Zoos
Endangered birds produce chicks at Garden City zoo
Associated Press - October 5, 2007 1:04 PM ET
GARDEN CITY, Kan. (AP) - A Garden City zoo is celebrating the hatching of 2 healthy chicks whose species is almost extinct in its native Indonesia.
The Bali Mynah Bird is a distinctive white starling with an electric blue patch over its eyes. Its look and elaborate song make it attractive to bird lovers.
But capture and caging has reduced the Bali Mynah population in Indonesia to just a handful.
The Lee Richardson Zoo in Garden City is involved in a plan to help rescue the species by mating two adult bird on loan to the zoo to produce a clutch of eggs, which they did two weeks ago.
The baby birds are on display but won't be visible to visitors for a few more weeks.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.kbsd6.com/Global/story.asp?S=7174421
Council seeks legislation to retain Forest Park zoo
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
By MIKE PLAISANCE
mplaisance@repub.com
SPRINGFIELD - The City Council voted unanimously last night to authorize the mayor to seek state legislation aimed at extending the life of the Forest Park zoo another quarter century or more.
"The zoo is one of the (city's) top 10 tourist destinations. This little housekeeping move that we need to take will allow the property to continue to be a zoo for another 25 years," Councilor Bruce W. Stebbins, who sponsored the measure, said after the meeting.
The 9-0 vote at City Hall lets Mayor Charles V. Ryan seek a special act of the Legislature. The act would bypass a state law that limits the number of years a lease can be so the city can have another lease of 25 years or more when the current 25-year lease expires in 2010.
The nonprofit Forest Park Zoological Society Inc. operates the zoo under the lease with the city, but the language in the legislation the city will pursue doesn't mention a particular company to run the zoo.
The city's lease with the Forest Park Zoological Society is $1 a year. Patrick J. Sullivan, director of the Parks, Buildings and Recreation Management Department, has said the nominal-fee arrangement lets the city continue having a zoo without having to be in the zoo business.
The council also unanimously approved a resolution calling for the city to adopt so-called project labor agreements on municipal building projects. Two mentioned in the resolution were plans to rebuild Roger L. Putnam Vocational-Technical High School and Forest Park Middle School.
Under such provisions, a city or town enters into agreements with contractors and unions. The agreements ensure that the job's workers get fair wages and benefits, that workers get safety training, that apprenticeship programs train young people in building trades and that the job will be completed on time and on budget.
"I think they're very good for the economy in the city of Springfield," said council President Kateri B. Walsh, who proposed the resolution.
The city is in the design stages en route to building a new $120 million Putnam and an estimate four years ago put the rebuilding of Forest Park Middle School at $30 million.
Council resolutions are nonbinding, but union members who filled the seats in City Council Chambers erupted in applause after the resolution passed.
"This is outstanding, what just happened tonight," said Daniel D'Alma, business manager for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 7 of Western Massachusetts.
http://www.masslive.com/springfield/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-11/1192522948189380.xml&coll=1
Jungle cat succumbs to injuries at zoo
Tuesday October 16 2007 09:37 IST
Express News Service
T’PURAM: The jungle cat, which was brought to the city zoo on Sunday, turned out to be a one-day visitor. For the animal, which was kept under observation following bad health, breathed its last on Sunday night itself.
The cat, which had suffered deep injuries on its lungs, while being trapped by locals at Kottiyam, also suffered from haemorrhage, which caused the end.
According to Zoo Veterinarian Dr C.S.Jayakumar, the jungle cat was trapped by people and handed over to the authorities at Kottiyam, but a portion of its lungs had teared off during the process. The female cat had been admitted to a veterinary hospital at Kottiyam from where it was brought to the zoo.
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEO20071015231559&Page=O&Headline=Jungle+cat+succumbs+to+injuries+at+zoo&Title=Thiruvananthapuram&Topic=0
Council agrees to make zoo nonsmoking
By Jon Walker
Argus Leader
Published: October 15, 2007
The City Council approved a measure tonight that prohibits the public from smoking at the Great Plains Zoo.
Zoo President Elizabeth Whealy said that going non-smoking will make it a better experience for guests, as well as animals by reducing litter and second-hand smoke.
There will be no designated smoking area for the public. There will be one, however, for employees, but it won’t be for the public.
Councilor Bob Litz said he was “perplexed” by the contradiction of having a smoking area for employees, but no area for the general public.
“If we’re going to have no smoking, it should be no smoking, and that includes employees,” he said.
Litz voted for the measure, which ended on a 7-0 vote.
http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071015/NEWS/71015059/1001
WELCOME TO SINGAPORE "ZOO"
Elephants at Play (Video)
http://stage6.divx.com/user/Michaelchong88/video/1745681/Elephant-show-at-Singapore-Zoo
Zoo director Greene moving on
After 20 months in Roanoke, Sean Greene announced he will leave Mill Mountain Zoo to work in Dallas.
By Pete Dybdahl
981-3376
Sean Greene, Mill Mountain Zoo's executive director and its popular face for the past 20 months, announced his resignation Monday to take a job with a larger zoo in Dallas.
Greene leaves the mountain Nov. 2 as the zoo upgrades its facilities, arranges for a new Zoo Choo train and enjoys recent success on its national accreditation review.
The director also leaves behind a renewed vigor to make the mountaintop zoo a more modern, relevant feature of Roanoke.
"Sean has revitalized the zoo to the community," said Sara Brooks, president of the Mill Mountain Zoological Society, which operates the zoo. "We've got five years of work out of him in 20 months."
http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/135985
Enjoy the Zoo for Free on Thanksgiving Day
You won't find turkeys at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, but you can see its 3,000 other animals for free on Thanksgiving Day. All Zoo visitors receive complimentary admission from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving, November 22.
Throughout the day, you can see the Zoo's animals feast on some of their favorite treats, like pumpkins for the elephants and "fish-sicles" for the sea lions. (Of course, "fish-sicles" are frozen fish in blocks of ice.) Also, meet the keepers and watch the animals participate in special Thanksgiving Day enrichment activities meant to keep their minds and bodies active.
http://www.clemetzoo.com/pressroom/index.asp?action=details&pressrelease_id=1273
Build Your Wildself
http://www.buildyourwildself.com/
Bill & Alice Nix Petting Zoo dedicated
JONESBORO — On the day Bill and Alice Nix of Ash Flat married in 1949, their worldly possessions consisted of $5 and a Guernsey cow.
Over the 58 years since, they’ve built a business, a family and a reputation for hard work, honesty and service to others.
In honor of that lifetime commitment, the couple’s children have made a gift to Arkansas State University’s College of Agriculture to fund and provide livestock for a petting zoo, which has been named to honor their parents.
http://www.guardonline.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=41577&format=html
Photo: brown and white pelicans at the Bronx Zoo
mongabay.com
October 16, 2007
Colorful autumn leaves are starting to fall but they don't dampen the sunny disposition of these brown and white pelicans at the Bronx Zoo.
The pelican's most recognizable feature is its expandable, skin pouch used to scoop food out of the water. Their diets in nature consist mainly of fish, but they are also opportunistic feeders and eat a variety of small aquatic animals including crustaceans, tadpoles, and turtles. At the Bronx Zoo, pelicans are served herring, capelin, and whitebait.
While brown pelicans are the smallest species of this bird, American white’s can have a wingspan of over nine feet.
Pelicans can be found on all continents except for Antarctica.
Visitors can see these birds on a pond behind the Bronx Zoo's Children's Zoo. All the zoo's pelicans are rehab birds, meaning they have been rescued from injury or abandonment.
http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1016-wcs_pelican.html
Hogle Zoo pitching in expertise to help save Bornean orangutans
By Matthew D. LaPlante
Posted: 6:28 AM- If the world's population of endangered Bornean orangutans is ever to recover, it's going to take a long time.
Orangutan mothers often go eight years or longer between offspring. In any given year in the United States, where there are 220 orangutans in captivity, only one or two babies are born. So few zookeepers have much experience in breeding, let alone encouraging the mother-baby bonds that are a hallmark of the ape's species survival plan.
That's why two zookeepers from Utah's Hogle Zoo are in Chicago, this week, to speak with ape caregivers from around the world. Their success in bringing together a baby orang, Acara, with her mother, Eve,
Bornean Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus)
Habitat: The most arboreal of all the great apes, orangutans like those at the Hogle zoo live in the lowland rain forests of Borneo.
Lifespan: About 30 years in the wild, 50 years in captivity.
In Utah: The Hogle Zoo has four orangutans...
Talukan, a male born in 1986 at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Eli, a male born in 1990 at the Topeka Zoo. Eve, a female born in 1990 at the Kansas City Zoo. Acara, a female born at the Hogle Zoo in 2005, the daughter of Eli and Eve.
is being called a model for future breeding effort
"It's extremely significant," said Carol Sodaro, one of the world's foremost experts on ape husbandry and care, who consulted with Hogle zookeepers Bobbi Gordon and Erin Jones about Acara's birth and rearing. "Not having Acara and Eve together would prevent Eve from getting the normal maternal skills she needs."
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_7202315
Frond Zoo coming to a library near you
Paint and imagination transform palm fronds into animals
By Andrea Stetson
Special to news-press.com
Originally posted on October 06, 2007
Lots of people see shapes in clouds, but Heidi Saletko sees everything from elephants to scorpions in palm fronds. Now she's opening the eyes of children around Southwest Florida to the creations they can make from something as common as a discard from a palm tree.
About 15 years ago Saletko's husband was trimming a palm tree in the yard of their North Naples home when Heidi Saletko immediately saw the face of an elephant in a cut frond. She took it inside, painted it and it looked just like the huge gray creature. That was the beginning of Saletko's Frond Zoo. From there she turned fronds into African animals, domestic pets, bugs, fish and more. She began displaying her Frond Zoo at art shows and festivals. Now she works with local libraries and other organizations to bring Frond Zoo art to children.
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071006/LIFESTYLES/710070359/1075
Baby boom at zoo
20 October 2007 16:00
A MINI baby boom has hit Colchester Zoo with four offspring born within a matter of weeks of each other.
The birth of two Red River hog piglets, and two types of primates, a Squirrel Monkey and a Mandrill, is set to boost the zoo's breeding programmes and help protect endangered species.
The zoo's breeding group of Mandrills, the largest in the country, got one bigger this month with the birth of a baby to mother Celine and father Dume in the Edge of Africa zone.
In total there are now 24 mandrills all living together at the zoo.
http://www.eveningstar.co.uk/content/eveningstar/news/story.aspx?brand=ESTOnline&category=News&tBrand=ESTOnline&tCategory=News&itemid=IPED19%20Oct%202007%2010%3A34%3A11%3A780
Zoo manager charged with embezzling thousands
Bay City News
A former marketing manager at the Oakland Zoo who allegedly enjoyed traveling to Disneyland with zoo money won't be going there anytime soon because he's now been charged with embezzling $52,000.
Alameda County District Attorney Norbert Chu said Friday that Gregory Jueneman, 27, allegedly stole zoo funds over a period of at least 10 months but was tripped up last month when he tried to electronically transfer $3,000 from the zoo's bank account to his own account.
The large attempted transfer attracted the attention of Wells Fargo Bank, which notified zoo officials who then did an audit and discovered that Jueneman had been taking money since September 2006, Chu said.
Jueneman was then confronted and fired by zoo officials, Chu said.
http://www.ebdailynews.com/article/2007-10-6-bcn-26
Zoo funding 'step in the right direction'
Oct 05, 2007 @ 10:25 PM
By JENNIFER FUSCO
Observer-Dispatch
UTICA - The struggling Utica Zoo welcomed news about getting a 3 percent increase in county funding after Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente revealed his proposed budget Friday.
The zoo's county funding increased from $354,000 to $363,270, which is what the zoo requested.
"This is a step in the right direction," Zoo Executive Director Beth Irons said. "I am very much encouraged that Oneida County wants to continue to support the zoo."
The zoo's total budget is about $960,000 annually - $300,000 of which is mandated by the county to fund through an agreement.
County Legislator Ed Welsh, R-Utica, whose district includes the zoo, said he supports the increase for the zoo, and the overall budget shows a wise and prudent approach.
http://www.uticaod.com/news/x1381457719
Death comes quickly to eagle, surprising zoo staff
By CURT SLYDER
cslyder@journalandcourier.com
Columbian Park Zoo officials are hoping for answers regarding what caused the death Thursday of one of the zoo's most popular animals.
The zoo's only bald eagle, on display since the zoo reopened June 30, died unexpectedly Thursday evening.
Named Pride, the adult male bald eagle was experiencing difficulty breathing Thursday morning, said zoo director Claudine Laufman.
Officials brought in a veterinarian to treat the bird that zoo staff had seen struggling to breathe. But it was no use.
Pride died Thursday evening.
http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071006/NEWS/710060337/1152/NEWS
Zoo heist
BIRCH RUN, Michigan, Oct. 4, 2007 (NBC) -- The Wilderness Trails Wildlife Park in Birch Run, Michigan is home to more then 200 animals, but now the zoo is missing nine of its near and dear friends.
A couple of weeks ago, a baby wallaby and two fennec foxes were stolen sometime throughout the night. The thieves cut the fence lining the more the 30-acre zoo, snuck in netting, cut the wires, and made off with the prized animals.
Now five rare tortoises are missing after a second break-in. They range in size, with a majority of them being between 10 and 20 pounds, but one was between 50 and 60 pounds, so it was not an easy getaway.
It is suspected that the animals were stolen for monetary reasons but employees just want them back so the animals can get the care they need.
"We're hoping that the community will maybe see these animals or whoever took them will turn them loose. We're hoping that maybe someone will see them or maybe someone who purchased them not knowing will give us a call." said zookeeper Laura Wiley.
The Wilderness Trails Wildlife Park has never had any problems before these break-in's. Staff said they are working to improve security.
http://www.ksn.com/news/also/10268737.html
Trash or Treasure for Polar Bears?
Posted at 2:52 pm October 5, 2007 by Kelly Murphy
If you haven’t seen by now, there’s been quite a stir when viewing the Polar Cam. Many of you have heard me share stories about the bears: what they like to eat, how well they get along, and how they love to play. Enrichment is a major part of their day. We try to minimize food enrichment, as it is often short lived and offers little variety in behavior. By offering a toy or object, we allow the bears choices as to how and if they interact with it. If you’ve visited our bears, you may have experienced some of the more “unusual” items such as burlap sacks, feathers, traffic cones, and even plastic lawn ornaments. One of their all-time favorites has always been the plastic lids to trash cans.
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wordpress/default/trash-or-treasure-for-polar-bears/
Kipuka 21: A New Home for Our Creeper and ‘Akepa
Posted at 12:09 pm October 5, 2007 by Alan Lieberman
The only thing more satisfying and exciting than hatching and rearing some of the most endangered species in the world is sending them off into native forests to be part of a restored Hawaiian ecosystem. As part of the recovery efforts to restore the biodiversity of Kipuka 21, the Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Program is in a two-month process, methodically releasing the Hawaii creeper (juvenile pictured above) and ‘akepa (female pictured below) back into a native ecosystem.
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wordpress/default/kipuka-21-a-new-home-for-our-creeper-and-akepa/
Cherished new arrivals at Marwell Zoo
Somali wild ass, Jahzara, with her mother, Tikva
THE stork has made a valuable delivery to Marwell Zoo near Winchester.
A pair of rare female Somali wild asses, which are critically endangered, have been born at the venue.
Only 300 of the species are thought to exist elsewhere in the wild, and only in North East Africa, with none in their native Somali homeland.
The arrival of two new ones increases the size of Marwell's herd to seven.
Their head keeper, Simon Hawker, added: "Due to recent droughts and political turmoil it is very difficult to assess the current wild populations.
"With this uncertainty it is vital that we increase the number of Somali wild asses born in captivity to help safeguard their future."
http://www.thisishampshire.net/news/hampshirenews/display.var.1740238.0.cherished_new_arrivals_at_marwell_zoo.php
Rare panda arrives at Madison zoo
Associated Press - October 5, 2007 7:15 AM ET
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - A rare red panda has arrived at the Children's Zoo in Madison.
Red pandas weigh about 15 pounds, have long, bushy ringed tails. They are natives of the cool, temperate forests of China. And they share their habitat with the more well-known pandas.
Chang Tan comes from the Red River Zoo in Fargo, North Dakota.
The Children's Zoo was recently completed at the Henry Vilas (VEYE'-lis) Zoo. Director Jim Hubing says there are only about 2,500 red pandas left in the wild.
The 5-year-old male red panda will eventually be paired with a female.
Information from: WISC-TV, http://www.channel3000.com
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=7172817
Correctional site may be relocated to help zoo grow
By JASON PULLIAM
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
October 5, 2007
City leaders want to move a south-side work-release center to make room for improvements at Blank Park Zoo.
The Fort Des Moines community correctional facility, with more than 275 men who include about 45 sex offenders, "simply does not fit with the comprehensive plan we have envisioned for that area as a kid-friendly place," south-side City Councilman Brian Meyer said.
Meyer and Mayor Frank Cownie head a panel appointed to draw up a revitalization plan for a "superblock" roughly bordered by Southeast 14th Street, Southwest Ninth Street, Army Post Road and County Line Road.
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071005/NEWS/710050392/-1/ENT06
Blackpool Zoo nominated for two awards
Blackpool Zoo has been nominated twice in the annual Northwest Tourism Awards.
The zoo is up for best large visitor attraction of the year and best visitor experience.
The best visitor experience nomination is for the zoo's innovative Keeper of the Day experience, which allows members of the public to spend a day with one of the zoo's keeper teams.
Other attractions nominated in Blackpool include the Grand Theatre, for best tourism website of the year and the George Bancroft Park, near Bloomfield Road and St Anne's Square are competing for the best public space award.
http://news.holidayhypermarket.co.uk/Blackpool-Zoo-nominated-for-two-awards-18305967.html
Coastal Habitats Are The Biosphere's Most Imperiled Ecosystems
ScienceDaily (Oct. 20, 2007) — The BBVA Foundation’s Third Debate on Conservation Biology allowed leading international experts to present findings of their latest research into the scale, causes and consequences of global loss of coastal habitats. The disappearance of these ecosystems, which include coral reefs, mangrove forests, wetlands and seagrass meadows, has serious consequences like loss of biodiversity, depletion of exploitable living resources, impaired capacity of the oceans to sequester CO2 and loss of the leisure value of the coastal zone. Not only that, the coastline becomes more vulnerable to the increased erosion associated with rising sea levels.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071020090707.htm
Rare white rhino born at SA zoo
Posted Thu Oct 4, 2007 8:18pm AEST
A southern white rhinoceros has been born at South Australia's Monarto Zoo.
Weighing in at a hefty 40 kilograms, Watoto the baby white rhino is the second for Monarto Zoo's breeding program.
The male calf was born on Tuesday morning and is said to be wrinkly, with big feet and ears.
Poaching and civil wars all but wiped-out the southern white rhino in the 19th century, but conservation programs like the one at Monarto have helped restore the species to about 13,000 world wide.
It is hoped the model can eventually be used to improve the numbers of the black rhinoceros.
For now keepers are leaving Watoto to bond and feed with his mother and he is expected to put on several kilos a day as he feeds and grows to the full size of about 2.5 tonnes.
http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/10/04/2051335.htm
Visit Boston's Zoos!
Zoo New England is the non-profit that runs Franklin Park Zoo in Boston and Stone Zoo in Stoneham. Franklin Park Zoo is a 72-acre site nestled in Boston’s historic Franklin Park, long considered the “crown jewel” of Frederick Law Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace Park System. Visit the animals of the Australian outback, greet the new baby gorilla, listen to the lion roar, and enjoy all the trails!
Stone Zoo is a more intimate zoo located on a 26-acre site near the sparkling Spot Pond reservoir. Kids will love the flamingoes, the many wild cats (leopard, cougar, jaguar) and the daily Bird Show! Use your four tickets toward either one of our local zoos.
Donated by: Zoo New England
Value: $44
http://noodleandscribble.typepad.com/100_red_balloons/2007/10/visit-bostons-z.html
Pronghorn euthanized after being injured in transport
Published 10/5/2007
A female pronghorn from Lee Richardson Zoo was euthanized after injuries suffered while being transported to another zoo.
According to zoo Director Kathy Sexson, a pair of young pronghorn started being transported Tuesday to Zoo Leon, an AZA-accredited zoo in Leon, Guanjuato, Mexico. AZA, or the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, is a nonprofit organization "dedicated to the advancement of accredited zoos and aquariums in the areas of animal care, wildlife conservation, education and science," according to its Web site.
The pronghorn, born at Lee Richardson Zoo in May, were purchased by Zoo Leon because the zoo is trying to start a pronghorn herd. The pronghorn were loaded calmly into a section of an animal trailer operated by a professional animal transporter on Tuesday and left the zoo, according to the Lee Richardson Zoo.
http://www.gctelegram.com/News/141120
PalmGear
US Zoos & Aquariums Directory 2.0
http://www.palmgear.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=software.showsoftware&PartnerREF=&siteid=1&catid=0&area=software.newupdated&searchtitle=Search%20Results&searchterm=&step=1&orderby=modificationdate&direction=asc&userid=0&prodid=61927
Frozen Sperm Worked For White Rhino
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/07101...
by Pavlusha 13806 days ago, published 13806 days ago (sciencedaily.com)
Scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin successfully inseminated a rhino with formerly frozen sperm. This world-first artificial insemination of a white rhino with frozen rhino sperm took place in Budapest Zoo.
The test-tube father called Simba is 38 years old and lives in the Zoo of Colchester, UK. The pregnant female is called Lulu. Her baby is due in November 2008. It will be her second baby.
The first one, Layla, was also conceived by artificial insemination. At that time, however, the scientists had used fresh sperm from a male rhino that lives with Lulu in Budapest.
The fact that the scientists were able to use frozen sperm has far-ranging implications for the conservation of rhinos. “Now we can take sperm from free living rhinos and freeze it“, says Dr. Thomas Hildebrandt, scientist at IZW. “Then we will be able to use it in zoos all over the world.“ The sperm Hildebrandt and his colleagues had used was stored for three years in liquid nitrogen at minus 196 degrees Celsius. It was taken from Simba, a then 35 years old male rhino, in Colchester, UK. Tests had shown that Simba’s sperm cells were highly vital although he was already quite old at that time.
http://test.indianpad.com/story/121935
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