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Zoo News Digest
May-June 2008 29Jun2008 Apes get legal rights in Spain, to surprise of bullfight critics 22Jun2008 National Zoo Reverses Vasectomy on Horse The first ever successful reverse vasectomy on an endangered species is performed at the National Zoo. The Prezewalski horse came to the Smithsonian National Zoo in 2006. He was vasectomized in 1999 at a previous institution and now has had a successful reverse vasectomy. The Prezewalski horses are a horse species native to China and Mongolia that was declared extinct in the wild in 1970. There are approximately 1,500 of these animals maintained at zoos throughout the world and in several populations in Asia. "The major challenge we faced was that this procedure had never been performed on an equid, let alone a critically endangered species," said Dr. Budhan Pukazhenthi, a reproductive scientist at the National Zoo's Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal, Va. The team sought out Dr. Sherman Silber, a St. Louis-based urologist who pioneered microsurgery for reverse vasectomies in humans and had been http://www.wjla.com/news Black Market Tigers Linked to Thai Temple, Report Says It's the hottest part of the day at a forest monastery in western Thailand, and tourists are led by the hand, one by one, into the beating sun to pet chained tigers and smile for the camera. Every day at this unusual "Tiger Temple," as many as 800 tourists pay 300 Thai baht (9 U.S. dollars) each for their chance to interact with the endangered big cats. The tigers—several of which were born at the compound—live alongside monks and volunteers in what one temple handler called a beautiful blend of Buddhism and conservation. Though the remote monastery near the Burmese border is considered a must-see by some tourists, it's what the public doesn't see that has prompted a http://news.nationalgeographic READ THE REPORT : Exploiting the Tiger Illegal Trade, Animal Cruelty, and Tourists at Risk at the Tiger Temple http://www.cwiftp.co.uk/1 Elephants: Thriving at zoos? An African elephant in Philadelephia's zoo died recently at age 52. While wild elephants sometimes live into their 60s, that left a 48-year-old in Salt Lake City as the oldest African elephant in a U.S. zoo. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums talks about how "elephants thrive in zoos." Consider us a bit underwhelmed. The oldest Asian elephant in a U.S. zoo is a more impressive 67. The AZA says average life expectancies are the same in capitivity and the wild. Most zoos, including Seattle's, are dismissive of calls for elephants to be in spacious sanctuaries. Most critics would be happy to think the elephants are enjoying themselves in conditions that might lead to remarkably long lives. Somewhere there must be a watering hole where dedicated professionals and caring http://seattlepi.nwsource.com Poachers kill last four wild northern white rhinos The last four northern white rhinoceros remaining in the wild are feared to have been killed for their horns by poachers and are now believed to be extinct in the wild. Only a few are left in captivity but they are difficult to breed and the number is so low that the species is regarded as biologically unviable. The outlook for other types of rhino, including the endangered African black rhino, was more optimistic yesterday however. Figures released by the IUCN, the international conservation body that assesses threats to wildlife, showed that the number of wild rhinos had increased to its highest level for decades. The northern white rhino, Ceratotherium simum cottoni, has been struggling for suvival since the 1970s, when numbers dropped from about 500 to 15. A slight recovery was recorded in 2003 when 30 were counted but by 2006 only four were left. All of them were recorded in the Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo but war and civil unrest in the region has led to an increase in poachers. "Worryingly, recent fieldwork has so far failed to find any presence of these four remaining rhinos," Dr Martin Brooks, a rhino specialist with the IUCN, said. "Unless http://www.timesonline.co.uk Rhinos on the rise in Africa but Northern white nears extinction(lifepr) Gland, Switzerland, 17.06.2008 - African rhinos have reached record numbers for the first time in decades, but the Northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) is on the brink of extinction. The figures, complied by the IUCN Species Survival Commission African Rhino Specialist Group, show there are now more than 21,000 African rhinos. According to the results, the white rhino (Ceratotherium simum) has increased from 14,540 in 2005 to 17,480 in 2007. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(TM) , but one of its two subspecies, the Northern white rhino, is listed as Critically Endangered and is on the brink of extinction. It is restricted in the wild to Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the only remaining population was reduced by poaching from 30 in April 2003 to only four confirmed animals by August 2006. "Worryingly, recent fieldwork has so far failed to find any presence of these four remaining rhinos," says Dr Martin Brooks, Chair of the IUCN SSC African Rhino Specialist Group. "Unless animals are found during the intensive surveys that are planned under the direction of the African Parks Foundation, the subspecies may be doomed to extinction." In contrast, the other subspecies, the Southern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum simum), is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List and continues to increase in numbers and range. Similarly, the population of African black rhino (Diceros bicornis), has increased from 3,730 in 2005 to 4,180 in 2007, although it still remains Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. In the last two years alone, numbers have risen by about 450 animals, with several new populations being founded http://www.lifepr.de/pressemeld Zoo boss threatens to sue Dalton Carnival Committee THE boss of a top Furness attraction says he missed out on thousands of pounds worth of revenue over the weekend. South Lakes Wild Animal Park owner David Gill has threatened to sue the organisers of Dalton Carnival after the main route into the zoo was blocked-off for hours. No traffic was allowed to pass down roads affected by the carnival between midday and 4pm. Mr Gill says he was not told the road closures for Saturday's carnival would be in place for so long and believes it may have lost him up to £10,000. He said: "I am taking legal action. I am going to sue the carnival committee for the money we've lost. "It is the worst thing that has happened to me in 14 years. "This is the type of thing that will make us move from Dalton. "The visitors were stuck in the zoo. We couldn't send them through Marton because God only knows where they'd have ended up. "People who are not from around here wouldn't have a clue where to go." Mr Gill says the carnival committee should have paid for signs to say the park was open and accessible through alternative routes. He said: "This year they've gone crazy. They have not even made an effort to talk to me. They http://www.nwemail.co.uk/news Zoo Tales: What Does a 400-pound Gorilla Eat? The first segment of a new series Zoo Tales by Post photographer Joe Elbert's follows animal nutritionist Karen Lisi as she helps to feed thousands of animals across hundreds of species. Lisi was online Monday, June 16 at 11 a.m. ET to take your questions about the care and feeding of the National Zoo's menagerie. A transcript follows. Info For Daughter: Hello Ms. Lisi, I want to get as much info I can on what my soon to be 17-year-old can do about her interest in animals. She has volunteered at the zoo, but as a greeter/helper, and also volunteered at nature centers. She would love to work at an animal hospital or pet store, but to no avail. Can you give me any suggestions on what she can do, while school is out? Thank you. Karen Lisi: I would encourage your daughter to visit our Web site and search for "volunteer opportunities." Friends of the National Zoo, FONZ, runs several programs for interested students your daughter's age. Since we offer a variety of opportunities, there may be something different that would appeal to your daughter. We also have information about wildlife-related careers on the Web site as well. May I also suggest looking into FONZ http://www.washingtonpost.com Bengal tiger mauls Wildlife Park guard (Peter's Note: Earlier reports said it was a Cheetah. This is more likely) A wildlife department guard was attacked and severely injured by a Bengal tiger at the Lahore Wildlife Park, Raiwind Road, on Sunday. The guard, Masood Yasin, was immediately shifted to Jinnah Hospital in unconscious condition. Yasin received multiple injuries and his jugular vein was badly damaged in the attack, doctor said. "The patient is in critical condition. He was operated upon but he is still not out of danger. A major operation would be held today in the morning by senior surgeons," he said. Deputy Director Wildlife Department and incharge of the park, Ch Shafqat Ali, talking to The Nation said it was the first incident that a tiger had attacked a human being in the park. "It has not been determined yet whether it was guard's fault that he did not follow the precautions or there was some other reason that the animal became so ferocious that it attacked," Ali said. In past there had been incidents in which the big cats killed other animals. In January 2007, a tiger killed another tiger while in October 2006, a tigress killed another tigress. Sources in the Punjab Wildlife Department said Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif had also planned to visit the park on Saturday (today) morning. They said the CM had taken notice of some complaints against the administration of the park and was personally visiting it to take action against those involved in irregularities. So far the Wildlife Department officials are reluctant to explain the cause of incident. "It is a very unusual incident and the first of its kind in the park. It is possible that the animals are not fed properly at the right time. If the animals are properly fed they never attack. "Also the guard may have broken the rules and directly engaged with the animals or perhaps provoked the tiger by some act http://www.nation.com.pk Companies Get OK to Annoy Polar Bears Bush Administration allows oil and gas companies to annoy already threatened polar bears Less than a month after declaring polar bears a threatened species because of global warming, the Bush administration is giving oil companies permission to annoy and potentially harm them in the pursuit of oil and natural gas. The Fish and Wildlife Service issued regulations this week providing legal protection to seven oil companies planning to search for oil and gas in the Chukchi Sea off the northwestern coast of Alaska if "small http://abcnews.go.com/Politics Floods wipe out 1,600 nests in disaster for Britain's rarest birds More than 1,600 pairs of wading birds and ducks have had their nests destroyed by flooding in a wildlife catastrophe in the Cambridgeshire fens. Nearly 600 pairs of increasingly scarce ground-nesting waders – lapwing, snipe and redshank – have lost eggs or chicks in the flooding on the Ouse Washes, a narrow, 20-mile strip of grassland near Ely which is the best breeding site for waders in lowland England. More than 1,100 pairs of eight species of duck, including 12 pairs of the rare garganey, have similarly had nests washed away. The Ouse Washes were built as a winter relief channel for fenland flood water in the 17th century, and were traditionally inundated every winter and dried out in spring, leaving damp grassland which was perfect for nesting birds. But in recent years the flooding has continued through spring and even into summer. A combination http://www.independent.co.uk Authorities continue tiger investigation Federal authorities continue to investigate the parking lot sale of six Bengal tigers they believe were bound for Mexico. On Monday, investigators interviewed workers from the Springhill Wildlife Park and Ranch, the facility from which the cubs originated. Little is known about the park, located at 5650 Springhill Road in Calvert, Texas, about 35 miles northwest of College Station. ``This is the first time they've popped up on the radar,'' said Special Agent Alejandro Rodriguez http://www.themonitor.com/news Staff shortage plagues Corbett Tiger reserve The Corbett Tiger Reserve might be brimming with a robust wild cat population but the shortage of staff in the park is giving sleepless nights to Uttarkhand wildlife officials who fear that poachers may take advantage of the situation. Park Director Rajeev Bhartri admitted that "forty per cent of the total staff strength is yet to be filled." Sources said the park spread over 1318 sq km area, including Sonanadi Wildlife Sanctuary, has a sanctioned strength of 300 staff, not sufficient to manage the healthy wildlife population comprising tigers, leopards and elephants and other animals. To worsen the matter, of these, 125 including 102 posts for forest guards are lying vacant. The sanctioned strength of forest guards is 226, the sources said. They said the problem aggravated when three dozen forests guards left the Park en mass during the recent re-organisation of the state forest department. "When given an option they preferred to join Western Circle, thus http://economictimes.indiatimes Elephant, camels freed with Jaws of Life Three circus animals had to be rescued by volunteer firefighters after the transport truck carrying them overturned in a remote N.L. community. "There are four very sharp turns here in town, a tractor-trailer was coming around one of the turns and flipped over on her side, and there was an elephant and two camels inside the truck," Daniel's Harbour Mayor Steve Carey told Canada AM on Tuesday. The local fire department, and one from a neighbouring town were called in, bringing with them the Jaws of Life that had been purchased in the last six months. According to Carey, there were minor injuries resulting from the crash, which occurred Sunday, but both the driver and animals are said to be doing fine. "It did turn into a circus for the youngsters that are in the area," Carey said. Local residents were reportedly flocking to the area to get a look at the unusual visitors, who are members http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv He's black, and he's back! Private enterprise saves southern Africa's rhino from extinction A pioneering scheme which allows private landlords to own and breed wild rhinoceroses has succeeded in bringing one of Africa's most majestic animals back from the brink of extinction, conservations will announce today. In 1960, an estimated 100,000 southern black rhinos roamed the plains of southern Africa. Poaching and the destruction of the animals' natural habitat cut their number to 2,410 in 1995. The decline has been reversed: the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) will announce this morning that more than 4,000 southern black rhinos can be found in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia, and Kenya, a landmark signifying stability. Numbers of southern whites have also increased, from 14,540 in 2005 to 17,480 at the end of last year. "Effective law enforcement has become much easier now that the animals are largely privately owned," said Dr Richard Emslie, a scientific officer with responsibility for rhinos at the IUCN. "We have been able to bring local communities into the conservation programmes. There are increasingly strong economic incentives attached to looking after rhinos rather than simply poaching: from eco- tourism or selling them on for a profit. So many owners are keeping them secure. The private sector has been key to helping our work." As a result of poaching for their horns, the news is dismal for Africa's two northern species of rhino, however. Only four northern white rhinos remained when they were last seen in August 2006, all of them in Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic http://www.independent.co.uk A spy satellite is to be trained on the vast rainforests of central Africa as part of a British project designed to protect them from illegal logging under plans to be unveiled today. The £1m high-resolution camera will beam images of the Congo Basin Rainforest to a new ground station to allow governments, NGOs and local communities to prevent the rainforests being lost. The equipment, which can photograph objects as small as 10 metres across, will hover 650km (400 miles) above the rainforest to track illegal logging operations, as well as monitor pollution levels and help monitor agriculture. A £1.5m satellite ground station will also be built in the region as part of an £8m package of measures to be announced today to prevent dangerous deforestation in the region. British ministers hope the satellite camera, likely to be launched in two years' time, will also provide images for a £1.8m mapping project designed to help the 51 million inhabitants of the rainforest to establish their land rights and prevent loggers seizing territory. The new initiative will be unveiled at the launch of a global fund to back projects to preserve the rainforest, the world's second-largest tropical forest. The forest covers an area twice the size of France and contains 26 per cent of the world's remaining rainforest, extending across six countries; Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of Congo. Estimates suggest that 3,600 square miles of forest are cut down in the forest each year. Britain has donated £50m to the new fund, which ministers hope will rise to £250m to prevent the rainforest suffering the type of deforestation which has depleted the Amazon's rainforest. The fund is part of an £800m http://www.independent.co.uk Chimp Cure For Stress: Hugs And Kisses Researchers Find Consolation Helps Quell Chimpanzee Victims Of Aggression Researchers studying chimpanzees, the closest genetic relatives to people, found that stress was reduced in chimps that were victims of aggression if a third chimp stepped in to offer consolation. "Consolation usually took the form of a kiss or embrace," said Dr. Orlaith N. Fraser of the Research Center in Evolutionary Anthropology and Paleoecology at Liverpool John Moores University in England. "This is particularly interesting," she said, because this behavior is rarely seen other than after a conflict. "If a kiss was used, the consoler would press his or her open mouth against the recipient's body, usually on the top of the head or their back. An embrace consisted of the consoler wrapping one or both arms around the recipient." The result was a reduction of stress behavior such as scratching or self- grooming by the victim of aggression, Fraser and colleagues report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Frans de Waal of the Yerkes http://www.cbsnews.com/stories A MILLION dollar communication bungle has put the Rockhampton Zoo upgrade in jeopardy. Rockhampton Regional Council Mayor Brad Carter this week confirmed council had received a letter advising it of a $1m State Government grant, but he couldn't pinpoint why it wasn't passed onto the correct department. The promised funding, secured from the Regional Centres Program, was originally dependent on the zoo and chimpanzee facility upgrade being completed by March 9, next year. The mayor said he wasn't sure now when the project, which had already started, would be finished. Cr Carter said it was unclear where the breakdown in communication had occurred, but said ultimately the responsibility landed on the desk of the organisation's chief executive. "I know that the letter had formally been received by council, I had discussed that matter with the CEO (ex-acting CEO Gary Stevenson), about the commitment of the State Government, but in terms of why that wasn't known to the parks department, I have no idea," he said. "There's no conspiracy theory to do with the piece of correspondence not catching up with the action officers. "We're reviewing the management structure and reviewing http://www.themorningbulletin storyid=3776326 Zoo sends £1,000 to help Pandas in China COLCHESTER Zoo has sent £1,000 to China to help rescue Giant Pandas. The zoo has sent the emergency funds to the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Centre in the Sichuan province of China which was affected by last month's earthquake. The money will help rebuild http://www.eveningstar.co.uk Zoo Negara goes green to cut cost Zoo Negara is going green to save costs, and the environment. One of the measures used by Zoo Negara is the rainwater utilisation system, where rainwater is collected, stored and used for daily usage. According to Malaysian Zoological Society director Dr Mohamad Ngah, the National Hydraulic Research Institute of Malaysia was helping out with its expertise. The rainwater harvested will be used for the aquariums, toilets and for cleaning purposes. "This system is expected to help us save 30% in water bills," he told reporters yesterday after a pre-launch of World Environment Day to be held at the zoo on Sunday. A group of young fashion designers, who will be showcasing their specially-created designs at the zoo http://thestar.com.my/news Shhhh! The chimpanzees are mating Female chimpanzees keep quiet during sex to keep other females from finding out and punishing them for mating with the best males, British researchers said on Wednesday. The study of chimp copulation calls also found that females seem more concerned with having sex with as many mates as possible rather than just finding the strongest male as a way to confuse paternity and secure future protection for offspring. "They are trying to make the high-ranking males think they are the father," said Simon Townsend, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of St. Andrews in Britain, who led the study. "If you confuse paternity, they are more likely to provide that female with future support." The findings show that chimps – our closest living relatives – can use their calls flexibly in response to social factors while knowing more about the apes could help in conservation efforts, he added. Researchers have long been interested in mating calls of different animals, especially primates. A common hypothesis is that females use such calls to advertise http://www.thestar.com/article Paul Martin launches fund to save Congo Basin It's a haven for elephants, chimpanzees, gorillas and other wildlife -- and, now, former prime minister Paul Martin has helped launch a fund to save the Congo Basin, the second-largest tropical rainforest in the world. The $200-million Congo Basin Forest Fund, launched in London, England on Tuesday, is jointly funded by Britain and Norway, aims to make the forested area in Central Africa worth more as a living resource than it would be cut down. "The preservation of the Congo Basin rainforest is a tremendous step forward, if we can make it happen, in the fight against climate change," said Martin in an interview Tuesday. "Giving these communities the ability http://www.ctv.ca/servlet Gharials pose problem of plenty in Patna Zoo Patna (PTI): What would have been a dream come true for conservationists has turned out to be a nightmare for the authorities of Patna Zoo. The burgeoning population of gharials or "gavialis gangeticus" at the Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park is giving a headache to the authorities who are planning to release them in rivers or shift the reptiles to other zoological parks in the country under an exchange programme or even for free. "I have written to the chief warden of the Department of Forests and Environment to consider releasing the alligators in the Gandak river and his response is awaited," Director of the Park, Rakesh Kumar said. The obstacle that is apparently coming in the way of releasing the gharials, which fall in the "critically endangered" category under schedule 1 of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, is doubts about http://www.hindu.com/thehindu Bronx Zoo Lion House Goes Green as Cockroaches, Crocs Move In A springy, rubberized floor made from recycled plastic and used tires cushions my steps as I move from a leafy jungle to a spiny forest at ``Madagascar!'' -- the new exhibit in the restored 1903 Lion House at New York's Bronx Zoo. Waiting inside are 100,000 (or so) hissing cockroaches, Nile crocodiles and, more adorable, furry, long-tailed lemurs. The historic structure, designed by Heins & La Farge as part of the zoo's original Astor Court campus, represented state-of- the-art zoo design at the turn of the 20th century. The lions could stroll through a passageway connecting their indoor and outdoor cages -- a true innovation at the time. Some two decades ago, the lions were relocated so they could roam more freely in a natural-looking setting, leaving the building vacant -- until now. Restored by FXFowle Architects of New York, the Lion House retains its ornate charms -- the limestone and brick facade, the stately Ionic columns, the copper roof and carved heads of jungle cats on the terra- cotta cornices -- while incorporating some very 21st-century ideas for green design. The architects deepened and widened the basement to hide the building's infrastructure -- like the geothermal wells that eliminat http://www.bloomberg.com/apps Lions, jaguars, and a wolf intent on escape - why we bought a zoo Ben Mee had always relished a challenge – and that's what he got when he and his family took on a run-down wildlife park We never planned to buy a zoo, it just sort of happened. The whole family had been looking for a small cottage for my mum to move into after my dad had died, and then the idea evolved that she could live with one of her five children, by pooling resources and buying a larger place. Which is how we came to be on the mailing list for what was then called Dartmoor Wildlife Park, for sale through a normal residential estate agents. At first we laughed – I mean, who buys a zoo? But the more we thought about it, the more we thought, "Why not?" We soon discovered there are many very good reasons why not. But on the face of it here was a large 12-bedroom house in the middle of a park, which also happened to have lions and tigers roaming the grounds. A bit of research revealed that anyone can buy a zoo, as long as you employ qualified zoo professionals to run manage the animals. What could possibly go wrong? Well, quite a lot, actually. Our idea of relocating with my mother did not go according to plan. Although the asking price for the 30-acre site was the same as that for my mum's five-bedroom house in two acres of Surrey, there was the small matter of the extra £500,000 we would need to renovate the place to make it serviceable and presentable to the visitors. During the long and unbelievably complicated negotiations, the zoo had closed, and the owner had handed in his licence. The place was very run down and the enclosures were ready to be bulldozed to make way for a nursing home. When we finally took possession after six months of wrangling with bankers and lawyers, and with the aid of a loan from the very understanding National Farmers Union Mutual, our problems really began. After four days, our big male jaguar escaped, due to the error of a junior keeper. Amazingly, Sovereign the jag didn't kill the keeper, http://www.independent.co.uk Zoo animals' twilight years pose new questions We've highlighted people spending gobs on medical bills for their baby- boomer pets. Now the nation's zoos are entering a "zone of unknowns" as animals live longer than anyone expected, the Associated Press reports. While animals in captivity living longer than their wild brethren is nothing new, as that gap in life expectancy increases -- partly due to better medical care -- there have been some adjustments. The Santa Ana Zoo, for instance, is home to Moka, a colobus monkey pushing 27 years old, making him the second-oldest in the United States: For Moka, old age has meant only a few minor changes. His perch has been lowered so he doesn't have to jump up to it. He gets regular X- rays to check for arthritis. And he tends to get access to warm areas during the winter. But the aging population of America's zoos is raising many other simple –- but potentially daunting –- questions. Do female gorillas, now frequently living into their 40s and 50s, experience menopause? Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? Should an oldster be put down simply because he's old? "How old is geriatric? How old http://latimesblogs.latimes Return of Zoo's exec causes controversy Ambiguous leave of absence by chief leaves board questioning status Calvin White, the chief executive of the Toronto Zoo who has been on a leave for the past six months, will be back at his post July 2. But Councillor Michael Thompson (Ward 37, Scarborough Centre), a member of the zoo's board of management, is calling for a special meeting to discuss White's return – which he says has never been discussed by the board. In fact, Thompson said board members have not been formally told that White is coming back. "I've only heard it through the grapevine," he said. "It's a little bit chaotic in terms of not knowing what's going to take place." White's leave has been controversial. It started last December when board members got a note saying White was seeking a medical leave of absence of six months or more. The board struck a committee to look into the matter and two members of the committee signed a proposal for a severance package worth more than $400,000. But a third committee member refused to sign and, in January, a majority of board members balked at the deal. http://www.thestar.com/News SETTING THE MONKEYS FREE THE cotton-topped tamarin, which lives only in north western Colombia, is clinging to survival in the remaining pockets of rainforest in its homeland. Dwindling habitat and the pet trade have pushed these tiny monkeys to the brink of extinction. With their flash of white hair and tiny stature – cotton-tops fit in the palm of your hand – it's easy to understand how they've been snagged as desirable pets. Although they were declared endangered in 1973 they only recently became the focus of conservationists. David Gill has been working with the multidisciplinary Proyecto Titi, or Project Tamarin, for three years now. As well as providing funding, Mr Gill was recently invited to Baranquilla, on the northern Caribbean coast of Colombia, to offer practical assistance to the project. His style of semi-wild facilities at South Lakes Wild Animal Park is in great demand across the globe, with many zoos wishing to move away from cages to create more natural enclosures. While he was there Mr Gill started looking creatively at practical ways Dalton zoo could help the tamarins. His idea is to sell square-metre patches of rainforest here in Furness to conserve the equivalent area of land in Colombia. Explaining the concept, Mr Gill said: "We went out to the forest and saw the fragments that were left suitable for cotton-topped tamarins. It's frightening how vulnerable these tamarins are. "We want to look at these forest fragments to see if we could get involved with purchasing them to protect them forever. We thought we could start a small project, based in El Ceibal. "On that ranch there's a 400 hectare plot of forest, full of life. It's full of howler monkeys, three different species of macaw, tortoises and cotton- topped tamarins. "It's an island of forest surrounded by cattle ranches. That particular area floods in the wet season. It isn't being used because it isn't easy to turn into grassland, otherwise it would have been destroyed by now. Further across there's an area of forest that's also suitable. "So what we thought was we would try to buy the grassland to be a corridor in between the two plots. "We came up with a scheme to encourage visitors to buy a metre square of rainforest. It's 400 hectares and there's 10,000 square metres in a hectare. "It still seems like a very achievable thing, even if we can only put down half of it. "We want to try and buy it so we could protect it for all these species." Key to conserving Colombia's natural habitats is getting the local communities on board. How do you convince the villagers that the tamarins are not worth sacrificing to the pet trade? Through education programmes and by creating more sustainable living solutions, the tamarin has now become a living emblem, to the extent that the species is celebrated in an annual cultural festival. "The problem was the local villagers saw the forest for firewood and tamarins for the pet trade," explained Mr Gill. "So we had to go to the villages and come up with some sort of idea of how to help them so they could help the forest. They came up with an outstanding idea themselves. They started collecting supermarket carrier bags that people were recycling. "They slit the bag open with http://www.nwemail.co.uk/news Tiger cub diary: video exclusive Forget meerkat manor – Kent Online has launched its own fly-on-the- wall look at two of the county's more unusual animals. Every two weeks we will be updating you on the progress of Sinda and Bira, Port Lympne Wild Animal Park's pair of Siberian tiger cubs. At 13 weeks, they may look like a pair of fluffy little tiggers only interested in playing and food. But these beautiful tiger cubs are already starting to show their claws. In the first of Kent Online's exclusive video diaries cataloguing the progress of Siberian tiger cubs Sinda and Bira at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park, it is clear the pair are well on the way to becoming boisterous young carnivores. Keeper Richard Barnes said the smaller of the two, Bira, is emerging as the most outgoing of the two, showing little fear as she bounds around her enclosure. Sinda is a little more cautious – and a little more feisty with her keepers – but still loves a scrap with her sister http://www.kentonline.co.uk Seattle zoo elephant may be pregnant An elephant at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle may be pregnant. The zoo says it won't know for sure until an ultrasound scheduled this fall. The elephant, named Chai (chy) was artificially inseminated in January. The father is an elephant named Sneezy at the zoo in Tulsa, Okla. It all goes as planned the baby would be born by Thanksgiving of 2009. Some animal rights activists are worried about the health risks. The group Friends of Woodland Park Zoo Elephants says it's unethical to breed Chai because her 6-year-old daughter, Hansa, died last year of a herpes infection. The group fears a new calf would also get the http://www.examiner.com/a-1451148~Seattle_zoo_elephant Hogle Zoo requesting $65 million bond Not to be deterred, Hogle Zoo officials are once again asking for a $65 million zoo renovation bond. But to get there, they have to get through the Salt Lake County Council first. The council must vote to put the bond on the November ballot and is scheduled to discuss the issue Tuesday. Last summer the council rejected the same request http://deseretnews.com/article PETA starts campaign to revoke tiger cub ranch People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has started a campaign to revoke the license of a wildlife park that tried to sell six tiger cubs in McAllen. PETA sent an urgent letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture officials on Thursday morning urging them to investigate the Springhill Wildlife Ranch and Park in Bryan, Texas. The park's co-owner Michelle Ashton under investigation for allegedly attempted to sell six endangered tiger cubs in a McAllen Wal-Mart parking lot on Sunday. It is believed the animals were destined for Mexico possibly violating American and international laws regarding the trade of endangered species. PETA is asking the USDA to revoke the dealer' http://www.kgbt4.com/news/news Card sharks on Vegas Strip welcome Komodo dragon A Komodo dragon has arrived on the Las Vegas Strip, where the endangered species normally are limited to cheap buffets, 99-cent shrimp cocktails and single-deck blackjack. The 87-pound, 7-foot-long endangered lizard went on display Friday at the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay casino. It comes from the Miami Metro Zoo. About 75 Komodo dragons are in zoos and aquariums in the U.S. and Canada, according to Shark Reef officials. Some 3,000 to 5,000 Komodo dragons live in the http://www.examiner.com/a-1451567~Card_sharks_on_Vegas U.S. and Iranian officials put aside difference to save one of the world's rarest big cats Iranian and Western wildlife experts are working together to save rare cheetahs from extinction in this arid, mountainous region, despite a nuclear row between their governments. British-based conservation groups are backing a campaign spearheaded by Iran's Department of Environment and the United Nations Development Programme to prevent the endangered Asiatic cheetah from dying out. Iran is believed to host the only 60 - 100 Asiatic cheetahs left in the wild. Some eke out a living in a forbidding terrain of jagged peaks, deep gorges and bone-dry plains in the Kuh-e Bafgh protected area in Yazd province in central Iran. The sleek and spotted cats once roamed between the Arabian peninsula and India, but their number in Iran is estimated to have fallen by roughly half in the last three decades. "This is a wonderful case of the urgent conservation needs of the cheetah transcending political differences," executive director Luke Hunter of Panthera, a non-governmental organisation, said. The United States, which severed ties with Iran after its 1979 Islamic revolution, is leading efforts to isolate the Middle Eastern country over nuclear work Washington suspects is aimed at making bombs, a charge Tehran denies. But Hunter, an Australian, said he believed "both Iranians and Americans realise that we cannot afford to allow politics to affect the cheetahs. If we did, we could lose them." Iranian officials expressed similar views. "I love anybody who works for conservation and wildlife protection. It doesn't matter who it is," said Ali Akhbar Karimi, a 59-year-old veteran from Iran's Department of Environment in Yazd province. Until the first half of the 20th century, Iran was home to four of the so- called big cats -- including lions and tigers -- but now only leopards and cheetahs remain. The Asiatic cheetah is closely related to its better-known African counterpart, a killing machine that can reach speeds of over 60 miles (100 km) an hour in pursuit of its prey. In Iran, cheetahs have been pushed close to extinction by increased population pressure and a lack of resources to protect them, with villagers hunting their prey for food and herds of sheep and goat encroaching on their habitats. "We need to do something urgent to save them," said Iranian biologist Houman Jowkar, field director for U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in Yazd. "It is a national treasure." The Kuh-e Bafgh Protected Area http://www.thisislondon.co.uk
Tiger, lions not yet saved due to valley climate The plan to rescue one endangered tiger and two lions from a Shifang wild animal park was postponed due to bad weather, with one military helicopter almost downed in southwest China's Sichuan Province yesterday, local media reported. Despite careful preparation, the rescue effort did not go smoothly. Due to bad weather in the valley, the first planned rescue was postponed. A new attempt will be made today, Ge Yujin, an Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff, told the Tianfu Morning Post. Three white lions and two white tigers had been trapped in the park since the May 12 quake. Breeders had trekked into the valley on June 5, bringing beef to feed the bony and starving animals. Two days ago a 2-year-old tiger was shot dead by soldiers to protect the safety of quake survivors, while another white lion has already starved to death. It is hoped to transport the remaining two white lions and one white tiger to the Bifengxia Zoo in Ya'an City. However, a Super Puma copter heading to Shifang City to evacuate the animals made a forced landing at 12:35 PM yesterday when it encountered mechanical problems. Three people were injured, one critically, said an official with the http://www.china.org.cn/china Junagadh zoo to get cheetahs from Singapore Two cheetahs will be brought from Singapore to the Sakkarbaug Zoological Park in Junagad in Gujarat in exchange for lions, a zoo official said. V.M. Rana, the zoo superintendent, Wednesday said a pair of cheetahs, a male and a female, would be brought here within the next six months. In return, lions would be sent to Singapore. He added that a team of officials from Junagadh will go to Singapore http://timesofindia.indiatimes Safari park felled trees charge WEST Midland Safari Park has pleaded not guilty at Kidderminster Magistrates' Court to charges of uprooting more than 50 trees to make way for a raft ride attraction - which they were earlier ordered to pull down.. The charges relate to clearing land to build the £1 million White River Rafting Ride over a two-year period up to 2005 and the Bewdley park will now face a two-day trial. Wyre Forest District Council has accused the park of breaching the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 by destroying the trees. advertisementThe top tourist attraction had already lost its appeal to the Planning Inspectorate http://www.kidderminstershuttle Monkey uses garden hose to scale moat, bolt from zoo A spider monkey used a garden hose to scale the wall of a moat at a Michigan City zoo before being captured at a nearby boat dealership. One of two spider monkeys recently added to the Washington Park Zoo broke out of its enclosure this week while workers were cleaning the moat, which had been emptied of water. Zoo Director Johnny Martinez says workers had figured the monkeys would remain inside their enclosure during the cleaning despite the lack of water in the moat to act as a barricade. Once past the moat Wednesday, the escaped monkey jumped onto the roof of a water filtration plant. Martinez says zoo staff recaptured it at the dealership atop a white http://www.chicagotribune.com Monkey business in Rust de Winter Meet Manzi and Makulu, two Chimpanzees that have found a new home in Rust de Winter, Limpopo. The pair were part of a group that lived in the Singapore Zoo, but as they grew older they started to challenge the alpha male of their group. Since he was not ready to give up his top spot in this hierarchy, fighting broke out and the zoo management had to find a new home for them. Back in South Africa, Christa Saayman, the owner of Mystic Monkeys and Feathers Wild Animal Park, heard of their plight and contacted Singapore Zoo officials, who agreed to send the primates to her. Obtaining Cites permits for these animals was a lengthy process, but when the necessary permits were obtained, the chimps were sent to South Africa via Singapore Airlines in March this year. On their arrival, they were quarantined http://www.thestar.co.za/index Siegfried and Roy welcome new tiger cubs to Vegas habitat Siegfried and Roy might want to move the good furniture into storage for a while. The famed illusionists welcomed five new tiger cubs to their exotic habitat on the Las Vegas Strip on Thursday, a move Siegfried Fischbacher said would be therapeutic for Roy Horn, who was critically injured when he was mauled by a 380-pound white Bengal tiger onstage in 2003. "That gives him a reason to get up in the morning," Fischbacher said. Horn did not answer questions from reporters but played with the small tigers, holding them for the cameras, kissing them and nibbling on one's small ear. The playful, 15-pound, 6-week old cubs were brought to Las Vegas three weeks ago to be part of the longtime duo's animal breeding program. The cubs - two white females, two white striped http://www.miamiherald.com/804 Endangered sea dragon at Ga. aquarium pregnant A weedy sea dragon at the Georgia Aquarium has something to celebrate this Father's Day. One of the rare creatures is pregnant for only the third time ever at a U.S. aquarium, aquarium officials said. But don't look for the expectant mom -- dads carry the eggs in this family. more stories like thisThe aquarium's sea dragon has about 70 fertilized eggs -- which look like small red grapes -- attached to his tail. He is expected to give birth in early to mid-July, said Kerry Gladish, a biologist at the aquarium. Sea dragons, sea horses and pipe fish are the only species where the male carries the eggs, Gladish said. Sea dragon pregnancies are rare because researchers don't know what gets them in the mood to mate. "We know there's something biologically or http://www.boston.com/news Lions at Kenyan park being wiped out National Geographic puts up $150,000 to pay off local herdsmen Conservationists raised the alarm Thursday that lions in Kenya's Amboseli National Park face extinction within a few years unless action is taken to help them. "The situation has reached a critical level," said Terry Garcia, executive vice president at National Geographic Society. "Unless something is done immediately, there will be no more lions in this part of Kenya, which would be a tragedy." Fewer than 100 lions are estimated to remain in the 2,200-square- mile region at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro on the Kenya-Tanzania border, the society said. Lions are a major attraction at Amboseli, a popular http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id 2,500kg of water monitor, python meat seized A total of 2,500kg of water monitor and python meat was seized from the country's largest reptile meat-processing factory in Cha'ah here. Wildlife and National Parks department (Law and Enforcement) deputy director Celescoriano Razond said the average market price for the meat seized on Thursday was about RM125,000. "Each type of meat can be sold in the country at an average price of RM50 per kg," he said, adding that if exported, the price could go up to RM200,000 for the 2,500kg. He was speaking at a press conference Friday at the Wildlife Conservation Centre at Air Bangas, Segamat. Razond said the total weight of the water monitor meat seized was 1,700kg while the python meat was 800kg. He said the meat was seized because the owner could not produce any proof to show that the sources of the meat http://thestar.com.my/news Melbourne Zoo keepers in pay dispute Melbourne Zoo keepers fear staff could be forced to look for work elsewhere if a pay dispute is not resolved. They have been protesting outside the zoo today with horticulture and maintenance staff. Keeper Noel Heafield says the 4 per cent wage increase they have been offered amounts to a pay cut because of inflation. He says the Victorian Government needs to step in to ensure the highly trained staff are not forced to leave. "The major impact that we're looking at is people having to look elsewhere and having to find work elsewhere," he said. "With that you lose all these http://www.abc.net.au/news Zoo protest 'was to cause alarm' Zoos Victoria has issued a statement saying a protest by staff today was aimed at creating alarm. Staff held a protest outside the Melbourne Zoo today, calling for a better pay deal, and claiming the Zoo was about to cut their wages. Zoos Victoria says it has been in negotiations with the union for seven months, and all parties have agreed to take negotiations to the Industrial http://www.abc.net.au/news
Ban on export of macaque reimposed The Cabinet has reinstated the export ban on the protected long-tailed macaque, ending months of uncertainty about the fate of about 250,000 `urban' monkeys that are in demand as exotic food in East Asia and in laboratories in the West. Confirming that the Cabinet made the decision last month, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas said: "The decision was taken to reverse the earlier lifting of the ban after considering the arguments and views of the various groups. A Cabinet paper on how to tackle the human-macaque conflict, especially in the urban areas, was submitted and approved as well. "An allocation of RM1.6mil has been made to Perhilitan (Department of Wildlife and National Parks) to resolve the conflict either by relocating or culling those problematic monkeys. Perhilitan will be presenting its action plan to the ministry next week." There had been fierce objections from animal rights and conservation groups when the ban was lifted last June http://thestar.com.my/news Celebrities join World Bank in saving tigers Hollywood celebrities Harrison Ford, Bo Derek and Robert Duvall on Monday threw their support behind a new global initiative by the World Bank to save tigers from extinction. While the global development agency's main mission is to fight poverty in developing countries, it has rarely taken on wildlife conservation efforts of endangered species. The new Tiger Conservation Initiative will bring together wildlife experts, scientists and governments to try to halt the killing and thriving illegal trade in tiger skins, meat and body parts used in traditional Asian medicines. Ford, a long-time environmental activist, said efforts to protect tigers would only succeed if local communities were involved in conservation efforts. "By committing to help wild tigers, the World Bank is sounding its intention to be a global leader in biodiversity conservation," Ford, the star of the latest "Indiana Jones" movie, told an event at Washington's Smithsonian National Zoo. http://uk.reuters.com/article Police arrest man for smuggling rhino horns Ho Chi Minh City police detained a man on Saturday so they can investigate allegations he smuggled almost 18 kilograms of rhino horns through Tan San Nhat Airport last January. The HCMC Customs Agency had decided to investigate the case after airport officials discovered the haul on January 1. The five rhino horns, including the biggest which weighed-in at eight kilograms, were hidden in smuggler Tran Van Lap's suitcases and personal belongings. Lap – a photographer from Hanoi – left for South Africa last August and was returning to Vietnam on a transit flight from Singapore when caught. An inspection by the HCMC Forest Control Agency January 7 showed that all the rhino horns were genuine and had a total weight of 17.6 kilograms. The rhino horns were for his own personal use, Lap said to the HCMC Investigation Department Monday. He also showed a license for exporting http://www.thanhniennews.com Vietnam police arrest tiger smuggler Vietnamese police have arrested a man smuggling a tiger carcass that he planned to use for traditional medicine in the flourishing illegal wildlife trade, state media said on Monday. The smuggler, Pham Dinh Van, had bought the 190-kilogram (420- pound) animal for 20,000 dollars at a border gate with Laos in central Ha Tinh province to boil down its bones to make traditional medicine, the report said. He was arrested in Hanoi on Friday as he transported the frozen tiger body, cut into five pieces, the state run English-language Vietnam News daily said. All tiger species are endangered, and less than 100 of the cats are believed to survive in the wild in Vietnam, where habitat loss and poaching have taken a heavy toll on endangered flora and fauna in recent decades. The US ambassador in Vietnam, Michael Michalak, wrote in a http://timesofindia.indiatimes Nature laid waste: The destruction of Africa The massive scale of environmental devastation across the continent has been fully revealed for the first time in an atlas compiled by UN geographers. Michael McCarthy reports It was long shrouded in mystery, called "the Dark Continent" by Europeans in awe of its massive size and impenetrable depths. Then its wondrous natural riches were revealed to the world. Now a third image of Africa and its environment is being laid before us – one of destruction on a vast and disturbing scale. Using "before and after" satellite photos, taken in all 53 countries, UN geographers have constructed an African atlas of environmental change over the past four decades – the vast majority of it for the worse. In nearly 400 pages of dramatic pictures, disappearing forests, shrinking lakes, vanishing glaciers and degraded landscapes are brought together for the first time, providing a deeply disturbing portfolio of devastation. The atlas, compiled by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) at the request of African environment ministers, and launched yesterday simultaneously in Johannesburg and London, underlines how extensively development choices, population growth, regional conflicts and climate change are impacting on the natural world and the nature- based assets of the continent. http://www.independent.co.uk Panda bear killed in quake laid to rest in reserve Mao Mao the panda's remains were gently laid in a wooden crate and wheeled to a patch of ground in China's famed Wolong Nature Reserve where a freshly dug grave awaited. The center's director stood cap in hand and shoveled in a few spades of dirt. Then Mao Mao's keeper stepped forward crying, and arranged two apples and a piece of bread by the grave. Three minutes of silence followed as workers gathered around the grave. Nearly a month after she was crushed to death when China's devastating earthquake collapsed the wall of her enclosure, 9-year-old Mao Mao was laid to rest Tuesday in a quiet corner of the Wolong panda breeding center. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet Baby beluga whale born at Vancouver Aquarium Qila, a 12-year-old beluga whale, successfully gave birth at the Vancouver Aquarium, Tuesday afternoon. "The baby looks very strong did just what babies are supposed to do,'' said John Nightingale, a spokesman for the aquarium. "It popped out tail first, swam to surface, took a nice big breath, popped back five seconds later and took another one. So that's the first milestone,'' he said. "The baby's been swimming all over the place.'' Aquarium officials say they are virtually certain that the baby whale is a girl. Before giving birth, Qila had http://www.ctv.ca/servlet Shedd Oceanarium to close for upkeep Dolphins, otters, whales to be shipped out on loan In what some wags on the staff have dubbed a "scrub the tub" project, the Shedd Aquarium on Sept. 2 will close its Oceanarium section for nine months so it can re-seal the surfaces of the giant pools housing its beluga whales, Pacific white-sided dolphins and sea otters. The animals will be shipped to facilities around the country so the aquarium can empty the pools of their 3 million gallons of saltwater for the project, described as routine preventive maintenance. The Shedd will use the opportunity to make a number of other structural updates over a nine-month period at a cost of $50 million. "We want to emphasize that the aquarium itself and our popular Wild Reef exhibit will remain open http://www.chicagotribune.com Council backs safari park plan WYNDHAM City Council's decision to give its in-principle support to the controversial African safari park proposal at Werribee Zoo has been met with mixed reaction. In a significant move, the council voted last week to give the proposal its conditional support, subject to receiving more detailed information. But the decision was attacked by lobby group Friends of the Zoo, which two weeks ago submitted a petition to the State Government containing |