Zoos
Zimbabwe to import endangered tigers
By MICHAEL HARTNACK
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Zimbabwe plans to import four endangered Siberian tigers from China for the country's national park, a project condemned by wildlife experts as potentially cruel and dangerous.
In an interview published Thursday in the state-controlled Herald newspaper, Minister of the Environment Francis Nhema said the tigers were in return for Zimbabwe giving China breeding animals such as zebra, elephants and impala.
"We do not have the tiger in this country and we would like to benefit from the exchange program with China," he was quoted as saying.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apafrica_story.asp?category=1105&slug=Zimbabwe%20Tigers
Elephant turf at zoo sparking a fight
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Protesters seek to free the herd, while zoo officials launch a campaign to create a $22 million savanna for the pachyderms.
By Julie Stoiber
Inquirer Staff Writer
Competing visions of what's right for the elephants clashed this week at the Philadelphia Zoo as animal activists stepped up their free-the-herd campaign and administrators pushed a fund-raising drive that they hope will allow them to enlarge the habitat and add more of the majestic mammals.
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/12707692.htm
Satellites to monitor panda sex
Persuading pandas to breed can feel like hard work
Scientists in China plan to use satellites to track pandas to learn more about their sexual behaviour.
A Chinese-US project will use Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites to monitor panda movements in a reserve in remote Shaanxi province.
It is part of an attempt to understand the panda's poor breeding record.
"Tracking them with advanced technology and observing their sex activities might help us find ways to avoid their extinction," an official said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4285694.stm
The Panda a History of Shy Behavior
Prudish pandas turn to Viagra
Rare sight: Mother and cub play in a San Diego zoo
Chinese pandas are being given the anti-impotence drug Viagra, according to the Wen Hui Daily newspaper in Shanghai.
It is hoped that the drug will boost their famously feeble attempts to mate.
Who would want to mate in front of an audience?
Sally Nicholson, WWF, on captive pandas aversion to sex
Poaching and loss of habitat have reduced the worldwide giant panda population to just 1,000 and many warnings of extinction have been made.
Most efforts to breed the animals in captivity have failed, leading to a recent project to clone panda embryos with the intention of artificially implanting them.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/711816.stm
County residents have soft spot for manatees, turtles
Alachua County isn't home to manatees and sea turtles, but that doesn't mean people here don't love the threatened creatures - as noted by an award earned by the office of Tax Collector Von Fraser.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recently honored tax collectors from six counties for their efforts to encourage customers to purchase special manatee and sea turtle decals.
The decals are offer-ed to vehicle and watercraft owners for $5 when they purchase their registrations. The proceeds go to programs to protect the animals.
Tax collectors can use other fund-raising efforts, such as golf tournaments, for the programs.
Alachua County was the only inland county to be honored.
http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050926/COLUMNS03/50926006/-1/news
Seneca Park Zoo: good fun for people, animals
By Rachel August
Guest essayist
(September 27, 2005) — Quality of life is a hot topic these days. I believe the Seneca Park Zoo enhances our community's quality of life. People of every income level, age and ethnicity visit our zoo with excitement and enthusiasm. Kids from the Webster YMCA, Clara Barton School 2 and Honeoye Falls Christian School, who otherwise wouldn't necessarily hang out together, share experiences, make connections. They jump back as Yukon the polar bear pushes his immense foot against the glass or laugh as the otters undulate underwater, poking at an ice block of fish. I see it every day, people making connections based on their shared experiences here at the zoo.
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050927/OPINION02/509270317/1039/OPINION
New names for the tiger cubs at Seneca Park Zoo
9/26/2005 6:00 PM
(WROC-TV)
The three new tiger cubs at the Seneca Park Zoo now have names thanks to the winners of a naming contest.
There were nearly 1,500 entries. The male tiger is "Ussuri" and the two females are "Anastasia" and "Katya". All these names are of Russian origin, since they are a Russian breed of tiger
The contest winners are Abby Cunningham of Rochester and Don and Susan Meyers from Macedon. All get free zoo memberships for their creativity.
Related Link:
http://www.senecaparkzoo.org/
http://www.wroctv.com/news/story.asp?id=20106&r=l
Ex-Gay Penguin at Central Park Zoo
NEW YORK, NY -- Zookeepers at the Central Park Zoo in New York are scratching their heads after the animal kingdom's most beloved gay couple, the penguins Silo and Roy, has split up. To make the case even more obscure, Silo decided to pull an Anne Heche and hook up with a member of the opposite sex instead.
The couple received worldwide media attention when they hooked up six years ago as the first publicly known same-sex penguin couple. Since then, six other gay penguin couples have emerged at the zoo.
http://www.bgay.com/bnews/news50926_ex_gay_penguin.htm
Ex-Detroit Zoo elephants mix well in new Calif. home
September 26, 2005, 3:59 AM
ROYAL OAK, Mich. (AP) -- Former Detroit Zoo elephants Wanda and Winky are making a good adjustment to their new home at an animal refuge in California, an official there says.
"They've integrated very well with the rest of the elephants," said Pat Derby, founder of the Ark 2000 elephant sanctuary.
Reports say that Wanda spent one night last week sleeping in dewy grass. Winky will swallow her medicine only if it is wrapped in French sourdough bread, while Wanda gets hers in Fig Newtons.
http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw121776_20050926.htm
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Hattiesburg Zoo Plans to Reopen
Sep 26, 2005, 05:14 PM EDT
The Hattiesburg Zoo plans to reopen on Wednesday for the first time since Hurricane Katrina pounded the Hub City. Over half of the zoo's trees fell during the storm damaging several exhibits.
None of the exotic animals were hurt, but a small type of animal called a blue duiker escaped from his exhibit. Zoo keepers caught the animal a week later which was on loan from the Kansas City Zoo. The zoo did lose several fish, however, including grass carp, a Koi Japanese carp, and gold fish.
http://www.wdam.com/Global/story.asp?S=3900744
Afghanistan zoo's confines slightly friendlier
BY KIM BARKER
Chicago Tribune
KABUL, Afghanistan - (KRT) - The man picked up a rock and threw it at the monkey cage in the zoo. "Stand aside," he yelled, before grabbing four more stones and chucking them at the monkeys.
Nearby, workers set up a new climbing frame on the monkey island and put up higher fences to protect the animals. But visitors crowded into the one spot that had not yet been fenced and tossed rocks and garbage inside.
"Most people do that," said Bahruddin, 21, a fortuneteller who like many Afghans uses only one name. "I throw stones because I want to have fun."
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/world/12744816.htm
Zoo crew to be busy Wednesday
12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, September 25, 2005
Volunteers will replace visitors Wednesday at the Dallas Zoo.
The zoo will be closed that day to accommodate about 800 volunteers from Home Depot and Albertson's who will take part in renovation and maintenance projects. They'll restripe the guest parking lot, replace fencing around animal enclosures and clean and landscape zoo grounds.
The zoo will reopen at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Hands On North Texas, a program of the Volunteer Center of North Texas, organized the project.
"The Dallas Zoo is open every day of the year except Christmas," said Rich Buickerood, zoo director. "The decision to close the zoo reflects the significant scope of the project."
Eunaka Kirby
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/southdallas/stories/DN-rail_25met.ART.Central.Edition2.32d5b9f.html
Ring Road, Zoo Projects Approved for Capital of Turkmenistan
Ashgabat, 26 September 2005 (nCa) --- President Niyazov of Turkmenistan has approved the project of ring road for Ashgabat. The project envisages 200 km long road, running around Ashgabat.
At US $ 300000 per km, the cost of the project could be US $ 60 million.
Road building department of Ashgabat municipality would prepare and supervise the project.
Niyazov asked that the ring road should be in harmony with the landscape and natural objects.
The project of national zoo has also been approved. It would cover an area of 40 hectares and the project cost is US $ 26 million. Turkish company BIM Inshaat, Muhendislyk, Memarlyk, tijaret we Sanai would build the zoo. It should be ready for opening to the public by February 2007.
A wheat flour and macaroni factory has been approved for the Turkmenkala town of Mary province.
http://www.newscentralasia.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1472
At Vadodara zoo, waiting to welcome tiny new members
Express News Service
Vadodara, September 25: This is one delivery which is likely to drive many wild with excitement. At a time when tigers are vanishing from the country and wildlife enthusiasts are crying foul about the dwindling number of the big cats, a tigeress in the Sayajibaug zoo in Vadodara is all set to deliver at least four cubs in the coming two weeks.
The zoo may just be the centre of attention for wildlife experts as Janaki, the to-be mum, gives birth.
Janaki was mated with her neighbouring tiger ‘Gabbar’ last month and the result will not just add to the tiger count of the country but also increase the attraction of the zoo.
The zoo staff are very excited as such an event is happening after a long gap of over 16 years. Janaki did mate last year and was carrying cubs. However, the cubs did not see the light of day.
This loss has made the zoo authorities extra cautious, and this time round they want to ensure that all goes well.
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=150258
Lions From New Orleans Center Moved To Henry Doorly Zoo
POSTED: 7:43 pm CDT September 24, 2005
UPDATED: 7:55 pm CDT September 24, 2005
OMAHA, Neb. -- The newest animals in town are the new pride of the Henry Doorly Zoo.
Four female African lions arrived at the zoo Friday night.
Zoo employees brought up the lions from a New Orleans Animal Research Center hit by Hurricane Katrina.
It took several days to get them, but the animals are now resting comfortably in the cat complex.
Veterinarian Doug Armstrong said the lions are starting to adjust to their new home.
"Two of them have gone outside," said Armstrong. "They're in the outdoor display. And two of them are staying inside. They're still not sure they like it here, but it's been a stressful couple of weeks."
http://www.theomahachannel.com/news/5016715/detail.html
L.A. Zoo Highlights Latino Cultures
Posted by Fernando Roldan on Sep 25, 2005, 22:25
LOS ANGELES — Music, face painting, food and exotic animals were the highlights of this year’s Latino Heritage Celebration, held this past weekend at the Los Angeles Zoo.
Gina Dartt, promotion coordinator for the L.A. Zoo, said this event is in its 10th year of highlighting the importance of Latin America. She explained the event first began as a Mexican celebration of the independence of Mexico. One year later, the zoo changed the event to include all Latino countries.
“I think it’s very festive and it honors all the Latin cultures through music, art and dance, as well as highlighting the animals from Latin America,” Dartt said.
http://www.canyon-news.com/artman/publish/article_3568.php
Zoo panel fears eminent domain talk may doom purchase
By LAURA LAYDEN, lllayden@naplesnews.com
September 24, 2005
A volunteer panel that has guided Collier County's decisions about how to save the Naples Zoo fears the landmark attraction could be lost with talks of the county using eminent domain to seize the property.
Earlier this week, County Commission Chairman Fred Coyle said he wants to look at taking the property because the county has been unable to reach an agreement on a selling price with the landowners, the Fleischmann family. Commissioners are expected to discuss the idea at their meeting Tuesday.
http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/news/article/0,2071,NPDN_14940_4105409,00.html
Zoos prescribe tranquilizers to anxious animals
Associated Press
Sept. 25, 2005 12:00 AM
TOLEDO, Ohio - A gorilla and a tiger on Valium. A swamp monkey on anti-psychotic medicine.
The Toledo Zoo, like many other zoos around the nation, is increasingly using antidepressants and tranquilizers to manage their animals' behavioral problems.
Sometimes, zookeepers use drugs to calm animals when they are at odds or when they are moved into a new enclosure.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0925OH--ZooDrugs.html
Zoos rethink role as wildlife's keeper
In answering 'the call of the wild,' can we keep monkeys from going extinct in U.S. zoos?
Members of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association enter a new era with a new mission statement on conservation.
By JENNI LAIDMAN
BLADE SCIENCE WRITER
They look like monkeys trying oh-so-hard to be lions.
The lion-tailed macaque, with a corona of light colored fur encircling a monkey-wise face, is just one of many animal species caught in the headlights as the American Zoo and Aquarium Association adopts a new vision of itself.
Last week at the AZA's annual meeting in Chicago, leadership of the organization that acts as standard-bearer for the 211 zoos and aquariums it inspects and accredits - including the Toledo Zoo - announced what it calls a new "brand platform." In essence, it's a new way for the organization to think about itself. Every program and initiative the AZA undertakes will be reviewed in light of this evolving platform.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050925/NEWS38/509250328
CULTURE VULTURES FLOCKING TO CITY
September 25, 2005 -- Tourists from around the globe flocked in near-record numbers to the city's cultural attractions last year, spending more than $9 billion in the process, according to a report released yesterday.
NYC & Co., the city's official tourism marketing organization, released the report, saying 17.2 million "cultural tourists" — travelers who visit museums, zoos and other cultural sites — visited in 2004.
The number is only 300,000 shy of the record set in 2001, when 17.5 million cultural tourists crowded here. The number was 9 percent higher than recorded in 2003, according to the report.
The report noted cultural visitors accounted for 43 percent of all the city's tourists — and that the segment mirrored the "surprisingly strong revival of the international travel market to the city, as well as the revived domestic market."
These tourists were no penny-pinchers, either, spending $9.1 billion, up from $8.2 billion in 2003.
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/54074.
Saint Louis Zoo works with African partners to save endangered zebra
CHERYL WITTENAUER
Associated Press
ST. LOUIS - The Saint Louis Zoo and African partners are trying to save the graceful Grevy's zebra before the white-bellied creature with distinctive, narrow stripes disappears from the planet.
In one of its last places on Earth - northern Kenya - the Grevy's zebra competes with livestock for water and pasture in scrublands. Livestock, the principal means of economy, always wins, said Ian Craig, executive director of the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Africa.
He and some of the zoo's other African partners were in St. Louis recently to meet with supporters at a fund-raiser to help save the endangered Grevy's zebra.
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/breaking_news/12724984.htm
Funding repairs for zoo unclear
FOTZ contends its policy prevents it from paying
By Tim Hrenchir
The Capital-Journal
Friends of the Topeka Zoo shouldn't pay for repair work at the zoo because that would conflict with the group's mission statement, which calls for it to provide support with education, conservation, promotion and fundraising, FOTZ president Vicki Estes said Thursday.
Estes said using FOTZ money for repairs also would conflict with a statement on the IRS document that granted FOTZ nonprofit status in 1964. The statement specifies that the group operate exclusively for educational purposes.
http://www.cjonline.com/stories/092305/loc_zoo.shtml
Zoo reopens kissing bear feature despite complaint
Canadian Press
Sept. 23, 2005 03:06 PM
INNISFAIL, Alberta - An Alberta zoo that offers visitors a chance to get their picture taken kissing a bear has reopened the attraction a month after closing it due to complaints from wildlife advocates.
The owners of Discovery Wildlife Park say a survey of zoo visitors convinced them to once again allow a brown bear named Ali Oop to lick people's faces.
Zoocheck Canada, a Toronto-based animal welfare group, denounced the practice last month as "dangerous and stupid" and said it sent the wrong message about bears.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0923Kissing-Bear-ON.html
Liz Hurley pops into zoo
Sep 23 2005
By Sian Powell
Hollywood glamour arrived at Twycross Zoo in the shape of Elizabeth Hurley.
The Austin Powers star was guest of honour at the opening of a new South American tropical house at the zoo near Nuneaton.
The superstar opened the all-weather attraction yesterday by cutting the red ribbon and unveiling a plaque.
The tropical house, set in the style of an old-fashioned scientist's field hut, is home to sloths, rufous-vented chacalaca, terrapins and jungle creepy crawlies such as Chilean rose spiders, boa constrictors, a rainbow boa and an iguana.
http://iccoventry.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_objectid=16166729&method=full&siteid=50003&headline=liz-hurley-pops-into-zoo-name_page.html
Jacksonville Zoo Jaguar Exhibit Awarded
JACKSONVILLE, FL - The Jacksonville Zoo is celebrating a special achievement. The American Zoo and Aquarium Association gave the Zoo an award today for its Jaguar exhibit.
The exhibit titled Range of the Jaguar cost over 14 million dollars. While touring the 4.5 acre scene zoo-goers get a view of the ancient Mayan temple ruins and the animals that now inhabit the area. Jaguars are also spotted roaming amidst the ruins in two large displays.
The AZA presents the Exhibit Award to Zoos showing a dedication to conservation issues. The honor often goes to displays replicating species' natural habitats.
Zoo Officials accepted the award during AZA's 81st Annual Conference held here in Jacksonville this week.
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=44553
Zoo Negara on alert for bird flu
PETALING JAYA: Following the outbreak of the avian flu in Indonesia, Zoo Negara has stepped up its monitoring of the animals under its care.
“We will increase our level of alertness and be on the lookout for any sign of the avian flu,” said Malaysian Zoological Society chairman Datuk Ismail Hutson.
“So far, the animals are fine, but we will be closely watching them,” he said in an interview.
Ismail said priority was given to the veterinary section of the zoo to handle this matter.
“Poultry brought in for the animals have always been checked and we will continue to do so,” he added.
Related Stories:
Poultry smugglers will be prosecuted
Sabah on alert for bird flu
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/9/22/nation/12099138&sec=nation
St. Louis Zoo to install 200-ton sculpture
The St. Louis Zoo will formally announce Wednesday a landmark sculpture by world-famous sculptor Albert Paley and a new plaza that will welcome visitors to the Zoo and Forest Park.
The St. Louis Business Journal announced plans for the sculpture and plaza in its Sept. 2 issue.
The Zoo said the sculpture, called Animals Always, would be the second-largest in St. Louis, measuring 130 feet long, 36 feet high and 8 feet deep, and weighing more than 200 tons.
The projects are being funded through $1 million leadership gifts from Thelma Zalk for the sculpture and the Steven F. Schankman Family for the plaza. The sculpture consists of gates originally designed by Paley for the New York Zoo.
Zalk is the daughter of the late Dr. Jacob Probstein. Shankman is head of Contemporary Productions.
http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2005/09/19/daily42.html?jst=b_ln_hl
http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2005/09/05/tidbits1.html
Pittsburgh Zoo to track birds using satellite devices
VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Sixteen barn owls bred in captivity will be released into the wild Tuesday evening complete with satellite tracking devices so preservationists can track where the birds go and how they fare.
The project, run by officials at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium, is part of an effort to re-establish the barn owl species in western Pennsylvania. Eight of the birds, raised at the zoo and aquarium, are scheduled to be released in Fox Chapel; eight other birds are to be released from Moraine State Park.
A pair of owls and their young are kept at a specially built flight on a private property in Fox Chapel. Four other young owls that were born last fall also will be released from the site.
"That gives us a really good chance to find out where they're going," said Mark Browning, animal trainer and head of the Barn Owl release project at the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium. The project is being partially funded by a grant from the Pittsburgh Foundation.
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/newssummary/s_376416.html
concluding ...
