Posted on August 23, 2007 by Steven W Brewer
A leaf may represent an entire ecosystem. Conservation must consider multiple spatial and temporal scales.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Habitat for trees or students?
UNCW seniors Ashley Cedzo (left) and Lindsay Staszak are part of a save-the-forest group that opposes UNCW's planned development of the wooded area off Reynolds Drive. Here, they pose for a portrait in that area on Wednesday, November 28, 2007, with a group of students that support their effort. The as-yet unnamed group will be holding an organizational meeting next Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2007, in room 202 of Dobo Hall at UNCW at 7:30 p.m. For more information on the group and its cause, e-mail saveuncwpines@gmail.com.
PHOTO BY MICHAEL HENNINGER/WILMINGTON STAR-NEWS
By Vicky Eckenrode
Staff Writer
vicky.eckenrode@starnewsonline.com
Nearly 50 University of North Carolina Wilmington students sat in a lecture room Tuesday night trading Web sites and organizing an opposition.
They, as well as some upset faculty members, are hoping petitions, letter-writing campaigns and outside community pressure can stop a construction project on campus that would require tearing down 15 acres of woods.
"We're not opposed to the construction and the additions, we're just opposed to the location," said Ashley Cedzo, a senior marine biology major. "This university is one of the few remaining campuses with a lot of green space. That was a big draw for me applying here."
But university officials say they have looked at other sites, and the property at the rear of the campus is the only spot that makes sense to expand on-campus housing.
"The decision has been made," said Ed Shuford, director of UNCW's Project Management Department. "At this point, we don't have any plan B. We've already analyzed plan A, B, C, D and E."
The university hopes to start construction in April and be ready for students to start moving in August 2009.
The plan calls for four privatized apartment buildings as well as a 1,000-space parking deck, which would be the first built on UNCW's campus.
A master plan for the campus approved in 2005 marked the 15 acres for development as well as another 15 acres at the site for more recreation fields or business development based on university research and work.
Shuford said another 140 acres of woods behind the buildings is slated for conservation in the master plan, and students can continue to use that area.
But those hoping to stop the project want the school to build on existing parking lot areas for student housing, moving those parking spaces to off-campus property the university already owns.
UNCW assistant plant ecology professor Steven Brewer said university administrators should be concerned about protecting the habitat that provides students with areas to perform lab work and learn about rapidly declining plant life.
"The educational value of it far exceeds the development," he said.
Brewer said the campus is home to the only patch in North Carolina of a tree known as minimal oak. The woods also contain longleaf pines, which used to cover much of the southeastern coastal plain, but now there is only 2 percent left of that original forest.
"Any ecologist can tell you that system is unique and endangered," Brewer said about the campus property, which he wants to see turned into a permanent nature preserve.
The building plan must still go through several local and state permitting processes and clear an environmental assessment, which will determine if any threatened or endangered plants or animals are affected by the construction.
A 30-day public comment period will take place once the state's part of the environmental assessment review starts.
Shuford said he does not expect problems since the woods are in the same area that was approved for the first two phases of the privatized student apartments at Seahawk Village and Seahawk Landing.
The university has made it a goal to provide on-campus housing for 40 percent of its undergraduates, or about 4,000 students, which would be met once the third apartment building opens to accommodate 660 more students.
"We're trying to provide an alternative to living off campus," Shuford said.
Vicky Eckenrode: 343-2075
vicky.eckenrode@starnewsonline.com
Zoos
Nina Katchadourian, Enrichment
Sara Meltzer Gallery
Chelsea
Sara Meltzer Gallery is pleased to present Enrichment, an exhibition of new works by Nina Katchadourian. Her second show at the gallery continues her longstanding exploration of the human relationship to the natural world. Consisting of two multi-channel video installations and a photographic work, Enrichment contemplates animal behavior as well as our behavior towards animals.
In the lingo of animal caretakers, "enrichment" refers to the process of providing a stimulating environment for zoo animals in order to demonstrate their typical behavior and enhance their well-being. This may include the replication of natural habitats through exhibition design, the introduction of scents and sounds from their natural environment, feeding that encourages natural foraging behavior and the introduction of objects, including "toys," that mentally challenge animals. The existence of the term is also a tacit acknowledgement of the psychological difficulties animals face in captivity.
http://www.artcal.net/event/view/1/6013
More lion kittens found
Associated Press - November 27, 2007 9:25 AM ET
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - Three more mountain lion kittens that were orphaned during the hunting season have been caught so they can get the care they need, and officials are looking for 1 more.
So far, 6 orphaned kittens have been captured.
The orphans will be raised at South Dakota State University until they can be placed with zoos.
The mountain lion season in South Dakota ended Friday when the quota of 15 females was reached.
State officials retrieve orphaned kittens if it's determined that they're not able to survive on their own.
Information from: Rapid City Journal, http://www.rapidcityjournal.com
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.kmeg14.com/Global/story.asp?S=7413955&nav=menu609_2_4
Breeding elephants doesn't protect them
Zoos like those in Pittsburgh should help preserve the animals' native habitat instead
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
By Marianne Bessey
During this month's ground-breaking ceremony at the Pittsburgh zoo's proposed elephant breeding facility in Somerset Country, lots of lip service was paid to "conservation." It is without question that elephants, endangered in Asia and threatened in Africa, desperately need help. But will spending millions of dollars on breeding a handful of elephants actually help elephants -- or just the zoo's bottom line?
Marianne Bessey is a spokesperson for Friends of Philly Zoo Elephants (marianne. bessey@dechert.com).
The elephant exhibit at the Philadelphia Zoo is closing and the three remaining wild-caught African elephants -- Kallie, Bette and Petal -- are supposed to move to Somerset County in April. The zoo's Asian elephant, Dulary, was fortunate enough to leave Philadelphia in May for The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, where she enjoys the closest thing to an elephant's life possible in captivity.
Kallie, Bette and Petal could have a similar life at the Performing Animal Welfare Society sanctuary in California, but instead the Philadelphia Zoo has decided to ship them to the "International Conservation Center" breeding facility in Somerset County.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07304/829727-109.stm
Sympathy for the devil
Extra insurance for the Tasmanian devil announced as scientists fear for its future.
Kate McDonald 29/11/2007 11:34:05
Up to 100 Tasmanian devils will be captured and quarantined as part of an ongoing insurance population strategy designed to ensure the survival of the species.
Save the Tasmanian Devil program manager Dr Steven Smith said the first stage will begin in late January, following months of surveys in the state's west and north-west to identify animals with no evidence of Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour disease.
The uninfected devils will be put in quarantine and then sent to zoos on the mainland.
At present, 48 Tasmanian devils have been sent to wildlife parks to establish an 'insurance' population, to ensure the species' survival should the disease continue to decimate the wild population.
http://www.biotechnews.com.au/index.php/id;426950786;fp;2;fpid;1
Pinnawela to Yerevan:
A cruel change
Sagarica Rajakarunanayake
The Constitution of India states it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife, and to have compassion for living creatures.
The national and political leaders of India have not failed to ensure that nature and all living creatures of the land are embraced by the Constitution of India and brought under its protection.
It is the Fundamental Duty of every citizen, and also of all state functionaries, to act with compassion for all living creatures under Article 51A(g) of the Indian Constitution.
In fact Maneka Gandhi, India’s formidable Animal Rights Activist has on several occasions successfully sought the intervention of the courts against State departments for meting out cruel and inhumane treatment to animals and contravening the provisions of the Constitution of India and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
http://www.dailynews.lk/2007/11/29/fea01.asp
Brazilian Ocelot Born
El Conquistador garnered his name when at 2 days old he wandered from his mother’s side and squeezed through fencing into a hallway for keeper staff on the back side of the exhibit.
“And he did all this when he was unable to see,” McMahan laughed. “He was so young, his eyes were still closed. So, we named him El Conquistador because he is definitely an explorer and conqueror.”
The kitten’s birth is significant because his father Itirapua is one of the very few “founder stock” ocelots, whose genes are critical for survival of the species. Link -via Fark
http://www.neatorama.com/2007/11/30/brazilian-ocelot-born/
Lake Superior Zoo euthanizes lion
Patrick Garmoe Duluth News Tribune
Published Thursday, November 29, 2007
The Lake Superior Zoo lost its only lion this week after 19-year-old Nemo had to be euthanized.
Blood tests taken Monday showed liver and kidney failure, which is common in elderly cats, Lake Superior Zoo veterinarian Louise Beyea said.
Though easier to replace than Bubba the polar bear, who died in July, Nemo also was an especially popular attraction at the zoo, said Sam Maida, the Lake Superior Zoo Society’s executive director. The society helps run portions of the zoo.
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=55161&freebie_check&CFID=71014282&CFTOKEN=32087633&jsessionid=883059bd0cc0234a72c4
Zoo President to Challenge Report on Polar Bear Deaths
Updated: Nov 24, 2007 12:33 PM EST
(Buffalo, NY, November 24, 2007) - - The head of The Buffalo Zoo is reportedly ready to challenge a federal report on the deaths of three polar bears.
Zoo President Dr. Donna Fernandes tells The Buffalo News she does not believe the condition of the polar bear exhibit caused the deaths of three polar bears in a six-month period.
A recently-revealed Department of Agriculture report cites care and conditions among the factors.
Earlier this week, the animal rights group PETA called for the removal of the Zoo's accreditation.
http://www.wivb.com/Global/story.asp?S=7402904
Lahore Zoo gets three giraffes in pakistan
Sunday, 25 November 2007
"Today is the memorable day in the history of Lahore Zoo because the Lahore Zoo have giraffes after 13 years. Lahore Zoo have bought three giraffes two females and one male from South Africa of worth Rs 7.4 million.
The coming of giraffes has increased the interest of children as well as the tourists. Children are waiting for this gift and the administration of Lahore Zoo have full fill their long awaited wish. There are no giraffes in the other Zoo's of Pakistan except Lahore Zoo," said Zoo Maintenance Committee Chairman and Wild Life Director General Muhammad Asif.
In his speech in a colourful ceremony of giraffes at the Lahore Zoo arranged by International School Garden Town children, he talked of the benefits of such educational and animal friendly activities and told the children about the different features of giraffes, such as that their weigh ranging from 550 kilogrames to 1,800 kilogrammes and height from 15 feet to 18 feet. He also told them that they live between 26 and 30 years. Zoo Director, maintenance committee members and staff were also present.
http://www.uniquepakistan.com/news/general/lahore-zoo-gets-three-giraffes-in-pakistan-20071125.html
Tigers, other animals, to sleep through zoo's big tech upgrade
A North Carolina wildlife sanctuary is getting a half-million-dollar upgrade
Matt Hamblen Today’s Top Stories
November 26, 2007 (Computerworld) -- The 85 tigers and other big cats at the Carnivore Preservation Trust (CPT) in Pittsboro, N.C., may scarcely notice the hubbub, but a $500,000 communications and computing upgrade is under way to help tell their story to the world.
IBM and Cisco Systems Inc. are donating the technology to the wildlife sanctuary and began installing the new gear about three weeks ago. In the first phase of the project, servers and voice-over-IP phones have been installed to give the full-time staff of 10 an alternative to a patchwork of donated PCs, printers and an old phone system that relied on answering machines, said Pam Fulk, the CPT's executive director.
Web browsing and word processing functions have been so slow "that I can press a 'Next' key and have time to do my nails while I'm waiting for the page to come up," Fulk joked during an interview.
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9048519&intsrc=news_ts_head
Brno zoo polar bear gives birth to two cubs
By ČTK / Published 26 November 2007
Brno, Nov 24 (CTK) - Cora, a female polar bear in the Brno zoo, gave birth to two cubs Friday and Saturday, and she seems to be caring for both assiduously, the zoo spokesman Pavel Hrazdira told CTK.
All of Cora's previous offspring died as she failed to care for them. If such danger emerged now, the keepers say they would place the cubs in an incubator.
Vets are closely monitoring the young bears.
They say artificial raising of the cubs is not necessary for the time being. The older cub, born on Friday afternoon, does not suffer from hunger, otherwise it would be heard whimpering.
If the cubs are successfully raised, the visitors could see them in several months.
The breed of polar bears in captivity is extremely difficult, experts say.
http://www.praguemonitor.com/en/220/czech_national_news/15102/
New Giraffe Born in Zoo Prague
Nov 26, 2007 12:02 PM Filed under
In the ‘African house’ a new baby giraffe was born, which makes the total number of giraffes born in Prague Zoo: sixty!. The youngster is a girl, was born on 17th November, is very active and can be seen since this weekend together with the rest of her pack.
Zoo celebrated the respectable number by a baptism ceremony of a giraffe boy Faust. The name was given by Milan Steindler, the dean of the 1st medical faculty of Tomas Zima. Faust truly is a hellish name, in spite of the blond baby giraffe doesn’t really show a link to hell.
http://www.abcprague.com/2007/11/26/new-giraffe-born-in-zoo-prague
Octopus Zoo Release Date
Just got back from Ohio. and I am exhausted from all the driving.
I thought a lot about the album, of course. And took a break from listening to it and let the music work itself out in my head. Ends up I'm going to be putting a time signature change in "Anchor Light", there wll be a little 3/4 section in the middle. A break, even.. from the 4/4 of the whole album. With the time away, I had time to consider how much was left to do, not just with Vacant Sky Parlor, but also with school.
So... The release date has changed again.. and this should be the last change, considering how close I am to getting everything done. With the holiday and school.. I haven't had the time to get any vocals recorded, and I am still finishing the music for three of the songs.
So, forget the January 8 date and know the release date is February 12, 2008.
Here is the track list. Though the order may change, the songs themselves are all decided.
http://rockstar.livejournal.com/186667.html
Bear Bites Student at a Private Zoo
By Julia Bonelli
10:54, November 26th 2007
While taking part in a program for budding zookeepers, a student from the Frostburg State University has been bitten by a bear at a private zoo in Farmington, Pa., and also scratched the person that tried to help the student.
The victim of the Maryland college was taking part in a behind-the-scenes tour, on Saturday, as part of a program called "zookeeper for a day." The program addresses adults which are interested of the zoo life, as it gives participants in it the opportunity of getting access to an area of the bear's den that was created to allow zookeepers to feed the animals.
Sonny Herring, owner of the Woodland Zoo and More, has declared that the student that was bitten by the bear required eight stitches, while the second person only had minor injuries, adding that they both went home soon.
Herring showed his disapprovement regarding the overemphasis of the incident, since he said that there are frequent dog bites inside the zoo, but nobody talks so much about them, the only thing that brought this case in the public being only the fact that it was a bear.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission has already started an investigation, declaring that the incident was minor, concerning the injuries, but they will continue the inquiry.
http://www.enews20.com/news_Bear_Bites_Student_at_a_Private_Zoo_03965.html
Zoo to monitor wind in energy-feasibility test
The Toledo Zoo hopes to harvest the breeze.
In conjunction with the non-profit Green Energy Ohio, the zoo will monitor wind in three directions from atop the Lucas County EMS tower at South Detroit and Glendale avenues, near the zoo.
Data from this test should reveal whether wind power is worth the investment for the zoo, a news release said.
Green consciousness at the zoo has risen considerably since Executive Director Anne Baker arrived almost two years ago. Construction plans for zoo projects, such as the all-season Children's Zone, include a green component.
"The steps we take now to find renewable energy will be extremely beneficial in the long run," Ms. Baker said. "If wind power turns out to be a cost-effective way to generate energy for the zoo, then we feel that it is imperative to pursue it."
Bill Spratley, executive director of Green Energy Ohio, said that regardless of the outcome of these tests, "we hope this will further raise consciousness about wind power as a sustainable energy source."
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/NEWS38/71126002
Toledo Zoo to perform study on wind power
News Herald reports
TOLEDO -- To help reduce its dependence on oil, the Toledo Zoo recently received approval from the Lucas County Commissioners to install wind-monitoring equipment on a Lucas County EMS tower near the zoo. In doing so, the zoo will determine the feasibility of using wind in its ongoing efforts to provide greener and more-cost-effective power to the zoo's facilities.
Working in conjunction with Green Energy Ohio, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting environmentally and economically sustainable energy policies and practices in Ohio, the zoo will monitor wind at three different elevations on the EMS tower located on South Detroit Avenue. Through these studies, the zoo officials will gain a clearer understanding of the wind patterns throughout the year. From that data, the zoo officials will be able to determine whether there would be a favorable return on an investment in wind turbines to power the zoo.
http://www.portclintonnewsherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/NEWS01/711260316/1002
Toledo Zoo joins call to protect world's polar bears
Endangered species listing urged
Anne Baker, the zoo's executive director, and other zoo and environmental officials called for federal action to safeguard polar bears and preserve the animals' natural habitat.
By TOM HENRY
BLADE STAFF WRITER
The Toledo Zoo yesterday joined a national movement to get the polar bear listed as an endangered species because of global warming.
At the Arctic Encounter exhibit, as the zoo's bouncy, year-old trio of polar bear cubs delighted visitors by feeding on fish and frolicking in icy water, Anne Baker said the campaign exists because "polar bears are in trouble."
"We want our government to be concerned about it and we want them to start taking action," Ms. Baker, the zoo's executive director, said.
Joining Ms. Baker at the podium were Randi Meyerson, the zoo's curator of mammals; Andrew Wetzler, deputy director of the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Devan Willemsen, air and energy program associate for the Ohio Environmental Council.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071130/NEWS38/711300359
Rare lizards bred in Taipei Zoo
11/26/2007 (CNA)
Taipei, Nov. 26 (CNA) The Taipei Zoo has succeeded in breeding its first two young lizards of a rare species, the Gila monster, after trying for three years, a zoo official said Monday.
The two young lizards -- one 45.64 grams in weight and 17 centimeters in length and the other 31.75 grams in weight and 19 centimeters in length -- have been put on display at the zoo's reptile hall, Chiu Ruo-chun, the keeper of the lizards said.
The Gila monster, originating from southwestern America, is one of two kinds of venomous lizards in the world. Taiwan brought in two pairs of the lizards three years ago and tried to stimulate them into producing young lizards in captivity by putting them in a cabinet with constant moisture and temperature adjustment, Chiu said.
http://www.taiwanheadlines.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=96140&CtNode=39
Berlin Zoo Preparing Birthday Feast for Knut
As the countdown continues towards Knut's first birthday on December 5, Berlin Zoo's management remains tight-lipped about its plans for a celebration. But his faithful keeper Thomas Dörflein knows what the polar bear celebrity will be getting to eat that day.
Knut can look forward to a birthday feast on December 5.
Polar bear star Knut turns one on December 5 (more...)and media speculation about Berlin Zoo's plans for a party is heating up. His keeper Thomas Dörflein has already been thinking about the menu though.
"He'll get what he likes most: grapes, fish, boiled potatoes," Dörflein told
Bild am Sonntag newspaper. As for musical accompaniment to the festivities, Knut enjoyed listening to Dörflein playing Elvis Presley songs on the guitar in his first few months but is unlikely to get a repeat performance.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,519742,00.html
Panel recommends zoo tax
BY JESSICA BROWN JLBROWN@ENQUIRER.COM
A committee that reviews tax levies this morning recommended that the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden put a 5-year levy on the March ballot to raise a total of $36.3 million, or about $7.2 million annually.
That’s more than the $6.1 million the current levy raises a year. The zoo is seeking $38 million over the five-year period. The county commissioners will vote on the issue by Dec. 5.
“We run a tight ship,” said Thane Maynard, the zoo’s executive director. “But expenses go up."
He noted that the levy amount was actually rolled back in 2003, resulting in the zoo collecting less now than it did in 1998.
It is unclear how much more the March levy would cost the owner of a $100,000 home, but Maynard said the difference for that hypothetical homeowner between the recommended amount and the zoo’s request would be 52 cents.
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/NEWS01/311260039
Zoo News Conference Today On Polar Bears Death
Updated: Nov 26, 2007 10:37 AM EST
(Buffalo, NY, November 26, 2007) -- A press conference will be held today at the Buffalo Zoo to shed more light on the recent deaths of three Polar bears.
Zoo president Donna Fernandez will hold a news conference at 1 this afternoon.
Last week, Fernandez told News 4 she does not believe the bears died because of substandard conditions, but a federal inspection report indicated care and conditions contributed to the deaths.
http://www.wivb.com/Global/story.asp?S=7408472
Many Seattle zoo animals nearing end of life span
Published Monday, November 26th, 2007
The Associated Press
SEATTLE (AP) - A number of animals at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle are getting up in years.
A hippo named Gertrude is the oldest animal at 44. She gets glucosamine to help with her aging joints.
The zoo has a number of animals nearing the end of their life expectancy: a pair of 40-year-old orangutans named Towan and Chinta, a 39-year-old gorilla named Pete, a 32-year-old zebra named Amy, a 25-year-old penguin named Pez, and a 16-year-old lion named Jake.
---
Information from: The Seattle Times, http://www.seattletimes.com
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/tch/local/state/story/9480247p-9391450c.html
Nature Playing With Light & Color; SF Zoo
We went to the San Francisco Zoo for the first time yesterday. Quite the nice zoo; the animals all seem fairly content and the grounds were beautifully designed. The paths were all windy and it is quite easy to get pleasantly lost, only to find yourself in the midst of some random part of the world’s animals.
The zoo also hosts quite the population of wild birds. Lots of ducks and seagulls, of course. We also saw a couple of great blue herons wandering and flying about. Magestic birds!
http://www.friday.com/bbum/2007/11/26/nature-playing-with-light-sf-zoo/
Animals Up For Adoption At North Carolina Zoo
Posted by: Bekki Kanter, Producer 3 days ago (11/26/2007 3:48:33 PM)
Zoo leaders say the adoption is a unique gift idea for children this holiday, and proceeds benefit the animals living at the Zoo.
Asheboro, NC -- The North Carolina zoo has more than a dozen animals up for adoption this holiday.
One program, called "Ten Tons of Fun" benefits the Zoo's new Elephant and Rhino exhibit, opening in the spring. The 37-acre exhibit will house about a dozen of each animal.
The adoption costs $59.99. It includes two 12-inch plush animals, a button commemorating the opening, an adoption certificate and a photograph of the the Zoo elephant and rhinoceros being adopted.
A $500 adoption also includes an original painting, created by one of the animals.
Other animals up for adoption include the Red Wolf, Lion, Grizzly Bear, Chimpanzee, African Elephant, Giraffe, Polar Bear, River Otter, Chilean Flamingo, Green Tree Frog, Ball Python, Alligator Snapping Turtle and Puffin. Christmas Orders are mailed on December 7th.
Click herefor more information or to adopt an animal.
Source: WFMY News 2
Copyright: 2007 digtriad.com
http://www.digtriad.com/news/local_state/article.aspx?storyid=93743
Zoo shows off its pride and joy
One of the Oklahoma City Zoo's four lion cubs gets fed Tuesday. The four were born earlier this month through emergency Caesarian section. BY JOHN CLANTON, THE OKLAHOMAN
What's ahead for the cubs?
The new cubs at the Oklahoma City Zoo are weighed at 8 a.m. daily, and they're fed twice a day. Keepers will stop bottle feeding after four or five months.
In about six months, the cubs will be introduced to the pride, which is composed of their three parents, said Jonathan Reding, supervisor of the zoo's Cat Forest and Lion Overlook. In the zoo world, this is called a "howdy.” The cubs will be able to see and hear their parents but won't immediately be allowed into the same area.
The lions were bred as part of the national species survival plan, which dictates which animals reproduce and when. The idea is to keep the gene pool diverse.
As part of the plan, the cubs may leave Oklahoma City. In a year or so, zoo experts will analyze the African lion population in the U.S. and see which animals should move to new locations because of breeding, space needs or other factors, said the zoo's Brian Aucone. The cubs may stay or go.
"For the moment,” he said, "they'll be here for a while.”
By Carrie Coppernoll
Staff Writer
It all started with a toothache.
For months, the lion at the Oklahoma City Zoo ignored the two lionesses conservationists hoped he'd mate with, zoo spokeswoman Tara Henson said. Keepers discovered the mood killer: a 2-inch bone stuck in his teeth, like a piece of a popcorn kernel. A dentist treated the 400-pound cat one day in July, and the next day, as Henson said, "was a lovefest.”
Four months later, the zoo is home to four new lion cubs. If the two pregnancies weren't odd enough, both mothers needed emergency Caesarean sections because of complications.
The scenario, Henson said, is uncommon, to say the least.
http://newsok.com/article/3171673/1195624821
Zoo will sell land to house-builders for regeneration funds
BRIAN FERGUSON
BOSSES at Edinburgh Zoo are to press ahead with plans to sell off part of the site for housing to help fund a multi-million pound redevelopment of the attraction.
The zoo had expected to secure the go-ahead last month to allow up to 100 new homes to be built on the land.
But plans to plough cash raised from the land sale into a £72 million revamp of its historic site on Corstorphine Hill were thrown into chaos when the city's planning committee voted to retain it as green belt land - against the advice of the authority's own officials.
http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=1859022007
Sierra Safari Zoo relies on winter donations
GUY CLIFTON
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Posted: 11/26/2007
HOW TO HELP
Tax-deductible donations can be mailed to Sierra Safari Zoo at 10200 N. Virginia St., Reno, 89506; on the Web at www.sierrasafarizoo.org; or by phone at (775) 677-1104.
The gates have closed for the winter at Sierra Safari Zoo, but the work and the needs continue through the winter months.
“The thing is, we’re open April to November and our gate pretty much keeps us alive,” said zoo spokesman Dale McDaniel. “When we’re closed, we count on the generosity of the community. The most pressing need is just for donations to help us with our winter food and power bills.”
It costs at least $12,000 a month to feed and care for the zoo’s 200 animals, said general manager Lori Acordagoitia, and this year is challenging with the rising costs of everything from hay to grain to meat used to feed the animals.
http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/NEWS18/71126026/1321/NEWS
Buffalo Zoo Defends Animal Care
Mark Leitner
BUFFALO (2007-11-26) Speaking to members of the press, with the Chair of the Zoo Board and top Zoo personnel at her side or in the audience, Doctor Fernandes accused the U-S-D-A and the animal rights group, PETA,
of ambushing her facility without knowledge of all the facts that
contributed to the death of the four polar bears and a hyena.
"You can image our shock when we were suddenly confronted with, and frankly ambushed by a radical group who's basic message is all zoos are always bad," Fernandes said.
Fernandes pointed to autopsies that concluded that all of the polar
bears died of natural causes; none, she said, died because they ate or swallowed garbage.
"The preliminary report is in-complete. It is factually incorrect, as were PETA's conclusions," Fernandes said.
The Zoo President told reporters that
to her knowledge, no "PETA" official has ever visited the Buffalo Zoo. No "PETA" official, Fernandes said, ever contacted her to discuss the polar bear deaths.
The Zoo has just one remaining polar bear among its collection.
http://publicbroadcasting.net/wned/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1188932§ionID=1
Buffalo Zoo Says USDA Report Misleading
Story Published: Nov 26, 2007 at 7:11 PM EST
Story Updated: Nov 26, 2007 at 7:11 PM EST
By Steve Barber
Anana the polar bear is alone in her exhibit. In the last 16 months Danny, Becky, Kelly, and another polar bear all died, the Buffalo Zoo officials claim, of natural causes not neglect or consumption of plastic in their exhibits. "The Bears did not consume garbage. No plastic was ever found in the intestines of these bears. None died of anything other than natural causes." said Zoo President Donna Fernandes.
Still a US Department of Agriculture report, one the zoo claims is misleading, says those bears may have consumed plastic, and that plastic was found in the stool of one of the polar bears. The allegations outrage the animal rights group PETA. "Are these types of incidents and lack of care that we typically see from an unaccredited roadside zoos? This is not a first rate facility." said Lisa Wathne of PETA.
The zoo is also under fire because a hyena also died after a piece of its exhibit fell on the animal. "On this one particular occasion an animal dug with-in a 24 hour so far underneath one of the boulders in the exhibit that the boulder fell on top of it." said Fernandes.
http://www.wkbw.com/news/local/11839866.html
Zoo guests get unique after-dark experience
By Heidi Atkin
Close-Up Correspondent
Article Last Updated: 11/08/2007 02:42:49 PM MST
Those willing to brave the dark got a unique experience this Halloween at Hogle Zoo.
"Night at the Living Zoo" has become a yearly Halloween tradition. At this year's event, guests were fed a spaghetti dinner, introduced to small animals they were allowed to touch and then were led in small groups on an after-dark tour.
"You may not like the animals, but somebody else may. It's a great way for kids to learn about conservation and existing in the same areas as animals and to have that respect while having a lot of fun," explained Holly Braithwaite, spokeswoman for the Hogle Zoo.
Caitlin Bullock, a zoo aide, explained that guests get an interactive experience with some of the most popular animals. Rather than view the Madagascar hissing cockroach through glass like on a normal visit, guests were invited by "Spiderella" to touch the creepy crawlies. Excited kids and some adults scrambled for the rare chance to interact with the animals.
http://www.sltrib.com/slc/ci_7406651
State auditor says zoo needs to improve financial practices
Associated Press - November 9, 2007 7:04 AM ET
ST. PAUL (AP) - Minnnesota Zoo officials say they're working to improve the zoo's financial practices, following a report by the legislative auditor.
The audit made 19 recommendations but found that zoo officials generally used adequate safeguards in their accounting practices.
Legislative Auditor James Nobles did find that the zoo in Apple Valley overpaid a food service vendor by nearly $30,000. He also says the zoo didn't sufficiently verify that vendors were paying the proper commissions and sometimes had the same employee handling receipts and deposits.
http://wkbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=7335207
2 meerkat kits draw curious crowds at San Jose zoo
4-WEEK-OLD BABIES STAYING CLOSE TO MOM
By Lisa Fernandez
Two meerkat babies are the newest buzz at San Jose's Happy Hollow Park and Zoo, where visitors are doing whatever they can to catch a glimpse of the nearly 4-week-old kits.
Born Oct. 13, the two meerkats (think Timon in the "Lion King" movies) are so young that no one's even gotten close enough to learn their sex, said zoo spokeswoman Vanessa Rogier. They'll be named only after a veterinarian checks them out.
She said the kits have been spending their days nursing from their mother, Kubaza, and snuggled up in a nest, especially since it's been so cold.
Zoo employees suspect a meerkat named Mdudu is "probably the dad," Rogier said, though no one is sure because there are three meerkat males at the zoo.
The African names are a nod to the meerkats' place of origin, and the kits' birth brings the meerkat population at the zoo to seven.
Meerkats are "very playful, very busy animals," Rogier said. "They're always on guard, looking out for danger, grooming, basking in the sun."
It's a good time to be a meerkat.
The television network Animal Planet has been following a group of African meerkats on its popular show "Meerkat Manor," which Rogier notes that viewers around the globe watch "like a soap opera."
When that meerkat matriarch, Flower, died in September during a bloody struggle with a cobra, news outlets including the New York Times and the Mercury News noted the public's grief, and the thousands of
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condolences on chatboards and dozens of video tributes to her.
http://www.mercurynews.com/valley/ci_7414023?nclick_check=1
A wild experience
City kids these days are more familiar with animated animals than live ones. Perhaps a trip to the Sunway Wildlife Interactive Zoo will change that.
By JOLEEN LUNJEW
When I asked my six-year-old son, Eugene, to draw me a chicken, he drew me a drumstick,” says Aaron Soo, CEO of Sunway Wildlife Interactive Zoo.
“It saddens me that my son doesn’t even know what a live chicken looks like,” he sighs.
The children of our city have come to that. Many are ignorant of wildlife, and most have never gone into a jungle. Bearing this in mind, Sunway Lagoon Theme Park’s latest attraction, the Sunway Wildlife Interactive Zoo, allows the public, especially the young kids, to touch, feel, feed and play with animals.
http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2007/11/10/lifetravel/19328699&sec=lifetravel
Aurora zoo reveals plan to get paws on new bears
Popular exhibit: Phillips Park budget seeks money to bring back its most requested attraction
November 10, 2007
By Dan Campana STAFF WRITER
AURORA -- It's been a few years since the city's last bear sighting.
Eight years, to be exact. That's when Judy, the Phillips Park Zoo bear, died of cancer. Since then, the question of a bear return to Aurora has been a constant.
"It's always been a hot topic," Zoo Coordinator Randy Johnson said.
That could change by decade's end if the city approves a budget request from the zoo to begin the planning for a new, larger bear exhibit at the historic park on the southeast side.
The zoo, which Johnson said draws an average of 200,000 visitors annually, has asked for $50,000 to begin the engineering and design process that could ultimately bring a pair of bears back to the city.
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/644002,2_1_AU10_ZOO_S1.article
continued...
Nina Katchadourian, Enrichment
Sara Meltzer Gallery
Chelsea
Sara Meltzer Gallery is pleased to present Enrichment, an exhibition of new works by Nina Katchadourian. Her second show at the gallery continues her longstanding exploration of the human relationship to the natural world. Consisting of two multi-channel video installations and a photographic work, Enrichment contemplates animal behavior as well as our behavior towards animals.
In the lingo of animal caretakers, "enrichment" refers to the process of providing a stimulating environment for zoo animals in order to demonstrate their typical behavior and enhance their well-being. This may include the replication of natural habitats through exhibition design, the introduction of scents and sounds from their natural environment, feeding that encourages natural foraging behavior and the introduction of objects, including "toys," that mentally challenge animals. The existence of the term is also a tacit acknowledgement of the psychological difficulties animals face in captivity.
http://www.artcal.net/event/view/1/6013
More lion kittens found
Associated Press - November 27, 2007 9:25 AM ET
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - Three more mountain lion kittens that were orphaned during the hunting season have been caught so they can get the care they need, and officials are looking for 1 more.
So far, 6 orphaned kittens have been captured.
The orphans will be raised at South Dakota State University until they can be placed with zoos.
The mountain lion season in South Dakota ended Friday when the quota of 15 females was reached.
State officials retrieve orphaned kittens if it's determined that they're not able to survive on their own.
Information from: Rapid City Journal, http://www.rapidcityjournal.com
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.kmeg14.com/Global/story.asp?S=7413955&nav=menu609_2_4
Breeding elephants doesn't protect them
Zoos like those in Pittsburgh should help preserve the animals' native habitat instead
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
By Marianne Bessey
During this month's ground-breaking ceremony at the Pittsburgh zoo's proposed elephant breeding facility in Somerset Country, lots of lip service was paid to "conservation." It is without question that elephants, endangered in Asia and threatened in Africa, desperately need help. But will spending millions of dollars on breeding a handful of elephants actually help elephants -- or just the zoo's bottom line?
Marianne Bessey is a spokesperson for Friends of Philly Zoo Elephants (marianne. bessey@dechert.com).
The elephant exhibit at the Philadelphia Zoo is closing and the three remaining wild-caught African elephants -- Kallie, Bette and Petal -- are supposed to move to Somerset County in April. The zoo's Asian elephant, Dulary, was fortunate enough to leave Philadelphia in May for The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, where she enjoys the closest thing to an elephant's life possible in captivity.
Kallie, Bette and Petal could have a similar life at the Performing Animal Welfare Society sanctuary in California, but instead the Philadelphia Zoo has decided to ship them to the "International Conservation Center" breeding facility in Somerset County.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07304/829727-109.stm
Sympathy for the devil
Extra insurance for the Tasmanian devil announced as scientists fear for its future.
Kate McDonald 29/11/2007 11:34:05
Up to 100 Tasmanian devils will be captured and quarantined as part of an ongoing insurance population strategy designed to ensure the survival of the species.
Save the Tasmanian Devil program manager Dr Steven Smith said the first stage will begin in late January, following months of surveys in the state's west and north-west to identify animals with no evidence of Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour disease.
The uninfected devils will be put in quarantine and then sent to zoos on the mainland.
At present, 48 Tasmanian devils have been sent to wildlife parks to establish an 'insurance' population, to ensure the species' survival should the disease continue to decimate the wild population.
http://www.biotechnews.com.au/index.php/id;426950786;fp;2;fpid;1
Pinnawela to Yerevan:
A cruel change
Sagarica Rajakarunanayake
The Constitution of India states it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife, and to have compassion for living creatures.
The national and political leaders of India have not failed to ensure that nature and all living creatures of the land are embraced by the Constitution of India and brought under its protection.
It is the Fundamental Duty of every citizen, and also of all state functionaries, to act with compassion for all living creatures under Article 51A(g) of the Indian Constitution.
In fact Maneka Gandhi, India’s formidable Animal Rights Activist has on several occasions successfully sought the intervention of the courts against State departments for meting out cruel and inhumane treatment to animals and contravening the provisions of the Constitution of India and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
http://www.dailynews.lk/2007/11/29/fea01.asp
Brazilian Ocelot Born
El Conquistador garnered his name when at 2 days old he wandered from his mother’s side and squeezed through fencing into a hallway for keeper staff on the back side of the exhibit.
“And he did all this when he was unable to see,” McMahan laughed. “He was so young, his eyes were still closed. So, we named him El Conquistador because he is definitely an explorer and conqueror.”
The kitten’s birth is significant because his father Itirapua is one of the very few “founder stock” ocelots, whose genes are critical for survival of the species. Link -via Fark
http://www.neatorama.com/2007/11/30/brazilian-ocelot-born/
Lake Superior Zoo euthanizes lion
Patrick Garmoe Duluth News Tribune
Published Thursday, November 29, 2007
The Lake Superior Zoo lost its only lion this week after 19-year-old Nemo had to be euthanized.
Blood tests taken Monday showed liver and kidney failure, which is common in elderly cats, Lake Superior Zoo veterinarian Louise Beyea said.
Though easier to replace than Bubba the polar bear, who died in July, Nemo also was an especially popular attraction at the zoo, said Sam Maida, the Lake Superior Zoo Society’s executive director. The society helps run portions of the zoo.
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=55161&freebie_check&CFID=71014282&CFTOKEN=32087633&jsessionid=883059bd0cc0234a72c4
Zoo President to Challenge Report on Polar Bear Deaths
Updated: Nov 24, 2007 12:33 PM EST
(Buffalo, NY, November 24, 2007) - - The head of The Buffalo Zoo is reportedly ready to challenge a federal report on the deaths of three polar bears.
Zoo President Dr. Donna Fernandes tells The Buffalo News she does not believe the condition of the polar bear exhibit caused the deaths of three polar bears in a six-month period.
A recently-revealed Department of Agriculture report cites care and conditions among the factors.
Earlier this week, the animal rights group PETA called for the removal of the Zoo's accreditation.
http://www.wivb.com/Global/story.asp?S=7402904
Lahore Zoo gets three giraffes in pakistan
Sunday, 25 November 2007
"Today is the memorable day in the history of Lahore Zoo because the Lahore Zoo have giraffes after 13 years. Lahore Zoo have bought three giraffes two females and one male from South Africa of worth Rs 7.4 million.
The coming of giraffes has increased the interest of children as well as the tourists. Children are waiting for this gift and the administration of Lahore Zoo have full fill their long awaited wish. There are no giraffes in the other Zoo's of Pakistan except Lahore Zoo," said Zoo Maintenance Committee Chairman and Wild Life Director General Muhammad Asif.
In his speech in a colourful ceremony of giraffes at the Lahore Zoo arranged by International School Garden Town children, he talked of the benefits of such educational and animal friendly activities and told the children about the different features of giraffes, such as that their weigh ranging from 550 kilogrames to 1,800 kilogrammes and height from 15 feet to 18 feet. He also told them that they live between 26 and 30 years. Zoo Director, maintenance committee members and staff were also present.
http://www.uniquepakistan.com/news/general/lahore-zoo-gets-three-giraffes-in-pakistan-20071125.html
Tigers, other animals, to sleep through zoo's big tech upgrade
A North Carolina wildlife sanctuary is getting a half-million-dollar upgrade
Matt Hamblen Today’s Top Stories
November 26, 2007 (Computerworld) -- The 85 tigers and other big cats at the Carnivore Preservation Trust (CPT) in Pittsboro, N.C., may scarcely notice the hubbub, but a $500,000 communications and computing upgrade is under way to help tell their story to the world.
IBM and Cisco Systems Inc. are donating the technology to the wildlife sanctuary and began installing the new gear about three weeks ago. In the first phase of the project, servers and voice-over-IP phones have been installed to give the full-time staff of 10 an alternative to a patchwork of donated PCs, printers and an old phone system that relied on answering machines, said Pam Fulk, the CPT's executive director.
Web browsing and word processing functions have been so slow "that I can press a 'Next' key and have time to do my nails while I'm waiting for the page to come up," Fulk joked during an interview.
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9048519&intsrc=news_ts_head
Brno zoo polar bear gives birth to two cubs
By ČTK / Published 26 November 2007
Brno, Nov 24 (CTK) - Cora, a female polar bear in the Brno zoo, gave birth to two cubs Friday and Saturday, and she seems to be caring for both assiduously, the zoo spokesman Pavel Hrazdira told CTK.
All of Cora's previous offspring died as she failed to care for them. If such danger emerged now, the keepers say they would place the cubs in an incubator.
Vets are closely monitoring the young bears.
They say artificial raising of the cubs is not necessary for the time being. The older cub, born on Friday afternoon, does not suffer from hunger, otherwise it would be heard whimpering.
If the cubs are successfully raised, the visitors could see them in several months.
The breed of polar bears in captivity is extremely difficult, experts say.
http://www.praguemonitor.com/en/220/czech_national_news/15102/
New Giraffe Born in Zoo Prague
Nov 26, 2007 12:02 PM Filed under
In the ‘African house’ a new baby giraffe was born, which makes the total number of giraffes born in Prague Zoo: sixty!. The youngster is a girl, was born on 17th November, is very active and can be seen since this weekend together with the rest of her pack.
Zoo celebrated the respectable number by a baptism ceremony of a giraffe boy Faust. The name was given by Milan Steindler, the dean of the 1st medical faculty of Tomas Zima. Faust truly is a hellish name, in spite of the blond baby giraffe doesn’t really show a link to hell.
http://www.abcprague.com/2007/11/26/new-giraffe-born-in-zoo-prague
Octopus Zoo Release Date
Just got back from Ohio. and I am exhausted from all the driving.
I thought a lot about the album, of course. And took a break from listening to it and let the music work itself out in my head. Ends up I'm going to be putting a time signature change in "Anchor Light", there wll be a little 3/4 section in the middle. A break, even.. from the 4/4 of the whole album. With the time away, I had time to consider how much was left to do, not just with Vacant Sky Parlor, but also with school.
So... The release date has changed again.. and this should be the last change, considering how close I am to getting everything done. With the holiday and school.. I haven't had the time to get any vocals recorded, and I am still finishing the music for three of the songs.
So, forget the January 8 date and know the release date is February 12, 2008.
Here is the track list. Though the order may change, the songs themselves are all decided.
http://rockstar.livejournal.com/186667.html
Bear Bites Student at a Private Zoo
By Julia Bonelli
10:54, November 26th 2007
While taking part in a program for budding zookeepers, a student from the Frostburg State University has been bitten by a bear at a private zoo in Farmington, Pa., and also scratched the person that tried to help the student.
The victim of the Maryland college was taking part in a behind-the-scenes tour, on Saturday, as part of a program called "zookeeper for a day." The program addresses adults which are interested of the zoo life, as it gives participants in it the opportunity of getting access to an area of the bear's den that was created to allow zookeepers to feed the animals.
Sonny Herring, owner of the Woodland Zoo and More, has declared that the student that was bitten by the bear required eight stitches, while the second person only had minor injuries, adding that they both went home soon.
Herring showed his disapprovement regarding the overemphasis of the incident, since he said that there are frequent dog bites inside the zoo, but nobody talks so much about them, the only thing that brought this case in the public being only the fact that it was a bear.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission has already started an investigation, declaring that the incident was minor, concerning the injuries, but they will continue the inquiry.
http://www.enews20.com/news_Bear_Bites_Student_at_a_Private_Zoo_03965.html
Zoo to monitor wind in energy-feasibility test
The Toledo Zoo hopes to harvest the breeze.
In conjunction with the non-profit Green Energy Ohio, the zoo will monitor wind in three directions from atop the Lucas County EMS tower at South Detroit and Glendale avenues, near the zoo.
Data from this test should reveal whether wind power is worth the investment for the zoo, a news release said.
Green consciousness at the zoo has risen considerably since Executive Director Anne Baker arrived almost two years ago. Construction plans for zoo projects, such as the all-season Children's Zone, include a green component.
"The steps we take now to find renewable energy will be extremely beneficial in the long run," Ms. Baker said. "If wind power turns out to be a cost-effective way to generate energy for the zoo, then we feel that it is imperative to pursue it."
Bill Spratley, executive director of Green Energy Ohio, said that regardless of the outcome of these tests, "we hope this will further raise consciousness about wind power as a sustainable energy source."
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/NEWS38/71126002
Toledo Zoo to perform study on wind power
News Herald reports
TOLEDO -- To help reduce its dependence on oil, the Toledo Zoo recently received approval from the Lucas County Commissioners to install wind-monitoring equipment on a Lucas County EMS tower near the zoo. In doing so, the zoo will determine the feasibility of using wind in its ongoing efforts to provide greener and more-cost-effective power to the zoo's facilities.
Working in conjunction with Green Energy Ohio, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting environmentally and economically sustainable energy policies and practices in Ohio, the zoo will monitor wind at three different elevations on the EMS tower located on South Detroit Avenue. Through these studies, the zoo officials will gain a clearer understanding of the wind patterns throughout the year. From that data, the zoo officials will be able to determine whether there would be a favorable return on an investment in wind turbines to power the zoo.
http://www.portclintonnewsherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/NEWS01/711260316/1002
Toledo Zoo joins call to protect world's polar bears
Endangered species listing urged
Anne Baker, the zoo's executive director, and other zoo and environmental officials called for federal action to safeguard polar bears and preserve the animals' natural habitat.
By TOM HENRY
BLADE STAFF WRITER
The Toledo Zoo yesterday joined a national movement to get the polar bear listed as an endangered species because of global warming.
At the Arctic Encounter exhibit, as the zoo's bouncy, year-old trio of polar bear cubs delighted visitors by feeding on fish and frolicking in icy water, Anne Baker said the campaign exists because "polar bears are in trouble."
"We want our government to be concerned about it and we want them to start taking action," Ms. Baker, the zoo's executive director, said.
Joining Ms. Baker at the podium were Randi Meyerson, the zoo's curator of mammals; Andrew Wetzler, deputy director of the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Devan Willemsen, air and energy program associate for the Ohio Environmental Council.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071130/NEWS38/711300359
Rare lizards bred in Taipei Zoo
11/26/2007 (CNA)
Taipei, Nov. 26 (CNA) The Taipei Zoo has succeeded in breeding its first two young lizards of a rare species, the Gila monster, after trying for three years, a zoo official said Monday.
The two young lizards -- one 45.64 grams in weight and 17 centimeters in length and the other 31.75 grams in weight and 19 centimeters in length -- have been put on display at the zoo's reptile hall, Chiu Ruo-chun, the keeper of the lizards said.
The Gila monster, originating from southwestern America, is one of two kinds of venomous lizards in the world. Taiwan brought in two pairs of the lizards three years ago and tried to stimulate them into producing young lizards in captivity by putting them in a cabinet with constant moisture and temperature adjustment, Chiu said.
http://www.taiwanheadlines.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=96140&CtNode=39
Berlin Zoo Preparing Birthday Feast for Knut
As the countdown continues towards Knut's first birthday on December 5, Berlin Zoo's management remains tight-lipped about its plans for a celebration. But his faithful keeper Thomas Dörflein knows what the polar bear celebrity will be getting to eat that day.
Knut can look forward to a birthday feast on December 5.
Polar bear star Knut turns one on December 5 (more...)and media speculation about Berlin Zoo's plans for a party is heating up. His keeper Thomas Dörflein has already been thinking about the menu though.
"He'll get what he likes most: grapes, fish, boiled potatoes," Dörflein told
Bild am Sonntag newspaper. As for musical accompaniment to the festivities, Knut enjoyed listening to Dörflein playing Elvis Presley songs on the guitar in his first few months but is unlikely to get a repeat performance.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,519742,00.html
Panel recommends zoo tax
BY JESSICA BROWN JLBROWN@ENQUIRER.COM
A committee that reviews tax levies this morning recommended that the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden put a 5-year levy on the March ballot to raise a total of $36.3 million, or about $7.2 million annually.
That’s more than the $6.1 million the current levy raises a year. The zoo is seeking $38 million over the five-year period. The county commissioners will vote on the issue by Dec. 5.
“We run a tight ship,” said Thane Maynard, the zoo’s executive director. “But expenses go up."
He noted that the levy amount was actually rolled back in 2003, resulting in the zoo collecting less now than it did in 1998.
It is unclear how much more the March levy would cost the owner of a $100,000 home, but Maynard said the difference for that hypothetical homeowner between the recommended amount and the zoo’s request would be 52 cents.
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/NEWS01/311260039
Zoo News Conference Today On Polar Bears Death
Updated: Nov 26, 2007 10:37 AM EST
(Buffalo, NY, November 26, 2007) -- A press conference will be held today at the Buffalo Zoo to shed more light on the recent deaths of three Polar bears.
Zoo president Donna Fernandez will hold a news conference at 1 this afternoon.
Last week, Fernandez told News 4 she does not believe the bears died because of substandard conditions, but a federal inspection report indicated care and conditions contributed to the deaths.
http://www.wivb.com/Global/story.asp?S=7408472
Many Seattle zoo animals nearing end of life span
Published Monday, November 26th, 2007
The Associated Press
SEATTLE (AP) - A number of animals at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle are getting up in years.
A hippo named Gertrude is the oldest animal at 44. She gets glucosamine to help with her aging joints.
The zoo has a number of animals nearing the end of their life expectancy: a pair of 40-year-old orangutans named Towan and Chinta, a 39-year-old gorilla named Pete, a 32-year-old zebra named Amy, a 25-year-old penguin named Pez, and a 16-year-old lion named Jake.
---
Information from: The Seattle Times, http://www.seattletimes.com
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/tch/local/state/story/9480247p-9391450c.html
Nature Playing With Light & Color; SF Zoo
We went to the San Francisco Zoo for the first time yesterday. Quite the nice zoo; the animals all seem fairly content and the grounds were beautifully designed. The paths were all windy and it is quite easy to get pleasantly lost, only to find yourself in the midst of some random part of the world’s animals.
The zoo also hosts quite the population of wild birds. Lots of ducks and seagulls, of course. We also saw a couple of great blue herons wandering and flying about. Magestic birds!
http://www.friday.com/bbum/2007/11/26/nature-playing-with-light-sf-zoo/
Animals Up For Adoption At North Carolina Zoo
Posted by: Bekki Kanter, Producer 3 days ago (11/26/2007 3:48:33 PM)
Zoo leaders say the adoption is a unique gift idea for children this holiday, and proceeds benefit the animals living at the Zoo.
Asheboro, NC -- The North Carolina zoo has more than a dozen animals up for adoption this holiday.
One program, called "Ten Tons of Fun" benefits the Zoo's new Elephant and Rhino exhibit, opening in the spring. The 37-acre exhibit will house about a dozen of each animal.
The adoption costs $59.99. It includes two 12-inch plush animals, a button commemorating the opening, an adoption certificate and a photograph of the the Zoo elephant and rhinoceros being adopted.
A $500 adoption also includes an original painting, created by one of the animals.
Other animals up for adoption include the Red Wolf, Lion, Grizzly Bear, Chimpanzee, African Elephant, Giraffe, Polar Bear, River Otter, Chilean Flamingo, Green Tree Frog, Ball Python, Alligator Snapping Turtle and Puffin. Christmas Orders are mailed on December 7th.
Click herefor more information or to adopt an animal.
Source: WFMY News 2
Copyright: 2007 digtriad.com
http://www.digtriad.com/news/local_state/article.aspx?storyid=93743
Zoo shows off its pride and joy
One of the Oklahoma City Zoo's four lion cubs gets fed Tuesday. The four were born earlier this month through emergency Caesarian section. BY JOHN CLANTON, THE OKLAHOMAN
What's ahead for the cubs?
The new cubs at the Oklahoma City Zoo are weighed at 8 a.m. daily, and they're fed twice a day. Keepers will stop bottle feeding after four or five months.
In about six months, the cubs will be introduced to the pride, which is composed of their three parents, said Jonathan Reding, supervisor of the zoo's Cat Forest and Lion Overlook. In the zoo world, this is called a "howdy.” The cubs will be able to see and hear their parents but won't immediately be allowed into the same area.
The lions were bred as part of the national species survival plan, which dictates which animals reproduce and when. The idea is to keep the gene pool diverse.
As part of the plan, the cubs may leave Oklahoma City. In a year or so, zoo experts will analyze the African lion population in the U.S. and see which animals should move to new locations because of breeding, space needs or other factors, said the zoo's Brian Aucone. The cubs may stay or go.
"For the moment,” he said, "they'll be here for a while.”
By Carrie Coppernoll
Staff Writer
It all started with a toothache.
For months, the lion at the Oklahoma City Zoo ignored the two lionesses conservationists hoped he'd mate with, zoo spokeswoman Tara Henson said. Keepers discovered the mood killer: a 2-inch bone stuck in his teeth, like a piece of a popcorn kernel. A dentist treated the 400-pound cat one day in July, and the next day, as Henson said, "was a lovefest.”
Four months later, the zoo is home to four new lion cubs. If the two pregnancies weren't odd enough, both mothers needed emergency Caesarean sections because of complications.
The scenario, Henson said, is uncommon, to say the least.
http://newsok.com/article/3171673/1195624821
Zoo will sell land to house-builders for regeneration funds
BRIAN FERGUSON
BOSSES at Edinburgh Zoo are to press ahead with plans to sell off part of the site for housing to help fund a multi-million pound redevelopment of the attraction.
The zoo had expected to secure the go-ahead last month to allow up to 100 new homes to be built on the land.
But plans to plough cash raised from the land sale into a £72 million revamp of its historic site on Corstorphine Hill were thrown into chaos when the city's planning committee voted to retain it as green belt land - against the advice of the authority's own officials.
http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=1859022007
Sierra Safari Zoo relies on winter donations
GUY CLIFTON
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Posted: 11/26/2007
HOW TO HELP
Tax-deductible donations can be mailed to Sierra Safari Zoo at 10200 N. Virginia St., Reno, 89506; on the Web at www.sierrasafarizoo.org; or by phone at (775) 677-1104.
The gates have closed for the winter at Sierra Safari Zoo, but the work and the needs continue through the winter months.
“The thing is, we’re open April to November and our gate pretty much keeps us alive,” said zoo spokesman Dale McDaniel. “When we’re closed, we count on the generosity of the community. The most pressing need is just for donations to help us with our winter food and power bills.”
It costs at least $12,000 a month to feed and care for the zoo’s 200 animals, said general manager Lori Acordagoitia, and this year is challenging with the rising costs of everything from hay to grain to meat used to feed the animals.
http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071126/NEWS18/71126026/1321/NEWS
Buffalo Zoo Defends Animal Care
Mark Leitner
BUFFALO (2007-11-26) Speaking to members of the press, with the Chair of the Zoo Board and top Zoo personnel at her side or in the audience, Doctor Fernandes accused the U-S-D-A and the animal rights group, PETA,
of ambushing her facility without knowledge of all the facts that
contributed to the death of the four polar bears and a hyena.
"You can image our shock when we were suddenly confronted with, and frankly ambushed by a radical group who's basic message is all zoos are always bad," Fernandes said.
Fernandes pointed to autopsies that concluded that all of the polar
bears died of natural causes; none, she said, died because they ate or swallowed garbage.
"The preliminary report is in-complete. It is factually incorrect, as were PETA's conclusions," Fernandes said.
The Zoo President told reporters that
to her knowledge, no "PETA" official has ever visited the Buffalo Zoo. No "PETA" official, Fernandes said, ever contacted her to discuss the polar bear deaths.
The Zoo has just one remaining polar bear among its collection.
http://publicbroadcasting.net/wned/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1188932§ionID=1
Buffalo Zoo Says USDA Report Misleading
Story Published: Nov 26, 2007 at 7:11 PM EST
Story Updated: Nov 26, 2007 at 7:11 PM EST
By Steve Barber
Anana the polar bear is alone in her exhibit. In the last 16 months Danny, Becky, Kelly, and another polar bear all died, the Buffalo Zoo officials claim, of natural causes not neglect or consumption of plastic in their exhibits. "The Bears did not consume garbage. No plastic was ever found in the intestines of these bears. None died of anything other than natural causes." said Zoo President Donna Fernandes.
Still a US Department of Agriculture report, one the zoo claims is misleading, says those bears may have consumed plastic, and that plastic was found in the stool of one of the polar bears. The allegations outrage the animal rights group PETA. "Are these types of incidents and lack of care that we typically see from an unaccredited roadside zoos? This is not a first rate facility." said Lisa Wathne of PETA.
The zoo is also under fire because a hyena also died after a piece of its exhibit fell on the animal. "On this one particular occasion an animal dug with-in a 24 hour so far underneath one of the boulders in the exhibit that the boulder fell on top of it." said Fernandes.
http://www.wkbw.com/news/local/11839866.html
Zoo guests get unique after-dark experience
By Heidi Atkin
Close-Up Correspondent
Article Last Updated: 11/08/2007 02:42:49 PM MST
Those willing to brave the dark got a unique experience this Halloween at Hogle Zoo.
"Night at the Living Zoo" has become a yearly Halloween tradition. At this year's event, guests were fed a spaghetti dinner, introduced to small animals they were allowed to touch and then were led in small groups on an after-dark tour.
"You may not like the animals, but somebody else may. It's a great way for kids to learn about conservation and existing in the same areas as animals and to have that respect while having a lot of fun," explained Holly Braithwaite, spokeswoman for the Hogle Zoo.
Caitlin Bullock, a zoo aide, explained that guests get an interactive experience with some of the most popular animals. Rather than view the Madagascar hissing cockroach through glass like on a normal visit, guests were invited by "Spiderella" to touch the creepy crawlies. Excited kids and some adults scrambled for the rare chance to interact with the animals.
http://www.sltrib.com/slc/ci_7406651
State auditor says zoo needs to improve financial practices
Associated Press - November 9, 2007 7:04 AM ET
ST. PAUL (AP) - Minnnesota Zoo officials say they're working to improve the zoo's financial practices, following a report by the legislative auditor.
The audit made 19 recommendations but found that zoo officials generally used adequate safeguards in their accounting practices.
Legislative Auditor James Nobles did find that the zoo in Apple Valley overpaid a food service vendor by nearly $30,000. He also says the zoo didn't sufficiently verify that vendors were paying the proper commissions and sometimes had the same employee handling receipts and deposits.
http://wkbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=7335207
2 meerkat kits draw curious crowds at San Jose zoo
4-WEEK-OLD BABIES STAYING CLOSE TO MOM
By Lisa Fernandez
Two meerkat babies are the newest buzz at San Jose's Happy Hollow Park and Zoo, where visitors are doing whatever they can to catch a glimpse of the nearly 4-week-old kits.
Born Oct. 13, the two meerkats (think Timon in the "Lion King" movies) are so young that no one's even gotten close enough to learn their sex, said zoo spokeswoman Vanessa Rogier. They'll be named only after a veterinarian checks them out.
She said the kits have been spending their days nursing from their mother, Kubaza, and snuggled up in a nest, especially since it's been so cold.
Zoo employees suspect a meerkat named Mdudu is "probably the dad," Rogier said, though no one is sure because there are three meerkat males at the zoo.
The African names are a nod to the meerkats' place of origin, and the kits' birth brings the meerkat population at the zoo to seven.
Meerkats are "very playful, very busy animals," Rogier said. "They're always on guard, looking out for danger, grooming, basking in the sun."
It's a good time to be a meerkat.
The television network Animal Planet has been following a group of African meerkats on its popular show "Meerkat Manor," which Rogier notes that viewers around the globe watch "like a soap opera."
When that meerkat matriarch, Flower, died in September during a bloody struggle with a cobra, news outlets including the New York Times and the Mercury News noted the public's grief, and the thousands of
Advertisement
condolences on chatboards and dozens of video tributes to her.
http://www.mercurynews.com/valley/ci_7414023?nclick_check=1
A wild experience
City kids these days are more familiar with animated animals than live ones. Perhaps a trip to the Sunway Wildlife Interactive Zoo will change that.
By JOLEEN LUNJEW
When I asked my six-year-old son, Eugene, to draw me a chicken, he drew me a drumstick,” says Aaron Soo, CEO of Sunway Wildlife Interactive Zoo.
“It saddens me that my son doesn’t even know what a live chicken looks like,” he sighs.
The children of our city have come to that. Many are ignorant of wildlife, and most have never gone into a jungle. Bearing this in mind, Sunway Lagoon Theme Park’s latest attraction, the Sunway Wildlife Interactive Zoo, allows the public, especially the young kids, to touch, feel, feed and play with animals.
http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2007/11/10/lifetravel/19328699&sec=lifetravel
Aurora zoo reveals plan to get paws on new bears
Popular exhibit: Phillips Park budget seeks money to bring back its most requested attraction
November 10, 2007
By Dan Campana STAFF WRITER
AURORA -- It's been a few years since the city's last bear sighting.
Eight years, to be exact. That's when Judy, the Phillips Park Zoo bear, died of cancer. Since then, the question of a bear return to Aurora has been a constant.
"It's always been a hot topic," Zoo Coordinator Randy Johnson said.
That could change by decade's end if the city approves a budget request from the zoo to begin the planning for a new, larger bear exhibit at the historic park on the southeast side.
The zoo, which Johnson said draws an average of 200,000 visitors annually, has asked for $50,000 to begin the engineering and design process that could ultimately bring a pair of bears back to the city.
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/644002,2_1_AU10_ZOO_S1.article
continued...
Looks like we finally need to address mental health care in the USA.
Leeland Eisenberg
Hostage-taker at Clinton office surrenders
8 hours ago
ROCHESTER, New Hampshire (AFP) — A man claiming to be armed with a bomb took over one of US presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton's campaign offices for more than five hours Friday before surrendering to police.
The man, believed to have a history of mental illness, walked into the New Hampshire office at around 1:00 pm (1800 GMT), taking three women, a man and a baby hostage and reportedly demanding to speak to the former first lady.
Clinton, who was near Washington at the time of the incident, said after the drama ended that the tense standoff had been hard on her and her campaign.
"It's been a very difficult day, personally and emotionally," Clinton told reporters, adding that she had been in touch with the families of those being held hostage throughout the day.
"I'm so grateful this day has ended well," said the former first lady, who was due to travel to New Hampshire to thank law enforcement officers....
Every obituary, there is not just the name Roger Smith, but, also Michael Moore. Amazing.
Roger Smith, General Motors Corp.'s chairman during a decade when its U.S. market-share losses to Japanese rivals accelerated, poses in an undated company photo released to the media on Nov. 30, 2007. Smith died yesterday in Detroit after a brief illness. He was 82. Source: General Motors via Bloomberg News
Michael, the man can't even rest in peace ! That is astounding. Every obts out there has a reference to Michael's film. Carved in stone, now, Mike. Forever !
The turbulent times that Roger Smith presided over at GM were the subject of a controversial 1989 Michael Moore documentary centred on the impact of the closure of GM facilities in Flint, Michigan
Roger Smith
July 12, 1925 - November 29, 2007
The family asks that donations be made to the Roger B. Smith Memorial Fund to Benefit the Fight Against Cancer: William Beaumont Hospital, c/o of the Beaumont Fund, P.O. Box 5802, Troy, MI 48007-9620
Roger Smith, GM Chief From 1981 to 1990, Dies at 82 (Update3)
By Jeff Green and Alex Ortolani
Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Roger Smith, General Motors Corp.'s chairman during a decade when its U.S. market-share losses to Japanese rivals accelerated, died yesterday in Detroit after a brief illness. He was 82.
Smith was widely known as the foil of filmmaker Michael Moore's 1989 documentary ``Roger & Me'' on the decline of the U.S. auto industry. Smith served as GM chairman and chief executive officer from Jan. 1, 1981, until July 31, 1990, the Detroit-based company said in a statement today.
``He was a leader who knew that we have to accept change, understand change and learn to make it work for us,'' Rick Wagoner, the automaker's current CEO, said in the statement. ``Roger was truly a pioneer in the fast-moving global industry that we now take for granted.''
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=atDkHC6CKlR4&refer=us
Ex-GM Chief Roger Smith Dies At 82
Smith Retired As General Motors CEO In 1990
Roger B. Smith, who led General Motors in the 1980s through a period of significant change, died Thursday after a brief illness at the age of 82.
Smith also unwillingly loaned his name to Michigan filmmaker Michael Moore's documentary "Roger & Me," which chronicled Moore's attempts to interview the GM CEO.
Smith was appointed chairman and CEO on January 1, 1981, and led the worlds largest automaker until his retirement on July 31, 1990.
http://www.clickondetroit.com/automotive/14737752/detail.html
Ex-GM Chief Roger Smith Dies At 82
POSTED: 11:09 am EST November 30, 2007
UPDATED: 1:59 pm EST November 30, 2007
Roger B. Smith, who led General Motors in the 1980s through a period of significant change, died Thursday after a brief illness at the age of 82.
ClickOn Soundoff: What do you think of Smith's legacy?
Smith also unwillingly loaned his name to Michigan filmmaker Michael Moore's documentary "Roger & Me," which chronicled Moore's attempts to interview the GM CEO.
http://www.clickondetroit.com/money/14736624/detail.html?rss=det&psp=money
Former GM CEO Roger Smith dies at 82
Posted Nov 30th 2007 11:08AM by John Neff
Roger Smith, former chairman and CEO of General Motors from 1981 to 1990, has died at the age of 82. I was still drawing cars with crayons when Smith lead the General, so I first became aware of him after watching the film Roger and Me by Michael Moore. While that documentary does not paint a rosy picture of Smith, he was at the helm of GM during a time when NUMMI, GM's joint-venture manufacturing facility with Toyota, was formed, and the creation of the Saturn brand. Regardless of how you view Smith's tenure at the top of GM, he is still a significant figure in the history of the world's largest automaker.
GM has detailed the life and accomplishments of Roger Smith in its press release posted after the jump.
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/11/30/former-gm-ceo-roger-smith-dies-at-82/
Former General Motors CEO Roger B. Smith Dead at 82
Written By: Seyth Miersma
Filed Under: Automotive News
November 30th, 2007 12:25 PM
Former chairman and chief executive office of General Motors, Roger B. Smith, died Thursday after a short illness at the age of 82.
A veteran of the U.S. Navy, and graduate of the University of Michigan Business School, Smith started at GM in the capacity of general accounting clerk in 1949. He worked his way up through GM’s financial management team, becoming vice president of finance in 1971.
Smith went on to lead the company as CEO during the tumultuous years of 1981 through 1990, achieving during his tenure; the creation of the Saturn brand, the introduction of front-wheel-drive mid-size cars, and the acquisition of tech company Electronic Data Systems. It was during his time as CEO that Smith was famously the target of Michael Moore’s documentary Roger & Me, which detailed the closing of GM facilities in and around Flint, MI.
In a statement released by GM, Chairman Rick Wagoner said of Smith, “He was a leader who knew that we have to accept change, understand change, and learn to make it work for us.”
http://news.windingroad.com/automotive-news/former-general-motors-ceo-roger-b-smith-dead-at-82/
Michael Moore Today
November 28th, 2007 12:00 am
Sean Penn film takes top honor at NY indie awards
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sean Penn's film "Into the Wild," which tells the true story of a 24-year-old adventurer's ill-fated trek to Alaska, won for best feature on Tuesday at the Gotham Awards, one of the highly coveted U.S. independent film awards.
Among other films that took out prizes at the top U.S East Coast awards focusing on low-budget and art-house films was Michael Moore's "Sicko" for best documentary. "Before The Devil Knows You're Dead," starring Ethan Hawke and Philip Seymour Hoffman, and "Talk to Me," starring Don Cheadle, tied for best ensemble cast.
The Gotham Awards are held annually by the Independent Feature Project, an nonprofit organization founded in 1979 that supports independent filmmaking. The awards give film fans an indication of the top independent movies of the year heading into Hollywood's film award season.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mikeinthenews/index.php?id=10533
Vote 'SiCKO' in this year's People's Choice Awards
People's Choice Awards
http://www.pcavote.com/pca/showvoting.jsp;jsessionid=O1LN1SMWE1TYACQM4SFCFFA?showCaptcha=true&category=movies&_requestid=4421284
November 29th, 2007 1:44 pm
Albany nurse to host ‘SiCKO’ screening
Moultrie Observer
ALBANY, GA — Susie Smith, an Albany nurse, will host a house party to screen “SiCKO,” the film Michael Moore directed about the U.S. health care system.
Smith, a member of the National Nurses Organizing Committee/California Nurses Association, will hold the event at her home at 2101 Princeton Drive in Albany at 6:30 p.m. today.
U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, was invited to join the screening and discussion to follow, according to a press release from The National Nurses Organizing Committee/California Nurses Association.
The association is sponsoring similar house parties in 150 cities across the nation as part of a campaign to push the National U.S. Health Insurance Act (House Resolution 676), which would guarantee universal publicly financed, privately provided health care.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/news/article.php?id=10536
November 29th, 2007 1:46 pm
'SiCKO' PARTY
Modesto Bee
MANTECA, CA -- Registered nurse Erin Loberg and other local nurses will host a house party and screening-discussion of the Michael Moore documentary "Sicko" today at 7 p.m. at 1068 Snowgoose Lane as part of a national effort to organize for health care reform. Local members of the National Nurses Organizing Committee/California Nurses Association will attend the event, which will be followed by a discussion of health care reform.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/news/article.php?id=10537
SiCKO DVD Nationwide Home Movie Night
Come celebrate the DVD release of the movie SiCKO at the home of an RN colleague in your area. Nurses are getting together to watch the movie, eat popcorn and discuss what RNs can do to solve the nation's health care crisis.
http://www.calnurses.org/sicko/dvd_house_parties.html
Nurses Host Nationwide "SiCKO" DVD House Parties
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKcP08ekMqY
Thanksgiving weekend is the most heavily traveled time of the year. This year Southern California celebrated with a patriotic theme: Free Speech.
http://www.freewayblogger.com/thanksgiving07.htm
Artist on Artist: Tom Morello & Michael Moore
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=8272191
Hotel Café Shows!
The Nightwatchman will be performing at Hotel Café in Hollywood, CA
Nov 29th, Dec 6th and Dec 13th!
www.hotelcafe.com
One Man Revolution - Tracklisting
THE NIGHTWATCHMAN - ONE MAN REVOLUTION
1. California's Dark
2. One Man Revolution
3. Let Freedom Ring
4. The Road I Must Travel
5. The Garden of Gethsemane
6. House Gone Up In Flames
7. Flesh Shapes The Day
8. Battle Hymns
9. Maximum Firepower
10. Union Song
11. No One Left
12. The Dark Clouds Above
13. Until The End
All songs Written and Performed by Tom Morello
Publisher credit: The Nightwatchman Music (BMI)
Produced by Brendan O'Brien
Recorded by Nick Didia
Recorded at Buds Garage, Atlanta, GA, Southern Tracks Recording, Atlanta, GA
Assisted by Tom Tapley
And at Henson Recording Studio, LA, CA - Assistant Tom Syrowski
http://www.nightwatchmanmusic.com/
Protesters Arrested at UF Alberto Gonzales Speech
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNY67Ztw7hY&eurl=http://www.michaelmoore.com/
November 21st, 2007 7:24 pm
Group urges Cramer to sponsor health bill
Demonstrators push for national insurance act
By Steve Doyle / Huntsville Times
HUNTSVILLE, AL -- Sign-waving demonstrators who want Congress to pass a universal health insurance bill rallied Tuesday outside U.S. Rep. Bud Cramer's Huntsville office.
Reese Danley-Kilgo, one of the organizers, said the group is asking Cramer, a Democrat, to co-sponsor the "United States National Health Insurance Act." It would create a publicly financed, privately delivered health care system to cover necessary medical care for every American, without co-payments or deductibles.
"It would leave out insurance companies and pharmaceutical corporations and just be an arrangement between the people who need health care and all the rest of us in the country," said Danley-Kilgo, a retired University of Alabama in Huntsville professor.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10525
November 21st, 2007 1:26 am
Former aide blames Bush for leak deceit
By Matt Apuzzo / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan blames President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for efforts to mislead the public about the role of White House aides in leaking the identity of a CIA operative.
In an excerpt from his forthcoming book, McClellan recounts the 2003 news conference in which he told reporters that aides Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby were "not involved" in the leak involving operative Valerie Plame.
"There was one problem. It was not true," McClellan writes, according to a brief excerpt released Tuesday. "I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest-ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice president, the president's chief of staff and the president himself."
Bush's chief of staff at the time was Andrew Card.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10523
November 16th, 2007 2:35 am
Anti-Bush Sign Has Bridge World in an Uproar
By Stephanie Strom / New York Times
In the genteel world of bridge, disputes are usually handled quietly and rarely involve issues of national policy. But in a fight reminiscent of the brouhaha over an anti-Bush statement by Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks in 2003, a team of women who represented the United States at the world bridge championships in Shanghai last month is facing sanctions, including a yearlong ban from competition, for a spur-of-the-moment protest.
At issue is a crudely lettered sign, scribbled on the back of a menu, that was held up at an awards dinner and read, “We did not vote for Bush.”
By e-mail, angry bridge players have accused the women of “treason” and “sedition.”
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10522
FOX ATTACKS IRAN
Sign the Open Letter
Tell the networks not to follow FOX down the road to war
58,199 signers
Dear ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, and CNN,
"My station was intimidated by the administration and its foot soldiers at FOX News."
That is CNN's Christiane Amanpour explaining why the major television networks failed to accurately inform the public in the lead-up to the Iraq war, choosing instead to follow FOX's lead.
Now, FOX is beating the drums for war with Iran. Robert Greenwald's short film, "FOX Attacks: Iran", outlines the evidence from the station's own broadcasts, comparing their reporting before the Iraq war with what they are saying now about Iran.
http://foxattacks.com/iran
SiCKO-Cure National Road Show
http://www.healthcare-now.org/healthcare_road_show.html
Thursday, July 26th, 2007
See the Movie, Start the Revolution ...a letter from Michael Moore
Friends,
I am overwhelmed by the response to "Sicko." And I'm not just talking about all the wonderful, heart-felt letters you've sent me and the stories you've shared with me about the abuse you've suffered from our health care system.
No, I'm talking about how thousands of you are taking matters into your own hands and using the movie to do something. From Seattle to New England, each day I learn of numerous groups holding meetings or dinners after the movie to discuss it and to plot a course for action. A church in Plano, TX took its weekly bible study group to see "Sicko." 70 people crammed into a Wisconsin coffee shop's back room. Groups are plotting over pancakes in Illinois and microbrew in Missouri. E-mail addresses are being exchanged in theater lobbies. A Connecticut group is inviting legislators to see "Sicko" and keeping a tally on their website. Local groups have been buying out theaters to have special screenings for their members. Information tables are set up, literature is distributed, action groups are formed.
It's all an amazing sight. I can't tell you how thrilled I am to see the impact a movie can have. For all of you who have written me to ask, "What can I do," well, read more about what others have done, and then try these simple steps:
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=219
November 30th, 2007 12:41 pm
Sicko Cure Road Show Puts Health Care in the Spotlight
By Roman Lillie / WCTV
The Sicko Cure Road show was in Tallahassee on Wednesday, telling people about what they say are the benefits of guaranteed health care.
The Road Show is traveling across the country to try and pass a bill that would provide free health care for every American. With more than forty-six million Americans without health insurance many people are hoping for a change.
And some who have insurance worry that premiums are getting higher.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10538
continued...
Thursday, November 29, 2007
When Michael wins we all win. Congratulations, Mr. Moore !!!
SiCKO- Michael Moore Interview On Real Time With Bill Maher - More amazing video clips are a click away
By Gregg Goldstein and Steven Zeitchik / Hollywood Reporter
NEW YORK -- Sean Penn's "Into the Wild" was named best feature and Michael Moore's health-care expose "Sicko" nabbed best documentary honors Tuesday night at the IFP's 17th annual Gotham Awards.
The victory for Paramount Vantage's "Wild" at the season's first awards show solidified the specialty division's campaign for the drama, a study of real-life adventurer Christopher McCandless. (The movie's budget made it ineligible for consideration at Film Independent's Spirit Awards). Penn himself wasn't present, but star Emile Hirsch accepted on behalf of the film, thanking its producers for casting him in the part, which called for a drastic physical transformation. "Before I got this role I was sitting on my couch 35 pounds overweight with a shaved head, so thank you," he said.
The Weinstein Co. also got a jump-start for what likely will be a campaign for "Sicko," considered a favorite in the Oscars' documentary category....
US soldier killed in Baghdad: military
A US soldier pay his last respects to fallen comrades.
There are those in the media and politics that don't mind mourning soldiers as the last bastion of hope for an illegal and immoral war.
U.S. soldiers kill Iraqis after vehicle doesn't stop
By Leila Fadel
McClatchy Newspapers
BAGHDAD — For the second day in a row, U.S. soldiers Tuesday killed Iraqi civilians when they fired on a vehicle that they thought was a threat, the U.S. military said.
The U.S. military also reported that two soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in Salah ad Din province. Two other soldiers were wounded. The military provided no further details on the incident and didn't release the names of the dead.
The shooting deaths of the civilians took place in the al-Shaab neighborhood of northern Baghdad. Two people died and four were injured when a U.S. soldier fired at a minibus that was transporting workers to a bank operated by the Iraqi Finance Ministry, the military said in a statement. But Iraqi police and employees at al-Rasheed Bank said four people were killed, including three women, and that two were injured.
The minibus was driving near a U.S. military outpost when it ended up on a road where only car traffic is permitted, the military said. U.S. soldiers signaled the minibus to stop, and when it didn't, one of them fired a warning shot.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/iraq/2004039248_iraq28.html
Two American soldiers killed in an explosion north of Baghdad
Associated Press - November 27, 2007 4:33 PM ET
BAGHDAD (AP) - The military says two U.S. soldiers have been killed in an explosion north of Baghdad.
They're the first U.S. combat deaths reported in five days. And in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, police say a burst of violence has killed at least 11 Iraqis, including seven who died when a suicide bomber attacked a police headquarters.
Meantime, the U.S. military says U.S. troops have been involved in two deadly shootings in Iraq involving vehicles trying to drive through roadblocks. One occurred yesterday, about 155 miles north of Baghdad. The military says troops shot at a vehicle speeding toward a roadblock after firing warning shots. Two men died immediately, and a child traveling with them died later of his wounds.
In a separate roadblock incident, U.S. troops fired at a bus in Baghdad as it tried to drive through a U.S. roadblock. Police say as many as four passengers were killed.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.nebraska.tv/Global/story.asp?S=7416438&nav=menu605_2
Tikrit official, US soldier killed, and six civilians hurt in Iraq
Posted : Thu, 29 Nov 2007 11:46:00 GMT
Author : DPA
Baghdad - Six people were wounded in a bomb in Baghdad Thursday amid reports that a Tikrit councillor and a US soldier had been killed in separate attacks. The roadside bomb hit a public bus on Thursday morning, injuring six passengers on the main Palestine road in north-east Baghdad, police sources told the Voices of Iraq news agency.
The US military announced Thursday that a US soldier was killed in a small firearms attack in western Baghdad Wednesday.
The attack brings the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq in November to 35.
In the northern city of Kirkuk, the head of a district council was killed by armed men outside his home, a police officer, Badr Hamid, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/150200.html
Female suicide bomber wounds 7 US troops
BAGHDAD (AP): A woman wearing an explosives belt blew herself up near an American patrol northeast of Baghdad – a rare female suicide bombing that wounded seven US troops and five Iraqis, the US military said Wednesday. More Iraqi refugees, heartened by reports of the lull in violence in Baghdad, were beginning to return and on Wednesday a convoy of over 800 people was expected in the Iraqi capital after an overnight bus ride from Damascus, Syria. Khaled Ibrahim, 45, from central Baghdad, said Tuesday he was so homesick after having been away for a year, that he wanted to give it a try after hearing things in Iraq have improved. “If I go and discover that the situation is not stable I will come back” to Syria, said Ibrahim, with his wife, three sons and two daughters in tow.
http://www.arabtimesonline.com/client/pagesdetails.asp?nid=8693&ccid=11
The Iraqi government is stated to be blaming the lone survivor for the killings.
Journalist Challenges Iraqi Government
18 hours ago
BAGHDAD (AP) — An Iraqi journalist Wednesday challenged government denials that 11 of his relatives were slaughtered in their Baghdad home, urging authorities to show that his claim was false by letting "all my family appear on television."
Dhia al-Kawaz, editor of the Jordan-based Aswat al-Iraq news agency, had said masked gunmen stormed the family home and killed two of his sisters, their husbands and their seven children as they ate breakfast. Al-Kawaz himself has lived outside Iraq for 20 years.
The media advocacy group Reporters Without Borders condemned the attack and claimed Iraqi police at a nearby checkpoint failed to intervene.
The Iraqi government spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, insisted that the deaths — which reportedly occurred Sunday in the Shiite militia infiltrated neighborhood of Shaab, never took place. Al-Kawaz's agency is widely identified with Saddam Hussein's illegal Baath Party.
"I have spoken with the mother of al-Kawaz and she categorically denies that the family has been liquidated," al-Dabbagh said at a news conference. Iraqi state television also said al-Kawaz's mother reported by telephone that the family was fine and said she had disowned her son for his false claims.
But al-Kawaz responded by appearing on Al-Jazeera and other Arab satellite stations to issue his challenge.
"I ask the spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh to let all of my family appear on TV," al-Kawaz told Al-Jazeera television.
Interior Ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf told Sharqiyah television that his department had no record of the deaths and "the morgue they didn't receive bodies from one family."
"I don't know what the purpose of creating such issue is," he said. "The Interior Ministry doesn't conceal such information."
Efforts by The Associated Press to independently confirm or refute the report have not been successful. The Shaab neighborhood is among the most dangerous in Baghdad, and many Iraqi journalists fear asking too many questions there.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gN9HkJjgzJk8AdIqodFCn9ZkH4OAD8T6VK000
Lawsuit, Grand Jury Focus on Blackwater
By LARA JAKES JORDAN – 1 day ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal grand jury investigating Blackwater Worldwide heard witnesses Tuesday as a private lawsuit accused the government contractor's bodyguards of ignoring orders and abandoning their posts shortly before taking part in a Baghdad shooting that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead.
Filed this week in U.S. District Court in Washington, the civil complaint also accuses North Carolina-based Blackwater of failing to give drug tests to its guards in Baghdad — even though an estimated one in four of them was using steroids or other "judgment altering substances."
A Blackwater spokeswoman said Tuesday its employees are banned from using steroids or other enhancement drugs but declined to comment on the other charges detailed in the 18-page lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed Monday on behalf of five Iraqis who were killed and two who were injured during the Sept. 16 shooting in Baghdad's Nisoor Square. The shootings enraged the Iraqi government, and the Justice Department is investigating whether it can bring criminal charges in the case, even though the State Department promised limited immunity to the Blackwater guards.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g8j2u56IMqRcZhCnXxakvpIEJ3-QD8T6ANL00
US Military Deaths in Iraq at 3,878
By The Associated Press – 16 hours ago
As of Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2007, at least 3,878 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight military civilians. At least 3,159 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
The AP count is three higher than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Wednesday at 10 a.m. EST.
The British military has reported 173 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia, three; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, South Korea, one death each.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gqgQCcv26kB1dkgZRZNHmbn_1J8gD8T70URO1
Press polluted with speculations on Barzani and PKK leadership
The New Anatolian / Ankara
27 November 2007
Press reports that the Iraqi Kurds had captured PKK terrorist leaders Murat Karayilan and Cemil Bayik and had handed them over to Turkey kept the Turkish media buzzing with excitement for days but nothing happened.
Then came a new wave of speculations centered on Iraqi Kurdish regional President Massoud Barzani. There were claims that Barzani had secretly left northern Iraq and was abroad. Confusion prevailed until the Iraqi Kurdish administration explained Barzani was abroad on a private visit.
On Wednesday night newsrooms of the major TV stations were shaken with the story that PKK leader Murat Karayilan had been captured in northern Iraq and had been handed over to Turkish authorities in Erbil.
The New Anatolian contacted sources in Erbil and was told the reports are absolutely false. Iraqi Kurdish authorities said the Turks have to get used to the idea that "a Kurd will never capture a Kurd and hand him or her over to a Turk."
http://www.thenewanatolian.com/tna-29758.html
Top Turk court says to consider shutting Kurd party
Fri Nov 23, 2007 4:30am EST
ANKARA, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Turkey's Constitutional Court said on Friday it had accepted a request from a lower court to examine whether to shut down a pro-Kurdish political party.
State prosecutors have signalled they want to shut down the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), which has 20 members of parliament, over its suspected ties to Kurdish guerrillas and its calls for autonomy for Turkey's southeast.
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL23204199
‘The DTP should not be closed,’ says Kurdish intellectual Metiner
Mehmet Metiner, a Kurdish intellectual, says the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) would benefit the most from a forced closure of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP).
“If the DTP is closed down, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party [PKK] would be able to give the Kurds in Turkey the message that the government doesn’t like Kurds. And internationally, the closure of parties hasn’t been well received in democratic regimes. So the PKK aims at presenting a bad picture of the government both domestically and internationally,” said Metiner, a columnist at Turkish daily Bugün and lecturer at Bahçeşehir University in İstanbul.
He added the DTP would be in effect closed by popular vote if the judiciary waits a little longer, because the party has been steadily losing support.
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=127932&bolum=8
Kurdish oil deals draw criticism from some Iraqi lawmakers who fear precedent for oil industry
BAGHDAD: The Kurdish regional government's oil deals with foreign companies drew sharp criticism Thursday in the Iraqi parliament, with some lawmakers saying the contracts set a dangerous precedent for the future of Iraq's vast oil industry.
Kurdish authorities have signed more than a dozen contracts with foreign companies amid objections by Oil Ministry officials in Baghdad, who consider the deals illegal.
During the Thursday parliamentary session, Shiite lawmaker Waiel Abdul-Lateef described the unilateral Kurdish moves as a "dangerous issue" that could pave the way for other Iraqi provinces to sign contracts without the knowledge of the central government.
"Provincial officials now can sign oil contracts and nobody can stop them," he said.
Abdul-Lateef complained that the central government in Baghdad has no control on Kurdistan region, which has enjoyed broad autonomy since 1991.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/11/29/africa/ME-GEN-Iraq-Oil-Contracts.php
Washington’s Kurdish Quandary
November 29, 2007
From theTrumpet.com
America’s geopolitical impotence is being exposed in the rugged hills of northern Iraq.
The Turkish military has buzzed with activity in recent months. Nearly 100,000 soldiers and a vast array of tanks, heavy artillery and military aircraft have been deployed along Turkey’s border with Iraq. The build-up is a response to increased attacks on Turkey by Kurdish rebels from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (pkk), a tenacious terrorist group operating from the northern hills of Iraq that is bent on establishing a territorial Kurdish state in southeast Turkey, as well as parts of Syria, Iraq and Iran.
Multiple parties have much at stake in this ruckus, but no one, not even Turkey, has as much to lose as the United States.
The reason for this is essentially a matter of options. Everyone involved has them except America. For Turkey, this conflict is about securing its sphere of influence by checking the ambition of the pkk more than it is defending itself from full-scale invasion. No one, including the pkk, thinks for a second that the Turkish military lacks the ability to level the Iraqi mountains that provide refuge to the Kurdish rebels.
The invasion of northern Iraq by the Turkish military would be a nightmare for America, especially the administration of President George W. Bush. A large-scale guerrilla-style conflict would spark chaos in what is the most stable region of Iraq, drain critical manpower and resources away from the volatile south, and cast a grenade in what is already a fragile Iraqi government.
Iraq could literally combust….
http://www.thetrumpet.com/index.php?q=4480.2755.0.0
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