Cleveland downpour swamps ERs, fairgrounds, zoo
Associated Press - August 7, 2007 2:05 PM ET
Corrected Version
CLEVELAND (AP) - Cleveland's second big downpour in five days caused widespread flooding problems today.
MetroHealth Medical Center got several inches of water in its emergency room and asked ambulances to head to other hospitals. The storm knocked out electricity and some backup power at Saint Vincent Charity Hospital.
The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo closed when water flooded a parking lot, box office and some offices. No animals were affected.
In Berea southwest of Cleveland, up to eight inches of water swamped concession trailers at the Cuyahoga (keye-uh-HOH'-guh) County Fair. The fair delayed opening and postponed harness racing.
Up to five inches of rain fell in the Cleveland area this morning. On Thursday the city got more than three inches in one hour.

http://www.wdtn.com/Global/story.asp?S=6898463



Focus on island's habitats
Aug 7 2007
NUNEATON and Bedworth's mayor lent his support to a fundraiser aimed at highlighting the declining habitats on the island of Madagascar.
Councillor Bill Sheppard was among the guests at Twycross Zoo for a charity event organised by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria's Madagascar campaign.
He was joined by his wife, Jill, and the mayor of Hinckley and Bosworth, Cllr Keith Lynch, and his wife, Maureen.
The campaign aims to raise public awareness of the impoverished island of Madagascar and to highlight its declining habitats. The event raised £2,643 to help finance conservation projects there.
Suzanne Boardman, the zoo's executive director, said: "We are proud to support this campaign."

http://iccoventry.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0125nwarksnews/tm_headline=focus-on-island-s-habitats&method=full&objectid=19582640&siteid=50003-name_page.html



Animal Rights
The question of whether chimps should have rights is one that seems to have been all over the news this year. Just this past week in an article in Newsweek, we read that two zoos are fighting for custody of two chimpanzees named Emma and Jackson:
The pair were among more than 200 animals removed from San Antonio's Primarily Primates Inc. after the facility was sued last year for misusing funds and maintaining unsanitary and dangerous conditions. Now the suit has been settled, and PPI is petitioning to reclaim some of the creatures. Emma and Jackson's new home, Oregon's Chimps, Inc., doesn't want to return them.

http://www.plentymag.com/thecurrent/2007/08/animal_rights.php



Dispute over Kenyan tour guides at the zoo seems a stretch
posted by Jeanna at 12:10 PM on August 09, 2007
Because I'm 25 and am not at all grown up yet, I still like going to the zoo. And since I work for World Vision and am obsessed with all-things Africa, I've been particularly interested in checking out the Massai Journey deal that Woodland Park Zoo launched to accompany their Africa Savannah exhibit this summer.
Except now I have a sour taste in my mouth. Apparently, there are some folks over at the University of Washington who are arguing some point about the history of zoos and "bringing in people of color as accessories to exhibits." The topic of contention is in regards to the four Kenyan men who the Woodland Park Zoo hired to lead educational classes and teach children about their culture and growing up in Africa. What better way to learn about a culture than straight from the source, right?
Wrong.
Apparently it's bad cause it's teaching children about African cultures "while they're at the zoo."
Like duh. This means we're purposefully saving lessons about African cultures to places where rare and exotic animals are kept.
I'm sorry, but this seems like a ridiculous stretch to me. It's hard for me to see any bad in this. Sometimes I feel like people are just searching for something to argue about and shout, "not politically correct!" If children are learning about other cultures around the world, I don't see any negativity in that--whether it's at school, or on the history channel or Nickelodeon, or at the Seattle Art Museum, or at the zoo.

http://seattle.metblogs.com/archives/2007/08/dispute_over_ke.phtml



Guide and zoo president defend Maasai role
By Manuel Valdes
Seattle Times staff reporter
Public debate over Woodland Park Zoo's hiring of Kenyan tour guides for one of its exhibits and educational programs continued Wednesday night in a spirited forum organized by University of Washington professors and students.
More than 75 people — many from African countries — packed a room at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center for the forum that touched on issues ranging from race relations to the history of zoos. The forum was in response to the zoo's Maasai Journey, an educational program launched to accompany its African Savannah exhibit.
This year the zoo brought in four men from the Maasai tribe, a nomadic ethnic group that lives in southern Kenya and Tanzania, to lead educational classes and talk about their culture in connection with environmental conservation.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003828258_maasai09m.html



Zoo waits to see if mother elephant will accept newborn
Deborah Tetley, CanWest News Service
Published: Friday, August 10, 2007
CALGARY -- Like anxious parents, keepers at the Calgary Zoo are pacing the elephant nursery, nervously monitoring the bond between mother Maharani and her newborn calf.
They know the mother elephant's first delivery, three years ago, ended in tragedy, and they're hoping for a much different result this time around.
The 308-pound female baby is already staggering around on all fours and appears healthy - but it's still too early to celebrate, experts say.

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=a31ef222-1b50-4ced-8926-1aa001816d25&k=22997


Survivor cubs
Rare red pandas pass critical milestone at Edmonton’s Valley Zoo
Jeff Holubitsky, edmontonjournal.com
Published: Thursday, August 09
EDMONTON - Animal health technician Sandy Helliker is quick to deflect the praise she deserves for the sleepless nights she's spent on the couch to be near the Edmonton's rare red panda cubs.
"Nobody can do as good a job as mom does," she said today, as the Valley Zoo showed off the fuzzy pair, now with open eyes and a growing curiosity in the world around them. "There is always concern when there is something that small that you have to raise."
The cubs, born June 26 and growing like weeds, now weigh about five times their birth weights of about 150 grams.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=40148c56-faf4-4692-acfd-7991a0a763f6&k=87443



Researching potential donors for the zoo
Jump to Comments
Researching and analysing prospective supporters for your zoo, botanic garden, aquarium or similar is clearly important. ‘People research’ , one to one discussions with your board members, networking, etc., is the place to start. Use of the internet and published sources must follow. Some questions to ask yourself:
In general what kind of person is likely to support your project?
What is the link of that person to your organisation or cause?
How can you make a (better) link , if need be?
What is their ability to give?
What aspect of your work is likely to most appeal?
What activity would help the individual to understand more about your project, the zoo and its people and to gradually feel part of the organisation and its mission?
If an approach is ever to be made, when, what for and by whom?

http://zoofunding.wordpress.com/2007/08/10/researching-potential-donors-for-the-zoo/



Zoos need tighter regulations, monitoring
Editorial & Opinion - Friday, August 10, 2007 Updated @ 6:26:35 AM
I am writing about the brown bear that escaped from Stevensville's Zooz Nature Park Tuesday night. This incident seems to have triggered many questions regarding the regulations governing wildlife in captivity. Most people have been surprised to find out that Ontario has no rules or regulations controlling zoos and wildlife displays. In fact, Ontario currently stands out as the worst jurisdiction in Canada when it comes to ensuring the proper care of captive wildlife and community safety.

Consequently, only seven of the 60 to 100 facilities thought to exist in the province are accredited by the Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=647069&catname=Editorial+%26+Opinion&classif=



L.A. Zoo welcomes Reggie the alligator
The Associated Press
Nick Ut/AP Photo
Reggie, Los Angeles' most famous reptile, enters the water at the reptile exhibit Thursday Aug. 9, 2007 at the Los Angeles Zoo. Reggie was introduced to the public Thursday after being kept in quarantine since his capture in May. Reggie had eluded officials for almost two years.
Reggie, the alligator that cruised an urban lake for nearly two years while eluding what were purported to be some of the world's best gator wranglers, was introduced to adoring fans on Thursday at his new home in the Los Angeles Zoo.
The 7 1/2-foot-long, 114-pound alligator was brought in to his own exhibit area to cheers and chants of "We want Reggie." Hundreds of people, many wearing Reggie T-shirts and alligator hats, watched as about a dozen handlers lugged the gator into the compound, his jaws wrapped up in a towel and duct tape.
He was unwrapped and,

http://www.kentucky.com/513/story/146493.html



Reggie the gator makes L.A. Zoo debut
Nearly 150 well-wishers turn out for the celebrated reptile, who made headlines by eluding capture at his Lake Machado home.
By Tiffany Hsu
August 10, 2007
Reggie the alligator -- last seen in public in May, when he was captured at a Harbor City lake -- made his debut at the Los Angeles Zoo on Thursday, with many of his fans there to cheer him on.
Nearly 150 people, many decked out in alligator hats and Reggie T-shirts, crowded around his enclosure awaiting the big event, craning for a view over a line of news cameras. Many visitors had arrived from Harbor City on buses arranged by City Councilwoman Janice Hahn.
Officials said the event was a fitting end to Reggie's saga, which began in 2005 when he was dumped by his owners into Lake Machado.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-reggie10aug10,0,6623662.story?coll=la-home-center



Zoo opens state of the art centre
Aug 10, 2007 9:33 PM
Auckland Zoo's new state of the art conservation medicine centre opened its doors to the public on Friday, the first nationally dedicated centre of its kind in the world.
But the new facility is not just a vet clinic, it is also dedicated to an emerging field of science that takes a holistic approach to health.
"Conservation medicine...it's a new science that integrates the learning that we are doing in human medicine with veterinary medicine and environmental health," says senior zoo vet Dr Richard Jakob-Hoff.
And for the first time, zoo visitors not prone to being squeamish can watch the vets at work.

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411749/1291029



Calgary Zoo coddles new baby elephant
DAWN WALTON
August 10, 2007
Calgary -- Staff at the Calgary Zoo will be keeping an extra close eye on its elephant herd with the addition yesterday morning of a bouncing 140-kilogram baby.
The female calf and its mother, Maharani, a 17-year-old Asian elephant, are being kept in a quiet nursery stall to encourage bonding and increase the baby's chance of survival. In 2004, Maharani gave birth to the zoo's last baby elephant, but the animal died within a month, due to an infection after its mother rejected it.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070810.NATS10-3/TPStory/National



At J'lem zoo, kids ask: 'Can he eat me in one bite?'
By Benny Ziffer
Both parking lots at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo were filled, and in addition to those who came by car there were visitors who came in vans, their hoods emblazoned with slogans such as "May G-d bless you and protect you." There were also taxis from a Jerusalem cab company named "Gideon Torah Observers." Yes, a majority of visitors to the zoo at Malha belong to large ultra-Orthodox families.
"Nu, gentlemen, let's go," one bearded man urged his family, who got out of a large van blinking at the sunlight as though emerging from a mechanized Noah's Ark after the 40-day deluge. "Rivki, Rivki, c'mon Sarah'le," called the bearded one's wife. Countless baby carriages were opened and babies placed inside them, their faces protected from the sun by a cloth diaper.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/891910.html



Fancy watching a zoo monkey have surgery?
Page 1 of 2
5:00AM Friday August 10, 2007
By Angela Gregory
Veterinary nurses Mel Farrent (left) and Lauren Best check a spotted kiwi at the new centre. Photo / Greg Bowker
The curious can now go to Auckland Zoo to see operations on monkeys, hear the heartbeat of a tuatara or inspect polar bear parasites - and experience a world first.
The New Zealand Centre for Conservation Medicine, which opens today, will focus on how the health of animals, people and the environment are closely connected.
Prime Minister Helen Clark is to open the $4.6 million centre, which has already gained international interest.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10456855



Zoo Receives $3.456 Million
The state General Assembly has agreed to provide the North Carolina Zoo with $3,456,000 to address some of the zoo's most pressing capital needs.
This funding would pay for the construction of new plains barns and a much-needed work and storage area for the zoo's horticultural staff. The zoo had requested funding to build the plains barns in order to improve the care available to the nearly 40 antelope living on the zoo's African Plains exhibit.
This additional barn space will allow the N.C. Zoo to increase the size and the diversity of the antelope collection exhibited on the 37-acre African Plains exhibit. Zoo officials hope to see more than 100 antelope living in the exhibit once the barns are completed.
These additions will increase the educational impact the exhibit has on zoo visitors by creating more authentic-looking replicas of the antelope herds and family groups that teem across Africa's expansive grasslands and savannas.

http://www.thepilot.com/stories/20070810/news/local/20070810ZOO.html



Third boy charged over zoo attack
A third boy has been charged after dozens of animals were attacked at a zoo in Dundee.
Police have reported the 14-year-old to the Children's Panel, along with two other boys, aged 11 and 13.
Two terrapins died and a deer was slashed with a craft knife in last month's break-in at the Camperdown Wildlife Centre.
Keepers said a snowy owl and a bear were traumatised in the incident, in which 25 animals were injured.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/tayside_and_central/6939054.stm



Columbus Zoo unveils its water park plans
Thursday, August 9, 2007
KELLEY YOUMAN TRUXALL
ThisWeek Staff Writer
By Tim Norman/ThisWeek
Pieces of water slides for Zoombezi Bay sit on the ground behind Columbus Zoo and Aquarium executive director Jerry Borin as he talks to the media Aug. 6 about the water park being built on the zoo's grounds.
Come May, people probably won't recognize the old Wyandot Lake on state Route 257.
"Everything that is here is being lifted up to a higher level," said Jerry Borin, executive director of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, which is overseeing the renovation and expansion of the 23-year-old water park.

http://www.thisweeknews.com/?sec=home&story=sites/thisweeknews/080907/Hilliard/News/080907-News-398351.html&tab=tab1



New license plate to benefit Louisville Zoo
Business First of Louisville - 11:18 AM EDT
Thursday, August 9, 2007
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has released a special issue license plate that will benefit the Louisville Zoo.
The plate depicts the image of a polar bear and carries the message "Go Wild! Support our Zoo." The Louisville Zoo was designated in 1980 as the official state zoo of Kentucky.
The cost for the new plate is $44 and annual registration renewal is $31. The Louisville Zoo will receive $10 from the purchase and $10 from the renewal fee.
As a promotion to increase awareness of the new plate, the Louisville Zoo is providing 200 pre-paid plates to Sam Swope Auto Group.
Beginning Friday, Aug. 10, the first 200 people to purchase a new vehicle through any Sam Swope Auto Group dealership will be offered a zoo plate.
For more information about Kentucky's special issue license plates, visit

http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/stories/2007/08/06/daily29.html



Chinese students go behind the scenes at Chester Zoo
By Staff reporte
Chinese students Feng Rui Xi and Xu Ping meet some of the colourful characters in Chester Zoo's summer theatre show, The Family Tree.
Chester Zoo has played host to two Chinese students from the prestigious Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.
Feng Rui Xi and Xu Ping spent three weeks at the zoo studying its world respected educational programmes and seeing first hand how it delivers vital conservation messages.
The two spent time shadowing the zoo's education officers and exhibition presenters, as well as learning a little more about the British way of life.
At home in China their studies have included projects on animal welfare, behaviour and habitat preservation.

http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/wirralnews/display.var.1606106.0.chinese_students_go_behind_the_scenes_at_chester_zoo.php



The Peoria Zoo's $32-million expansion project brings the safari to heartland
Thursday, August 9, 2007
by scott hilyard
of the journal star
PEORIA - Africa - excuse us - Africa! is beginning to take shape in the middle of Peoria.
"Lions will be over here. Giraffes over there. The Zambezi River Village right here," said David Bielfeldt, the vice president of the Peoria Zoological Society's board of directors. "We're really starting to get to some of the exciting stuff that the people of Peoria are going to be proud of."

http://www.pjstar.com/stories/080907/TRI_BE13M4BM.005.php



Miller Park Zoo to add animal hospital
Associated Press - August 9, 2007 6:14 AM ET
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (AP) - Construction work is expected to start next week on an animal hospital at Bloomington's Miller Park Zoo.
Zoo Superintendent John Tobias says the hospital is something the zoo has needed for several years.
Right now medical procedures are performed in the animal exhibit space or at private veterinary clinics. Tobias says the new hospital will handle most of the zoo's veterinary care, and visitors will even be able to watch some of the procedures.

http://www.wqad.com/Global/story.asp?S=6907794&nav=1sW7



Work begins on animal hospital at zoo
By M.K. Guetersloh
mkguetersloh@pantagraph.com
Advertisement
BLOOMINGTON -- The coming weeks will bring more activity around the sea lion exhibit as the Miller Park Zoo prepares for a new addition. This time, the new addition is a hospital building for the animals.
Workers from Cornerstone Construction of Bloomington arrived at the site Wednesday to start marking the area. They will have to wait to dig the foundation until a utility locating service completes its work.
Cornerstone President Steve Ladage estimated it will be next week before workers can start.
Zoo Superintendent John Tobias said the hospital is something the zoo has needed for several years. The hospital is scheduled to be completed in late November.

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2007/08/08/news/doc46ba4ea1652ae372217922.txt



Mill Mountain Zoo's tortoise makes a 'run' for it
After a seven-hour retreat, the mountain tortoise was found near its pen.
By Pete Dybdahl
The Burmese mountain tortoise went missing before noon, then mysteriously reappeared in the evening.
And while questions swirl about what Mill Mountain Zoo's errant tortoise did during his seven hours of freedom Wednesday, it's doubtful that he did it quickly.
"We don't know what happened," Sean Greene, the zoo's director, concluded after the rare tortoise turned up shortly before 6 p.m.
Following an afternoon of searching, a zoo patron was the first to spot the reptile, about 60 feet from his pen and near the exhibit of a countryman, the zoo's Burmese python.

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/127371



Zoo hopes for rhino IVF success
Posted Thu Aug 9, 2007 9:50am AEST
The Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo is hopeful the world first in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) of a rhino egg will be achieved in the next few years.
The latest attempt last month by a team of international vets, reproduction experts and zookeepers was unsuccessful.
The central western New South Wales zoo wants to preserve the genes of two infertile southern black rhinos and translate the technology to other species which are even more endangered.
A veterinarian from the zoo, Dr Tim Portas, says it is a race against time to save the northern white rhino, of which there are four left in the wild and eight in captivity.
"This is probably the only solution to saving that species in the wild, I mean the prospects for those animals are pretty grim, but if this technology can be perfected and applied then potentially embryos from those animals could be put into the more common southern white rhino, which is closely related, and produce calves which could then assist in building up the numbers of that species," he said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/09/2000392.htm



Riverbanks Zoo Keeping Animals Cool in Record Heat
Grizzly bears get frozen treats
By Robert Kittle
You might think an African elephant would be right at home in 104 degree heat. But the high temperature during the hottest month in Kenya only gets into the upper 80s.
Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia works hard to make sure its elephants, and all its other animals, stay safe in record-breaking temperatures. The elephants get a cool hosing-off every afternoon, which not only cools them down because of the water but also gets them out of the sun for a little while. They also have plenty of water to drink to stay hydrated, since an elephant can drink 30 gallons in a day.

http://www.wspa.com/midatlantic/spa/news.apx.-content-articles-SPA-2007-08-08-0013.html


Students harvest zoo partnership
By Callan Date
9th August 2007 02:05:25 AM
Above: Kambrya College student Tara with Melbourne Zoo worker Richard Robertson.
A BERWICK school has struck up an ongoing partnership with Melbourne Zoo.
Kambrya College students have established a plantation of acacias to be used to help feed an array of animals including elephants, giraffes and zebras.
Melbourne Zoo horticulturists visited the school last week to show the students how to harvest the plants properly to make sure they were useable at the zoo.

http://www.starnewsgroup.com.au/story/46767

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