This Blog is created to stress the importance of Peace as an environmental directive. “I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it’s hell.” – Harry Truman
(I receive no compensation from any entry on this blog.)
Some of this is going to sound crass because it makes analogy to another very famous TRANSITIONAL trial. Sorry, but, this is what came to mind when I heard about the Prop 8 trial.
There is some real power being ignored within these dynamics.
Real Simple.
Don't get married until all the people, the human beings, the homo sapiens in the USA are given provision under the law to wed.
Boycott Marriage until this ends.
Do the people of the USA realize 'the economy' that surrounds marriage?
THAT is power.
Prop8 reminds me of the Scopes Trial of the 1920s.
Those in opposition to sound science were crass.
They were ignorant.
They were "W"rong.
...The early 1920s found social patterns in chaos. (click here)Traditionalists, the older Victorians, worried that everything valuable was ending. Younger modernists no longer asked whether society would approve of their behavior, only whether their behavior met the approval of their intellect. Intellectual experimentation flourished. Americans danced to the sound of the Jazz Age, showed their contempt for alcoholic prohibition, debated abstract art and Freudian theories. In a response to the new social patterns set in motion by modernism, a waveof revivalism developed, becoming especially strong in the American South.
Who would dominate American culture--the modernists or the traditionalists? Journalists were looking for a showdown, and they found one in a Dayton, Tennessee courtroom in the summer of 1925....
Equality in Marriage is a civil rights issue. It has far broader implications than simply being married. To deny a segment of the USA population equality is 'setting them up' for potentially dangerous scenarios, including children. Breaking up families is wrong and to define them differently because parents are unwed due to being gay is simply asking for huge problems. The Gay Community needs equality in marriage to benefit their 'families' in status with heterosexuals. This about marriage, but, it also reaches into the rights of children as well.
Judge presses lawyers on first day of federal Prop 8 trial (click title to entry - thank you) by Roger Brigham EDGE San Francisco Editor Monday Jan 11, 2010 Lawyers representing Proposition 8 opponents and supporters presented their interpretation of marriage on the opening day of the federal trial challenging the voter-approved referendum.
Attorney Theodore Olson, who represents the two same-sex couples challenging Prop 8, portrayed the case as a fight for fundamental human rights. Attorneys representing Prop 8 supporters responded only opposite sex marriage is "pro child."
"Marriage is central to life in America," Olson said in his opening statement to Northern District of California Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker. "It promotes physical and mental health. It is the building block of neighborhoods in our society. Proposition 8 ended the dream of marriage for the plaintiffs and hundreds of thousands of Californians."...
The Bicycle Bomb was probably the Iranian President 'setting up' the West for ridicule.
An Iranian security agent at the scene of a remote-controlled bomb explosion in which Professor Massoud Ali Mohammadi was killed outside his Tehran residence on January 12, 2010. Tehran's prosecutor told ISNA news agency he was climbing into his car when a nearby parked motorbike exploded.
Fredrik Dahl, Reuters Published: Tuesday, January 12, 2010
TEHRAN -- A remote-controlled bomb killed a Tehran University nuclear scientist on Tuesday, state media reported, in an attack which Iran blamed on U.S. and Israeli agents.
The blast which killed professor Massoud Ali-Mohammadi occurred at a time of heightened tension in the Islamic Republic, seven months after a disputed presidential election plunged the major oil producer into turmoil.
It also coincided with a sensitive time in Iran's row with the West over its nuclear ambitions, with major powers expected to meet in New York on Saturday to discuss possible new sanctions on Tehran over its refusal to halt its atomic work.
Such bombing attacks are rare in the Iranian capital.
The bomb which killed "Ali-Mohammadi, a nuclear scientist and a committed and revolutionary Tehran University professor, was detonated by a remote control," state broadcaster IRIB said on its website.
Officials blamed Israel and the United States for the bombing. "Signs of the triangle of wickedness by the Zionist regime (Israel), America and their hired agents, are visible in the terrorist act," the foreign ministry said....
Yeah, yeah, the "Axis of Evil" so now there is the 'Triangle of Wickedness."
KNOCK IT OFF !!!!
You did this, didn't you Mahmoud?
Right?
Yeah, ya did.
Don't tell ME you didn't.You were all too quick with the "Triangle of Wickedness."
Israel refused Tuesday to react to Iranian accusations that it or the United States was behind a mysterious explosion that killed an Iranian nuclear physicist in Tehran Tuesday. Iran blamed Israel and the United States Tuesday for the death of Dr. Massoud Ali Mohammadi, 50, a nuclear physics professor who is believed to have publicly backed opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi. The Iranian government said that Israel and the United States had used a militant opposition group to carry out the assassination of Mohammadi, who was involved in Tehran's nuclear program. Mohammadi was killed in a powerful bomb blast as he was leaving home in northern Tehran for work....
Nice Work. Ya know, diplomacy gets tired of talking and broken promises, IF, this was the West. I doubt anyone will ever know. It was probably Russia, right Vladimir? It's okay, we don't mind. Look, it is about time the West took some heat that is normally leveled at Putin. Enough already.
Anyone getting the feeling as though Iran might be losing its sovereignty? Gee, what a shame. It would seem with all the unrest there are many countries rightfully concerned for the safety of the region and the people of Iran. Either way, this was not a bad thing. I have stated before the civil war casts grave concerns on the ability of the Iranian government to control its outcome in regard to its national security. Oh, well.
Three men accused of exporting nuclear technology to Iran
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Three men were accused in an alleged conspiracy to illegally export nuclear technology to Iran, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday.
The three suspects, a Los Angeles resident and two Iranians, violated trade sanctions imposed on Iran, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The technology intended to be exported to Iran could be used to produce nuclear fuel, prosecutors claimed.
An indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles on Dec. 30 charges Jiraiir Avanessian, 56, a Los Angeles resident, and Farhoud Masoumian, 42, of Tehran, with multiple violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Iranian trade embargo, including smuggling, money laundering and other crimes.
The IEEPA prohibits U.S. citizens from exporting such technology to Iran without a license and federal authorization. Also, it is illegal to sell the technology to Iran from the United States.
Avanessian was arrested at his home on Monday and a U.S. magistrate ordered him detained pending trial. An arrest warrant has been issued for Masoumian, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
A third man, Amirhossein Sairafi of Iran, was charged on Jan. 4 in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles for his alleged role in the scheme.
He was arrested earlier this week in Frankfurt by German law enforcement authorities based on a provisional arrest warrant from the United States, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
The Iran-born Avanessian, owner and operator of the XVAC firm in Los Angeles, is accused of conspiring with Masoumian and Sairafi to arrange the export of vacuum pumps and other sensitive equipment to Iran through a free trade zone in the United Arab Emirates.
The indictment alleges that on various occasions, Avanessian received orders for the products sought by Masoumian on behalf of people in Iran.
Avanessian bought the products and arranged to ship them to the UAE, making it appear the UAE was the final destination, and Sairafi would then send the material from there to Iran, prosecutors allege.
The three men re-labeled the shipments as "spare parts" to mask their true contents and void interception, the U.S. government alleges.
If convicted on all counts, Avanessian and Masoumian face maximum sentences of 615 years and 525 years in federal prison, respectively, prosecutors said.
Iran's Foreign Ministry has launched a new website to publish the latest developments about Iran's nuclear program.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki officially launched the website in a ceremony held in the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, IRNA reported.
"The website will gather and update information about different political, legal, historic and geographical developments in the nuclear sphere," Mottaki said.
He added that the website will show that "there is a minority in the world that eyes maximum interests through monopolizing everything, including science and technology."
Iran's top diplomat also stated that there is also a majority in the world that could achieve their goals only after gaining permission from the minority.
He stressed that Iran has adopted a rational and transparent policy to defend its nuclear rights and will continue to do so.
Panel Ties Ally of Iran Leader to Protester Deaths
By NAZILA FATHI
Published: January 10, 2010
An Iranian parliamentary panel said Sunday that Tehran’s prosecutor, an ally of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was responsible for the beating deaths of three imprisoned protesters last summer, state news agencies reported.
The panel’s investigative report said the prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi, who has since been promoted, was responsible for the violence against protesters in the notorious Kahrizak detention center, where at least three young men, including the son of a former Revolutionary Guards commander, were killed.
The allegation was a rare criticism of a senior official involved in the government’s crackdown on the protest movement that erupted in June over disputed election results. It also exposed the internal rift between Mr. Ahmadinejad’s faction, which favors a severe response to the protesters, and his conservative opponents, led by the speaker of Parliament, Ali Larijani, who favor compromise.
TEHRAN (Reuters) - An Iranian court has banned a weekly for slander and spreading lies, media reported, and one opposition website said it was for insulting former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
The official IRNA news agency, in a report on the court's move late on Wednesday, did not mention Rafsanjani, who backed opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi in last year's disputed presidential election.
IRNA said a Revolutionary Court in Tehran decided to ban the Hemmat weekly due to "slander and dissemination of lies with the intention of agitating public opinion."
The Rahesabz opposition website said it was a conservative publication which had been banned also a year ago for insulting Rafsanjani, who remains influential in the Islamic Republic.
There was no official comment on the Rahesabz report.
The latest issue of Hemmat -- the sixth since the previous ban was lifted -- carried a front-page picture of Rafsanjani, surrounded by known critics and opponents of the Islamic state, with the headline "All the disciples of Hashemi."…
TEHRAN — Angry mourners chanting anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans joined a funeral procession Thursday for the Iranian nuclear scientist killed in a bomb attack Tehran blames on the US and Israel.
An AFP correspondent said that some 2,000 people thronged the house in an affluent north Tehran neighbourhood of Massoud Ali Mohammadi, who died Tuesday when a booby-trapped motorbike exploded as he was leaving home.
Around 100 policemen were deployed in the area.
Relatives and members of the elite Revolutionary Guards placed the body of Ali Mohammadi, a particle physics professor at prestigious Tehran University, in an ambulance which then took off for the burial at a nearby shrine.
A military marching band led the procession to the shrine, followed by hundreds of mourners many of whom were chanting "Death to Israel" and "Death to America."
Mourners also chanted slogans against the so-called "hypocrites" -- the Islamic republic's term for the outlawed People's Mujahedeen.
Some chanted, "Nuclear energy is our undeniable right" in an allusion to accusations by Iranian officials the killing was an attempt by Western powers to disrupt Iran's controversial nuclear programme….
A Saudi scholar says Riyadh's allegation that 'Iran is meddling in Yemen's domestic affairs' is part of a US conspiracy against the Islamic Republic.
Ali Al-Ahmed, the founder and director of an independent think-tank in Washington told Press TV that Saudi Arabia follows the United States' policy and fuels the West "anti-Iran wave" in the region.
According to the political analyst, Saudis' three month offensive against Houthi fighters has no justification. He added that the Saudi war in the region is doomed to failure.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal had previously accused Iran of interfering in Yemen's internal affairs.
Iran, however, rejects the allegations. It has condemned Riyadh's military intervention in northern Yemen, calling on the kingdom to play the role of a mediator instead of bombing fellow Muslims.
Riyadh joined Yemen's offensive against Houthis after accusing them of killing a Saudi border guard and occupying two border villages on November 3. Houthi fighters, however, has denied Saudi's claims.
Saudi jets began bombing Yemen's northern villages the following day and still continue their raids on the region.
Toka is believed to be from Mozambique. The least dominant of the three elephants, she gets pushed out of the way by Iringa, who usually wants to get out the door first. A pretty elephant with long tusks. (June 14, 2009)
STEVE RUSSELL/TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO
Tusk! Tusk! Toronto is on worst zoo list
Critics slam Toronto Zoo's treatment of elephants, but councillor says they have 'gold-standard' lives
Published On Wed Jan 13 2010
Elephants do not get jelly beans on the African savannah. Or the services of recreation directors. They also don't get freezing temperatures that confine them to a 37-square-metre space for part of the year.
But those are all part of life for the Toronto Zoo's elephant herd, whose fast-dwindling numbers present a dilemma for their keepers: Bring in fresh blood, or retire Toka, Thika and Iringa to some southern pachyderm haven?...
Jan. 8th, 2010 at 8:30 AM Thursday, 07 January 2010
by Andrew Miller
Thisweek Newspapers
Penguins will be waddling their way to the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley in the coming year.
Scheduled to open in 2011, the “Penguins of the African Coast” exhibit is one of several projects planned as part of the Heart of the Zoo project, according to a report recently released by the Minnesota Zoo Foundation.
The penguins exhibit will include underwater views, sandy beaches and a rocky shoreline to recreate the wild South African coast where black-footed penguins feed, nest and swim, zoo officials said.
The first phase of Heart of the Zoo also calls for a new education center – the Cargill Environmental Education Center, scheduled to open in 2011 – as well as a new indoor theater.
The zoo’s old whale tank, empty for more than 15 years, will be transformed into an indoor theater for lectures and educational programs, and will play host to the zoo’s bird show, the popular KAYTEE World of Birds free-flight show, in the winter months.
Zoo director Lee Ehmke said the improvements are part of the push to make the Minnesota Zoo one of the top 10 zoos in the country.
January 7, 2010 | 11:57 am, Source Los Angeles Times, Photos by Lenny Ignelzi/AP
Yun Zi, the San Diego Zoo’s 5-month-old giant panda cub, was apparently determined to be as cute as physically possible in his debut to the media Wednesday. Photographers were on hand to document the cub in advance of his debut to the public this morning. As of today, he can be seen in a special outdoor exhibit zoo workers have dubbed “the classroom” for a few hours a day….
The world famous San Diego Zoo has one of the most successful captive breeding programs in the world. When it comes to pandas, nobody does it better. Their giant panda enclosure is celebrating their fifth live birth during the 12-year history of the program. Their newest resident also happens to be their biggest star, as the adorable baby panda Yun Zi is front and center in the zoo’s new Pandacam! It’s live streaming video from the panda habitat, where you can see Yun Zi, his mother Bai Yun, and all the other pandas in San Diego from your very own home!
If you want to see a cute baby animal, they don’t come any cuter than a fuzzy little baby panda. There’s no guarantee that Yun Zi is doing anything while the cameras are on him, but even if he’s just laying around sleeping he’s adorable.
More than 9,000 people in just a few days have joined the "Save the Woodland Park Nocturnal House" Facebook group in hopes of keeping bats and other animals at Seattle's beloved zoo. Yet money-crunched Woodland Park Zoo maintains that closing the exhibit will save $300,000 annually and there's next to no hope the zoo will change course.
"We cannot accept gifts restricted to keeping the Night Exhibit open," states the zoo's new Frequently Asked Questions page dedicated to this topic.
Fans of the 61 critters that live at the Nocturnal House -- including three armadillos and several bats -- plan to gather from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at the exhibit, partly as a fundraiser for their cause. See our earlier story here.
Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo plans to close Nocturnal House
The Nocturnal House at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo has always been in the dark. But now the zoo plans to turn the lights off. Because of budget troubles, the zoo plans to close the popular Nocturnal House, which houses 61 animals, from bats to sloths and even armadillos. The closure date hasn't been set but is expected to be announced in the next month.
Peter Ramberg holds up a plastic bat he brought to protest the closure of Woodland Park Zoo's Nocturnal House.
CLIFF DESPEAUX / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Visitors walk through the Woodland Park Zoo's nocturnal exhibit, which may close because of budget problems.
The Nocturnal House at the Woodland Park Zoo has always been in the dark.
But now the zoo plans to turn the lights off.
Because of budget troubles, the zoo plans to close the popular Nocturnal House, which houses 61 animals, from bats to sloths and even armadillos. The closure date hasn't been set but is expected to be announced in the next month.
Michael Chen was lined up at the exhibit Sunday with his family because he heard the Nocturnal House was closing. "It's one of our favorites," he said. "It's a really unusual exhibit. You never know what you're going to see."
About a dozen people gathered near the entrance to the exhibit Sunday to protest its closure. Organizer Scott Gifford posted the closure on Facebook….
Although not resting in its coffers yet, Brookfied Zoo has been promised $15.6 million in state funding to prevent exhibit closures and dozens of layoffs.
The funding, part of a state-wide job creation program, will go toward repairs and upgrades at the zoo, and is intended to create 370 construction jobs. The work will likely take place over the course of six years.
Gov. Pat Quinn announced the funding at the zoo Sunday, Jan 10.
Stuart Strahl, the CEO and president of the Chicago Zoological Society, which manages Brookfield Zoo, said the zoo would be using the money to improve maintenance in many of its aging structures.
“With the funding, the elephant facility will be able to get a new roof,” Strahl said. “The HVAC system in the barn and in the children’s zoo will be replaced, and the stainless steel mesh in the snow leopard exhibit will be replaced. Four roofs total will be repaired in 2010, and another 14 are set to be repaired in 2011. We have about 80 structures in the park, and some of the roofs are original. We’ll also be replacing old boilers and electrical systems. There are a host of capital maintenance issues with a 75-year-old facility.”
Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden's 2010 Landscaping for the Homeowner Series Starts Jan 20
Sat, 1/9/2010 - 10:48 AM
By Tiffany Barnes
Cincinnati, OH - Looking forward to spring? Well, back by popular demand is the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden’s 2010 Landscaping for the Homeowner Series, beginning January 20. Presented by the Zoo’s Director of Horticulture Steve Foltz, this 10-class series is one of the most informative and complete landscape series for homeowners in the Tri-state area. Offering insight on design, preparation and plant selection, the classes can be taken separately or as a complete series building upon one another.
If you are considering new additions to your garden, these classes provide good insight on soil preparation, maintenance and plant selection that you will need to be ready to create a thriving and beautiful garden in the spring.
All classes meet every Wednesday evening from 7-9 p.m. starting January 20 for 10 weeks. Cost for the complete series is $70 for Zoo members; $90 for non-members. Individual classes are $10 for Zoo members; $12 for non-members. For additional information or to register for the 2010 Landscaping for the Homeowner Series, please call 513-559-7767.
January 20 -¬ Design Your Own Landscape¬ Part 1--The focus of this class is the simple steps that every designer takes when evaluating a new landscape or renovating an existing landscape. Basic design principles will be discussed….
ZHENGZHOU, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese experts and wildlife activists are calling for improved animal welfare in zoos after two deadly attacks on keepers by hungry beasts in central Henan Province last month.
On Dec. 31, a zookeeper surnamed Ming was savaged to death by an adult African lion while he was sweeping the cage at the NanhaiPark in Henan's Zhumadian City. Local authorities are investigating the incident.
On Dec. 2, keeper Xie Jian, at the Songyang Park in Dengfeng City, was killed by a black bear while feeding the animal. The zoo was ordered to suspend operations and the victim's family was given 120,000 yuan (17,647 U.S. dollars) in compensation.
In both cases, zoo managers blamed human error for the attacks, saying the keepers had not followed usual procedures to drive the animals to neighboring cages to be tightly locked up before entering the first cage.
"That is commonsense for animal keepers. We have offered training, but Ming did not abide by the rules," said Zhao Yanmei, a manager of the Zhumadian zoo….
Student Stories: Alumna caring for animals at the National Zoo
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
We all have heard someone refer derogatively to their workplace as a zoo, but for Rebecca Miller, it really is. And that's a good thing.
The 2005 graduate of Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences works at The Smithsonian National Zoological Park -- commonly known as the National Zoo -- in Washington, D.C.
"Each day I get to work with some amazing creatures," she said. "I look forward to each day, and I’m excited to come to work."
Miller, a wildlife and fisheries science major who minored in biology, became interested in zookeeping after completing an internship at Shaver's Creek Environmental Center, Penn State's nature center in Huntingdon County, Pa.
"It was the best choice I have ever made in my life," she said. "There, I applied what I had learned from my major. Spending time with the raptors, amphibians and reptiles became the highlight of my days. I was really able to get a feel for what I wanted to do with my life."…
Royal Oak -- Attendance at the Detroit Zoo last year jumped 14 percent over the previous year, zoo officials said.
There were 1,271,633 visitors in 2009, compared to the 1,114,221 people who visited in 2008, zoo officials said in a press release. It was the fourth consecutive year-to-year increase for the zoo.
Officials credit the zoo's "Vitamin Z -- Part of a Complete Childhood" advertising campaign as well as offerings such as the Dinosauria exhibit for the increase in visitors. Dinosauria attracted about one-third of the zoo's visitors between mid-May and Labor Day, zoo officials said.
This year, the zoo plans to makeover the lions' habitat to include viewing panels that will allow visitors a closer view of the big cats, officials said.
For more information about the zoo, call (313) 852-4056.
The new baby is the 20th born in the Louisville Zoo's 40-year history.
The calf hasn't been named. Zoo officials said they plan to hold a naming contest. Contest details will be announced at a later date.
Mariah and the baby are currently off exhibit inside. Zoo officials haven't said when the new addition will be on display for visitors.
Last February, 11-year-old Malaika gave birth to her third offspring, a 150-pound, 6-foot-2-inch male giraffe whom the staff named Bakari, which means "hopeful."
A 2-year-old male giraffe was found dead of unknown causes Tuesday at Ellen Trout Zoo.
A keeper had just let Jumaane, his little brother and their mother out into the exhibit at 9:30 a.m., and when she went to check on them at 11:30 a.m., Jumaane was "gone," Charlotte Henley, director of Educational Services, said Wednesday morning.
Michael Nance, staff veterinarian, performed a necropsy on the giraffe, but didn't find anything conclusive that would indicate a cause of death. He took a number of tissue samples, which have been sent off for further testing.
"He asked for them to be expedited, so we can try to find out what happened as soon as possible," Henley said.
Jumaane had his second birthday less than a week ago. He was born Jan. 8, 2008….
The Minnesota Zoo has a new and very unusual exhibit of "Leefy" and "Weedy" sea dragons.
"We have two species in here, we have weedy sea dragons and leafy sea dragons," said Dan Peterson, of the Minnesota Zoo. "
The dragons are close relatives to seahorses, and you can find them in a new home inside Discovery Bay at the zoo.
"They come from southern Australia, from the colder waters," Peterson said. "Everybody thinks Australia is warm, the Great Barrier Reef area, but southern Australia is cooler waters, kind of like our Pacific Northwest."
The animals cost around $25,000, making them one of the more expensive animals the zoo has in the aquarium department, he said.
PLAVNICA, Montenegro — A 2-ton hippo who escaped from a flooded private zoo in Montenegro was roaming free Wednesday but returning to the zoo owner's restaurant to eat bread and hay.
Officials disagreed over whether to kill the hippo, considered one of the world's most dangerous species. Nikica, 11, escaped this week as heavy rains sent water flooding through the zoo, raising the water level in her pen and allowing her to swim over the top of the cage surrounding it.
A spokesman for Montenegro's natural disasters commission, which responds to floods, said law required animals that can endanger human lives. But state veterinary authorities said they were not entitled to kill animals.
Award-winning designer Michael Hall's first picture book effort, My Heart Is Like a Zoo (HarperCollins, 2009)constructs a menagerie of charming animals from overlapping shapes, principally hearts, set forth appealingly against solid-color double-page spreads. Although some of his text lines, all similes which compare heartfelt feelings to animal activities, work better than others, the illustrations of the zoo folk are clever enough in their construction to hold the attention of preschool listeners and adult readers through this book which offers both graphic eye candy and solid content…. v:shapes="_x0000_i1025">
Heaping indignity on top of captivity, the Milwaukee County Zoo has announced that Zero the polar bear is bad in bed.
So inept, in fact, that he'll be making the walk of shame to a different zoo. That's right. Zero has so literally lived up to his name sexually that he's being kicked out of Milwaukee. Think it can't happen to you? Don't push your luck.
Polar bears apparently run the same risk as place-kickers. If you can't split the uprights, people may want you gone.
Middle-aged Zero failed to impregnate or even put many moves on our zoo's female polar bear, Snow Lilly, over the past four years. So off he goes to the Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester, N.Y., where a hot number named Aurora is already applying her makeup.
"Maybe he just needs the right partner," said that zoo's spokeswoman, Pam Cowan.
If it doesn't work out, Zero can try the zoo in Viagra Falls….
Ludhiana, Jan 13: Tigers at the Tiger Safari Zoo in Ludhiana have been provided with blowers to keep them safe from the biting cold.
The measure was taken due to a tiger falling sick after being exposed to the chill.
Plastic sheets and straw mats have also been used to cover the cages to keep the tigers warm.
"It is very cold and we have provided the cages with blowers to protect them from the cold. We have also covered the cages with plastic sheets to keep the chill out," said Narendra Pal, Incharge, Tiger Safari Zoo, Ludhiana.
There are around 17 Bengal tigers and one white tiger in Punjab.
The Alexandria Zoological Park is looking for volunteers 18 and older to help with education, animal care, grounds maintenance and landscaping, construction, summer camp, public relations, office work and other activities.
Requirements are: Applicants must be at least 18 years old and possess a high school diploma or GED. Volunteers also pay a $25 program fee for training, and must be members of FOTAZ, Friends of The Alexandria Zoo.
Training sessions are scheduled for Feb. 9, Feb. 23, Feb. 25 and March 2, all from 6 to 8 p.m. Applicants will be interviewed prior to training. Deadline for registration is Friday, Feb. 5.
With the still-to-come findings of an intense, independent review hanging over the Topeka Zoo, its interim director is working to address separate concerns raised by federal officials during an unannounced inspection this week.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's two-day walk-through, which concluded Tuesday, cited the facility for seven noncompliance issues, including records that "were not sufficiently detailed to meet generally accepted veterinary professional standards." It also said mulch on the floor of a porcupine enclosure hadn't been changed in more than four months and was producing numerous flies, which could transmit diseases to the animals.
Interim zoo director Dennis Taylor said the USDA's team reported in a post-inspection debriefing Wednesday morning it was generally satisfied with the zoo's operations but wanted more documentation. On the matter of the flies, Taylor said a staff member had noticed the problem and orally notified a superior….
All photos taken through wired fences so made it difficult. Was amazing to be so close to such beautiful creatures but sad to see them living in confined areas and not in the wild….
Twycross Zoo keepers start annual animal stock take
January 8th, 2010
Leicester Mercury
From the ant to the elephant, staff at Twycross Zoo have begun the mammoth job of counting their animals.
Along with zoos up and down the country, workers at the Leicestershire attraction are beginning their annual stock take.
New arrivals at Twycross in 2009 included elephant Ganesh Vijay, woolly monkey Branco, tufted deer Ying Xiong and marmoset monkeys Tabatinga and Maramimga.
Last year, the zoo was home to 809 animals. Officials expect this year’s count to take two or three weeks to complete.
Andy Moore, manager of the Pets at Twycross section of the zoo, looks after domesticated animals, including the six alpacas.
He said: “We need to take account of the animals we have – for example we’ve got a leaf-cutter ant colony of about 300,000. We can’t count them all so we count them as one being.
“We need to keep a record of which animals are in which enclosures….
DENVER -- The endangered Grevy's zebra population got a little boost with the birth of a new foal at the Denver Zoo.
Lakota is a male Grevy's zebra that was born at the zoo Nov. 27, local affiliate KMGH-TV reported.
Zoo officials said Lakota is "very shy and tends to remain at his mother's side." However, he has been known to venture out on his own from time to time. His mother, Topaz, is said to keep "a watchful eye over the young colt."…
North American Zoos Support Worldwide Elephant Conservation
Jan 6, 2010
Contact: Debi Olson, IEF, 817. 237.9034 Steve Feldman, AZA, 301.562.0777 x 252 Linda Cendes, AZA, 301.562.0777 x236
Silver Spring, MD – The International Elephant Foundation (IEF) and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) today announced their support for 16 elephant conservation projects for 2010.
IEF-supported projects help to mitigate human-elephant conflict, combat poaching, protect habitat, prevent disease, advance research and educate people. IEF grants for 2010 total about $200,000 adding to the $1.6 million total since its founding in 1998.
“Elephants need our help,” said IEF Executive Director, Deborah Olson. “Essential elephant conservation work will continue thanks to the elephants here in North America that inspire support for the International Elephant Foundation. In addition, protecting elephants and their habitat also safeguards many other species big and small who share the same territory and migration routes.”…
Animal lovers' calendar: Weekend of Jan. 9-10 and beyond
January 8, 2010
This Weekend:
Saturday, Jan. 9, local rescue organization spcaLA invites potential "foster parents" to learn about its fostering program from 10 a.m. to noon at its South Bay Pet Adoption Center, 12910 Yukon Ave., Hawthorne. "Foster parents" are needed to care for puppies and kittens that are too young to be adopted, as well as older dogs and cats with special needs. More information at spcaLA.com. (The L.A. Department of Animal Services offers a similar program for underage puppies and kittens; more information on that program is available at the department's website.)
Saturday, Jan. 9, the L.A. Department of Animal Services holds mobile pet-adoption events at downtown pet store Pussy & Pooch, 564 S. Main St., from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; at Fred Hesse Jr. Memorial Park in Rancho Palos Verdes, 29301 Hawthorne Blvd., from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and at AHF Pharmacy in West Hollywood, 8212 Santa Monica Blvd., from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. See photos of adoptable pets at the department's website….
January 13, 2010Thursday and Friday: Seneca Park Zoo Hug a Bug. Thursday from 9:30 to 11 a.m. and Friday from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Classes for kids 4, 5 and 6 years old.Come meet some misunderstood creatures: the bugs! Kids learn who these little guys are and why they are so incredibly important and totally cool!
In addition, classes include visits from live animals, biofact discoveries and songs and crafts.
Cost: $18 per child for members; $22 per child for non-members. Registration is required. If you register for more than one class at once, you will receive a discount. To register call (585) 336-7213.
(HarperCollins, 2009)constructs a menagerie of charming animals from overlapping shapes, principally 
