Amphibians at risk in climate change
KIM HELFRICH
JOHANNESBURG – The world’s amphibians are at risk due to habitat loss, climate change, pollution and pesticides, according to a World Association of Zoos and Aquaria conference held in Pretoria.
It focused on the plight of amphibians and decided on a collective approach to create public awareness.
Additional factors contributing to a decrease in amphibian populations were over-collection for food, pets and a parasitic fungus.
The chytrid is unstoppable in the wild. African clawed frogs are seen as its likely resistant carriers, and these have been shipped around the world since the 1930s, spreading the disease wherever they land up.
The effects of chytrid are exacerbated by climate change, making it even more deadly. The zoo will stage events next year to feature amphibians and their importance to ecosystems.

http://www.citizen.co.za/index/article.aspx?pDesc=50858,1,22


Newborn Peeps at the Zoo
A baby white lion, born on October 14, 2007, sleeps in a compound at the Olmense Zoo in Olmen, Belgium, October 18, 2007. Photo REUTERS / Yves Herman (Belgium)
White lions are not albinos. The white color is caused by a recessive gene known as chinchilla or color inhibitor. They vary from blonde through to near white, but some can also be red. This coloration gives white lions a distinct disadvantage in nature because they are highly visible. It’s been perpetuated by selective breeding in zoos around the world. Inbreeding often leads to birth defects, which makes breeding for white tigers highly controversial.
The white lion is occasionally found in wildlife reserves in South Africa and is a rare color mutation of the Kruger subspecies. White lions are nearly extinct.
http://www.lifeinthefastlane.ca/newborn-peeps-at-the-zoo/offbeat-news


Mac and Friends Halloween Pumpkin Bash
Fall weather may be a few weeks away but the pumpkins hanging from the live oak trees around the Reflection Pool are a good indicator that it’s time for the Zoo’s annual Halloween festival, Zoo Boo!
Mac, his mom Shanti and Aunt Methai welcomed the season in grand style this week with the annual Zoo Boo pumpkin bash. Even Mac’s friends at spectacled bears, lions and the orangutans at Wortham World of Primates got in on the fun.
Join us for Zoo Boo October 20-21 and 27-28. For more information click here.
http://www.houstonzooblog.org/2007/week42/index.html#entry-40425006