Vets Jemma Bergfield (right) and Colette Harmsen, of Tasmania's Department of Primary Industries and Water, give a devil its final health check before it is shipped to the mainland.Photo: Peter Mathew
THE first of a "Noah's Ark" collection of Tasmanian devils leaves today for mainland zoos as the disease devastating the marsupial intensifies.
The 47 healthy young animals will found a captive breeding population as last-ditch insurance against extinction of the species in the wild, where they are succumbing to a form of cancer known as devil facial tumour disease.
More than half of all wild devils have died in recent years from the disease, according to scientists tackling the crisis.
The latest research shows the disease is forcing wild females to breed much younger, reducing these "teenage mothers" to a single litter in life before they die. Previously they would have raised three litters of offspring....
Zoos Dated
2-decade effort has kept ferret alive
By RUFFIN PREVOST
Gazette Wyoming Bureau
MEETEETSE, Wyo. - After two decades of captive breeding and intense recovery efforts, black-footed ferrets remain among the most endangered mammals in America, with an estimated 700 living in the wild.
But they might have become extinct, were it not for a dog named Shep.
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2006/12/02/news/wyoming/25-ferret.txt
Nandankanan big cats may face displacement
Bhubaneswar, Nov 29. (PTI): Some of the big cats roaming around in the Nandankanan zoo near here may face displacement soon, a senior zoo official has said.
The zoo, nestling in natural surroundings as it is part of the Chandaka forest, has 28 Royal Bengal Tigers and an equal number of lions, but as per the directive of the Central Zoo Authority, no big zoo is allowed to have more than 10 animals belonging to a particular specie, he said.
The CZA has also laid down that captive breeding of species having no conservation value would not be allowed in the zoos.
This circular has come in the wake of the Supreme Court directive that breeding should be stopped in 250 zoos across the country in view of overcrowding leading to inadequate space.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/008200611290310.htm
Activists query native animal exports
Andrew Darby
November 29, 2006
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MELBOURNE and Sydney zoos are pushing ahead with plans to export Australian animals to a controversial Thai wildlife park in exchange for their new elephants.
Chiang Mai Night Safari, the park where the deal obliges the zoos to send the animals, had a high death rate of exhibits, and had to ditch plans to offer some on its restaurant's menu.
A project of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Night Safari was recently reported to have "borrowed" Indonesian orang-utans from wildlife authorities and was under a legal attack for being located inside a national park.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/activists-query-native-animal-exports/2006/11/28/1164476205183.html
Thin Line of Defense Against Exotic Animal Meat
The Associated Press (Posted by MSNBC.com)
28 Nov 2006
Photos Courtesy of Associated Press
Bird flu, viruses could easily be brought into U.S. by unsuspecting travelers
Wildlife inspector Bryan Landry can spot threats everywhere at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. A backpack carried off a flight from Nigeria contains plastic bags of meat from the bush that could harbor the lethal Ebola virus. Those salted duck eggs from South Korea, a delicacy not easily found here, could carry the dreaded bird flu.
And the exotic birds taped to a passenger’s legs and the pair of monkey paws concealed in a bag could harbor any one of several diseases that jump to humans. Landry and fellow inspectors with the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service are a last line of defense against such risky items before they come across the border, often with unsuspecting people intending only to bring back a taste from home, an exotic pet or a travel memento.
http://wdin.blogspot.com/2006/11/thin-line-of-defense-against-exotic.html
Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital
The Vet Med Teaching Hospital is a
research facility and shares UC Davis' mission of public service to the State of California. The hospital offers a full range of services whether your creature is great or small, large or exotic, and they're essentially open 24hrs/day, 365 days a year [appointments during regular hours preferred]. As a teaching hospital, many procedures may be performed by veterinary students under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian. Oftentimes, a private practice vet will refer clients to the VMTH for a second opinion or more in-depth treatment. This is also the only place on campus where you can see lamas!
http://daviswiki.org/Veterinary_Medical_Teaching_Hospital
Poor Yogi was smarter than average, but we are much more deadly
E.J. Montini
Republic columnist
Nov. 30, 2006 12:00 AM
The Arizona Game and Fish Department doesn't assign names to the wild animals that it tranquilizes and then kills, but I'll refer to the deceased bear as Yogi.
After all, he was smarter than the average bear, like the cartoon character. And though he was captured and euthanized, it wasn't intelligence that lead to his demise but poor judgment.
Those of us who roam the wider animal kingdom - or at least that section known as the "rat race" - understand that even the most intelligent among us sometimes make personally destructive decisions.
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In this particular instance, which occurred about a week ago, a 2-year-old male black bear was caught rummaging through some garbage pails in the Gold Canyon area outside of Apache Junction.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1130montini1130.html
Survival of the fittest
MICHELLE PAINE
December 01, 2006 12:00am
TASMANIAN devils are expected to be flown to interstate zoos as early as today to help establish insurance populations.
The 29 young devils and 18 of their babies carry with them the hopes of wildlife lovers around the world. Zoos in four states will work to establish a genetically viable "Project Ark" population in case the devils' wild cousins are destroyed by Devil Facial Tumour Disease.
It is believed up to 80,000 devils have died from the disease during the past decade.
The healthy animals will be flown free by Qantas, which has been promoting the cause of the endangered marsupial.
http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,20851764-5007221,00.html
Teeny Frog Saved From Extinction In Zoos
Panamanian Golden Frog Expected To Go Extinct
POSTED: 9:19 am MST November 28, 2006
DENVER -- The Denver Zoo is part of an effort to save a disappearing frog species that has become Panama's national symbol of nature.
Scientists fear that sometime next year, the last wild Panamanian golden frogs will die. The species is being destroyed by a fungus that is also wiping out other amphibian species. But about two dozen zoos including the Denver Zoo have several hundred of the frogs in captivity.
The fungus was only the final blow for a species whose numbers have long been dwindling because of deforestation, overcollection and water pollution.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/irresistible/10413514/detail.html
Library museum pass programs
A number of libraries have programs where you can borrow a pass for a local museum for a day. Here are a number of projects I've been able to identify.
The Lynn, Massachusetts library has a museum pass program sponsored by the Friends of the Lynn Public Library for patrons for borrowing low-cost passes to museums which include the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), the New England Aquarium, the Boston Children's Museum, the Harvard Museum of Natural History and the Stone and Franklin Park Zoos. The Friends support the museum pass program and members of the Friends get discounts on passes.
The Keene, New Hampshire Public Library offers free or greatly reduced admissions to the Boston Museum of Science, the Canterbury Shaker Village, the Currier Museum of Art, the Magic Wings Butterfly Museum and the Museum of New Hampshire History. These passes may be booked in advance and are checked out with a Keene Public Library card.
http://vielmetti.typepad.com/superpatron/2006/11/library_museum_.html
Ackermann's Settlement Payment May Go to Soccer Clubs, Zoos
By Elena Logutenkova
Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Officer Josef Ackermann and five former Mannesmann AG officials, after agreeing to pay millions of euros to settle a lawsuit, may end up helping soccer clubs, zoos and other civic organizations.
The Dusseldorf regional court has received ``150 or even more'' requests from varied organizations for the money, said court spokesman UlrichThole. The court ruled Nov. 29 that 40 percent of the 5.8 million-euro ($7.7 million) settlement will be distributed for community purposes.
Requests for the money included a soccer club asking for a set of new jerseys for its youth section, museums, voluntary fire brigades, zoos and botanical gardens, Spiegel reported in its online edition. Thole declined to name examples of requests, citing confidentiality.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=a5dWV8UjrsrU&refer=germany
Facts about Dolphin Drive Hunts in Japan
During drive hunts, migrating pods of dolphins and other small whales are first panicked and confused by loud banging, then herded, by the hundreds, into shallow coves and butchered, one by one, by fishermen. Every year, some 20,000 small cetaceans of several species, some of which are endangered, including bottlenose dolphins, striped dolphins, spotted dolphins, Risso's dolphins, short-finned pilot whales, white-sided dolphins and false killer whales, are killed or taken in the drives, sometimes illegally.
This cruel and inhumane practice is sanctioned and controlled by the Government of Japan, which claims that these animals compete with the fishermen and slaughtering them is a means of pest control, but no evidence for this claim exists. The dolphins are processed and used as pet food or fertilizer, and the government is encouraging the consumption of dolphin meat. In fact, the hunts would be economically unviable without the sale of live dolphins captured during the drives to dolphinariums in Asia and elsewhere.
http://flyingorca.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!BA2341B4E893C3D6!114.entry
Slippery leopard shot dead in zoo farce in east China
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-12-06 18:38
BEIJING -- A leopard, a species under top-level state protection in China, was shot dead by local police Tuesday after escaping from its cage in a zoo in East China's Fujian province.
Armed policemen keep guard near an escaped leopard at a Shishi park, southeast China's Fujian Province December 5, 2006. Police shot dead the leopard after they failed to capture it and a feeder was bitten during the trapping attempt. [photobase.cn]
The leopard was found roaming the grounds of the Yuanyangchi Zoo at 7 a.m., sparking off a series of blunders by zoo staff and local police.
The zookeeper, with the assistance of the police, failed several times to shoot the leopard with a hand-made bow and anesthetic arrow before being attacked and injured by the irritated animal.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-12/06/content_752294.htm
Chattanooga Zoo, And Its Animals, Slowly Recovering From Nov. 7 Fire
by Judy Frank
posted December 5, 2006
The Chattanooga Zoo is slowly recovering from a Nov. 7 fire that claimed the lives of several animals.
On Tuesday, G-Tort the tortoise, swathed in a towel and cradled in the arms of Chattanooga Zoo director Darde Long, waved her front legs impatiently, oblivious to the half dozen people crowded around trying to get a good look at her.
G-Tort is the miracle survivor of the fire that swept the zoo’s education building on Nov. 7, Ms. Long said. Discovered alive after firefighters had left the scene and workers had given up on finding any more survivors, she was nearly dead.
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_97821.asp
Molly is walking tall at the zoo
10:07am Monday 4th December 2006
CBy Staff reporter »
BEING this good looking is no tall order for Chester Zoo's latest addition.
Molly is the first Rothschild giraffe to be born at the zoo. Mum is Kelly, six, and dad Thorn, five.
Kelly has taken to her new role as mum and just 30 minutes after she was born, Molly, who weighs 70kg, was on her feet.
Mike Jordan, Chester Zoo's Curator of Mammals and Birds, said: "To begin with, Kelly was a little anxious in her role as a new mum and we were on standby to intervene and help the calf. "But they have now taken to each other and Molly is suckling and mum Kelly is being very attentive. She is coming along very well and we are delighted with her progress."
The birth of the zoo's first Rothschild giraffe is all the more welcome as there are only 600 Rothschild giraffes left in the wild in Kenya and Uganda.
http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/1055493.molly_is_walking_tall_at_the_zoo/
Britney at the zoo
Britney Spears celebrated her b-day at the L.A. zoo with her son Sean Preston
http://www.waleg.com/photos/displayimage.php?album=677&pos=0
New Kea in Dodge Rare Animal Conservation Center
Name: “Maui”; named after a character in Maori folklore that was always portrayed as a prankster and a trickster (the Maori are the indigenous people on the South Island of New Zealand, the natural habitat for keas.)
Hatch Date: December 23, 2005
Hatch location: San Diego Zoo
Maui arrived at the Philadelphia Zoo on August 9. We were planning to pair him with our female kea, Pepper. Unfortunately, she passed away just a few days after his arrival. Currently, we are checking with other zoos to try to find another young kea (of either gender) to house with Maui.
There are several ways to estimate the age of a kea. Juveniles have yellow feathers on the top of their head, yellow eye rings, a lighter lower beak and a yellow cere (fleshy area at the top of the beak). Maui still has all these characteristics, which will fade as he ages.
http://philadelphiazoo.blogspot.com/2006/12/new-kea-in-dodge-rare-animal.html
Kea
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For other uses, see Kea (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Kia.
Kea
The Kea (Nestor notabilis) is a species of parrot (family Psittacidae) found in forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand. The Kea is one of the few alpine parrots in the world, and includes carrion in an omnivorous diet consisting mainly of roots, leaves, berries, nectar and insects. Now uncommon, the Kea was once killed for bounty as it preyed on livestock, especially sheep, only receiving full protection in 1986.[1]
Kea are legendary for their intelligence and curiosity, both vital to their survival in a harsh mountain environment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kea
Patrons flock to the Waffle House zoo
Myron Pitts
Migrating Canada geese and a few ducks have managed to make a nice home in a corner of one of the city’s busiest shopping areas.
The geese flock by the dozens to a water retention pond between the Wal-Mart Supercenter parking lot and the Waffle House at Yadkin and Skibo roads.
The fenced-in pond was built to collect storm water and prevent flooding from the Wal-Mart lot, which has 1,006 parking spaces. But the shallow body of water is also a bird sanctuary that draws families and children who come to feed the waterfowl.
Waffle House employee Heather Cox says it’s easy to recognize the geese among the other birds.
http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=248774
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