Zoos
With a new found enthusiasm for Zoos not all reporting is good news, but, much of it is. Taking the good with the bad provides a unexpected social depth we never gave Zoos before. It's good for us to have multi-focus of our world. Let's first look at a 'tour' of one of the Classic Zoos of the World.
What's GNU at the San Diego Zoo?
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/
Spot Sydney's new twins
Photos: Taronga Zoo's new snow leopard cubs came out today.
Photo: Peter Rae
More Galleries
http://www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2005/12/20/1135032006600.html
ZOO BEGS FOR RETURN OF ILL TOGA
By Geoffrey Lakeman
THE hunt for stolen baby penguin Toga became even more desperate last night as an expert warned he could die within hours.
The Isle of Wight zoo from where Toga was snatched last Saturday has been inundated with global messages of support.
A New York church congregation in Brooklyn is even praying for the missing three-month-old jackass chick - so called as he brays like a donkey - to be returned safely to pining parents Kyala and Oscar.
Other good wishes have flooded in from as far a field as Canada and Russia - and British kids have pledged their pocket money to a reward fund now standing at £4,500.
But grateful Derek Curtis, owner of Amazon World Zoo Park in Newchurch, now fears that the aid could be useless.
He said: "Toga will only feed from his mum and could be at death's door.
"I plead with whoever has him to return him today to give us a chance of saving a very sick bird. It simply cannot survive."
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=16511439&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=zoo-begs-for-return-of-ill-toga--name_page.html
Keepers fear penguin was snatched as gift
By DAVID STRINGER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
LONDON -- A baby penguin believed to have been snatched from a British zoo as a quirky holiday gift is unlikely to survive until Christmas Day, his keeper warned Tuesday.
Toga, a 3-month-old jackass penguin, was stolen Saturday from Amazon World on the Isle of Wight in southern England.
Zoo manager Kath Bright said the bird, who was taken from a compound where he lived with his parents and four other penguins, probably would die of malnutrition if not urgently returned.
"Toga is very, very vulnerable. The penguin is still being fed by his parents and we don't believe it could survive more than five days," she told The Associated Press.
"The bird has already been missing for around three days and is likely to be severely dehydrated. If he isn't returned before Thursday, he is likely to become so ill that even intensive care treatment won't save him."
The brown-and-white penguin will bite if frightened and refuses to be fed by human hand, Bright said. Toga is too young to have yet had a gender confirmed but traditionally is referred to as a male, she added.
There was no sign of forced entry to the pen, but a thief would have been able to climb into the compound and carry Toga away, Bright said.
"We can't understand what may have been going through the thief's head, but we are worried someone decided a penguin would make the perfect Christmas gift," she added. "There has been a lot of attention because of the film 'March of the Penguins.' Perhaps someone saw the film and thought their wife or girlfriend would be thrilled to have one as a present."
The French movie was a box-office hit and has been credited with drawing tourists to penguin-spotting sites across the world.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Britain_Penguin_Stolen.html
In Britain, a Missing Baby Penguin Prompts a National Soap Opera
By Kevin Sullivan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, December 23, 2005; Page A14
LONDON, Dec. 22 -- Police ran down leads and the Royal Navy was on alert Thursday in the search for Toga, an 18-inch-tall baby penguin stolen from an Isle of Wight zoo Saturday night, creating a national soap opera rivaling Elton John's same-sex wedding for media coverage.
"We're all a bit ragged here, to say the least," said Kath Bright, manager of Amazon World Zoo Park, which has received nearly $13,000 in donations -- including $600 from the United States -- to offer as a reward for the safe return of the 9-pound South African jackass penguin.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/22/AR2005122201004.html
Reward for Toga the penguin hits £25,000
By David Rose
THE reward for the return of Toga, the missing baby penguin, reached £25,000 yesterday, amid fears that he may have been stolen to order on behalf of a private bird collector.
No trace of the three-month-old bird, said to be worth about £1,000, has been found since he went missing more than a week ago from the Amazon World zoo on the Isle of Wight.
Kath Bright, the zoo’s manager, pleaded for Toga’s return yesterday, adding that he could now be in the hands of an unscrupulous collector. What started as a £1,000 reward offered by the zoo has now multiplied. The total includes a £5,000 contribution from Terence “Geezer” Butler, the bass player from Black Sabbath, and a £10,000 anonymous pledge.
Ms Bright said: “If Toga was stolen to order by a professional then of course there is a chance we will never hear anything of him again. It is a fact that rare and exotic animals are stolen to order, so why not Toga? Having said that, the reward money is so much now it might just change things and encourage someone to come forward.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1959163,00.html
Hopes fading fast for baby penguin stolen from zoo
By David Sapsted
(Filed: 23/12/2005)
Your view: penguin panic
The faint hopes of finding alive a baby penguin stolen from a zoo enclosure were all but gone last night.
Missing: Toga the penguin
It would be "a miracle" if three-month-old Toga, a black-foot penguin taken last Saturday from Amazon World on the Isle of Wight, were still alive, according to zoo owner Derek Curtis.
"I am very pessimistic," he said. "I think we have lost it. It has been too long. Toga needs his parents to feed him.
"It is getting on for a week now and, though I'd love to believe he was still alive, I don't see how he can be."
As interest in Toga's fate continued to grow, a man called a GMTV phone-in show to say he had dumped the bird in a bag in Portsmouth Dockyard on Tuesday.
"I spoke to him later on a mobile and he sounded genuine," said Mr Curtis. "He said he worked at the docks and dumped it on the side of the dock. But the phone went dead and we have not managed to reach him again."
There were two other sightings of the foot-tall penguin in the dockyard but searches yesterday failed to find him. A reward of £1,000 originally put up by Mr Curtis grew to more than £11,000 yesterday with donations being pledged from around the world.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/12/23/npeng23.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/12/23/ixnewstop.html
Biologist says prairie dogs at zoo may not be dead
Slideshow: Prairie dogs at Va. Zoo
06:13 PM EST on Friday, December 23, 2005
New information from a prairie dog expert leaves a ray of hope that some of the Virginia Zoo’s prairie dogs may have survived a tunnel collapse in their habitat.
The zoo says excessive rains over the past several weeks caused some of the tunnels to cave in. Because they’ve seen no activity from the animals, they presume that all the animals died.
Zookeepers are digging holes looking for the animals or their bodies. But one expert tells 13News it’s possible some of the prairie dogs survived.
Dr. John Hoogland, a prairie dog expert from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, believes it may be premature to say all the animals have died. Hoogland says zookeepers should wait the animals out instead of digging up the exhibit to look for their remains, and says the prairie dogs may be in a state of semi-hibernation.
"You might as well just wait and give them the chance naturally than either A - you might damage them during the digging process or B - if you dig down and find them you ruined everything above ground, and I'm not sure how you get the soil back there so they can resume normal activity," said Hoogland.
Zoo officials doubt the animals are alive, but say if they find them, they'll put them in a safe place while they replace the soil in the exhibit with a mixture that's stronger and more likely to withstand a collapse.
http://www.wvec.com/news/local/stories/wvec_top_122305_prairie_dogs.826908c.html
Zoo staff finds five prairie dogs alive
NORFOLK, Va. Workers at the Virginia Zoo in Norfolk have found five prairie dogs safe, sound and asleep in their tunnels today.
They begun to dig through the remains of the zoo's prairie dog exhibit yesterday after zoo officials say a tunnel system collapsed earlier this week. Officials had presumed that up to 10 prairie dogs living in the exhibit had died.
Officials said heavy rains this fall weakened the tunnel system built by the animals themselves. There had been NO sign of the animals for weeks, leading the staff to presume the animals were dead.
But an expert had told zoo director Lewis Greene that the animals were just in a state of near-hibernation until the spring.
Workers have excavated about a quarter of the six-foot deep exhibit. Officials do NOT know exactly how many remain underground, but expect to find more of the animals alive.
http://www.wavy.com/Global/story.asp?S=4285623&nav=23ii
Zoo's prairie dogs die in tunnel collapse
Norfolk, Va. December 25, 2005 12:01:13 AM IST
A tunnel collapse at a popular exhibit at the Virginia Zoo in Norfolk has apparently wiped out all of the zoo's prairie dogs.
Zoo officials told The Virginia Pilot newspaper that is it presumed all of the prairie dogs at the zoo died when recent heavy rains weakened the tunnel system dug by the burrowing rodents.
As many as 10 animals were killed.
The prairie dog exhibit, which cost $344,000 to develop, had been open about 15 months. It was designed to be interactive and featured plastic bubbles that zoo patrons could crawl into to get closer to the animals.
Officials said they plan to replace the soil in the exhibit and introduce additional animals by next summer, the Pilot reported.
http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=201368&cat=World
Detroit Zoo's elephants enjoy their peaceful retirement in California
SAN ANDREAS, Calif. -- Wanda trundled down the hill from the elephant barn to meet her elephant friend, Annie. Then she drank from a pond. Then she wandered all by herself down a path to lie in the grass and snooze.
The humans, when they came back from a walk, could not see her.
"Where's Wanda? Where's Wanda?" Pat Derby called. People searched and searched.
Then a ranch hand shouted, "She's over there," and he pointed to the tall grass. And there was Wanda, dozing in the sun.
Every once in a while, it is possible for the elephants at ARK 2000 sanctuary to behave as they do in the wild, making decisions on their own, wandering here or there, touching trunks with other elephants, trumpeting a call, swimming in the rain.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051225/FEATURES07/512250304/1032/FEATURES
Third Giraffe Born At Cleveland Zoo Since August
POSTED: 8:20 pm EST December 24, 2005
CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is celebrating the birth of its third Masai giraffe calf since August.
Jhasmin was born Dec. 7 to 23-year-old Nova, a female giraffe caught in the wild to help the nation's captive giraffes avoid inbreeding.
Jhasmin's half-sister, Shirley, was born Oct. 26, and her half-brother, Mac, was born Aug. 11.
The father of all three calves, Walker, is 18 feet tall.
The Cleveland zoo has five female and two male giraffes, giving it one of the largest Masai herds in the country.
http://www.newsnet5.com/family/5643955/detail.html
Bronx Zoo's Rapunzel dies
Rapunzel, the Bronx zoo's rare rhino and a favorite among zoo workers and visitors, has died, officials said yesterday.
The 1,200-pound Sumatran or hairy rhino, who was rescued from a vanishing Sumatran rainforest and brought here 15 years ago, is a member of one of the planet's most endangered species. Only three others are left in U.S. zoos and about 300 are believed to be in scattered herds in Southeast Asia.
Zoo officials said Rapunzel, in her mid-30s, had difficulty moving and had labored breathing earlier this week. As her condition and discomfort worsened, they decided it was time that she be "humanely euthanized."
"She was clearly a favorite of our keepers, and I think of our visitors," said the zoo's curator of mammals.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/377447p-320652c.html
Govt calls on zoos to save rare wildcat
The Yomiuri Shimbun
The Environment Ministry is looking for zoos that can help in a project to breed Tsushima-yamaneko, a wildcat indigenous to Tsushima island in Nagasaki Prefecture.
The government has designated the cats an endangered species.
Fukuoka Municipal Zoo, which introduced an artificial reproduction program in 2000 to breed the wildcats, was unable to house all of the animals that resulted.
There are believed to be between 80 and 110 Tsushima-yamaneko living wild on the island.
Twenty-eight cats were born during the course of the Fukuoka zoo's artificial reproduction program, though 11 of them died. Some of the cats were transferred to a protection center on the island, and 14 of them were kept at the zoo. However, the zoo has reached the limit of its housing capacity.
The ministry has asked zoos across the country to cooperate in the protection of the species in the hope of increasing the number of captive wildcats to 100 before releasing them into the wild. The ministry has asked participating zoos to keep the wildcats away from people, so they do not become tame.
Seal's return cancels fireworks
CHIBA--The return of a spotted seal to Kamogawa, Chiba Prefecture, has led to the cancellation of a fireworks party. The wild seal was identified Friday as "Kamo-chan," a seal that had become popular locally after appearances earlier in the year.
The 1.4-meter-long seal was spotted by a Kamogawa Sea World employee at about 6:30 a.m. It is the seal's third visit to the beach, and Kamo-chan is believed to have swum to the city from northern seas.
An aquarium spokesman said it was academically valuable to find that a wild seal had returned to the same area twice.
A beach fireworks party had been scheduled for Saturday, but the organizer has decided to cancel the event so as not to scare Kamo-chan away. Fifty sets of fireworks were to have been launched from a ship anchored off the beach.
(Dec. 25, 2005)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/culture/20051225TDY03005.htm
Gorilla Study Disproves Menopause Theory
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
A study of gorillas at 17 North American zoos, led by researchers at Chicago's Brookfield Zoo, is the first to document gorilla menopause.
The average age of the postmenopausal gorillas was 44. In American women, meno-pause hits around age 51. Many biologists believe menopause evolved because it gave human grandmothers more time to help care for their grandchildren. The new findings argue against the so-called "grandmother hypothesis" because female gorillas in the wild migrate away from their family groups and don't hang around to care for the grandkids.
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/women/la-sci-briefs24.6dec24,1,1570744.story?coll=la-health-womens&ctrack=1&cset=true
E. coli outbreaks linked to petting zoos in North Carolina, Florida, and Arizona
By MMWR
Dec 23, 2005, 10:29
Outbreaks of Escherichia coli O157:H7 associated with petting zoos -North Carolina, Florida, and Arizona, 2004 and 2005
December 23, 2005
During 2004--2005, three outbreaks of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections occurred among agricultural fair, festival, and petting zoo visitors in North Carolina, Florida, and Arizona. One hundred eight cases, including 15 cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome* (HUS), were reported in the North Carolina outbreak; 63 cases, including seven HUS cases, were reported in the Florida outbreak; and two cases were reported in Arizona. No fatalities occurred. Illnesses primarily affected children who visited petting zoos at these events. This report summarizes findings from these outbreak investigations, which indicated the need for adequate control measures to reduce zoonotic transmission of E. coli O157:H7.
http://www.foodconsumer.org/777/8/E_coli_outbreaks_linked_to_petting_zoos_in_North_Carolina_Florida_and_Arizona.shtml
Animals poisoned to death in zoo
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Mysore, Dec 23: Cases of mysterious deaths of three elephants, a white tigress and a lion tailed macaqe in the Mysore zoo have been cracked with the arrest of four zoo employees, a top police official said.
The animals were allegedly poisoned to death by feeding them zinc phosphate, only to settle scores with zoo director Manoj Kumar and his predecessor Kumara Pushkar, who had ordered a crackdown on certain irregularities, Mysore police commissioner Praveen Sood told reporters here.
Police are on the look out for three others, including a former zoo employee, he said, adding that the "sordid" crime was perpetrated out of "unbridled greed and heinous pursuit".
The culprits were suspected to have colluded with some contractors in supply of substandard food articles before Pushkar took over as the zoo chief, police said.
A narco-analysis test performed on one of the culprits led to the detection of poisoning of the animals a year ago. The case was investigated by the Mysore police and the state Corps of Detectives. (Agencies)
http://www.chennaionline.com/colnews/newsitem.asp?NEWSID=%7B5B08E5F7-DE32-41F5-8E88-F5F3DAA6E349%7D&CATEGORYNAME=National
Manhunt in the zoo
By Andrew Carswell
December 24, 2005
DESPITE fears a suspected murderer is hiding within the grounds, Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo, NSW will reopen to the public today.
A large-scale search was conducted in the zoo yesterday in a bid to find Malcolm Naden, 31, a key suspect in the murder of 24-year-old Kristy Scholes.
There was no sign of the experienced bushman, who police believe has been living in the park for several months.
He has been spotted by zoo security on several occasions - the last time on Thursday morning.
The world-famous zoo was closed yesterday for the search and although the fugitive was not found, police said he remained in the surrounding area.
Inspector Greg Spinks told The Daily Telegraph yesterday that there was no fear for public safety.
"After a long discussion with zoo staff, we decided there was no concern whatsoever for public safety and the park was handed back to staff for them to open tomorrow," he said.
Earlier in the day, a police spokesman said: "There's been a sighting and we have reason to suspect he may be hiding out in the zoo.
"We believe he may have been sourcing food from the park and may have been living there for several months."
Mother-of-two Kristy Scholes was found strangled in a Dubbo home on June 23. Naden is the prime suspect.
Police, who issued a warrant for his arrest in August, also want to question Naden in relation to the disappearance of mother-of-four Lateesha Nolan, who was last seen in Dubbo on January 4.
The three were part of an extended family living in West Dubbo.
Offering information in August in a bid to catch the suspected murderer, police alleged Naden had left his young nephew and niece locked inside a home for up to eight hours after strangling their mother.
Confused, four-year-old Elizabeth Scholes then cut through a flyscreen to escape her grandparent's Dubbo home, leaving three-year-old brother John inside while their mother lay dead in a separate room.
Relatives found Elizabeth wandering in the front yard on June 22 and called police, but it was not until the following day that Ms Scholes' body was located inside a locked bedroom, where Naden had also been living.
A spokeswoman for the Taronga and Western Plains Zoos said yesterday all visitors had been evacuated, including an unknown number of people who had been staying at an on-site lodge.
"The zoo was closed at 8am [Friday]," the spokeswoman said.
A handful of staff remained on site yesterday to look after the animals.
Hundreds of tourists were turned away from the park yesterday, including several who had driven for several hours to spend the day at the park.
One woman said she was bitterly disappointed, having driven her daughter to the park from Sydney.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17652625-421,00.html
Zoo staff's family gets assistance
PATNA: The district administration on Friday gave financial assistance to the family of Munarik Yadav, a daily wage earner, who fell prey to the fury of a rhino at the Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park on Thursday.
Yadav (35) had entered the enclosure of the rhino on Thursday to clean it when the beast gave him a chase and gored him to death.Zoo director Rakesh Kumar said that the commissioner had assured to rehabilitate Yadav's family members.
"His wife will be employed in the zoo on daily wage basis," he said. The zoo authorities will approach the special committee of the chief secretary, which handles such mishaps, for further assistance to the family, he added.
Responding to a query on safety aspects, the zoo director said that only trained personnel are allowed to venture near the animals.
"The animals enter their cages only at night. As such, it's not possible to wait till then to clean their enclosures.
However, now we are taking precautions and nobody is being allowed to enter the enclosures until the animals get inside their cages," he said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1344608.cms
Rhino gores zoo staff to death
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PATNA: A daily wage earner at the Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park was gored to death by a rhinoceros on Thursday afternoon.
The deceased, Munarik Yadav, had entered the enclosure of the rhinoceros to clean it when he was attacked.
Yadav's colleagues said he used to clean the enclosure every day but was reluctant to do so on Thursday.
A fellow worker said, "Yadav had sensed that the animal was agitated and that's why he did not want to take any chance. But the zoo authorities forced him to enter the enclosure and clean it."
A zoo official said that Yadav had allegedly entered the enclosure along with two other labourers. "When the rhino attacked, the other two managed to flee, but Yadav fell prey to its fury," he said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1343143,curpg-1.cms
Zoo search fails to find murder suspect
A massive police search has failed to locate a suspected murderer believed to be hiding in Dubbo's Western Plains Zoo.
The world-famous zoo was closed to the public on Friday as police searched for Malcolm Naden following reported sightings of the fugitive.
Naden, 31, is wanted over the death of 24-year-old mother of two Kristy Scholes and the disappearance of his cousin, Lateesha Nolan.
The three were part of an extended family living in West Dubbo.
"There's been a number of alleged sightings by zoo security and staff members here," Orana Local Area Command crime manager Detective Inspector Michael Willing told Channel Ten.
"We felt it was necessary to take the action that we did."
http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Cops-search-Dubbo-zoo-for-murder-suspect/2005/12/23/1135032169250.html
Winter weather heats up activity for some zoo critters
By AMY MCRARY, amymcrary@comcast.net
December 23, 2005
When winter weather arrive, the Knoxville Zoo temporarily cuts its prices. Admission to the zoo is half-price now through Feb. 28.
While some zoo animals like warmer weather and are off exhibit during winter, other species like cooler weather.
Advertisement
Animals including red pandas, tigers, river otters and black bears are often more active in colder weather than they are in East Tennessee's summer heat. The zoo checks the thermometer and plans accordingly day to day when letting animals outside. Otters, red panda s and bears typically are on exhibit daily. Tigers, snow leopards and lions are outside unless the temperature drops below 20 degrees.
Chimpanzees, rhinos and some zoo birds are indoors if the temperature falls below 40 degrees. Elephants, zebras and giraffes stay inside if it's colder than 45 degrees. Gorillas don't go out if the temperature is below 50.
As a rule, visitors should check the forecast and decide if they want to see the animals for half the regular admission.
Through December, half-price is $6.50 for adults, $4.50 for children ages 3-12 and senior citizens age 62 and older. Zoo admission goes up $2 starting Jan. 1, so January and February half-price admission will $7.50 for adults and $5.50 for children and senior citizens.
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/fun_stuff/article/0,1406,KNS_342_4332975,00.html
Vets at local zoos often turn to hospitals for medical help
Fu Yingqing and Cai Wenjun
2005-12-22 Beijing Time
IF a pet dog becomes sick, his owner can simply take him to the vet. But what do the city's two zoos do when wild animals are injured or ill?
That is a dilemma for zoo keepers that there are no medical facilities in Shanghai specializing in wild animals, and most vets never learn to treat anything other than cats, dogs and cattle.
When a leopard cub from the Shanghai Wild Animal Park developed kidney problems earlier week, animal keepers had to turn to a local children's hospital for help.
Local medical experts said veterinarians are similar to general physicians, who have basic knowledge of most diseases. But they often don't know how to deal with more complicated syndromes.
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/art/2005/12/22/230165/Vets_at_local_zoos_often_turn_to_hospitals_for_medical_help.htm
Tigers killed zoo man - source
20/12/2005 22:10 - (SA)
Debbie Sauer , Die Volksblad
Bloemfontein - Indications are that the man who was found dead in the tiger enclosure at Bloemfontein zoo was killed by the animals.
His naked body was spotted by a visitor to the zoo at about 11:00 on Sunday.
According to a reliable source, the man had died after being bitten in the neck.
He is said to have been between 30 and 35 years old.
Police believe the man was a robber.
http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_1853774,00.html
Zoo officials arrested for killing bear
Aizawl: Mizoram police has arrested two state zoo officials on charges of killing a young Himalayan black bear here.
Sairang police today said zoo-keeper PC Lalrothanga, the main accused, confessed that he had killed a one-and-half-year old bear.
In his confession, Lalrothanga said he tested some old sedatives on the bear to see whether those were still effective.
He had acquired the sedatives when it was bought in mass quantity to drug the animals during the shifting of the zoo premises from inside the state capital to its outskirts.
When the keeper saw that the drug was still effective, he killed the bear by hitting it on the head with a stone.
Regarding the bear's missing gall bladder, police officials said it was given to the foxes with the rest of the other internal organs.
Arrested along with Lalrothanga was a muster-roll keeper Lalthanthuama, who helped him in the crime.
The one-and-a-half year old black bear was reported missing on December 15 by the keeper and its carcass was found the next day.
The bear had apparently been killed on the night of December 14.
Meanwhile, Association for Environmental Preservation (ASEP), the apex environment body in the state, has strongly condemned the killing of a bear inside the state zoo premises and demanded appropriate punishment for the accused.
http://www.newkerala.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=71187
Young company for old leopard
Thiruvananthapuram December 20, 2005 5:38:16 AM IST
A 15-year-old lonely leopard in the Thiruvananthapuram Zoo will have three younger companions from the Mysore Zoo, when they reach here today.
The three leopards aged four and five will be brought to the zoo as part of exchange programme between the zoos, sources said.
In exchange, three hog deers, one male and two female, were being given to Mysore. The leopards would be released into the open enclosure on December 21.
The 15-year-old leopard was brought from Kasargode in 1992, they said.
Most of the animals are now in naturally landscaped open enclosures with rich vegetation and lots of open space following Parliamentary sub-committee report.
http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=196117&cat=India
Independence company gets zoo contract
Larrison Construction Co. of Independence has been awarded the contract to build a promenade at the Kansas City Zoo and to transform the Red Barn domestic animal area.
Those improvements are to be completed in the spring. The company will also transform the original 1909 zoo building into a modern tropical habitat and exhibition space. That is to be completed by spring 2007.
The contract awarded by the Kansas City’s Capital Improvements Management Office totals nearly $3.6 million. The projects are part of the first phase of improvements authorized by voters, who approved a $30 million bond issue for the zoo.
The promenade will offer visitors a shortcut to the Africa section. The Red Barn will be reconfigured as a Discovery Barn, with interactive attractions and animal exhibits.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/13401540.htm
Futruistic Cosmic Coaster Thrill Ride Opens At Oregon Zoo
Portland, Oregon - Oregon Zoo visitors will be transported to another planet on the zoo's newest thrill ride, Cosmic Coaster. The futuristic feature, which is produced by SimEx-Iwerks, runs throughout December during ZooLights hours 5 p.m. to closing.
http://www.medfordnews.com/articles/index.cfm?artOID=322970&cp=10997
State approves $4M for Detroit Zoo funding; seen as step toward privatization
By Sherri Begin
Dec. 14, 2005 3:00 PM
The state approved $4 million in operational funding for the Detroit Zoological Institute late Tuesday as part of its 2006 capital outlay budget approval process.
The funding is an important step toward ironing out a privatization agreement with the city of Detroit over the transfer of the zoo’s operation and employees.
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=7535\
LA Zoo Elephants Need Three Times More Space – Report
USA: December 15, 2005
LOS ANGELES - The three elephants at Los Angeles Zoo - Gita, Ruby and Billy - need three times more space than their current quarters but it comes with a price tag of $50 million, according to a report on the future of pachyderms at the zoo.
The independent report was commissioned by Los Angeles' new mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, after years of debate about the keeping of elephants in captivity at the city-owned zoo.
Some US zoos have closed their elephant exhibits in the past few years in the light of concern over odd behavior and arthritis among the animals, who have strong social instincts and roam some 20 miles (32 km) a day in the wild.
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/34047/story.htm
Isha Koppikar campaigns for Peta
(Wednesday, Dec 14, 2005 - 06:00 am)
Televisionpoint.com Team
Actor Isha Koppikar, clad in a leather cat suit, proclaims, 'Cats are too cool to be in zoos' in Peta's latest advertisement to raise awareness about the cruelty of zoos.
Koppikar teamed up with ace photographer Atul Kasbekar in the stunning advertisement, which comes in the wake of a landmark Bombay high court order demanding improvement in the Mumbai zoo.
Peta filed a case last October against the Mumbai zoo for failing to provide even basic care to its animals. As a result, the Bombay high court ordered several improvements at the zoo, like visitors now can no longer bring food and plastic inside the zoo premises.
In this context, Koppikar said that wild animals belong in the jungle where they can live their life freely. She said they are not meant to be kept in cages where they are jeered at and teased. She also asked to switch on the wildlife channel for a glimpse of the free wildlife.
http://www.televisionpoint.com/news/newsfullstory.php?id=1134521177
U.S. zoos prepare for avian flu
New guidelines focus on biocontainment, recommend vaccination in case of disease threat
By Graciela Flores
The organization representing U.S. zoos and aquariums recently released a set of guidelines for monitoring and preventing avian influenza within their walls. As part of the measure, American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) officials suggest isolating and decontaminating areas if they become affected by the flu, and eventually closing certain facilities.
"Even if we never see avian influenza in this country, this is a good thing to be doing," Donald Janssen, associate director of veterinary services at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, who helped draft the recommendations, told The Scientist. "But in all likelihood, in some form or another, we will see the high pathogen strain of avian influenza H5N1."
http://www.the-scientist.com/news/20051214/01
It's official: Naples Zoo transaction complete
By LAURA LAYDEN, Daily News staff
December 19, 2005
It's a done deal.
The nonprofit Trust for Public Land has completed its purchase of 166.5 acres of prime property in Naples.
The purchase caps off a nearly two-year effort to save the zoo and preserve surrounding land.
Collier County purchased 130 acres of the land from the trust, including roughly 40 acres under the zoo. About 80 acres will remain in a natural state and could become part of a central park.
In separate transactions today, the trust sold 7 acres to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, giving its nature center access off Goodlette-Frank Road, and nearly 30 acres to Luxury Homes of Naples for the development of a residential community.
The four transactions were finalized this afternoon.
http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/news/article/0,2071,NPDN_14940_4327060,00.html
Zoo primate supervisor wants to separate gorilla facts from movie myths
By MELISSA BIRKS Associated Press
December 19, 2005
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - Thousands of moviegoers will see the newest version of "King Kong," which opened recently. Debbie Wiese will not be among them. She won't rent the original either.
Once, she watched "Mighty Joe Young," a 1998 gorilla-terrorizes-humans flick. The audience shushed her. She says it was only once, but you wonder when you hear her describe the experience.
"I was saying, 'They don't do that! That's not how they behave! Oh, come on! Give me a break!'"
She looks at her feet and shakes her head.
"I just probably got a little loud."
Wiese, primate supervisor for the Rio Grande Zoo, readily admits she's biased. A lion movie, sure. Chimpanzees terrorizing a city? Absolutely, she says, stressing that it's her personal opinion. They're far more aggressive than their relatives.
http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/36563.html
Dallas Zoo director stepping down
04:17 PM CST on Monday, December 19, 2005
By DAVID FLICK / The Dallas Morning News
Rich Buickerood said Monday that he was stepping down after 14 years as director of the Dallas Zoo, an institution buoyed by increasing attendance in recent years but dogged by chronic financial problems.
Mr. Buickerood, a self-described “eternal optimist,” chose to emphasize the positive signs, pointing to a flurry of new exhibits that had opened in the past year and noting that Dallas City Council was discussing a zoo bond proposal that could total $1 billion.
“I looked at the horizon and everything was on the uptick, so I just decided now was a good time to leave,” he said.
Paul Dyer, director of the city Park and Recreation Department, will lead a committee composed of members of the park board and the Dallas Zoological Society that will in conducting a nationwide search for Mr. Buickerood’s successor. The park board administers the zoo on behalf of the city, and the society acts as its primary fund-raising arm.
Mr. Buickerood will continue his present duties until a new director is named, a process Mr. Dyer said could take months.
Mr. Dyer said the search committee was interested in a director who would be able to work with both city officials and private donors — and said fundraising ability would count as an important qualification.
Mr. Buickerood, 63, took over the zoo job in 1991. His appointment initially stirred some misgivings among zoo supporters who felt he had too little experience running zoos. Instead, Mr. Buickerood spent his career in the military, achieving the rank of colonel in the U.S. Air Force.
But he presided over an era in which attendance at the Oak Cliff institution jumped from mid-1990s levels, and he oversaw significant improvements in the often-aging infrastructure.
The zoo received unwanted international attention in March, 2004, when Jabari, a 13-year-old western lowland gorilla, escaped his enclosure and injured three zoo visitors before being killed by police.
The more vexing problem was chronic underfunding of the city–owned institution, which has endured years of unfavorable comparison with the larger and glitzier Fort Worth Zoo. A plan for countywide funding of the Dallas Zoo collapsed earlier this year, when county commissioners balked at the cost of taking it over.
Michael Meadows, president and CEO of the Dallas Zoological Society, said few private donors or public officials blamed Mr. Buickerood for the financial problems.
“It’s just unfortunately an era when everybody wants new tax dollars and the public doesn’t want to pay more taxes,” he said.
Mr. Meadows credited Mr. Buickerood with keeping harmony between the zoo’s public and private benefactors.
“When he took over the job, the relationship with the zoological society and the parks department and the city council was not too good. Rich did a good job of repairing that relationship,” he said.
Mr. Buickerood said he would continue to work for the park department until June, even if a successor was found before that time.
He declined to characterize his departure as a retirement.
“I don’t like that word,” he said. “I’ll continue to live in town, and look for work.”
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/122005dnmetdallaszoo.25e5721f.html
Zoos told they are not fit for elephants
By Andrew Darby
December 24, 2005
FINAL approval for the controversial importation of eight Asian elephants to the Melbourne and Sydney zoos is being withheld in a wrangle over the animals' new living conditions.
The zoos claimed victory in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal last month against welfare groups that opposed the importation from Thailand.
But despite the building of costly new enclosures, the tribunal is yet to be satisfied that its demands for improvements in the elephants' living conditions have been met.
It called for changes at both zoos, including better sleeping arrangements and softer flooring to prevent skin and foot diseases that animals can contract on hard surfaces in zoos.
The tribunal also cast doubt on a plan to walk elephant cows along public paths at Sydney's Taronga Zoo to socialise with a lone bull after it is separated from them on reaching maturity.
The eight elephants, aged from five to 13, are still being held in pre-export quarantine in Thailand a year after the zoos hoped to fly them to the Cocos Islands to spend another three months in isolation before they can come to mainland Australia.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/zoos-told-they-are-not-fit-for-elephants/2005/12/22/1135032136028.html
Zoo breaks ground on upgrades
The Kansas City Zoo broke ground Wednesday on $3.6 million worth of improvements, financed by a $30 million bond package voters approved in April 2004 for work slated for completion by 2011.
The projects started Wednesday were a 28-foot-wide promenade with gateways to exhibits and locator graphics to help orient zoo patrons, and construction on the zoo's Red Barn will change it from a domesticated animal exhibit to a Discovery Barn with interactive areas and new animal exhibits for children, the city said in a written release. The projects are scheduled for completion in the summer.
Design work is being completed on the third project in the first phase of upgrades at the zoo. Plans call for changing the tropics building to a tropical habitat and interior exhibit space. The tropics building was built in 1909 and is one of the oldest building on the zoo's grounds. The project is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2007.
Kansas City's Capital Improvements Management Office is managing the projects.
http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2005/12/19/daily28.html?jst=b_ln_hl
Tigers Kill Suspect at South African Zoo
12.21.2005, 01:19 PM
A suspected mugger being chased by security guards met a grisly end after he fled into a zoo and climbed into the tiger enclosure.
His mauled body was discovered Sunday by a visitor to the zoo in this central Southern African city, prompting initial confusion as to how the man ended up in the enclosure.
Police said Wednesday the man and an accomplice had robbed a couple at knifepoint early Sunday. Security guards gave chase and one of the suspects jumped over the perimeter fence. He then apparently ran to the tiger's den in the middle of the zoo.
"What exactly happened we don't know and we won't ever know because the only person who could tell us is dead," police spokeswoman Else Gerber said.
She said there was an empty can of beer near the corpse and that the autopsy would reveal whether the man was intoxicated at the time.
Zoo officials have said the Bengal tigers will not be destroyed because they were blameless. The tigers had been fed on Saturday and so did not eat the man because they were not hungry, according to media reports.
http://www.forbes.com/work/feeds/ap/2005/12/21/ap2408028.html
A Visit To The Sanyo Zoo
Yesterday, there were no subways and the guy giving me rides took off for Boston, so I decided to go to the zoo. The Sanyo zoo.
You see, most Sanyo phones for Sprint have cute animal mascots called "buddies" that cavort unpredictably on your display while your phone is idle. They dance, work out, blow out birthday candles, swim the backstroke, or play peek-a-boo from the phone's corners. They're totally pointless, really cute, and very Asian in their pointless cuteness. I went down to my local Sprint store, and with the manager's help captured five buddies in the wild: a slightly creepy mouse, a very hung-over dog, an absolutely awesome karate-chopping elephant wearing a white robe, a boxing kangaroo and a fuzzy polar bear.
My friends at Sprint told me nobody has gone out shooting Sanyo mascots before, so these are rare and valuable images. I only wish I could post video to Gearlog. You have to see the elephant chop the pumpkin in half ...
See the Sanyo 7500's karate-chopping elephant.
The Sanyo VM4500 features a very sad puppy.
The Sanyo 9000 uses a little too much processing power on Stuart Little.
The boxing kangaroo on the Sanyo 8300 will knock you out!
Is the Sanyo 8200's polar bear related to those adorable CGI Coca-Cola bears? Check him out!
Happy holidays!
http://gearlog.com/blogs/gearlog/archive/2005/12/23/3660.aspx
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