Zoos
Taronga Zoo taken to tusk
By ALISON REHN Political Reporter
July 15, 2005
INTERNATIONAL pressure has stepped up on Taronga Zoo's efforts to import five Asian elephants.
Animal welfare campaigners from across Europe, Britain and the US have sent the Federal Government more than 52,000 postcards, condemning the zoo's efforts to import the elephants from Thailand.
The postcards, with the message "Save Elephants From Zoos", were distributed by the International Fund for Animal Welfare and have been translated into a variety of languages, including German .
Sent directly to Environment Minister Ian Campbell, the post- cards implore him to refuse permission for Taronga Zoo and Melbourne Zoo to import eight elephants.
http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1260&storyid=3445337
Iowa Wants Pandas
POSTED: 6:02 pm CDT July 14, 2005UPDATED: 6:19 pm CDT July 14, 2005
Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo has been trying to bring pandas to Omaha for five years, and now another Midwest group is beginning the quest for the bears.
A group is working to bring a pair of endangered giant pandas to Iowa. The Des Moines Register reports that the idea is still in the early stages, but the group went to China last year and signed a letter of intent with a research breeding program for a long-term project to possibly lend two pandas to Des Moines.
The group, the Chinese Cultural Center of America, is led by Paul Shao, who teaches architecture at Iowa State.
Where the pandas would live if they get to Des Moines has not been determined, but talks have started with officials at Blank Park Zoo.
Pandas live in four U.S. zoos in Georgia, California, Washington, D.C., and Tennessee.
http://www.theomahachannel.com/news/4725286/detail.html
Zoo's tiny cub showing markings of giant panda
By DERRILL HOLLYAssociated Press
WASHINGTON — Just a week old, Mei Xiang's tiny cub is beginning to sport the dark markings characteristic of the endangered giant panda.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3269085
Norton Buffalo and the Knockouts Perform at Oregon Zoo
By Joan Jones Staff Writer / SouthernOregonNews.com
Portland, Oregon - Harmonica virtuoso Norton Buffalo will bring his rough and ready band The Knockouts to the Oregon Zoo on Wednesday, July 27 at 7 p.m. as part of the Wells Fargo Summer Concert Series.
http://www.medfordnews.com/articles/index.cfm?artOID=306194&cp=10997
Winging it: African eagle escapes from zoo By GEORGIA
PABSTgpabst@journalsentinel.comPosted: July 16, 2005Look up!
Missing Eagle
Photo/File
The search is on at the Milwaukee County Zoo for a Bateleur eagle, like the one shown in this picture, that turned up missing Friday. A native of the African Sahara Desert, the eagle has a diet that includes antelope, mice, birds, snakes, lizards and carrion Seen The Eagle? Call the Milwaukee County Zoo at (414) 771-3040. Advertisement If it's not Superman or an airplane, it could be the eagle that's flown the coop at the Milwaukee County Zoo.
The lost bird is described as a Bateleur eagle, a short-tailed, multicolored bird of prey from Africa that has a 6-foot wingspan and stands 2 feet tall, according to Bruce Beehler, deputy zoo director.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/jul05/341590.asp
Oakland Zoo offers a new place for kids to go wildBy Laura Casey, STAFF WRITER
Jack Colvin, 4, of Oakland, jumps over the lillie pads as his cousion Tayler Jones, 11, of Lafayette looks on during the gran opening ceremony for the Valley Children's Zoo, adjacent to the Oakland Zoo, on Thursday afternoon. The The unfinished children's zoo will be open to the public beginning this Saturday. (Ray Chavez - STAFF) OAKLAND - A YOUNG BOY in a green shirt wraps his fingers around the chain-link fence surrounding the entrance of the Oakland Zoo's new Valley Children's Zoo and presses his mouth into one of the holes. "I want to come in!" he squeals to marketing assistant Michele Strider, who is sitting on the back of a gigantic concrete snake. She assures him he will be let into the Children's Zoo soon — Saturday, to be exact.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/localnews/ci_2862147
Zoo gears up for two special events
POCATELLO - The Pocatello Zoo has two special events this weekend. Tonight is Zoo Snooze, from 7 to 8 p.m. At the zoo camp-out, children can sleep in a tent or the Tree House and expect a night full of activities, a midnight snack and breakfast. Cost is $22.50 for Ross Park Zoological Society members, $27 with a Resident Discount Card and $30 for the general public.
Monday is Family Night. The zoo doors are open until 7:30 p.m. Animal games like wild hide and seek with the family will be offered from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Cost is $15 for family admission; members of the Zoo pay reduced admission costs.
http://www.journalnet.com/articles/2005/07/15/news/briefs/briefs01.txt
New director airs plans for zoo
Fernandes is credited with reviving a sagging operation in Buffalo.
By Jennifer R. Garcia
The Fresno Bee
The new director of the Chaffee Zoo may not officially start her job until August, but she already has big plans for the once-troubled zoo.
Donna Fernandes discussed her vision and goals Friday at a news conference formally introducing her as the new director, as zoo employees gathered to listen to her plans.
http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/10900108p-11670652c.html
National parks aren't zoosValuing parks on access to wildlife degrades original intent of national parks' creation
by BECKY LOMAX posted 07.15.05
"Yellowstone is a better park than Glacier because you can see more animals," so announced one hiking client as I guided us through dense old-growth cedars. I didn't know how to respond.
Was I puzzled by the implication that our national parks should be rated on the same scale, even though each was aside for unique features found nowhere else on earth? Was I dismayed that seeing wildlife seems to mark the parks "real" value? Or had my client nailed something in all of us -- that desire to pursue the wild?
http://www.tidepool.org/original_content.cfm?articleid=165404
A venerable roar is silenced at zoo; Franklin Park patrons mourn CliffBy April Simpson, Globe
Correspondent July 15, 2005
Visitors to Franklin Park Zoo usually heard Cliff and Chris roaring to one another through much of the park.
But lately, zoo staff say, Chris, the more vocal of the two lions, has been eerily quiet, sensing that the health of his 335-pound exhibit mate had taken a turn for the worse.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/07/15/a_venerable_roar_is_silenced_at_zoo_franklin_park_patrons_mourn_cliff/
Report questions zoo animal's welfareRenmark-based private zoo Bredl's Wonder World of Wildlife has been targeted by an animal rights group concerned about the alleged condition of its animals and enclosures.
Animal rights group Primates For Primates commissioned a report from a zoologist into the wildlife park in May this year.
The report alleged some primates, reptiles and mammals were being kept in poor conditions.
But the Environment Department says it has not had any issues with the park.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200507/s1415021.htm
Council Members Question Zoo Projects
Five projects, two million dollars. That's the investment the Sioux Falls parks department is asking the city council make in the Great Plains Zoo. The money would renovate the zoo's primate exhibit, enlarging it and making the area more natural for the animals. Another project would replace the waterfowl exhibit at the front of the zoo and another would build a new bird aviary. The Asian cat exhibit would receive new cages, to replace deteriorated ones. And new water wells would allow groundwater to replace fresh water currently used in parts of the zoo, saving on the park's water costs.
http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail5440.cfm?Id=0,41063
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