Zoos
Hundreds of amphibian species will become extinct unless a global action plan is put into practice very soon, conservationists warn. (Image: Glass tree frog - R.D.Holt)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/sci_nat_clarion_call_to_save_amphibians/html/1.stm
Disease, habitat loss and climate change threatens amphibians
· Third of species at risk, say scientists
· Rescue breeding urged to counter extinctions
Ian Sample, science correspondent
Friday July 7, 2006
Fifty of the world's leading conservation experts are calling for an urgent rescue mission to save frogs, newts and other amphibians from extinction. They believe fast action is needed to save the planet's 5,743 amphibian species after research showing that 32.5% are threatened.
Up to 122 amphibian species have become extinct since 1980. Since the 1960s these vertebrates have gone into sharp decline as humans have encroached on their habitat. Climate change and infectious diseases have also taken their toll.
Writing today in the US journal Science, the conservationists propose a $400m (£217m) initiative, the Amphibian Survival Alliance, to dispatch "rapid response" teams to collect endangered amphibians for captive breeding. The alliance is also to investigate lethal amphibian diseases and environmental changes.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1814673,00.html
God's Wonderful Railway on track to be world heritage site
· Vital backing for bid to mark Brunel achievement
· London to Bristol line 'a breathtaking monument'
Steven Morris
Friday July 7, 2006
The average commuter probably doesn't particularly notice the tunnels, cuttings, bridges and stations on the London to Bristol railway line as they whizz by on the journey to the office.
But English Heritage yesterday put its weight behind a campaign to have the Great Western Railway recognised as a world heritage site, alongside the likes of the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China and Stonehenge.
At a conference in Bristol, Sir Neil Cossons, chairman of English Heritage, said that the line, one of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's greatest achievements, was a "breathtaking" monument to British endeavour.
He argued that it was not far-fetched to put "God's Wonderful Railway", as it is nicknamed, on the same level as the Taj Mahal. The railway was one of the unique contributions Britain had made to world culture, society and economy.
http://society.guardian.co.uk/communities/news/0,,1814812,00.html
You go, gorillas!
Muke and Samantha pregnant (with Jomo's help)
BY JIM KNIPPENBERG ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Thanks to the efforts of a young buck named Jomo, the gorilla breeding program at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden is back on track.
Two females are expecting, according to Ron Evans, primate center team leader: Muke, 24, a mother of two, is due in August and Samantha, 36, mother of six and grandmother of 11, is due in September.
The babies will be the first for Jomo, a 15-year-old silverback on loan from Toronto, as well as the zoo's first gorilla births since 1998, when Muke delivered Cecil.
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060504/LIFE/605040327/-1/CINCI
Head to a museum courtesy of the public library
By Tewksbury Public Library
Thursday, May 4, 2006
Are you looking for something to do this weekend? Is your family begging you to go into Boston? Do you need a day trip? If so, reserve a museum pass at the Tewksbury Public Library!
The Library currently offers five passes to area museums and attractions. Each pass offers a different discount and number...
http://www2.townonline.com/tewksbury/artsLifestyle/view.bg?articleid=486304
To Zoo or Not to Zoo
http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com
The Los Angeles City Council voted thirteen to two in favor of a new $39 million dollar elephant exhibit for the Los Angeles Zoo last Wednesday. A majority of the project's funding would come from city bonds and a corporation that pays for capital projects. The exhibit calls for a variety of natural walking surfaces (as opposed to concrete) and would also have a lush forest and bathing water holes.
http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/crosby042106.asp
North Texas Now Home To Rescued Tiger & Bears
(CBS 11 News) North Texas is now home to three exotic and potentially dangerous animals. Two black bears and a Bengal tiger were among more than a dozen animals seized Thursday morning during a raid at a south Texas ranch in Gonzales County.
Upon arrival the Bengal tiger seemed a bit upset and with good reason. He and more than a dozen other exotic dangerous animals have spent most of their lives together in very small enclosures.
“Poor bears can't even stand up in their cages. But this is their lucky day,” said Patty Mercer, Houston SPCA.
The Houston SPCA came to the rescue.
http://cbs11tv.com/topstories/local_story_110212857.html
AZA Applauds City Councils in Los Angeles, Tuscon; Both Approve New Habitats for Elephants Continuing National Trend
4/20/2006 4:48:00 PM
To: National Desk
Contact: Jane Ballentine of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, 301-562-0777 ext. 252
SILVER SPRING, Md., April 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) today applauded the city councils of Los Angeles and Tucson, Ariz., for affirming the importance of keeping elephants at the Los Angeles Zoo and Reid Park Zoo, both of which are AZA-accredited institutions.
In a decisive 13-2 vote yesterday, the Los Angeles City Council approved the 3.7-acre "Elephants of Surin" exhibit that will create an enriching educational encounter for the almost 1.5 million annual visitors to the Los Angeles Zoo. Last week, the mayor and the Tucson City Council reaffirmed their decision of last year to expand the Reid Park Zoo and build a new three-acre exhibit for Connie and Shaba, the two elephants at the zoo, ensuring that they will stay in Tucson.
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=64310
TOLEDO ZOO
1 levy wins, other loses close tally
Improvement issue narrowly defeated
Richard Summers tries to stay dry as he urges support for the zoo levy outside the Ability Center of Greater Toledo.
( THE BLADE/LISA DUTTON )
Zoom Photo Reprints
By JENNI LAIDMAN
BLADE STAFF WRITER
With nearly 100 percent of precincts reporting, Lucas County voters said yes to one of the Toledo Zoo tax issues on the ballot and no to the other.
The 0.85-mill, five-year operating levy passed easily, taking an early lead that just got bigger through the night.
But a 1-mill, 10-year capital improvement levy was rejected by fewer than 900 votes, according to unofficial results early this morning.
If the improvement levy failed, zoo officials said there was a good chance Toledo would have to send its pachyderms packing because the zoo lacks adequate space.
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums recommends that zoos keep females in social groups of three or more. In addition, without money to create an elephant enclosure strong enough for a male elephant, the zoo’s 3-year-old Louie would have to find a new home.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060503/NEWS09/60503010
Association of Zoos and Aquariums Receives $110,000 Grant for Conservation Work from Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund
7/10/2006 6:10:00 PM
To: National Desk, Environment Reporter
Contact: Kris Vehrs of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, 301-562-0777 ext. 229, Shelbi Ladd of PCI, 312-558-1770
SILVER SPRING, Md., July 10 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) has received a $110,00 grant from the Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund (DWCF) to support the AZA's continued work on accredited zoo and aquarium conservation projects in more than 40 countries worldwide. Disney selected AZA from more than 240 applications reviewed by scientists, veterinarians and other animal experts.
DWCF grant recipients range in size from large national groups to community-based efforts, from Africa to Florida, and in total received $1.4 million. The awards bring the DWCF's total to more than $10 million in conservation projects.
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=68991
Canadian zoos under fire
globalnational.com
Thursday, July 06, 2006
A picture taken of the Greater Vancouver Zoo's newborn giraffe, taken June 27. The zoo confirmed late Wednesday that the calf died June 28. (Ward Perrin/Vancouver Sun)
VANCOUVER -- The B.C. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says it plans to investigate the death of a baby giraffe at the Greater Vancouver Zoo.
The zoo issued a press release Wednesday evening confirming that the week-old newborn giraffe died on June 28 at one of its facilities.
Global National Online Extras
» Mike Chisholm reports
» More Global National News
SPCA Senior Animal Protection Officer Eileen Drever questions whether the 18-year-old mother giraffe should have even been bred and if a veterinarian was called in time.
A post mortem on the calf found that it had died from complications from pneumonia and from several broken ribs after the mother accidentally stepped on it.
The death happened last week when the zoo was in court to face animal cruelty charges for its treatment of it resident hippopotamus.
http://www.canada.com/globaltv/national/story.html?id=0c95c3c1-dea5-40ff-984f-5bd5cc97bbf8
Much ado about eight elephants
By ThaiDay
10 July 2006 13:23
An Australian zoo worker te
nds to one of eight elephants currently being held at a quarantine station in Kanchanaburi.
Claims by international animal rights groups that there is widespread opposition to the export of eight Thai elephants to state-owned zoos in Australia are a “breathtaking exaggeration,” one of the Australian zoo directors said yesterday.
Taronga Zoo Director Guy Cooper said the claims were just a publicity stunt and insisted Australian zoos remain committed to elephant conservation.
“The Zoos have proven time and again to the satisfaction of the Thai and Australian Governments, the international conservation agency CITES and the Australian Administrative Appeals Tribunal that the Zoos’ Asian Elephant conservation program meets every requirement made of it by all recognized authorities,” Cooper was quoted as saying in a statement received from the Australian embassy in Bangkok.
“Lobbying has its place, but the crisis for wildlife is moving too fast to refuse to take all actions available to us. It is time to put aside ideological differences and work together on all aspects of wildlife conservation that are available to us.”
http://www.manager.co.th/IHT/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9490000088387
Delhi Zoo restructuring on cards
By Indo Asian News Service
New Delhi, June 27 (IANS) The Central Zoo Authority has proposed restructuring the Delhi zoological park in a move that may see the involvement of corporates, Environment Secretary Prodipto Ghosh said here Tuesday.
An autonomous body, the Central Zoo Authority has over the last few years derecognised 90 zoos in the country for shortcomings on various counts, mostly due to lack of resources.
'The Central Zoo Authority is looking at various measures to raise resources including setting up of a national zoo research centre and improve visitor facilitation. It has proposed an action plan for Delhi zoo, which if successful will be later extended to other states,' Ghosh said during a media briefing.
The draft action plan for restructuring the Delhi zoo is awaiting approval by the ministry of environment and forest.
http://www.dailyindia.com/show/37778.php/Delhi_Zoo_restructuring_on_cards
Owners of Vancouver Zoo will appear in court to face charges of cruelty
Jun, 27 2006 - 8:20 AM
VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980) - Owners of the Greater Vancouver Zoo in Aldergrove will appear in Surrey provincial court today to face charges of animal cruelty.
The charges stem from allegations that the zoo failed to provide adequate shelter for the juvenile hippo, Hazina.
Ironically, the court appearance comes just days after the hippo moved into her new compound.
http://www.cknw.com/news/news_local.cfm?cat=7428327912&rem=41585&red=80132723aPBIny&wids=410&gi=1&gm=news_local.cfm
What a Mississippi Zoo, Rhode Island Politics Have in Common
By Daphne Retter 10:50 AM; Jun. 27, 2006
In his effort to unseat Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey seems to be taking an odd path that runs far south of his state — and the nation’s capital.
In fact, Laffey’s route runs to Mississippi and through the middle of the Jackson Zoo.
Laffey, seeking to upset Chafee in the Sept. 12 GOP primary, has accused the incumbent of supporting a $950,000 earmark for the zoo that was added to the fiscal 2006 Transportation-Treasury spending bill (PL 109-115). The money was secured by Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., but Laffey is trying to tie it to Chafee simply because he voted for the bill.
“Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee voted in favor of spending tax dollars on the Jackson Zoo,” Laffey noted in a press release Monday. If that’s true, then so did 93 other senators who supported the bill, including all but two Republicans.
A Thompson aide, meanwhile, said Laffey’s reference to the zoo in his campaign literature might be good for tourism.
“In fact, we want to invite him down,” said Thompson chief of staff Lanier Avant. “He may well be the first Rhode Islander to tour the Jackson Zoo. He could make history.”
http://www.cqpolitics.com/2006/06/what_a_mississippi_zoo_rhode_i.html
Milwaukee County Zoo implements bird flu protocol
MILWAUKEE The Milwaukee County Zoo isn't taking any chances with the bird flu.
The zoo implemented a protocol starting in April aimed at protecting the animal collection from an emerging disease.
It consists of four response levels depending on the proximity of avian flu to the Milwaukee area.
Kim Smith is bird curator and one of the primary authors of the response plan. She says zoo officials acted early because of their experience with the West Nile virus in 2002, when 12 penguins died.
The Milwaukee zoo worked with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, the zoo association and local public health officials to develop the procedures.
No cases of avian flu have been found in North America.
http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=5084982
Nine flamingo chicks born at zoo
SIGNONSANDIEGO NEWS SERVICES
4:03 p.m. June 27, 2006
SAN DIEGO – Nine Caribbean flamingos have been born at the San Diego Zoo in the last month, and more could be on the way, the park's senior bird keeper said Tuesday.
The first hatching of the downy gray chicks was May 28, and the births continued up to June 23, Amy Klotz said.
Advertisement
“The first chick came from a female that always seems to hatch her eggs first,” Klotz said. “She's one of our oldest and most experienced mothers at 47 years old, pretty old for a flamingo.”
Birds are tending to several more eggs, so the number of flamingo hatchings could top last year's total of 10, Klotz said.
The chicks are on display in the Flamingo Lagoon just past the entrance.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20060627-1603-flasmingos.html
New Asian Highlands home to Hogle Zoo's big cats
By Greg Lavine
The Salt Lake Tribune
Kazek, an Amur tiger, crouched silently, trying to beat the heat Monday on the hillside of his new habitat at Utah's Hogle Zoo.
"Hi good boy, hi Kazek," cooed Stephanie Natt, an animal care supervisor. "How ya' doin'? Are you mad your water got turned off? Did we take away your fun?"
The 363-pound, 2-year-old tiger stared back stoically, possibly wondering why a nearby sprinkler had stopped misting him. At the moment, Kazek had little interest in exploring anything beyond where he sat in the new tiger yard, part of the zoo's Asian Highlands exhibit that opens to the public Thursday.
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_3986979
Jin the otter may prove uncatchable
28 June 2006
If Jin the runaway otter is smart enough she might never be caught, Auckland Zoo staff admit.
After 15 days of freedom, Jin today continued to evade all attempts to recapture her.
The only way she was likely to be returned to her Auckland Zoo home was if she set up camp somewhere and was dobbed in, zoo spokeswoman Jane Healy said.
"We are hoping that she will find a secure area and set up a bit of a territory and stay there so we can get more sightings."
Zoo staff are not actively searching for her, just waiting for the public to spot her.
The short-clawed Asiatic otter fled from Auckland Zoo 15 days ago.
After being spotted on Rangitoto Island on Sunday, she was last seen on Narrowneck Beach, a short distance from Devonport on Monday night.
Ms Healy said Jin was bred in Auckland Zoo, so frolicking out in the wild was a new experience for her.
"She's obviously getting food and well insulated."
Jin disappeared from the zoo during alterations.
She could be spooked if someone tried to catch her and could bite, Ms Healy said.
If anyone sees Jin they should call the zoo immediately on 09-360-3800 or 027-291-9773, Ms Healy said.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3715090a10,00.html
From the zoo to the links, June's rain takes its toll
BY MICHAEL GELBWASSER/SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
It's been raining cats and dogs, and the Capron Park zookeepers are get ting antsy.
What is shaping up as the wettest June on record has left the Attleboro zoo's trails and concessions stands bare of visitors, rather than over run by the 300 or so a sunny day draws, Zoo Director Jean Benchimol said Tuesday.
And with the National Weather Service in Taunton forecasting at least a 50 per cent chance of more rain through Thursday night, nothing may be happening at the County Street zoo for much of this week.
Benchimol can't believe it.
`` It basically shuts us down when the weather is what is has been for the past few days,'' she said. `` Who's going to walk around in the rain?''
Attleboro has received 12.18 inches of rain this month, 1.67 inches shy of tying the June record, set in 1998, according to the water department.
Seven straight weekends of rain have sent local scenic areas and gardening supply companies into virtual hiber nation.
`` We really can't get out there to enjoy it either,'' said Sarah Slack, director of the Oak Knoll Wildlife Sanctuary in Attleboro.
Slack is worried about Thursday and Friday, when six preschoolers have signed up for a two-day `` Creepy Crawly'' program in which they will search for bugs.
Weather permitting, of course.
`` I don't know what I'll do for five hours with 3- to 5-year-olds if we can't go outside,'' Slack said.
Even gardeners are stuck inside, which has put a major damper on business at places like Briggs Nursery in North Attleboro.
`` This has been brutal. Most people, they don't want to garden in this weather,'' production manager Lee Alpert said.
`` A lot of the plants are struggling because they need a fair amount of sunlight.''
However, business was booming Tuesday, when the sun was out at last, at local golf courses.
`` We're out straight today. Every cart was out by 10 a.m.,'' said Leo Lapierre, owner of the Stone-E-Lea Golf Course in South Attleboro.
`` When the sun's out, we're humming. I've got people waiting in line still from 7 a.m. The weatherman says rain probably for Wednesday, so they're coming out today.''
Lapierre said the rainy forecast does not worry him.
`` I learned to take the weatherman with a grain of salt,'' he said.
Farming has taken a beating, too.
Flint Farm in Mansfield is lucky because its sandy soil has kept the business on its picking schedule for squash and cucumbers by absorbing the rain, co-owner Don Flint said.
Corn picking might be a bit behind, he said.
But life at Flint Farm could be much worse.
`` I know of growers in Bridgewater that are under water. Their seeds are floating away,'' Flint said.
http://www.thesunchronicle.com/articles/2006/06/28/city/city4.txt
Zoo to build fountain with $300,000 gift
Staff reports
A $300,000 gift from the Alfred J. and Dorothy N. McAllister Foundation will fund a new interactive fountain and plaza area in the Columbian Park Zoo.
"It's a wonderful gift and we're very grateful to the McAllister Foundation," said zoo director Claudine Laufman. The fountain and surrounding plaza "will be a wonderful way to welcome visitors to the zoo," she said.
The fountain is still being designed, Laufman said. It will focus on how water ties everything together. "We would like it to include some opportunity for interactive play," she said.
It will be located inside the zoo's main entrance and could include seating areas.
"The McAllister Foundation has been making contributions to the Lafayette Parks Department for over 40 years," foundation director Bill McCaw said in a prepared statement. "The interactive fountain and plaza project is just one of the many projects the foundation is proud to participate in."
Construction will begin this year and should be complete for the zoo's reopening in spring or summer of 2007, Laufman said.
The Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie 347 recently donated $30,000 for a new bald eagle exhibit. Arnett HealthSystem also donated $300,000 for the new Arnett Family Farm petting zoo.
Both exhibits should open next spring or summer.
http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060628/NEWS/606280325/1152
concluding …
