Smile for the camera. Okay, you can roar if you want.
Snow Leopard at the Taronga Zoo
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Morning Papers- concluding
Zoos
Petting Zoos: Legislation Needed to Protect Young Visitors
“Petting zoos are well known E. coli hot zones and should have strong E. coli control measures in place,” said foodborne illness lawyer Fred Pritzker. “This outbreak highlights the need to pass legislation mandating these safeguards in New Jersey.”
(PRWEB) August 15, 2006 -- Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7 causes approximately 73,000 illnesses in the United States annually, leading to an estimated 2,168 hospitalizations and 61 deaths. Children under 5 are at particular risk of becoming seriously ill from an E. coli O157:H7 infection, which can lead to severe dehydration, intestinal hemorrhaging, and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). In the United States, HUS is the leading cause of kidney failure in children. Approximately 3%--5% of HUS patients die each year.
The primary route of transmission for E. coli O157:H7 is foodborne; however, transmission from animal contact does occur in about 3% of the cases each year. Two outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 infections in 2000 were the first reported in the United States to be associated with direct transmission of E. coli O157 from farm animals to humans. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the factors that led to infection in these outbreaks were direct animal contact and inadequate hand washing.
Since 2000, there have been several E. coli outbreaks associated with animal contact at farms, fairs, and petting zoos. Risk factors for young victims of the outbreaks have included feeding animals, petting animals, caring for an ill calf, getting visible manure on their hands or feet, handling sawdust, eating and drinking in a building where animals were exhibited and breathing in airborne dust. Hand washing and the use of hand sanitizers have helped prevent some transmission of E. coli from animal to child, but hundreds of children have still become ill.
Health officials in New Jersey are currently investigating an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections that may be associated with Palisades Country Day Camp & School in Closter, New Jersey, a day camp and school for children ages 3 to 6. Eight people have confirmed E. coli infections. Palisades Country Day Camp & School has a petting zoo. Although the petting zoo has not been pinpointed as the source of the outbreak, the animals and the animal environment will be thoroughly tested.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/8/prweb424627.htm
Oregon Zoo Presents Tillamook Cheese Day, Aug. 25, At The Family Farm
PORTLAND, Oregon - Mooooove over, Packy! Tillie the Cow is coming to visit, as the Oregon Zoo presents Tillamook Cheese Day, Friday, Aug. 25, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the zoo's Trillium Creek Family Farm. " Tillamook Cheese Day is a fun way to bring attention to the importance of farming," says Tony Vecchio, zoo director. "The zoo's heritage livestock breeds take visitors back to a time when Oregon was a vast agricultural center, and we're very pleased that Tillamook Cheese is helping us celebrate this tradition," he added.
http://www.medfordnews.com/articles/index.cfm?artOID=332090&cp=10997
Zoo begins contest to name baby elephant
By Diane Toroian Keaggy
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
08/14/2006
The St. Louis Zoo is asking elephant lovers to help pick the name of its new Asian calf. Elephant keepers selected five names for its naming contest. They all are easy to pronounce and reflect the calf’s Asian heritage.
The choices are:
-- Sundari (soon-dar-ee) which means "beautiful woman."
-- Nisha (NEESH-ah) which means "night."
-- Maliha (mah-lee-hah) which means "strong" and "beautiful."
-- Sashi (SAH-shee) which means "moon"
-- Jaya (JAY-ah) which means "victorious."
Participants may cast their votes online at www.stlzoo.org or www.kmov.com or send a postcard marked "Vote for the Baby Elephant" to KMOV, 1 Memorial Drive, St. Louis, MO, 63102. Include your name, age, address, daytime phone number and name selection.
Voting concludes at noon, Aug. 28. The winner will be randomly selected among those who voted for the top name. The winner will receive a private visit with the elephant, a Zoo membership, an elephant gift basket and other prizes. Only one vote per day allowed. Parents should submit votes from children younger than 18.a
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/EFC004FF148B0247862571CA00561009?OpenDocument
¢7m Zoo for Accra
... animals to be relocated to K’si Zoo
By Razak Mardorgyz Abubakar Posted: Thursday, August 03, 2006
A SEVEN Million modern zoo is to be built in Accra in the Achimota Forest.
To this end, plans are afoot to relocate all the animals and reptiles of the zoo to Kumasi by the end of September this year.
This was announced by the Minister of Land, Forestry and Mines, Professor Dominic Fobih to the Press in Accra when he visited the Flagstaff House, the abode of the Accra Zoo, to find out the stage of preparations to relocate the animals to make way for the construction of the presidential complex palace at the Flagstaff House.
The Accra Zoo, a private zoo for the first President of Ghana, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah at the Flagstaff House, the then official residence of the President, became a public zoo after the 1966 overthrow of the Nkrumah regime.
The Minister observed that since the zoo became a public one, his Ministry had been struggling to build a new zoo befitting Accra, noting that many options had been looked at over the years but the main stumbling block had been resources to start and complete it.
He noted that the relocation of the zoo to the Achimota Forest offers an opportunity to realise the Ministry’s dream to build a new modern zoo for Accra as part of the plan of developing the Achimota Forest.
Prof. Fobih said 102 acres of the Achimota Forest had been zoned for wildlife activities as part of the Ministry’s Achimota Forest Development Plan.
He said the Ministry was in touch with the Zoological Society of London (London Zoo) to work with Ghana’s Wildlife Division to achieve the purpose of the new Accra Zoo becoming and educational institution for children to be educated on conservation, culture, natural, sciences, using the zoo and its exhibits.
Prof. Fobih said the construction of the new zoo has been planned in such a way that it would spread over a period of five years, however, within a maximum of two years, it should be opened to the public while the rest follows in phases.
“It is recognised that the lack of a zoo in Accra has negative connotation and impact and therefore everything was being done to shorten the time to have a functional zoo in Accra”, he said.
The Executive Director of the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission. Mr. Yaw Ofori-Frimpong, noted that the relocation of the exhibits of the Accra Zoo to Kumasi was in the right direction and hoped the relocation, when completed, would be visited by residents of Kumasi so that the zoo could be properly managed because the cost of sustaining the exhibits was becoming very difficult.
http://www.ghanaian-chronicle.com/thestory.asp?id=11056
New Online Anti-Venom Index Launched
CBN News.com
CBNNews.com – SILVER SPRING, Md. -- A venomous snakebite can create a life-threatening situation. And often the proper antidote, and the speed at which it can be obtained, can mean the difference between life and death.
There are approximately 3,000 native and 50 non-native (exotic) bites from venomous snakes reported to U.S. poison centers each year. When the situation involves an exotic species, it can be particularly difficult to determine the appropriate anti-venom, locate a supply, and get it to the patient speedily.
But now, a collaborative effort by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC) uses new technologies to get treatment to the patient faster.
The Online Anti-Venom Index is a Web-based database allowing doctors, poison control centers, and hospitals to quickly access up-to-date information about anti-venom stocked at AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums.
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/healthscience/060811a.aspx
THE ON-LINE ANti-VENOM INDEX
http://www.cbn.com/noindex/go.aspx?redirectpage=http://www.aza.org/ai/&title=venomindex
In Athol, zebras aren't just for zoos anymore
Zebras aren't just for zoos anymore
ATHOL, ID. -- A childhood dream has finally come true for an Athol, Idaho woman who is raising a zebra in her backyard. The zebra, Maggie Mae, isn’t being raised as a pet but eventually for therapy.
Maggie Mae is just two months old, and since most people in Athol only see zebras at the zoo or on television, the zebra is getting quite a bit of attention.
The zebra’s owner, Kristina Anderson, takes Maggie Mae everywhere she goes, even to work where Anderson built a pen for her behind her office. Anderson works at a mental health clinic and hopes that one day Maggie Mae's affection will help others heal.
“Somebody that might not be able to sit down and talk to a therapist about something personal may find it easier to relate with the animal and find real healing which is what we all want,” Anderson said.
Even though Anderson says Maggie Mae isn't old enough for therapy, her charm already works on people who stop and stare and even pet the zebra when Anderson takes her out for a walk.
While many consider Maggie Mae adorable she takes a lot of work. It costs $600 a month to feed her and takes eight bottles every three hours and eventually will grow to be 700 pounds.
http://www.kxly.com/news/index.php?sect_rank=3§ion_id=561&story_id=4208
Zoo bosses defend Thai elephant transfer
August 13, 2006 10:17pm
Article from: AAP
Font size: + -
Send this article: Print Email
ZOO bosses have brushed off concerns about the controversial transfer of eight Asian elephants from Thailand to Australia.
Critics say the importation of the eight animals contributes to the illegal poaching trade and that the exercise is little more than a money-spinning venture.
Protesters, who initially delayed the elephants' transportation to Utapao airport near Bangkok in June, said the animals should not be transported because they were born in the wild, and would therefore be banned under an international agreement from being traded.
But Guy Cooper, chief executive of Sydney's Taronga Zoo, said he was absolutely confident that the transfer was not inadvertently contributing to the poaching trade, adding that his zoo was keen to start a captive breeding program to save the elephants from extinction.
“We are looking forward to nurturing this family of elephants and ensuring that we have a safety net for this wonderful species for the rest of the century and beyond,” he told Channel Nine's Sixty Minutes program.
“Unfortunately zoos are going to become the last lifeline. That's sad but that's a fact and we've got to be ready for it.”
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20116946-1702,00.html
Human interaction plays larger role in zoos' survival
Some take guests behind the scenes to get them more invested in goals
By JOHN SEEWER
Associated Press
TOLEDO, OHIO — The walk-in freezer at the Toledo Zoo's Arctic exhibit is stocked with fish and frozen treats for the polar bears — including whole fish and pigs' ears embedded in chunks of ice.
It smells as bad as it sounds.
Impressive stuff, however, to 12-year-old Blake Grendel, of Riverview, Mich. "That was really cool," he said during an hourlong tour behind the scenes.
Zoos now are allowing visitors to see and do things that were off-limits until a few years ago. Visitors can help wash an elephant with a scrub brush at the Oregon Zoo and hide toys in the animal enclosures at the Philadelphia Zoo.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nation/4112238.html
Penguins, pythons and politics: SVSU professors show how political forces shape zoos
At the reptile houses and the tiger pens, the deer area and the giraffe exhibit, everything from the descriptive signs to the layout of the tiger exhibit at your local zoo traces a history of competing political interests.
Jesse Donahue and her husband Erik Trump, political science professors at SVSU, should know. They've visited dozens of zoos nationwide -- looking at more than just the monkeys -- to research their new book, "The Politics of Zoos: Exotic Animals and Their Protectors."
Zoos don't usually take a prominent place in our consciousness, but more people visit them than any other public city attractions, including museums and historical societies, Donahue said.
"They are partly recreational, partly educational, partly political institutions," Donahue said.
http://www.ourmidland.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17046606&BRD=2289&PAG=461&dept_id=472542&rfi=6
Brews at the zoo could be on tap
County to look at request to sell beer, wine
BY JEFF SCHWEERS
FLORIDA TODAY
In the works. Mike Strotman and Justin Atkinson measure and cut wood Friday for the concession area at the Brevard Zoo in Viera. The zoo is hoping to sell alcohol there. Craig Bailey, FLORIDA TODAY
When and where
The Brevard County Planning and Zoning Board meets at 3 p.m. Monday at the County Government Center, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera.
Visitor numbers
Brevard Zoo has had a strong summer -- 29,378 visitors in July alone, up 17 percent from last July. The zoo's strongest month was March, with more than 57,000 visitors.
VIERA - Visitors to the Brevard Zoo could soon order a tall, frosty one and walk around with beer in hand while checking out the native wildlife and exotic animals.
The zoo is now limited to serving beer and wine at after-hours events, such as "Summer Saturday Nights" and "Boo at the Zoo." But it wants to sell those beverages during the day.
"It's really silly, because if tourists want beer during the day, it's the same," said Keith Winsten, the zoo's executive director.
The East Coast Zoological Society has asked the county to let it serve beer and wine before 5 p.m. The request goes before the planning and zoning board today. The board will pass its recommendation to the county commission.
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060807/NEWS01/608070320
Rescuers race to save Central American frogs
Fungus puts species at risk of extinction
By JENNI LAIDMAN
BLADE SCIENCE WRITER
First of two parts
EL VALLE DE ANTN, Panama - Kent Bekker of the Toledo Zoo starts his day swinging a makeshift net across damp grass. It's about 8:30 in the morning, and already, the air is near liquid with humidity.
One doesn't so much move through the day as swim through it. Nothing dries out. Skin glistens with sweat even when the evening's mountain breezes make light jackets necessary. Car interiors smell of mildew. An abandoned damp towel sprouts a carpet of mold. A climate that allows a gardener's dream of lush flowers is the perfect breeding ground for fungi.
It is also the ideal home for a fungus few here have heard of. It's called chytrid (KIT-rid), or formally Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, and it's completing a deadly sweep through Central America. It threatens to kill nearly all of Panama's frogs, as it has in Costa Rica and Mexico before this, and as it is doing on every continent on the planet. It's why the Toledo Zoo sent Mr. Bekker to Panama. He's part of a team attempting an unprecedented feat: the rescue of dozens of frog species from extinction.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060806/NEWS06/608060305
Walk on wild side at an end
Catskill Game Farm, founded in 1933, will close for good at the end of tourism season
CATSKILL -- Its 73rd year will be the last for the Catskill Game Farm. The 1,000-acre tourist attraction that has drawn generations of families from far and wide will close at the end of the season on Oct. 9, owner Kathie Schulz said Thursday.
The game farm, founded by her parents, Roland and Kathryn Lindemann in 1933, imported animals from around the globe and now has about 2,000. Schulz purchased the park in 1989 from her parents.
The animals, as well as the equipment and vehicles, will be sold Oct. 17 and 18 by Coldwater, Mich.-based Norton Auctioneers, which specializes in zoos, amusement parks and museums. Some of the property already is on the market, Schulz said, although she has no immediate plans for the rest of the acreage. The game farm has 30 year-round and 50 seasonal employees.
"This used to be a very busy vacation area," but as other attractions, and hotels and boarding houses, closed, attendance dropped off, Schulz said. "People are looking for more sophisticated entertainment," with baby boomers flying off to distant tourist spots.
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=505472&category=REGION&newsdate=8/4/2006
British Bankruptcies Soar
LONDON, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Personal bankruptcies soared 58 percent in England between April and June as people struggle against rising living costs coupled with low-interest credit cards.
Electric Bills Triple in S. Calif.
ROSEMEAD, Calif., Aug. 5 (UPI) -- The heat wave blamed for 139 deaths in California also tripled many residents` electric bills in July, Southern California Edison says.
Customers used 31 percent more electricity during the July heat wave than they did in June, with many doubling their usage, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.
New York`s Catskill Game Farm to Close
CATSKILL, N.Y., Aug. 5 (UPI) -- A well-known animal theme park in Catskill, N.Y., will close for good Oct. 9 after 73 years, a victim of economics, the owner says.
The Catskill Game Farm, a privately owned 915-acre zoo and animal theme park, will auction most of its more than 2,000 animals in 150 species from around the world, owner Kathie Schultz tells the Kingston (N.Y.) Daily Freeman.
Opened in 1933 by Schultz`s father, the game farm in 1958 became the first privately owned animal theme park in the United States to be recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a zoo.
The park, which includes endangered species as well as familiar zoo animals, also features a petting zoo, circus-style animal acts and children`s rides. It is known for breeding animals for other zoos worldwide.
More than 135 million people yearly visit zoos in the United States and Canada, but most zoos operate at a loss.
Florida Theme Parks to Give Storm Refunds
ORLANDO, Fla., Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Walt Disney World and Universal Studios will give full refunds if vacations at their Orlando, Fla., theme parks are disrupted by weather.
Universal says the storms do not need to have hit Florida or even be headed there for vacationers to get refunds. They just need to be active and been given a name by the National Hurricane Center, WKMG-TV, Orlando, Fla., reports.
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/business/article_1187304.php/Business_Roundup
Exotic extinction looms in zoos
Under threat … a snow leopard at Taronga Zoo, which is facing a dramatic fall in its exotic animals.
Photo: Rick Stevens
SAY goodbye to the African elephant, the black rhinoceros and jaguar, for sure. Possibly to the leopard, the polar bear and hippopotamus as well. Most exotic mammals in Australia's zoos are headed for local extinction.
The number of foreign species that the public can see will start to shrink from 127 mammals to as few as 31 in years to come, a survey of the zoos has found.
Long reliant on imports rather than breeding, the institutions have hit trouble in a changing world. Tighter wildlife trade rules and stricter quarantine in the face of more virulent diseases such as bird flu are increasingly keeping animals out, and local numbers are too low to breed.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/exotic-extinction-looms-in-zoos/2006/08/04/1154198329032.html
CHRIS TARRANT EXCLUSIVE: MY ROMP IN A ZOO
EXCLUSIVE
By Cameron Robertson
TV Millionaire host Chris Tarrant has confessed he once had sex in London Zoo.
The presenter said he could not afford a hotel for the romp.
Confronted by comic Meera Syal, embarrassed Tarrant, 59, joked: "It was not with one of the animals, by the way. We were young and in love."
And he gasped: "How did you get into this research? It was a long time ago."
It is thought to have happened before fame hit in the late 1970s.
Last night, Tarrant, who married second wife Ingrid in 1991, was abroad and unavailable for comment.
His confession was on BBC1's The Kumars At No 42, to be shown on August 18.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17509830&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=tarrant--my-romp-in-a-zoo--name_page.html
Zoos wants to 'milk' elephant
Chawang, the bull elephant at the Night Safari that gained notoriety for nearly goring its keeper to death in 2001, has been isolated once more for aggressive behaviour. But this time, it is because the 29-year-old elephant is in sexual heat, also known as musth.
.
The condition, which can last three to five months, has seen Chawang hurl mud balls at zookeepers, dig his tusks into the ground and chase buggies that come near him.
.
Said the curator of Zoology at the Night Safari, Mr Kumar Pillay: "The word musth is a Persian word which means intoxication. We don't put in females together with him when he is on musth because he is aggressive and we don't want the females to be injured.
.
"Once he is out of musth, he is always with the female and as a matter of fact, we've got two breeding females right now and one of them is already nursing a young and the other female has been mated by him and we are hopeful she is pregnant."
.
And Chawang's popularity has also spread worldwide as a zoo in Europe is planning to purchase his semen for use in artificial insemination in one of their female elephants. Chawang's semen is valuable because he is one of the few wild born elephants to be found in zoos, and he can contribute to the genetic diversity of the global zoo elephant gene pool. — Channel NewsAsia
Chawang, the bull elephant at the Night Safari that gained notoriety for nearly goring its keeper to death in 2001, has been isolated once more for aggressive behaviour. But this time, it is because the 29-year-old elephant is in sexual heat, also known as musth.
.
The condition, which can last three to five months, has seen Chawang hurl mud balls at zookeepers, dig his tusks into the ground and chase buggies that come near him.
.
Said the curator of Zoology at the Night Safari, Mr Kumar Pillay: "The word musth is a Persian word which means intoxication. We don't put in females together with him when he is on musth because he is aggressive and we don't want the females to be injured.
.
"Once he is out of musth, he is always with the female and as a matter of fact, we've got two breeding females right now and one of them is already nursing a young and the other female has been mated by him and we are hopeful she is pregnant."
.
And Chawang's popularity has also spread worldwide as a zoo in Europe is planning to purchase his semen for use in artificial insemination in one of their female elephants. Chawang's semen is valuable because he is one of the few wild born elephants to be found in zoos, and he can contribute to the genetic diversity of the global zoo elephant gene pool. — Channel NewsAsia
http://www.todayonline.com/articles/134527.asp
Polar bears in Berlin's zoo enjoy ice with a difference
Berlin, July 25: The polar bear has a layer of fat that can be as much as four inches thick. This helps it survive in the freezing temperatures of its natural habitat, but doesn't help much in a zoo as the German polar bear Lars discovered.
Lars and his mate live in Berlin Zoo, where the temperature on Friday (July 21) was above 30 degrees celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) again. But Lars has been able to have a refreshing break thanks to his sponsors.
"The company 'Eis Vogel' sponsors the polar bear Lars, and they thought they would bring a bit of diversity into his life and if it is too hot then we shall donate some ice, and that is what they have for a change," Zookeeper Markus Robke said.
'Eis Vogel' donated ice which they usually use for decorations at events, so while wild polar bears are digging out shallow "summer dens" in order to escape the heat, Lars is able to play with the ice footballs or demolish ice on Brandenburg Gate.
Polar bears can survive even when the temperature drops to minus 70 degrees because its fat keeps its body heat trapped inside.
The hairs on a polar bear are hollow and can channel ultraviolet light from the sun down to the bear's black skin, which absorbs it. This means that the bear's body is somewhat like a greenhouse, trapping solar energy and then storing it in the from of heat.
But that is the last thing that the Berlin Zoo bears need in this heat.
Thanks to their sponsors though, the bears can take long cool swims in their ice-cooled pool, and as an extra treat, their food is even chilled too.
"In the large blocks of ice back there are bits of fruit and vegetables and meat, otherwise it is just normal crushed ice which they use for parties," Robke said.
So while the temperatures continue to climb into the thirties in Berlin, polar bear Lars and his mate will be having a nice ice party of their own.
http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=311445&ssid=26&sid=ENV
Int’l zoo conference to be held in Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh City is to host an international conference for the South East Asian Zoos Association on effective management and wildlife conservation, reported the city authorities.
The 15th annual conference is scheduled to take place September 11-13 with participation of 100 experts and officials from zoological and botanical gardens from 26 countries around the world.
Most of the participants to the conference are directors, veterinarians, and technicians.
Under the theme of ‘Zoos on the fringe’, the three-day event’s organization board will hold seminars to discuss topics on everything from animal husbandry and veterinary medicine to fund raising, conservation, animal welfare and ethics.
After the conference, participants will be invited to join an optional tour to Cat Tien national park in southern Dong Nai province, 160km from HCMC, or visit Hue citadel or Hoi An ancient city in Vietnam’s central region.
The event is a great chance for the Saigon Zoo, the largest of its kind in Vietnam to introduce itself and conduct exchanged with counterparts in foreign countries.
Reported by M.V. – Translated by Minh Phat
http://www.thanhniennews.com/entertaiments/?catid=6&newsid=18432
L.A. Zoo's failed fight to save chimp recalled
BY DANA BARTHOLOMEW, Staff Writer
GRIFFITH PARK - The chimpanzees were barking in alarm at something in the grass at the edge of their Los Angeles Zoo exhibit.
Then Judeo, the zoo's oldest male chimp, stuck out his long furry hand to investigate - a moment of curiosity that would cost him his life.
Buried in the pampas was a 3-foot Southern Pacific rattlesnake.
"We knew something was in there, but we didn't know what," said Jennifer Gonsman, one of two great ape keepers eyeballing the commotion with binoculars last week. "He stuck his hand in the bush and pulled it out quickly and that's when he got bit."
Los Angeles Zoo curators, keepers and veterinarians on Wednesday recalled the seven-hour effort to save Judeo, the 28-year-old chimp who died July 26 after the first rattlesnake bite ever to occur at the zoo's house of primates.
And while one zookeeper told the Daily News earlier this week that chimp keepers had waited hours to take action and failed to administer antivenin, Judeo's minders said Wednesday they did everything to save him.
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_4128769
Zoo celebrates birth of its new top cats
These cute cubs are a purr-fect excuse for celebrations at a Norfolk zoo.
The birth of two strong, healthy - and very lively - Sri Lankan leopards has delighted staff at Banham Zoo, near Diss.
They had been anticipating the possibility of cubs ever since a new female arrived in June 2005 and was introduced to the zoo's male leopard.
The keepers observed the pair's behaviour so they could predict when such an event might occur and, following a successful mating in March this year, the pregnancy was monitored closely. The female was moved to the cubbing quarters in good time for the birth which took place, as expected, on June 6.
Initially, mum and cubs were given complete privacy, and it is only in recent days that keepers have been able to confirm there were two youngsters as they ventured out into their enclosure.
http://new.edp24.co.uk/content/news/story.aspx?brand=EDPOnline&category=News&tBrand=EDPOnline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED02%20Aug%202006%2021%3A03%3A36%3A387
Elephant calf goes on public display at Dickerson Park Zoo
© 2006, Springfield News-Leader
The baby elephant born at the Dickerson Park Zoo last week is now on display to the public.
The as-yet unnamed female calf was born to Moola on July 18. The elephant is the third calf born to Moola and the first calf born at the zoo since Haji in 1999.
Dickerson Park Zoo will announce by week's end the guidelines by which people in the community can suggest names for the elephant.
The elephant is the third calf born to Moola and the first calf born at the zoo since Haji in 1999.
http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060725/BREAKING01/60725012
Zoo's oldest Asian elephant to be euthanized
This is a press release courtesy of the Oregon Zoo
Pet, the Oregon Zoo's oldest Asian elephant, is experiencing a health crisis, and zoo veterinary and keeper staff have run out of medical treatment options. The 51-year-old elephant and herd matriarch has degenerative arthritis and other age-related conditions, which are not responding to medication any longer.
"Pet has always been pigeon-toed and we've been managing her arthritis through medication and exercise for a long time," said Mike Keele, the zoo's deputy director. "The inward angle of her front feet has exacerbated her arthritis and lately it's become clear that she's in discomfort."
http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=87942
Zoo & Golf Courses
Beth Shayne
County commissioner Mike Severino sees the Potter Park Zoo like this: "It's kind of like a car where you owe more than it's worth."
He says an asset, yes, but it's a burden too, and one Ingham County shouldn't take on without an incentive.
"Before they come to my constitutents and ask for tax dollars as a bail out, I'd like to see the city council bring more assets to the table," he says.
His proposal would have Lansing give up two golf courses as well. The mayor had proposed selling them earlier in the year, but council is opposed to the idea.
Severino says Ingham County could use the green space as a park, recreational area, or even a water park, and the city could use the help. "The city council's been...non committal. I'd really like to see them come to this with an open mind," he says.
For now, he has City Councilwoman Kathie Dunbar's Attention. She says voters should focus on the zoo millage separately for now, but down the line, sharing the land that is the golf courses with the county could be a win-win.
She suggests shortening the Red Cedar's 9-holes and using the extra space for a cross-county skiing area. "Nobody loses," Dunbar says. "We get additional park space used by more people, and golfers get golf."
Could the plan hold up a deal on the zoo millage? City and county insiders emphasize it is not the issue now.
Still, Severino says make it one. "If we're gonna regionalize the zoo, we need to provide resources and opportunities for the tri-county area." He says it's best way to sell Potter Park as an opportunity for all.
http://www.wilx.com/news/headlines/3422226.html
Endangered Animals Seized, Drugs Found Near Local Zoo
POSTED: 4:37 pm EDT July 25, 2006
UPDATED: 5:34 pm EDT July 25, 2006
ROCKWELL, N.C. -- State and federal agents seized endangered animals from a local exotic animal park that was temporarily shut down.
Officials said they found drugs and guns inside the owner's home right near the children's exhibits at the Metrolina Wildlife Park.
Located in Rowan County, the park has venomous snakes, exotic birds, wolves, bears, and big cats including tigers and lions. There's also a petting zoo.
About 500 people visited the park in Rockwell just last week.
Undercover officers got a tip about some native wildlife being held illegally and executed a search warrant on Tuesday.
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/9573557/detail.html
Officials skip work for zoo trip, end up in flower garden
HANDA, Aichi -- Assembly members and officials of the Handa Municipal Government ignored the official schedule to go sightseeing when they visited Sapporo for a national city conference, it has been learned.
From Handa in central Japan, 16 municipal assembly members spent 225,000 yen each, covered by the local government, to attend the conference in Sapporo on July 20 and 21, designed to discuss local administration topics. Two top officials also accompanied them.
After arriving in Sapporo on July 19, they attended the conference on July 20. A panel discussion program and four inspection trips were planned for July 21. Those from Handa were set to attend one of the inspection trips to a beer brewery.
On that day, however, 12 of the Handa assembly members and the two officials visited Furano to see its famous lavender instead.
They reportedly went there after initially trying to go to a zoo in Asahikawa, but gave up due to heavy traffic. Their absence was reported when those from other cities noticed they didn't attend the inspection on July 21.
Assembly members made an apology during a meeting on Tuesday.
"We talked with the head of the Asahikawa zoo on the first day of the conference and decided that a visit to the zoo was more valuable than an inspection tour," one of them said. "We now regret the decision." (Mainichi)
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20060726p2a00m0na007000c.html
Plight of animals at Haifa Zoo
By Raffi Berg
BBC News, Haifa
Buba the bear is not well. She has been locked inside for most of the past nine days and the effects are beginning to show.
"She has developed an abscess on her leg and I am worried about her," said Dr Etty Ararat, the director of Haifa Zoo.
Like all the mammals at the zoo, Buba, an eight-year-old Brown Syrian bear, has been confined to her concrete sleeping quarters for her own safety as the city is bombarded by missiles from Lebanon.
"The bears are not stressed by the air raid sirens but they don't understand why they have to be inside all the time," said Dr Ararat.
The staff at the zoo cannot take any chances. Sirens sound repeatedly throughout the day and where rockets have landed the effects have been devastating.
The animals are let out under supervision for short periods, but when the alarms sound they are hurriedly ushered back in.
Search for food
Of the zoo's regular 40-strong staff, Dr Ararat is one of only four who remain at the eight-acre site to take care of 1,000 animals, despite the danger.
The zoo's plight is made worse by the fact that the conflict has forced it to close to the public at what should be its busiest time of the year.
"In July and August we get about 3,000 people a day but now we are losing money every day, which will have an impact on everything," Dr Ararat said.
"Also, our suppliers are closed, so trying to find food for the animals is a mission these days, when usually it's not, and we need help."
As she makes her rounds, Dr Ararat stops at the big cats enclosure, a spacious, sculpted compound where the lions, tigers and leopards normally roam free. But here, too, the animals are languishing indoors, with just enough space to pace or lie on the floor.
The conditions are taking their toll on Barbara, an elderly 32-year-old Bengal tiger, who first arrived at the zoo, starving, some 20 years ago after being abandoned by a travelling circus.
"Barbara is depressed," said Dr Ararat. "She likes to play outside but since she has been in here she has stopped playing. She usually comes to me, but now she doesn't pay any attention."
Anxious baboons
Next door, three African lions - Simba, Jungle and Gov - sit in their small indoor compound, watching with suspicion as I enter.
They barely stir but begin to growl as I move closer, making me wonder if the warring has left their nerves on edge.
"Actually, the sirens don't have any effect on them," Dr Ararat said. "All big cats are lazy and they don't seem to mind being in here, so long as we bring them food. But of course, it's not good for them."
The carnivores are also kept inside for another reason. The bars of the lions' enclosure were recently replaced with glass, which could be shattered by an exploding missile.
"If the glass breaks and they get free, it would be dangerous for all the people in the town," said Dr Ararat.
Of all the animals in the zoo, the worst affected by the sirens and intermittent booms are the 17 baboons.
"We can see the change in their behaviour," said Dr Arafat. "They are very anxious to get out and they are starting to knock on the doors.
"Today we gave the baboons a treat of popcorn, which they love. At the moment they're still eating and if we see any signs of stress then of course we will act accordingly."
Dr Ararat says the longer the war continues, the worse it will get for the zoo.
"I hope it will end soon - it's no good, for people or animals. But I am a born optimist and one way or another, the zoo will survive."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5213602.stm
continued ...
Petting Zoos: Legislation Needed to Protect Young Visitors
“Petting zoos are well known E. coli hot zones and should have strong E. coli control measures in place,” said foodborne illness lawyer Fred Pritzker. “This outbreak highlights the need to pass legislation mandating these safeguards in New Jersey.”
(PRWEB) August 15, 2006 -- Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7 causes approximately 73,000 illnesses in the United States annually, leading to an estimated 2,168 hospitalizations and 61 deaths. Children under 5 are at particular risk of becoming seriously ill from an E. coli O157:H7 infection, which can lead to severe dehydration, intestinal hemorrhaging, and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). In the United States, HUS is the leading cause of kidney failure in children. Approximately 3%--5% of HUS patients die each year.
The primary route of transmission for E. coli O157:H7 is foodborne; however, transmission from animal contact does occur in about 3% of the cases each year. Two outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 infections in 2000 were the first reported in the United States to be associated with direct transmission of E. coli O157 from farm animals to humans. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the factors that led to infection in these outbreaks were direct animal contact and inadequate hand washing.
Since 2000, there have been several E. coli outbreaks associated with animal contact at farms, fairs, and petting zoos. Risk factors for young victims of the outbreaks have included feeding animals, petting animals, caring for an ill calf, getting visible manure on their hands or feet, handling sawdust, eating and drinking in a building where animals were exhibited and breathing in airborne dust. Hand washing and the use of hand sanitizers have helped prevent some transmission of E. coli from animal to child, but hundreds of children have still become ill.
Health officials in New Jersey are currently investigating an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections that may be associated with Palisades Country Day Camp & School in Closter, New Jersey, a day camp and school for children ages 3 to 6. Eight people have confirmed E. coli infections. Palisades Country Day Camp & School has a petting zoo. Although the petting zoo has not been pinpointed as the source of the outbreak, the animals and the animal environment will be thoroughly tested.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/8/prweb424627.htm
Oregon Zoo Presents Tillamook Cheese Day, Aug. 25, At The Family Farm
PORTLAND, Oregon - Mooooove over, Packy! Tillie the Cow is coming to visit, as the Oregon Zoo presents Tillamook Cheese Day, Friday, Aug. 25, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the zoo's Trillium Creek Family Farm. " Tillamook Cheese Day is a fun way to bring attention to the importance of farming," says Tony Vecchio, zoo director. "The zoo's heritage livestock breeds take visitors back to a time when Oregon was a vast agricultural center, and we're very pleased that Tillamook Cheese is helping us celebrate this tradition," he added.
http://www.medfordnews.com/articles/index.cfm?artOID=332090&cp=10997
Zoo begins contest to name baby elephant
By Diane Toroian Keaggy
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
08/14/2006
The St. Louis Zoo is asking elephant lovers to help pick the name of its new Asian calf. Elephant keepers selected five names for its naming contest. They all are easy to pronounce and reflect the calf’s Asian heritage.
The choices are:
-- Sundari (soon-dar-ee) which means "beautiful woman."
-- Nisha (NEESH-ah) which means "night."
-- Maliha (mah-lee-hah) which means "strong" and "beautiful."
-- Sashi (SAH-shee) which means "moon"
-- Jaya (JAY-ah) which means "victorious."
Participants may cast their votes online at www.stlzoo.org or www.kmov.com or send a postcard marked "Vote for the Baby Elephant" to KMOV, 1 Memorial Drive, St. Louis, MO, 63102. Include your name, age, address, daytime phone number and name selection.
Voting concludes at noon, Aug. 28. The winner will be randomly selected among those who voted for the top name. The winner will receive a private visit with the elephant, a Zoo membership, an elephant gift basket and other prizes. Only one vote per day allowed. Parents should submit votes from children younger than 18.a
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/EFC004FF148B0247862571CA00561009?OpenDocument
¢7m Zoo for Accra
... animals to be relocated to K’si Zoo
By Razak Mardorgyz Abubakar Posted: Thursday, August 03, 2006
A SEVEN Million modern zoo is to be built in Accra in the Achimota Forest.
To this end, plans are afoot to relocate all the animals and reptiles of the zoo to Kumasi by the end of September this year.
This was announced by the Minister of Land, Forestry and Mines, Professor Dominic Fobih to the Press in Accra when he visited the Flagstaff House, the abode of the Accra Zoo, to find out the stage of preparations to relocate the animals to make way for the construction of the presidential complex palace at the Flagstaff House.
The Accra Zoo, a private zoo for the first President of Ghana, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah at the Flagstaff House, the then official residence of the President, became a public zoo after the 1966 overthrow of the Nkrumah regime.
The Minister observed that since the zoo became a public one, his Ministry had been struggling to build a new zoo befitting Accra, noting that many options had been looked at over the years but the main stumbling block had been resources to start and complete it.
He noted that the relocation of the zoo to the Achimota Forest offers an opportunity to realise the Ministry’s dream to build a new modern zoo for Accra as part of the plan of developing the Achimota Forest.
Prof. Fobih said 102 acres of the Achimota Forest had been zoned for wildlife activities as part of the Ministry’s Achimota Forest Development Plan.
He said the Ministry was in touch with the Zoological Society of London (London Zoo) to work with Ghana’s Wildlife Division to achieve the purpose of the new Accra Zoo becoming and educational institution for children to be educated on conservation, culture, natural, sciences, using the zoo and its exhibits.
Prof. Fobih said the construction of the new zoo has been planned in such a way that it would spread over a period of five years, however, within a maximum of two years, it should be opened to the public while the rest follows in phases.
“It is recognised that the lack of a zoo in Accra has negative connotation and impact and therefore everything was being done to shorten the time to have a functional zoo in Accra”, he said.
The Executive Director of the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission. Mr. Yaw Ofori-Frimpong, noted that the relocation of the exhibits of the Accra Zoo to Kumasi was in the right direction and hoped the relocation, when completed, would be visited by residents of Kumasi so that the zoo could be properly managed because the cost of sustaining the exhibits was becoming very difficult.
http://www.ghanaian-chronicle.com/thestory.asp?id=11056
New Online Anti-Venom Index Launched
CBN News.com
CBNNews.com – SILVER SPRING, Md. -- A venomous snakebite can create a life-threatening situation. And often the proper antidote, and the speed at which it can be obtained, can mean the difference between life and death.
There are approximately 3,000 native and 50 non-native (exotic) bites from venomous snakes reported to U.S. poison centers each year. When the situation involves an exotic species, it can be particularly difficult to determine the appropriate anti-venom, locate a supply, and get it to the patient speedily.
But now, a collaborative effort by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC) uses new technologies to get treatment to the patient faster.
The Online Anti-Venom Index is a Web-based database allowing doctors, poison control centers, and hospitals to quickly access up-to-date information about anti-venom stocked at AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums.
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/healthscience/060811a.aspx
THE ON-LINE ANti-VENOM INDEX
http://www.cbn.com/noindex/go.aspx?redirectpage=http://www.aza.org/ai/&title=venomindex
In Athol, zebras aren't just for zoos anymore
Zebras aren't just for zoos anymore
ATHOL, ID. -- A childhood dream has finally come true for an Athol, Idaho woman who is raising a zebra in her backyard. The zebra, Maggie Mae, isn’t being raised as a pet but eventually for therapy.
Maggie Mae is just two months old, and since most people in Athol only see zebras at the zoo or on television, the zebra is getting quite a bit of attention.
The zebra’s owner, Kristina Anderson, takes Maggie Mae everywhere she goes, even to work where Anderson built a pen for her behind her office. Anderson works at a mental health clinic and hopes that one day Maggie Mae's affection will help others heal.
“Somebody that might not be able to sit down and talk to a therapist about something personal may find it easier to relate with the animal and find real healing which is what we all want,” Anderson said.
Even though Anderson says Maggie Mae isn't old enough for therapy, her charm already works on people who stop and stare and even pet the zebra when Anderson takes her out for a walk.
While many consider Maggie Mae adorable she takes a lot of work. It costs $600 a month to feed her and takes eight bottles every three hours and eventually will grow to be 700 pounds.
http://www.kxly.com/news/index.php?sect_rank=3§ion_id=561&story_id=4208
Zoo bosses defend Thai elephant transfer
August 13, 2006 10:17pm
Article from: AAP
Font size: + -
Send this article: Print Email
ZOO bosses have brushed off concerns about the controversial transfer of eight Asian elephants from Thailand to Australia.
Critics say the importation of the eight animals contributes to the illegal poaching trade and that the exercise is little more than a money-spinning venture.
Protesters, who initially delayed the elephants' transportation to Utapao airport near Bangkok in June, said the animals should not be transported because they were born in the wild, and would therefore be banned under an international agreement from being traded.
But Guy Cooper, chief executive of Sydney's Taronga Zoo, said he was absolutely confident that the transfer was not inadvertently contributing to the poaching trade, adding that his zoo was keen to start a captive breeding program to save the elephants from extinction.
“We are looking forward to nurturing this family of elephants and ensuring that we have a safety net for this wonderful species for the rest of the century and beyond,” he told Channel Nine's Sixty Minutes program.
“Unfortunately zoos are going to become the last lifeline. That's sad but that's a fact and we've got to be ready for it.”
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20116946-1702,00.html
Human interaction plays larger role in zoos' survival
Some take guests behind the scenes to get them more invested in goals
By JOHN SEEWER
Associated Press
TOLEDO, OHIO — The walk-in freezer at the Toledo Zoo's Arctic exhibit is stocked with fish and frozen treats for the polar bears — including whole fish and pigs' ears embedded in chunks of ice.
It smells as bad as it sounds.
Impressive stuff, however, to 12-year-old Blake Grendel, of Riverview, Mich. "That was really cool," he said during an hourlong tour behind the scenes.
Zoos now are allowing visitors to see and do things that were off-limits until a few years ago. Visitors can help wash an elephant with a scrub brush at the Oregon Zoo and hide toys in the animal enclosures at the Philadelphia Zoo.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nation/4112238.html
Penguins, pythons and politics: SVSU professors show how political forces shape zoos
At the reptile houses and the tiger pens, the deer area and the giraffe exhibit, everything from the descriptive signs to the layout of the tiger exhibit at your local zoo traces a history of competing political interests.
Jesse Donahue and her husband Erik Trump, political science professors at SVSU, should know. They've visited dozens of zoos nationwide -- looking at more than just the monkeys -- to research their new book, "The Politics of Zoos: Exotic Animals and Their Protectors."
Zoos don't usually take a prominent place in our consciousness, but more people visit them than any other public city attractions, including museums and historical societies, Donahue said.
"They are partly recreational, partly educational, partly political institutions," Donahue said.
http://www.ourmidland.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17046606&BRD=2289&PAG=461&dept_id=472542&rfi=6
Brews at the zoo could be on tap
County to look at request to sell beer, wine
BY JEFF SCHWEERS
FLORIDA TODAY
In the works. Mike Strotman and Justin Atkinson measure and cut wood Friday for the concession area at the Brevard Zoo in Viera. The zoo is hoping to sell alcohol there. Craig Bailey, FLORIDA TODAY
When and where
The Brevard County Planning and Zoning Board meets at 3 p.m. Monday at the County Government Center, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Viera.
Visitor numbers
Brevard Zoo has had a strong summer -- 29,378 visitors in July alone, up 17 percent from last July. The zoo's strongest month was March, with more than 57,000 visitors.
VIERA - Visitors to the Brevard Zoo could soon order a tall, frosty one and walk around with beer in hand while checking out the native wildlife and exotic animals.
The zoo is now limited to serving beer and wine at after-hours events, such as "Summer Saturday Nights" and "Boo at the Zoo." But it wants to sell those beverages during the day.
"It's really silly, because if tourists want beer during the day, it's the same," said Keith Winsten, the zoo's executive director.
The East Coast Zoological Society has asked the county to let it serve beer and wine before 5 p.m. The request goes before the planning and zoning board today. The board will pass its recommendation to the county commission.
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060807/NEWS01/608070320
Rescuers race to save Central American frogs
Fungus puts species at risk of extinction
By JENNI LAIDMAN
BLADE SCIENCE WRITER
First of two parts
EL VALLE DE ANTN, Panama - Kent Bekker of the Toledo Zoo starts his day swinging a makeshift net across damp grass. It's about 8:30 in the morning, and already, the air is near liquid with humidity.
One doesn't so much move through the day as swim through it. Nothing dries out. Skin glistens with sweat even when the evening's mountain breezes make light jackets necessary. Car interiors smell of mildew. An abandoned damp towel sprouts a carpet of mold. A climate that allows a gardener's dream of lush flowers is the perfect breeding ground for fungi.
It is also the ideal home for a fungus few here have heard of. It's called chytrid (KIT-rid), or formally Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, and it's completing a deadly sweep through Central America. It threatens to kill nearly all of Panama's frogs, as it has in Costa Rica and Mexico before this, and as it is doing on every continent on the planet. It's why the Toledo Zoo sent Mr. Bekker to Panama. He's part of a team attempting an unprecedented feat: the rescue of dozens of frog species from extinction.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060806/NEWS06/608060305
Walk on wild side at an end
Catskill Game Farm, founded in 1933, will close for good at the end of tourism season
CATSKILL -- Its 73rd year will be the last for the Catskill Game Farm. The 1,000-acre tourist attraction that has drawn generations of families from far and wide will close at the end of the season on Oct. 9, owner Kathie Schulz said Thursday.
The game farm, founded by her parents, Roland and Kathryn Lindemann in 1933, imported animals from around the globe and now has about 2,000. Schulz purchased the park in 1989 from her parents.
The animals, as well as the equipment and vehicles, will be sold Oct. 17 and 18 by Coldwater, Mich.-based Norton Auctioneers, which specializes in zoos, amusement parks and museums. Some of the property already is on the market, Schulz said, although she has no immediate plans for the rest of the acreage. The game farm has 30 year-round and 50 seasonal employees.
"This used to be a very busy vacation area," but as other attractions, and hotels and boarding houses, closed, attendance dropped off, Schulz said. "People are looking for more sophisticated entertainment," with baby boomers flying off to distant tourist spots.
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=505472&category=REGION&newsdate=8/4/2006
British Bankruptcies Soar
LONDON, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Personal bankruptcies soared 58 percent in England between April and June as people struggle against rising living costs coupled with low-interest credit cards.
Electric Bills Triple in S. Calif.
ROSEMEAD, Calif., Aug. 5 (UPI) -- The heat wave blamed for 139 deaths in California also tripled many residents` electric bills in July, Southern California Edison says.
Customers used 31 percent more electricity during the July heat wave than they did in June, with many doubling their usage, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.
New York`s Catskill Game Farm to Close
CATSKILL, N.Y., Aug. 5 (UPI) -- A well-known animal theme park in Catskill, N.Y., will close for good Oct. 9 after 73 years, a victim of economics, the owner says.
The Catskill Game Farm, a privately owned 915-acre zoo and animal theme park, will auction most of its more than 2,000 animals in 150 species from around the world, owner Kathie Schultz tells the Kingston (N.Y.) Daily Freeman.
Opened in 1933 by Schultz`s father, the game farm in 1958 became the first privately owned animal theme park in the United States to be recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a zoo.
The park, which includes endangered species as well as familiar zoo animals, also features a petting zoo, circus-style animal acts and children`s rides. It is known for breeding animals for other zoos worldwide.
More than 135 million people yearly visit zoos in the United States and Canada, but most zoos operate at a loss.
Florida Theme Parks to Give Storm Refunds
ORLANDO, Fla., Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Walt Disney World and Universal Studios will give full refunds if vacations at their Orlando, Fla., theme parks are disrupted by weather.
Universal says the storms do not need to have hit Florida or even be headed there for vacationers to get refunds. They just need to be active and been given a name by the National Hurricane Center, WKMG-TV, Orlando, Fla., reports.
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/business/article_1187304.php/Business_Roundup
Exotic extinction looms in zoos
Under threat … a snow leopard at Taronga Zoo, which is facing a dramatic fall in its exotic animals.
Photo: Rick Stevens
SAY goodbye to the African elephant, the black rhinoceros and jaguar, for sure. Possibly to the leopard, the polar bear and hippopotamus as well. Most exotic mammals in Australia's zoos are headed for local extinction.
The number of foreign species that the public can see will start to shrink from 127 mammals to as few as 31 in years to come, a survey of the zoos has found.
Long reliant on imports rather than breeding, the institutions have hit trouble in a changing world. Tighter wildlife trade rules and stricter quarantine in the face of more virulent diseases such as bird flu are increasingly keeping animals out, and local numbers are too low to breed.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/exotic-extinction-looms-in-zoos/2006/08/04/1154198329032.html
CHRIS TARRANT EXCLUSIVE: MY ROMP IN A ZOO
EXCLUSIVE
By Cameron Robertson
TV Millionaire host Chris Tarrant has confessed he once had sex in London Zoo.
The presenter said he could not afford a hotel for the romp.
Confronted by comic Meera Syal, embarrassed Tarrant, 59, joked: "It was not with one of the animals, by the way. We were young and in love."
And he gasped: "How did you get into this research? It was a long time ago."
It is thought to have happened before fame hit in the late 1970s.
Last night, Tarrant, who married second wife Ingrid in 1991, was abroad and unavailable for comment.
His confession was on BBC1's The Kumars At No 42, to be shown on August 18.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17509830&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=tarrant--my-romp-in-a-zoo--name_page.html
Zoos wants to 'milk' elephant
Chawang, the bull elephant at the Night Safari that gained notoriety for nearly goring its keeper to death in 2001, has been isolated once more for aggressive behaviour. But this time, it is because the 29-year-old elephant is in sexual heat, also known as musth.
.
The condition, which can last three to five months, has seen Chawang hurl mud balls at zookeepers, dig his tusks into the ground and chase buggies that come near him.
.
Said the curator of Zoology at the Night Safari, Mr Kumar Pillay: "The word musth is a Persian word which means intoxication. We don't put in females together with him when he is on musth because he is aggressive and we don't want the females to be injured.
.
"Once he is out of musth, he is always with the female and as a matter of fact, we've got two breeding females right now and one of them is already nursing a young and the other female has been mated by him and we are hopeful she is pregnant."
.
And Chawang's popularity has also spread worldwide as a zoo in Europe is planning to purchase his semen for use in artificial insemination in one of their female elephants. Chawang's semen is valuable because he is one of the few wild born elephants to be found in zoos, and he can contribute to the genetic diversity of the global zoo elephant gene pool. — Channel NewsAsia
Chawang, the bull elephant at the Night Safari that gained notoriety for nearly goring its keeper to death in 2001, has been isolated once more for aggressive behaviour. But this time, it is because the 29-year-old elephant is in sexual heat, also known as musth.
.
The condition, which can last three to five months, has seen Chawang hurl mud balls at zookeepers, dig his tusks into the ground and chase buggies that come near him.
.
Said the curator of Zoology at the Night Safari, Mr Kumar Pillay: "The word musth is a Persian word which means intoxication. We don't put in females together with him when he is on musth because he is aggressive and we don't want the females to be injured.
.
"Once he is out of musth, he is always with the female and as a matter of fact, we've got two breeding females right now and one of them is already nursing a young and the other female has been mated by him and we are hopeful she is pregnant."
.
And Chawang's popularity has also spread worldwide as a zoo in Europe is planning to purchase his semen for use in artificial insemination in one of their female elephants. Chawang's semen is valuable because he is one of the few wild born elephants to be found in zoos, and he can contribute to the genetic diversity of the global zoo elephant gene pool. — Channel NewsAsia
http://www.todayonline.com/articles/134527.asp
Polar bears in Berlin's zoo enjoy ice with a difference
Berlin, July 25: The polar bear has a layer of fat that can be as much as four inches thick. This helps it survive in the freezing temperatures of its natural habitat, but doesn't help much in a zoo as the German polar bear Lars discovered.
Lars and his mate live in Berlin Zoo, where the temperature on Friday (July 21) was above 30 degrees celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) again. But Lars has been able to have a refreshing break thanks to his sponsors.
"The company 'Eis Vogel' sponsors the polar bear Lars, and they thought they would bring a bit of diversity into his life and if it is too hot then we shall donate some ice, and that is what they have for a change," Zookeeper Markus Robke said.
'Eis Vogel' donated ice which they usually use for decorations at events, so while wild polar bears are digging out shallow "summer dens" in order to escape the heat, Lars is able to play with the ice footballs or demolish ice on Brandenburg Gate.
Polar bears can survive even when the temperature drops to minus 70 degrees because its fat keeps its body heat trapped inside.
The hairs on a polar bear are hollow and can channel ultraviolet light from the sun down to the bear's black skin, which absorbs it. This means that the bear's body is somewhat like a greenhouse, trapping solar energy and then storing it in the from of heat.
But that is the last thing that the Berlin Zoo bears need in this heat.
Thanks to their sponsors though, the bears can take long cool swims in their ice-cooled pool, and as an extra treat, their food is even chilled too.
"In the large blocks of ice back there are bits of fruit and vegetables and meat, otherwise it is just normal crushed ice which they use for parties," Robke said.
So while the temperatures continue to climb into the thirties in Berlin, polar bear Lars and his mate will be having a nice ice party of their own.
http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=311445&ssid=26&sid=ENV
Int’l zoo conference to be held in Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh City is to host an international conference for the South East Asian Zoos Association on effective management and wildlife conservation, reported the city authorities.
The 15th annual conference is scheduled to take place September 11-13 with participation of 100 experts and officials from zoological and botanical gardens from 26 countries around the world.
Most of the participants to the conference are directors, veterinarians, and technicians.
Under the theme of ‘Zoos on the fringe’, the three-day event’s organization board will hold seminars to discuss topics on everything from animal husbandry and veterinary medicine to fund raising, conservation, animal welfare and ethics.
After the conference, participants will be invited to join an optional tour to Cat Tien national park in southern Dong Nai province, 160km from HCMC, or visit Hue citadel or Hoi An ancient city in Vietnam’s central region.
The event is a great chance for the Saigon Zoo, the largest of its kind in Vietnam to introduce itself and conduct exchanged with counterparts in foreign countries.
Reported by M.V. – Translated by Minh Phat
http://www.thanhniennews.com/entertaiments/?catid=6&newsid=18432
L.A. Zoo's failed fight to save chimp recalled
BY DANA BARTHOLOMEW, Staff Writer
GRIFFITH PARK - The chimpanzees were barking in alarm at something in the grass at the edge of their Los Angeles Zoo exhibit.
Then Judeo, the zoo's oldest male chimp, stuck out his long furry hand to investigate - a moment of curiosity that would cost him his life.
Buried in the pampas was a 3-foot Southern Pacific rattlesnake.
"We knew something was in there, but we didn't know what," said Jennifer Gonsman, one of two great ape keepers eyeballing the commotion with binoculars last week. "He stuck his hand in the bush and pulled it out quickly and that's when he got bit."
Los Angeles Zoo curators, keepers and veterinarians on Wednesday recalled the seven-hour effort to save Judeo, the 28-year-old chimp who died July 26 after the first rattlesnake bite ever to occur at the zoo's house of primates.
And while one zookeeper told the Daily News earlier this week that chimp keepers had waited hours to take action and failed to administer antivenin, Judeo's minders said Wednesday they did everything to save him.
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_4128769
Zoo celebrates birth of its new top cats
These cute cubs are a purr-fect excuse for celebrations at a Norfolk zoo.
The birth of two strong, healthy - and very lively - Sri Lankan leopards has delighted staff at Banham Zoo, near Diss.
They had been anticipating the possibility of cubs ever since a new female arrived in June 2005 and was introduced to the zoo's male leopard.
The keepers observed the pair's behaviour so they could predict when such an event might occur and, following a successful mating in March this year, the pregnancy was monitored closely. The female was moved to the cubbing quarters in good time for the birth which took place, as expected, on June 6.
Initially, mum and cubs were given complete privacy, and it is only in recent days that keepers have been able to confirm there were two youngsters as they ventured out into their enclosure.
http://new.edp24.co.uk/content/news/story.aspx?brand=EDPOnline&category=News&tBrand=EDPOnline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED02%20Aug%202006%2021%3A03%3A36%3A387
Elephant calf goes on public display at Dickerson Park Zoo
© 2006, Springfield News-Leader
The baby elephant born at the Dickerson Park Zoo last week is now on display to the public.
The as-yet unnamed female calf was born to Moola on July 18. The elephant is the third calf born to Moola and the first calf born at the zoo since Haji in 1999.
Dickerson Park Zoo will announce by week's end the guidelines by which people in the community can suggest names for the elephant.
The elephant is the third calf born to Moola and the first calf born at the zoo since Haji in 1999.
http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060725/BREAKING01/60725012
Zoo's oldest Asian elephant to be euthanized
This is a press release courtesy of the Oregon Zoo
Pet, the Oregon Zoo's oldest Asian elephant, is experiencing a health crisis, and zoo veterinary and keeper staff have run out of medical treatment options. The 51-year-old elephant and herd matriarch has degenerative arthritis and other age-related conditions, which are not responding to medication any longer.
"Pet has always been pigeon-toed and we've been managing her arthritis through medication and exercise for a long time," said Mike Keele, the zoo's deputy director. "The inward angle of her front feet has exacerbated her arthritis and lately it's become clear that she's in discomfort."
http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=87942
Zoo & Golf Courses
Beth Shayne
County commissioner Mike Severino sees the Potter Park Zoo like this: "It's kind of like a car where you owe more than it's worth."
He says an asset, yes, but it's a burden too, and one Ingham County shouldn't take on without an incentive.
"Before they come to my constitutents and ask for tax dollars as a bail out, I'd like to see the city council bring more assets to the table," he says.
His proposal would have Lansing give up two golf courses as well. The mayor had proposed selling them earlier in the year, but council is opposed to the idea.
Severino says Ingham County could use the green space as a park, recreational area, or even a water park, and the city could use the help. "The city council's been...non committal. I'd really like to see them come to this with an open mind," he says.
For now, he has City Councilwoman Kathie Dunbar's Attention. She says voters should focus on the zoo millage separately for now, but down the line, sharing the land that is the golf courses with the county could be a win-win.
She suggests shortening the Red Cedar's 9-holes and using the extra space for a cross-county skiing area. "Nobody loses," Dunbar says. "We get additional park space used by more people, and golfers get golf."
Could the plan hold up a deal on the zoo millage? City and county insiders emphasize it is not the issue now.
Still, Severino says make it one. "If we're gonna regionalize the zoo, we need to provide resources and opportunities for the tri-county area." He says it's best way to sell Potter Park as an opportunity for all.
http://www.wilx.com/news/headlines/3422226.html
Endangered Animals Seized, Drugs Found Near Local Zoo
POSTED: 4:37 pm EDT July 25, 2006
UPDATED: 5:34 pm EDT July 25, 2006
ROCKWELL, N.C. -- State and federal agents seized endangered animals from a local exotic animal park that was temporarily shut down.
Officials said they found drugs and guns inside the owner's home right near the children's exhibits at the Metrolina Wildlife Park.
Located in Rowan County, the park has venomous snakes, exotic birds, wolves, bears, and big cats including tigers and lions. There's also a petting zoo.
About 500 people visited the park in Rockwell just last week.
Undercover officers got a tip about some native wildlife being held illegally and executed a search warrant on Tuesday.
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/9573557/detail.html
Officials skip work for zoo trip, end up in flower garden
HANDA, Aichi -- Assembly members and officials of the Handa Municipal Government ignored the official schedule to go sightseeing when they visited Sapporo for a national city conference, it has been learned.
From Handa in central Japan, 16 municipal assembly members spent 225,000 yen each, covered by the local government, to attend the conference in Sapporo on July 20 and 21, designed to discuss local administration topics. Two top officials also accompanied them.
After arriving in Sapporo on July 19, they attended the conference on July 20. A panel discussion program and four inspection trips were planned for July 21. Those from Handa were set to attend one of the inspection trips to a beer brewery.
On that day, however, 12 of the Handa assembly members and the two officials visited Furano to see its famous lavender instead.
They reportedly went there after initially trying to go to a zoo in Asahikawa, but gave up due to heavy traffic. Their absence was reported when those from other cities noticed they didn't attend the inspection on July 21.
Assembly members made an apology during a meeting on Tuesday.
"We talked with the head of the Asahikawa zoo on the first day of the conference and decided that a visit to the zoo was more valuable than an inspection tour," one of them said. "We now regret the decision." (Mainichi)
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20060726p2a00m0na007000c.html
Plight of animals at Haifa Zoo
By Raffi Berg
BBC News, Haifa
Buba the bear is not well. She has been locked inside for most of the past nine days and the effects are beginning to show.
"She has developed an abscess on her leg and I am worried about her," said Dr Etty Ararat, the director of Haifa Zoo.
Like all the mammals at the zoo, Buba, an eight-year-old Brown Syrian bear, has been confined to her concrete sleeping quarters for her own safety as the city is bombarded by missiles from Lebanon.
"The bears are not stressed by the air raid sirens but they don't understand why they have to be inside all the time," said Dr Ararat.
The staff at the zoo cannot take any chances. Sirens sound repeatedly throughout the day and where rockets have landed the effects have been devastating.
The animals are let out under supervision for short periods, but when the alarms sound they are hurriedly ushered back in.
Search for food
Of the zoo's regular 40-strong staff, Dr Ararat is one of only four who remain at the eight-acre site to take care of 1,000 animals, despite the danger.
The zoo's plight is made worse by the fact that the conflict has forced it to close to the public at what should be its busiest time of the year.
"In July and August we get about 3,000 people a day but now we are losing money every day, which will have an impact on everything," Dr Ararat said.
"Also, our suppliers are closed, so trying to find food for the animals is a mission these days, when usually it's not, and we need help."
As she makes her rounds, Dr Ararat stops at the big cats enclosure, a spacious, sculpted compound where the lions, tigers and leopards normally roam free. But here, too, the animals are languishing indoors, with just enough space to pace or lie on the floor.
The conditions are taking their toll on Barbara, an elderly 32-year-old Bengal tiger, who first arrived at the zoo, starving, some 20 years ago after being abandoned by a travelling circus.
"Barbara is depressed," said Dr Ararat. "She likes to play outside but since she has been in here she has stopped playing. She usually comes to me, but now she doesn't pay any attention."
Anxious baboons
Next door, three African lions - Simba, Jungle and Gov - sit in their small indoor compound, watching with suspicion as I enter.
They barely stir but begin to growl as I move closer, making me wonder if the warring has left their nerves on edge.
"Actually, the sirens don't have any effect on them," Dr Ararat said. "All big cats are lazy and they don't seem to mind being in here, so long as we bring them food. But of course, it's not good for them."
The carnivores are also kept inside for another reason. The bars of the lions' enclosure were recently replaced with glass, which could be shattered by an exploding missile.
"If the glass breaks and they get free, it would be dangerous for all the people in the town," said Dr Ararat.
Of all the animals in the zoo, the worst affected by the sirens and intermittent booms are the 17 baboons.
"We can see the change in their behaviour," said Dr Arafat. "They are very anxious to get out and they are starting to knock on the doors.
"Today we gave the baboons a treat of popcorn, which they love. At the moment they're still eating and if we see any signs of stress then of course we will act accordingly."
Dr Ararat says the longer the war continues, the worse it will get for the zoo.
"I hope it will end soon - it's no good, for people or animals. But I am a born optimist and one way or another, the zoo will survive."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5213602.stm
continued ...
Sunday, August 13, 2006
August 14, 2006.
0036 gmt.
Pacific Global Satellite.
In all these satellite pictures there is some minor air exchange between the higher latitudes and the Antarctica Ice. That has resulted in higher temperatures, near zero, but at the same time it is not so overwhelming that the continent is still above zero. This is the most pleasant I have seen the troposphere in a long time. It's still winter in Antarctica.
I like to see that nice healthy separation between equator aire and Antarctica aire. Nice.
August 14, 2006.
0026 gmt.
Western Hemisphere Global Satellite.
The Arctic Ocean is still under the influences of Northern Hemisphere vortices. But, the Southern Hemisphere is looking better than it has in a long time.
Click on to animate
Auguat 14, 2006.
12:00 AM. Antarctica.
It's fairly warm. (Click on) Not the hottest of temerpatures around the continent. All appear to be below zero if just bearly with still some very much below zero. It's nice to have the entire continent below freezing. It speaks to the sequestered status of the Anrtarctica Vortex to the continent without the extension to latitudes approaching the Tropic of Capricorn.
Morning Papers - concluded
The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is:
Scott Base
Cloudy
Fine
-20.0°
Updated Monday 14 Aug 1:00PM
The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is :
55 °F / 13 °C
Overcast
Humidity:
77%
Dew Point:
48 °F / 9 °C
Wind:
4 mph / 6 km/h from the South
Pressure:
30.07 in / 1018 hPa
Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV:
1 out of 16
Clouds:
Scattered Clouds 900 ft / 274 m
Mostly Cloudy 3900 ft / 1188 m
Overcast 6500 ft / 1981 m
(Above Ground Level)
end
August 12, 2006.
Celina, Texas.
Photographer states :: This storm went up fast and very high because of daytime heating and a frontal boundary draped over the area. But with the lack of upper level support, the updraft collapsed and rushed toward the ground, picking up speed as it met the rain falling beneath. The result was severe wind and many blown over trees in McKinney, Texas. I'm shooting the event from my house in Celina, just to the northwest.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Did the founding fathers intend for citizens to be chattel of their government?
Or did they more intend the right to be a powerful person without consent by government authority but as a patriot understanding the brevity of decisons to kill.
The basic question to responsibility by the individual to keep their military and it's financial resources in check is a form of exerting power to inhibit misuse of the most powerful military on Earth. We have witnessed twice the abuse of the USA Military, the deaths of individual soldiers, the hardship of war on the USA's fiscal health affecting a peacetime indulgence to help apply 'influence' over might, both in Vietnam (which was never a danger to the USA) and in Iraq (which was never a danger to the USA).
Where then does the exacerbated state of our military take form? How did the daughting might of the USA military come to dominate the understanding of our lives as patriots? Did we consent to killing? Did we consent to the wars we are now engaged in or was that right of personal militia taken from us in deceit and leveled by injustice upon peoples not even linked to our nation by means of harm or intent. Have we allowed through unreasonable and irrational fear the leveling of power against peoples meaning no harm? In that being the case, as patriots to our Consitution is it now our responsibility to repeal that power?
This past week we have witnessed an increase in threat level against the safety of people. It occurred in London, not the USA. The London authorities have been on the trail of the 'potential' of terrorists to carry out violence ever since the bombing of their 'underground'/subway.
We have also witnessed the reversal of fortune of a long standing Democratic Senator.
Both these events speak to 'taking back' the fear that resulted in exerting militia power against networks of international criminals that would come be manipulated into a war against people not at all involved in those acts against civilization.
The threat of terrorists lies not in mass invasion. It lies in their ability to use a civilization's infrastructure to kill it's own citizens in venues of life usually considered benign. Their methods are extremely dangerous with ambitions of even nuclear capacity and chemical or biological weapons. Not to be dismissed as insignificant. It is however the last bastion of the potential of war the people of Earth have left to conquer.
We are only moments, in the history of civilization, from complete peace. Moments. On Monday, Israel will begin a ceasefire that will ultimately lead to it's security in The Middle East. With that, the 'rant' of hate filled leaders such as Hezbollah's Nasrallah will be meaningless. Hence begins the 'disarming' of ill gotten influence over innocent people that are united in false campaign of war rather than peace. The average Middle East citizen and their governments will be safer once the ability of Anti-Semitic leaders such as Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (click on) are disarmed of their ability to scapegoat Israel for the power that hate translates into through ancient religious dogma.The global 'struggle' on 'terrorism' is at our doorstep. Through powerful 'agency' such as Interpol we can secure our infrastructure against any attempt by terrorists both domestic and foreign. And yes, it is a struggle and NOT a war. There is no war that will roust out Osama bin Laden. George Bush and Richard Cheney has proven that already.
In eliminating elected leadership to the USA that will view war as an answer against terrorist networks we will be exerting our right to return to 'influence' rather than 'power' in transforming economies of poverty to economies of function abroad. By responsible citizenship and assessing our right to control the 'power' the USA has to do harm to innocent civilians in a world made much smaller by hate, we will win 'influence' among peoples we don't know nor will ever know us personally. The 'influence' of economy to bring about change through humanitarian efforts will provide not a forum of hate but that of sustainable peace. When the weapons of hate are removed from the legions of soldiers of al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, the Tamali Tigers and all the brands of terrorists the world has to offer; it will be a far better world we live when to continue to war only provides more imputus for it.
If one wants peace then one has to practice peace. That occurs with 'influence' and not the 'power' of a military.
We are no longer wanted in Iraq. The highest level of religious authority has spoken in recent months that Iraq would be better without the presence of the USA. I agree. With the Ameican military in Iraq it becomes a target of Shia anger at times when Israel is taking on Shia terrorists. Hezbollah is a Shi'ite organization within the Middle East. Most of the Middle East media see Nasrallah as the problem that caused the invasion by Israel and while the Grand Ayatollah al Sistani advises financial assistance to Hezbollah, as a humanitarian agency and not a military one to the people of Southern Lebanon; he also will not authorize his holy consent to war by Hezbollah with Israel (Kindly click on.)The USA in recent moves, as Rumsfeld has increased the troop numbers in Iraq (click on), has ramped up aggressions against districts in Iraq now engaged in Civil War. The USA is trying to break up the civil war. There are daily deaths of Iraqis, Shia against Sunni and vice versa. The reason for the civil war? The presence of USA forces and it's availablity to the new government to enforce majority Shia law. It's a never ending cycle so long as the most powerful military in the world is fighting a war FOR the Shia rather than them living within the limits of it's ability to conduct war.
The USA military is turning the streets of Iraq into war zones where electorates virtually are the targets. Although voting on election days hoping to turn the corner on violence, the fact of the matter is there is increased deaths with every action to back a government of exiles. The American 'influence' in Iraq has become it's nemesis. We are viewed as aggressors rather than a benevolent influence in reconstruction of Iraq. Reconstruction of Iraq cannot take place in a war zone. The sooner American forces are removed from Iraq the sooner the hate will stop. The Civil War will find an end as leaders grapple with each other and not the 'idea' of oppressing it's electorate through military actions against them. The killing within the Civil War is occuring anyway. It will stop when there is no more reason to fear each other and there is an equity of power within it's militias as The Coalition has never been able to establish stability within Iraq.
With Israel's security there will be less measure for hate against Israel so much as acceptance. The 'hoped for' escalation by Iran will not exist and the reason for them to politically elect men that seek nuclear weapon capacity will be eliminated. The Iranians have reacted in fear of a USA invasion and I remind that Iran was on it's way to a more representative government before Bush launched his illegal war into Iraq. It was only after 'the fear' of a USA invasion manifested did Iran reverse it's trend and elected extremist leaders whom were now able to back their rhetoric about The West with fact and not lies.
The Civil War in Iraq would have happened anyway. During the years of Saddam Hussein there was found reason to kill Shi'ites in massacre due to the uprisings within that community. It is the majority community of Iraq. A Sunni leader, in Saddam Hussein, should never have been backed by Rumsfeld then representing the USA. By backing a Sunni leader as dictator of a Shi'ite majority, while making Iraq a store house of munitions, their oppression was assured. That 'permission' if you will was translated in time to mass graves of Shia at the hands of Sunnis. The impetus to a Civil War was assured no matter the opportunity.
Iraq has to find it's equalibrium and we are providing an advantage that is bringing the wrath of Iranians in sympathy of it's own ethnicity in Iraq. We need to leave. We leave and the threat to Iran leaves with us. There is no danger to Israel and any rational concept in Iran for nuclear weapon capacity will diminish in short order. With the United Nations Security Council and the European Union taking firm stands against Iran's nuclear capacity it will diminish. Where countries like China and Russia are unwilling to take economic sanctions of Iran there will be a re-evaluation when that country's sovereignty is not at risk, nor threats to theirs over the thirst for Caspian Oil.
The 'Superpower' of the USA is not in it's military, but, in it's ability to bring fiscal stability to countries in desperate need of it. The USA is a Superpower, perhaps the last left on Earth. It's 'role' globally is far different than that cast as an image today. With vast financial resources reestablished in it's treasury and policy makers that seek 'influence' over 'power' the return to global market places and 'agency' such as the World Trade Organization can begin again to invoke change by benevolence over violence.
The United States of America and it's consitution is by far the greatest democracy Earth has ever experienced. It is time to realize that greatness lies in diminished military capacity and increased economic influence. What warrior regardless of heritage, ethnicity or religious fervor would not trade their weapons for quality of life with a happy home supported by a good job in viable economies of benevolence."Influence" will over take 'power' as clear demonstration of the 'intent' for peace rather than war is realized by the world when the USA Treasury is again available to help build countries rather than destroy them. The USA Treasury has to be rebalanced to remove mass spending campaigns for military might while returning it to responsible social programs domestically and abroad bringing 'the last bastion of war,' namely terrorist networks to a end when Islamic countries have sustainable economies while disarmed of weapons domestically that can bring coup leaders to power.
The best 'global war against terrorism' is not a war but a movement of benevolence that removes populous of poverty away from the angry influence of 'basically' Anti-Semites.' Osama bin Laden may as well have been Hitler's son.
There was a USA before September 11, 2001. It's people were far more naive about National Security and the negligence of leadership to 'allow' indulgent consumerism. The security of the USA lies in it's ability to protect it's citizens above all other measures. It's economic security lies in vast relationships of benevolence between all countries. Terrorists and the fear they breed have become a global threat but not from the stand point of their actual ability to destroy so much as allowing the ability of leadership of a Superpowre to exploitation individual fear to war rather than continue to build a better world in the face of that threat.
With the confrontation by Israel of Hezbollah we have been able to come to terms with how terrorist networks work within infrastructure to destroy hope replacing it with practical ways of life while a country's leadership languishes in it's lack of capacity to provide for it's people. Allowing Hezbollah to rule 'the hearts and minds' of the Lebanese of the south, near the Israeli border, in the face of it's assassins that killed a Prime Minister is a clear demonstration of how a terrorist regime can intimidate government authority and pose a threat to sovereignty. War is a threat to sovereignty.
It's up to the USA, Britain, the EU and other countries that sees 'terrorist threats' clearly to replace the authority of Hezbollah and organizations like them with sovereign authority by governments that can provide stable economies to their populous. That is not a daughting task. We have witnessed with China the growth of a populous out of poverty to a burgeoning capitalistic society with aims on space travel and not war. China has no interest in destroying the USA or The West. Without a world war to guide it's path as Japan required, China has emerged from it's closed society to the best example of consumerism and self generated economy Earth has ever witnessed. Every country in the world can duplicate that while bringing unique opportunities for trade of products they alone can provide.
The United States of America can be 'the impetus' of peace with commitments of guaranteed sovereignty of governments when they are rid of impoverished populous pledged to terrorist networks as a means of survival. Replacing Hezbollah with education, it's opportunities, an economy claimed as success by government leaders will bring 'the close' to terrorist networks and their ability to instill hate by alliance with the poor. Without the ability to recruit Jihadists there is no terrorist network, there are a lot of clanging gones of hate. Those killers need to be remanded to the World Courts to cleans societies globally of their threat.
Influence is a far greater value than power. Embarce it. Vote for it. Take back the power the USA Consitution guaranteed the individual. Protect the populous of this country from it's ability to war, even to oppress it's own people. National Security does not interpret into international war.
Influence is power, it's just not a destructive power so much as an equitable power.
The United States Constituiton recognizes a militia/military
The signing of the USA Consitution
I find it most interesting it recognizes militias within the context of empowering individuals. Never anywhere within the USA Consitution does it mention that the 'United' states should have a military more powerful than the potential of the individuals either. In fact, if one reads the USA Consitution in it's 'context' without dicing up words and slicing apart paragraphs, there is the very distinct 'spirit' of individual over 'United' country. Where in any document, in any country, in any government has there been such pains taken to insure the individual the highest power of the land?
Amendment I
... the right of the people peaceably to assemble ...
Amendment II
A well regulated militia,
being necessary to the security of a free state,
the right of the people to keep and bear arms,
shall not be infringed.
Amendment III
No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, ...
Amendment V
... unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; ... nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; ...
Under the influence
Influence or Power.
Which is the real road to peace?
Composition to follow.
You didn't think this was about alcoholism, did you? There are capable people other than me to 'influence' people with addictions and diseases that interfer with social success.
This is to return to sanity, regarding war and the choice of peace.
Can peace co-exist with power?
Which is the real road to peace?
Composition to follow.
You didn't think this was about alcoholism, did you? There are capable people other than me to 'influence' people with addictions and diseases that interfer with social success.
This is to return to sanity, regarding war and the choice of peace.
Can peace co-exist with power?
"Influence" from the album Someone in Control by TRAPT
Do I want this...
Liquid courage pouring down,
sober surface hits the ground,
the masquerade has started now,
and you have faded into the crowd
How do you know?
How do you know
just who your friends are?
How do you know
when you've gone too far
to get high again?
You always feel so alone,
the real you is never shown.
Whose influence,
whose influence are you under?
So much pressure to fit in,
you never know where to begin.
Whose influence,
whose influence are you under now?
Liquid courage pouring down,
sober surface can't be found,
there's no denial you can drown,
but nothing's final so turn around
How do you know?
How do you know just
who your friends are?
How do you know '
when you've gone too far
to get high again?
You always feel so alone,
the real you is never shown.
Whose influence,
whose influence are you under now?
So much pressure to fit in,
you never know where to begin.
Whose influence,
whose influence are you under now?
I want this...
Do I want this?
I want this / I want this
Do I want this? / Do I want this?
I want this / I want this
Do I want this?
How do you know?
How do you know
just who your friends are?
How do you know
when you've gone too far?
You always feel so alone,
the real you is never shown.
Whose influence,
whose influence are you under now?
So much pressure to fit in,
you never know where to begin.
Whose influence,
whose influence are you under now?
Whose influence,
whose influence, whose influence
are you under now?
Liquid courage pouring down,
sober surface hits the ground,
the masquerade has started now,
and you have faded into the crowd
How do you know?
How do you know
just who your friends are?
How do you know
when you've gone too far
to get high again?
You always feel so alone,
the real you is never shown.
Whose influence,
whose influence are you under?
So much pressure to fit in,
you never know where to begin.
Whose influence,
whose influence are you under now?
Liquid courage pouring down,
sober surface can't be found,
there's no denial you can drown,
but nothing's final so turn around
How do you know?
How do you know just
who your friends are?
How do you know '
when you've gone too far
to get high again?
You always feel so alone,
the real you is never shown.
Whose influence,
whose influence are you under now?
So much pressure to fit in,
you never know where to begin.
Whose influence,
whose influence are you under now?
I want this...
Do I want this?
I want this / I want this
Do I want this? / Do I want this?
I want this / I want this
Do I want this?
How do you know?
How do you know
just who your friends are?
How do you know
when you've gone too far?
You always feel so alone,
the real you is never shown.
Whose influence,
whose influence are you under now?
So much pressure to fit in,
you never know where to begin.
Whose influence,
whose influence are you under now?
Whose influence,
whose influence, whose influence
are you under now?
Thursday, August 10, 2006
I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With
This was more a sad picture than a comedy, but, there is always that truth with comedy there is usually sadness behind the laughter.
It was a first time film as a director for Jeff Garlin. Mr. Garlin is the producer and co-star of HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (click on)
If the word "Fat" could be used as a title this movie needed to be renamed. It is about a man whom has a chronic issue of obesity due to failed romatic endeavors in his life primarily because he is in a self defeating cycle of depression after disappointment. Needing to find love he enters into a realtionship with a nymphomaniac whom seeks more and more satiation of sexual nuances to satisfy her empty life. The relationship ends in disappointment when he realizes the woman of his dreams simply wanted to experience a sexual encounter with a 'fat man.' That reality again returns him to depression and the ice cream parlor. He is in a huge social cycle of failure exchanging immediate gradification for long term social satisfaction. It's one of the saddest films I have ever seen. Even his professional life as an actor takes a down turn and I expected him to look for the edge of a bridge someplace. The film exploits the concept of loser. I mean this man probably didn't have a voting card as a source of hope in his helplessness. He needs a friend to go to the health club with as his mother is an anchor to his social liberation.
The 'journey' he takes through the film has many funny twists and turns and for that it is worth seeing. There is no moral to this story simply a good laugh at some quirky realities too many Americans will find commonality.
I thought it was interesting and funny but the dialogue Mr. Garlin brought before and after the film in his director's debut was as enjoyable as the film.
It was a first time film as a director for Jeff Garlin. Mr. Garlin is the producer and co-star of HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (click on)
If the word "Fat" could be used as a title this movie needed to be renamed. It is about a man whom has a chronic issue of obesity due to failed romatic endeavors in his life primarily because he is in a self defeating cycle of depression after disappointment. Needing to find love he enters into a realtionship with a nymphomaniac whom seeks more and more satiation of sexual nuances to satisfy her empty life. The relationship ends in disappointment when he realizes the woman of his dreams simply wanted to experience a sexual encounter with a 'fat man.' That reality again returns him to depression and the ice cream parlor. He is in a huge social cycle of failure exchanging immediate gradification for long term social satisfaction. It's one of the saddest films I have ever seen. Even his professional life as an actor takes a down turn and I expected him to look for the edge of a bridge someplace. The film exploits the concept of loser. I mean this man probably didn't have a voting card as a source of hope in his helplessness. He needs a friend to go to the health club with as his mother is an anchor to his social liberation.
The 'journey' he takes through the film has many funny twists and turns and for that it is worth seeing. There is no moral to this story simply a good laugh at some quirky realities too many Americans will find commonality.
I thought it was interesting and funny but the dialogue Mr. Garlin brought before and after the film in his director's debut was as enjoyable as the film.
Minerva's
I didn't set out to find a five star hotel restaurant to test the best cuisine in Traverse City, Michigan, it just worked out that way.
I was not disappointed. Minerva's served some of the best Michigan has to offer with a special 'local' menu of the day including a 'Cherry Torte' for dessert. The cuisine was fantastic, the chef deserved a standing ovation, the service was great. I made a good choice and never once did I believe I was in a hotel restaurant. It was a place I had researched locally and they were right. Minerva's proved to 'Do Traverse City Proud' for all the care it took to find the pride of the area and create a menu to enhance it. I enjoyed myself a great deal and took home a bottle of a local wine (Not cheap - $28.00) as a soveigner and gift to my son who likes to exercise his 'chef' side from time to time.
I was not disappointed. Minerva's served some of the best Michigan has to offer with a special 'local' menu of the day including a 'Cherry Torte' for dessert. The cuisine was fantastic, the chef deserved a standing ovation, the service was great. I made a good choice and never once did I believe I was in a hotel restaurant. It was a place I had researched locally and they were right. Minerva's proved to 'Do Traverse City Proud' for all the care it took to find the pride of the area and create a menu to enhance it. I enjoyed myself a great deal and took home a bottle of a local wine (Not cheap - $28.00) as a soveigner and gift to my son who likes to exercise his 'chef' side from time to time.
Tsotsi was the final film I viewed, but, was not the last I wanted to see.
This may sound ludicrous but there wasn't much about "Tsotsi" one cannot find in the ghettos of the USA with the exception of the 'child community' where this young South African survived to adulthood. It was that 'child community' that brought him away from complete demise of himself.
The film is very violent but it is also very starkly real. An introduction of the film was made regarding the reality of these young men of South Africa and their continued existance in an economy of violence and crime. To counter that the South Africans that are victimized by these young men are 'self-protected' by iron fences and alarms. Not very different from the USA in many ways. There is a police force but they are twarted in their prevention of crime so much as responding to it after the fact. There are absolutely no social programs providing hope for these young South Africans.
Tsotsi finds himself alone in a hostile world of crime with piers his own age in order to survive. As a result a paradox of events happens. He ends up taking an infant from it's home after the mother was shot. She didn't die, but, the young vandals didn't know that. There is no ransom note or kidnapping per se, just a lonely young man in search of some meaning to his life. The infant required food and diaper changes and all the things infants require including amusing 'mobiles' to enhance their curiosity and as amusement.
The story unfolds in a severely poverty stricken area of an urban environment where Tsotsi is forced to seek help in taking care of the infant. He forces an already lactating mother to take on another infant. In time and through more crime he returns to her with powdered formula and a bottle. He no longer needs her help and takes the infant on himself. He seeks out his old 'child-in-the-hood' territory. It is a series of large unused sewer pipes where children seek shelter and protection from storms and sun alike while looking out for each other. Tsotsi hopes these children will be able to give care to the infant and raise him as he once was raised. They were overwhelmed at the thought so he leaves them and then sets out to return the infant to his home.
The young South African finds himself when he tries to compassionately care for an infant. He projects love and receives it in return though satisfying the infants needs in accomplishment and the smiles the baby occassionally expresses as infants will. The movie ends on a positive note with the infant returned to the parents in a very upscale neighborhood voluntarily by Tsotsi through a tense moment with police. The father, a successful South African, is magnificent with his now paralyzed wife at his side in the final scene of the film. It is he that perceives Tsotsi's life although remanding him to the police and most likely a trial. The outcome past that is anyone's guess, but, more than likely a jail cell for some length of time will make this young African's return from violence resulting in compassion toward an infant, a return to it.
The film is poignant. It needed to be made and the production is flawless. It is a statement about not just South Africa and it's social difficulties but poverty in general. Where there is no outreach there is no hope and the people that are borne into poverty frequently live in it's dynamics including crime and punishment endlessly, while the society that tries to protect itself from it provides no real incentive for an alternative to it.
It's a difficult film to watch. More difficult than Hotel Rwanda. I have a feeling many Rap Artists would find commonality in some of the realities Tsotsi lived.
The film is very violent but it is also very starkly real. An introduction of the film was made regarding the reality of these young men of South Africa and their continued existance in an economy of violence and crime. To counter that the South Africans that are victimized by these young men are 'self-protected' by iron fences and alarms. Not very different from the USA in many ways. There is a police force but they are twarted in their prevention of crime so much as responding to it after the fact. There are absolutely no social programs providing hope for these young South Africans.
Tsotsi finds himself alone in a hostile world of crime with piers his own age in order to survive. As a result a paradox of events happens. He ends up taking an infant from it's home after the mother was shot. She didn't die, but, the young vandals didn't know that. There is no ransom note or kidnapping per se, just a lonely young man in search of some meaning to his life. The infant required food and diaper changes and all the things infants require including amusing 'mobiles' to enhance their curiosity and as amusement.
The story unfolds in a severely poverty stricken area of an urban environment where Tsotsi is forced to seek help in taking care of the infant. He forces an already lactating mother to take on another infant. In time and through more crime he returns to her with powdered formula and a bottle. He no longer needs her help and takes the infant on himself. He seeks out his old 'child-in-the-hood' territory. It is a series of large unused sewer pipes where children seek shelter and protection from storms and sun alike while looking out for each other. Tsotsi hopes these children will be able to give care to the infant and raise him as he once was raised. They were overwhelmed at the thought so he leaves them and then sets out to return the infant to his home.
The young South African finds himself when he tries to compassionately care for an infant. He projects love and receives it in return though satisfying the infants needs in accomplishment and the smiles the baby occassionally expresses as infants will. The movie ends on a positive note with the infant returned to the parents in a very upscale neighborhood voluntarily by Tsotsi through a tense moment with police. The father, a successful South African, is magnificent with his now paralyzed wife at his side in the final scene of the film. It is he that perceives Tsotsi's life although remanding him to the police and most likely a trial. The outcome past that is anyone's guess, but, more than likely a jail cell for some length of time will make this young African's return from violence resulting in compassion toward an infant, a return to it.
The film is poignant. It needed to be made and the production is flawless. It is a statement about not just South Africa and it's social difficulties but poverty in general. Where there is no outreach there is no hope and the people that are borne into poverty frequently live in it's dynamics including crime and punishment endlessly, while the society that tries to protect itself from it provides no real incentive for an alternative to it.
It's a difficult film to watch. More difficult than Hotel Rwanda. I have a feeling many Rap Artists would find commonality in some of the realities Tsotsi lived.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)