have no place in zoos at all.

Among the major concerns are limited exhibit space — elephants roam for miles in the wild — and social groupings that are much smaller and less complex than the matrilinear herds of wild elephants.

[Humans are at war with nature, and zoo animals are the ‘refugees’]

Now a sweeping, first-of-its-kind study of nearly all elephants at accredited zoos in North America has applied epidemiological research methods to extract information that has often been missing from these debates. And some of its findings, published Thursday in PLOS One, are counterintuitive.

More than two dozen researchers, who gathered and analyzed data on 255 elephants at 68 zoos, found no link between the size of an exhibit and three key indicators of poor elephant welfare: obesity, reproduction problems or “stereotypical behavior,” such as re





Dartmoor Zoo to probe 'sheep attack', as lynx hunt enters second week





A carnivorous plant has learnt how to communicate with bats
Scientists have discovered that a species of carnivorous pitcher plant in Borneo has evolved a unique way of enticing bats to roost nearby. But the end goal isn't to eat the flying mammals - instead, Nepenthes hemsleyana stays nourished by digesting their falling droppings.

So in other words, a plant has worked out how to communicate with a mammal, just to encourage it to poop in its mouth.





'Swim Away:' Zoo Keepers From San Francisco and Oakland Release Turtles
In a small seasonal pond just outside the Bay Area in Lake County, an eight-year effort to save California’s native Western Pond Turtles played out last week.
Amid the rural terrain of Lake County, teams of zoo-keepers from the San Francisco and Oakland Zoos, along with researchers from Sonoma State University toted tubs filled with the year-old turtles to return them to their birthplace of the previous year.





North Korean diplomats linked to lucrative rhino horn trade in Africa
North Korean diplomats have been implicated in 16 cases of illegal trading of rhinoceros horns and elephant tusks in the last 30 years, according to a report on international organised crime.

The report, compiled by the Geneva-based Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, says diplomats stationed in Africa have been involved in 29 seizures of contraband horns and tusks over the last three decades, with North Korean diplomats accounting for the majority of those cases.
The diplomat, identified only by his surname, Park, was arrested in May 2015 with another North Korean national in possession of more than 10 lbs of rhino horn. The two men wer

In one of the most recent incidents, Yonhap News reported, a diplomat at North Korea's embassy in South Africa was detained over a deal with poachers in Mozambique.




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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.



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Vacancies in Zoos and Aquariums and Wildlife/Conservation facilities around the World


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About me
After more than 47 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 writes about these in his blog http://zoonewsdigest.blogspot.com/

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, a people watcher, a lover, 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"


Peter Dickinson
Independent International Zoo Consultant
      

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Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Zoo News Digest 22nd - 30th November 2015 (ZooNews 915)


Zoo News Digest 22nd - 30th November 2015 
(ZooNews 915)





Peter Dickinson

elvinhow@gmail.com

Dear Colleague,

So what would you think was the most important news of the past couple of weeks? I suppose it will depend on where your interests lie but surely South Africa legalising Rhino Horn sales for home consumption must be worrying news? So too would be the sad death of Nola in San Diego. There are others of course. But what does the press think? Well going by the number of papers covering the story of a Dysfunctional Chinese Zoo dumping a live goat in with a tiger we have got it all wrong….what's more they think it's cute.

I find it surprising that a Tiger on the loose for a month should receive so little attention from the worlds press. Any other tourist resort in the world would be on lockdown and this is Acapulco!
In Scotland though, last week we had a Maned Wolf escape from the Galloway Wildlife Park. Very few newspapers covered the story but there hasn't been a whisper since. If it had been recaptured (which I hope) then one would expect to hear something.


I was saddened to see that Toronto Zoo had bred its White Lions….all males too. What reputable knowledgeable zoo would be prepared to take them and further contribute to the white lion problem….because it IS a problem that needs further recognition.


I remain committed to the work of GOOD zoos, 
not DYSFUNCTIONAL zoos.

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Interesting Links


Zoo tiger on the run
A tiger named "Ankor" marked a full month on the run Wednesday, having evaded capture since he escaped from a restaurant zoo and disappeared into what appears to be a very tiger-friendly habitat on Mexico's southern Pacific coast.

Mexican authorities have mounted a full-scale search effort including police, soldiers and a group of 10 big-cat experts.

They are looking in an area of low woods dotted with marshes, reeds and stands of button mangrove west of the resort of Acapulco.

The country's environmental protection agency said Wednesday it had identified the area where Ankor has taken up residence and had photographed him alive, apparently by using remote trip-wire cameras.

The agency said it expected to capture the animal "in the next few days" and relocate him to a safe place.

Officials have been making similar claims since the male tiger escaped from the Mangrove Paradise zoo and restaurant area Oct. 26.

The week he escaped, the owner of a ranch about a mile (two kilometres) from the restaurant found five of his cows dead, and the tiger is sus




Perth Zoo: 200th numbat set to be released into the WA wild
Western Australia's dwindling numbat population will get a boost next month when 15 of the captive-bred marsupials are released into the state's south west.
The latest release will mark the 200th numbat to be released into the wild from Perth Zoo, as part of a program which began in 1993.
Ten numbats born this year were fitted with radio c





Technically It’s Not Illegal to Enter an Animal Exhibit at Sequoia Park Zoo, But it Likely Will Be Soon
If you walk into the bald eagle exhibit at the Sequoia Park Zoo you will be kicked out, but you won’t face legal consequences.

That’s what one man learned as he fetched a bald eagle feather for his son about a month ago.

The City of Eureka addressed this issue at the Nov. 17 council meeting, where City Attorney Cindy Day-Wilson introduced a new ordinance that would make such behavior unlawful.

The current Zoo Animal Ordinance only prohibits people from feeding the animals. The amended version focuses on animal safety and would make it illegal for zoo patrons to enter animal exhibits without zoo staff permission. Among other obvious thing you shouldn’t





‘An army needed to protect rhinos’
Game farmer who had brought the application says it is a ‘monumentous’ day for the survival of the animals, and that costs of defending the rhino has sky-rocketed.

From today it will be legal to trade in rhino horn in South Africa after the High Court in Pretoria this morning set aside government’s 2009 ban on domestic trade in rhino horn, with those supporting the move arguing it is the only way to prevent the otherwise-inevitable extinction of the animals.

Judge Francis Legodi read out his court order in less than five minutes before handing down his 37-page judgment in the application by Malelane game farmer John Hume and Limpopo farmer Johan Kruger. Although government is expected to appeal the ruling, Hume said he hopes “sanity would prevail”.

Rhino breeder John Hume’s attorney Izak du Toit gave an indication of what it is like trying to protect rhino from poachers. “You really need an army to protect your rhino,” he said. You need soldiers with automatic firearms, night vision, helicopters… If you don’t, you’re simply outgunned.”

Meanwhile, Hume was very happy. “This is a momentous judgment. I would just hope that the world understands that if I don’t sell rhino, my whole rhino herd would be dead within the next ten years.”

He said the security costs of safeguarding his rhino had gone up dramatically and was at this stage costing far more than feeding or any other costs.

“It (the court order lifting the moratorium) is not a magic w




South Africa: If You’re a Rhino Owner, Don’t Order the Ferrari Yet
So, the Pretoria High Court has apparently ordered[i] that South Africa’s current ban on trade in rhino horn should be lifted.

Some reports indicate that the government, in the guise of the Department of Environmental Affairs, failed to follow mandatory consultative procedures before introducing its moratorium. Other reports suggest the judge also questioned the effectiveness of the ban.

The news appears to be spreading faster than a poacher’s bullet, with reactions ranging from utter depression to claims that a ‘battle has been won’. But that simply reflects the fiercely-held and diametrically-opposed views on this subject, both inside South Africa and elsewhere.

Within hours of the announcement, I was contacted and asked for my reactions. Well, so as not to disappoint, here they are.

Some people are asking whether this is likely to influence how countries may vote when the major conference of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) takes place in Johannesburg in September next year[ii]; if it is true South Africa will seek authorization to engage in international commercial trade of rhino horn (and that isn’t actually kno





Debate over rhino horn trade ramps up as South Africa ban is lifted
A South African court Thursday threw out a moratorium on the trade of rhino horns, a move hotly debated in a country that, more than any other, holds the survival of the species in its hands.

Proponents of lifting the ban argue that doing so will discourage illegal poaching that has steadily increased since the moratorium was enacted in 2009. Opponents say dropping the moratorium will place more pressure on stressed rhino populations.

An international ban remains, meaning South African farmers cannot trade with Vietnam or China, the principal markets for rhino horn.

"There's no demand for rhino horn on the domestic market. If you have got no one to trade with you, it's like the sound of one hand clapping," said Tom Milliken, southern Africa director of Traffic, an organization opposed to trafficking in wildlife. But he warned that before the South African moratorium, privately owned South African rhino horn had found its way into the black market.

"What happened previously was that there were a lot of private sector abuses and many horns were ending up in the illegal trade," he said.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES, has banned trade in rhino horn. South Africa, home to 80% of the global rhino population, has proved unable to stem a massive increase in rhino poaching




‘I assume they’re grinding it up to make potions’: Rhino horn sells for $228K at Vancouver auction
A 19th century rhinoceros horn was estimated to sell for $20,000 at a recent auction. But a “grand battle” erupted between four Asian bidders and when the smoke cleared, it had sold for $228,000.

Normally, high-priced antiques are cherished as objects. But rhino horns can be worth a small fortune because they’re used in traditional Chinese medicine and some people believe they’re an aphrodisiac.

Hugh Bulmer of Maynard’s, which sold the horn on Nov. 21, believes it will be ground up.

“I assume they’re grinding it up to make potions,” Bulmer said.

“Whether they work or not, I don’t know. I hope they do




Nostalgia: When a lion escaped and went on the rampage in Aston
They were pictures which instantly went around the world – zebras on the run after escaping from a circus in Philadelphia.

An academic was reminded of amazing scenes which happened in Birmingham more than an century ago – when a lion went on the run.

Early modern historian Helen Cowie said that animals making a break for freedom is nothing new – especially in Victorian times.

In 1899 a young black maned Nubian lion escaped from Bostock and Wombwell’s Menagerie which was in Aston.

A report which has just been unearthed in the Pall Mall Gazette on September 28, described the amazing scenes which ensured.

It began: “The eastern suburb of Birmingham was yesterday the scene of a protracted and exciting animal hunt.”

It all began when the lion’s keeper was distracted by a fight between an ostrich and a deer – and, the Pall Mall Gazette claime




The Billy makes friends with a tiger - no kidding! Goat who was put into a killer cat's lair as lunch survives after the two animals become friends instead
The goat had been intended as the tiger's lunch, but now the pair have become some of the animal kingdom's most unlikely friends. 
Staff at a Russian safari park are 'stunned' at the goat's bravery and the Siberian tiger's readiness to make friends with his meal.
Extraordinary images show Amur, the obedient big cat, reduced to resting on the roof of his home after the brave goat occupied his bed.




Australia Zoo sacks man staff blame for animal deaths
AUSTRALIA Zoo has fired the controversial manager who staff blame for the crisis at the Sunshine Coast wildlife hospital and the deaths of prized zoo animals.

Sources say assistant curator Josh Ruffell’s employment has been terminated following an internal workplace investigation into claims of harassment.

Under Mr Ruffell’s reign, current and former staff say the standard of veterinary care at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital plummeted, leading to alleged mistreatment of sick and injured animals.

His decision-making and lack of animal expertise was also blamed for the deaths of zoo creatures — including a prized jabiru, saltwater crocodile Shaka an




10 Reasons To Be Thankful For SeaWorld
For this Thanksgiving week, we're highlighting some of the amazing institutions that are making our world a better place and sharing why we're thankful for them.

SeaWorld operates three of the world's premier and largest zoological facilities in Florida, Texas and California. Every year millions of people visit SeaWorld parks, but we want to share 10 reasons why you should be grateful for these world-class zoological facilities.




Deadly virus found in Danish geese
The deadly bird virus Aquatic Bird Bornavirus 1 (ABB1) has been registered for the first time in the wild geese population in Denmark, according to new research conducted by DTU’s Veterinary Institute in co-operation with the University of Copenhagen and Copenhagen Zoo.

The virus, which is prevalent in wild geese populations in North America and leads to constipation and death among geese, has never before been registered in geese populations in Europe.

“It’s the first time the virus has been found among geese in Europe, and we are concerned it will spread in the same manner as in North America,” Mads Bertelsen, a vet at Copenhagen Zoo and one of the researchers behind the findings, told Vidensk




Trapped in her concrete prison for 66 YEARS: The heartbreaking tale of Hanako the elephant who has spent a lifetime alone in a Japanese zoo
It is believed the elephant needs to be given medical assistance, with the Japan Times reporting that she lost all but one of her four teeth around 30 years ago and as a result 'she suffers digestive difficulties and is troubled by constipation.'

  



The Irony Of A Marine Mammal Trainer
As a marine mammal trainer, I am constantly around smelly animals.  As any animal care professional attests, my day usually has at least one incident of being surrounded by poop (usually animal).  I get in the water on a daily basis.  There are so many things that I do that could extend to my out-of-work life, but they don't.  There is in fact, a crowbar separation between what I'll not just tolerate, but thrive doing at work, and what I absolutely cannot deal with at home.




Cat conservation expert on a mission to find love for Scottish wildcats
DAVID Barclay, a 34-year-old conservation officer is the new keeper of the European studbook for the endangered species dubbed the Highland Tiger.
FINDING THE purrfect match for Scottish wildcats is all in a day’s work for David Barclay.

The 34-year-old conservation expert is the new keeper of the European studbook for the endangered species dubbed the Highland Tiger.

He keeps a record of the family tree, birth date and purity of all captive felines.

As cat conservation project officer for Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), he finds them a suitable date, avoiding inbreeding, in a bid to repopulate the Highlands.

With fewer than 250 cats in the wild, the 100 in zoos and private collections are vital to ensure the survival of Britain’s last large wild predato




Andean condors ready to repopulate Colombian mountains
Three breeding pairs of Andean condors donated by the government of Chile are now part of a program to restore the condor population in the mountains of Colombia, the Environment and Sustainable Development Ministry said.

The birds, who arrived Oct. 23, passed medical tests and completed a quarantine period before being accepted into the National Condor Breeding Program.

The Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) is emblematic of Colombia, appearing on the country's coat of arms with an olive branch in its beak and clutching in its talons a ribbon with the text "Freedom and Order."

One of the breeding pairs will be taken to Jaime Duque Park near Bogota; the second is bound for Santa Fe Zoo in the northwestern city of Medellín; and the third is to remain at Colombia's National Aviary on the Caribbean island of Baru.

The condors "will reproduce in captivity and their offspring, after a period of adaptation, will be released in different regions of the country," the ministry said.

Around 80 condors have been rele




Nola, San Diego Zoo's northern white rhino, dies; only three left in captivity
The world's northern white rhinoceros population plunged by a quarter on Sunday with a death at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

Nola, a 41-year-old northern white rhino, died after being treated for a bacterial infection and age-related health issues, the zoo said.

The rhino's condition had worsened significantly in the last 24 hours, and zoo veterinarians made the decision to euthanize her.

Forty-one years is at the upper end of a white rhino's life expectancy.

Nola was one of only four northern white rhinos in the world, according to the zoo. The remaining three are in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya.

The northern white rhino is a subspecies of white rhino. The northern subspecies is believed to be extinct in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund, while the "near threatened" southern white rhino population is growing in sanctuaries.

Rhinos are the second largest land mammal after the elephant.

The San Diego Zoo is working to save the norther





Schoolgirl reached into cage at Wellington Zoo to pat cheetah
A girl climbed a barrier at Wellington Zoo to reach inside an enclosure and pat a cheetah, a report reveals.

The Environmental Protection Agency's annual report, just published, lists 41 incidents involving zoo animals in the past financial year.

As well as including reports of panda and monkey escapes, the list reveals a number of New Zealanders broke into zoos and enclosures, including two people who visited an Auckland elephant exhibit after hours.




Young Red Panda Found Safe, Unharmed After Escaping From Sequoia Park Zoo
The search for Masala, the adventurous red panda that escaped from a Eureka zoo, is officially over.
She was found Saturday evening and is now back with staff, according to zoo officials.
"Masala is back home, safe and sound," a spokesperson wrote on the zoo's Facebook page. "She was located very late last evening and is now resting." The panda has never been out of captivity prior to this past week's shenanigans.
Masala escaped from her enclosure at the Sequoia Park Zoo on Thursday and was subsequently spotted wandering around the nearby neighborhoods. Cal Fire, zoo staff and community members had been on the l




Mystery on How Penguins Stay Ice-Free Solved
The temperature in Antarctica can nosedive to -135.8 degrees Fahrenheit, and yet penguins there manage not to ice over due to a combination of attributes that make them “superhydrophobic,” according to new research.

Now that the super water repelling powers of these sturdy flightless birds have been determined, the techniques could be used in future to improve the design of airplane wings, flaps and rudders, which can collect ice and caus




As another head resigns, shifting of mini zoo stalled
With the zoo director's post being vacant, the shifting of the mini-zoo located adjacent to VOC Park hits road black again. Though the town planning officer suggests the sites, it is the zoo director who has to approve it, plan the layout and monitor the shifting of the animals.

The former zoo director continued to meet officials and also inspected the land near Vellingiri Hills in his five-month tenure. "The idea of setting up a zoo near the hills was rejected after many opposed it. Officials said that it would be far away from the city and residents would find it difficult to visit it regularly," said a senior corporation officer.

The corporation land located near Bharathiar University was also inspected. But it was later rejected owing to some litigation. "Though that site was perfect to set up the zoo and was spread across 100 acres, due to the dispute, we have rejected it," said city corporation commissioner K Vijayakarthikeyan.

The zoo is currently functioning without a valid licence as well. Unless it is certified, the Zoo Authority of India may ask the city to do away with the sole recre




WHY DID THE HOUSTON ZOO BEND OVER FOR GUN RIGHTS ADVOCATES?
Since local lawyer and gun rights advocate T. Edwin Walker successfully had the Houston Zoo's gun ban removed in September, other gun advocates across Texas are pushing for similar signs to come down in public spaces ranging from botanical gardens to nature preserves to police departments.But not everyplace with a sign and a gun ban is folding before the gun rights crowd as easily as the Houston Zoo did.




AFRICAN ELEPHANTS WILL BE BETTER OFF IN DALLAS ZOO THAN AFRICA, SAYS DALLAS ZOO
Generally speaking, zoos are in the business of selling tickets. If they can help conserve and protect the animals they display along the way, that's nice too, but to exist, zoos need to put on a show, and that means they need animals to fill what is, let's be honest, a wildlife jail. But a  joint marketing campaign orchestrated by the Dallas Zoo, two other American zoos and the African monarchy of Swaziland claims that 18 elephants living in Africa would actually be better off in the zoos than in their native habitat.




Dolphin Cove To Retain Identity Under New Mexican Owner
Chairman and CEO of Dolphin Cove Stafford Burrowes says the company can now move full steam ahead with its expansion plans through the backing of the new owners of the water park, Dolphin Discovery.

The $3.7-billion takeover through World of Dolphin Inc gives the Mexican company a 58 per cent stake in Dolphin Cove. Burrowes says that under the deal, he retains ownership of a tenth of the company and will continue to manage it.

The Jamaican marine park, which operates four locations on the north coast, has been trying for near four years to expand regionally, with St Lucia and the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) tapped as new markets. The company bought lands in St Lucia in 2012 and in the TCI a year later, but neither has yet materialised.

At its shareholders' meeting held earlier this year, Burrowes said the Turks site is the closer of the two to beginning operations a




Rare stick insect to go international to save its species
Hundreds of precious Lord Howe Island stick insect eggs will be sent overseas as part of a captive breeding program for the critically endangered Australian insect – which until 2001 was thought extinct.




Fire hits Manila Zoo
A FIRE hit the Manila Zoo on Adriatico Street, Malate, Manila Tuesday night.
According to an alert by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA),  the fire reached 2nd alarm as of 9:51 p.m.
The fire reportedly razed a commercial structure inside the zoo.




Okla. zookeeper announces Presidential run
Joe Exotic, is scheduled to announce Monday that paperwork has been mailed so he can enter the race for President of the United States.

Exotic, who is also known as Joe Schreibvogel, owns GW Exotic Animal Park in Wynnewood, Okla.

Exotic is making his presidential announcement in Ohio because wants to address the Ohio people about their tax money being used in a monopoly pushed through by Governor John Kasich, and Ohio State Senator Troy Balderson.

Exotic didn't specify in his press release the details surrounding the monopoly.

Exotic said his purpose in announcing his run for the presidency was, "to support the people of Ohio being raid




Wellington Zoo tranquilises a spider monkey by accident
An unsuspecting Wellington Zoo spider monkey got hit by a wayward tranquilliser dart as a guilty gibbon made a getaway.

On Tuesday morning gibbon Vilson escaped from his enclosure.

Zoo animal care general manager Mauritz Basson said staff got out the tranquiliser guns and aimed at Vilson, a well known escape artist.




Shopping centre axes live penguin event after social media backlash
Touchwood shopping centre has cancelled a kids' 'Penguin Encounter' event amid a furious backlash from animal rights campaigners.

The event was scheduled for December 20 and promised to 'educate and delight children' about endangered Humboldt penguins.

But Solihull shopping centre bosses axed it after hundreds campaigned against it.

More than 600 people signed an online petition over the last 24 hours, demanding the event be scrapped.

Others took to Facebook to vent their disapproval.

Derby Animal Rights, which co-ordinated opposition to the event, said: "As well as welfare concerns, using wild animals as a form on ‘entertainment’ sends out the wrong educational messages to the public, in particular children.

"Animals like penguins do not belong on a High Street in the UK and this event does nothing to teach about conservation or respect for species and habitats."

One protester wrote on Faceboo




A strawberry blonde lion
I recently took a group of American visitors on a trip to Zambia and, on arrival at the camp, I asked our local guide if he had seen anything interesting recently. He told me that, amongst other things, there had been some regular sightings of what he called a white lion.

This was interesting to me because I was not aw





Drought drives hungry hippos into Colombian town
Biologists in Colombia say a drought has forced two hippopotamuses into a town in search of food.
The animals are descendants of a group imported in the 1980s by the notorious drug baron Pablo Escobar for his private zoo near the town of Puerto Triunfo in Antioquia province.
They've been seen grazing in fields with cattle and wandering through the town near the city of Medellin.
Local children have been warned to keep away from the animals.
The biologists say they are waiting for specialist dart guns to sedate the hippos so they can move them.
Over the years the population of hippos at the Escobar ranch, Hacienda Napoles, has increased and some have escaped.
Escobar smuggled in elephants, giraffes and other exotic animals for his zoo. Among them were four hippos - three females and one male.
When the ranch was confiscated in the ea





Melaka Zoo Is In Upgrades To Increase The Tourist Arrival - Management Company
The Melaka Zoo and Night Safari is currently being upgraded in order to attract more visitors, said KAJ Group of Hospitality Chief Executive Officer Seow Cheng Swee.

He said besides upgrading the facilities and doing refurbishment work, they were also planning to bring in new animals to woo more visitors to the zoo.

Speaking to Bernama here, he said they had brought in the antelope species known as Waterbuck from South Africa since last September and hoped that the animal will be a new attraction for the visitors.




Brazillian zoo marks first captive breeding of Alagoas curassow
A RARE ALAGOAS curassow (Mitu mitu), which is considered extinct in the wild, has hatched for the first time in captivity.

Earlier this year, the Parque das Aves, a Brazilian zoo in Foz do Iguaçu, received 10 adult Alagoas curassows as part of a worldwide conservation effort to breed and reintroduce this species back into the wild.

One chick hatched on October 26, and it is believed to be the first of its species to hatch in captivity in the world – sparking hope for the species’ future.

During the hatching process, staff at the zoo kept the public up to date with developments via regular Facebook updates.

One post read: “We share with you the whole process of the first Alagoas curassow chick’s birth. It was a difficult process and we had to help because he was weak and couldn’t hatch alone.

“With a lot of caution veterinarian Dr Lorenzo, a consultant specialist in endangered birds, based in Italy, opened the egg a little. The chick looked good




Critically-endangered gorilla born in London Zoo
A new baby is always a cause for excitement - and even more so when the baby is a critically endangered species.

Keepers at London zoo are celebrating the healthy birth of a baby male western lowland gorilla to 22-year-old mother Effie.

Her young has not yet been named.




Surabaya Zoo struggles to revive after protracted disputes
After an era of managerial conflict, the Surabaya Zoo (KBS) in East Java has started to show some improvement in its maintenance of animal welfare, local residents and regular visitors have said.

Elita Novriana, 29, a Surabaya resident, said she was happy that the zoo’s environment looked much better today compared to last year.

“I rarely find scattered garbage. The water ditches in the animal cages also look clear and the cages are in good condition,” Elita told The Jakarta Post after visiting the zoo with her family on Friday.

Haryaningsih, a teacher at a local junior high school, shared a similar observation.

Haryaningsih also expressed hope that KBS would continue to improve its facilities so that the zoo could become a high-quality and affordable educational venue for students.

KBS’ supervisory board chief Heri Purwanto said the zoo mainly relied on support from the city’s budget and CSR funds from private companies to help cover its annual operational deficit, which stands at around Rp 5 billion (US$363,500).

The zoo management, according to Heri, will nonetheless prioritize its operational budget to maintain good animal welfare standards and improve facilities for visitors.

“For example, we are currently building water sanitation and waste treatment facilities that we expect to complete within two or three years,” he said on Saturday.

Established in 1916 in the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya, the 15-hectare KBS is one of the country’s largest and oldest zoos.

Located in Surabaya’s downtown district, the zoo offers visitors the chance to escape to a forest-like environment, a welcome distraction from a cityscape typically defined by malls, apartments and skyscrapers.

With entry tickets at Rp 15,000 per person, the venue has become a favored destination for people in Surabaya and in neighboring regions.

In the last few years, KBS, however, has struggled with management tensions, allegedly resulting in the death of many of its animals.

The zoo gained local and international public attention in 2012 following the death of many of the animals in its collection. In one example, up to 20 kilograms of plastic was found in the stomach of a giraffe named Kliwon, who had died in his stall.

In response to the problem, an online petition calling for the zoo’s closure was soon initiated and obtained





Russian Mega Resort Tigre de Cristal Faces Backlash Over Heavily Drugged Tiger Cub
Tigre de Cristal, the first Las Vegas-style casino to open in Russia’s Primorsky Krai special economic zone, was packed to the rafters on the opening night of its soft launch last month.
Dignitaries mingled with Russian celebs and journalists from Moscow, all of whom had come to feast their eyes on the opulence of Lawrence Ho’s $900 million resort on the country’s south east coast, close to the border with China and North Korea.
But an outcry has erupted in the region’s local press over one of the “acts” that night, a Siberian tiger cub called “Crystal” that was paraded around the casino under




Tiger seriously injures boy, 3, at Ħal-Farrug zoo
 A three-year-old boy suffered serious injuries when a tiger lashed out at him at an illegal zoo in Ħal-Farrug this afternoon.
The police said the tiger was on a leash and accompanied by two handlers when it lashed out at the boy at the Montekristo animal park. The boy was with by a 56-year-old man from Zabbar who did his utmost to keep the tiger away from the boy. The incident took place between the cafeteria and the carousel at 4.30pm.
He was rushed to hospital in an ambulance where he was found to be suffering serious injuries but was not in critical condition.
A hospital source said the boy suffered lacerations to his face and head and will undergo emergency intervention in the coming




Best we address animal welfare issues, not foreigners
SAHABAT ALAM MALAYSIA (SAM) is astonished to read news reports of an inked agreement between Japan's Ambassador to Malaysia, the Natural Resources and Environment (NRE) minister, and the director-general of the Wildlife Department (Perhilitan), to send a pair of Malayan tapirs to Japan as part of a conservation research programme. SAM is keen to know the rationale behind this move as, unlike Sumatran rhinos, tapirs are known to have been bred successfully at the Sungai Dusun Wildlife Conservation Centre. How, and in what way, will tapirs benefit from this so-called conservation research programme? Since they are the subject of a research programme, is the Nagasaki Bio-Park assigned to establish the main threats faced, and what actions need to be taken to ensure their survival? It would be of great interest to know the conservation action plans outlined by the Japanese Bio-Park and identify the key agencies carrying out those actions. Our tapirs are usually victims of vehicular accidents, when they attempt to cross roads that bisect their forested homes. They are also victims of snares set up for other animals like wild boars, tigers and deer. The No. 1 threat to their existence is the loss of habitat, as forests are exploited and fragmented into isolat




Chennai zoo gets 4 new tiger cubs, count now 28
Vandalur zoo has got another quartet of heterozygous cubs, the result of a union between tiger Vijay and white tigress Namratha, and now has 13 heterozygous tigers.

The two males and two females born on October 16 are yet to be released into the exhibit area for the benefit of visitors. Zoo managers plan to show the cubs to visitors using a closed circuit television camera.

When a pair of white tigers mate, zoo director K S S V P Reddy said, their offspring will be normal white tiger cubs but those born to a white tigress and a normal (orange) tiger will be normal tiger cubs and called heterozygous. Such breeding in captivity is increasingly being preferred because the cubs get all the positive qualities from their parents. "They are healthier and stronger than their normal cousins," Reddy said.

Research has showed that white tigers develop problems such as shortened lifespan and are more vulnerable to catching infections and the females suffer from infertility and non-lactation. It is to avoid such health problems that zoos prefer to allow a normal male tiger and a white tigress to mate, he said.

The cubs born on October 16 are the fourth set of heterozygous cubs born in captivity. The first set of three cubs were born to Akanksha and Vijay and were named Vidhya, Arthi and Nethra. The second set of two male cubs, born to Namratha and Vijay, were christened Karna and Adithya. The third set of four cubs, born to Akanksha and Vijay, were named Anitha, Preetha, Sunitha and San




Over half of world's primates on brink of extinction: experts
More than half the world's primates, including apes, lemurs and monkeys, are facing extinction, international experts warned Tuesday, as they called for urgent action to protect mankind's closest living relatives.

The population crunch is the result of large-scale habitat destruction -- particularly the burning and clearing of tropical forests -- as well as the hunting of primates for food and the illegal wildlife trade.

Species long-known to be at risk, including the Sumatran orangutan, have been joined on the most endangered list for the first time by the Philippine tarsier and the Lavasoa Mountains dwarf lemur from Madagascar, scientists meeting in Singapore said.

"This research highlights the extent of the danger facing many of the world's primates," leading primatologist Christoph Schwitzer, director of conservation at Bristol Zoological Society in Britain, said in a statement.

"We hope it will focus people's attention on these lesser known primate species, some of which most people will probably have never he




Why I Can't Complain About Cold Weather Anymore
In my hemisphere, it's getting cold, and that spells out woe for marine mammal trainers.  Yes, even in Florida.  And if you're someone shaking your head at me because you're "from the North" and it "doesn't get cold" in Florida, I invite you to hang out in a wet wetsuit in 30 degree weather for 8 hours. 




Rare White Lion Cubs at the Toronto Zoo
Toronto Zoo white lion cubs born through the night of September 26-27, 2015 are now 8 weeks old, and they are all male! All four cubs are doing well, and continue to live in the maternity den with mom, Makali, not visible by public.The four male cubs were born to white lion mother Makali. Doctors said their first 30 days of life would be crucial, and they ar




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About me
After more than 47 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 writes about these in his blog http://zoonewsdigest.blogspot.com/

Peter earns his living as an international independent 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, a dreamer, a traveller, a people watcher, a lover, 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.


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Peter Dickinson
Contact email - elvinhow@gmail.com
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