The Scotsman
Snails creep east as sea warms up
ijohnston@scotsman.com)
EVEN by snail standards its movement has been slow. But environmentalists say the purple topshell's 15-year, 50-mile journey along Scotland's coastline is dramatic evidence that the sea is warming up as a result of climate change.
And the purple topshells are not alone. A new report looking at 57 marine species has discovered that Scotland has some of the most dramatic shifts in sea life caused by global warming anywhere in the UK.
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1888172006
Russia says Libyan verdict on medics is cruel
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia on Wednesday denounced as "exceedingly cruel" the death sentences passed by a Libyan court on six foreign medics convicted of deliberately infecting hundreds of Libyan children with the virus that causes AIDS.
The court sentenced five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor to death on Tuesday, saying they deliberately infected 426 children with the HIV virus at a hospital in the late 1990s.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1890872006
Russia criticises West over UN draft on Iran
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's foreign minister on Wednesday criticised Western powers for trying to punish Iran in the U.N. Security Council draft resolution on the Islamic republic's nuclear programme.
Sergei Lavrov, referring to the Europeans and the United States, said a proposed travel ban on Iranian officials "is in our view an attempt to bring an element of punishment and we agreed from the start not to do that".
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1890842006
Irving wins appeal on Holocaust denial in Austria
By Alexandra Zawadil
VIENNA (Reuters) - Historian David Irving was set to leave Austria after winning an appeal on Wednesday against a three-year prison sentence for denying the Holocaust.
Irving had been in jail since his arrest in November 2005 on a visit to Austria and was convicted in February for denying the Nazis' organised mass murder of 6 million Jews.
The 68-year-old appealed for a reduced sentence while the prosecutor wanted his prison term extended.
The Vienna court ruled the remainder of his three-year sentence should be changed from a jail term to probation.
"The fact that the offence was committed a long time ago, seventeen years, was a mitigating circumstance," said judge Ernest Maurer. "We expect Irving will leave Austria immediately. We don't suspect he will commit another offence."
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1890912006
50 Taliban killed in Afghan offensive
KABUL (Reuters) - NATO and Afghan forces have killed about 50 Taliban fighters in the past few days in an operation in southern Afghanistan, an alliance spokesman said on Wednesday.
The operation, dubbed Falcon's Summit, was launched on Friday and focussed on the Panjwai and Zari districts in Kandahar province, the same area that was the focus in September of one of the biggest offensives since the Taliban's ouster in 2001.
There were no casualties among NATO and Afghan forces in the latest operation, said NATO spokesman Brigadier Richard Nugee.
"We have cleared one large and two small villages of Taliban. We have killed a reasonable number of Taliban ... it is in the range of about 50," Nugee told a news conference in Kabul.
The Taliban could not be contacted immediately for comment.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1891172006
China says "new consensus" reached at N.Korea talks
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's foreign minister said on Wednesday that "new consensus" had been reached at six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear programmes, but the agreement appeared to break no new ground.
"All parties reaffirm that they will implement the September 19 joint statement, they reaffirm that they will resolve the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula through dialogue and peace and they reaffirm that they will uphold the aim of denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula," Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said in a statement on the ministry's Web site (www.fmprc.gov.cn).
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1890882006
New Pentagon boss visits Baghdad
By Kristin Roberts
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two days after being sworn in as new U.S. Defense Secretary, Robert Gates arrived in Baghdad on Wednesday to see the war President George W. Bush has said for the first time America is not winning.
The former CIA director's visit follows a Pentagon report that said violence in Iraq was at an all-time high and as President George W. Bush weighs a new strategy in a war in which nearly 3,000 U.S. soldiers have died since the 2003 invasion.
In a turnaround from past assessments on the Iraq war, Bush told the Washington Post in an interview posted on the newspaper's Web site: "We're not winning, we're not losing."
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1890822006
Concern over rising use of 'chemical cosh' on disturbed youngsters
LYNDSAY MOSS
MORE children than ever in Scotland are being prescribed drugs to treat hyperactivity, figures revealed yesterday.
Statistics show prescriptions for treating attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) increased by almost 16 per cent in 2005-6, with 49,528 handed out by doctors.
This compared with 42,832 the previous year and fewer than 4,000 in 1996.
The cost to the NHS has increased to more than £1.89 million, compared with £1.45 million the previous year and less than £33,000 in 1996.
The Scottish Executive said the rise was due to increased awareness of ADHD and it did not expect to see similar rises in future years.
But many have expressed concerns that controversial drugs such as Ritalin - sometimes nicknamed the "chemical cosh" - are being handed out too readily to children with behaviour problems.
Side-effects of ADHD drugs include possible heart problems, and nine deaths among children taking ADHD drugs in the UK have been reported to the medicines watchdogs.
But doctors and campaigners have defended the medication, saying it dramatically improves the quality of life for families.
http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1886722006
Widespread use of methadone 'fails to tackle the damage of drug abuse'
mhowie@scotsman.com)
SCOTLAND'S reliance on methadone is failing to tackle the damage wreaked on society by drug abuse, it was claimed yesterday, as new figures showed a massive rise in the use of the heroin substitute.
A record 457,092 methadone prescriptions were issued to heroin addicts in 2005-6, compared with 408,877 the previous year and 45 per cent more than in 2001-2.
Methadone is intended to stabilise heroin users' addiction, satisfying their desire for the drug while removing the need for them to resort to crime and prostitution.
But the efficacy of Scotland's methadone policy was questioned last night as new figures showed a steady rise in drug-related crime in the past five years, with offences committed by addicts to service their habits increasing from 36,175 in 2001 to 42,150 this year.
The report also showed that the number of people convicted of drug offences more than doubled over the same period.
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1888122006
Physical details of all residents to be held on ID database
HAMISH MACDONELL SCOTTISH POLITICAL EDITOR
EVERYBODY living in the United Kingdom, including foreigners, will be required to have their biometric details recorded under the government's identity card scheme, it emerged yesterday.
John Reid, the Home Secretary, announced that all UK residents, whether or not they were British citizens, would be forced to have their irises scanned and their fingerprints taken for the national database.
http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1887262006
Warlord admits mass murder for a lower sentence
JOSHUA GOODMAN IN MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA
ONE of Colombia's most feared paramilitary warlords testified before a special tribunal yesterday, a confession meant to sharply reduce any prison term for his role in the murders of hundreds of civilians during a decade-long reign of terror.
Salvatore Mancuso's confession was the first by a top militia commander as part of a 2003 peace deal with the government that led to the demobilisation of 31,000 right-wing fighters.
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1887912006
Scottish jobs continue to grow
ALISTAIR MCARTHUR
amcarthur@scotsman.com)
BOTH permanent and temporary employment in Scotland continued to rise last month, led by the strength in the Glasgow labour market.
The Bank of Scotland Labour Market Report also revealed wages and salaries continued to rise in November, with employers prepared to pay more to attract skilled candidates.
http://business.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1888132006
MSPs demand to hear the evidence that jobs relocation policy works
PETER MACMAHON SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT EDITOR
pmacmahon@scotsman.com)
SCOTLAND'S senior civil servant clashed with MSPs yesterday after he claimed that the capital had not been affected by the Executive's relocation policy.
But Sir John Elvidge admitted it will be five years before there is any proof that the most controversial jobs move - to Inverness - has worked.
Sir John, the Permanent Secretary at the Executive, came under pressure after he was questioned about the government's policy of forcing civil servants and quango employees out of Edinburgh.
Giving evidence to Holyrood's audit committee, Sir John said that since 1999 38 organisations, with a total of 3,855 employees, had gone through a relocation review.
A total of 2,432 posts had been moved outside Edinburgh and 260 are in the process of moving.
http://news.scotsman.com/politics.cfm?id=1886812006
Wimpey considering more US write-offs
JANE BRADLEY BUSINESS REPORTER
jbradley@edinburghnews.com)
HOUSEBUILDER George Wimpey today warned the City it may decide to write off further land options in the United States, sparking concerns that it may miss profit forecasts for the year.
The firm said it was in the process of reviewing its land and option carrying values in the US following dismal sales across the Atlantic.
http://business.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1890492006
'It's in the post': Romanov blames appeal delay on Christmas mail
STUART BATHGATE
VLADIMIR Romanov is to appeal, after all, against the £10,000 fine imposed upon him by the Scottish Football Association (SFA) for making allegations about referees, despite initially having appeared to allow the deadline to pass without contesting the punishment. In what seemed to be an act of brinksmanship, the majority shareholder of Hearts only sent his written appeal on the seventh and final day allowed to him, and contacted the SFA when it became clear they had yet to receive his communication.
A spokesman for the SFA said at close of business on Monday that Romanov had not submitted an appeal, and a Hearts spokesman also said he had been given no information about any plans to appeal. Yesterday, though, the same SFA spokesman said that Romanov's legal advisors had been in touch to say notification of an appeal had been posted in Glasgow in time. The Christmas post was blamed for the delay.
http://sport.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1886692006
Former Irish PM Haughey lived high life off £8m slush fund
SHAWN POGATCHNIK AND ED CARTY IN DUBLIN
THE former Irish prime minister Charles Haughey received more than 11.5 million (£7.7 million) in secret payments from businessmen and repeatedly lied to investigators about his knowledge of the funds, a tribunal revealed.
Mr Haughey spent the cash, some of which was taxpayers', on designer Charvet shirts from Paris and on enormous bills he and friends ran up at the exclusive Le Coq Hardi restaurant in Dublin. And after preying on the public to raise funds for medical care in the United States for a government colleague, Brian Lenihan, Mr Haughey diverted almost £170,000 for his own use.
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1888102006
Scotland and early beginnings of festive cards
JENNIFER VEITCH
FOR MOST people who look forward to celebrating Christmas, it just wouldn't be the same without the giving and receiving of special cards. Sending a greeting to family, friends and business contacts has become as much part of the festive fun as trimming the turkey with cranberry sauce or decorating the tree with baubles and chocolate treats.
But unlike the tradition of having a midwinter feast, greetings cards are a relatively recent phenomenon in the history of Christmas. The multi-million pound industry would still be many years away.
The first Christmas cards were printed by Sir Henry Cole in London in 1843 – a thousand of them were produced, each depicting a Victorian family having a traditional turkey dinner and raising their glasses in a toast. The fact that a child was also sipping wine was deemed to be "fostering the moral corruption of children", but the card also depicted scenes showing the feeding and clothing of the poor. It bore a simple message: "A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year to You." The cards were sold at a shilling a piece – rather a lot of money at the time – and one recently sold at auction for £8,649.
http://heritage.scotsman.com/ingenuity.cfm?id=2437512005
The Salina Journal
Sebelius still mulling ban on coal-fired plants
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Gov. Kathleen Sebelius still is considering a request from environmentalists that she ban new coal-fired plants, amid questions and criticism about a western Kansas utility's plans to build three of them to generate electricity.
The future of Sunflower Electric Power Corp.'s proposed $2.7 billion project in Finney County rests with the state Department of Health and Environment. It must decide whether to issue a permit saying the project would meet federal air quality standards.
Attorneys general in eight states, including California and New York, worry about the project, and Kansas' health department has heard criticism from across the state. Environmentalists have asked Sebelius to impose a moratorium on coal-fired plants.
"Gov. Sebelius is considering all potential options," spokeswoman Nicole Corcoran said Tuesday. "This is a very complex issue, and Gov. Sebelius and her staff are following it closely."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/K/KS_SUNFLOWER_PLANTS_KSOL-?SITE=KSSAL&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-12-19-17-42-47
Brownback wants to restart hearing process for judicial nominee
By TODD DVORAK Associated Press Writer
DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) -- Sen. Sam Brownback, who wants to champion social conservatives in the presidential race, said Tuesday he wants a Senate panel to re-question a judicial nominee who attended a same-sex union ceremony.
Brownback, a Kansas Republican, said he wants Michigan state judge Janet Neff to testify about her role in the 2002 Massachusetts ceremony, her legal views on same-sex unions and her ability to be impartial if called upon to rule on such cases.
Neff's nomination to federal district court is among a dozen or so now stalled in the Senate, a logjam in part due to Brownback's questions about Neff's attendance at a lesbian commitment ceremony. The Senate Judiciary Committee has already approved her nomination.
Neff was traveling outside the country and could not immediately be reached for comment, said Chris Bockheim, her judicial assistant.
Earlier this month, Brownback, a prominent opponent of gay marriage who is exploring a presidential run in 2008, said he would lift the hold he put on Neff's nomination if the judge agreed to withdraw from ruling on any court case involving the legality of same sex unions.
In Iowa on Tuesday to meet with GOP activists, Brownback said he only wants a chance to question Neff about her role in the 2002 ceremony. Brownback also wants a recorded vote in the Senate.
"I am not opposed to her getting a vote," Brownback said before a lunch with potential donors and supporters in Davenport. "I would like her to come back through committee so she can testify what took place, factually ... her legal views on same-sex marriage and her ability and willingness to be impartial."
Neff has said she attended the commitment ceremony as a friend of one of the two women, a longtime neighbor.
She insisted in an Oct. 12 letter to Brownback that the ceremony had no legal effect and would not influence her ability to act fairly as a federal judge.
Brownback has also been criticized for his proposal that Neff be required to recuse herself from gay marriage cases. Legal scholars said such a deal would infringe on the separation of the legislative and judicial branches of government.
But Brownback said it was simply a last resort to put her nomination forward.
"If we don't testify on her views on same-sex marriage legally, then the only way I can see fit to do this is to have her recuse herself from a class of cases," Brownback said. "Then others stepped in and said 'you can't do that.' Well, that's the only option I had at that late hour."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/J/JUDGE_GAY_MARRIAGE_KSOL-?SITE=KSSAL&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-12-19-14-41-53
Commission grants permit for ethanol plant
DODGE CITY, Kan. (AP) -- The Ford County Commission has approved a conditional permit for a disputed ethanol plant, and opponents said they will decide soon whether to go to court over the issue.
Developers want to build a $185 million plant that will produce 110 million gallons of ethanol per year. The developer, Boot Hill Biofuels, said it hopes to start building the plant a mile east of Wright in July 2007 and have it running by September 2008.
The conditional permit allows the industrial development in an area zoned for agriculture. Now, developers must seek an air permit and begin an equity drive for the plant, said Gary Harshberger of Boot Hill Biofuels.
"I feel very good about it," commission Chairman Kim Goodnight said after the meeting. "Like one of the other commissioners said, we support new ventures. We want to be proactive. I want to wish them a lot of luck."
The commission had to vote unanimously Monday to issue the permit because residents had filed a formal petition with more than 200 signatures against the development.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/K/KS_ETHANOL_PLANT_KSOL-?SITE=KSSAL&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-12-19-13-08-58
Report: Sumner County again leads Kansas wheat harvest
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- Kansas may lead the nation in wheat production, but it is Sumner County that once again outranks all other Kansas counties in growing the crop, a newly released government report shows.
Months after the last bushel from the 2006 wheat crop was harvested, the Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service recently released its wheat county estimates showing Sumner County was the leading wheat producing county in the state with 13.1 million bushels.
Sumner County held on to the No. 1 spot despite an ongoing drought that slashed the Kansas wheat crop by 23 percent this season, putting the state's crop at 291.2 million bushels from 9.8 million harvested acres. Average yields statewide were 32 bushels per acre.
"All we can do is look forward to the crop that is in the ground now and hope there is some precipitation," said Marsha Boswell, spokeswoman for the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/K/KS_AGR_WHEAT_HARVEST_KSOL-?SITE=KSSAL&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-12-19-14-47-43
Engineering firm goes green
Bucher, Willis & Ratliff workers have more windows than they are used to in their new, spacious office at 2335 E. Crawford, and there are "green" amenities to help the planet.
The engineering, planning and architectural firm moved into its new 16,425-square-foot east Salina building Friday. A ribbon-cutting is planned for 10 a.m. Thursday.
"We really like it," office manager and part owner Kenzil Lynn said.
One reason for the $2.3 million building was to attract business from a major client, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Bucher, Willis & Ratliff does work for the Corps, which now requires that firms have Leadership and Energy Environmental Design (LEED) accreditation.
http://www.saljournal.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=9029&format=html
Flood insurance is an issue in Salina, Kansas? That doesn’t sound right. They need to submit the flood maps for reconsideration. I don’t believe this is a realistic expectation of danger to the museum unless there is a significant river, stream or dam that would cause an issue. If that is the case then the entire town needs to receive a flood assessment and soon.
Court sides with county on Flywheels variance
The Central Kansas Flywheels Museum officials say it will cost as much as $15,000 to comply with a court decision that the museum must comply with federal flood insurance regulations in constructing two buildings.
The museum board lost its appeal to a Saline County District Court judge over the county's denial of a zoning variance. That denial came after county officials determined that an earlier variance from flood elevation standards, issued in 1992, was improper. The museum grounds are at 1100 W. Diamond, just north of Interstate Highway 70 near Ninth Street.
John Chalmers, a museum board member, said Fywheels will add fill dirt at the site of the new construction to raise the building elevation by nearly 3 feet.
The museum plans to add a museum commemorating Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. The cost is estimated at $300,000, and construction could begin by spring.
Flywheels officials also plan to re-erect a metal building at the site that was the former workshop of Hoff Welding of Salina. That building was in the past of the North Ohio Street overpass, and Hoff Welding donated it to the museum. It will be used to display items from the museum collection.
Growth comes to National Guard range
New jobs, a new building and training for more troops are ahead for the Smoky Hill Air National Guard Range west of Salina.
The range, 10 miles west of Salina, is to be home for an Air Support Operations Squadron. The squadron, announced Tuesday, will allow training that will more closely tie air and ground operations on the battlefield.
The plan is to meld the operations of the bomb range with the Salina-based Kansas National Guard Regional Training Center and the Fort Riley Army base. Plus, the runways of Salina Municipal Airport will support the training missions.
http://www.saljournal.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=9031&format=html
Weather map
http://www.goes.noaa.gov/ECIR4.html
Voters, demand efficiency
City, county consolidation is an issue that should be given a hard look
Saline County Commissioner Sherri Barragree says things are working well in the county, which apparently is one reason she is against consolidating city and county government. She’s correct, for the most part. Many county offices and services are just fine, which is a credit to Barragree and other county commissioners. But good things can be made better. And that goes for several functions in county and city government. Consolidating some city-county activities was on the agenda at a quarterly meeting of the Saline County commission and the Salina City Commission. The meeting was pretty much a repeat of previous discussions between the two commissions. Those with the city keep offering ways to work together, while those on the county commission keep finding reasons to maintain the status quo. But county commissioners took a baby step in the right direction when they agreed — sort of — to consider a streamlined planning process. Currently the city develops its own comprehensive plan and the county does the same. Having separate plans means confusion at Salina’s city limits.
http://www.saljournal.com/?module=displaysection§ion_id=97&format=html
New Zealand Herald
Big wet, snow, gales - we got it all
Our loyalty has been sorely tested this year.
The Aussies tried to tempt us across the Tasman with THAT ad. The one with the bronzed bikini-clad woman strolling along a beach with the bleached sky in the background, appealing in her best twang: "So, where the bloody hell are you?"
And tempting it was. While Australia baked, parts of New Zealand nearly washed away or froze.
As the economic impact of Australia's endless sun became apparent, the Big Wet, the Big Snow and the Big Wind all messed with the hearts and minds of New Zealanders.
The stand-out event was the heaviest snowfall in decades, which arrived in the South Island on June 12, heralding an abrupt start to winter.
"That's probably the significance of 2006 - the early start to winter," said meteorologist Bob McDavitt. "It was all on from then."
The island was blanketed in snow down to sea level - the deepest Canterbury had seen since 1945.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10416138
United Future unveils climate change policy
Householders would be encouraged to take out bank loans to insulate their homes under United Future policy to address climate change.
It also wants consumers to buy newer, more fuel-efficient cars and wants to limit the number of older imports coming into the country.
Its policy on climate change released today focuses on what individuals can do.
This includes encouraging home owners to borrow around $5000 from banks to insulate their homes, money United Future says will be recouped in savings on consumers' energy bills.
United Future leader Peter Dunne said there would be costs on individuals as a result of climate change but "we are at a point in the life of our planet where significant change needs to be made if we are to survive".
That change could not be made cheaply or easily, he said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10416253
The 2007 conference….
The 3rd Australia–New Zealand Climate Change & Business Conference will be held in Brisbane, Australia, 30-31 August 2007. It will be the pre-eminent climate change conference for business and will build on the success of the first and second conferences (November 2004 in Auckland and February 2006 in Adelaide).
http://www.climateandbusiness.com/
New Zealand Climate Change
Climate change: the way ahead
Our climate is changing. How we respond to the issue of climate change now will determine the shape of our future – our economy, environment, and communities. The debate is no longer about whether climate change is happening, but on what we do about it.
The government recognises climate change as a long-term strategic issue for New Zealand within the broader context of economic transformation, national identity, and other leading issues, for example, water quality and flood control. To support the government’s strategy, a series of whole-of-government work programmes has been approved and will be implemented over the next year or so.
http://www.climatechange.govt.nz/
From the mountains to the sea, from the forests to the cities, from the places to the people - New Zealand is special.
Our beautiful environment not only defines who we are, but generates tourism, supports our diverse plant and animal life, and sustains our economy. We can all help protect New Zealand’s environment by making changes in the way we lead our lives and participate in our communities.
Explore this website and become one of the 4 million careful owners your country needs and deserves.
http://www.4million.org.nz/
Alliance of Small Island States
The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) is a coalition of small island and low-lying coastal countries that share similar development challenges and concerns about the environment, especially their vulnerability to the adverse effects of global climate change. It functions primarily as an ad hoc lobby and negotiating voice for small island developing States (SIDS) within the United Nations system.
AOSIS has a membership of 43 States and observers, drawn from all oceans and regions of the world: Africa, Caribbean, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, Pacific and South China Sea. Thirty-seven are members of the United Nations, close to 28 percent of developing countries, and 20 percent of the UN's total membership. Together, SIDS communities constitute some five percent of the global population.
http://www.sidsnet.org/aosis/
NZ global-warming scientists set Antarctic drilling record
A trail-blazing team of international scientists, including several from the University of Otago, has just drilled its way into Antarctic history.
The US$30 million ($43.4 million) Antarctic drilling (Andrill) project team yesterday drilled more than 1020m into the seabed beneath the continent's massive ice sheets - probing more deeply into ancient sediments than researchers have ever done before.
"This is the first time anyone has recovered such a drill core from beneath a floating ice shelf," Otago University geologist Associate Professor Gary Wilson said. The drilling would continue until Christmas Day.
Professor Wilson the project leader said via email that the "back-to-the-future" scientific venture aimed to learn more about what effects global warming was likely to have on Antarctic ice this century, by discovering more about the ancient behaviour of the continent's ice sheets.
"We will be able to to put some tight age constraints on how long it takes for ice shelves to advance and retreat or collapse under varying conditions.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=26&objectid=10415994
Fires likely to kill off many of Australia's native species
SYDNEY - Hundreds of thousands of native Australian animals such as koalas and kangaroos have been killed in bushfires that have burnt across southeast Australia in the past two weeks, say wildlife officials.
The bushfires, which are still burning in three eastern states, have been so big and intense that wildlife officials fear some species may become extinct as the fires destroy large swathes of animal habitats.
"The fires are so devastating and moving so quickly that animals just don't have a chance to get out of the way," said Pat O'Brien, president of the Wildlife Protection Association.
"Because of the heat and the fireballs that are happening the animals are just bursting into flames and just being killed even before the fire gets to them because its so hot."
Koalas and possums, which instinctively climb to the treetops for safety, would have had no chance of escaping the blazes, and kangaroos and bush birds would have been unable to outrun the fast-burning fires, he said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10416153
Probe into burns to firefighters
An investigation has been launched into how a group of New Zealand firefighters were injured in Victoria, as three remained in a Melbourne hospital's burns unit.
The Department of Sustainability and Environment said the probe would take in the fire's movements and whether the men were wearing the proper safety equipment.
John Tupara, Barrie Hunt and Nick McCabe, who were part of a 48-strong Kiwi contingent, were airlifted to Melbourne's Alfred Hospital after they were overcome by flames and smoke while fighting bushfires in south Australia.
The trio, who suffered burns to their hands and faces, were among a group of 11 New Zealand firefighters trapped at Mt Terrible on Saturday afternoon.
The department's chief fire officer, Ewan Waller, said the firefighters should have been wearing protective gloves.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=68&objectid=10416029
Tough bikkie 'ready to return' to Australian firefighting
John Tupara dived into a ditch and covered his face with his hands as the flames swept over him and his colleagues.
Last night the firefighter was one of three New Zealanders in hospital recovering from serious burns after they were caught by the bushfires devastating south Australia.
But Mr Tupara's sister, Tiahuia Morunga, said her brother loved the job and it was unlikely Saturday's scare would put him off a career he had been doing for more than 10 years.
"I don't think that would frighten him," she said. "He would still go back. We're tough bikkies."
Mr Tupara, a father of one, was among 11 New Zealand firefighters who became trapped by a large blaze at Mt Terrible, in northeastern Victoria, at 2.30pm on Saturday.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=68&objectid=10415860
Committee calls for ban on 'party pills'
The Government has been advised to outlaw the sale of "party pills" by an expert committee which has been studying their dangers.
The pills can be legally purchased by those over 18, but critics say their main active ingredient benzylpiperazine (BZP) is dangerous and pill doses are often far higher than recommended, leading to significant potential harm.
A Cabinet committee is looking at whether BZP and related substances commonly found in party pills should be banned or further restricted.
Associate Health Minister Jim Anderton today said he was still considering the official advice from the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs (EACD), but had taken the step of releasing it so people were aware of the pills' dangers.
Mr Anderton, the Minister in charge of drug policy, said considering the advice was the first step he was required to make in taking any statutory decision.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10416231
Australian stocks: Stocks close higher buoyed by resources, financials
The Australian share market has closed at another record high, buoyed by market leader BHP Billiton and a strong showing from banks and insurers.
At the 1615 AEDT close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 48.1 points to 5,607.8, breaking the previous record of 5,591.40 set on Monday, December 18.
It also closed at a new intraday high, beating its earlier high of 5,597.20, set on Monday as well.
The all ordinaries gained 45.3 points to 5,586.90, likewise surpassing its previous closing high of 5,572.2 and beating the previous intraday high of 5577.30.
Both records were also set on December 18.
CMC Markets senior dealer Phil Martin said the big miners had led the market up today, despite small falls in base metal prices overnight.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10416271
Currency: Kiwi edges towards US70C
The New Zealand dollar edged closer towards US70c today after better-than-forecast current account data.
The kiwi closed near its session peak on US69.88c, up from US69.07c yesterday.
The September quarter current account worsened to $4.6 billion, compared to the June quarter deficit of $3.1b but was better than the $5 billion forecast by economists.
The annual deficit narrowed to $14.4 billion, 9.1 per cent of GDP from $15.1 billion, or 9.7 per cent of GDP, recorded in the June year.
It was the first time since March 2003 that the annual deficit had narrowed between quarters, SNZ said.
Goldman Sachs JBWere economist Shamubeel Eaqub said a net external liability position of about 60 per cent of GDP was sustainable given national income, public debt and demographics, he said.
"While a catalyst for such a correction is not clearly visible in the near term, substantial NZD depreciation and/or increase in household saving would go some way to restoring some balance in NZ's external accounts.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10416267
World economy on track for strong 2007
Slowing activity in the US economy and a possible sudden cooling of overheated property markets are the main threats to the world economy in 2007 after vigorous recovery this year.
The International Monetary Fund said it was lowering its growth estimate for next year from its current prediction of 4.9 per cent.
But chief economist John Lipsky added that the IMF nonetheless continued "to anticipate a favourable environment for growth" and said he saw "no obvious reason to be concerned" by the recent plunge in the dollar against the euro.
The world is continuing to benefit from its most prolonged economic expansion since the 1970s, with growth of about 5 per cent for each of the last four years.
Even record high oil prices, which this year hovered around US$80 ($116) a barrel, did not slow growth.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10416244
Young back themselves but not NZ, says poll
Young New Zealanders aren't all that impressed by the world around them but they have plenty of confidence in themselves, according to a new survey.
In the Youth Confidence Index, commissioned by ASB bank, market research company 18tracker polled more than 2000 people aged 14 to 29, between March and November this year.
ASB head of marketing Jonathan Symons said 70 per cent of respondents thought life for young New Zealanders was going to get worse in the future, or at least stay the same.
However, when asked about where their own lives specifically were headed, the attitude was extremely positive.
"This could mean that while youth are quite cynical about society in general, personally they are very confident about the path they are choosing for themselves," Mr Symons said.
He said high petrol prices and the cost of living could be behind the fact that only 27 per cent of respondents thought the future was looking good.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10416258
Second arrest over prostitute murders 'significant'
LONDON - In a new twist in the hunt for the killer of five Ipswich prostitutes, a second man has been arrested over the murders in a move described by Suffolk police as "significant".
Meanwhile, detectives continued questioning a supermarket worker held in custody since Monday.
The latest arrest came at 5am on Tuesday local time at a house in London Road, in Ipswich's red light area, when detectives detained a man named locally as Steve Wright, 48, believed to be a former dock worker at the nearby port of Felixstowe.
Mr Wright, who has lived there with his partner, Pamela, for only about three months, was still being questioned last night at a police station in Ipswich.
Police have declined to name the man officially.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10416208
'Sad and lonely' guy drawn to the red light
IPSWICH - Tom Stephens, the first man being questioned over the Suffolk serial killings, is a self-confessed "sad and lonely" man, who claims to have turned to prostitutes following the collapse of his marriage three years ago.
Rarely can a man who is being questioned by detectives over a major serial-killing inquiry have been so publicly frank beforehand about his involvement with the victims.
Stephens, 37, acknowledged that he was a likely suspect, but throughout long and often emotional interviews with the BBC and the Sunday Mirror before he was arrested, he denied all suggestions of personal involvement in the killings, saying he had simply been friends with the five women. He claimed to have been questioned four times, once under caution.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10416168
Palestinian factions agree ceasefire
GAZA - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said a deal was reached to halt fierce clashes between their rival forces in the Gaza Strip, where six fighters were killed on Tuesday.
A previous ceasefire broke down within 24 hours and it was unclear whether this one would hold.
Security sources and witnesses said rival Palestinian security forces began withdrawing from parts of Gaza City under Tuesday's ceasefire, but minutes after it took effect residents reported an exchange of fire between gunmen.
The internal violence, the worst in a decade, has escalated since Abbas called for early elections on Saturday to try to break a political deadlock with the Hamas government.
A senior Abbas aide said the president planned to issue a decree next week calling for new Palestinian elections, a move Hamas has described as a "coup".
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10416243
Gunbattles rage in Gaza, at least three dead
GAZA - Gunbattles raged between Hamas loyalists and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' forces in the Gaza Strip last night, killing at least three people and wounding a dozen others, medical officials said.
Internal Palestinian fighting -- the worst in a decade -- has escalated since Abbas called at the weekend for early elections in an attempt to break a political deadlock with the Hamas government. Hamas has accused Abbas of launching a "coup".
Two security men from a force loyal to Abbas' Fatah faction were killed in a running street battle with Hamas gunmen in Gaza City, hospital officials said.
Hamas and Fatah traded blame on who started the fight and how the two men were killed. Five children were also wounded.
Witnesses and rival factions said a Hamas policeman was killed in an earlier clash at the entrance and inside the compound of the main Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Rocket-propelled grenades were fired in that incident.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10416165
Abbas calls for early Palestinian elections
RAMALLAH, West Bank - President Mahmoud Abbas has called for Palestinian elections, throwing down the gauntlet to his Hamas rivals after days of factional violence that has sparked fears of civil war.
Abbas said parliamentary and presidential polls should be held at the earliest opportunity, but appeared to leave the door open to the ruling Hamas by saying renewed efforts should be made to form a government that could lift Western sanctions.
Prime Minister Tony Blair urged foreign governments to support Abbas while the United States said it hoped elections would enable peace talks with Israel to resume. Israel did not comment on the election call, but lauded Abbas as a moderate.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=171&objectid=10415769
Palestinian ceasefire given fighting chance
GAZA CITY - A shaky ceasefire took effect yesterday between Palestinian rivals Hamas and Fatah after days of heavy fighting pushed the Gaza Strip to the brink of civil war.
It was unclear whether the truce would last as groups of heavily armed gunmen from both sides continued to roam the tense streets of the impoverished coastal strip.
Fighting escalated after President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah on Sunday called for fresh presidential and parliamentary elections, a move intended to break political deadlock with the Hamas Government and lift Western sanctions on its administration. Hamas, which surprised the once dominant Fatah to win January elections, said it would boycott new polls.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=301&objectid=10416008
Schwarzenegger orders death penalty review
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered reforms of the state's death penalty programme after a judge ruled the state's procedure for administering lethal injections is unconstitutional.
Judge Jeremy Foley ruled there was a risk that inmates receiving lethal injections were suffering unnecessarily.
Cannabis America's biggest cash crop
LOS ANGELES - Marijuana is the most valuable cash crop in the United States, worth more to its growers than corn and wheat combined, according to a new report by a leading American drug reform lobbyist that cites the US government's own figures.
Decades of government efforts to crack down on both the cultivation and consumption of pot have had a counter-productive effect, since even the most conservative government estimates suggest domestic marijuana production has increased tenfold in the past 25 years.
It is the leading cash crop in 12 states, and one of the top five crops in 39 states.
The report's author, Jon Gettman, says it is "larger than cotton in Alabama, larger than grapes, vegetables and hay in California, larger than peanuts in Georgia, and larger than tobacco in South and North Carolina".
California accounts for almost a third of all US production.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10416074
Norfolk Island's governance to remain unchanged
CANBERRA - Norfolk Island's governance will remain unchanged despite months of tense negotiations between Canberra and the Pacific island.
Territories Minister Jim Lloyd made the announcement today, saying any changes to the island's government could harm the fragile economy.
"The government has taken account of the efforts of the Norfolk Island government to increase revenue and to promote the growth of tourism to the island," Mr Lloyd said in a statement.
Norfolk Island is an Australian territory with a government which raises revenue under its own system of laws, mainly from such sources as customs duty, liquor sales, departure fees and a financial institutions levy.
The backflip on possible reforms comes after Mr Lloyd said earlier this year that Norfolk Island could not govern itself.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10416250
US troops' suicide rate in Iraq doubles
WASHINGTON - Suicides among US soldiers in Iraq doubled last year over the previous year to return to a level seen in 2003, US Army medical experts have said.
Twenty-two US soldiers in Iraq took their own lives in 2005, a rate of 19.9 per 100,000 soldiers. In 2004, the rate was 10.5 per 100,000 and in 2003, the year of the US-led invasion of Iraq, the figure was 18.8 per 100,000.
The figures cover US Army soldiers only. They do not include members of other US military services in Iraq such as the Marine Corps.
Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, the Army's surgeon general, cautioned against over-interpreting the figures, saying suicide rates tended to fluctuate from year to year.
"We think that the numbers are so rare to begin with that it's very hard to make any kind of interpretation," he said at a news conference to present a study on the mental health of US soldiers in Iraq.
"We have not made a connection between the stress on the force and some massive or even significant increase in suicides," he said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10416245
US still holds hundreds of al Qaeda suspects
The United States is still holding several hundred suspected al Qaeda or Taleban fighters throughout the world, including about 400 at Guantanamo Bay, the White House says.
About 21,000 US forces are deployed in Afghanistan, 134,000 in Iraq, 1700 in Kosovo and 100 at Nato's Sarajevo headquarters.
Attacks in Iraq at record high: Pentagon
WASHINGTON - Attacks in Iraq on US-led forces, local security personnel and civilians have surged 22 per cent to record levels, the Pentagon said in its latest quarterly report on Iraq.
The report also noted a rise in civilian casualties and said this was directly linked to the rise of sectarian death squads, which were helped by elements of Iraqi forces.
The report was released on the day Robert Gates was sworn in as US defence secretary and as President George W. Bush considers changes to his Iraq policy. Gates replaces Donald Rumsfeld, heavily criticized for his handling of the war.
"Attack levels - both overall and in all specific measurable categories - were the highest on record during this reporting period," said the report, "Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq", produced for the US Congress.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=359&objectid=10416082
Three more show poison traces in spy case
LONDON - Tests on three more London hotel workers have shown they were exposed to low levels of polonium 210, the radioactive poison that killed former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko, health authorities have said.
The tests bring to 10 the number of people in Britain found to have been contaminated by polonium since Litvinenko died on November 23. He accused the Kremlin of assassinating him in a murky spy case which has strained relations between London and Moscow.
Moscow has strongly denied the charge and dismissed Litvinenko, a former member of its FSB security agency, as a low-level figure with no access to intelligence secrets.
The Health Protection Agency said the 10 people exposed in Britain, nine hotel staff and Litvinenko's wife, face no immediate danger, and any long-term health risk is likely to be very small.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10416215
Annan steps up UN pressure on Khartoum
NEW YORK - United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who leaves office in less than two weeks, is making a last-ditch effort to convince Sudan to accept a much stronger peacekeeping force in Darfur.
Annan told the UN Security Council he was naming former General Assembly President Jan Eliasson as a special envoy to Sudan, to serve during the transition to incoming UN leader Ban Ki Moon.
Annan was also sending a top aide, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, to Khartoum to pin down the Government's position on a UN proposal to build up the African Union mission already in Darfur with substantial UN resources in a proposed "hybrid" force, he told Ban and council members at an informal meeting. - REUTERS
Blair's successor must look to Europe: report
LONDON - Prime Minister Tony Blair's foreign policy has failed because of his inability to influence Washington and his successor must rebalance British interests between the United States and Europe, a report said yesterday.
The Chatham House think-tank said in a wide-ranging analysis of Blair's foreign policy that he was the first to recognise how the United States would react to the September 11 attacks. But the influential London-based institute said the Prime Minister had made a mistake in failing to co-ordinate a European response that might have tempered Washington's actions.
Chatham House concluded that the US-led invasion of Iraq was a "terrible mistake" leading to a "debacle" that will have repercussions on policy for years.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10416152
Former Iranian President Rafsanjani in comeback
TEHRAN - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's allies failed to dominate elections for a powerful Iranian clerical body and local councils, early results showed, in what analysts said was a setback to his standing.
Saturday's twin elections for the clerical Assembly of Experts and local councils, the first nationwide vote since Ahmadinejad took office in 2005, will not directly impact on policy.
But turnout of around 60 per cent and Ahmadinejad's close identification with some candidates, particularly in Tehran, suggested a shift towards more moderate policies and away from the President's ultra-conservative line.
Former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a moderate cleric, led the count in Tehran for the Assembly of Experts.
Rafsanjani lost to Ahmadinejad in the 2005 presidential race.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=171&objectid=10415974
Fiji chiefs face threat of 50-year regime
SUVA - Fiji's coup leader says his military regime can rule for "up to 50 years" if the nation's powerful tribal chiefs continue to block his push to reappoint an interim government.
Military commander Frank Bainimarama has been pressuring the Great Council of Chiefs to appoint a new President, who can then swear in his military-appointed Cabinet.
But the council has remained loyal to the government of ousted Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, and has demanded his reinstatement and a return to democracy.
The council, which is responsible for appointing the President and Vice-President, will meet to discuss the crisis next week.
Commodore Bainimarama told local radio he had not yet been invited to the meeting, but he had a stark warning for the chiefs.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=171&objectid=10415495
Zimbabwe party endorses extension of Mugabe's rule
GOROMONZI, Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe's ruling party has approved a preliminary move to extend President Robert Mugabe's rule by two years, a step critics say would plunge the southern African country deeper into crisis.
An annual conference of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party noted and adopted a motion approving the plan to move presidential polls from 2008 to 2010 so they can be "harmonised" and held at the same time as parliamentary elections.
The proposal has been passed to ZANU-PF's policy-making central committee, which meets about four times a year and is expected to endorse the plan which has been backed by a majority of the party's provincial executives. The next central committee meeting is expected before March.
The proposal must also be approved by parliament, but that also is assured because it is dominated by Mugabe's party.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=171&objectid=10415756
Tamil Tigers lose tough negotiator with sharp claws
COLOMBO - Anton Balasingham was the international face of the militant group that pioneered suicide bombing, yet he was welcomed in the drawing rooms of Europe.
The Prime Minister of Norway addressed him as "Excellency", as if he were an ambassador for an internationally recognised state, instead of chief negotiator for the Tamil Tigers, banned as a terrorist organisation in the European Union and the United States.
The Tigers are also on Britain's list of banned terrorist groups for their remorseless campaign of violence to win independence for Sri Lanka's Tamils, a campaign involving suicide attacks that have claimed the lives of hundreds, including that of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. Yet Balasingham, who died at the weekend of bile duct cancer, had a British passport and was allowed to live in Britain and openly conduct the Tigers' business - the West accepted the Tigers were a militant group that it had to be prepared to talk to.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=340&objectid=10415973
First lady Laura Bush treated for skin cancer
WASHINGTON - First lady Laura Bush was treated for skin cancer on her leg last month, her spokeswoman said today.
Mrs Bush did not appear to have difficulty walking at a Hanukkah reception at the White House on Monday but a bandage was visible below her right knee.
Mrs Bush had a biopsy of a small sore on her leg in late October, revealing a squamous cell carcinoma, the second most common type of skin cancer, Susan Whitson, spokeswoman for the first lady, told Reuters.
Mrs Bush had the small growth removed from the shin area of her right leg shortly after Election Day on November 7, she said.
"Because of Mrs Bush's early detection and treatment, the area on her leg is healing well and it has not interrupted her schedule," Whitson said.
Mrs Bush had the growth removed before she and President George W Bush went to Asia later in November, Whitson said. - REUTERS
Steve Irwin among top 2006 Google searches
Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin was among the most popular subjects typed into the Google search engine in the United Kingdom this year.
A survey by the internet group found the life and death of Irwin was surpassed only by video searches - such as those found on YouTube.com - and queries about the soccer World Cup in the list of the UK's top 10 fastest-growing query subjects, British media report.
Irwin, who was killed in September when a stingray barb pierced his chest, also featured on the list of most searched-for celebrities.
Tom Cruise's wedding to Katie Holmes was the most popular celebrity wedding among UK "Googlers", followed by the nuptials between Cruise's ex-wife Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban in Sydney.
Google examined billions of searches from the past year to create a snapshot of queries for its 2006 End of Year UK Zeitgeist. - AAP
Medics sentenced to death for infecting kids with HIV
TRIPOLI - A Libyan court sentenced five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor to death tonight for deliberately infecting hundreds of children with the HIV virus that causes AIDS.
The verdict and sentences were announced by judge Mahmoud Haouissa. The six are accused of infecting 426 Libyan children with HIV at a hospital in Benghazi in the late 1990s. The prosecution had demanded the death penalty.
"In the name of the people and after reviewing the documents and hearing the arguments by lawyers of both sides, the court decided on death sentences," Haouissa said, winding up a seven-month retrial of the case.
"They caused the spread of the disease that caused the death of more than one person."
Relatives of the children attending the hearing broke down in tears of joy and shouted "God is greatest".
The medics had denied the charge. They were convicted in a 2004 trial and sentenced to death by firing squad. But the supreme court quashed the ruling last year and ordered the case be returned to a lower court.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10416163
continued ...
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Zoos
Families will be researchers in new zoo-based program
With a new $2.5 million award from the National Science Foundation, Miami University's Project Dragonfly and the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden will invite families into the community of science and conservation via Wild Research, a national program to deepen public engagement at zoos. Wild Research seeks to revolutionize how zoos serve as public learning institutions. (Media-Newswire.com) - The Cincinnati Zoo will serve as the test bed for Wild Research, which allows families to move from being spectators to active investigators. Families will make observations and record data at a research center in the three-story, glass-enclosed Discovery Forest and at six Wild Research stations at popular zoo exhibits. Zoo visitors will share their findings, both on zoo grounds and on an interactive Wild Research Web site.
"We've discovered that zoos underutilize their potential to engage people in science and conservation," said Chris Myers, professor of interdisciplinary studies and principal investigator of Wild Research. "Where else can local kids get face-to-face with elephants or tigers or gorillas? Wild Research gives kids the tools they need to see themselves as investigators and to work to sustain life on earth."
The Wild Research stations - to be developed over the next three years - will connect zoo exhibits to global conservation efforts, according to Dave Jenike, vice president of education at the Cincinnati Zoo and co-principal investigator on the grant.
http://media-newswire.com/release_1040219.html
Abyssinian Lion Cubs to be Poisoned or Saved?
By Jon ShanksDec 12, 2006
Abyssinian Lion cubs have been poisoned in a cash-strapped zoo this year in Ethiopia. According to media reports the Lion Zoo in the impoverished nation's capital has been killing the endangered animals, poisoning six cubs this year because of lack of funding and space, zoo officials said.
Abyssinian Lion Cubs to be Poisoned or Saved?
So when an Italian aid group found two orphaned cubs near the Somali border, it took them to the Italian Embassy 500 miles away instead of the zoo to keep them from being killed.
Chantal Benaben, the wife of the Italian deputy ambassador, has been caring for them there and had them in a fenced compound while they were nursed back to health, reports AP writer Les Neuhaus.
She told the Associated Press, "They were on the verge of death when I got them, and now they have all of their vaccinations and they are healthy."
http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_272610403.shtml
National Zoo To Ban Smoking
Visitors to the National Zoo will have to leave their cigarettes at home starting December first. The zoo is banning smoking in outdoor areas, citing safety concerns.
Smoking was already prohibited in zoo buildings, and keepers were not allowed to smoke in animal areas. The new policy applies to public walkways, zoo golf carts and other vehicles and all areas of the Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal, Virginia.
A zoo spokeswoman says the policy change was prompted in part by a couple of small mulch fires on zoo grounds during the past year that officials believe were connected to smoking.
The zoo will post "No Smoking" signs across the park, in parking lots and at pedestrian entrances. Disposal containers for smoking materials will also be installed.
http://www.wtkr.com/Global/story.asp?S=5723977&nav=menu78_3_5
World's tallest man saves plastic eating dolphins
BEIJING, China (AP) -- The long arms of the world's tallest man reached in and saved two dolphins by pulling out plastic from their stomachs, state media and an aquarium official said Thursday.
The dolphins got sick after nibbling on plastic from the edge of their pool at an aquarium in Liaoning province.
Attempts to use surgical instruments to remove the plastic failed because the dolphins' stomachs contracted in response to the instruments, the China Daily newspaper reported.
Veterinarians then decided to ask for help from Bao Xishun, a 7-feet-9 herdsman from Inner Mongolia with 41.7-inch arms, state media said.
Bao, 54, was confirmed last year by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's tallest living man.
Chen Lujun, the manager of the Royal Jidi Ocean World aquarium, told The Associated Press that the shape of the dolphins' stomachs made it difficult to push an instrument very far in without hurting the animals.
People with shorter arms could not reach the plastic, he said.
"When we failed to get the objects out we sought the help of Bao Xishun from Inner Mongolia and he did it successfully yesterday," Chen said. "The two dolphins are in very good condition now."
Photographs showed the jaws of one of the dolphins being held back by towels so Bao could reach inside the animal without being bitten.
"Some very small plastic pieces are still left in the dolphins' stomachs," Zhu Xiaoling, a local doctor, told Xinhua. "However the dolphins will be able to digest these and are expected to recover soon."
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/12/14/china.dolphins.ap/index.html
Moldy grain killed ducks, scientists say
SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) -- Two thousand mallard ducks in Idaho likely died after they ate moldy grain and contracted a fatal infection, scientists said Thursday.
Paul Slota, a wildlife expert with the U.S. Geological Survey's National Wildlife Health Center, said a fungal infection known as aspergillosis was the likely killer.
"The results are certainly consistent with that diagnosis," Slota said.
Dave Parrish, regional supervisor for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, said further tests would be conducted.
The preliminary finding eased fears that the massive mallard die-off, which experts say is unprecedented in Idaho, was linked to bird flu.
Birds can contract aspergillosis after feeding on waste grain and silage pits during bad weather, according to the National Wildlife Health Center. Large-scale, rapid die-offs among waterfowl have chiefly affected mallards, it said.
An estimated 2,000 mallards died between Friday and Wednesday near the agricultural community of Burley, about 150 miles southeast of Boise.
State fish and game officers Wednesday retrieved carcasses from a stream clogged with dead and dying mallards.
The stream is surrounded by farmland and a cattle feedlot, potential sources of the moldy grain, officials said.
Concerns over the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu and an extensive national monitoring network prompted officials to submit samples from Idaho to labs specializing in detecting avian influenza and drew the U.S. Department of Homeland Security into the investigation.
A similar aspergillosis outbreak killed 500 mallards in Iowa in 2005, the wildlife health center said. Moldy grain was the culprit in that case. The disease is not contagious.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/14/ducks.reut/index.html
Holiday Hoorah at the Zoo
12/18/2006
A Holiday Hoorah at the Zoo will be held on Dec. 24 at the Sequoia Park Zoo in Eureka.
Community residents can watch the animals open their holiday presents and stockings filled with treats.
The event will begin when Bill the chimp receives his gifts at noon and will continue until 2 p.m., when Rosemary the bear receives her presents.
This event is free and open to community residents.
http://www.eurekareporter.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ArticleID=18583
Queen of the zoo Colo, world’s first captive-born gorilla, is about to turn 50
Monday, December 18, 2006It’s early in the morning and Colo sits in her normal spot, the center of Cage 1. She is wedged between two concrete trees. A milk crate is on her right, and a rope dangles in front of her.
Her head is tilted back, her chin juts into the air, her eyes are half-closed and looking down.
A chute opens at the top of her exhibit area, and the world’s first captive-born gorilla stirs from her reverie at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. She grabs the rope with her curled, arthritic fingers and pulls herself up. She slowly makes her way up the tree, climbing toward breakfast: a banana, grapefruit, apple, sweet potato, cucumber and turnip, as well as iceberg lettuce, carrots and broccoli.
She would have taken these fake trees in bounds when she was younger, but they are steep and slippery and youth is fleeting, even for gorillas.
http://www.columbusdispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/12/18/20061218-A1-01.html
Chicago Zoological Society - Brookfield Zoo Library
The mission of the Brookfield Zoo Library is to contribute to the education of the people, the studies of the conservation of wildlife, and the diversity of biological knowledge by providing research access to scientific ready reference materials, books and monographs, periodicals, and global information resources.
http://brookfieldzoolibrary.blogspot.com/2006/12/animal-coverings-educational-offerings.html
Tradition lives despite delay
Family enjoys annual Brookfield Zoo outing after Marine son missed it on Thanksgiving
By Manya A. BrachearTribune staff reporterPublished December 18, 2006
After earning the state police league's heavyweight boxing title, Daniel Elsner broke the news to his dad that he couldn't be around for the national championship--or the family's annual Thanksgiving celebration.
Inspired by the nation's struggle in Iraq, the 19-year-old Moraine Valley Community College student had enlisted in the Marines and would be in San Diego for boot camp during the competition and the holiday.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/north/chi-0612180010dec18,1,4358599.story?coll=chi-newslocalnorth-hed
Prague ZOO - one of the nicest Zoological gardens in Europe
Prague ZOO is said to be one of the best in Europe and could easily keep your kids busy for one entire day. The ZOO does its best to be a pleasant and interesting place for everybody and if you take a few minutes and organize your trip it can really be an unforgettable experience.
Be sure to take a look at the “Don’t miss” section, where you can find a timetable of the most important events that take place in the ZOO during the day.
One of the most appreciated pavilions are the Indonesian Jungle and the Monkey Island where you can have a look at the luxuriant flora and fauna of the jungle or practically play with the cute lemurs.
Another place that your kinds will definitely love is the Children Area and the Children ZOO, a special built farm, where kids are allowed to enter some enclosures and play with different domesticated animals (rabbits, sheep, pigs, ponies, hens, ducks, geese).There are also some slot machines, where kids can buy low calories granules and feed their favourite animals.
http://www.prague.net/prague-zoo
Changes planned for Davenport zoo
by Stella Shaffer
Big changes are planned for a small zoo at a Davenport city park. Dan Shermann is Davenport's parks director and says Fejervery Zoo has, in the past, taken just about any animal that was available. He says they had an expensive parrot that cost a lot of money to feed, but it was so foul-mouthed, no one could keep it in a home.
The zoo is getting a grant from Guardian Industries in DeWitt to help pay for renovations that will bring a new petting zoo to the Davenport facility. In the meantime, Shermann says the zoo is finding new homes for many of its other animals that don't fit into the plan. He says instead of North American species, they had snakes that outgrew people's capacity to keep them and all sorts of other cast-off creatures.
Now, they've developed a new collection policy at the zoo to improve the quality of animals that are accepted.
http://www.radioiowa.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=51423EBC-9E0C-4334-86839A59C989AC13&dbtranslator=local.cfm
Zoo authorities plan a cold winter for some inmates
Tenzing Lamsang New Delhi, December 18: Delhi Zoo these days is facing the problem of plenty. After some successful breeding programmes, it’s time for checking the population explosion of some inmates like spotted deer, black buck, Nilgai, Sambar. The zoo authorities decided to keep males and females apart.
Zoo authorities say that they are forced to take such a step as the population of these animals has been increasing disproportionately and they have no choice. Delhi Zoo Director DN Singh said, “These animals mate and breed very often in the wild to maintain their numbers in the face of predatory attacks but in the zoo, there are no such threats and so we need to check their breeding.”
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=213659
Higher Zoo Prices Will Help Save Local Greenhouse
Updated: 6:21 PM Dec 18, 2006 Higher Zoo Prices Will Help Save Local Greenhouse Higher ticket prices at Potawatomi Zoo will help keep South Bend's Greenhouse and Conservatories open.
Monday, the South Bend Board of Park Commissioners approved a $1 ticket increase for the zoo.
The money will be used to subsidize operating costs for the greenhouse.
This means starting January 2nd, zoo tickets will be $7 dollars for adults and $5 dollars for children.
The conservatory will also raise its admission price from $1 dollar to $3 dollars.
From now on, if you buy a zoo ticket, admission to the conservatory will also be included.
The board unanimously approved the ticket increases.
http://www.wndu.com/news/headlines/4949287.html
Indianapolis Zoo changing ticket optionsAssociated Press
INDIANAPOLIS - The Indianapolis Zoo and the neighboring White River Gardens will combine their admissions beginning Jan. 1, meaning a $1 increase from the current basic zoo ticket for adults.
The new policy is an attempt to avoid a larger price increase in basic admission fees, said Michael Crowther, the zoo's president and chief executive officer. The zoo's board last week approved a $20.7 million budget that includes the new ticket prices.
Visitors previously had the option of buying tickets or memberships for the zoo only, the gardens only or a combination that covered both attractions in the city's downtown.
Under the new combined admission, adults will pay $13.50 for a one-day admission to the zoo and gardens from March through October, the same price as before. People older than 62 and children ages 2-12 will also still be charged $8.50 for a one-day pass covering the zoo and the gardens.
Off-season (November through February) combination single-day ticket prices will go up by 50 cents, from $8 to $8.50 for adults and $6 to $6.50 for seniors and children.
Until now, visitors also had the option, during regular season months, of buying tickets for only the zoo or for only the gardens. One-day adult tickets for only the zoo have been $12.50 and for the gardens, $7. During off-season months, gardens-only tickets for adults were $5. Zoo-only tickets were not offered.
Separate memberships for the zoo and gardens are also being eliminated, with a combined membership remaining at $99 for a family.
Crowther said the new structure simplifies ticket logistics and recognizes guest preferences. For instance, he said, only about 5 percent of people who have visited the White River Gardens did so with a gardens-only ticket. And fewer than 20 percent of zoo visitors had zoo-only passes.
Of the roughly 38,000 members of the attractions, fewer than 300 are members of only the White River Gardens, Crowther said.
Russian zoo closes after two geese found dead
ST PETERSBURG, Russia, Dec 19 (Reuters) - One of Russia's main zoos has closed down after the deaths of two geese sparked a bird flu scare, but a local health expert ruled this out as the cause of their deaths.
The zoo in St Petersburg, one of Russia's oldest, officially refused to explain its unscheduled closure on Monday night, but health officials linked it to the discovery of the two dead birds.
The zoo has about 800 birds in all. A notice at the zoo said it would remain closed until the end of the year.
"They did not die from bird flu," an expert on bird flu, who had knowledge of tests carried out on the dead geese, told Reuters. "The birds had been vaccinated against bird flu."
Bird flu remains essentially an animal disease but it has infected more than 250 people worldwide since late 2003, killing more than 150, according to the World Health Organisation.
Experts fear the virus could mutate into a form that is easily transmissible between humans and spark an influenza pandemic, killing millions of people.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L19134178.htm
Siberian tiger cub dies at Peoria zoo
By Azam Ahmed
Tribune staff reporter
Published December 12, 2006, 7:00 PM CST
Danya, a 14-month-old Siberian tiger cub, died of suffocation from a crushed windpipe over the weekend at the Glen Oak Zoo in Peoria, zoo officials said Tuesday.
The injury was likely inflicted by another tiger, which could have been the result of playing that grew out of hand, said Yvonne Strode, the director of the Glen Oak Zoo.The incident occurred sometime between 9:30 and 11 a.m. Saturday, according to Strode, who said the zoo's curator found Danya's body.
Danya, a 150-pound tiger cub on loan from Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, had been sharing the enclosure with two tiger sisters, Kyra and Nika, both 17 months old.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-061212peoria-cub,1,70348.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Bob Barker pledges money to send LA Zoo elephant to sanctuary
Associated PressLOS ANGELES - Game show host Bob Barker will pledge $300,000 toward housing an elephant from the Los Angeles Zoo in an animal sanctuary, his publicist said Tuesday.
The pledge would match donations in support of sending Ruby, a 45-year-old African elephant, to a sanctuary in San Andreas in Northern California, publicist Henri Bollinger said.
Ruby is currently housed at the zoo, but animal rights advocates have raised concerns about the zoo's treatment of elephants, including a 48-year-old Asian pachyderm named Gita who died in June. Another elephant, Tara, died in 2004.
"Bob has been very concerned about the condition of elephants living in zoos, and particularly at the L.A. Zoo," Bollinger said. "He wants to do whatever he can to change that situation and get elephants placed in sanctuaries."
Zoo officials have maintained that they never mistreated the elephants. Zoo spokesman Jason Jacobs said officials were not aware of any offer from Barker and that Ruby's "ultimate destination is not a financial decision."
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/16225484.htm
Disability Rights Legal Center Gets Settlement in San Diego Zoo Suit
I just got this press release:
The Disability Rights Legal Center (formerly Western Law Center for Disability Rights) announced today that it has reached a settlement with the Zoological Society of San Diego to end what it alleged were discriminatory practices against people with mobility disabilities. The settlement was reached in the federal suit Kneeshaw v. Zoological Society of San Diego, Case No. 05-CV-2127-IEG DT (POR), and covers both the World Famous San Diego Zoo and the Wild Animal Park.
As a result of the settlement, the Zoological Society will permanently discontinue its policy of asking people who use motorized mobility aids, such as motorized scooters and wheelchairs, to sign liability waivers or any document regarding their use of such aids in the Zoo or Wild Animal Park. As for previously signed waivers already on file under its prior entrance policy, the Zoological Society has agreed to void all such waivers and never enforce them. In addition, it will notify those who have signed or been deemed to have signed the waivers by putting a notice on its website, its maps, its accessibility guide, and via letters to those who had been subject to the previous policy.
http://disabilitylaw.blogspot.com/2006/12/disability-rights-legal-center-gets.html
Memphis Manatee's Body Recovered By Zoo Team
Last Update: 12/12/2006 8:04:36 PM
Posted By: Alexis Amorose
Print This Story Email This Story Watch This Video The missing Memphis manatee has been found, but not in time to save his life. On Tuesday, December 12, 2006, a recovery team from the Memphis Zoo finally brought “Manny” the manatee's body to shore. A fisherman found “Manny” on Monday in a channel off McKellar Lake. Zoo curator Matt Thompson said, “We haven't seen a lot of manatee in this area, so yeah, we're pretty sure it's the same one.” The zoo team loaded the misguided manatee into a boat and brought him to shore, only now he is much smaller. Scientists say manatees shrink after they die. The Memphis Police Department helped the zoo team with the recovery. MPD Lt. Ed Vidulich said, “I just can't believe it's been six weeks since we lost him, and as you can see, all these businesses, there's so much barge traffic back here, that nobody spotted him for six weeks.”
It seemed like all of Memphis was rooting for the sea cow to survive, but the cold water was too much, the food in this area; too little. Fisherman Steven Craig said, “I was hoping they would find him alive, but I looked at the news last night that said he was dead. They found him laying up on the shore, you know, I kind of hate that.”
http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=8acf75f3-87d9-4494-8ebe-8d0f0be773b6
Elephant tour
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Charlie Nye / The StarPhoto: 1/8Barre Fields (right), the Indianapolis Zoo's Plains Area manager, lets 6-year-old Daniel Kestler touch an elephant's tooth. Fields holds a cast of a full-grown elephant's tooth. Daniel and his aunt Ashlee Kestler, 21, (left) were treated to a visit to the zoo's elephant barn Dec. 12. Kestler submitted the name Zahara, chosen for the Indianapolis Zoo's baby female elephant, born Aug. 31. She won the name-the-elephant contest sponsored by The Indianapolis Star and WTHR (Channel 13) after the zoo's elephant staff selected the name from among more than 10,000 entries. Her entry was drawn from among 15 entries suggesting the same name.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=BG&Date=20061213&Category=MULTIMEDIA01&ArtNo=612130802&Ref=PH
Camels arrive looking for love
WINNIPEG -- Leave it to Kleaver.
Winnipeg's Assiniboine Park Zoo is sending three female Bactrian camels to an Alberta game farm in Innisfail for a romantic rendezvous with Kleaver, a male camel.
Object? Offspring.
Zoo curator Bob Wrigley said the three ladies are all handsome animals, so they're confident Kleaver can get the job done.
The Alberta road trip was necessary because the females aren't interested in a male camel in Winnipeg they have been spending time with, named Luther.
Wrigley said the four camels all get along well, but there's been no signs of romance.
"It's a purely platonic relationship and we need some results here," said Wrigley.
Animal welfare groups slam Winnipeg camels' new lovenest
Animal protection advocates are questioning a move by Winnipeg's Assiniboine Park Zoo to send three rare Bactrian camels to an Alberta private zoo criticized by at least two animal welfare groups.
The Winnipeg zoo announced earlier this week that it is sending three female camels to Doug's Exotic Zoo in Innisfail, near Calgary. There, zoo officials hope they'll breed with Kleaver, a male camel.
Three of the two-humped Bactrian camels from Winnipeg's Assiniboine Park Zoo are going to Doug's Exotic Farm in Alberta.(CBC) "Our animals are very healthy, they're very happy, they're very contented because we do a lot of hand-raising [so] they're not afraid of people," Doug's Exotic Zoo co-owner Debbi Rowland said Wednesday, adding that they describe the facility more as a wildlife park.
But the World Society for the Protection of Animals, Zoocheck Canada and the Voice For Animals Humane Society have accused the Alberta zoo of being a "roadside" operation that they allege lacks formally trained workers and uses its animals more for entertainment than education.
"Essentially, this facility is what would we describe as a roadside zoo," Julie Woodyer, campaigns director with Toronto-based Zoocheck Canada, said Wednesday.
"There's certainly safety problems with the public. There's also issues around food and just general care at the facility and lack of ability to properly meet the animals' basic biological and behavioural needs."
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2006/12/13/zoo-camels.html
Zoo trip defended
Why camels, asks watchdog?
The Assiniboine Park Zoo is defending its decision to send a trio of rare camels to an Alberta facility in the wake of criticism from an animal welfare group.
The first of three Bactrian camels was sent to the Discovery Wildlife Park -- also known as Doug's Exotic Zoo -- in Innisfail, Alta., earlier this week.
It's hoped at least one of the camels will become pregnant during the course of a three-month visit.
"I think they just want more baby animals to attract people to the zoo," said Julie Woodyer of Zoocheck Canada. "There's no need to be breeding camels in Canada."
Woodyer claims the public is being mislead into thinking zoo breeding programs help endangered species.
http://winnipegsun.com/News/Winnipeg/2006/12/15/2805513-sun.htmlZoo tries out live-in for leopards
Pachyderm at play
Baby Zahara entertains visitors, including an IUPUI student who won a contest to name her Photo GalleriesElephant tour
By Diana Pennerdiana.penner@indystar.com
The Indianapolis Zoo's newest baby elephant's name, Zahara, means "flower," and the energetic and playful calf is indeed blossoming.
The winner: Ashlee Kestler, 21, a senior at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, was one of 15 people who submitted the name Zahara for the Indianapolis Zoo's baby female elephant, born Aug. 31. - Charlie Nye / The Star
Zahara's rate of growth stays a step ahead of Kedar's
Both of the Indianapolis Zoo's baby elephants are thriving, zoo staff said Tuesday.
Kedar, a male, was born Oct. 18, 2005. Zahara, a female, was born Aug. 31.
Adult male elephants are bigger than adult females, and Kedar, born to Kubwa, and Zahara, born to Ivory, will no doubt end up that way. But so far, Zahara, who was bigger at birth, is ahead of Kedar at the same age. Here's a comparison of measurements taken at birth for each of the African elephants:
• Trunks: Both were 12 inches long.
• Ears: Kedar, 183/4 inches; Zahara, 20 inches.
• Tail: Kedar, 15 inches; Zahara, 17 inches.
• Height at the shoulder: Kedar, 34 1/8 inches; Zahara, 351/2 inches.
• Circumference of the left front foot: Kedar, 18 inches; Zahara, 19 inches.
• Weight: Kedar, 192 pounds; Zahara, 260 pounds.
Zahara has continued to stay ahead of Kedar, by weight, at comparable ages: 1 month, Kedar, 269 pounds, and Zahara, 298 pounds; 2 months, Kedar, 334 pounds, and Zahara, 378 pounds; and about 31/2 months, Kedar, 363 pounds, and Zahara, 452 pounds.
The last measurement, taken Monday, is Zahara's current weight. At about 14 months, Kedar tips the scales at 824 pounds. Zahara was center stage Tuesday for Ashlee Kestler, a 21-year-old IUPUI senior who won a contest to name the baby, born Aug. 31 to Ivory. The private showing was Kestler's prize for coming up with the winning moniker.The rambunctious pachyderm was intensely curious about all of the visitors, kept 10 feet or so away and on the other side of massive bars. Zahara, it was clear, wanted to sniff and touch with her trunk. She managed to put one foot through the bars and stretched her nimble trunk for whiffs, but that's as far as she got.She made direct eye contact, though, unabashedly checking out the strange humans. In contrast, Ivory and Sophi, the zoo herd's matriarch, were less obvious about their inspections of the visitors.The adult elephants swayed, occasionally caressed the baby with their trunks and sometimes kept her in line. At one point, Zahara wanted to plunk her whole body down on a small pile of hay, but Sophi gently but firmly nixed that -- she wanted to eat the hay.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061213/LOCAL/612130437/-1/ZONES04
Stray crocodile `not from wild'
P. Oppili
City's outlying areas `have no habitat suitable for them'
HARDY SURVIVOR: The marsh crocodile that strayed into a house at suburban Peerkankaranai. — Photo: A. Muralitharan
CHENNAI : The marsh crocodile that strayed into a house in Peerkankaranai, near Tambaram, could not have been from the wild, says herpetologist, Romulus Whitaker.
The outlying areas of Chennai have no habitats suitable for crocodiles, though such habitats must have been there two centuries ago, even within what is now the city, he maintains.
The four-foot long crocodile entered a house of a transport department employee early on Monday frightening the residents.
It was caught by the Wildlife department officials and taken to the Vandalur zoo. The reptile is healthy and is being kept in an enclosure with other crocodiles, zoo officials said.
In the last 40 years there were no records of crocodiles straying from the wild into a human habitation, Mr Whitaker says, adding that nearly two decades ago a crocodile was sighted in the Otteri Nullah near Stanley Medical College.
However, the reptile was run over by a train when it tried to cross the railway track.
Explaining how the reptile could have strayed into a human habitation, Mr. Whitaker said a kite or a crow could have picked up a two or three-day old baby crocodile from captivity (in the zoo, which could have slipped and fallen into a water body. The baby crocodile could have gone undetected for years and come out now, he says.
http://www.hindu.com/2006/12/13/stories/2006121315300300.htm
Images From The Former Location Of The Los Angeles Zoo
The Los Angeles Zoo has a rich and colorful history, and this is where it all began. The zoo opened at this location (just south of the present one) in 1913 to little fanfare. Inadequately funded and maintained by the city, the zoo struggled for years with bad press and animal escapes alike. During the first world war, many of the animals died as a result of food rationing and improper care and housing. Finally, after years of neglect and scandal, the voters approved an eight million dollar bond to move the zoo to its present location.
http://www.marilyncarolyn.com/oldzoo1.htm
Dog owner to pay over zoo death
A man whose dogs killed a rare animal at Belfast Zoo in January has been ordered to pay £3,500 compensation. Emma, an adult vicuna (a member of the camel family), was killed and Boris II, a six-month-old calf, badly injured after being attacked by four dogs.
The dogs were uncontrolled and unaccompanied at the time.
John Hennessy, of Ben Madigan Heights, was found guilty on Tuesday of 11 charges arising from the incident. Two of the dogs are to be destroyed.
Belfast Magistrates Court ordered him to pay fines and compensation totalling £3,500 to Belfast City Council, which runs the zoo, as well as issuing destruction orders against two of the animals.
Speaking on behalf of the council's Dog Warden Service, which brought the prosecution, a spokesman said: "None of the dogs were covered by the Dangerous Dogs legislation but they were clearly dangerous.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/6177367.stm
Update: Atlanta Zoo's Baby Panda Has a Name
Atlanta -- A baby panda cub in Atlanta stood on all fours Thursday, Dec. 7, 2006, for the first time. Now she has a new name -- Mei Lan which roughly translates to "Atlanta Beauty" was the winning name selected by readers of an Atlanta newspaper.
On the day of her naming, Jay Pratte, one of the panda keepers at the zoo said on the Atlanta Zoo's Web site that the little panda "tried her darndest today to heave herself over the edge of her little nest box. With mom contentedly munching bamboo next door, and the keepers watching, she laboriously managed to haul her head, front right paw, and leg over the edge, well on her way to freedom (well, from the nest box, anyhow). Unfortunately, her developing baby muscles ran out of juice partway through, and she fell back onto the hay exhausted, but it's another great sign, on an all-around great day, that Mei Lan is progressing rapidly."
You can keep up with the progress of Mei Lan on the Zoo's Web site at
http://www.zooatlanta.org/animals_giant_panda_cub_updates.htm
Atlanta Zoo's Panda Cub
The video shot by officials at Zoo Atlanta shows the cub, who currently weighs almost 11 pounds, and is over 25 inches long.
And she's on quite a growth spurt! The week before her last appearance, the cub only had four teeth, but she now has 12.
You can also catch a glimpse with Panda Cam from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Central by visiting this link
http://www.zooatlanta.com/animals_panda_cam.php4http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=5796876&nav=0RdE
Ruth shipped to Wisconsin
By LAURA B. MARTINEZ
The Brownsville Herald
December 14, 2006 — There are no elephants left in Brownsville.
Gladys Porter Zoo’s last elephant is expected to arrive at the Milwaukee County Zoo in Milwaukee, Wis., sometime today.
Ruth arrived at the zoo in 1988 and was recently the sole elephant in the zoo’s exhibit after her partner, Macho, died.
She left Brownsville shortly after 1 p.m. on Tuesday via a specialty truck used to transport large pachyderms, zoo officials said.
Jennifer Diliberti, public relations coordinator for the Milwaukee County Zoo, said once Ruth arrives at the Milwaukee zoo, keepers there will examine her before she is put on display with an elephant named Brittany.
“Hopefully, Ruth will be (on display) in the elephant exhibit within the next week or so,” Diliberti said.
The 28-year-old parchyderm was acquired from Peace River, Fla., where she was a ride animal.
Gladys Porter Zoo officials announced Ruth’s exit last week, citing new regulations by the Association of Zoo and Aquarium Standards for Elephant Management and care.
Ruth’s leaving also means the end of the zoo’s elephant exhibit, which had been an attraction for 35 years.
The removal of the exhibit was due to new regulations that would require the zoo to expand its exhibit area to house a herd of elephants.
The zoo is land locked, which means there is no room for expansion at its current location. The zoo is boxed in by residential neighborhoods, parks and a middle school.
A discussion of what to do with Ruth began in March last year following Macho’s death from a blood clot that month. Since then, Ruth had been the only elephant on display at the zoo.
Siblings make debut at zoo
Youthful newcomers from San Diego to divide time in habitat with veteran resident.
By MARGIE KACOHA
Daily News Staff Writer
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Daily News Photo by Jeffrey Langlois (enlarge photo) Eighteen-month-old Asa Rimba, a Malayan Tiger, cools himself in the water at the Palm Beach Zoo at Dreher Park Wednesday morning during the first day on display with brother Keemasan Mata. Daily News Photo by Jeffrey Langlois (enlarge photo) Five-year-old Sara Auerbach and 6-year-old Keely Saemmer, both of Royal Palm Beach, get their first look at the zoo's new arrivals. Daily News Photo by Jeffrey Langlois (enlarge photo) Asa Rimba and Keemasan Mata, Rimba and Mata for short, groom themselves in their new home. Mata and Rimba, the two new tigers at the Palm Beach Zoo at Dreher Park, welcomed visitors Wednesday morning with a kitty cat hiss and a modified roar.
The rare Malayan tigers arrived from the San Diego Zoo on Nov. 9, under special escort by Keith Lovett, director of living collections at the Palm Beach Zoo.
With the tigers tucked into special crates without any disorienting sedation, he flew with them on a 777 jetliner from Los Angeles to Miami.
The zoo kept them under wraps, allowing them to get accustomed to their new home before Wednesday's debut.
Rimba, the more active of the two male siblings, immediately prowled the perimeter of the Tiger Falls exhibit, stopping briefly at the double fence to show his formidable teeth and huff out a warning.
Otherwise, the two brothers went their own way, with the first order of business being a survey of the giant tortoises, black howler monkeys and llamas who live next door to the big cats' enclosure.
http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/content/news/tigersthree1214.html
Zoo construction to displace elephants
Thursday, December 14, 2006John C. KuehnerPlain Dealer Reporter This may be the last Cleveland winter for Martika, Moshi and Jo, the three African elephants at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.
The popular pachyderms will be shipped to new homes next year when the zoo prepares for construction of a new elephant exhibit.
A model of the pen and yard, called African Elephant Crossing, will be unveiled Friday at the zoo's Exhibit Hall, where it will be displayed through next year.
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1166089104132960.xml&coll=2
Zoo building for the future
Planned herpetarium to aid work against extinction
By CHRIS VAUGHNSTAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITERFORT WORTH — The oldest building at the Fort Worth Zoo is a plain cinder-block box with a leaky roof, shaky plumbing and paper-thin walls that make the place deafening at times.
Yet the herpetarium — more often called the snake house — is also one of the most popular exhibits at the park, at least with one noticeable group.
“Young boys,” said Michael Fouraker, the zoo’s director of five years.
Snakes, lizards, frogs and turtles from around the world have emerged over the years as one of the park’s signature collections and form the heart of an ambitious, behind-the-scenes conservation program that hopes to save species from extinction.
After five years of talking about the need and receiving a get-busy warning from its accreditation agency, the zoo is raising money and drawing up plans for a more than $15 million herpetarium that will rival any other exhibit.
“We’re going to try to take it out of the old-style, jewel-box, aquarium-in-the-wall herpetarium,” Fouraker said. “We have searched the world trying to find an example to model. It looks like we’re going to have to build an example. We really want to set the bar high and make a real mark with this.”
Zoo officials, led by Fort Worth Zoological Association heavyweights Ramona Bass and Ardon Moore, have half of the money in pledges and expect to break ground on the new building by summer.
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/nation/16237696.htm
Ground broken for zoo's eagle exhibit
Lafayette city officials and representatives of the Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie 347 were present Wednesday at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Columbian Park Zoo's latest exhibit in its ongoing multimillion dollar renovation.
The Bald Eagle Exhibit will be one of several new exhibits ready when the zoo has its grand reopening ceremony sometime in summer 2007.
WHAT IT IS
The Bald Eagle Exhibit will be an open-air exhibit housing two rescued, flightless bald eagles.
The exhibit will have a Native American Pacific Northwest fishing village theme, including a fishing hut and a water feature with live fish for the eagles to eat.
The refurbished, original Columbian Park Totem Pole will be featured near the exhibit.
HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE
The exhibit will be ready to open along with several other exhibits during the zoo's grand reopening in summer 2007.
WHO'S PAYING FOR IT
The Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie 347 in Lafayette is donating more than $30,000 for the project, which has a budget of $35,000. Any additional money will come from the Lafayette Parks Foundation.
OTHER ZOO PROJECTS
The $300,000 Clarian Arnett Family Farm is already under construction. A prairie dog exhibit, interactive fountain and possibly other exhibits should begin construction soon. All the projects are being at least partially funded by various companies, clubs and foundations.
http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061214/NEWS/612140327/1001/SPORTS06
Babies add to zoo's zebra family
Two Hartmann mountain zebras have been born at the Johannesburg Zoo this year, adding to the threatened species' numbers.
December 13, 2006 By Tabisa Mntengwana
THERE are two more Hartmann mountain zebras in the world; this year the Johannesburg Zoo celebrated the birth of two of the threatened species.
The babies - one male and one female - were born in July. "We are very excited to have these babies," says the zoo's educationist, Johan du Toit. "They are growing very well and we are proud that they have good eating habits."
Joburg zoo is home to two species of zebra, the Burchell's and its mountain zebras – the Hartmann and the Cape mountain zebra. The Hartmann mountain zebra is found mostly in Namibia and Northern Cape, and there are now five at the zoo - two mature females, one mature male and the two babies.
http://www.joburg.org.za/2006/dec/dec13_zebra.stm
Zoo plans to add better entrance, koalas, singing dogs
By MATT CAMPBELLThe Kansas City StarThe Friends of the Zoo board on Wednesday approved two contracts to begin work on a new, more convenient entrance to the Kansas City Zoo.
The board, which operates the city-owned animal park, hired PGAV Architects to do detailed designs for the entrance and J.E. Dunn Construction Co. to be the general contractor.
Zoo Director Randy Wisthoff said that more than $5.5 million in private money had been raised toward the $8.75 million-$10 million project and that he hopes to begin construction next summer or fall.
The new entrance will allow people to drive up to the zoo gate and will allow for a more immediate animal experience.
In other zoo news officials announced:
•The special summer attraction will be two female koalas on loan from the San Diego Zoo.
They will be exhibited in the Discovery Barn, and the zoo will have to have fresh eucalyptus flown in for them twice a week.
•New animals added to the collection this spring will include African black-footed cats, one of the smallest cats, and rare New Guinea singing dogs
•The zoo’s two Prevost’s squirrels have produced babies.
•A deal has been reached to keep the IMAX theater open until Labor Day.
New films will include the recent release “Happy Feet,” which opens at the zoo Dec. 22.
Sydney-off the Tourist path. A visit to the Zoo and MORE!!! Go see Mosman!If you are over visiting Taronga Zoo while visiting Sydney, don’t miss out on the lovely little village of Mosman. Believe it or not- you can turn your zoo visit either into a bush walk, a beach trip or some massively amazing boutique shopping.
From the zoo parking lot you can take a bus up into Military Road which is the main artery of the area. The shops start at a great little pub the Buena Vista and continue all the way up to Spit Junction. At Spit Junction- to complete your trip- you can catch a bus back into the CBD instead of trekking all the way back to the Ferry.
A taste of the shops on offer- an authentic Italian bakery, specialty cheese shop, boutique dress shops galore, handbags, French Jewelry, Homewares, Art, and pretty much anything high-end your little heart desires.
http://www.australiablog.com/destinations/sydney/sydney-off-the-tourist-path-a-visit-to-the-zoo-and-more-go-see-mosman.html
Does a bear hibernate in the zoo? Not right now, no
The mild autumn and the apparent reluctance of winter to make an appearance has been a talking point for several weeks among humans, but it is also having a distinct impact on the animal population as well. Anyone visiting Korkeasaari, Helsinki's island zoo, at this time of year, would normally expect the "Closed for the Season" sign to be up where the bears are concerned, but on Monday Sofia and her two cubs were outside, with the mother-bear - looking a little drowsy - watching as her children wrestled and ran around as though it were September rather than mid-December. Apparently Sofia had decided enough was enough last week and had prepared for the big winter sleep, but the cubs had had other ideas, and the staff had been forced to let the animals out once more. The same strange behaviour has been repeated among other animals at the northern zoo. Several creatures from exotic climes have extended the time when they venture outside as a result of the unduly warm weather. Even the kangaroos have been out sniffing the air. The flamingoes at Korkeasaari come originally from Chile's Andean areas, and so they are able to cope even in a chilly spell, but they, too, would normally be happier to stay indoors as Christmas approaches. Not this year.
http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Does+a+bear+hibernate+in+the+zoo+Not+right+now+no/1135223789213
They're the p-p-pick of zoo's birds
LESLEY GARLAND PENGUINS are proving popular. Since the film March of the Penguins last year, the level of public interest in them has been ever increasing. We've had the all-singing, all-dancing Happy Feet and Five starts Penguin Week with Nigel Marven tonight. So why do we love penguins so much?
I think humans find penguins particularly fascinating because they walk upright like us. It is quite comical to see a penguin walking around but when they dive into the water they become powerful and graceful.
Each penguin has its own personality - at the zoo, we have one Gentoo who, rather than join the masses at feeding time, prefers to come up behind the keeper and tug their trousers to let them know he's there.
We also have a Rockhopper called Reuben who's a bit more playful than his fellows and prefers to hang around with the Gentoos. Another interesting aspect of penguins, which March of the Penguins and Happy Feet chose as the basis of their stories, is the unique rituals and the amazing journeys undertaken to breed.
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=1884122006
Zoo`s Gorilla to Undergo Tests
A host of animal specialists will be in Erie Friday to perform some tests on the zoo`s gorilla.43-year-old Samantha has reportedly been experiencing some female problems over the last few weeks.That`s why zoo officials have assembled a team of doctors to do some tests Friday afternoon.Scott Mitchell says while Samantha is sedated they`ll also make sure she`s in good overall health.If the doctors do find a problem she will be transported to Cleveland for treatment.
Erie Zoo's Gorilla Doing Well Following Testing
So far, so good at the Erie Zoo Friday night - where an examination of the zoo's 43 year old gorilla Samantha did not find any serious problems. A group of vets and human doctors worked on Samantha, after it was suspected that she might have gynacological problems. A thorough exam was given to the zoo's lone gorilla, and four teeth were removed. According to Zoo Spokesperson, Scott Mitchell, now it's time to wait and see. Samantha had to be sedated before the doctors could examine her. She was tranquilized with the use of a blow dart.
North Carolina Zoo Triplets
http://beachbum.homestead.com/NorthCarolinaZoologicalPark/Africa/AfricanLion.html
and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24994443@N00/322317136/in/photostream/
Rare tiger cub born at Woodland Park Zoo
A baby Sumatran tiger cub, born early Tuesday morning, is the newest arrival at Woodland Park Zoo.
The zoo is giving the mom and baby some privacy, observing the new cub by closed-circuit monitor, so the gender of the new arrival isn't yet known.
It is the fifth cub for 14-year-old mother JoJo and 13-year-old father Rakata. The pair already produced two female and two male cubs.
The cub will remain off public view for at least three or four months. The Sumatran is especially rare, with only about 400 believed to exist in the wild.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/296063_tl115.html
Zoo tries out live-in for leopards
New Delhi: It’s not just humans who might want to try a live-in relationship before actually tying the knot.
With a little urging from humans, animals too, will be put in an environment where they can familiarise themselves with each other before they actually get to live together and mate.
It’s an experiment that the Lucknow zoo is trying out with two leopards, Diya and Raja, who have been paired for ‘marriage’.
Zoo officials are going to observe their behaviour towards each other, and check for a specific manner of pacing, growling, and other signs which could indicate their compatibility status.
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/zoo-tries-out-livein-for-leopards/28574-13.html
Wild ways win zoo top award
A HAMPSHIRE zoo is celebrating after walking off with a top award in a competition to highlight the vital conservation projects undertaken by UK and Irish zoos.
Marwell Zoo, near Winchester, took the honours in the best research project category for its work on the genetics of the scimitar-horned oryx.
The oryx is Marwell's flagship animal and the park has run the European endangered animal breeding programme since it became extinct in its native homeland - Africa's Sahara desert.
http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/district/display.var.1077484.0.wild_ways_win_zoo_top_award.php
Baby deer newest arrival for Jackson Zoo
The Clarion-Ledger
The Jackson Zoo became home to a new arrival this week, with the birth of a 4-pound Reeves Muntjac deer.
Named Sarah, the baby deer arrived just before 9 a.m. Monday. Reeves Muntjacs are indigenous to southern China and Taiwan, and grow to only about 20 inches in height and up to approximately 20 to 30 pounds.
They eat grasses, leaves and shoots. In the wild, they’re usually found alone or in groups of fewer than four. Muntjacs are not endangered.
At the Jackson Zoo, the Muntjacs share space with Dana, the Red Panda — also indigenous to China.
The Zoo is located at 2918 W. Capitol St. It’s open year round, except Christmas and New Year’s Day. Hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Mondays through Sundays.
Zoo needs more room or might move, official warns
BY JASON CLAYWORTHREGISTER STAFF WRITER
December 15, 2006 15 Comments
Blank Park Zoo will seek a new location — possibly outside of Polk County — if the facility is unable to expand on roughly 60 acres adjacent to the current site, zoo chief operating officer Terry Rich announced today.
“It boils down to a philosophical use of land but for us it boils down to we want to think ahead,” Rich said. “We’re trying to do a long-range plan for the zoo and trying to do something positive.” At the center of the issue is Fort Des Moines Park, a nearly 120-acre county-owned area adjacent to the zoo that contains forests, playground equipment and a popular fishing lake tucked away from a quickly growing urban area.
Zoo officials want about half of the park as part of a $50 million expansion, which Rich says is crucial for the long-term financial survival of the facility.
Some neighbors and members of at least one environmental group have expressed concern that the expansion would hamper the pristine image of the park and, possibly, shut the public out of a free recreational area.
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061215/NEWS/61215015/1001/archive
Hyderabad Zoo
A must visit tourist spot for any traveller to Hyderabad in India is Nehru Zoological Park. It has nearly 1,500 species of animals, birds and reptiles. It is Situated in the Bahadurpura area on the way to the N G Ranga Agricultural University in Rajendranagar.
Apart from the animals, a nocturnal zoo, the pre-historic dinosaur park, a natural history museum, parks, a mini-train and animal rides make the place ideal for a picnic. The most interesting thing about the Hyderabad zoo is that there are many different butterfly species inside the enclosure.
A must visit Travel spot for all those who can walk around for 6-7 hours to cover the entire 300 acres of land. One Van is provided for use by tourists to go round the Zoo. Each trip duration lasts for (45min.).
http://tourism-talk.blogspot.com/2006/12/hyderabad-zoo-information-for-tourists.html
Residents Want Stinking Jeddah Zoo Gone, Management Unsure
Hasan Hatrash, Arab News JEDDAH, 16 December 2006 — The management of the Beautiful Creatures Zoo in Jeddah’s Al-Rihab district said that it hasn’t received any official notification from the authorities regarding the non-renewal of the zoo’s property lease.
The local press published reports this week that municipal authorities received instructions from the Makkah Governorate not to renew the lease after receiving complaints from local residents.
The zoo’s manager, Abou Nawaf, said that they haven’t received any official notification about the issue from the municipality.
“We cannot speculate what would happen (if they ask us to leave),” he said, adding that once the picture is clear actions would be taken.
Wasmi Al-Wasmi, the zoo’s owner, said he built the 20,000-square-meter zoo 20 years ago when the area was undeveloped. Today it sits in a heavily residential zone.
“The zoo cost over SR50 million to become what it is today,” he said, adding that such investment is not popular because of the narrow profit margin.
According to a Jeddah Municipality spokesman, the lease contract would end within seven months, which is enough time for the zoo’s investors to search for a new location. He said that many residents have complained about the smells and noises from the zoo.
Saad Al-Subhi, a Saudi resident in the neighborhood, said that he didn’t expect the noises of the animals or the smells to be so bad when he decided to move close by. “In fact, I was wondering why the real estate is cheaper on this block compared to a few blocks away from the zoo,” he said. “We really wish it would close down.”
Zoo Boise receives $500,000 grant
The Friends of Zoo Boise has received a $500,000 grant from
The ALSAM Foundation, located in Salt Lake City, to help build the African Plains exhibit at the zoo.
The zoo needs $2.8 million to build the exhibit, and has already raised $1.4 million. When the zoo has collected another $700,000, the ALSAM Foundation will release the $500,000 matching grant and the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust will match another $200,000, to complete the zoo’s $2.8 million goal.
The African Plains exhibit will cover more than 3.5 acres and feature giraffes, lions, zebras, lemurs, rock hyrax and weaver birds. Visitors will view the animals from an African Village that will contain a schoolroom, ranger station, open-air market and an African house. In addition to the animals, visitors will learn about the culture, customs and traditions of a place half way around the world.
http://www.idahobusiness.net/archive.htm/2006/12/15/Zoo-Boise-receives-500000-grant
Polar bears in love at Alaska Zoo
FEATURED VIDEO
Students learn about polar bears, conservation Alaska man in charge of state’s brightest star Archived video of Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act given to publi by Angela UnruhFriday, Dec. 15, 2006
Anchorage, Alaska - It only took four months and now Alaska's most famous polar bear is in a typical relationship. You know the one where they can't get enough of each other one day and then want privacy the next?
Ahpun has been sharing her exhibit at the Alaska Zoo with Luytyik, who goes by Louie, and came from Sea World Resort in Australia with the hopes to mate with Ahpun.
From necking to kisses on the forehead, Ahpun and Louie are no longer strangers.
"Lou sometimes will bring food to Ahpun, which is pretty amazing. We saw it for the first time a couple weeks ago in the dens where they eat side by side. He was pushing some fish underneath the door for her, trying to bribe her," said zookeeper Tina Ferrelli.
But some days bribes don't work -- some days like today, when Ahpun just wanted her space.
"I think she was saying, ‘Not this morning,'" said Ferrelli.
http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=5822784
Zoo says it needs to use park land Residents say move could hurt recreation
By JASON CLAYWORTHREGISTER STAFF WRITER
December 16, 2006 3 Comments
Des Moines' Blank Park Zoo will move - possibly out of Polk County - if it can't gain control of roughly 60 publicly owned acres needed for an expansion, a zoo official warned Friday.
"It boils down to a philosophical use of land, but for us it boils down to we want to think ahead," Terry Rich, the zoo's chief operating officer, said. "We're trying to do a long-range plan for the zoo and trying to do something positive."
At the center of the issue is Fort Des Moines Park, a nearly 120-acre area adjacent to the zoo that features wooded areas, playground equipment and a popular fishing lake tucked away from a quickly growing urban area.
Zoo officials want about half of the park as part of a $50 million expansion, which Rich says is crucial for the long-term financial health of the facility.
Some neighbors and members of at least one environmental group have expressed concern that the zoo expansion would have a negative effect on the park and could eliminate a free recreational area for the public.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061216/NEWS05/612160352/1001/RSS01
Polar bear twins migrate north from Rostock Zoo to Ranua
A cool dip in their new pool was the first thing that two female polar bears had when they reached the Ranua Zoo in the north of Finland on Thursday. At the age of just over one year, the twin sisters Valeska and Venus immigrated to Ranua from a zoo in the German city of Rostock. The polar bears travelled to Hanko by boat and from there to Ranua in an air-conditioned lorry designed specifically for animal transport. The bears were kept in separate cages for the duration of the two-day trip. "During the trip the smaller of the sisters, Venus, rattled the bars of her transport cage nervously, since the two have never been separated before", animal attendant Miia Varanka explained. The staff of the Ranua Zoo had been asking zoos around Europe for females to be companions for Manasse a 16-year-old male, whose previous partner, Martika, died three years ago. The new bears are much smaller and more playful than the ageing Manasse. The twins were moved into a large enclosure with a recently-renovated three-metre-deep pool, next to Manasse.
http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Two+female+polar+bears+move+from+rostock+to+Ranua/1135220127422
Animal rights group bats for freedom of zoo creatures
WEARING prison suits and monkey masks and holding a banner and signs that read “Zoos: Cruel Animal Prisons,” members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) Asia-Pacific will protest outside the Manila Zoo. The protest comes as Filipinos prepare to mark their 108th year of independence from Spanish colonizers on June 12, and Peta is urging the first democracy in Asia to again lead the way by becoming the first zoo-free country in the region:
Why is Peta in an uproar? Animals in the wild spend their entire lives with their close-knit families. But animals in zoos are separated from their families as babies and are sentenced to an eternity of boredom, crippling loneliness, and even abuse, leading to self-mutilation and other abnormal and self-destructive behaviors, called “zoochosis.”
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/man/2006/06/06/feat/animal.rights.group.bats.for.freedom.of.zoo.creatures.html
Life of twice 'rescued' Cambodian orangutan hangs in balance
Phnom Penh - The life of a desperately ill orangutan 'rescued' by a wildlife group from a senior government official on its way to the vet hung in the balance and a legal storm over ownership loomed, officials on both sides said Tuesday.
The ape was 'rescued' by controversial non-government conservation group WildAid in a raid it said it coordinated with military police and forestry officials Monday as the animal was being transported via taxi across the capital.
WildAid said it could find no records of proper papers being filed for legal custody of the endangered species.
But senior government official Nhim Vanda, to whom the four-year-old primate turned out to belong to, says he had been given the unnamed animal as a gift by his son, whom he believed in turn had rescued it from captivity somewhere in Cambodia.
http://science.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1170303.php/Life_of_twice_rescued_Cambodian_orangutan_hangs_in_balance
Poo To Make Money For Zoo
15/12/2006TVNZ
Wellington Zoo has ordered two new composting machines to help convert animal deposits into cash
http://xtramsn.co.nz/news/0,,11964-6703585-56,00.html
Zoo animals manure-facture power in Germany
Wed Dec 13, 2006 4:10 PM GMT
BERLIN (Reuters) - Animals at a Munich zoo will create their own power supply from Friday when their manure is recycled to generate heat and electricity.
A biogas plant at the Muenchner Tierpark Hellabrunn will be fuelled by dung from elephants, rhinoceroses, buffaloes and antelopes, and any left-over animal food.
"Everything that animals with solid and cloven hooves eat which turns into manure goes into the plant," zoo director Henning Wiesner said on Wednesday.
"We'll also save ourselves a lot of lorry journeys we'd otherwise have had to make to get rid of the manure, so it's doubly environmentally friendly."
The plant, launched in co-operation with Munich city council, operates by fermenting the manure. This produces methane which is burnt to provide energy.
Wiesner said it was too early to say exactly how much of the zoo's heating needs would be met by the plant but it should be a significant proportion. Animals at the zoo produce roughly 2,000 tonnes of dung a year.
concluding ...
Families will be researchers in new zoo-based program
With a new $2.5 million award from the National Science Foundation, Miami University's Project Dragonfly and the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden will invite families into the community of science and conservation via Wild Research, a national program to deepen public engagement at zoos. Wild Research seeks to revolutionize how zoos serve as public learning institutions. (Media-Newswire.com) - The Cincinnati Zoo will serve as the test bed for Wild Research, which allows families to move from being spectators to active investigators. Families will make observations and record data at a research center in the three-story, glass-enclosed Discovery Forest and at six Wild Research stations at popular zoo exhibits. Zoo visitors will share their findings, both on zoo grounds and on an interactive Wild Research Web site.
"We've discovered that zoos underutilize their potential to engage people in science and conservation," said Chris Myers, professor of interdisciplinary studies and principal investigator of Wild Research. "Where else can local kids get face-to-face with elephants or tigers or gorillas? Wild Research gives kids the tools they need to see themselves as investigators and to work to sustain life on earth."
The Wild Research stations - to be developed over the next three years - will connect zoo exhibits to global conservation efforts, according to Dave Jenike, vice president of education at the Cincinnati Zoo and co-principal investigator on the grant.
http://media-newswire.com/release_1040219.html
Abyssinian Lion Cubs to be Poisoned or Saved?
By Jon ShanksDec 12, 2006
Abyssinian Lion cubs have been poisoned in a cash-strapped zoo this year in Ethiopia. According to media reports the Lion Zoo in the impoverished nation's capital has been killing the endangered animals, poisoning six cubs this year because of lack of funding and space, zoo officials said.
Abyssinian Lion Cubs to be Poisoned or Saved?
So when an Italian aid group found two orphaned cubs near the Somali border, it took them to the Italian Embassy 500 miles away instead of the zoo to keep them from being killed.
Chantal Benaben, the wife of the Italian deputy ambassador, has been caring for them there and had them in a fenced compound while they were nursed back to health, reports AP writer Les Neuhaus.
She told the Associated Press, "They were on the verge of death when I got them, and now they have all of their vaccinations and they are healthy."
http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_272610403.shtml
National Zoo To Ban Smoking
Visitors to the National Zoo will have to leave their cigarettes at home starting December first. The zoo is banning smoking in outdoor areas, citing safety concerns.
Smoking was already prohibited in zoo buildings, and keepers were not allowed to smoke in animal areas. The new policy applies to public walkways, zoo golf carts and other vehicles and all areas of the Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal, Virginia.
A zoo spokeswoman says the policy change was prompted in part by a couple of small mulch fires on zoo grounds during the past year that officials believe were connected to smoking.
The zoo will post "No Smoking" signs across the park, in parking lots and at pedestrian entrances. Disposal containers for smoking materials will also be installed.
http://www.wtkr.com/Global/story.asp?S=5723977&nav=menu78_3_5
World's tallest man saves plastic eating dolphins
BEIJING, China (AP) -- The long arms of the world's tallest man reached in and saved two dolphins by pulling out plastic from their stomachs, state media and an aquarium official said Thursday.
The dolphins got sick after nibbling on plastic from the edge of their pool at an aquarium in Liaoning province.
Attempts to use surgical instruments to remove the plastic failed because the dolphins' stomachs contracted in response to the instruments, the China Daily newspaper reported.
Veterinarians then decided to ask for help from Bao Xishun, a 7-feet-9 herdsman from Inner Mongolia with 41.7-inch arms, state media said.
Bao, 54, was confirmed last year by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's tallest living man.
Chen Lujun, the manager of the Royal Jidi Ocean World aquarium, told The Associated Press that the shape of the dolphins' stomachs made it difficult to push an instrument very far in without hurting the animals.
People with shorter arms could not reach the plastic, he said.
"When we failed to get the objects out we sought the help of Bao Xishun from Inner Mongolia and he did it successfully yesterday," Chen said. "The two dolphins are in very good condition now."
Photographs showed the jaws of one of the dolphins being held back by towels so Bao could reach inside the animal without being bitten.
"Some very small plastic pieces are still left in the dolphins' stomachs," Zhu Xiaoling, a local doctor, told Xinhua. "However the dolphins will be able to digest these and are expected to recover soon."
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/12/14/china.dolphins.ap/index.html
Moldy grain killed ducks, scientists say
SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) -- Two thousand mallard ducks in Idaho likely died after they ate moldy grain and contracted a fatal infection, scientists said Thursday.
Paul Slota, a wildlife expert with the U.S. Geological Survey's National Wildlife Health Center, said a fungal infection known as aspergillosis was the likely killer.
"The results are certainly consistent with that diagnosis," Slota said.
Dave Parrish, regional supervisor for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, said further tests would be conducted.
The preliminary finding eased fears that the massive mallard die-off, which experts say is unprecedented in Idaho, was linked to bird flu.
Birds can contract aspergillosis after feeding on waste grain and silage pits during bad weather, according to the National Wildlife Health Center. Large-scale, rapid die-offs among waterfowl have chiefly affected mallards, it said.
An estimated 2,000 mallards died between Friday and Wednesday near the agricultural community of Burley, about 150 miles southeast of Boise.
State fish and game officers Wednesday retrieved carcasses from a stream clogged with dead and dying mallards.
The stream is surrounded by farmland and a cattle feedlot, potential sources of the moldy grain, officials said.
Concerns over the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu and an extensive national monitoring network prompted officials to submit samples from Idaho to labs specializing in detecting avian influenza and drew the U.S. Department of Homeland Security into the investigation.
A similar aspergillosis outbreak killed 500 mallards in Iowa in 2005, the wildlife health center said. Moldy grain was the culprit in that case. The disease is not contagious.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/14/ducks.reut/index.html
Holiday Hoorah at the Zoo
12/18/2006
A Holiday Hoorah at the Zoo will be held on Dec. 24 at the Sequoia Park Zoo in Eureka.
Community residents can watch the animals open their holiday presents and stockings filled with treats.
The event will begin when Bill the chimp receives his gifts at noon and will continue until 2 p.m., when Rosemary the bear receives her presents.
This event is free and open to community residents.
http://www.eurekareporter.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ArticleID=18583
Queen of the zoo Colo, world’s first captive-born gorilla, is about to turn 50
Monday, December 18, 2006It’s early in the morning and Colo sits in her normal spot, the center of Cage 1. She is wedged between two concrete trees. A milk crate is on her right, and a rope dangles in front of her.
Her head is tilted back, her chin juts into the air, her eyes are half-closed and looking down.
A chute opens at the top of her exhibit area, and the world’s first captive-born gorilla stirs from her reverie at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. She grabs the rope with her curled, arthritic fingers and pulls herself up. She slowly makes her way up the tree, climbing toward breakfast: a banana, grapefruit, apple, sweet potato, cucumber and turnip, as well as iceberg lettuce, carrots and broccoli.
She would have taken these fake trees in bounds when she was younger, but they are steep and slippery and youth is fleeting, even for gorillas.
http://www.columbusdispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/12/18/20061218-A1-01.html
Chicago Zoological Society - Brookfield Zoo Library
The mission of the Brookfield Zoo Library is to contribute to the education of the people, the studies of the conservation of wildlife, and the diversity of biological knowledge by providing research access to scientific ready reference materials, books and monographs, periodicals, and global information resources.
http://brookfieldzoolibrary.blogspot.com/2006/12/animal-coverings-educational-offerings.html
Tradition lives despite delay
Family enjoys annual Brookfield Zoo outing after Marine son missed it on Thanksgiving
By Manya A. BrachearTribune staff reporterPublished December 18, 2006
After earning the state police league's heavyweight boxing title, Daniel Elsner broke the news to his dad that he couldn't be around for the national championship--or the family's annual Thanksgiving celebration.
Inspired by the nation's struggle in Iraq, the 19-year-old Moraine Valley Community College student had enlisted in the Marines and would be in San Diego for boot camp during the competition and the holiday.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/north/chi-0612180010dec18,1,4358599.story?coll=chi-newslocalnorth-hed
Prague ZOO - one of the nicest Zoological gardens in Europe
Prague ZOO is said to be one of the best in Europe and could easily keep your kids busy for one entire day. The ZOO does its best to be a pleasant and interesting place for everybody and if you take a few minutes and organize your trip it can really be an unforgettable experience.
Be sure to take a look at the “Don’t miss” section, where you can find a timetable of the most important events that take place in the ZOO during the day.
One of the most appreciated pavilions are the Indonesian Jungle and the Monkey Island where you can have a look at the luxuriant flora and fauna of the jungle or practically play with the cute lemurs.
Another place that your kinds will definitely love is the Children Area and the Children ZOO, a special built farm, where kids are allowed to enter some enclosures and play with different domesticated animals (rabbits, sheep, pigs, ponies, hens, ducks, geese).There are also some slot machines, where kids can buy low calories granules and feed their favourite animals.
http://www.prague.net/prague-zoo
Changes planned for Davenport zoo
by Stella Shaffer
Big changes are planned for a small zoo at a Davenport city park. Dan Shermann is Davenport's parks director and says Fejervery Zoo has, in the past, taken just about any animal that was available. He says they had an expensive parrot that cost a lot of money to feed, but it was so foul-mouthed, no one could keep it in a home.
The zoo is getting a grant from Guardian Industries in DeWitt to help pay for renovations that will bring a new petting zoo to the Davenport facility. In the meantime, Shermann says the zoo is finding new homes for many of its other animals that don't fit into the plan. He says instead of North American species, they had snakes that outgrew people's capacity to keep them and all sorts of other cast-off creatures.
Now, they've developed a new collection policy at the zoo to improve the quality of animals that are accepted.
http://www.radioiowa.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=51423EBC-9E0C-4334-86839A59C989AC13&dbtranslator=local.cfm
Zoo authorities plan a cold winter for some inmates
Tenzing Lamsang New Delhi, December 18: Delhi Zoo these days is facing the problem of plenty. After some successful breeding programmes, it’s time for checking the population explosion of some inmates like spotted deer, black buck, Nilgai, Sambar. The zoo authorities decided to keep males and females apart.
Zoo authorities say that they are forced to take such a step as the population of these animals has been increasing disproportionately and they have no choice. Delhi Zoo Director DN Singh said, “These animals mate and breed very often in the wild to maintain their numbers in the face of predatory attacks but in the zoo, there are no such threats and so we need to check their breeding.”
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=213659
Higher Zoo Prices Will Help Save Local Greenhouse
Updated: 6:21 PM Dec 18, 2006 Higher Zoo Prices Will Help Save Local Greenhouse Higher ticket prices at Potawatomi Zoo will help keep South Bend's Greenhouse and Conservatories open.
Monday, the South Bend Board of Park Commissioners approved a $1 ticket increase for the zoo.
The money will be used to subsidize operating costs for the greenhouse.
This means starting January 2nd, zoo tickets will be $7 dollars for adults and $5 dollars for children.
The conservatory will also raise its admission price from $1 dollar to $3 dollars.
From now on, if you buy a zoo ticket, admission to the conservatory will also be included.
The board unanimously approved the ticket increases.
http://www.wndu.com/news/headlines/4949287.html
Indianapolis Zoo changing ticket optionsAssociated Press
INDIANAPOLIS - The Indianapolis Zoo and the neighboring White River Gardens will combine their admissions beginning Jan. 1, meaning a $1 increase from the current basic zoo ticket for adults.
The new policy is an attempt to avoid a larger price increase in basic admission fees, said Michael Crowther, the zoo's president and chief executive officer. The zoo's board last week approved a $20.7 million budget that includes the new ticket prices.
Visitors previously had the option of buying tickets or memberships for the zoo only, the gardens only or a combination that covered both attractions in the city's downtown.
Under the new combined admission, adults will pay $13.50 for a one-day admission to the zoo and gardens from March through October, the same price as before. People older than 62 and children ages 2-12 will also still be charged $8.50 for a one-day pass covering the zoo and the gardens.
Off-season (November through February) combination single-day ticket prices will go up by 50 cents, from $8 to $8.50 for adults and $6 to $6.50 for seniors and children.
Until now, visitors also had the option, during regular season months, of buying tickets for only the zoo or for only the gardens. One-day adult tickets for only the zoo have been $12.50 and for the gardens, $7. During off-season months, gardens-only tickets for adults were $5. Zoo-only tickets were not offered.
Separate memberships for the zoo and gardens are also being eliminated, with a combined membership remaining at $99 for a family.
Crowther said the new structure simplifies ticket logistics and recognizes guest preferences. For instance, he said, only about 5 percent of people who have visited the White River Gardens did so with a gardens-only ticket. And fewer than 20 percent of zoo visitors had zoo-only passes.
Of the roughly 38,000 members of the attractions, fewer than 300 are members of only the White River Gardens, Crowther said.
Russian zoo closes after two geese found dead
ST PETERSBURG, Russia, Dec 19 (Reuters) - One of Russia's main zoos has closed down after the deaths of two geese sparked a bird flu scare, but a local health expert ruled this out as the cause of their deaths.
The zoo in St Petersburg, one of Russia's oldest, officially refused to explain its unscheduled closure on Monday night, but health officials linked it to the discovery of the two dead birds.
The zoo has about 800 birds in all. A notice at the zoo said it would remain closed until the end of the year.
"They did not die from bird flu," an expert on bird flu, who had knowledge of tests carried out on the dead geese, told Reuters. "The birds had been vaccinated against bird flu."
Bird flu remains essentially an animal disease but it has infected more than 250 people worldwide since late 2003, killing more than 150, according to the World Health Organisation.
Experts fear the virus could mutate into a form that is easily transmissible between humans and spark an influenza pandemic, killing millions of people.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L19134178.htm
Siberian tiger cub dies at Peoria zoo
By Azam Ahmed
Tribune staff reporter
Published December 12, 2006, 7:00 PM CST
Danya, a 14-month-old Siberian tiger cub, died of suffocation from a crushed windpipe over the weekend at the Glen Oak Zoo in Peoria, zoo officials said Tuesday.
The injury was likely inflicted by another tiger, which could have been the result of playing that grew out of hand, said Yvonne Strode, the director of the Glen Oak Zoo.The incident occurred sometime between 9:30 and 11 a.m. Saturday, according to Strode, who said the zoo's curator found Danya's body.
Danya, a 150-pound tiger cub on loan from Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, had been sharing the enclosure with two tiger sisters, Kyra and Nika, both 17 months old.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-061212peoria-cub,1,70348.story?coll=chi-news-hed
Bob Barker pledges money to send LA Zoo elephant to sanctuary
Associated PressLOS ANGELES - Game show host Bob Barker will pledge $300,000 toward housing an elephant from the Los Angeles Zoo in an animal sanctuary, his publicist said Tuesday.
The pledge would match donations in support of sending Ruby, a 45-year-old African elephant, to a sanctuary in San Andreas in Northern California, publicist Henri Bollinger said.
Ruby is currently housed at the zoo, but animal rights advocates have raised concerns about the zoo's treatment of elephants, including a 48-year-old Asian pachyderm named Gita who died in June. Another elephant, Tara, died in 2004.
"Bob has been very concerned about the condition of elephants living in zoos, and particularly at the L.A. Zoo," Bollinger said. "He wants to do whatever he can to change that situation and get elephants placed in sanctuaries."
Zoo officials have maintained that they never mistreated the elephants. Zoo spokesman Jason Jacobs said officials were not aware of any offer from Barker and that Ruby's "ultimate destination is not a financial decision."
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/16225484.htm
Disability Rights Legal Center Gets Settlement in San Diego Zoo Suit
I just got this press release:
The Disability Rights Legal Center (formerly Western Law Center for Disability Rights) announced today that it has reached a settlement with the Zoological Society of San Diego to end what it alleged were discriminatory practices against people with mobility disabilities. The settlement was reached in the federal suit Kneeshaw v. Zoological Society of San Diego, Case No. 05-CV-2127-IEG DT (POR), and covers both the World Famous San Diego Zoo and the Wild Animal Park.
As a result of the settlement, the Zoological Society will permanently discontinue its policy of asking people who use motorized mobility aids, such as motorized scooters and wheelchairs, to sign liability waivers or any document regarding their use of such aids in the Zoo or Wild Animal Park. As for previously signed waivers already on file under its prior entrance policy, the Zoological Society has agreed to void all such waivers and never enforce them. In addition, it will notify those who have signed or been deemed to have signed the waivers by putting a notice on its website, its maps, its accessibility guide, and via letters to those who had been subject to the previous policy.
http://disabilitylaw.blogspot.com/2006/12/disability-rights-legal-center-gets.html
Memphis Manatee's Body Recovered By Zoo Team
Last Update: 12/12/2006 8:04:36 PM
Posted By: Alexis Amorose
Print This Story Email This Story Watch This Video The missing Memphis manatee has been found, but not in time to save his life. On Tuesday, December 12, 2006, a recovery team from the Memphis Zoo finally brought “Manny” the manatee's body to shore. A fisherman found “Manny” on Monday in a channel off McKellar Lake. Zoo curator Matt Thompson said, “We haven't seen a lot of manatee in this area, so yeah, we're pretty sure it's the same one.” The zoo team loaded the misguided manatee into a boat and brought him to shore, only now he is much smaller. Scientists say manatees shrink after they die. The Memphis Police Department helped the zoo team with the recovery. MPD Lt. Ed Vidulich said, “I just can't believe it's been six weeks since we lost him, and as you can see, all these businesses, there's so much barge traffic back here, that nobody spotted him for six weeks.”
It seemed like all of Memphis was rooting for the sea cow to survive, but the cold water was too much, the food in this area; too little. Fisherman Steven Craig said, “I was hoping they would find him alive, but I looked at the news last night that said he was dead. They found him laying up on the shore, you know, I kind of hate that.”
http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=8acf75f3-87d9-4494-8ebe-8d0f0be773b6
Elephant tour
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Charlie Nye / The StarPhoto: 1/8Barre Fields (right), the Indianapolis Zoo's Plains Area manager, lets 6-year-old Daniel Kestler touch an elephant's tooth. Fields holds a cast of a full-grown elephant's tooth. Daniel and his aunt Ashlee Kestler, 21, (left) were treated to a visit to the zoo's elephant barn Dec. 12. Kestler submitted the name Zahara, chosen for the Indianapolis Zoo's baby female elephant, born Aug. 31. She won the name-the-elephant contest sponsored by The Indianapolis Star and WTHR (Channel 13) after the zoo's elephant staff selected the name from among more than 10,000 entries. Her entry was drawn from among 15 entries suggesting the same name.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=BG&Date=20061213&Category=MULTIMEDIA01&ArtNo=612130802&Ref=PH
Camels arrive looking for love
WINNIPEG -- Leave it to Kleaver.
Winnipeg's Assiniboine Park Zoo is sending three female Bactrian camels to an Alberta game farm in Innisfail for a romantic rendezvous with Kleaver, a male camel.
Object? Offspring.
Zoo curator Bob Wrigley said the three ladies are all handsome animals, so they're confident Kleaver can get the job done.
The Alberta road trip was necessary because the females aren't interested in a male camel in Winnipeg they have been spending time with, named Luther.
Wrigley said the four camels all get along well, but there's been no signs of romance.
"It's a purely platonic relationship and we need some results here," said Wrigley.
Animal welfare groups slam Winnipeg camels' new lovenest
Animal protection advocates are questioning a move by Winnipeg's Assiniboine Park Zoo to send three rare Bactrian camels to an Alberta private zoo criticized by at least two animal welfare groups.
The Winnipeg zoo announced earlier this week that it is sending three female camels to Doug's Exotic Zoo in Innisfail, near Calgary. There, zoo officials hope they'll breed with Kleaver, a male camel.
Three of the two-humped Bactrian camels from Winnipeg's Assiniboine Park Zoo are going to Doug's Exotic Farm in Alberta.(CBC) "Our animals are very healthy, they're very happy, they're very contented because we do a lot of hand-raising [so] they're not afraid of people," Doug's Exotic Zoo co-owner Debbi Rowland said Wednesday, adding that they describe the facility more as a wildlife park.
But the World Society for the Protection of Animals, Zoocheck Canada and the Voice For Animals Humane Society have accused the Alberta zoo of being a "roadside" operation that they allege lacks formally trained workers and uses its animals more for entertainment than education.
"Essentially, this facility is what would we describe as a roadside zoo," Julie Woodyer, campaigns director with Toronto-based Zoocheck Canada, said Wednesday.
"There's certainly safety problems with the public. There's also issues around food and just general care at the facility and lack of ability to properly meet the animals' basic biological and behavioural needs."
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2006/12/13/zoo-camels.html
Zoo trip defended
Why camels, asks watchdog?
The Assiniboine Park Zoo is defending its decision to send a trio of rare camels to an Alberta facility in the wake of criticism from an animal welfare group.
The first of three Bactrian camels was sent to the Discovery Wildlife Park -- also known as Doug's Exotic Zoo -- in Innisfail, Alta., earlier this week.
It's hoped at least one of the camels will become pregnant during the course of a three-month visit.
"I think they just want more baby animals to attract people to the zoo," said Julie Woodyer of Zoocheck Canada. "There's no need to be breeding camels in Canada."
Woodyer claims the public is being mislead into thinking zoo breeding programs help endangered species.
http://winnipegsun.com/News/Winnipeg/2006/12/15/2805513-sun.htmlZoo tries out live-in for leopards
Pachyderm at play
Baby Zahara entertains visitors, including an IUPUI student who won a contest to name her Photo GalleriesElephant tour
By Diana Pennerdiana.penner@indystar.com
The Indianapolis Zoo's newest baby elephant's name, Zahara, means "flower," and the energetic and playful calf is indeed blossoming.
The winner: Ashlee Kestler, 21, a senior at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, was one of 15 people who submitted the name Zahara for the Indianapolis Zoo's baby female elephant, born Aug. 31. - Charlie Nye / The Star
Zahara's rate of growth stays a step ahead of Kedar's
Both of the Indianapolis Zoo's baby elephants are thriving, zoo staff said Tuesday.
Kedar, a male, was born Oct. 18, 2005. Zahara, a female, was born Aug. 31.
Adult male elephants are bigger than adult females, and Kedar, born to Kubwa, and Zahara, born to Ivory, will no doubt end up that way. But so far, Zahara, who was bigger at birth, is ahead of Kedar at the same age. Here's a comparison of measurements taken at birth for each of the African elephants:
• Trunks: Both were 12 inches long.
• Ears: Kedar, 183/4 inches; Zahara, 20 inches.
• Tail: Kedar, 15 inches; Zahara, 17 inches.
• Height at the shoulder: Kedar, 34 1/8 inches; Zahara, 351/2 inches.
• Circumference of the left front foot: Kedar, 18 inches; Zahara, 19 inches.
• Weight: Kedar, 192 pounds; Zahara, 260 pounds.
Zahara has continued to stay ahead of Kedar, by weight, at comparable ages: 1 month, Kedar, 269 pounds, and Zahara, 298 pounds; 2 months, Kedar, 334 pounds, and Zahara, 378 pounds; and about 31/2 months, Kedar, 363 pounds, and Zahara, 452 pounds.
The last measurement, taken Monday, is Zahara's current weight. At about 14 months, Kedar tips the scales at 824 pounds. Zahara was center stage Tuesday for Ashlee Kestler, a 21-year-old IUPUI senior who won a contest to name the baby, born Aug. 31 to Ivory. The private showing was Kestler's prize for coming up with the winning moniker.The rambunctious pachyderm was intensely curious about all of the visitors, kept 10 feet or so away and on the other side of massive bars. Zahara, it was clear, wanted to sniff and touch with her trunk. She managed to put one foot through the bars and stretched her nimble trunk for whiffs, but that's as far as she got.She made direct eye contact, though, unabashedly checking out the strange humans. In contrast, Ivory and Sophi, the zoo herd's matriarch, were less obvious about their inspections of the visitors.The adult elephants swayed, occasionally caressed the baby with their trunks and sometimes kept her in line. At one point, Zahara wanted to plunk her whole body down on a small pile of hay, but Sophi gently but firmly nixed that -- she wanted to eat the hay.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061213/LOCAL/612130437/-1/ZONES04
Stray crocodile `not from wild'
P. Oppili
City's outlying areas `have no habitat suitable for them'
HARDY SURVIVOR: The marsh crocodile that strayed into a house at suburban Peerkankaranai. — Photo: A. Muralitharan
CHENNAI : The marsh crocodile that strayed into a house in Peerkankaranai, near Tambaram, could not have been from the wild, says herpetologist, Romulus Whitaker.
The outlying areas of Chennai have no habitats suitable for crocodiles, though such habitats must have been there two centuries ago, even within what is now the city, he maintains.
The four-foot long crocodile entered a house of a transport department employee early on Monday frightening the residents.
It was caught by the Wildlife department officials and taken to the Vandalur zoo. The reptile is healthy and is being kept in an enclosure with other crocodiles, zoo officials said.
In the last 40 years there were no records of crocodiles straying from the wild into a human habitation, Mr Whitaker says, adding that nearly two decades ago a crocodile was sighted in the Otteri Nullah near Stanley Medical College.
However, the reptile was run over by a train when it tried to cross the railway track.
Explaining how the reptile could have strayed into a human habitation, Mr. Whitaker said a kite or a crow could have picked up a two or three-day old baby crocodile from captivity (in the zoo, which could have slipped and fallen into a water body. The baby crocodile could have gone undetected for years and come out now, he says.
http://www.hindu.com/2006/12/13/stories/2006121315300300.htm
Images From The Former Location Of The Los Angeles Zoo
The Los Angeles Zoo has a rich and colorful history, and this is where it all began. The zoo opened at this location (just south of the present one) in 1913 to little fanfare. Inadequately funded and maintained by the city, the zoo struggled for years with bad press and animal escapes alike. During the first world war, many of the animals died as a result of food rationing and improper care and housing. Finally, after years of neglect and scandal, the voters approved an eight million dollar bond to move the zoo to its present location.
http://www.marilyncarolyn.com/oldzoo1.htm
Dog owner to pay over zoo death
A man whose dogs killed a rare animal at Belfast Zoo in January has been ordered to pay £3,500 compensation. Emma, an adult vicuna (a member of the camel family), was killed and Boris II, a six-month-old calf, badly injured after being attacked by four dogs.
The dogs were uncontrolled and unaccompanied at the time.
John Hennessy, of Ben Madigan Heights, was found guilty on Tuesday of 11 charges arising from the incident. Two of the dogs are to be destroyed.
Belfast Magistrates Court ordered him to pay fines and compensation totalling £3,500 to Belfast City Council, which runs the zoo, as well as issuing destruction orders against two of the animals.
Speaking on behalf of the council's Dog Warden Service, which brought the prosecution, a spokesman said: "None of the dogs were covered by the Dangerous Dogs legislation but they were clearly dangerous.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/6177367.stm
Update: Atlanta Zoo's Baby Panda Has a Name
Atlanta -- A baby panda cub in Atlanta stood on all fours Thursday, Dec. 7, 2006, for the first time. Now she has a new name -- Mei Lan which roughly translates to "Atlanta Beauty" was the winning name selected by readers of an Atlanta newspaper.
On the day of her naming, Jay Pratte, one of the panda keepers at the zoo said on the Atlanta Zoo's Web site that the little panda "tried her darndest today to heave herself over the edge of her little nest box. With mom contentedly munching bamboo next door, and the keepers watching, she laboriously managed to haul her head, front right paw, and leg over the edge, well on her way to freedom (well, from the nest box, anyhow). Unfortunately, her developing baby muscles ran out of juice partway through, and she fell back onto the hay exhausted, but it's another great sign, on an all-around great day, that Mei Lan is progressing rapidly."
You can keep up with the progress of Mei Lan on the Zoo's Web site at
http://www.zooatlanta.org/animals_giant_panda_cub_updates.htm
Atlanta Zoo's Panda Cub
The video shot by officials at Zoo Atlanta shows the cub, who currently weighs almost 11 pounds, and is over 25 inches long.
And she's on quite a growth spurt! The week before her last appearance, the cub only had four teeth, but she now has 12.
You can also catch a glimpse with Panda Cam from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Central by visiting this link
http://www.zooatlanta.com/animals_panda_cam.php4http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=5796876&nav=0RdE
Ruth shipped to Wisconsin
By LAURA B. MARTINEZ
The Brownsville Herald
December 14, 2006 — There are no elephants left in Brownsville.
Gladys Porter Zoo’s last elephant is expected to arrive at the Milwaukee County Zoo in Milwaukee, Wis., sometime today.
Ruth arrived at the zoo in 1988 and was recently the sole elephant in the zoo’s exhibit after her partner, Macho, died.
She left Brownsville shortly after 1 p.m. on Tuesday via a specialty truck used to transport large pachyderms, zoo officials said.
Jennifer Diliberti, public relations coordinator for the Milwaukee County Zoo, said once Ruth arrives at the Milwaukee zoo, keepers there will examine her before she is put on display with an elephant named Brittany.
“Hopefully, Ruth will be (on display) in the elephant exhibit within the next week or so,” Diliberti said.
The 28-year-old parchyderm was acquired from Peace River, Fla., where she was a ride animal.
Gladys Porter Zoo officials announced Ruth’s exit last week, citing new regulations by the Association of Zoo and Aquarium Standards for Elephant Management and care.
Ruth’s leaving also means the end of the zoo’s elephant exhibit, which had been an attraction for 35 years.
The removal of the exhibit was due to new regulations that would require the zoo to expand its exhibit area to house a herd of elephants.
The zoo is land locked, which means there is no room for expansion at its current location. The zoo is boxed in by residential neighborhoods, parks and a middle school.
A discussion of what to do with Ruth began in March last year following Macho’s death from a blood clot that month. Since then, Ruth had been the only elephant on display at the zoo.
Siblings make debut at zoo
Youthful newcomers from San Diego to divide time in habitat with veteran resident.
By MARGIE KACOHA
Daily News Staff Writer
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Daily News Photo by Jeffrey Langlois (enlarge photo) Eighteen-month-old Asa Rimba, a Malayan Tiger, cools himself in the water at the Palm Beach Zoo at Dreher Park Wednesday morning during the first day on display with brother Keemasan Mata. Daily News Photo by Jeffrey Langlois (enlarge photo) Five-year-old Sara Auerbach and 6-year-old Keely Saemmer, both of Royal Palm Beach, get their first look at the zoo's new arrivals. Daily News Photo by Jeffrey Langlois (enlarge photo) Asa Rimba and Keemasan Mata, Rimba and Mata for short, groom themselves in their new home. Mata and Rimba, the two new tigers at the Palm Beach Zoo at Dreher Park, welcomed visitors Wednesday morning with a kitty cat hiss and a modified roar.
The rare Malayan tigers arrived from the San Diego Zoo on Nov. 9, under special escort by Keith Lovett, director of living collections at the Palm Beach Zoo.
With the tigers tucked into special crates without any disorienting sedation, he flew with them on a 777 jetliner from Los Angeles to Miami.
The zoo kept them under wraps, allowing them to get accustomed to their new home before Wednesday's debut.
Rimba, the more active of the two male siblings, immediately prowled the perimeter of the Tiger Falls exhibit, stopping briefly at the double fence to show his formidable teeth and huff out a warning.
Otherwise, the two brothers went their own way, with the first order of business being a survey of the giant tortoises, black howler monkeys and llamas who live next door to the big cats' enclosure.
http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/content/news/tigersthree1214.html
Zoo construction to displace elephants
Thursday, December 14, 2006John C. KuehnerPlain Dealer Reporter This may be the last Cleveland winter for Martika, Moshi and Jo, the three African elephants at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.
The popular pachyderms will be shipped to new homes next year when the zoo prepares for construction of a new elephant exhibit.
A model of the pen and yard, called African Elephant Crossing, will be unveiled Friday at the zoo's Exhibit Hall, where it will be displayed through next year.
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1166089104132960.xml&coll=2
Zoo building for the future
Planned herpetarium to aid work against extinction
By CHRIS VAUGHNSTAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITERFORT WORTH — The oldest building at the Fort Worth Zoo is a plain cinder-block box with a leaky roof, shaky plumbing and paper-thin walls that make the place deafening at times.
Yet the herpetarium — more often called the snake house — is also one of the most popular exhibits at the park, at least with one noticeable group.
“Young boys,” said Michael Fouraker, the zoo’s director of five years.
Snakes, lizards, frogs and turtles from around the world have emerged over the years as one of the park’s signature collections and form the heart of an ambitious, behind-the-scenes conservation program that hopes to save species from extinction.
After five years of talking about the need and receiving a get-busy warning from its accreditation agency, the zoo is raising money and drawing up plans for a more than $15 million herpetarium that will rival any other exhibit.
“We’re going to try to take it out of the old-style, jewel-box, aquarium-in-the-wall herpetarium,” Fouraker said. “We have searched the world trying to find an example to model. It looks like we’re going to have to build an example. We really want to set the bar high and make a real mark with this.”
Zoo officials, led by Fort Worth Zoological Association heavyweights Ramona Bass and Ardon Moore, have half of the money in pledges and expect to break ground on the new building by summer.
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/nation/16237696.htm
Ground broken for zoo's eagle exhibit
Lafayette city officials and representatives of the Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie 347 were present Wednesday at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Columbian Park Zoo's latest exhibit in its ongoing multimillion dollar renovation.
The Bald Eagle Exhibit will be one of several new exhibits ready when the zoo has its grand reopening ceremony sometime in summer 2007.
WHAT IT IS
The Bald Eagle Exhibit will be an open-air exhibit housing two rescued, flightless bald eagles.
The exhibit will have a Native American Pacific Northwest fishing village theme, including a fishing hut and a water feature with live fish for the eagles to eat.
The refurbished, original Columbian Park Totem Pole will be featured near the exhibit.
HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE
The exhibit will be ready to open along with several other exhibits during the zoo's grand reopening in summer 2007.
WHO'S PAYING FOR IT
The Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie 347 in Lafayette is donating more than $30,000 for the project, which has a budget of $35,000. Any additional money will come from the Lafayette Parks Foundation.
OTHER ZOO PROJECTS
The $300,000 Clarian Arnett Family Farm is already under construction. A prairie dog exhibit, interactive fountain and possibly other exhibits should begin construction soon. All the projects are being at least partially funded by various companies, clubs and foundations.
http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061214/NEWS/612140327/1001/SPORTS06
Babies add to zoo's zebra family
Two Hartmann mountain zebras have been born at the Johannesburg Zoo this year, adding to the threatened species' numbers.
December 13, 2006 By Tabisa Mntengwana
THERE are two more Hartmann mountain zebras in the world; this year the Johannesburg Zoo celebrated the birth of two of the threatened species.
The babies - one male and one female - were born in July. "We are very excited to have these babies," says the zoo's educationist, Johan du Toit. "They are growing very well and we are proud that they have good eating habits."
Joburg zoo is home to two species of zebra, the Burchell's and its mountain zebras – the Hartmann and the Cape mountain zebra. The Hartmann mountain zebra is found mostly in Namibia and Northern Cape, and there are now five at the zoo - two mature females, one mature male and the two babies.
http://www.joburg.org.za/2006/dec/dec13_zebra.stm
Zoo plans to add better entrance, koalas, singing dogs
By MATT CAMPBELLThe Kansas City StarThe Friends of the Zoo board on Wednesday approved two contracts to begin work on a new, more convenient entrance to the Kansas City Zoo.
The board, which operates the city-owned animal park, hired PGAV Architects to do detailed designs for the entrance and J.E. Dunn Construction Co. to be the general contractor.
Zoo Director Randy Wisthoff said that more than $5.5 million in private money had been raised toward the $8.75 million-$10 million project and that he hopes to begin construction next summer or fall.
The new entrance will allow people to drive up to the zoo gate and will allow for a more immediate animal experience.
In other zoo news officials announced:
•The special summer attraction will be two female koalas on loan from the San Diego Zoo.
They will be exhibited in the Discovery Barn, and the zoo will have to have fresh eucalyptus flown in for them twice a week.
•New animals added to the collection this spring will include African black-footed cats, one of the smallest cats, and rare New Guinea singing dogs
•The zoo’s two Prevost’s squirrels have produced babies.
•A deal has been reached to keep the IMAX theater open until Labor Day.
New films will include the recent release “Happy Feet,” which opens at the zoo Dec. 22.
Sydney-off the Tourist path. A visit to the Zoo and MORE!!! Go see Mosman!If you are over visiting Taronga Zoo while visiting Sydney, don’t miss out on the lovely little village of Mosman. Believe it or not- you can turn your zoo visit either into a bush walk, a beach trip or some massively amazing boutique shopping.
From the zoo parking lot you can take a bus up into Military Road which is the main artery of the area. The shops start at a great little pub the Buena Vista and continue all the way up to Spit Junction. At Spit Junction- to complete your trip- you can catch a bus back into the CBD instead of trekking all the way back to the Ferry.
A taste of the shops on offer- an authentic Italian bakery, specialty cheese shop, boutique dress shops galore, handbags, French Jewelry, Homewares, Art, and pretty much anything high-end your little heart desires.
http://www.australiablog.com/destinations/sydney/sydney-off-the-tourist-path-a-visit-to-the-zoo-and-more-go-see-mosman.html
Does a bear hibernate in the zoo? Not right now, no
The mild autumn and the apparent reluctance of winter to make an appearance has been a talking point for several weeks among humans, but it is also having a distinct impact on the animal population as well. Anyone visiting Korkeasaari, Helsinki's island zoo, at this time of year, would normally expect the "Closed for the Season" sign to be up where the bears are concerned, but on Monday Sofia and her two cubs were outside, with the mother-bear - looking a little drowsy - watching as her children wrestled and ran around as though it were September rather than mid-December. Apparently Sofia had decided enough was enough last week and had prepared for the big winter sleep, but the cubs had had other ideas, and the staff had been forced to let the animals out once more. The same strange behaviour has been repeated among other animals at the northern zoo. Several creatures from exotic climes have extended the time when they venture outside as a result of the unduly warm weather. Even the kangaroos have been out sniffing the air. The flamingoes at Korkeasaari come originally from Chile's Andean areas, and so they are able to cope even in a chilly spell, but they, too, would normally be happier to stay indoors as Christmas approaches. Not this year.
http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Does+a+bear+hibernate+in+the+zoo+Not+right+now+no/1135223789213
They're the p-p-pick of zoo's birds
LESLEY GARLAND PENGUINS are proving popular. Since the film March of the Penguins last year, the level of public interest in them has been ever increasing. We've had the all-singing, all-dancing Happy Feet and Five starts Penguin Week with Nigel Marven tonight. So why do we love penguins so much?
I think humans find penguins particularly fascinating because they walk upright like us. It is quite comical to see a penguin walking around but when they dive into the water they become powerful and graceful.
Each penguin has its own personality - at the zoo, we have one Gentoo who, rather than join the masses at feeding time, prefers to come up behind the keeper and tug their trousers to let them know he's there.
We also have a Rockhopper called Reuben who's a bit more playful than his fellows and prefers to hang around with the Gentoos. Another interesting aspect of penguins, which March of the Penguins and Happy Feet chose as the basis of their stories, is the unique rituals and the amazing journeys undertaken to breed.
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=1884122006
Zoo`s Gorilla to Undergo Tests
A host of animal specialists will be in Erie Friday to perform some tests on the zoo`s gorilla.43-year-old Samantha has reportedly been experiencing some female problems over the last few weeks.That`s why zoo officials have assembled a team of doctors to do some tests Friday afternoon.Scott Mitchell says while Samantha is sedated they`ll also make sure she`s in good overall health.If the doctors do find a problem she will be transported to Cleveland for treatment.
Erie Zoo's Gorilla Doing Well Following Testing
So far, so good at the Erie Zoo Friday night - where an examination of the zoo's 43 year old gorilla Samantha did not find any serious problems. A group of vets and human doctors worked on Samantha, after it was suspected that she might have gynacological problems. A thorough exam was given to the zoo's lone gorilla, and four teeth were removed. According to Zoo Spokesperson, Scott Mitchell, now it's time to wait and see. Samantha had to be sedated before the doctors could examine her. She was tranquilized with the use of a blow dart.
North Carolina Zoo Triplets
http://beachbum.homestead.com/NorthCarolinaZoologicalPark/Africa/AfricanLion.html
and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24994443@N00/322317136/in/photostream/
Rare tiger cub born at Woodland Park Zoo
A baby Sumatran tiger cub, born early Tuesday morning, is the newest arrival at Woodland Park Zoo.
The zoo is giving the mom and baby some privacy, observing the new cub by closed-circuit monitor, so the gender of the new arrival isn't yet known.
It is the fifth cub for 14-year-old mother JoJo and 13-year-old father Rakata. The pair already produced two female and two male cubs.
The cub will remain off public view for at least three or four months. The Sumatran is especially rare, with only about 400 believed to exist in the wild.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/296063_tl115.html
Zoo tries out live-in for leopards
New Delhi: It’s not just humans who might want to try a live-in relationship before actually tying the knot.
With a little urging from humans, animals too, will be put in an environment where they can familiarise themselves with each other before they actually get to live together and mate.
It’s an experiment that the Lucknow zoo is trying out with two leopards, Diya and Raja, who have been paired for ‘marriage’.
Zoo officials are going to observe their behaviour towards each other, and check for a specific manner of pacing, growling, and other signs which could indicate their compatibility status.
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/zoo-tries-out-livein-for-leopards/28574-13.html
Wild ways win zoo top award
A HAMPSHIRE zoo is celebrating after walking off with a top award in a competition to highlight the vital conservation projects undertaken by UK and Irish zoos.
Marwell Zoo, near Winchester, took the honours in the best research project category for its work on the genetics of the scimitar-horned oryx.
The oryx is Marwell's flagship animal and the park has run the European endangered animal breeding programme since it became extinct in its native homeland - Africa's Sahara desert.
http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/district/display.var.1077484.0.wild_ways_win_zoo_top_award.php
Baby deer newest arrival for Jackson Zoo
The Clarion-Ledger
The Jackson Zoo became home to a new arrival this week, with the birth of a 4-pound Reeves Muntjac deer.
Named Sarah, the baby deer arrived just before 9 a.m. Monday. Reeves Muntjacs are indigenous to southern China and Taiwan, and grow to only about 20 inches in height and up to approximately 20 to 30 pounds.
They eat grasses, leaves and shoots. In the wild, they’re usually found alone or in groups of fewer than four. Muntjacs are not endangered.
At the Jackson Zoo, the Muntjacs share space with Dana, the Red Panda — also indigenous to China.
The Zoo is located at 2918 W. Capitol St. It’s open year round, except Christmas and New Year’s Day. Hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Mondays through Sundays.
Zoo needs more room or might move, official warns
BY JASON CLAYWORTHREGISTER STAFF WRITER
December 15, 2006 15 Comments
Blank Park Zoo will seek a new location — possibly outside of Polk County — if the facility is unable to expand on roughly 60 acres adjacent to the current site, zoo chief operating officer Terry Rich announced today.
“It boils down to a philosophical use of land but for us it boils down to we want to think ahead,” Rich said. “We’re trying to do a long-range plan for the zoo and trying to do something positive.” At the center of the issue is Fort Des Moines Park, a nearly 120-acre county-owned area adjacent to the zoo that contains forests, playground equipment and a popular fishing lake tucked away from a quickly growing urban area.
Zoo officials want about half of the park as part of a $50 million expansion, which Rich says is crucial for the long-term financial survival of the facility.
Some neighbors and members of at least one environmental group have expressed concern that the expansion would hamper the pristine image of the park and, possibly, shut the public out of a free recreational area.
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061215/NEWS/61215015/1001/archive
Hyderabad Zoo
A must visit tourist spot for any traveller to Hyderabad in India is Nehru Zoological Park. It has nearly 1,500 species of animals, birds and reptiles. It is Situated in the Bahadurpura area on the way to the N G Ranga Agricultural University in Rajendranagar.
Apart from the animals, a nocturnal zoo, the pre-historic dinosaur park, a natural history museum, parks, a mini-train and animal rides make the place ideal for a picnic. The most interesting thing about the Hyderabad zoo is that there are many different butterfly species inside the enclosure.
A must visit Travel spot for all those who can walk around for 6-7 hours to cover the entire 300 acres of land. One Van is provided for use by tourists to go round the Zoo. Each trip duration lasts for (45min.).
http://tourism-talk.blogspot.com/2006/12/hyderabad-zoo-information-for-tourists.html
Residents Want Stinking Jeddah Zoo Gone, Management Unsure
Hasan Hatrash, Arab News JEDDAH, 16 December 2006 — The management of the Beautiful Creatures Zoo in Jeddah’s Al-Rihab district said that it hasn’t received any official notification from the authorities regarding the non-renewal of the zoo’s property lease.
The local press published reports this week that municipal authorities received instructions from the Makkah Governorate not to renew the lease after receiving complaints from local residents.
The zoo’s manager, Abou Nawaf, said that they haven’t received any official notification about the issue from the municipality.
“We cannot speculate what would happen (if they ask us to leave),” he said, adding that once the picture is clear actions would be taken.
Wasmi Al-Wasmi, the zoo’s owner, said he built the 20,000-square-meter zoo 20 years ago when the area was undeveloped. Today it sits in a heavily residential zone.
“The zoo cost over SR50 million to become what it is today,” he said, adding that such investment is not popular because of the narrow profit margin.
According to a Jeddah Municipality spokesman, the lease contract would end within seven months, which is enough time for the zoo’s investors to search for a new location. He said that many residents have complained about the smells and noises from the zoo.
Saad Al-Subhi, a Saudi resident in the neighborhood, said that he didn’t expect the noises of the animals or the smells to be so bad when he decided to move close by. “In fact, I was wondering why the real estate is cheaper on this block compared to a few blocks away from the zoo,” he said. “We really wish it would close down.”
Zoo Boise receives $500,000 grant
The Friends of Zoo Boise has received a $500,000 grant from
The ALSAM Foundation, located in Salt Lake City, to help build the African Plains exhibit at the zoo.
The zoo needs $2.8 million to build the exhibit, and has already raised $1.4 million. When the zoo has collected another $700,000, the ALSAM Foundation will release the $500,000 matching grant and the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust will match another $200,000, to complete the zoo’s $2.8 million goal.
The African Plains exhibit will cover more than 3.5 acres and feature giraffes, lions, zebras, lemurs, rock hyrax and weaver birds. Visitors will view the animals from an African Village that will contain a schoolroom, ranger station, open-air market and an African house. In addition to the animals, visitors will learn about the culture, customs and traditions of a place half way around the world.
http://www.idahobusiness.net/archive.htm/2006/12/15/Zoo-Boise-receives-500000-grant
Polar bears in love at Alaska Zoo
FEATURED VIDEO
Students learn about polar bears, conservation Alaska man in charge of state’s brightest star Archived video of Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act given to publi by Angela UnruhFriday, Dec. 15, 2006
Anchorage, Alaska - It only took four months and now Alaska's most famous polar bear is in a typical relationship. You know the one where they can't get enough of each other one day and then want privacy the next?
Ahpun has been sharing her exhibit at the Alaska Zoo with Luytyik, who goes by Louie, and came from Sea World Resort in Australia with the hopes to mate with Ahpun.
From necking to kisses on the forehead, Ahpun and Louie are no longer strangers.
"Lou sometimes will bring food to Ahpun, which is pretty amazing. We saw it for the first time a couple weeks ago in the dens where they eat side by side. He was pushing some fish underneath the door for her, trying to bribe her," said zookeeper Tina Ferrelli.
But some days bribes don't work -- some days like today, when Ahpun just wanted her space.
"I think she was saying, ‘Not this morning,'" said Ferrelli.
http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=5822784
Zoo says it needs to use park land Residents say move could hurt recreation
By JASON CLAYWORTHREGISTER STAFF WRITER
December 16, 2006 3 Comments
Des Moines' Blank Park Zoo will move - possibly out of Polk County - if it can't gain control of roughly 60 publicly owned acres needed for an expansion, a zoo official warned Friday.
"It boils down to a philosophical use of land, but for us it boils down to we want to think ahead," Terry Rich, the zoo's chief operating officer, said. "We're trying to do a long-range plan for the zoo and trying to do something positive."
At the center of the issue is Fort Des Moines Park, a nearly 120-acre area adjacent to the zoo that features wooded areas, playground equipment and a popular fishing lake tucked away from a quickly growing urban area.
Zoo officials want about half of the park as part of a $50 million expansion, which Rich says is crucial for the long-term financial health of the facility.
Some neighbors and members of at least one environmental group have expressed concern that the zoo expansion would have a negative effect on the park and could eliminate a free recreational area for the public.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061216/NEWS05/612160352/1001/RSS01
Polar bear twins migrate north from Rostock Zoo to Ranua
A cool dip in their new pool was the first thing that two female polar bears had when they reached the Ranua Zoo in the north of Finland on Thursday. At the age of just over one year, the twin sisters Valeska and Venus immigrated to Ranua from a zoo in the German city of Rostock. The polar bears travelled to Hanko by boat and from there to Ranua in an air-conditioned lorry designed specifically for animal transport. The bears were kept in separate cages for the duration of the two-day trip. "During the trip the smaller of the sisters, Venus, rattled the bars of her transport cage nervously, since the two have never been separated before", animal attendant Miia Varanka explained. The staff of the Ranua Zoo had been asking zoos around Europe for females to be companions for Manasse a 16-year-old male, whose previous partner, Martika, died three years ago. The new bears are much smaller and more playful than the ageing Manasse. The twins were moved into a large enclosure with a recently-renovated three-metre-deep pool, next to Manasse.
http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Two+female+polar+bears+move+from+rostock+to+Ranua/1135220127422
Animal rights group bats for freedom of zoo creatures
WEARING prison suits and monkey masks and holding a banner and signs that read “Zoos: Cruel Animal Prisons,” members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) Asia-Pacific will protest outside the Manila Zoo. The protest comes as Filipinos prepare to mark their 108th year of independence from Spanish colonizers on June 12, and Peta is urging the first democracy in Asia to again lead the way by becoming the first zoo-free country in the region:
Why is Peta in an uproar? Animals in the wild spend their entire lives with their close-knit families. But animals in zoos are separated from their families as babies and are sentenced to an eternity of boredom, crippling loneliness, and even abuse, leading to self-mutilation and other abnormal and self-destructive behaviors, called “zoochosis.”
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/man/2006/06/06/feat/animal.rights.group.bats.for.freedom.of.zoo.creatures.html
Life of twice 'rescued' Cambodian orangutan hangs in balance
Phnom Penh - The life of a desperately ill orangutan 'rescued' by a wildlife group from a senior government official on its way to the vet hung in the balance and a legal storm over ownership loomed, officials on both sides said Tuesday.
The ape was 'rescued' by controversial non-government conservation group WildAid in a raid it said it coordinated with military police and forestry officials Monday as the animal was being transported via taxi across the capital.
WildAid said it could find no records of proper papers being filed for legal custody of the endangered species.
But senior government official Nhim Vanda, to whom the four-year-old primate turned out to belong to, says he had been given the unnamed animal as a gift by his son, whom he believed in turn had rescued it from captivity somewhere in Cambodia.
http://science.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1170303.php/Life_of_twice_rescued_Cambodian_orangutan_hangs_in_balance
Poo To Make Money For Zoo
15/12/2006TVNZ
Wellington Zoo has ordered two new composting machines to help convert animal deposits into cash
http://xtramsn.co.nz/news/0,,11964-6703585-56,00.html
Zoo animals manure-facture power in Germany
Wed Dec 13, 2006 4:10 PM GMT
BERLIN (Reuters) - Animals at a Munich zoo will create their own power supply from Friday when their manure is recycled to generate heat and electricity.
A biogas plant at the Muenchner Tierpark Hellabrunn will be fuelled by dung from elephants, rhinoceroses, buffaloes and antelopes, and any left-over animal food.
"Everything that animals with solid and cloven hooves eat which turns into manure goes into the plant," zoo director Henning Wiesner said on Wednesday.
"We'll also save ourselves a lot of lorry journeys we'd otherwise have had to make to get rid of the manure, so it's doubly environmentally friendly."
The plant, launched in co-operation with Munich city council, operates by fermenting the manure. This produces methane which is burnt to provide energy.
Wiesner said it was too early to say exactly how much of the zoo's heating needs would be met by the plant but it should be a significant proportion. Animals at the zoo produce roughly 2,000 tonnes of dung a year.
concluding ...
Being complete makes us more so.
"We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth." -- Henry Beston, circa 1925
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