March 28, 2006.

Australia's weather turbulence.

The Alaskan Wolf

Morning Papers - continued ...

The Moscow Times

Ivanov Calls Report 'Bull'
The Associated Press
Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov on Tuesday said a report that Moscow had provided information to Saddam Hussein's regime on U.S. troop movements was "total rubbish."
Ivanov joined a chorus of denials from Russian officials following a Pentagon report that said seized Iraqi documents indicate Moscow obtained information from sources inside the U.S. Central Command and passed battlefield intelligence to Iraqi officials.
"There is nothing to comment on here. ... I believe it is total rubbish. Thank you. Without using the proper American word starting with 'bull,'" Ivanov said at a news conference.
In Washington, the U.S. State Department said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice planned to discuss the matter directly with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, by telephone this week or in person Thursday, when they meet in Berlin for a gathering of the foreign ministers of the permanent UN Security Council members.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/03/29/017.html


President Puts Off His New Term
By Anatoly Medetsky
Staff Writer
Belarussian election officials said Tuesday that President Alexander Lukashenko had delayed his inauguration from Friday until the first half of April, fueling speculation about his health after he was declared the landslide winner of a presidential election condemned by the West as fraudulent.
Lukashenko had not been seen in public since March 20, the day after the vote. He made his first appearance Tuesday on Belarussian television -- ordering officials to remove his portraits from their offices -- and he did not look well, an opposition official said.
It was unclear why Lukashenko had decided to put off his inauguration.
"The head of state determines the date of the inauguration. We expect it to be in the first half of April," said Nikolai Lozovik, secretary of the Central Elections Commission, Interfax reported.
Lozovik did not give a reason for the delay.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/03/29/001.html



Yushchenko Meets the 2 Big Winners
By Anna Melnichuk
The Associated Press
Yushchenko with Yanukovych, who later said they did not discuss a coalition.
KIEV -- Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko met Tuesday with his estranged Orange Revolution ally Yulia Tymoshenko amid pressure to reunite their pro-Western team and keep the country on a reformist path.
Yushchenko also held talks with pro-Russian opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych, who won the most votes -- but not a majority -- in weekend parliamentary elections.
Tymoshenko has said only a united front can keep Yanukovych out of power and safeguard the reformist ideals championed in the Orange Revolution. The Orange parties won more votes combined, but it remains unclear whether they will be able to overcome personal animosity and forge a coalition.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/03/29/011.html



The Trick to Understanding Ukraine
By Anders Aslund
To Our Readers
The Moscow Times welcomes letters to the editor. Letters for publication should be signed and bear the signatory's address and telephone number.
Letters to the editor should be sent by fax to (7-495) 232-6529, by e-mail to oped@imedia.ru, or by post. The Moscow Times reserves the right to edit letters.
Ukraine has held its first elections after the Orange Revolution. Without any qualification, they were free and fair with a high participation of 67 percent, showing that Ukraine has matured as a democracy. At the same time, Ukraine has become a parliamentary system, which will reinforce democracy in the country. The Communists have been further marginalized, and party consolidation has proceeded well, with only five parties likely to make it into parliament.
The main results of the vote reflect an amazing constancy. In December 2004, Viktor Yushchenko defeated Viktor Yanukovych with a margin of 8 percentage points, which will probably be the balance between the orange and blue, or more accurately western and eastern, coalitions. The geographic dividing line runs exactly where it did in 2004, or where it has gone for most of the last 300 years.
International media have focused on Yanukovych's Party of the Regions becoming the largest single party, but what matters in proportional elections is which parties can form a ruling majority, and that is the Orange coalition.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/03/29/006.html



Russia Sees Kosovo as the Answer
By Simon Saradzhyan
Staff Writer
Vladimir Mukagov / Itar-Tass
Ossetian leaders Mamsurov, left, and Kokoity attending last week's meeting.
Russian officials are floating the idea of making the world's largest country a little bit bigger by adding a new region called Alania -- an area that would consist of a merged North and South Ossetia.
The proposed expansion hinges on Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia voting for independence -- a vote that would mirror a similar plebiscite planned for Kosovo. Russia insists that Kosovo's vote could be copied to resolve conflicts in separatist regions across the former Soviet Union.
While talk of uniting the two regions into a single Russian subject might be a trial balloon, Russia would face potentially deep repercussions if it were to set the precedent of embracing the supremacy of a people's right to self-determination.
Gennady Bukayev, an assistant to Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, told a joint session of the leaders of South and North Ossetia on March 22 that the federal government had agreed in principle to incorporate South Ossetia.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/03/29/002.html



Swedish Spy 'The Eagle' Dead at 99
Combined Reports
Wennerstrom, who was a Swedish air force general, entering a court in 1963.
STOCKHOLM -- Stig Wennerstrom, a Swedish air force brigadier general spied for the Soviet Union for 15 years has died. He was 99.
Wennerstrom, known to his Soviet spymasters by the code name "The Eagle," was arrested in Sweden in June 1963, on charges of providing the Soviet Union with military information on Sweden, the United States and NATO.
He was caught after a tip-off from a housemaid who had been recruited by suspicious Swedish counterintelligence agents and saw him hiding films in the attic of his Stockholm house.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/03/29/018.html



Yukos Is Put Under External Manager
By Mikhail Yenukov
Reuters
The Moscow Arbitration Court on Tuesday put Yukos under external supervision until June 27 in a move that could lead to its bankruptcy and nationalization.
Tuesday's ruling to put Yukos under external supervision means that the existing management and board will remain in place, but major decisions will have to go through Eduard Rebgun, a temporary manager appointed by the court on Tuesday.
Rebgun, who was proposed by Rosneft, will carry out a financial analysis, determine the amount of liabilities, draw up a list of creditors and organize the first meeting of the creditors' committee.
Based on the committee's recommendations, the court may choose from two possible fates for Yukos -- external management or bankruptcy administration and sale of assets.
Adam Landes, an analyst at Renaissance Capital, predicted a quick end.
"Given that Rosneft, and the state, appear to be holding all the cards, we foresee a fairly quick decision. Closure of the 'Yukos Affair' as quickly and cleanly as possible is needed to support Rosneft's planned IPO," he wrote Tuesday.
Landes said Rosneft was claiming about $10 billion from Yukos, roughly on a par with the state's remaining tax claim.
The market is watching to see whether Yukos will be broken up and sold off in pieces or fully taken over by Rosneft, thus leaving some value for its minority shareholders.
The bankruptcy suit was filed earlier this month by a group of Western banks, following their deal with Rosneft for Rosneft to buy back $482 million of Yukos debt that was secured on Yugansk oil and being chased by the banks.
Most of the banks that were lenders to Yukos are also creditors to Rosneft and have huge business interests at stake.
And the action by the 14 banks, which include Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, ING, BNP Paribas and Commerzbank, leaves Rosneft poised to reap most benefit from Yukos' winding up.
The bankruptcy is also likely to unite a bevy of international court proceedings brought against Yukos by creditors in places ranging from Amsterdam to New York.
"Now you have a situation where each creditor is going after Yukos in different courts around the world, suing it for debt. But now, all the other lawsuits are likely to be suspended until the Russian bankruptcy proceedings are settled," said Peter Clateman, a Moscow lawyer who heads the legal team of Russian investment group Sputnik.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/03/29/040.html



Court postpones verdict on Yukos official to April 12
RIA NOVOSTI. March 29, 2006, 4:47 PM
MOSCOW, March 29 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow City Court has postponed until April 12 appeal hearings in the case of a former manager of embattled oil giant Yukos convicted of money laundering, a defense lawyer said Wednesday.
"The session has been postponed since one of the prisoners [in the case] was not brought to the court," said Dmitry Yampolsky, a lawyer for Alexei Kurtsin.
Kurtsin, currently serving a 14-year sentence, was to appear in court via video link-up on March 15, but hearings were postponed until March 29 as the court said it needed more time to study the case.
On December 1, Moscow's Lefortovo court handed down a guilty verdict on all those involved in the Yukos-Moskva case, sentencing eight former managers to different prison terms.
Investigators said Kurtsin and Yukos-Moskva Senior Vice President Mikhail Trushin, who is still at large, laundered 342 million rubles ($11.9 million) through fictitious charities registered in several large Russian cities. Investigators claim the bulk of laundered funds went directly to Trushin and Kurtsin.


Elections in Israel create local sensations
RIA NOVOSTI. March 29, 2006, 4:44 PM
BEIRUT/TEL AVIV, (RIA Novosti's Marianna Belenkaya, Artur Gabdrakhmanov) -- The March 28 elections to the Israeli Knesset (parliament) created a local sensation, but will not influence the future of the region. Just as polls predicted and all parties to the Middle East peace process expected, the election victory went to Israel's governing party, Kadima, led by Ehud Olmert.
For the first time in Israel's history, its voters were not torn between the right- and the left-wing parties, the "hawks" and the "doves". The Israeli political scene is such a mishmash right now, that it is difficult to draw a line between the two sides. This mean many voters were left feeling indecisive. In general, Israelis have grown weary of politics, which is why only 63.2% of the country's eligible voters came to polling stations and quite a few voted for the third option.
The defeat of Likud , which had led either the ruling coalition or the opposition, came as a surprise, even more so because it actually came in fifth, after the biggest ultra-religious party Shas and Avigdor Lieberman's party Yisrael Beiteinu (Our Home Israel).
All the recent polls predicted that the Russian-speaking politician would surge ahead in the election race. The majority of the Russian-speaking population voted for him.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/doc/HotNews.html



No Break for Arts School for Disabled
By Natalya Krainova
Special to The Moscow Times
Michael Eckels / MT
Students with hearing impairments acting in a role-playing workshop at the State Specialized Institute of the Arts.
For most of the out-of-town students at the State Specialized Institute of the Arts -- one of a small number of art schools tailored to the needs of disabled students -- a typical day involves a five-hour commute from their hostel in the Moscow region to the school's campus, near the Studencheskaya metro station.
Painting classes for Rimma Hadiyeva, a third-year graphic arts student at the institute who suffers from cerebral palsy, require a special effort to start with. Instead of sitting in front of an easel, she finds it easier to sit or lie on the floor, holding the paper on her knees or putting it in front of her. Hadiyeva is one of the lucky few students who have lodgings near the institute, but she is still pressed for study time.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/03/29/015.html


Charitable Bowling for a Big Change
The Moscow Times
The Big Change Educational Center and Charitable Fund is holding a bowling competition on April 18 to raise money for its Moscow school.
Sixteen lanes are to be booked at the Samolyot entertainment complex on Presnensky Val, and teams of four are invited to enter.
Money raised at the bowling competition is to help fund an educational trip to the Pskov region this summer, following on a trip to St. Petersburg last year. It is also to be used to pay for additional lessons.
The entrance fee per four-person team is 15,000 rubles ($540).
Students at the Big Change school were all formerly at orphanages, and are between 17 and 30 years old.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/03/29/025.html



Even Cats Can Be Dangerous
By Yulia Latynina
As she was walking to her car from the office of the United Civil Front last Tuesday, Marina Litvinovich, a top aide to Garry Kasparov, was attacked from behind. Litvinovich, a 31-year-old political activist and public relations specialist, was knocked unconscious by a blow to the head. Her assailants then set to work on her face. When she came to about 40 minutes later, two men were standing over her. "You need to be more careful, Marina," one of them said. When Litvinovich asked how the man knew her name, he replied: "You told us yourself."
To Our Readers
The Moscow Times welcomes letters to the editor. Letters for publication should be signed and bear the signatory's address and telephone number.
Letters to the editor should be sent by fax to (7-495) 232-6529, by e-mail to oped@imedia.ru, or by post. The Moscow Times reserves the right to edit letters.
No, this isn't another article about the brutality of a bloodthirsty regime. During the terror of the late 1930s, they wouldn't have stopped at knocking out a couple of Litvinovich's teeth. I'm struck by something else. You attack someone from behind when you're afraid that your victim will either recognize you or turn out to be stronger than you. The first motive doesn't apply in Litvinovich's case, because her attackers waited around until she woke up to deliver their message.
The government has defeated an enormous number of enemies lately. It exposed those infamous British spies and their magic rock. It stuck it to all those nongovernmental organizations bankrolled by foreign powers that were spying on us. In the Khabarovsk region, counterintelligence agents rounded up -- count 'em -- 40 spies working for China, the very country President Vladimir Putin is working so hard to befriend.
When it comes to foreign enemies, the Kremlin is taking care of business. But it's enjoying less success in dealing with its domestic adversaries.
Putin wanted to reform the armed forces, so he put a civilian, Sergei Ivanov, in charge of the Defense Ministry and gave the green light for the trial of former Colonel Yury Budanov, who was convicted in 2003 of kidnapping and murdering a Chechen woman. Military reform is essential for the physical survival of the country, but it ran into stiff resistance from the top brass. The reform program was over before it had begun.
Early in his first term, Putin got together the top prosecutors and announced a sweeping reform of the Prosecutor General's Office as if it were a done deal. The idea was to provide independent supervision of criminal investigations, which was essential simply to prevent the appetites of the defenders of law and order from destroying the economy. By then the prosecutors had become a cross between janissaries and SS storm troopers, however. Even the Kremlin was afraid to cross them.
Putin launched a program of administrative reforms aimed at strengthening the checks and balances between agencies and ministries and reducing their number. The program was implemented. The number of agencies tripled.
We're not talking about incomprehensible concepts such as democratization of the country and liberalization of the economy. These reforms were essential for the country's survival, they were backed by the president himself, and they went absolutely nowhere.
The regime's decision-making process is no different from the approach taken by the thugs who beat up Litvinovich. Whenever the Kremlin finds an adversary blocking its path -- the military brass, the prosecutors or the bureaucracy -- it backs down. And you can't say these are fearsome foes. What does the Kremlin have to fear from a bunch of generals who steal by the trainload, drink by the gallon and lose one campaign after another?
The weaker people are, the more they need to beat up on someone who's even weaker. A fifth-grader who gets pummelled for squealing on his classmates needs nothing more than a cat he can torture.
But even cats can be dangerous. So you only attack in numbers, from behind, and only when the woman is alone. Not because you're afraid she'll see your face, but because she might scratch you.
Latynina hosts a political talk show on Ekho Moskvy.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/03/29/007.html



Moscow Market Not Yet Ripe for BlackBerry
By Conor Humphries
Staff Writer
BlackBerry terminals, which allow users to receive and reply to e-mails in real time, are still not available in Moscow.
BlackBerry, the device that brought mobile e-mail into mainstream U.S. corporate culture, remains something of a forbidden fruit in Moscow almost a year after its creator announced a deal to enter the Russian market.
The handheld terminals that allow users to effortlessly receive and reply to e-mail in real time are still not available in the city, and local operator Mobile TeleSystems refuses to give a firm date for introduction of the platform that supports them.
MTS originally planned to roll out the service in the third quarter of 2005, after signing a deal in May with Canada's Research in Motion, or RIM, which owns the technology.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/03/29/045.html



Russia Picks Site for New Nuclear Center
By Yuriy Humber
Staff Writer
Russia has picked the town of Angarsk as the site for its international nuclear fuel service center, part of an initiative to assume a greater role in the international nuclear processing industry, a government official said Monday.
The Federal Atomic Energy Agency will seek approval from the international nuclear watchdog to have an existing chemicals plant in Angarsk certified as an international service center, an agency spokesman said by telephone.
The Angarsk Electrolysis Chemical Complex already houses uranium conversion and enrichment facilities.
The proposed location comes to light two months after President Vladimir Putin first pitched Russia as a site for one of a handful of international centers -- to be overseen by the International Atomic Energy Agency -- to provide a full cycle of processing services on behalf of other countries.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2006/03/29/041.html



The Boston Globe

A March drought may yield April fires
By Raja Mishra, Globe Staff March 29, 2006
After a particularly parched March, fire officials around Massachusetts fear that April will bring widespread brush fires and wildfires in grassy areas and fields around the state.
With three days left, this month is on track to be the second-driest March on record: Less than six-tenths of an inch of rain fell in the Boston area, compared with 3.33 inches on average. Forecasters say the first half of April is likely to be equally dry.
''As we move into April and weather conditions continue to be dry and we have sun and wind, we'll get more concerned," said Jim Dimaio, acting chief of the Bureau of Forest Fire Control and Forestry in the state Department of Conservation and Recreation. ''Hopefully, there'll be rains soon."

http://www.boston.com/news/weather/articles/2006/03/29/a_march_drought_may_yield_april_fires/


Pacific nation announces marine area
By Michael Astor, Associated Press Writer March 28, 2006
CURITIBA, Brazil --The Pacific island nation of Kiribati announced the creation of a vast protected area Tuesday at a U.N-sponsored environmental conference in Brazil, officials said.
The protected area at the Phoenix Islands, located about half way between Fiji and Hawaii, places some 73,800 sq. miles off limits for commercial fishing, protecting precious coral reefs and undersea mountains.
The restrictions, covering an area the size of Washington, were announced by Kiribati's environment minister at the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biodiversity in Curitiba, 400 miles southwest of Rio de Janeiro.
"If the coral and reefs are protected, then the fish will thrive and grow and bring us benefit," Kiribati's President Anote Tong said in a statement.
The government of Kiribati would be compensated for the loss of fishing revenue with funds from a special endowment, conservation groups said.
At the same conference, the European Union called for a global moratorium on deep-sea trawling, labeling the random fishing practice harmful to the biodiversity of oceans.
Bottom trawling is blamed for depleting the world's deep-sea fish stocks, threatening many species with extinction and radically altering undersea habitats.
Environmentalists praised the two moves as indicative of a growing trend toward protecting the world's oceans.
"These are very positive signs," said Arlo Hemphill, Conservation International's manager of marine strategy.
"Bottom trawling is like trying to capture songbirds in the forest with bulldozers," he said.
Environmentalists said the European Union's support for a moratorium on bottom trawling was important, but it was too early to say whether the ban would be approved by the full convention, which acts by consensus and runs until Friday.

http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2006/03/28/pacific_nation_announces_marine_area/



Warlord Charles Taylor arrested in Nigeria
Liberian President Charles Taylor leaves Roberts International Airport by airplane in Monrovia, Liberia, in this August 11, 2003, file photo. Former Liberian President Charles Taylor has disappeared from his haven in Nigeria, just as he was to have been handed over to face trial on war crimes charges, Nigerian officials said Tuesday, March 28, 2006. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)
By Bashir Adigun, Associated Press Writer March 29, 2006
ABUJA, Nigeria --Former Liberian warlord Charles Taylor, who vanished in Nigeria after authorities reluctantly agreed to transfer him to a war crimes tribunal, has been arrested trying to cross the border into Cameroon, Nigerian police said Wednesday.
Taylor, who went missing Monday night, was captured by security forces in the far northeastern border town of Gamboru, in Borno State, nearly 600 miles from the villa in southern Calabar where Taylor had lived in exile, Information Minister Frank Nweke said in a statement.
President Olusegun Obasanjo, on a visit to the United States, ordered Taylor's "immediate repatriation" to Liberia, the statement said.
Taylor disappeared just days after Nigeria, which had granted asylum to the fast-talking, U.S.-educated economist under a 2003 agreement that helped end Liberia's 14-year civil war, reluctantly bowed to pressure to surrender Taylor to face justice.
The admission that Taylor had slipped away came an hour before Obasanjo left Nigeria on a presidential jet headed for Washington, where he was scheduled to meet with President Bush on Wednesday.
Nigeria had announced it would hand Taylor over to a U.N.-backed Sierra Leone tribunal to be tried for alleged war crimes related to Sierra Leone's 1991-2001 civil war, but the government had made no moves to arrest him before he disappeared.
Taylor, a one-time warlord and rebel leader, is charged with backing Sierra Leone rebels, including child fighters, who terrorized victims by chopping off body parts. He would be the first African leader to face trial for crimes against humanity.
While the Sierra Leone tribunal's charges refer only to the war there, Taylor also has been accused of starting civil war in Liberia and of harboring al-Qaida suicide bombers who attacked the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, killing more than 200 people.
Obasanjo initially resisted calls to surrender Taylor. But Saturday, after Liberia's new President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf asked that Taylor be handed over for trial, Obasanjo agreed.
The U.N. Security Council had expressed surprise and concern at Taylor's disappearance and Secretary-General Kofi Annan had said he planned to talk to the Nigerian authorities about it. He urged all countries to refuse to give Taylor refuge.
The U.N. tribunal's prosecutor, Desmond de Silva, warned that Taylor was "a threat to the peace and security of West Africa."
Many of Taylor's loyalist soldiers are believed to be roaming freely in Liberia, Sierra Leone and civil-war divided Ivory Coast, from where Taylor launched his rebel incursion into Liberia on Dec. 24, 1989.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2006/03/29/warlord_charles_taylor_arrested_in_nigeria/


Infant becomes a victim of ID theft
By Maria Cramer and Cristina Silva, Globe Staff March 29, 2006
BARRE -- When a mother decided to open a savings account for her 18-month-old son this month, she was stunned to learn that someone else had beaten her to it.
Police say that a man with a record of identity fraud had taken the toddler's Social Security number and opened two accounts with Citizens Bank in Worcester and tried to obtain a Registry of Motor Vehicles identification card. By the time the boy's mother learned about the scam, the thief had deposited $19,000 in fraudulent checks, police said.
Since then, the 32-year-old mother -- who asked that she be identified only by her first name, Tracy, because she fears for her safety -- said she has been calling credit agencies, state legislators, and police to try to understand how a major banking institution allowed the fraud to happen.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/03/29/infant_becomes_a_victim_of_id_theft/



Man dies after living for two months in car at camping area
March 29, 2006
PLEASANT RIDGE PLANTATION, Maine --Investigators were trying to determine what caused the death of a Massachusetts man who was believed to have been living alone since midwinter in his car in a camping area in this Somerset County community.
John Connolly, 59, died Monday while en route to a Skowhegan hospital after a state trooper was called to the area by a passerby who spotted him sprawled across the front seat of his 1990 Buick LeSabre, Maine State Police Lt. Dale Lancaster said Tuesday.
Connolly was alive but not responding well and his breathing was labored when Trooper Randall Keaten found him in the early afternoon, Lancaster said.
Connolly's body was transported to the state medical examiner's office for an autopsy, Lancaster said. He said there was no indication of foul play.
Keaten determined through a sister in New Hampshire that Connolly had lost his job in Massachusetts and had fallen on difficult times, according to Lancaster, who said a recent death in the family had made him despondent.
Stanley Giguere, the road commissioner in this community of roughly 100 people outside Bingham, said Connolly had been living in his car at the camping site for about two months, eating meals from a cooler he had placed in the back of the vehicle.
"I have been watching the guy," Giguere said. "Every time I plowed the road, he'd move the car so I could plow. He was just living in his car."
Giguere said he didn't know of anyone who tried to talk to Connolly.
"I'd pull around and wave to him and keep on going, and he'd wave back," Giguere said.
Information from: Morning Sentinel, http://www.onlinesentinel.com/

http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2006/03/29/man_dies_after_living_for_two_months_in_car_at_camping_area/



Abramoff to be sentenced for wire fraud

Jack Abramoff, right, listens to his attorney Abbe Lowell on Capitol Hill in this Sept. 29, 2004 file photo. More than 260 people wrote letters asking a federal judge for leniency when Abramoff and a former partner are sentenced, which was scheduled for Wednesday March 29, 2006. Both pleaded guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud stemming from the 2000 purchase of a gambling boat fleet. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook, Files)
By Curt Anderson, Associated Press Writer March 29, 2006
MIAMI --Disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff has let others lobby on his behalf in his Florida fraud case -- including rabbis, military officers and even a professional hockey referee.
More than 260 people wrote letters asking a federal judge for leniency when Abramoff and a former partner are sentenced, which was scheduled for Wednesday. Both pleaded guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud stemming from the 2000 purchase of a gambling boat fleet.
The letters, obtained by The Associated Press, put a new spin on the foibles and crimes of a man who became the face of Washington's latest corruption scandal.
"Jack is a good person, who in his quest to be successful, lost sight of the rules," National Hockey League referee Dave Jackson wrote, describing the time Abramoff brought 14 kids to his dressing room before a game.
Abramoff and one-time partner Adam Kidan admitted concocting a fake $23 million wire transfer to make it appear they had made a large cash contribution to the $147.5 million purchase of SunCruz Casinos. Based on that fake transfer, lenders provided the pair with $60 million in financing.
Abramoff, 47, and Kidan, 41, each face a minimum of five years and 10 months in prison, and a maximum of seven years and three months under plea agreements with prosecutors.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/03/29/jack_abramoff_faces_nearly_6_year_sentence/



Judge tosses suit to halt pig kills
March 29, 2006
LOS ANGELES --A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that sought to stop the killing of thousands of wild pigs on Santa Cruz Island as part of an effort to protect endangered island foxes.
U.S. District Judge Dickran Tevrizian said in a ruling Tuesday he disagreed with a claim that the National Park Service and The Nature Conservancy rushed to eradicate the animals before developing an environmental plan.
The organizations, which co-own the island, say the pigs are causing erosion, uprooting native plants and helping spread invasive species.
"The decision is a win for the island fox, and the nine plant species that are endangered because of the feral pigs," said Julie Benson, a spokeswoman for the Nature Conservancy.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/03/29/judge_tosses_suit_to_halt_pig_kills/



EU says had worries on Vista
Lawyers talk behind a Microsoft sign in the European Union's Court of First Instance in Luxembourg in this September 30, 2004 file photo. Microsoft has a last chance to convince EU regulators this week that the software giant should not be fined up to 2 million euros ($2.4 million) daily for failing to carry out antitrust sanctions. (REUTERS/Francois Lenoir)
March 29, 2006
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission said on Wednesday it told Microsoft that it had competition worries about the firm's new operating system Vista, another antitrust concern that the software giant must answer in Europe.
Microsoft is already embroiled in a long-running battle with Europe's top anti-trust body after the Commission decided in 2004 that the company had abused the dominance of its Windows system and fined it half a billion euros.
"We are concerned about the possibility that the next Vista operating system will include various elements which are currently available separately from Microsoft or other companies," Commission spokesman Jonathan Todd said.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2006/03/29/eu_told_microsoft_had_competition_concerns_on_vista/


Teens arrested in break-in at town water supply
By Ray Henry, Associated Press Writer March 29, 2006
BLACKSTONE, Mass. --Three teenagers are being held Wednesday in connection with a break-in at a water storage facility in this central Massachusetts town, where residents continued to stockpile water and many businesses and schools were closed.
Officials have told the 9,000 residents of Blackstone and about four dozen homes in neighboring North Smithfield, R.I., not to drink the water, let it contact their skin or use it for washing clothes or dishes. Tests on the water were pending.
"I took a shower this morning," 40-year-old Charlene Gignac, a clerk at the White Hen Pantry convenience store on Main Street, said Tuesday.
"I'm wondering, 'OK, how bad is it?' But I still have a pulse and I'm still kicking."

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/03/29/terrorism_ruled_out_as_towns_probe_water_supply_break_in_1143613009/



U.S. must act for Agent Orange victims, veterans say
By Ho Binh Minh March 29, 2006
HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam War veterans and social activists from several countries demanded on Wednesday that Washington take responsibility for victims of the Agent Orange defoliant used by the U.S. military.
The call for U.S. action came at the end of a two-day conference in Hanoi where deformed children were shown as dramatic evidence of the effects of 20 million gallons of herbicides, including Agent Orange, poured on the country.
"We demand that the United States government be held responsible for making contributions to overcoming the consequences of toxic chemicals," the closing statement said.
Last March, a federal court dismissed a suit on behalf of millions of Vietnamese who charged the United States committed war crimes by its use of Agent Orange, which contains dioxin, to deny communist troops ground cover.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2006/03/29/us_must_act_for_agent_orange_victims_veterans_say/



Miami students hold sit-in to support striking janitors
By Jennifer Kay, Associated Press Writer March 29, 2006
MIAMI --About 20 University of Miami students ended a more than 12-hour sit-in on the Coral Gables campus early Wednesday after university officials agreed to several demands regarding campus janitors striking over alleged unfair labor practices.
University officials said they will hold a meeting within 48 hours with representatives from different labor, student and faculty groups to discuss whether Unicco Service Co. employees want the option to have union representation.
"The University reiterates its position not to employ contractors who do not respect workers' rights to unionize and commits to encouraging Unicco and the SEIU (Service Employees' International Union) to adopt a process that will provide the employees of Unicco with the ability to determine whether or not they want union representation free of any coercion or intimidation," according to a statement released shortly after 1:30 a.m. Wednesday by university officials.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/03/29/miami_students_hold_sit_in_to_support_striking_janitors/



Saudi Arabia arrests 40 suspected militants
March 29, 2006
(Recasts, adds details, background
RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it had arrested 40 suspected militants, including eight who were linked to al Qaeda's attack on the world's largest oil processing plant last month.
Security forces also seized a cache of explosives and firearms in simultaneous raids in several parts of the kingdom, an interior ministry spokesman said.
There has been a spate of attacks in Saudi Arabia and last month the authorities foiled an al Qaeda attack on Abqaiq, the world's biggest oil processing plant, in which two militants were killed.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/03/29/saudi_arabia_arrests_40_suspected_militants/



Study: gaps between blacks, whites remain
By Erin Texeira, AP National Writer March 28, 2006
Even though the economy has picked up, stubborn gaps between blacks and whites remain -- a reality highlighted by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, the National Urban League reports in a new study.
"Two years ago, we saw that things were tough, but there was a recession," Urban League President Marc H. Morial said. "Now that things are better, we're still suffering. The jobless recovery is a real thing for black Americans."
The Urban League's annual State of Black America report, released Tuesday, pulls together government data and academic analysis to measure black progress and problems. The nearly 300-page report includes charts, essays and suggested policy changes.

http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2006/03/28/study_gaps_between_blacks_whites_remain/



Venezuela says 14M to get measles shots
March 28, 2006
CARACAS, Venezuela --Measles vaccinations will be given to 14 million Venezuelans this year to combat an outbreak of the viral infectious disease in the capital, officials announced Tuesday.
Adults under 39 years old and children are already receiving vaccinations, but the program will be expanded starting April 9, Health Minister Francisco Armada said in a statement.
Twelve people in Caracas and its suburbs have been diagnosed with the disease in the last month, the first reported cases of measles in this South American nation of 26 million since 2002. The last outbreak affected some 2,500 people.
Armada said this year's outbreak in Venezuela's crowded capital had been controlled. But authorities were taking preventive measures nationwide, he added, vaccinating roughly 67,000 people since February.
Health officials believe the outbreak began with the infection of a 33-year-old Caracas pilot and several members of his immediate family.
Measles can cause ear infections, pneumonia and swelling of the brain, and is potentially fatal. Symptoms include cold-like coughing, fever and rash.

http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/diseases/articles/2006/03/28/venezuela_says_14m_to_get_measles_shots/



Kindergarten student brings gun to school
March 29, 2006
FIRCREST, Wash. --A kindergarten student was expelled for 10 days after he brought a .22-caliber gun to school, officials said.
The 5-year-old boy climbed from a chair onto a washer-dryer and got an unloaded pistol out of a cupboard at home, police said. He showed a friend the gun on the Whittier Elementary School playground, then put it into a friend's backpack, Police Chief John Cheesman said.
The boy never made any threat and told the principal what he had done Monday but was expelled immediately, said Patti Holmgren, a spokeswoman for the Tacoma school system. Police confiscated the gun.

http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2006/03/29/kindergarten_student_brings_gun_to_school/



Transplanted mice cells ease rat paralysis
By Malcolm Ritter, AP Science Writer March 28, 2006
NEW YORK --Scientists eased the paralysis of rats with spinal cord injury by transplanting cells taken from the brains of adult mice, an encouraging sign for developing a human treatment, researchers reported.
Someday, such cells might be taken from the brains of patients with spinal cord injuries for their own treatment, said researcher Dr. Michael Fehlings.
In addition, similar cells are found in the spinal cord, so perhaps researchers may find a way to activate them to improve a person's mobility, he said.
Fehlings, of the University of Toronto and the Toronto Western Research Institute in Canada, and colleagues report the rodent experiment in Wednesday's issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

http://www.boston.com/yourlife/health/other/articles/2006/03/28/transplanted_mice_cells_ease_rat_paralysis/


Lice infestations plague Alaska wolf packs

A gray wolf is show in the Alaska wilderness in this undated file photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (AP Photo/US Fish and Wildlife Service, File)
March 28, 2006
FAIRBANKS, Alaska --Scientists working to eradicate infestations of lice in packs of interior wolves said it might be a losing battle.
"We already know lice is part of Interior Alaska now, but can it be managed? That's the question," said Craig Gardner, a biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Fairbanks. "I think it's going to be tough."
Canine lice have been spreading in Alaska's wolf population since first being found on wolves on the Kenai Peninsula in the early 1980s. They were probably passed from sled dogs and don't infest human hair.
The lice showed up on wolves in the Matanuska Valley in the late 1990s and last year, biologists confirmed the first case in wolves north of the Alaska Range.
"It was speculated it wouldn't get past the Alaska Range because wolves wouldn't be able to survive because it would be too cold," said state wildlife veterinarian Kimberlee Beckmen. "We've had some wolves with hair loss and you could see lice on them but they certainly aren't dying."
The resilient pests are ruining the quality of the animals' coats and hurting business for trappers. Wolves damage their own fur by rubbing and scratching the bites, bringing the value of their pelts down.
"Lousy wolves," are worthless to trappers because the fur is no good, said Alaska Trappers Association president Randy Zarnke. Most of the wolves caught on the Kenai Peninsula are unusable, Zarnke said.
When the Department of Fish and Game announced last year that lice had been found on a wolf trapped in the Alaska Range 50 miles south of Fairbanks, the association sent a letter to Gov. Frank Murkowski urging him to eradicate lice in Alaska wolves.
The Department of Fish and Game in Fairbanks has had small-scale success treating lice-infested wolves in the Alaska Range.
Last April, biologists captured and treated the lice-ridden pack of five wolves by injecting them with a cattle dewormer commonly used in dogs.
The goal was to keep the wolves free of lice during denning so the pups would be clean, said Gardner. The biologists also put radio collars on the five wolves.
After a litter of seven pups was born in May, biologists continued treating the pack by dropping beaver and lynx meat treated with the medicine from planes. They repeated the drop three times over several weeks.
When biologists recaptured four of the pups in November, tests showed they were lice free. Two additional pups from the pack caught by trappers were also lice free.
"We know treatment has worked for at least a year now," Gardner said.
Gardner suspects at least one more pack in the Alaska Range has lice. He wants to fit radio collars on wolves in those packs so they can monitor and treat them with medicine-filled baits.
"We're just trying to see if we can manage lice and keep the wolves' pelts looking good going into winter so trappers will want to trap them," said Beckmen.
Cleansing lice from a pack of wolves doesn't mean it will stay louse free. Young wolves break off from their packs each year and join other groups of roving lupines.
"Let's say a wolf disperses and gets with a pack that was treated and is clean. Boom, you've got lice again," said Gardner.

http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2006/03/28/lice_infestations_plague_alaska_wolf_packs/



Study: Cruise ships distress harbor seals
In this 2000 file photo, a young harbor seal lounges on top of seaweed that covers partially submerged Cedar Ledge near Cundy's Harbor, Maine. (AP Photo/Pat Wellenbach, FILE)
March 28, 2006
ANCHORAGE, Alaska --When large cruise ships get too close to harbor seals, the animals become distressed, according to a new federal study.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a report Monday on seal behavior in Disenchantment Bay, a Southeast fjord that cruise ships frequent for a view of the Hubbard Glacier.
The study, which was a cooperative effort involving NOAA, the cruise industry and the Yakutat Tlingits, found that when the large ships got closer than 1,600 feet, seals were more likely to jump off the ice floes they haul out on.
The closer the ships got, the more likely the seals were to dive into the water, according to the Anchorage Daily News. When a ship was about 300 feet away, a seal was 25 times more likely to jump into the water than when the ship was 1,600 feet way, the study found.
The researchers said one concern is that if seals are routinely disturbed, it will drain their energy reserves, possibly resulting in lower reproduction or reduced survival.
"It really confirms what has been known for some time: that as ships get closer to seals, the seals will get off the ice floes," said John Hansen, president of the North West CruiseShip Association. He said as a result the association has operating practices in place to minimize disturbance of the animals.
However, that's not always possible because of weather, navigational and other reasons, including not being able to see the seals, said John Jansen, the study's lead author.
During the study, biologists documented many times when the ships got within 300 feet of seals, he said.
The study also found that the more time ships spend in Disenchantment Bay, the closer the seals come to one another. Such huddling behavior is common among animals that feel threatened, said Jansen.
The research, which began in 2002, also compared harbor seal numbers in Disenchantment Bay with those of Icy Bay, a nearby glacial fjord with similar natural characteristics. The only major difference between the two bays is that cruise ships do not visit Icy Bay, Jansen said.
Icy and Disenchantment Bays started out with roughly the same number of seals in May, between 1,000 and 1,500, Jansen said. The study found that seal populations in Icy Bay increased from May to August, while in Disenchantment Bay, they peaked in June and then declined slightly. Icy Bay ended the summer with 5,400 seals while Disenchantment Bay had only 1,800.
Whether the seals are leaving Disenchantment Bay and heading to Icy Bay is unknown because scientists have yet to track the movements of individual seals with radio transmitters. Hopefully that will be the next phase of the research, Jansen said.
With the increase in cruise ships in Disenchantment Bay since the 1970s, the Tlingits have become concerned about whether ships are disturbing the seals, especially during pupping season in May and June.
"We feel strongly that they do affect the seals during those months," said tribal member Bert Adams Sr., a charter captain and former president of Yakutat's tribal council.
"The local people are saying that the seals are moving from Disenchantment Bay to Icy Bay because there is less disturbance there," Adams said.

http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2006/03/28/study_cruise_ships_distress_harbor_seals/


New Zealand Herald

Powerful cyclone threatens Western Australia coast
29.03.06 1.00pm
CANBERRA - A powerful cyclone with winds of up to 300 kph menaced northern parts of Western Australia today, less than two weeks after a cyclone devastated houses and farms on the other side of the country.
Some oil and gas operations were shut ahead of the arrival of Cyclone Glenda in an area known as "cyclone alley" because it is regularly swept by tropical storms at this time of year.
The storm, ranked in the most powerful grade for cyclones, category five, was about 380km north/northeast of the town of Port Hedland and moving slowly south along the coast, said forecaster Adam Conroy from the Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre in Perth, the capital of Western Australia.
"Tomorrow's really the day where things could happen," he said.
The remote Pilbara region under threat is home to around 10,000 people and includes Woodside Petroleum's A$14 ($16.55) billion North West Shelf liquefied natural gas (LNG) project at Karratha, about 700km north of Perth.
Oil and gas producer Santos Ltd. shut its 40,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Mutineer-Exeter oil field on Monday and BHP Billiton's 10,600 bpd Griffin oil field has been closed since Saturday, because of the threat from a smaller storm.
Mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto both have operations in the Pilbara, which is home to large deposits of iron ore.
Australia's northeastern coast was devastated by another category five storm, Cyclone Larry, last week.
It ripped roofs off houses, uprooted trees and decimated sugar and banana crops, causing damage worth up to A$1.5 billion.
BHP Billiton said its operations had not yet been affected by Cyclone Glenda.
Rio Tinto was not immediately available for comment, but said on Tuesday bad weather meant the company would fall 5 million tonnes short of its first-quarter iron ore output target.
It still expected 2006 output to rise 14 per cent on last year's 158 million tonnes.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10375018


New Orleans to be emptied for next storm
29.03.06 1.20pm
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana - Everyone in New Orleans must evacuate the low-lying city the next time a hurricane threatens and no shelters will be offered for those who stay, officials said on Tuesday.
Hoping to avoid a repeat of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina when thousands struggled to survive after ignoring evacuation orders, they said planes, trains and buses would be used to move people out and the Superdome football stadium would not be open for refuge.
"Today the population stands around 200,000 to 225,000 people in New Orleans," said Orleans Parish Homeland Security Advisor Terry Ebbert. "Our goal is to ensure that we create an environment where it makes more sense to leave than to stay,"
"We want all 225,000 people to get out of the city," he said. Before Katrina, New Orleans had nearly half a million residents, but many who fled the storm have not returned.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10375026


NZ 'must play world role' on climate change
29.03.06 1.00pm
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said New Zealand has a significant role to play in persuading other governments to tackle global warming.
He said by video link from Auckland to a conference in Wellington today that the country could be an agent for change.
Mr Blair said: "There's a lot that can be done from countries like New Zealand to give a signal to the rest of the world."
It could persuade others to adopt reasonable policies for sustainability, he told the climate change and governance conference at Te Papa.
Mr Blair, who is in New Zealand on a 24-hour visit, said the pressure must be kept on governments to address climate change whether or not they are signatories to the Kyoto Protocol Agreement.
Ordinary people could also put the onus on governments to take action, he said.
"One of the things you and other people can do is keep up the pressure... there are going to be some difficult decisions for government".

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10375034


Jury returns to ask judge question in police rape case
29.03.06 6.25pm
Two hours into deliberations the jury in the historic police rape case, came out of the jury room to ask whether police officers owned their own uniforms.
The jury of seven women and five men retired at 1pm today to decide verdicts on Assistant Police Commissioner Clint Rickards, 45, and former policemen Brad Shipton, 47, and Bob Schollum, 53.
The men face twenty charges of rape, indecent assault and sexual violation against Louise Nicholas.
Judge Tony Randerson answered the jurors by directing them to sections of the 300 page transcript of evidence from the three week trial.
Mrs Nicholas alleges Rickards and Shipton visited her at her Corlett Street flat in Rotorua, between six to 12 times in the mid 1980s for sexual intercourse and oral sex without her consent.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10375060


US agrees to release Abu Ghraib pictures
29.03.06 5.20pm
NEW YORK - The Defence Department on Tuesday agreed to release 74 photos and three videos -- many that have already been published -- that depict prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib and were sought by civil rights groups.
The Defence Department had appealed an order by US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein that said the government must release photos provided by Sgt. Joseph Darby, whose photos set off the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal.
After initially arguing the publication of the images could incite more violence in Iraq, the government withdrew their appeal and promised to release the images within seven days of the court's approval.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10375040



Bush wants Al-Jaafari to be replaced as Iraqi PM
29.03.06 1.00pm
By Patrick Cockburn
ARBIL - President George W Bush has made clear that he does not want Ibrahim al-Jaafari to remain prime minister of Iraq in a move likely to increase hostility between the US and the Shia community.
Mr Bush has written to the Shi'ite leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the head of the Shi'ite Alliance asking him to nominate somebody else for the post.
"The Americans are very firm about this," said a senior official.
"They don't want Jaafari at any price."
Friction between the Americans and Shia, who make up 60 per cent of Iraq's 27 million population, escalated sharply after at least 16 Shi'ites were killed in the al-Mustafa mosque by Iraqi and American Special Forces on Sunday night.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10375002


West softens UN draft on Iran
29.03.06 1.00pm
UNITED NATIONS - Western powers have watered down a draft UN Security Council on reining in Iran's nuclear ambitions but still called on Tehran to suspend uranium-enrichment efforts that could be used to make a bomb.
The text was distributed to the full UN Security Council by Britain and France, who drafted the compromise document supported by the United States.
The three Western nations hope to convince Russia and China to agree on the document on Wednesday, a day before their foreign ministers meet in Berlin on strategy towards Iran.
But Russia, which has the toughest position, and China, have not signed on to all points in the new Security Council draft so the West's self-imposed deadline may not be met.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10375033


Solar eclipse draws tourists to Libya
29.03.06 10.20am
TRIPOLI - Thousands of Western visitors are flooding into Libya to view a solar eclipse due on Wednesday in the largest tourist event ever held in the long-isolated north African country, officials said.
The big oil exporting country hopes the influx of foreigners to remote viewing stations in its spectacular desert outback will boost a fledgling tourist industry that is anticipating a boom as a thaw in ties with the West erodes years of isolation.
Deputy Tourism Minister Arebi Mazoz told Reuters Libya had issued visas to 7,000 tourists from 53 nationalities, as well as a number of scientists from the US National Aeronautics Space Administration who would help Libyan experts study the eclipse.
Ahmed Aziz, head of the tourism ministry's information department, said it would be the largest and biggest event in the history of Libyan tourism.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10375007


Kenyan government tries to block corruption report
29.03.06 12.20pm
NAIROBI - The Kenyan government moved on Tuesday to block a report to parliament on a multimillion dollar corruption scandal that has forced two ministers to resign.
The scandal has damaged the ruling coalition government of President Mwai Kibaki, which swept to power in 2002 vowing to fight corruption plaguing east Africa's biggest economy.
The report on a scam in which state contracts worth some US$200 million went to a fictitious firm was to be presented on Tuesday to parliament by Uhuru Kenyatta, who is chairman of a parliamentary watchdog committee and the opposition leader.
But Internal Security Assistant Minister Mirugi Kariuki said a similar report had been presented last year and rejected by the assembly so the matter could not be debated.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10374988



Afghan Christian convert is released
29.03.06 8.30am
KABUL - An Afghan Christian convert who faced a possible death sentence for denying Islam has been freed after a chorus of Western pleas that his religious freedom be respected, the Afghan justice minister said today.
Abdur Rahman, 40, was jailed this month for abandoning his faith. Judicial officials said he could have faced trial under Islamic sharia law stipulating death as punishment for apostasy.
"I can confirm that he was released," said Justice Minister Sarwar Danish. "He is not in detention. I do not know if he is with his family or where, but he has been acquitted."
Danish said he could not comment on the legal grounds for Rahman's release.
Earlier a senior judicial official said that Rahman had been moved from Kabul's main prison to a medical facility but was still in the custody of judicial authorities and would undergo psychiatric tests.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10374986



Schroeder to sell Russia to West, says report
29.03.06
MOSCOW - Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is offering to help the Kremlin set up a lobby firm to improve Russia's image in the West, the Kommersant newspaper said.
Schroeder, under fire at home for business ties with Russia that he established soon after leaving office, is visiting Moscow this week and plans to set out his idea at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin.
The former Chancellor will propose that Russian companies fund the lobby firm, which would be based in Germany. He has suggested that former German Defence Minister Volker Ruehe head the firm.
Kommersant did not reveal the source of its information. It was not immediately possible to verify the report.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10374892



Greece busts Bulgarian baby trafficking ring
29.03.06 11.20am
ATHENS - Greek police have arrested 10 people in the act of selling a 20-day old Bulgarian girl to a Greek couple, the third such baby-trafficking ring busted this month, officials said on Tuesday.
Police detained six Bulgarians and four Greeks, including the couple, in a central Athens park, where the couple was about to pay around 15,000 euro ($30,229.74) for the infant.
The arrests come as Bulgaria, Greece's poor northern neighbour, struggles to prove it is ready to join the European Union next January by cracking down on human trafficking and other types of organised crime.
Among those detained was a Greek lawyer who would provide the Greek couple documents showing they had legally adopted the girl, police said.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10375005



Tasteless tourism threatens image of beautiful Barcelona
29.03.06
By Elizabeth Nash
MADRID - Catalonia is planning a summer crackdown on rowdy visitors from northern Europe, alarmed that Barcelona's architectural landmarks and Costa Brava resorts are gaining an unsavoury reputation as "booze and babes" playgrounds.
Barcelona, long a magnet for Europeans for its beauty, its cuisine and its free-and-easy Mediterranean lifestyle, has become a favourite destination for hard-drinking stag and hen-night crowds and graduation parties.
Last summer British, German and Dutch tourists invaded Catalonia's beach resorts and handsome urban squares, and outraged locals with their noisy, all-night partying, promiscuity and vomiting in Gothic passageways and Art Nouveau doorsteps.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10374886



Mammoth Vegas spread is world's larget buffet
29.03.06 2.20pm
LAS VEGAS - Even in this over-the-top town famed for all-you-can-eat spreads, nobody had ever seen one quite like this: Forty soups, 100 salads and 150 desserts perched upon a 152m maze of tables.
It was enough - 510 different dishes in all - to qualify on Tuesday for a Guinness record for the World's Largest Buffet.
"I'm interested in trying some of the desserts now," said tired and hungry Guinness official Nadine Causey, who flew in from London to certify that Las Vegas Hilton Executive Chef George Bargisen had assembled at least 500 unique offerings to create the new record buffet.
Bargisen spent 24 hours straight overseeing the mammoth spread, which included dishes from a dozen ethnic cuisines and offered everything from salmon Wellington to fried alligator, and from pumpkin pie to baklava and pistachio truffles.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10375024

continued …

Stone Martin at the Dresden, Germany

Blooms at the Zoo.

Elephants at the Oregon Zoo

Morning Papers - continued

Zoos

Taiwan agonizes over embracing a gift from China of its most precious weapon
Mark Magnier, Los Angeles Times
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Wolong Nature Reserve , China -- Taiwan and China quibble about everything from diplomatic slights and hidden meanings to ancient history and obscure definitions. So perhaps it's not surprising that they'd argue over two chubby animals that bite each other's ears and have trouble procreating.
China's latest weapon in its increasingly effective charm offensive against Taiwan is an offer of giant pandas. Who would think of turning down two lovable animals that zoos around the world could only dream about, you might ask?
The government of archrival Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian, for one, which finds itself tied in knots over the offer. Let one panda's nose in the tent, Chen and his allies fear, and you buy into Beijing's claim that Taiwan is part of China, a pill impossible to swallow for the pro-independence government on the island.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/03/26/MNGJ9HSCC61.DTL


Procedures reviewed after lion incident at zoo
By Brent Killackey
RACINE - When it comes to cats - especially large cats like lions - don't expect them to move when you want them to.
It took more than six hours Thursday to lure Elsa, a 1-year-old African lioness, far enough into an outdoor exhibit so that zoo employees could safety close a 4-by-4-foot metal door between the off-exhibit lion's den and the animal care staff's secure work area.
Discovery of that open door - and the potential that Elsa could get into that secure work area - prompted the evacuation of the zoo about 11:30 a.m. Thursday.
Zoo employees tried scaring Elsa further into the outdoor exhibit by shooting a fire extinguisher under another door, but apparently she
wasn't close enough to care. And she wasn't immediately tempted by food in the outdoor exhibit because she had eaten a big breakfast.

http://www.journaltimes.com/articles/2006/03/25/local/iq_3969175.txt



Presto! A School for Magic Creates Hope Out of Thin Air
By MICHAEL WINES
KHAYELITSHA, South Africa — Life is hard for the 750,000 or so people crammed into this shantytown, one of South Africa's largest and toughest. In the last census, in 2001, 6 in 10 adults here said they had no steady income. What little money they have tends to vanish quickly, spent on essentials or stolen in the break-ins and robberies that are endemic here.
The way Phumile Dyasi makes money vanish is rather less common.
"I want to show you this coin," he said one recent afternoon, standing in the tiny parlor of his family's plank-and-tar paper shack. He held out a copper disc. "Now, blow on it," he said. A visitor obliged, and the coin disappeared. Only Phumile's sly grin remained.
For six years, 16-year-old Phumile has studied prestidigitation at College of Magic in Cape Town, a sort of kindergarten-to-baccalaureate institution for aspiring conjurers. Making coins disappear is the least of the tricks he has picked up.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/27/international/africa/27khayelitsha.html?ei=5070&en=17c3bd17509a6dda&ex=1144126800&emc=eta1&pagewanted=print



Patna zoo abuzz with 'Ramdev effect'
Anupama Sharan
[ Monday, March 27, 2006 01:43:36 am
TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates
PATNA: The "Ramdev effect"is undeniably here - one can see it manifest even in the Patna zoo referred to as the "lungs of the city".
What a sight it is! People from all strata shuffle on at various paces rubbing their nails together in anticipation of the miraculous blackening of grey hair. There are others who sit doing other yoga steps along with multiple groups clapping together.
Motivation in the youth is electric. They are "walking"the talk of Ramdev - his postures and his posturings. They appear to be in the grip of Ramdev fever.
Says one gangling youth to his grinning comrades, "Ka to bolta hai ki baal kala ho jayega. Ab tak to sab rishi-muni ke ujjale baal dekhte-sunte aaye hain.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1465120.cms



I am Mr Lonely...
Kavitha Sreekumar
[ Sunday, March 26, 2006 10:31:30 pm
TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates
Lonesome and sans companion, residents of the Hyderabad zoo have been hit hard as exchange programmes designed to find them mates have fallen through.
A multi-coloured macaw, Sun Conure, is not as happy as the colours of his plumes. "He is an unhappy bird without a mate,"says Rajan Kumar, the keeper of bird enclosures in the Nehru Zoological Park.
His friend was to come all the way from Prague, Czech Republic, last month but as V Kishen, director, Nehru Zoological Park, explains, "It took months of correspondence to organise it. The plan was for us to send the zoo in Prague three pairs of painted storks and four pairs of star tortoises in exchange for five macaws and a pair of Greater Rhea, an ostrich-like bird from South America but the dispatched shipment was sent back to the Czech Republic because of bird flu."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1464899.cms



Conservation Celebration at Zoo
March 25, 2006, 03:55 PM EST
A conservation celebration took place Saturday at Mesker Park Zoo.
Home Depot was on hand to help kids construct wooden birdhouses to take home. And a team from World Bird Sanctuary highlighted the event with a bird show. The show featured several birds, including eagles and hawks.
Coordinators hope the celebration will educate participants to preserve the earth's biological diversity and secure the future of threatened animals.
Marketing director Charlotte Roesner states, "One of the things in the zoo's mission statement is to promote conservation; that's why we are holding this event. We are also going to hand everyone a conservation scavenger hunt when they walk through the door; it will tell them about endangered species, and a list of things they can do to preserve the environment."

http://www.14wfie.com/Global/story.asp?S=4681431&nav=3w6o



The great Blue Peter badge scandal
By Joanna Bale
How winners of the famous prize for achievements are flogging them online to greedy parents
FOR almost 50 years the Blue Peter badge has been coveted by generations of middle-class children as an emblem of hard work and achievement. The tiny piece of enamel with its distinctive ship logo has inspired thousands to help worthy causes, write letters, stories and poems and paint pictures to send in to the BBC children’s programme.
But now it has fallen victim to unscrupulous eBay sellers, with some openly bragging that holders get free entry to more than 100 attractions, including London Zoo, Madame Tussaud’s, Legoland Windsor and the Eden Project. Cheating parents will pay up to £30 a badge to save money on family trips.
Edinburgh Zoo is losing so much money to the ruse that it is about to become the first attraction to end free entry for badgeholders. A spokesman said yesterday: “We are surprised and disappointed to find out these badges are being sold on eBay. As a result we are looking at discontinuing our free admission offer, which is a shame for those who did genuinely earn the badge.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2105542,00.html



Deficit may affect zoo, Lansing jobs
By ADAM LARK
The State News
The future of Potter Park Zoo and the regional make-up of Ingham County's fire department dispatch response could be in limbo with Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero's budget plan.
Bernero will present those ideas and a list of 40 budget proposals to quell Lansing's $11 million deficit at 7 p.m. today at the Lansing City Council meeting on the 10th floor of City Hall, 124 W. Michigan Ave.
Regionalizing or combining fire service calls to cut public service costs and the possibility of raising fees and selling control of the Potter Park Zoo to Ingham County are a few of the issues that could affect East Lansing residents.
Also mentioned in the list of Bernero's budget proposals are the elimination of some full-time city positions and funding cuts in the city's road and sidewalk repair.
Lansing's Waverly and Red Cedar golf courses could also be closed, saving the city about $278,000 in subsidies.

http://www.statenews.com/article.phtml?pk=35438



Indian zookeepers mourn 250-year-old Aldabra giant tortoise
27.03.06
Kolkata zookeepers are in mourning following the death of a 250-year-old Aldabra giant tortoise.
Brought to Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) during the rule of the British East India Company, the tortoise was a gift presented to administrator Robert Clive by British sailors travelling to the port from Seychelles in 1875.
Kolkata Zoo director Subir Chowdhury is quoted by the AFP news agency as saying that the tortoise had passed away following a string of illnesses.
The giant tortoise was one of several presented to Clive, but was the only one to survive for any length of time after the journey, earning himself the name "Adwaitya" meaning the only one.
"Our records show the tortoise was born in 1750, but some have claimed he was born in 1705," said Mr Chowdhury, adding that the zoo will use a scientific method known as carbon-dating to determine his real age.
"His shell will be preserved in the zoo. All zoo employees are saddened by his death."
The oldest known torti zean in Seychelles is Bird Island's Esmeralda, for which records go back to 1856 and, according to unreliable folklore accounts, could possibly have made his way to the island from the wreck of the Hirondel in 1808.

http://www.nation.sc/index1024.php?art=5742



Roaring 1st B-day: No cake, please; zoo tigers fight for meat
By Susan Vela
Lansing State Journal
What a wild, thrilling feast it was!
Potter Park Zoo threw a birthday party Sunday for its three Amur tiger cubs - Zakhar, Kumara and Mishka - and the 1-year-old felines literally pounced on their gifts.
With predatory growls and extended claws, the cubs tore into a special birthday meal: deer-shaped pinatas stuffed with horse meat.
"It was really cool," said Sean Ketner, 11, of Okemos. "They ran in there and (tore) it apart."
The cubs are the first born at the zoo since 1992. They have evolved from 2-pound cuddly bundles to aggressive cats weighing 128 to 142 pounds.

http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060327/NEWS01/603270338/1001/news


Who Will Run the Zoo?
Tony Tagliavia
The new tiger cubs at Lansing's Potter Park Zoo are celebrating their first birthday Sunday.
By the time they their second comes around, the zoo could be a very different place.
"From what I've seen, we would have to get rid of probably a quarter of our animals," Potter Park Zoological Society Executive Director Diane McNeil said.
That is if Lansing doesn't find a 'new' way to fund the park that's functioned as a zoo for more than 85 years.
Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero has proposed finding a new funding source for the zoo -- namely, Ingham County.
Some county commissioners appear receptive to the idea of the county taking over funding.

http://www.wilx.com/news/headlines/2526071.html



Zoo to ape life in the jungle
GARETH EDWARDS
A TROPICAL forest complete with waterfalls and exotic plants will be created at Edinburgh Zoo as part of a £5.6 million chimpanzee centre.
Plans for the Budongo Life Science Centre, the first part of the zoo's 20-year masterplan, show that designers want to mimic a tropical forest research station to immerse visitors in the natural environment of the animals.
Water features, including waterfalls, will be created around the centre, while inside the building will be decorated with the kind of plants and trees found in the chimps' native habitat.
Work on the centre, which will be a world first, is set to start later this year subject to planning permission. It is part of the Tropical Forest biome, one of four themed areas which will be created in the zoo under the ambitious masterplan.

http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=474702006


Land swap an option for zoo expansion
Under the plan, a park would be built north of Blank Park Zoo after it expands east to Fort Des Moines Park.
JOSE DE JESUS
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
March 27, 2006
A group of south-side business owners and residents is willing to endorse a plan to expand Blank Park Zoo east into Fort Des Moines Park only if zoo officials yield the vacant land they own to the north, a partnership member says.
The 18 tax-exempt acres north of the zoo, donated by West Des Moines developer Bill Knapp, are worth about $2 million, said Terry Rich, head of the Blank Park Zoo Foundation.
Rich has been lobbying for public support to expand the zoo, 7401 S.W. Ninth St., and convert it into one of the region's top tourist attractions. He said he would consider all proposals on the table - including one by the South Side Revitalization Partnership - if it would ultimately lead to the expansion of the zoo.
"(The) bottom line is we are interested in making sure the zoo survives for many, many years to come," Rich said.

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060327/NEWS08/603280329/1010



Glad You Asked - Denuding of foliage at the zoo; When wil 'Commander In Chief' return?; More used cell phone questions
By Chris Bennett
Why have they cut down so many trees and shrubs along the North Beach lakefront, particularly behind the zoo? Michael Burke wrote about this issue in early February, but the issue keeps arising in questions to GYA. It's understandable - it's hard to miss the cutting of trees.
From the Root River northward and then west, Racine is extending the Lake Michigan Pathway, a multi-use trail for biking, walking, rollerblading and more.
When completed later this year, the work will extend the Lake Michigan Pathway so it stretches from Chicory Road to 3 Mile Road. It will help form a complete northern bike trail loop, just as the south side has a complete loop.
Eighty percent of its cost comes from a federal congestion, mitigation and air quality grant. That program, funded through the federal gas tax, is designed for just such strategies to make it easier to leave the car in the garage.
A second goal of the project is shore protection. As the city is having the pathway extended, it is also stabilizing the lake bluffs, especially near Goold Street and the Racine Zoo's south end. There, the railroad timbers once put in place to try to hold the hillside in place have been sliding downhill. Atop that hill sits a storm sewer.
To stabilize the hillside, it will be built outward to create a gentler slope. That's the reason for all the clear-cutting that began in October. The existing vegetation would be buried anyway.
Once the hill has been built up to its new slope and the bike trail is in place, the bare areas will be replanted. The city has ordered more than 13,600 plants: a combination of evergreen and deciduous ornamental trees, shrubs and native grasses.
And the stairway leading down to Zoo Beach will be rebuilt with switchbacks and observation decks. Water quality should also improve - Kewaunee Street, which used to head down to the lakefront, will be closed off. That will keep street pollutants from rushing down that avenue to the lake. And new traffic patterns created by the closure of Kewaunee and Hoffert streets should be less confusing.
The new bike trail will also be lighted throughout and should improve security along the lakefront.
The project should be finished in August.
What happened to the show on Tuesdays called "Commander In-Chief"? It will return to ABCs lineup on April 18 in an episode entitled "Tricky Dicks."
A synopsis for the episode at http://www.abc.com reads as follows: "While out solo at a reception as Mac works on her upcoming State of the Union Address, Rod seemingly has too much to drink and winds up in a compromising position with an internŠ with cameras flashing. An incriminating photo ends up on the cover of the papers the next day, humiliating an incredulous Mac and threatening to publicly and politically damage her image. Meanwhile, Templeton sets out to sabotage Mac's Homeless Initiative Bill, forcing her to play political hardball in return. And Dickie and Jayne - who is now back as Templeton's chief of staff - go to dinner in an effort to pick the other adversary's brain, and end up spending the night together."
I don't watch the show and know nothing of those plot clues, but I hope you die-hards enjoy the show's return.
According to the Web site http://www.Zap2it.com, a must for any TV aficionado, Geena Davis' drama, in which she plays the president of these United States, took a break to iron out some creative changes. The show opened in fall 2005 to robust ratings and slipped shortly after the start of the year.
Veteran TV producer Steven Bochco ("NYPD Blue") took over from series creator Rod Lurie shortly before the holidays, and all involved in the show - including the network's executives - want everything squared away before renewal decisions for next season are made.
Where can a person get rid of an unwanted cell phone? We offered an incomplete answer to this question in Thursday's GYA.
Test stations for the Wisconsin Vehicle Inspection Program test stations accept used cell phones and give you a $5 long distance calling card in exchange.
Racine's emissions testing station is at 1913 Melvin Ave. Burlington's is at 800 Krift St. and Kenosha's is at 5910 77th St.
For more information, visit: http://www.wivip.com However, I still encourage you to ask your neighbor or friend what they do with their old cell phones. I guarantee someone you know is holding a drive to collect old cell phones, and your used and unwanted phone might benefit a worthy cause.
What is Glad You Asked?
Glad You Asked finds answers to the questions that keep you up at night. Don't lose sleep. Send your questions to at ask@journaltimes.com or call (262) 631-1758.

http://www.journaltimes.com/articles/2006/03/27/local/columns/iq_3969126.txt



New at the Zoo
Bigger hospital means better care for animals; education center means study opportunities for you
BY JIM KNIPPENBERG ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden is approaching the home stretch of the first phase of an unprecedented building boom that will forever change the face of the 130-year-old institution.
It's a boom that will mean better animal care, more extensive research and a major boost of community involvement in zoo projects and conservation efforts.
"This year is seeing the most capital improvements at any one time in the zoo's history," said zoo president Gregg Hudson. He's referring to more than $12 million in projects, including a $4 million hospital to open early May, and an $8.4 million education center that will be ready in September. Both projects began last fall and are on schedule.

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060327/LIFE/603270310/-1/CINCI



Here’s our shameful human zoo
Tonio Borg has finally decided to let journalists visit parts of the immigrants’ detention centres for the first time on a staged media tour, a day before a European Parliament delegation inspection. For Karl Schembri, it was a glimpse at brooding insanity
As we descended from our coach, the black hands and desperate eyes behind the iron bars became more visible.
With the cameras filming and tape recorders switched on, the troupe of journalists watched silently as more and more of the 90 immigrants crammed in the building called Block B, built by the British at the Safi Barracks, came out of their rooms to face us.
A couple of feet away, separated by rusty gates and fences and with somewhat ambivalent instructions from the army “to talk but not to interview” them, some of the men on the other side started banging on the iron rods.
“We need to speak to you,” one of them started shouting with others soon joining in. “We’re going crazy in here.”
“Can we talk to them?” one journalist asked Lt. Col. Brian Gatt, the commander in charge of the Detention Services Unit.

http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2006/03/26/t14.html



Tropical waterfall for city zoo
A new chimpanzee enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo is to be fitted with a tropical forest, waterfalls and exotic plants.
Water features will be created around the centre while inside will be transformed to recreate the chimps' native habitat.
Work on the Budongo Life Science Centre will start later this year, subject to planning permission.
The new centre is being built as the first part of a 20-year masterplan for the site.
The visitors will be invited to discover a lot more about the chimpanzees in the zoo and our work with wild chimpanzees in the Budongo Forest with our new interactive displays
Mairi Rosko
Edinburgh Zoo
Mairi Rosko, head of development at Edinburgh Zoo, said: "Budongo will be a truly unique exhibit combining elements to suit both animal and visitor.
"With large naturalistic habitats, the chimpanzees will not only be able to roam between areas at their leisure, but also be encouraged to concentrate on specially designed enrichment activities.
"The visitors will be invited to discover a lot more about the chimpanzees in the zoo and our work with wild chimpanzees in the Budongo Forest with our new interactive displays.
"The large windows will also provide a better opportunity for our visitors to observe the natural behaviour of these intelligent apes first-hand."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4850658.stm



Adwaita’s death reveals loopholes in zoological gardens
Rats fed on the tortoise’s blood and meat when the lower right side of its shell cracked last December.
Express News Service
Kolkata, March 27: The Alipore Zoo authorities may have given its recently deceased oldest member a fitting tribute, but the condolence meeting held in honour of Adwaita, revealed some appalling truths about the glaring loopholes in the health and management infrastructure of the zoological gardens.
Adwaita, the aldabra giant tortoise, died of hepato renal failure, but records reveal that it suffered from a more serious injury in the month of December. And what is even more deplorable is that before the injury was totally healed, rats fed on the old tortoise’s blood.
“The lower right side of Adwaita’s shell cracked on December 17. The reason was old age. But before the zoo doctors could mend that wound, rats invaded the senile tortoise’s cage and fed on its blood and meat. But in due time, it was shifted to another cage which was amply sealed and protected from such alien attack. Though doctors managed to heal the wound, it is a fact that the infrastructure of the zoo has to be bettered to avoid such grim incidents,” said Dr Shivaji Bhattacharya, one of the doctor-members of the health and management committee for animals under captivity.
“The zoo has to be spruced up further. Adwaita’s sad demise has made us realise that,” said Dr Bhattacharya.
Adwaita’s shell will be preserved and exhibited by the zoo authorities in the near future. In the condolence meeting it also came to the limelight that the area of treatment and protection of animals need more attention. “Visitors flout rules and feed the wild animals with outside food. This has to be checked,” he said.
There were two more such tortoises in the zoo, but Adwaita was the last of its clan who died at such a ripe age of 260. “However, that the medical authorities did a commendable job can be had from the fact that Adwaita never suffered from any critical illness,” said Dr Subir Choudhuri, director of the zoo.
Adwaita passed away in the morning of March 22. It did not suffer from any illness, but when the caretaker went to feed him in the morning, he found it dead. It died of liver and kidney failure. The zoo authorities feel that Adwaita’s death is a great loss for them and replacing such an animal will be an almost impossible task.



Zoo levies on May ballot
How much do you love your zoo?
March 27, 2006 - Two levies will be on the primary ballot.
The spring primary election is five weeks from tomorrow. The Toledo Zoo will be on the ballot with two levies. One is for capital improvements and the other one for operations.
Spokesperson Andi Norman explains, "The operating levy, those funds go to help pay for personnel costs, care and feeding of the animals, maintenance, utilities, those types of expenses."
The capital levy would finance some big changes for the growing addition, Baby Louie, who isn't much of a baby any more. The African elephant turns three next month and he is still gaining two pounds a day. At this rate, zookeepers say Louie will soon outgrow the elephant facility. "The facility we have is not large enough or strong enough to house Louie."

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/story?section=local&id=4030064



Animal lovers condole death of world's oldest tortoise
Kolkata, Mar 27: Animal lovers and zoologists today held a solemn condolence meeting for the over 250-year old aldabra tortoise Adwaitya, which died in the zoo here on March 22, besides discussing the management and healthcare of animals in captivity.
Employees of the Alipore Zoo shared nuggets of information on aldabra tortoises -- their habitat, food habits and diseases, at the meeting.
Adwaitya, whose shell has been preserved by the zoo authorities, was at the centre of discussions as officials from the management committee of the zoo, Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) veterinarians talked on the life of animals in captivity.
Considered the world's oldest living tortoise, Adwaitya died after a liver failure leaving zoologists to wonder about his actual age.
According to records, four tortoises were brought to Calcutta by British seafarers from Seychelles, known for its giant tortoises, and presented to Lord Robert Clive.
While three of them died as the new environment did not suit them, Addwaita ruled the Latbagan estate of Clive in north Calcutta till he was gifted to the zoo in 1875.
No one knows, how old the tortoise, the biggest crowd puller of the zoo, was when he was brought here. His approximate recorded age was somewhere between 250 to 260 years.

http://www.newkerala.com/news2.php?action=fullnews&id=32371



Phanatic turns 'red' at Philly Zoo
Mascot dunked in paint as part of 'Paint the Town Red'
By Andy Jasner / Special to MLB.com
PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies couldn't have picked a more fitting way to begin their week-long "Paint The Town Red" celebration.
During the first event held on Monday on the Impala Lawn at the Philadelphia Zoo, the Phillie Phanatic took his shirt off, put on a pair of goggles and was hoisted on a crane, courtesy of Crane Manufacturing, and dunked into a huge red can of MAB paint. The Phanatic Safe Formula turned the green mascot into a shade of bright cheery red.
"Daddy, he looks different," one boy said.
"Different is good, because it will be good luck," the boy's father responded.

http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060327&content_id=1364339&vkey=news_phi&fext=.jsp&c_id=phi


Zoo update
New director has ambitious agenda
In discussing his outlook for the future of the Binghamton Zoo at Ross Park, new Executive Director Michael J. Janis used the term "ReZoovenation." We like the sound of that. It's exactly what the historic zoo needs to survive.
Janis has been in his post but a few months and already he has adopted an aggressive, progressive agenda. That involves pursuing both the big and little pictures. For example, Janis' efforts to attract lapsed zoo members has brought in about 70 renewals worth $10,000. "And that's before we opened," he said. "These members were members who were just not being asked to renew their memberships."
Architect Mies van der Rohe was right when he said "God is in the details." Before launching elaborate plans for a futuristic Binghamton Zoo, it's important to show some restraint and take care of such details as membership to build a sturdy foundation. Janis appears to be taking that tack already. Exhibits are being repaired and restored. New animals are being added to the collection. The Web site has been revamped with current news, animal collection list and a calendar of upcoming events. And Janis is eyeing the whole campus for development.

http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060328/OPINION/603280317/1005


Big Noise at the Zoo
The Assiniboine Park Zoo has welcomed its newest inhabitants -- four baby crested screamers.
"They're really unusual birds," said curator Dr. Bob Wrigley. "The neatest thing about them is they're in the waterfowl family even though they don't look anything like a duck or a goose. But their goslings look just like Canada geese."
Crested screamers are found in South America and have sharp spurs under their wings for protection against predators. Their name stems from the Mohawk-like feathers that develop on their backs of their heads and their piercing shriek.
"You get 50 screamers calling at the same time and it's absolutely deafening," said curator Bob Wrigley. "Thankfully we only have four adults in here."
The zoo has successfully raised fledgling crested screamers before but Wrigley said it's no easy task.
"They're not so difficult to breed but very difficult to raise," he said. "We're lucky if we get one in four babies to adult size."
The only other babies born at the zoo this year are some Eurasian red squirrels, which the public won't be able to see for about a month. The zoo acquired its adult squirrels -- the only Eurasian red squirrels in North America outside of Fargo, N.D. -- last year.
Wrigley said the zoo definitely sees a jump in attendance when baby animals are born.
"Everyone loves babies. Having babies is a very important part of the lifecycle of animals so we try to let as many breed as possible," said Wrigley. "The challenge for me as a curator is to find good homes for all the offspring because generally we're all filled up with animals."

http://winnipegsun.com/News/Winnipeg/2006/03/28/1508698-sun.html



BBC tries to stop Ebay trade in fake Blue Peter badges
By Anil Dawar
It has been one of the most coveted prizes in children's television for nearly half a century.
The distinctive Blue Peter badge, awarded to youngsters in recognition of their charitable work or artistic efforts, is so highly esteemed that holders can get free entry to many tourist attractions.
A genuine Blue Peter badge
But what was a symbol of hard work and dedication has been sullied by dealers who are selling fake versions so parents can save money on family days out.
The BBC and Ebay, the online auction house, have joined forces to stamp out the illegal trade in pirated Blue Peter badges.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/03/28/nbadge28.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/03/28/ixhome.html



News crew goes wild about zoo's nursery
IMAGES of this group of Blackpool toddlers will be beamed across the Atlantic.
America's biggest news network NBC was at Blackpool Zoo's "A to Zoo" Nursery after the opening of the new facility was reported in The Gazette.
NBC correspondent Dawna Friesen said: "We read about this story in our office and thought it was worth covering because you can't go wrong with children and animals in the same story.
"The idea of putting a nursery at a zoo, with all the extra
educational advantages that could bring, seems so natural and yet here they are the first to do it.
"I think thousands of children would love the opportunity to go to a nursery like this. I have a 14-month-old son and he would be thrilled if he came here."
The nursery, which is situated just yards from the elephant sanctuary, opened in January.
Bosses at the attraction came up with the idea following a telephone call from neighbouring Blackpool Victoria Hospital, which said its own nursery was full and another facility was needed nearby.
In just six months, the former back offices at the zoo were transformed into a state-of-the-art facility which can cater for up to 66 children, aged from three months to four years.

http://www.blackpoolonline.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=62&ArticleID=1406117



New 'Code of Conduct' for Salisbury's Parks and Zoo
03/28/2006
SALISBURY- The Salisbury City Council on Monday night voted for new rules visitors to the city's parks and zoo.
The council agreed to a new "code of conduct" that will go into effect for the city's parks, playgrounds and the Salisbury Zoo.
Salisbury Public Works Director John Jacobs said the rules will allow city officials to warn and kick out people who threaten others or misbehave.
"An example at the city park is we frequently have kids in the summer playing in the water fountain," Jacobs said. "We think that is not appropriate and it's not safe."
City officials say the new code does not single out any particular person.
However, web bloggers have recently been posting pictures from inside the zoo. Some officials have accused the bloggers of harassment.

http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=4690779&nav=MXEF


Rising river threatens Prague
Tue Mar 28, 2006 5:34 PM GMT
PRAGUE (Reuters) - Authorities reinforced the main river in Prague on Tuesday as rising waters threatened to flood low-lying parts of the historic city, including its zoo.
Barriers were erected to prevent water spilling into streets, and metal walls will be erected at the mediaeval Kampa district below the 14th century Charles Bridge.
"It is necessary to secure this part of the city as soon as possible due to the growing water flow in the Vltava river in Prague," Prague City Council said in a statement.
Rivers across the central European country were rising fast due to rain and unusually warm weather which melted deep snow which fell over the winter.
An operator at the Vltava river management firm Povodi Vltavy said the water flowing into Prague was three times the average for spring, and estimated it could rise by another about 75 percent in the coming days. Weather forecasters said there would be more rain throughout the week.
Prague suffered its worst flooding in centuries in the summer of 2002, when the swollen Vltava river forced tens of thousands to leave their homes and water spilt into large parts of the city and flooded its underground rail system.
The floods killed 17 people and caused damage worth several billion dollars across the country and damaged many buildings in the ancient city centre.
The city council said Prague Zoo, where more than 100 animals including an elephant drowned in 2002, may be forced to evacuate its lower-lying part in the next 24 hours.

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-03-28T163422Z_01_L28282812_RTRUKOC_0_UK-WEATHER-CZECH-FLOODS.xml&archived=False


Calm in zoo as summer settles in
WITH WINTER gone, calm has settled in the zoo. The silence is occasionally broken by the characteristic sound of inmates. The cackling of the gray-legged geese, call of the chitals and the chattering of langoors set the mood of the zoo.
Visitors, particularly small children, shout in joy on seeing the snow white flamingoes flapping their wings to break the all-encompassing silence. Crocodiles arouse the inquisitiveness of children as they swim languidly across the surface of the lake.
Darters, herons and kingfishers, popular among the children, constantly entertain visitors.
“The summer”, said wild life expert and director of the Zoo R Hemant Kumar, “is in fact time to rest for zoo inmates.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/5922_1661313,0015002500030000.htm


Rain brings out umbrellas, animals at the zoo
William Hermann
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 28, 2006 06:31 PM
In a land of relentless sunshine, even a little variety in our weather can be a good thing, and the scattered clouds and intermittent rain Tuesday and Wednesday likely were and are good for all of us. At the Phoenix Zoo, crowds were a little smaller considering it's the peak visiting time for the zoo, said spokeswoman Aimee Yamamori.
"In the Valley, any clouds or rain discourages people," she said.
But Geoffrey Hall, general curator, said that "true zoo connoisseurs" know that a day of clouds, light showers and a cool breeze, "is the absolutely best time to see the animals."
He smiled and said, "The lions and tigers and bears . . . the carnivores . . . particularly like this weather, but all the animals like to come out and kick up their heels and celebrate.
"A cooling raining is a rare event, a novelty, and the animals love it."
And as long as it's not sprinkling too hard, people seem so enjoy it too. Next door to the zoo at Rolling Hills Golf Course, duffers dotted the fairways and greens.
Jim and Leslie Goldsberry, both 62, were in town with their grandson Blake, 8, for a reprieve from the freezing winds of Denver.
"This is nothing," Jim Goldsberry said of the breeze blowing across the course.
"When you are from Colorado, you don't worry about a few raindrops," Leslie said. "In fact, almost nothing bothers you."
Over at Encanto Park Golf Course in central Phoenix, Brian Wilson, 40, was approaching the first tee wearing plaid shorts and a T-shirt.
"I carry raingear, but being born and raised here, I know it seldom rains all day, or even for very long," he said. "If it starts raining while I'm on the course, I'll get under a tree and wait it out."
On the west side, scattered showers meant that requests for windshield wiper blades went up at Arrowhead Honda in Peoria.
Jay Bell, assistant parts manager, estimates that they sell 30 percent to 40 percent more of these parts after it's rained or when there's a chance of rain.
"We don't use (the wipers) enough so what happens is it bakes (the blade) to the window in the summertime, and the first time you use it, it tears it apart," Bell said.
He said the dealership's body shop also sees a spike in business: more drivers with minor fender-bender to serious car damage caused by rain-related accidents.
The overcast sky and few sprinkles didn't keep loyal fans from catching a ballgame Tuesday.
Goodyear resident John Kenison came with his family to the 1:05 p.m. match-up between the Seattle Mariners and the Chicago Cubs.
Kenison said the weather and the atmosphere were just right.
"It's perfect," he said. "I couldn't have asked for a better day."
And though there is no evidence that a cool, cloudy, showery day is a psychological boost for people weary from too much sun, an Arizona State University professor said the notion, "certainly makes sense to me."
"After all the sunshine, I have to admit to having my spirits lifted by a gray day," professor Roger Schvaneveldt said. "Perhaps that old saying, 'a change is as good as a rest' applies here."
Reporter SherryAnne Rubiano contributed to this report.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0328rain-ON.html


Walking school buses detour to the zoo
Wednesday, 29 March 2006, 12:20 pm
Press Release: Auckland City Council
29 March 2006
Walking school buses detour to the zoo
A fleet of dedicated walking school bus goers will detour to Auckland Zoo on 10 April for five hours of wild entertainment.
Forty young walkers won the safari night prize after entering an Auckland City competition designed to reward youngsters for taking part in the walking school bus scheme.
All 35 Auckland city primary schools registered with the scheme were invited to participate in the Detour to the Zoo competition and more than 150 children entered.
The contest involved writing a creative poem in the shape of a footprint about the positive effects walking schools buses have on the environment.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK0603/S00175.htm


Johan's ark to be a floating zoo
Johan Huibers, 45, of Schagen, the Netherlands, is building an enormous working replica of Noah’s Ark to demonstrate his faith in the Old Testament.
The ship, nearing completion in the local harbour, is 70m (230ft) long, 9.5m (31ft) wide and 13.5m (44ft) tall. Mr Huibers plans to set sail in September with a collection of animals in his floating religious museum and petting zoo. (AP)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2108408,00.html



El Paso Zoo's Board Maps Out 5 Year Plan
The El Paso Zoological Society's Board of Directors did some strategic planning to make the zoo better for visitors.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006 — The big focus is on customer service. Better signage to guide visitors around the zoo and better food and beverage selection.
The zoo also wants to hire more people that can educate the public about the zoo's animals, improving the overall experience.
And the board also wants to increase advertising, particularly to attract more customers from Las Cruces and Juarez.
Zoo visitors will see some of the changes suggested in the 5 year plan right away. Others will take place between now and the end of 2007.

http://www.ktsm.com/story_news.sstg?c=1798



Zoo Blooms
Annual flower show returns to Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden
If you've ever wanted to tiptoe through the tulips, you've got to visit the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden this spring.
More than 80,000 tulips will be on display as "Tulip Mania" takes over Zoo Blooms 2006 at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden. Joining in the festivities will be the Southwest Ohio Daffodil Society on April 8 and 9, with hundreds of the flowers in various colors, shapes and sizes on display. The Easter Bunny will also join in the fun on Saturday, April 15 with an "egg-citing" activity.

http://www.cinweekly.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060329/NEWS0102/603290311/1067



Two to face court over croc theft
By Chris Herde
29mar06
TWO 20-year-old women will face court over the theft of a 1.2m female freshwater crocodile from a central Queensland zoo.
The women and other accomplices scaled a 1.8m fence to steal the crocodile from Rockhampton Zoo between 3am and 5am (AEST) on Saturday morning.
The crocodile was lifted over her exhibit fence and then over the zoo's 2m perimeter fence, which is ringed with barb wire.
The two women were summonsed to appear at the Rockhampton Magistrates Court on April 14.
Police are still looking for their accomplices and the crocodile.
Rockhampton Sergeant Paul Elliott said the motive for the theft was unknown.
"The people we have spoken to already can't enlighten us on a motive, they can't say what the reason for taking it was or whether there was any financial gain," he said.
Rockhampton City Council parks and gardens director Tom Wyatt said there were concerns for the crocodile's safety.
He said while crocodiles do not need much food at this time of year, they do need looking after.
"At this time of the year they sort of go into hibernation and they don't eat much at all, like in another month they won't be eating for about six months apart," he said on ABC radio.
"But we are concerned for the crocodile because it has to be kept moist and all those types of things."

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,18645656%5E1702,00.html



Beastly tales scripted by us
A begging bear at the Guwahati zoo. Courtesy: PETA
Last week a news channel carried a story done by PETA, India, volunteers on the zoos of eastern India. It was shocking to say the least. Visitors in the Shillong zoo were seen drinking and then assaulting animals. One even gave a lit cigarette to a fox. No zoo-keeper was around to stop them.
In the Guwahati zoo, a bear infested with ticks was seen crying and begging for food from the visitors. In the same zoo, a one-horned rhino has been living alone in his enclosure for 36 years. He has developed a wound above his horn from banging his head on the wall of the enclosure in frustration.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060326/asp/calcutta/story_6012091.asp



Giant pandas to enjoy air conditioning
www.chinaview.cn 2006-03-26 13:34:38
CHENGDU, March 26 (Xinhua) -- A research group has begun analyzing the air in Wolong, a giant panda habitat in China, to try and duplicate it in zoos, officials with the Wolong Giant Panda Research Center said on Thursday.
The scientists will try to develop an air conditioning system that will produce air similar to that in Wolong, southwest China's Sichuan Province, deputy director of the center Wang Yanbin said.
They will analyze temperature, humidity and airflow and conduct simulated tests to develop the system, Wang added.
Scientists from household appliances giant Sichuan Changhong Electric Company Limited were invited by the center, which has longed for an ideal air conditioning system for giant pandas in captivity outside Wolong.
The center hopes that the system will be developed before the giant panda couple Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan leave for Taiwan, though the date remains a question as Taiwan authorities are still playing the admission of the giant pandas as a political card.
The couple are intended as goodwill gifts from people on the Chinese mainland to Taiwan compatriots. They were selected from 23 candidates and named by public votes.
With a semitropical maritime climate, Taiwan would not be a comfortable place for giant pandas without air conditioning.
The giant panda is one of the world's most endangered species and is found only in China. It is estimated that 1,590 giant pandas live in the wild in China. Those in captivity totaled 183 on the mainland at the end of last year. Enditem

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-03/26/content_4346438.htm



Two zoos: Detroit, Lansing zoos are regional assets; regions should fund them
A Lansing State Journal editorial
Potter Park Zoo and the Detroit Zoo have more in common than being domiciles for exotic animals.
Both are owned by cities in the throes of severe budget deficits. Both can be preserved, if the respective metro communities acknowledge the zoos for what they are - regional assets - and fund them accordingly.
Lansing's zoo issue is just heating up. Mayor Virg Bernero wants to reduce the city's $1.26 million yearly subsidy to the zoo. He makes a good case for Ingham County taking control, and funding it with a county tax.

http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060326/OPINION01/603260611/1086/opinion



Study finds petting zoos can spread E. coli
Staff and agencies
21 March, 2006
44 minutes ago
ATLANTA - Animals at petting zoos can transmit the potentially deadly E. coli E. coli bacteria, underscoring the need to lather up after visiting these facilities, health researchers said on Monday.
A study of people who visited Florida petting zoos in March 2005 concluded that the bacteria, which kills 60 people annually in the United States and causes diarrhea and other ailments, can be transmitted through contact with animals.
Another study conducted in South Carolina suggested many visitors are not taking the most basic steps to guard against illness. Researchers in South Carolina who watched visitors at a petting zoo there last year found that 28 percent of people who left the zoo did not wash their hands at faucets provided by the zoo, researchers said.
"The major takeaway is to wash your hands after visiting the zoo, wash your hands before eating after a zoo visit and inform yourself," said Daniel Chertow, a Florida Department of Health official who discussed the Florida study at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta.
Chertow said E. coli transmission from animals was a growing concern. The first human E. coli outbreak tied to animals was reported to the CDC in 1996, and 10 more animal-related cases were chronicled by 2002, he said.
The most common types of contact that contributed to E. coli infection in the Florida study were feeding cows and touching or feeding goats.
But the study also showed humans don‘t have to touch animals to get sick. Indirect contacts that transmitted E. coli included stepping in manure and touching soiled clothing after washing hands at the zoo, the study said.
Those most likely to stave off illness lathered their hands with soap upon leaving the petting zoo, and washed up again before eating, the study found.

http://www.leadingthecharge.com/stories/news-00161737.html



Elusive Coyote Is Captured in Central Park
By MARIA NEWMAN
and JANON FISHER
A coyote roaming through Central Park today got a taste of what it's like to lead the police on a chase in New York City, where the tabloid media and countless other reporters and photographers will chase anything that gives chase.
The coyote, which was first spotted in the park late on Sunday, was finally captured at about 10 this morning near Belvedere Castle, after an officer with the New York City Police Department's Emergency Service Unit shot it in the rear with a tranquilizer dart.
A 35-pound male that had been dubbed "Hal" by some police officers and reporters because it was first spotted near the Hallett Nature Sanctuary in the park's southeast corner, the coyote appeared healthy when it was captured, according to a city veterinarian who examined it. Hal will be taken to a wildlife rehabilitation center in upstate New York, officials said.
During its several-day adventure in Central Park, the coyote has been spotted by many but harmed no one, and it had attracted quite a following from a motley crowd that tailed him through New York City's otherwise bucolic oasis.
Just before it was caught this morning, the coyote's chasers included not only about a dozen officers dressed in dark blue uniforms and flak jackets armed with tranquilizer rifles, but also park maintenance employees on carts, their rakes sticking idly out of the back as they barked directions into walkie-talkies.
There were also countless reporters and photographers sprinting after the coyote as it made its way through the paths, meadows, ponds and wooded areas of the park, and a few curiosity seekers among people visiting the park.
There were even news helicopters hovering above the park, broadcasting the hapless coyote's every move to viewers around the country.
Police officials had warned people that the biggest danger the coyote posed was to pets. Adrian Benepe, the city's parks commissioner, first caught a glimpse of the animal on Tuesday, in the Hallett sanctuary.
After it was captured, Mr. Benepe told reporters that the coyote may have made its way to Central Park from Westchester County via an Amtrak train bridge over the Harlem River.
"For a coyote to get to Midtown, it has to be a very adventurous coyote," Mr. Benepe said. "It was a very curious kind of coyote."
Even Michael Bloomberg, New York's mayor, felt compelled to comment on the coyote's travails.
During a session with reporters Wednesday morning, he said: "This is New York, and I would suggest the coyote may have more problems than the rest of us."
On Tuesday night, the police managed to shoot the coyote it with a tranquilizer dart. But that didn't stop Hal, who was seen again this morning by a construction worker at a ball field that was being mowed.
Suzanne Kelly, who was working on the wardrobe department of a movie crew filming in the park, said she saw the coyote at about 8 this morning. She said it was near another woman walking her small dog. At first, Ms. Kelly said she thought the coyote was another dog.
"She tried to shoo it away," she said of the dog walker. "I saw it coming toward me. I purposely turned away. I have bad luck with dogs. I thought it would try to bite me."
The coyote, however, did not seem that interested in her, and made his way to another part of the park.
Finally, the police spotted the animal once again at the Hallet sanctuary, an area in the park near 65th street which includes a duck pond and is surrounded by an 8-foot-high fence.
The coyote darted through the wooded areas of the sanctuary, making his way in and out of a rocky area, and finally jumped into the pond.
But before officers could catch up with him, Hal scaled the fence around the sanctuary, and made his way through the park again. At one point his followers saw him go past Wollman Rink, where a woman in a sparkly sweater was serenely executing figure-8s upon the glistening ice, unaware of the commotion around her.
Hal turned north again, and was spotted going past the Boathouse Restaurant. Finally, he made its way past Belvedere Castle, and at about 10 a.m., he became trapped near some air conditioning equipment behind a nearby fire department comunications substation.
At about 10 a.m., Emergency Service officer Phillip Tropp took a shot at him, hitting him in the rear.
"We waited a few minutes for the tranquilizer to take effect," Mr. Tropps said, "then we noosed it and put it in the cage."
The coyote's breathing was shallow and he appeared in a deep sleep.
The last time a coyote was seen in the same section of the park was in April 1999, when one was tracked down, tranquilized and sent to live at the Queens Zoo.
Mr. Benepe had tried to calm any fears people may have had of an animal more common in the rural areas of Westchester County than in the middle of a big city.
"He's probably more frightened of you than you are of him," Mr. Benepe said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/22/nyregion/22cnd-coyote.html?ei=5070&en=f5818a85fef1e7e6&ex=1143694800&emc=eta1&pagewanted=print



SA steps in to save Abidjan zoo
14/03/2006 12:48 - (SA)
Christophe Koffi
Abidjan - Once one of west Africa's most stunning animal attractions, Abidjan's zoo has become a tragic victim of the country's political turmoil.
Now, however, vital help from South Africa could give the zoo a facelift - and its animals a new lease on life.
Boasting more than 200 animals from about 50 species, the zoo suffered serious lack of attention and funding during the former jewel of west Africa's crisis years. International tourism dried up, and things went from bad to worse.
"Since its creation, very few shelters and cages have been built, putting the lives of animals at risk," said zoo director Ayekoue Yapo.
About 100 animals died in three years, he added. The zoo had to survive on a meagre annual budget of 50 000-euros, far less than it required.
Elephants, lions, chimpanzees and crocodiles live in dilapidated shelters, most of them built in the 1930s. Walls and fences are in ruins and many are collapsing.
The only vehicle available, which is supposed to travel 50km around the zoo every day, delivering food to the animals, breaks down frequently.
Now, in an effort to give the animals a new lease on life, Yapo intends to establish "true relations" with the Pretoria Zoo, thanks to financial support from South Africa.
Visit by SA vets
Two South African veterinary surgeons visited the zoo in August 2004, as part of a mission coordinated by the African Association of Zoos and Aquaria (PAAZAB) to help look after the animals, many of which were already in distress.
The two specialists attended to lions, Lea, Simba and Loulou, as well as chimpanzees, Judith and Bras, halting a trend that had seen the number of animals reduced from 320 in 2002 to 231 in 2005.
The much awaited South African support should allow installation in the zoo of a 20-hectare special zone to accommodate animals like a 100-year-old tortoise that weighs more than 100kg.
The South African experts will also work to increase the number of animals at the zoo, and to enhance reproduction among some of the zoo's star attractions - elephants Taya, Azagny and Canne - as well as rare pygmy hippopotamuses.

http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_1897525,00.html

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