Zoos
Stella in a hop over animal rights
5:00AM Monday August 27, 2007
LONDON - Stella McCartney has found herself embroiled in a campaign by animal rights activists over the use of kangaroo hides by the sporting giant behind her latest women's wear range.
McCartney, a long-time vegetarian who has attacked designers who use fur, is weeks away from unveiling her new sportswear range for adidas at London Fashion Week. But animal rights campaigners have begun publicly attacking adidas for fuelling the "largest wildlife slaughter in the world" by using kangaroo skins to make football boots.
"Adidas' use of kangaroo skin is inexcusably cruel," Animal Aid director Andrew Tyler told the Independent on Sunday newspaper.
"On the question of Stella McCartney's alleged silence, we know she opposes animal cruelty and presume she is taking the steps she feels appropriate to press the company to stop the use of kangaroo skins."
McCartney's father, Beatles frontman Paul McCartney, has previously campaigned for Vegetarians International Voice for Animals.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10460058
The man behind PETA's controversial campaigns hits St. Louis
ST. LOUIS — While star NFL quarterback Michael Vick stood in a Richmond, Va., courtroom on Monday morning pleading guilty to dogfighting charges, the man who helped cast the national spotlight on the Vick case sat in St. Louis' Central West End sipping a soy latte. Dan Mathews, in town on a book tour, was proud. He is campaigns chief for PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. And he knew that at this moment, 800 miles away, a flotilla of PETA signs were being held aloft outside the courthouse in plain sight of the media mob covering the sensational case.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/3437E0425DAF18628625734500100935?OpenDocument
Aquarium Hosting Animal Math Workshop
posted August 27, 2007
Educators will be sneaking math skills into a field trip while watching sharks at an animal math workshop at the Tennessee Aquarium. So far this year, 65,000 students have received learning experiences delivered by the Aquarium’s education department. These environmental science programs have been developed and aligned using the applicable standards for Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and the National Science Education Content Standards. And now another resource for teachers is being added by using a trip to the aquarium to help teach mathematics.
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_112241.asp
Rescued Tigers Find Temporary Home In Queens
(CBS) QUEENS About 25 miles from the urban jungle of Manhattan, inside a Queens home, you can find an entirely different breed of cat. Larry Wallach, also known as ‘The Tiger Man,’ takes in tigers who were either purchased as exotic pets and then abandoned; or those simply in need of a good home.“[Tigers] need to be in a proper place that protects them and the public,” said Wallach.Over the past 20-years, Wallach has taken in over 100 lions, tigers, and bears, including the tiger that was taken from a Harlem apartment in 2003.
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_239162240.html
Elephants benefit from fight between zoos, animal rights groups
By Associated Press
SEATTLE (AP) - On a sunny summer day, Chai the elephant browses on grass and branches in the one-acre elephant exhibit at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo. Children lean over the metal barriers, trying to reach the charismatic creature.In the nearby elephant barn, Watoto stretches her trunk to a net filled with vegetation and munches on her lunch before wandering back to the outdoor exhibit. Teenagers watch her, mimicking the movements of her trunk.Zoos showcase such scenes as evidence of the healthy and happy experience of their elephants. Animals rights groups dismiss such enclosures as woefully small and harmful to the health of creatures they say are meant to roam vast wildernesses.
http://www.komotv.com/news/local/9398371.html
Mother Nature 101: Inquisitive Young Minds Learn About Various Animal Species in New Children's Book
EASTPOINTE, Mich., Aug. 28
PRNewswire
From the smallest creature to the largest, whether living in the jungle, desert, ocean, rainforest or arctic tundra, all living things have mothers who nurture and protect their young. In her new children's book, "No One Has A Mom Like Mine" (published by AuthorHouse -- http://www.authorhouse.com/), D. Brischke reminds readers of the enduring heritage of animals and informs inquisitive minds about the conservation necessary to ensure the continued survival of such species.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,167026.shtml
Monkey in Russian zoo refuses to pose, snatches phone cameras
NIZHNY NOVGOROD, August 16 (RIA Novosti) - A Japanese macaque monkey in a Volga Region zoo insists on protecting its "family" from nuisance visitors by snatching away their cell phone cameras, a deputy zoo owner said Thursday.
In an attempt to protect his "girlfriend" and baby, the male Japanese monkey, nicknamed Samurai, has already expropriated a dozen expensive mobile phones, the spokesman said.
"Samurai never feels shy about swiping phones from an owner's hands and then hiding them in his cage," he said.
Zoo workers have managed to return some of the mobile phones intact their rightful owners, but some are in need of repair, he said.
Officials have put up a warning sign for visitors: "Dear biological relatives, we regard phones, cameras and video cameras as our property - we take and destroy them."
But the photographers, who are usually clueless as to what the strange note means, insist on taking pictures of the adorable primate, wholly unaware of its larcenous habits.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070816/71936016.html
Zoo Pictures
http://www.flickr.com/groups/ultimateanimalphotography/discuss/72157594490097660/#comment72157601660735083
Friends of Maggie
Orphaned during a cull in Zimbabwe, Maggie arrived at the zoo over 20 years ago to keep company with another female elephant. The other elephant died 10 years ago, and Maggie has since lived a solitary life. In their natural habitat, female African (and Asian) elephants live together in a herd for their entire lives; males leave the herd after weaning and generally live more solitary lives.
http://www.friendsofmaggie.net/
How zoo’s tigers were shot for the taxidermist (Videos)
Lingering death of two caged animals killed so that they could be skinned and stuffed
See the videos: 1. Zoo tigers are shot for their skins. It is unclear whether they are being killed by Jean-Pierre Gerard, a Belgian taxidermist, or by one of his associates. Warning: shows prolonged sequences of animals suffering
2. One of the shot tigers is skinned by Gerard
A TAXIDERMIST exposed for buying healthy exotic animals from zoos in order to stuff them has been filmed taking part in the brutal slaughter of two caged tigers for their skins.
Jean-Pierre Gerard, who last month offered undercover Sunday Times reporters the pelts of young zoo tigers for £3,000 each, was present while two further specimens from a German zoo were peppered with bullets.
http://www.envirolink.org/external.html?itemid=200708260014120.927623
Zoo Gets New Baby Flamingos
ST LOUIS (AP) -According to the St. Louis Zoo, a dozen flamingo hatchlings are doing well, but the public won't be able to see them for another year.
The chicks, currently hand-raised and fed on special formula by the zoo, range in age from three to four weeks. The zoo recently brought in the Caribbean flamingo eggs from Hialeah Racetrack in Miami. The racetrack hasn't run a race in six years but 300 Caribbean flamingos still live in the racing oval there. The Caribbean flamingo is the only flamingo that naturally inhabits North America. Hialeah has distributed eggs to zoos since the 1980s, and St. Louis is among four zoos to receive eggs this summer.
http://www.komu.com/satellite/SatelliteRender/KOMU.com/ba8a4513-c0a8-2f11-0063-9bd94c70b769/a3516642-c0a8-2f11-002f-d333f7e5a947
Visitors to Oregon Zoo have until Labor Day to see Winged Wonders exhibit
Associated Press
August 26, 2007 1:05 PM ET
PORTLAND, Ore., (AP) - The end of summer means the end of a popular exhibit at the Oregon Zoo -- at least for this year.
Visitors have until Labor Day to see more than 400 kinds of butterflies at the Winged Wonders exhibit. Zoo Director Tony Vecchio says the exhibit has been a great success. This year the zoo focused on teaching people how to attract butterflies to their gardens.
Some proceeds from the butterfly exhibit help support the zoo's butterfly education and conservation efforts.
The butterfly exhibit, as well as the zoo-wide "Habitat Begins at Home" campaign, complement Metro's Nature in Neighborhoods initiative. It's a region-wide conservation effort that brings people and government together to ensure a healthy urban ecosystem.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.ktvz.com/Global/story.asp?S=6984037
APEC wives to get own private Taronga Zoo
August 26, 2007 01:00am
ANIMALS from Taronga Zoo will be moved to Garden Island so the wives of APEC leaders can have a private viewing away from tourist hordes.
The Sunday Telegraph reports that as their partners deliberate on world affairs, APEC wives and girlfriends will be whisked to Garden Island on the Saturday of the conference for an exclusive display of Australian wildlife.
Among the animals to be transported from the zoo are snakes, possums, frogs, echidnas, lizards, a baby crocodile, cockatoos and owls.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22306104-2,00.html
Zoo's elephant celebrates birthday
Zahara the African elephant celebrated her first birthday a bit early Saturday, complete with a party at the Indianapolis Zoo.
When she was born Aug. 31, she weighed 266 pounds. Now she's 710 pounds, the zoo reports.
Zahara runs in the Plains Biome with her herd mate Kedar, a male who was born at the zoo in 2005. The pair are the youngest members of the zoo's herd of eight African elephants.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070826/LOCAL/708260420/-1/LOCAL17
Meet the pandas
August 26, 2007
Zoo Atlanta, 800 Cherokee Ave S.E., Atlanta, GA 30315; (404) 624-9453, panda cam: www.zooatlanta.org/animals_panda_cam.php4. Open daily except Thanksgiving and Christmas. Admission: $12.99 to $17.99. The zoo has three pandas: Lun Lun, Yang Yang and cub Mei Lan, who is almost age 1. Memphis Zoo, 2000 Prentiss Place, Memphis, TN 38112; (901) 276-9453, panda cam: www.memphiszoo.org/pandacam.aspx. Open daily except Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Admission: $8 to $13. Memphis has two pandas, Le Le and Ya Ya, who recently miscarried.San Diego Zoo, 2920 Zoo Drive, San Diego, CA 92101; (619) 234-3153, panda cam: www.sandiegozoo.org/zoo/ex_panda_station.html. Open daily, including holidays. Admission: $15.50 to $22.75. Bai Yun, Gao Gao, Su Lin, Mei Sheng and a newborn cub live at the zoo. Smithsonian National Zoological Park, 301 Connecticut Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008; (202) 633-4800, panda cam: www.nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/giantpandas /default.cfm. Open daily except Christmas. Admission free. Three pandas -- Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and Tai Shan -- live here.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-tr-pandabox26aug26,1,5403068.story?coll=la-news-a_section&ctrack=1&cset=true
Title: Zoo Enclosure CompositionName: Marc Turner
Country: New Zealand
Software: Lightwave 3D, Photoshop3d Composition over photograph for the Auckland Zoo in New Zealand. Advertising the construction of the new otter enclosure with a 3 Day deadline. Partial plans were provided and some foundations were visible already which helped with alignment and scale. Unfortunately I didnt have enough time to include radiosity in the render with the tight deadline as I would have liked more realistic lighting, the render has 4 area lights and 3 spots for the Sasquatch grass.
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=533212
Beloved polar bear's life celebrated at Lake Superior Zoo
John Myers Duluth News Tribune
Published Sunday, August 26, 2007
There were eight violinists, dozens of red balloons and a cake made out of ice, fruit and fish parts.
Hundreds of people turned up for Bubba the bear’s celebration of life Sunday afternoon at the Lake Superior Zoo in Duluth.
Zoo staff and volunteers, longtime admirers and lots of children ate cookies, signed a giant goodbye card and recalled memories of the big polar bear that died of natural causes last month.
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/rss.cfm?id=48961&forumcomm_check_return&freebie_check&CFID=50740474&CFTOKEN=52645685&jsessionid=8830def0d3006f2615e6
First Giant Anteater Born at the National Zoo
A giant anteater was born at the Smithsonian's National Zoo the morning of Tuesday, July 24-a first in the Zoo's 118-year history.
National Zoo animal care staff and veterinarians had been closely monitoring the first-time mother for the past six months, performing regular ultrasounds and other diagnostics. Based on the typical gestation period of giant anteaters, staff expected the mother, Maripi, to give birth in early August. She surprised them early last Tuesday morning when a keeper checking on the animal discovered the tiny baby clinging to its mother's chest.
http://newsblaze.com/story/20070826141656tsop.nb/newsblaze/TOPSTORY/Top-Stories.html
We loved the Bronx Zoo.
http://www.reagentinct.com/2007/08/26/good-vibes-bronx-zoo/
Carnival Of The Animals
The Drive To One Of The World's Premier Zoos Is Short, Simple
BY MARYELLEN FILLO Courant Staff Writer
Simon and Garfunkel insisted it was all happening at the zoo.And it was. In our case, New York's Bronx Zoo.For is there anything better on a perfect summer day than to grab a favorite youngster and step into another world, a soothing one filled with trees, greenery, exotic animals and the best when it comes to timeless Beaux-Arts architecture? We think not. Especially when you are going to one of the largest metropolitan zoos in America and one of the best in the world.
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-daycation0827.artaug27,0,1178677.story
Zoo to host 'Java in the Jungle'
August 27, 2007
UTICA – The fifth annual “Java in the Jungle” will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 8 at the Utica Zoo. The event features samplings of gourmet coffees and desserts courtesy of Price Chopper in South Utica, along with the musical entertainment of the T.R. Proctor High School String Ensemble. Tickets are on sale now at the zoo and Price Chopper.Advance tickets are $6 and $8 on the day of the event. Children under the age of 10 pay $4 in advance or $6 at the door.In order to prepare for the event, the zoo will be closed during the day of Saturday, Sept. 8.
http://www.uticaod.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070827/NEWS/70827002
Chester Zoo's hi-tech bid to save 'the old man of the trees'
Me man. You ape...and there's not much difference, as ladies I have known would claim.
Stood close to the orang-utans in Chester Zoo's new Realm of the Red Ape facility, a feeling of kinship is hard to disown, even when the "stars" may be slouched in a corner looking like a pile of old carpet.But confront them face to face through the glass windows of their enclosure and the solemn returning gaze suggests they know a thing or two that you don't.Add to this their effortless grace in climbing, their casual feats of strength, and you realise this is an animal to admire and respect. It is also one that could be extinct in the wild during the next 10 or 20 years.Illegal logging in Borneo and Sumatra is rapidly clearing the ancient forests which are the orang's natural habitat. Added to burning to clear ground for palm oil plantations, the combined effect is to force the apes into smaller and smaller areas.
http://www.eveningleader.co.uk/latest-features/Chester-Zoo39s-hitech-bid-to.3149049.jp
Orangutan escapes exhibit at Zoo Atlanta
Ape was loose for about 30 minutes before being tranquilizedBy MARK DAVISThe Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionPublished on: 08/27/07
A 14-year-old Bornean orangutan got loose Sunday afternoon at Zoo Atlanta, spending about 30 minutes outside his compound before zoo workers tranquilized the animal and returned him to his habitat.
Sulango got out about 2:43 p.m., said Dennis Kelly, the zoo's president and chief executive officer. He roamed no farther than 100 feet from the exhibit, he said.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/living/stories/2007/08/26/orangutan_0827.html
$57 million zoo architect visits TT
Sunday, August 26 2007
Architect Patrick Janikowski (left) chats with designer of the Tourism Park, Kemal Manickchand, at the Tourism Park, last week....
Internationally known zoo architect Patrick Janikowski met Tourism Minister Howard Chin Lee on Friday, centre of discussion was the proposed $57M upgrade of the Emperor Valley Zoo.
Janikowski who has designed zoos all over the world, is now bidding to design a US$700M zoo in Hong Kong. The $57M allocated for the local zoo upgrade will be administered by the Tourism Development Company (TDC).
http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,63078.html
To Twin or not To Twin
Posted at 9:06 pm August 26, 2007 by Suzanne Hall
We have been very, very lucky here in San Diego to witness the birth of four healthy panda cubs. Each time, Bai Yun gave birth to a single infant and showed strong maternal instincts, so much so that staff need only sit by and watch her care for it. Bai Yun has always given the best of all possible circumstances. But in looking at the range of possibilities surrounding any cub birth, frankly, we have had it quite easy; pandas are certainly capable of more complex birthing scenarios than we have observed with Bai Yun.
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wordpress/default/to-twin-or-not-to-twin/
Hogle Zoo to celebrate 10 years of fund-raiser
By Amelia Nielson-StowellDeseret Morning News
Published: Aug. 27, 2007 12:28 a.m. MDT
Hogle Zoo's biggest fund-raiser is celebrating its 10th anniversary next month.
The American Express Zoo Rendezvous brought 1,100 people to the zoo last year. And with tickets starting at $150 a head, a lot of money will again be raised for animal care and exhibit renovations.
"The entire zoo is transformed for the evening, just for this particular event," said Lauryn Wingate, the volunteer gala director. "And then proceeds go directly to animals and habitat improvement."
The decades-long event, set this year for Sept. 6, began as a way to help care for the zoo's collection of 900 animals. Just to feed the animals costs $125,000 a year.
The fundraiser started as invite-only, but now anyone can buy a ticket. Guests can wine-and-dine at food booths from 25 of Salt Lake's most high-end restaurants, like the New Yorker, Metropolitan, Cafe Madrid and Lugano. A signature 10th anniversary champagne has been created for the event by La Caille French restaurant.
Each year the fund-raiser has a theme, which focuses on an animal. For 2007, the theme is penguins.
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695204721,00.html
Bubba Remembered at the Zoo
Fans, friends, and anyone who loved him, showed up Sunday for a celebration of Bubba the Polar Bear's life. Pictures, paintings, and live music all dedicated to Bubba were set up at the Lake Superior Zoo. Almost anyone you talk to has a story to tell about him; Peyton Jahn remembers visiting Bubba with her grandmother and brother every year. "Every time we came, Bubba would throw the ball up at us," she said. Bill Keute of Virginia is hard of hearing, and didn't speak until he saw Bubba. "My mom and dad didn't know I was hard of hearing. Bubba helped me talk."
http://www.wdio.com/article/stories/S177667.shtml?cat=10335
Amsterdam's zoo and public library both robbed within a few hours.
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands: The public library and the zoo had some unusual visitors early Monday. Both were robbed.
Police said two thieves hit the ticket counter at the Artis Zoo shortly after it opened and stole an undisclosed amount of cash.
Earlier, around 2 a.m. (0100GMT), three masked and armed men overpowered the guards at a newly opened 13-story building housing the library's main branch and other offices. Police declined to say what was taken.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/27/europe/EU-GEN-Netherlands-Robberies.php
Zoo Animals to Be Put on Diet
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
Animals at the zoo in Seoul Grand Park will be put on a diet to prevent obesity.The management office of the zoo in Gyeonggi Province, one of the world's top 10 zoos with 3,000 animals covering 350 species, said Monday it would implement the new diet next month by reducing or changing the feed currently given.``We have fed the animals highly nutritive foods since 1998, and many of the animals have become fat. So we have decided to change the diet,'' an official of the park said.Many of the animals in the zoo, living in a limited space, weigh more than their counterparts in the wild. ``Fat animals cannot move fast and their fertility decreases,'' he said.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2007/08/117_9063.html
No more snacks for tubby zoo animals
Seoul - After almost a decade of the good life, tubby animals in a South Korean zoo are to go on a diet.Seoul Grand Park zoo, which had been feeding its charges according to 1998 guidelines, has decided to go back closer to nature, the JoongAng Daily reported on Monday."Feeding the animals according to the 1998 guidelines made the animals overweight," Park Seon-Deok, a member of the animal management team, was quoted as saying.The zoo will decrease the amount of processed food, to which the animals have become accustomed, and increase the amount of natural materials.
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=29&art_id=nw20070827043935574C901837&set_id=1
Make zoo revamp plan public, demand nature lovers
Mumbai, August 27: A group of nature lovers has submitted a petition to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corportion (BMC), the superintendent of garden and the Zoo Authority of India to make public the revamp plan of the 53-acre Byculla zoo. They fear that the revamp would sound the death kneel for its rich botanical wealth.
Kicked off on July 5, the Save Rani Bagh Botanical Garden Action Committee has till date collected over 2,000 signatures through an online campaign. The appeal to save the zoo, along with the signatures, was submitted to the authorities on August 15.
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=253153
Zoo grant to be announced Thursday
Representatives of the Binghamton Zoo at Ross Park are planning a press conference at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the Golden Lion Tamarin area to announce the details of a grant from the Virginia and Conrad Klee Foundation.
The Binghamton Zoo and the Discovery Center will each be offering $1 admission on Thursday to celebrate the Discovery Center joining the Broome County Tobacco Free Alliance as a smoke-free area.
— Brian Liberatore
http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070828/NEWS01/70828008
Bumper summer at the zoo
By Staff reporter
CHESTER Zoo has enjoyed a bumper summer for visitors despite washout weather.
Celebrations marked the middle of August after visitor figures for the year so far hit the 850,000 milestone. Remarkably the zoo has reached that target almost a month earlier than it did in the sun-drenched summer of 2006.
Head of marketing Sharon Leeson said: "The figures are especially encouraging given all the rain we have had this year.
http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/wirralnews/display.var.1642854.0.bumper_summer_at_the_zoo.php
Children’s hearing for park zoo youths
Youths charged with causing injuries to animals at Camperdown Wildlife Centre won’t appear at Dundee Sheriff Court but will be dealt with by the children’s hearings system.
The decision was taken following a meeting between the reporter and procurator fiscal, who considered taking criminal proceedings to the sheriff court.
However a spokesman for the Crown Office last night said, “After consideration of the police report and national guidelines on the prosecution of children and after discussion between the reporter and the procurator fiscal, the case was referred to the reporter.”
http://www.thecourier.co.uk/output/2007/08/28/newsstory10195978t0.asp
Seniors Invited To Detroit Zoo
Submitted by ruzik_tuzik on Tue, 2007-08-28 05:39.
Senior citizens are invited to enjoy a special day at the Detroit Zoo on Senior Day, Wednesday, September 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Seniors 62 and older and their caregivers will receive free admission, free parking and free rides on the Tauber Family Railroad.
Sponsored by Visiting Nurses Association, Senior Day will feature live music by the Picks & Sticks Stringband, narrated tractor train tours and bingo.
The day’s activities will also include zookeeper talks highlighting some of the Zoo’s senior animals: Jock, a river hippopotamus, who is 37 and has called the Detroit Zoo home for 36 years, and female grizzly bears Napa, Nicki and Teddy, 35 – affectionately known as the “Memphis Grizzly Girls” – who were donated by the Memphis Zoo in 2002.
http://www.huliq.com/31915/seniors-invited-to-detroit-zoo
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