ZoosAmerica’s First Zoo
The Philadelphia Zoohttp://www.philadelphiazoo.org/
Brookfield Zoo’s Furry Forecaster Plays Meteorologist on Groundhog DayBrookfield, IL—It happens every year, same date—
February 2—when Brookfield Zoo’s groundhog, Cloudy, takes center stage and has her 15 minutes of fame. Attention will be focused on the little 6-pound furry forecaster as she is tempted out of her winter digs with a carrot-shaped sweet potato cake during the zoo’s annual Groundhog Day celebration at 10:30 a.m. in Children’s Zoo.
According to legend, if a groundhog sees its shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter; if it doesn’t, spring is just around the corner. Since 2001, Cloudy has predicted an early spring three times.
http://www.oakparkjournal.com/2007/2007-brookfield-zoo-ground-hog-day-feb-2nd.html
New display takes shape at zoo A local artist and CU-Boulder students combine to construct an innovative exhibit in the Animal House.
By NICK BONHAM
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
Avast, there, zoo lubbers!
A pirate ship, ravaged in a tropical storm, has beached itself at the Pueblo Zoo inside the Animal House exhibit.
Although the shipwreck display will not be ready until spring, when renovation of the Animal House is scheduled to finish, a handful of University of Colorado at Boulder drama and theater students spent this past weekend putting some final touches to the captain's quarters.
"Just seeing it all come together was all exciting," said Chelsea Chorpenning, a 22-year-old senior. "It was exactly how I pictured it. We wanted to make it look like he had been living on this island a long time."
http://www.chieftain.com/metro/1169445600/2
Zoo is just as fun during winterTigers on the prowl, penguins in the pool, and elephants taking a snack break. One thing’s for sure; these animals have no problem with the Syracuse winter weather.
The animals are monitored, and if they get too cold, they're brought inside. But, Walter said most of them enjoy the snow, which may come as a surprise to some visitors.
"The animals that live outdoors at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo were chosen so that they can adapt to our climate. They're ones that are used to the snow and used to the cold weather," Public Relations Director Lorrell Walter said.
http://news10now.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=92829
Zoo Trust realises dream for conservation medicine centre 16 January 2006
The Auckland Zoological Park Charitable Trust has successfully raised $4.6m to enable the zoo to establish the New Zealand Centre for Conservation Medicine (NZCCM) to further its national role in native species conservation.
Due to open at Auckland Zoo in mid-2007, the centre will incorporate a state-of-the-art veterinary hospital, and will focus strongly on research, diagnostic work, and specialised teaching. Also a unique educational and interactive facility, its innovative design will give zoo visitors their first-ever opportunity to view vets, vet nurses, and lab technicians at work.
"I am delighted that the trustees have worked with me to fulfil the funding for this exciting new centre for conservation," says Zoo Trust chairperson, Penny Whiting, MBE.
http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/news/releases/20070116.asp
Sana’a Zoo animals need a better life “We try to keep the zoo animals from dying by helping them adapt to their new environment in captivation,” Sana’a Zoo, veterinarian Dr. Ameen Al-Qubati says.
Sana’a Zoo, which was established after Taiz Zoo, opened in 1999 and thus far has cost [a total of] YR 100 million ($735,000). The zoo is located in Darsalm approximately 15 km. from the city center, a flat area of rocky desert.
According to manager Khalid Al-Makben, Sana’a Zoo spends YR 2 million monthly for food and a million riyals in monthly salaries for the 47 staff. Open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., it has witnessed as many as 10,000 visitors on Fridays (the weekly day off) and 2,000 on other days.
Sana’a Zoo is proving very popular as a great family day out because there are few other places for public amusement or family recreation in this traditional Muslim city.
The zoo started with approximately 80 animals, including a lone gazelle, a turkey, geese, guinea fowl, three hyenas, six lions, 13 baboons, a few doves and other birds of prey, some small hawks, five monitor lizards, two porcupines, two hedgehogs, 15 mongooses and two baby hyenas.
http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=1018&p=health&a=1
Blackpool Zoo up for saleBy Citizen reporter
Blackpool Zoo has been put up for sale less than four years after the council handed it over to a private operator.
Grant Leisure took over the running of the attraction in April 2003, but have now informed the council that they intend to sell the lease on to focus on its marketing services business.
Since taking on the lease Grant Leisure have invested £6million in the zoo, and will be allowed to sell the lease on at a price to reflect the investment it has made.
Blackpool Council will remain landlords of the zoo, which is currently operated on a 30-year lease.
Pioneering flight to dove islandTHE wings of a rare dove that died out in the wild are to flutter again over its natural habitat, thanks to the help of Scottish zoologists.
The Socorro Dove became extinct more than 30 years ago in its home in a remote Pacific island chain known as Mexico's Galapagos.
Fewer than 100 adult birds now exist in captivity around the world. But in 2007 it is to be reintroduced to Socorro, 600 miles west of the Mexican coast, following a successful breeding programme involving Edinburgh Zoo.
The zoo has already agreed to send staff out to the island to take part in the reintroduction programme.
If successful, it will pave the way for other species that only exist in captivity to be returned to the wild.
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1908952006
Global move to save rhinosROOPAK GOSWAMI
Guwahati, Jan. 17: The recent rise in rhino killings with the help of new techniques has prompted an international initiative to keep tabs on poachers and maintain a database on incidents of rhino trade in Assam and other parts of the Northeast.
The initiative, launched by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) with the support of Save the Rhino International, will involve continued undercover monitoring of routes used for smuggling rhino horns out of Assam.
The project, “Conservation of rhino in India and strategy framework to reduce rhino poaching in range countries,” will be located in Assam and the work will be done by Aaranyak — a leading biodiversity conservation society of the Northeast — and the London-based David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation.
Work will start from this month and initially continue for a year, depending upon funds raised for the project.
Assam is home to an estimated 70 per cent of the world’s remaining one-horned rhino population, which numbers approximately 2,400.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070118/asp/northeast/story_7265572.asp
Ngamba Island Chimpanzee SanctuaryNgamba Island, about 30+ miles away by boat, is located on Lake Victoria south of Entebbe. Of its approximately 100 acres, 98 acres are forested and used by the chimpanzees . It was officially opened to visitors in 1999 and is home to orphaned chimpanzees .
Ngamba Island is a project of the Chimpanzees Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust, and a member of the Jane Goodall Institute Uganda. This project provides orphaned chimps with a secure home to live out their lives. Once chimps are orphaned, it is impossible to return them to their natural habitat and the Island is overcrowded already thanks to poachers who kill the parents and sell the baby chimps as pets or to zoos. As a matter of fact, the female chimps are kept on birth-control to keep the population down on Ngamba!
http://www.travelswithsheila.com/ngamba_island_chimpanzee_sanct.html
Four Kangaroos Die In Three Days At Florida ZooPOSTED: 10:23 am EST January 18, 2007
GULF BREEZE, Fla. -- A zoo in Gulf Breeze has lost several of its kangaroos. Officials at The Zoo Northwest Florida said four of the 15 kangaroos died in a recent three-day period.
Seven animals died in the last two years. But it's not clear exactly when the kangaroos died.
Zoo officials said a common bacteria caused an infection responsible for most of the deaths.
The zoos veterinarian said in a release that kangaroos sometimes show little resistance to infectious agents. He said the kangaroos that have survived the outbreak seem to be responding well to treatment.
In November, a zoo keeper was bitten by a leopard at the zoo. Two young cougars had to be rounded up after escaping their pen. Charges have not been filed.
Dog Buried Alive!! The story that is circling the world....http://animalrescue.typepad.com/animal_rescue_blog/January 15 - A 5-year-old bull mastiff mix dog is resting as comfortably as possible inside the Escambia County Animal Shelter in Pensacola after being buried alive. Shelter Director Bruce Rova says the canine suffered some painful injuries: "His joints are swollen. His skin is irritated. He was traumatized. But tonight, he's doing so much better."
Over the weekend, someone buried the dog alive in the back yard of a home on West Jackson Street in Pensacola. Melissa Vanderpool's boyfriend, Robby Wilson, is being credited as being the person responsible for saving the dog's life. "He had to climb up and look over the fence," Vanderpool says. "And he could see the dirt mound and hole. And periodically, you could see the nose of the dog come up to the top of the hole."
http://www.nbc15online.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=da24288f-2caa-4012-b3e6-5e386e00347e&rss=217
It was a drizzly dawn.Rather unpleasant as it just wasn’t really raining but it was enough to keep everything wet.
http://www.wildcast.net/
Elephant bulls water wrestling: Videohttp://www.wildcast.net/2007/01/17/elephant-bulls-water-wrestling-video/#comment-702
Indianapolis Zoo Accepts Nominations For Animal Conservation AwardInsideIndianaBusiness.com Report
1/22/2007 9:18:18 AM
The Indianapolis Zoo is now accepting nominations for the 2008 Indianapolis Prize for animal conservation award. The $100,000 prize is given to an individual who has accomplished achievements in conservation of an animal species or group of species. The deadline for nominations is April 30.
Source: Inside INdiana Business‘Major’ donation to be presented to zoo
From staff reports
Indiana Michigan Power plans to present a “major” donation Tuesday afternoon to the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo.
The company declined to reveal the amount of the gift Monday, but said it would benefit the zoo’s African Journey exhibit fund-raising campaign.
Presentation of the gift from the American Electric Power Foundation is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the zoo in Franke Park. Indiana Michigan Power, which serves the Fort Wayne area, is one of American Electric Power’s utility operating units.
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/nation/16520623.htm
German chimps in Delhi zoo get new enclosureTenzing Lamsan
New Delhi, January 22: The Delhi Zoo today released Marius and Manius, the two chimpanzees imported from Germany, into their enclosures after a month-long quarantine process, officials said.
The zoo hospital cleared Marius (11) and Manius (9) of HIV, TB, Influenza and skin infections and gave them a “certificate of good health”.
Zoo Vet Dr N Paneerselvam said, “We released Marius and Manius from their month-long quarantine and now they are exploring their two-acre enclosure”.
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=218841
The Topeka Zoo comes to you: Meet a tiger salamander and a pythonFound crawling around in the ponds and streams of Eastern Kansas is the tiger salamander. The tiger salamander is recognized as the official Kansas amphibian, and Mike Coker, Topeka Zoo director, brought out that slimy creature to help celebrate Kansas' 146th birthday, which is January 29.
Tiger salamanders are carnivores, so they spend their time hunting and eating mainly insects, Coker said.
Coker also brought an African ball python to the set of Good Morning Kansas. The African ball python grows to about 4' in length. They are not poisonous.
"They are a constrictor," he said. "They spend time seizing their prey, squeezing the air out of it and consuming it.
http://www.49abcnews.com/news/2007/jan/22/topeka_zoo_comes_you_meet_tiger_salamander_and_pyt/
Wolf pups learn to grow up at Alaska ZooAnchorage, Alaska - They may not look like pups, but six rambunctious wolves at the Alaska Zoo still have a lot of growing up to do.
The three brothers and three sisters were rescued from a den in McGrath last spring, and they are turning into quite an attraction. Zookeepers are working to socialize and train them.
Their days are spent napping, playing and wrestling, but there is a method to the madness. The pack is working out who the bosses will be.
"We have two females that are black and the omega is very calm and reserved and kind of setback and independent in her own little ways, and then we have the alpha female, who is kind of establishing herself who's crazy and jumpy and nippy and just kind of fun," said Stephanie Scherr, a wolf keeper and trainer.
http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=5975043
Zoo pythons in dance performanceKUALA LUMPUR: Two of the most important stars of the musical extravaganza Mystical Steppes: Along the Silk Road have been identified.
Unlike the pretty girls and handsome men of the Xinjiang International Grand Bazaar Theatre Dance Troupe who will be presenting the show to Malaysians, the stars are two two-metre-long Burmese pythons
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/1/23/nation/16647846&sec=nation
First Polar Bear Born in Berlin Zoo in 30 YearsBerlin Zoo is delighted at the birth of Knut, the first polar bear to be born in the animal park in over 30 years. The cub spent his first 44 days in an incubator after being rejected by his mother. Now he's being raised on a bottle.
The polar bears in Berlin Zoo may be having trouble getting to sleep as unseasonably warm weather interferes with their hibernation schedule, but one little bear is just happy to be alive.
Knut was born on Dec. 5, 2006, the first polar bear cub to be born in Berlin Zoo in 30 years, but was rejected by his mother, the 20-year-old polar bear Tosca. His twin brother died four days after the birth.
Little Knut spent the first 44 days of his life in an incubator. Thanks to the loving care of the zoo staff, he prospered and now has "a good chance of survival," according to his keeper Thomas Dörflein. The dedicated Dörflein has slept in the zoo since the birth of the bear in order to provide round-the-clock care to the cub, and feeds Knut milk six times a day with a bottle.
Knut weighed only 810 grams (1.8 pounds) when he was born but now tips the scales at 3.9 kilograms (8.6 pounds). He still has a long way to go though -- adult male polar bears can weigh up to 800 kilograms.
Eager zoo visitors will have to wait to see the zoo's newest addition, however. The stress of being shown to the public would be too much for the little polar bear at the moment, a zoo spokeswoman said.
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,18793,00.html
Zoo hosts program on climate changeROY GAULT
Statesman Journal
January 23, 2007
Peter Clark, a professor of geosciences at Oregon State University, will discuss how global warming is affecting animals ranging from polar bears to butterflies in the first of the Oregon Zoo's "Wildlife Conservation Lecture Series."
Clark's areas of expertise include glacial geology and paleoclimatology.
His Jan. 30 lecture, "Climate Change Present, Past and Future: What We Have Learned About What to Expect," will describe what he believes to be the causes and effects of global warming.
The lectures in the series will each be at 7 p.m. in the Oregon Zoo's banquet center. Admission is $10, or $8 for zoo members, students, members of host organizations in the series, and those 65 or older.
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070123/OUTDOORS/701230320/1034
New Luxury Camp Site and Safari opens at the Kow Keow Zoo.We now take you to the Kow Keow Zoo, 40kms outside of Pattaya for the Grand Opening of the Kow Keow Es Ta Te Camping Resort and Safari. Khun Sureeyar, the Director of Kow Keo Zoo and Khun Chawan, the Deputy Director of the Office of Small and Medium Enterprise Promotions who are backing this new project, opened the resort. The new resort features luxury air-conditioned tents which will take you close to nature allowing for some modern comforts. This new Resort is expected to increase the tourist numbers at this already popular zoo thus increasing revenue for the zoo and the rest of the Province.
http://www.pattayacitynews.net/news_23_01_50_2.htm
Zoo's Sea Lion Dies Of CancerISU Will Perform Autopsy
DES MOINES, Iowa -- A sea lion at the Blank Park Zoo lost its battle with cancer Monday.
Santana, 21, a 200-pound California sea lion, died from complications after surgery to remove three mammary and abdominal cancer masses, a news release said.
Santana was one of the most photographed animals at the zoo and appeared in many of the city and state’s tourism brochures, as well as the zoo's annual reports, according to the news release.
http://www.kcci.com/news/10822490/detail.html
Zoo welcomeshost of newborns
More than 10 new babies have been born at the Johannesburg Zoo. But the black-and-white ruffed lemur, Daryl, has not been able to meet the public just yet.
January 23, 2007
By Tabisa Mntengwana
MOTHERS have been busy at the Johannesburg Zoo lately - its ranks have been swelled by more than 10 new babies, including a red lechwe, a nyala, a chimpanzee, a mona monkey, a Cameroon pygmy goat, a blue duiker and a sitatunga.
But it's little Daryl, a baby lemur, who has been of concern to the zoo staff.
Born two months ago, the tiny creature has been in hospital as its mother did not have enough milk for the newborn primate.
"His mother couldn't feed him and the new baby suffered a lot. But he is recovering very well," says Althea Guinsberg, the zoo's curator of primates and reptiles.
http://www.joburg.org.za/2007/jan/jan23_zoobabies.stm
Zoo vet centre a dream come trueEver wondered how sick zoo animals are treated?
Visitors to Auckland Zoo's purpose-built New Zealand Centre for Conservation Medicine will soon be able to go behind the scenes to find out.
"It's a dream come true," says senior vet Richard Jakob-Hoff.
"This is going to be a place of discovery that will teach us more about disease and wildlife and allow us to share that information with people."
Construction of the $4.6 million centre started last year and is expected to finish in June.
Mr Jakob-Hoff says it will focus more on native species, research and diagnostic work.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/sundaystartimes/auckland/3937855a6497.html
Attendance Spikes At Zoo In 2006POSTED: 9:59 am EST January 23, 2007
UPDATED: 10:46 am EST January 23, 2007
CLEVELAND -- More people are going to the zoo.
The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo officials said attendance climbed to 1,203,403, an increase of 84,000 from the previous year. This surpassed the previous year by 75,000 visitors, making it the 13th straight year with attendance over a million.
The attendance rate also reflects the zoo's highest ever single-day attendance of 23,684 on July 3.
Officials believe there are several reasons for the increase in attendance. This includes the debut of the Zoo's TOUCH!
Officials said the record-setting single-day attendance of 23,684 on Monday, July 3, 2006, was mainly due to the Zoo's free Monday admission to residents of Cuyahoga County and Hinckley Township and the traditionally busy holiday weekend.
They also project that attendance will remain strong in 2007, which will mark the zoo's 125th anniversary.
Zoo owner accused of faking document JIM KINNEY, The Saratogian
01/23/2007
BALLSTON SPA -- A Washington County zoo owner whose tiger scratched a 4-year-old boy at the Saratoga County Fair last summer is accused of faking the insurance certificate he used to bring his animals on the fairgrounds.
Jeffrey W. Ash, 53, of 468 Lick Spring Road, Greenwich, was arraigned Monday evening and charged with second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, a low-level felony, the Ballston Spa Police Department said. He's free pending a late-February court date.
'It looked just like every other certificate of insurance we get,' Saratoga County Fair General Manager Dick Rowland said. 'Except that the insurance company doesn't exist. The company's address on the form is for another insurance company.'
Officials at the fair reviewed Ash's paperwork after receiving a legal claim from the boy's family and its law firm.
http://www.saratogian.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17739765&BRD=1169&PAG=461&dept_id=17708&rfi=6
Two rare doves hatched at zoo By Sheldon S. Shafer
sshafer@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
Two white-throated ground doves have hatched at the Louisville Zoo, the first births in captivity anywhere for the rare species, zoo officials announced Tuesday.
One hatchling was born Oct. 17, and a second, from the same parents, Dec. 1, zoo officials said.
The doves are native to the island of Saipan in Micronesia, where they have a very small range. Both young birds are doing well and will not be exhibited for at least a while longer, said zoo officials, who are monitoring the young doves from a remote location.
“This is a dream come true … really a thrill,” said Gary Michael, the zoo’s curator of birds, who developed the environment in the zoo’s Forest Bird Trail Exhibit in the Islands Pavilion that was apparently conducive to the doves’ mating.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070123/NEWS01/70123052/
NYS Zoo at Thompson Park to be visited by AZAUpdated: 1/23/2007 4:12 PM
By: Amy Ohler
In February the New York State Zoo at Thompson Park in Watertown will be inspected by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
Board Spokesman Gregory Couch said he's not sure why the AZA is visiting but says the zoo is very pleased that they are coming.
Last month the zoo lost its AZA accreditation after the US Department of Agriculture forced the zoo to close because the zoo did not reapply for its Animal Welfare Act license. But a week later the zoo received its license back and reopened.
Couch says it will be a challenge because they don't have an executive director but says he's confident the zoo will pass.
Zoo won't repeat African exhibit
High cost and the death of two animals last summer are factors in the decision. The exhibit was very popular.
The savannah tableau of African animals that drew huge crowds to the Minnesota Zoo last year won't be repeated this summer.
High costs and the unexpected death of two animals are among the reasons that the popular exhibit won't return, at least not before 2009. Officials had hoped to bring it back.
"It was a picture of Africa, and the public loved it," said Tony Fisher, the zoo's animal collection manager. "But it's an expensive exhibit. This year we're sticking our money in the renovation of the Minnesota Trail, and next year it's the new Russian exhibit."
http://www.startribune.com/462/story/955565.html
Thompson Park Zoo will be inspected after allThis past December will be a month the Thompson Park Zoo would rather forget. Besides losing its Association of Zoos and Aquariums accreditation, the zoo lost several employees partly because the zoo was forced to close for more than a week after failing to file USDA paperwork they need to stay open.
A few weeks later the zoo was back open and the accreditation restored, things seemed back to normal. But now the AZA is having second thoughts and wants to do a full inspection.
http://www.news10now.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=93038
U.K. zoo announces virgin birth of 5 Komodo dragonsROB HARRIS
Associated Press
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND — A British zoo announced Wednesday the virgin birth of five Komodo dragons, giving scientists new hope for the captive breeding of the endangered species.
In an evolutionary twist, the newborns' eight-year-old mother Flora shocked staff at Chester Zoo in northern England when she became pregnant without ever having a male partner or even being exposed to the opposite sex.
“Flora is oblivious to the excitement she has caused but we are delighted to say she is now a mom and dad,” said a delighted Kevin Buley, the zoo's curator of lower vertebrates and invertebrates.
The shells began cracking last week, after an eight-month gestation period, which culminated with the arrival on Tuesday of the fifth black and yellow coloured dragon.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070124.wkomodo0124/BNStory/Science/home
Four marmosets stolen from Drusialls at Alfriston earlier this month have been recovered in a police raid.Sussex Police led a joint operation with Staffordshire Police yesterday (June 29) morning and executed two search warrants at two addresses in Tunstall, Staffordshire, accompanied by officials from Drusillas Zoo.
Within 24 hours of identifying suspects, Wealden officers travelled overnight to Staffordshire to co-ordinate the swift recovery of the animals.
In the properties, police discovered 18 monkeys which have been identified as stolen. Four out of the five Marmosets which were recently stolen from Drusillas have been recovered, along with 14 monkeys which are believed to have been stolen from zoos in Devon and Cambridgeshire earlier this year.
The Marmosets from Drusillas were identified by the microchips that Drusillas places in the majority of their animals.
Two men, both aged 35 years old and both from Tunstall have been arrested on suspicion of burglary and handling stolen property.
http://www.seafordtoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=509&ArticleID=1600073
Clarke tables bill to regulate public gardens, zoosParliament
Balford Henry
Sunday, July 02, 2006
THE Public Gardens Regulation Act of 1899 is to be repealed and replaced by a new one making new provisions for the administration and operation of public gardens and zoos.
Minister of Land and Agriculture Roger Clarke tabled the new bill, titled the Public Gardens Regulation Act 2006, in the House of Representatives last week.
The bill provides for the development, maintenance and administration of public gardens, including Bath, Castleton, Cinchona, Royal, Fern Gully and Holland Bamboo Botanic Gardens, as well as other places designated as such by the Commissioner of Lands.
It provides for the appointment of a superintendent of public gardens with staff who may, among other things, designate any area within a public garden for specific activities.
It also includes provisions for the seizure of stray animals, as well as punishment for persons convicted in the Resident Magistrate's courts of destroying trees, flower beds, lawn or shrub; or injuring or killing any lawfully kept animal.
These persons may be fined up to $20,000 and jailed for up to three months.
Persons who pick fruits, plants or flowers from the gardens, or sell goods on the premises, may be fined up to $100,000 and imprisoned for up to three months.
The bill's "memorandum of objects and reasons" notes that:
"The Public Gardens Regulation Act was promulgated in 1899, at a time when Jamaicans exhibited great civic pride and revelled in the ambience of these public gardens. Over the years, there has been a decline in the appreciation of these national treasures. The fines for contravention of the Act have remained unchanged since its enactment."
Ambassadors for the wildThe Woodland Park Zoo is the closest many of us will come to the wilds of Asia, Africa or Central America. I'm always surprised by the amazing job the zoo does in re-creating the conditions of the world's remaining wilderness, an effort that will be gaining even more visibility in the coming months.
Woodland Park uses a creative mix, part zoology and part biology, to transform its 300 animal species and their habitats into ambassadors for the wild.
Take the zoo's popular African Village. A celebration of culture and wildlife in East Africa, the realistic display includes traditional huts and a schoolhouse. From the schoolroom door, there is a sweeping view of a savannah dotted with grazing oryxes, giraffes, zebras and patas monkeys. I didn't have to suspend my disbelief to feel like I was in a village on a continent halfway around the world.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2003097222_sundayzoo02.html
Jackie Gannon
Kunkletown woman hitches her life to horses at this time of yearMARTA GOUGER
Pocono Life Editor
August 07, 2006
Jackie Gannon is busy at this time of year helping her 11 children get ready for the West End Fair and other horse competitions.
Only three of the children are actually hers. The rest are members of Mountain View Wranglers, the 4-H Club she advises.
"It's very intense," the Kunkletown woman said. "As a parent and a leader, I have to keep more than my kids on target."
Gannon, who grew up with horses in the Quakertown area, got involved with 4-H when her sister-in-law Gretchen Pettit was the leader. Jackie's three daughters were involved in several clubs. "My girls were so involved that I became totally involved. I started running the meetings," Gannon said. She became a leader in 2003.
Part of her job is checking paperwork. "There are always a few that have something missing," she said.
Before competition, Gannon makes a list, which includes taking costumes to the dry cleaner and gathering horse gear.
They bathe the horse the night before and the girls spend hours braiding the mane. A blanket is put over the horse to keep it from getting dirty until the competition the next day.
http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060807/NEWS01/608070306/-1/NEWS
concluding ...
