Zoos
Zoo to unveil N.C.'s largest solar project
From Staff Reports
Thursday, Jan. 24, 2008 3:39 pm
ASHEBORO — The N.C. Zoo will be soon be catching a lot of rays.
It plans to flick the switch on the state's largest solar power project Tuesday.
The new solar power system is expected to produce 130,000 kilowatt-hours per year, which is the energy used by 11 to 13 average homes in North Carolina.
It's 104 kilowatts, 9,600 square feet and features three picnic pavilions, which will also provide covered catering space for the zoo.
The pavilions, called Solar Pointe, will be near the zoo’s North America Entrance.
Educational graphics include a monitor with direct connection to a Web site that shows a live readout of the energy being generated and the pollution being avoided.
Residents will also be able to view the information online.
pavilions are a gift in-kind from partner Carolina Solar Energy with contributions from the N.C. Zoo Society.
The zoo, in turn, is leasing the pavilions' roofs to Carolina Solar Energy.
Carolina Solar Energy will sell the electricity to Randolph Electric Membership Corporation, another zoo partner. It also receives a subsidy from N.C. Green Power.
http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080124/NRSTAFF/45710809
Queens Zoo’s Carbon Impact Low
By Liz Skalka
The Wildlife Conservation Society, which owns and operates the Queens Zoo as well as other zoos around the City, has calculated its carbon footprint and is now aiming to decrease greenhouse gas emissions at all its parks.
A carbon footprint is a measure of the amount of greenhouse gases produced from human actions, thus measuring the impact of these actions on the environment. Greenhouse gases contribute to the heating of the earth.
“We can’t be a leader in global conservation if we don’t also live it at home,” said Steven Sanderson, president and CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society. “Conservation globally includes conservation at home. We strongly support Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC: A greener, greater New York – an effort to make our City a leading example of how we all can take steps to lighten our carbon footprint.”
http://www.queenstribune.com/news/1201187848.html
Zoo society pushes for amphibian conservation
Posted Mon Jan 21, 2008 3:14pm AEDT
The Zoological Society of London has drawn up a list of the 100 most endangered species of amphibians, such as frogs and salamanders, which it says are threatened by extinction.
Society officials say amphibians are highly sensitive to pollution and climate change but because they are not cute and cuddly, they attract little or no conservation attention.
Helen Meredith, who coordinates the society's conservation program, says by saving the endangered amphibians, more can be learnt about saving other species.
"By conserving their environment, we're also conserving the environment for a greater number of species," she said.
"So in each case, when we work on a species, we just want to protect its habitat for the future, get local people interested in education about the species, and hopefully ensure that it can keep on surviving for millions of years to come."
-BBC
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/21/2143141.htm
A zoo gone wild?
John Diaz
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Tears welled in San Francisco Zoo director Manuel Mollinedo's eyes. After taking more than hour of questions that often challenged his professional judgment and competence, this one should have seemed easy. Yet this was the one that elicited emotion.
It was: Have zoos become an anachronism in 2008?
Mollinedo talked about growing up in East Los Angeles and the "very significant role" that zoos and other cultural institutions had on his life. He considers outreach to inner-city youth as the highest calling of a zoo executive.
"There's many children here that can benefit from an institution like the San Francisco Zoo because their parents don't have the money to take them to Africa ... they don't have the money to take them to Yosemite or some other place to see grizzly bears," Mollinedo said, his voice cracking at points during his meeting with The Chronicle editorial board Tuesday.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/27/ED6EUKNML.DTL
Fault lies with zoo over man's death
Kurt Wirth
Issue date: 1/25/08
Kurt Wirth is a junior majoring in communication. He can be contacted at opinion@reflector.msstate.edu.
As you probably know by now, a tiger escaped from its pen on Christmas Day and mauled one young man to death and seriously injured his two brothers at the San Francisco Zoo. As a result, the tiger was shot and killed by the zoo. One of the men has admitted that all three had taken illegal drugs and consumed alcohol before visiting the zoo.
They also admitted to taunting the feline on top of a small fence surrounding a moat which encircled the 12.5-foot tall wall that enclosed the tiger.
But get this - police and crime scene investigators are actually investing their time and money in dusting for footprints on top of the moat's wall, strip-searching the vehicle in which the three traveled and inspecting the brother's cell phones.
The irrelevance of this investigation blows my mind.
Who cares? This massive investigation into the tiger's motivation behind its attack is senseless.
http://media.www.reflector-online.com/media/storage/paper938/news/2008/01/25/Opinion/Fault.Lies.With.Zoo.Over.Mans.Death-3167823.shtml
Counting Croaks: Help tally toads, frogs in area
By Gareth McGrath
Staff Writer
gareth.mcgrath@starnewsonline.com
In a few weeks, after the sun has set, Donna Finley and some friends are going to grab their raincoats, flashlights and the obligatory bug spray and head to some of the wettest spots on Bald Head Island just to listen.
For frogs.
Finley admits some of her friends were a bit skeptical when she first told them what she was doing, especially because the best time to hear the amphibians with whoopee on their minds is generally during or after a rainstorm.
"They said, 'You're doing what?'" she said with a laugh. "But people are interested when you start telling them about it because they've never thought about what it could mean if our frogs and toads start disappearing."
They are the bit players in dozens of children's stories, a staple of children's backyard adventures and the quintessential musicians that create much of the natural nighttime background noise heard in Southeastern North Carolina.
http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20080127/NEWS/801270410
Asian elephant and calf die in labor at Fort Worth Zoo
Staffers struggle with the loss of 40-year-old Babe
Associated Press
FORT WORTH — A 40-year-old elephant died while trying to give birth to a calf that also died, zoo officials said.
Babe, an Asian elephant that arrived at the Fort Worth Zoo in 1991 for its breeding program, was its oldest female elephant.
Last month, as the end of her 22-month gestation period neared, elephant keepers started watching her around the clock, zoo officials said.
Babe went into labor Sunday afternoon and her contractions continued for two days, but the calf did not move into the birth canal. Although Babe rested and did normal physical activity, her health unexpectedly declined and she died Thursday morning in her sleep.
Ron Surratt, the zoo's director of animal collections, said staffers were stunned and having a difficult time with the loss. The zoo has six other elephants.
A necropsy showed that Babe had a torn uterus, which probably caused her death, said zoo spokeswoman Remekca Owens. The calf that died during labor was full-term, she said.
In 2002, Babe gave birth to a full-term stillborn calf.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/5487241.html
Special oil massage for jumbos at Lucknow zoo
By Kamna Mathur
Lucknow, Jan.25: While the entire north India is under cold wave, the jumbos at a zoo here are being given a special oil massage to prevent them from chill.
The mahouts at the zoo use about two and half kilogram of lukewarm mustard oil and massage the pachyderm for at least one hour after bath to keep their body warm. According to Ranu Singh, the Director of the zoo, such a massage helps in improving blood circulation and generating heat."Due to extreme cold, we felt that the animals must be facing problems. Hence, we first give the elephants a bath for cleanliness. Then we give them a hot oil massage. We massage them with mustard oil. This generates heat in their body.
http://www.dailyindia.com/show/210705.php/Special-oil-massage-for-jumbos-at-Lucknow-zoo
Tail-Braiding Animals Set To Come To Philadelphia
POSTED: 8:34 am EST January 25, 2008
UPDATED: 9:59 am EST January 25, 2008
PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Zoo's monkey house is getting two new animals from South America.
A pair of Bolivian grey titi monkeys is due to arrive sometime next week.
Zookeepers are preparing their habitat, which at first will be covered with brown paper to allow the monkeys to adjust to their new surroundings before they go on view to the public.
Zoo vice president Andrew Baker said the pair usually sits side-by-side and often will braid their long tails together. He said that's behavior you don't see in other monkeys.
In a family of grey titis, you often can see "three or four animals all lined up on a branch with all the tails twisted together," Baker said.
Adding to the fun: titi babies are on the horizon. The female is pregnant.
http://www.nbc10.com/news/15135380/detail.html
Lion cubs debut at San Diego Zoo
The public got its first glimpse of seven lion cubs born at the San Diego Zoo.
The cubs, which were born days apart from each other this past November, were very playful and very entertaining for those on hand.
Four of the seven cubs were born on November 2nd to 4-year-old Oshana, while the other three were born on November 6th to her sister Mina.
The pride can be seen daily in the mornings.
http://www.kare11.com/news/national/national_article.aspx?storyid=494368
Babe, Fort Worth Zoo's oldest female elephant, dies
07:55 PM CST on Friday, January 25, 2008
By JEFF MOSIER / The Dallas Morning News
A 40-year-old Asian elephant named Babe died Thursday morning from labor-related complications at the Fort Worth Zoo, officials announced Friday.
Babe, the oldest female in the Fort Worth Zoo's herd of Asian elephants, died Thursday.
Babe was the oldest female in the zoo's herd of seven Asian elephants. Zoo officials said Babe went into labor Sunday afternoon, but the calf failed to move into the birth canal.
Babe died while sleeping about 7:30 a.m. Thursday. Zoo officials said the unborn calf also died.
"I can't remember a more difficult time for our elephant staff," Ron Surratt, the zoo's animal collections director, said in a prepared statement. "She will be deeply missed by all of the zoo's staff and our guests."
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/012608dnmetfwelephant.59af6905.html
Minnesota Zoo reviews security after San Francisco tragedy
The mauling death by an escaped tiger in San Francisco is leading to a sober reckoning and lots of questions at the Minnesota Zoo.
By DAVID PETERSON, Star Tribune
Last update: January 25, 2008 - 9:41 PM
Nationally, the San Francisco tragedy has led to a new emphasis on zoo fatalities -- and near-misses. The Los Angeles Daily News for instance, reporting on calls to end the zoo industry's self-policing, mentioned these episodes:
August 2007: An alligator at the Los Angeles Zoo gets out and wanders for hours before being found.
July 2007: A tiger at the San Antonio Zoo attacks a keeper who forgot to close and lock a series of gates.
February 2007: A jaguar at the Denver Zoo kills a zookeeper who failed to follow precautions.
December 2006: A tiger at the San Francisco Zoo mauls a zookeeper during a public feeding.
Each morning, before the Minnesota Zoo's tigers are allowed back into their exhibit, someone walks the perimeter to be certain that an oak tree, weakened by disease, hasn't crumpled overnight and ripped out part of the fence or given the tigers a way to climb out.
And just in case the fence turned out not to be enough, guns are locked away in four spots scattered around the zoo.
http://www.startribune.com/local/south/14443852.html
British campaigners call for tribute to 'soldier bear'
LONDON (AFP) — Scottish campaigners are calling for a memorial to a bear which joined Polish troops on the front line during World War II and died in Edinburgh, media reported Saturday.
Voytek, a 113-kilogram, 1.8-metre (249-pound, nearly six feet) brown bear, was adopted by the Poles after they found it in Iran in 1943.
They gave the animal beer and cigarettes, trained it to carry mortar shells and even enlisted it as a soldier so that it could keep travelling with them.
At the end of the war, the troops were billeted to southern Scotland and Voytek went along too, before being sent to Edinburgh Zoo when they were demobilised.
The animal remained at the zoo until its death in 1963.
Now a teacher from southern Scotland, Garry Paulin, is writing a book about the bear and a campaign has started to have Voytek's life commemorated in a statue.
Campaigner Aileen Orr said she first heard about the bear as a child from her grandfather, a Scottish soldier.
"The story is totally amazing and it would be good if we could have some memorial in Scotland, perhaps at Holyrood (the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh), to celebrate the bear's life," she told the Scotsman newspaper.
Polish veteran Augustyn Karolewski, who still lives in Scotland, added: "He was like a big dog -- no-one was scared of him.
"He liked a cigarette, he liked a bottle of beer -- he drank a bottle of beer like any man."
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iEThuXEa1IfDmn-Fh1shq5PX1b5A
Zoo Leopards Find New Home at Preserve
Posted Jan 26, 08 6:00 PM CST in
(newser) – Brother-sister pair Sirius and Pitou grew up in a French traveling circus, spent the last nine years at the Monaco zoo, and have now found a new home at a wildlife preserve in South Africa. The 16-year-old leopards undertook their recent journey—sedated and via two airplanes—thanks to British actress and conservationist Virginia McKenna, the Telegraph reports.
McKenna persuaded Monaco's reigning prince, Albert II, to grant the leopards their freedom. Her animal welfare organization, Born Free, arranged the big cats' transport to a fenced-off area of the preserve, where they were last spotted feasting on antelope. Albert has promised McKenna that he will also release a camel, a hippo, and other zoo animals.
http://www.newser.com/story/17430.html?rss=y
Zoo welcomes tiger cubs for Chinese New Year
By MEERA VIJAYAN
Stripes of joy: The tiger cubs, Xi Xi, Fatt Fatt and Chai Chai, at the Saleng Zoo near Johor Baru.
JOHOR BARU: The Year of the Rat is fast approaching, but that has not stopped a privately-owned zoo here from delightedly welcoming the birth of three tiger cubs.
The 'babies' have been aptly named Xi Xi (Happiness), Fatt Fatt (Increased Fortune) and Chai Chai (Prosperity) in the spirit of the Chinese New Year.
Born two weeks ago in Saleng Zoo near here to Siberian Bengal tigers, nine-year-old Kasih and 12-year-old Kang, the cubs have just begun to open their eyes.
Zoo caretaker J. Sivapriyan said that the cubs were healthy and weighed about 2kg each.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/1/27/nation/20121737&sec=nation
VIDEO
Goose Chase
This school year, Bishop Eustace Preparatory School in Pennsauken unleashed a set of plastic cardboard dogs to scare off geese that enjoy congregating - and defecating - on the school's athletic field. Though not fully effective, school officials say the scarecrow dogs have worked better than previous schemes. The grass, however, remains a treacherous minefield of goose droppings.
Video by ROBERT MORAN / Inquirer Staff Writer
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/multimedia/13799907.html?adString=inq.multimedia/multimedia;!category=multimedia&randomOrd=011608014412
VIDEO
BooBoo's Birthday
Thirty-year-old BooBoo, the third oldest Andean bear in the U.S., celebrated his birthday, January 16, - actually, people celebrated it for him - at the Philadelphia zoo. The average Andean bear lives to be 25, so BooBoo is truly an oldtimer.
Video by ROBERT MORAN / Inquirer Staff Writer
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/multimedia/13842096.html?adString=inq.multimedia/multimedia;!category=multimedia&randomOrd=011608014804
National Zoo Tries to Get Asian Elephant Shanti Pregnant
2008-01-19 - Washington, United States
Its a bit early to decorate the nursery, but officials at the National Zoo are hoping that Shanthi the elephant will have another baby in 2009. Veterinarians conducted two artificial insemination procedures on Shanthi this week. Scientists will now monitor her hormones. If the level of progesterone in her blood remains high after 10 weeks, then shes most likely pregnant. An Asian elephants gestation period ranges from 20 to 22 months. In 2001, Shanthi gave birth to Kandula - the fifth elephant i...
http://www.elephant-news.com/index.php?id=3239
Shanthi means peace in Sinhalese. It also is translated to mean blessing.
In 2001, Shanti gave birth to Kandula, the fifth elephant in the world to be conceived by artificial insemination.
2007-03-00: Shanti Artificiallly inseminated in March 2007, without success.
2008-01-19: Zoo veterinarians artificially inseminated the 32-year-old elephant twice this past week. They will now monitor her hormones for signs of a pregnancy.
http://www.elephant.se/database2.php?elephant_id=213
Endangered birds stolen from Nicaraguan zoo
Five armed men broke into a zoo in Managua, Nicaragua, Friday and stole 15 endangered birds and a raccoon.
Police are investigating the robbery of the raccoon, five bi-colored toucans, nine parrots and a macaw kept in the zoo's rescue center, zoo director Marina Argüello told U.S. newswire The Associated Press.
The thieves managed to get past a security guard in the rear of the zoo and headed straight for the rescue center, she said.
The toucans had been prepared for mating, she added.
The loss was “incalculable,” said Argüello, but the birds can gross up to $1,000 each in the underground market.
-Tico Times
http://www.ticotimes.net/dailyarchive/2008_01/0121083.htm
Govt asks zoo to answer animal cruelty accusations
Posted Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:48pm AEDT
The Victorian Government has asked Melbourne Zoo to respond to claims of animal neglect.
Melbourne Zoo has denied claims that animals have been mistreated, saying a widely reported incident involving an elephant was a case of a keeper protecting himself.
The reports said a former zoo staff member saw an elephant being repeatedly jabbed in the foot by a trainer.
Concerns have also been raised about the Healesville Sanctuary.
Victorian Premier John Brumby says the Government is expecting to receive a written response from zoo management soon.
"I have complete confidence in the zoos we run in this state, they have a very high level of concern for the animals in their care and I think they do a great job and our zoos are renowned around the world," he said.
"But I also understand they've made some statements today and defended their position."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/01/21/2143287.htm
Como Zoo wants help naming newborn orangutan
Associated Press - January 23, 2008 8:14 AM ET
ST. PAUL (AP) - The Como Zoo in St. Paul wants the public's help in naming its newborn orangutan.
Voters must choose from among three names. Votes must be accompanied by money, and the name that raises the most money, wins. All money goes toward the zoo's orangutan training program.
The three names to choose from are -- Jaya, Pandu and Bejo.
The male orangutan was born by Caesarean section last month.
Voting starts Thursday and runs through February 17th. The name will be announced the next day.
On the Net:
http://www.comozooconservatory.org
http://wkbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=7760437
City Zoo celebrates Frog Day in Pakistan
Wednesday, 23 January 2008
The Lahore Zoo on International Frog Day arranged a competition of poster making with themed threats to frogs in Pakistan and frog species in Pakistan. It was sponsored by WWF-P in which students leaped for frog conservation.
The Aizar School System, Allama Iqbal Town, stood first, the Lahore Grammar School, Junior Branch Gulberg, got second position and the EDCS Valencia got third position.
Wild Life, Punjab, Director Abdul Qadeer Mehal, Member Z M C Akbar Bhatti, University of Animal Sciences Dr Zulfiqar, and Zoo Education Officer Bushra Nisar Khan were the judges of the competitions.
All world association like Conservation of Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG) and World Aquarium and Zoo Association (WAZA) and Zoo Outreach Organization (ZOO), South Asian Nation International Educators (SANIZE) and Amphibian Network of South Asia has declared 2008 as year of frog conversation to raise awareness of a looming , mass extinction of amphibian specie.
http://www.uniquepakistan.com/news/general/city-zoo-celebrates-frog-day-in-pakistan-20080123.html
Zoo chief wants elephants back
By GLORIA CAMPISI
Philadelphia Daily News
campisg@phillynews.com
215-854-5935
Maybe they can come home again.
And the Philadelphia Zoo is hoping its two young African elephants, scheduled to be moved in the spring to a conservation center in southwestern Pennsylvania for breeding, will do just that - accompanied by elephant babies, called calves.
The zoo's president and chief executive officer, Vikram Dewan, said yesterday that the idea of a new elephant enclosure at the Philadelphia Zoo is still a gleam in the eye of zoo planners.
But he didn't outright deny a 2011 time frame for the project, which animal activists say they have heard about.
Dewan yesterday said only, "2011 is a long way away for us.
"It's our long-term vision" to have an elephant exhibit at the zoo, and there is room to establish an elephant compound of more than 10 acres at the back of the zoo, Dewan said. The elephants' current habitat consists of a quarter-acre exercise yard, plus a barn where they sleep.
"We don't have a master plan," Dewan added. "It's merely a vision and a desire."
The zoo's energies right now are focused on a new aviary, to open on the zoo's 150th birthday on March 21, 2009, and a new children's zoo, to be unveiled in late 2009 and in regular use by 2010.
After all this is completed, the zoo could set its sights on raising money for a new elephant exhibit, he hinted.
The younger elephants, Kallie, 25, and Bette, 24, along with the zoo's one remaining elephant, Petal, 51, will be moved in April, May, or possibly June, to the Pittsburgh Zoo's new 724-acre International Conservation Center in Fairhope, Somerset County.
They will be the conservation center's first residents.
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20080124_Zoo_chief_wants_elephants_back.html
Muscovites Adopt Zoo Animals
MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) - Raccoons, penguins and kangaroos are the most popular animals among those of the city residents who "adopt" animals in the Moscow Zoo, spokesperson Raisa Koroleva told RIA Novosti.
She said that the "Adopt an animal" program was introduced more than ten years ago. People can help their favorite animals by signing a special agreement with the zoo and making donations over a chosen period of time, usually from three months to one year.
"Raccoons, penguins and kangaroos are very popular with private donors. Foxes also receive some attention. We have only one jerboa in the zoo and it is already spoken for, but those willing to adopt this very animal keep calling. Muscovites love chinchillas as well. Only one of them is available at the moment," Koroleva said.
According to her, companies prefer more "substantial" animals, like bears. All the brown bears at the zoo have been adopted already.
"The polar bear is being supported by the company which has a polar bear on its trademark. A company which produces bags has chosen a kangaroo. The largest rodent, the capybara, has been taken into care as well. An ecological movement has sponsored the white tiger," the spokeswoman continued.
"Before, the adoption agreements were mostly signed by companies," Koroleva said. "But lately, the proportion of private persons is rising. In 2007, we had 70 caretakers of whom 35 were companies and 35 were private individuals, while in the previous year we had 56 caretakers of whom 39 were organizations."
http://mnweekly.ru/local/20080124/55305606.html
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