Zoo News Digest Sep - Oct 2007

26Oct2007

Two coastguards required to serve in Kaohsiung zoo
A Kaohsiung district prosecutor has ordered two coastguards to serve
in the zoo in the southern Taiwan port city for 160 hours each.
Sergeant Chen Yi-teh was found to have ridden a sea turtle on Taiping
Island of the Spratley Archipelago. Another sergeant, Liao Wen-tai,
picked up a baby sea turtle and made a gesture of eating it up. Both
of them had their pictures of cruelty to the sea turtles taken.
Neither of them were prosecuted for cruelty to animals on Tuesday,
however. Instead, they were required to report to the Kaohsiung city
zoo for 160 hours of volunteer work.
"It is hoped," the prosecutor said, "that the two sergeants will
learn how to
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/2007/10/26/128181/Two-
coastguards.htm

Zoo gets three giraffes after 14 years
The Lahore Zoo has bought three giraffes, which will arrive from
South Africa on November 2. The Lahore Zoo did not have any giraffe
since the last one died after swallowing a plastic bag 14 years ago.
The announcement of the purchase was made by the Wildlife Department,
which permitted the purchase of a pair of southern giraffes (found in
South Africa) for Rs 4.788 million. The giraffes had not reached yet
because their international permit and exit were being arranged. The
zoo has prepared the Giraffe Enclosure for the new arrivals. Since
the Giraffe Enclosure is not part of the zoo redesigning master plan,
the giraffes will not be shifted anywhere. Lahore Zoo director Yousaf
Pal said a cake-cutting ceremony would be held on the new arrivals.
He said schools and colleges would be invited for the arrival
ceremony. He said organisations would be allowed to adopt the new
giraffes. He said no one would be allowed to bring any bag near the
enclosure at the arrival ceremony. The Wildlife
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C10%5C26%
5Cstory_26-10-2007_pg13_6

Flamingos Decapitated at Frankfurt Zoo
Three flamingos have been found decapitated in their pen at Frankfurt
Zoo, the police said. A fourth flamingo was strangled. "We cannot
explain why someone would want to murder
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/24/world/europe/24briefs-famingos.html?
_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin

Panda attacks teen in zoo enclosure
A male panda at the Beijing Zoo once bitten by a drunk tourist has
attacked a teenager, ripping chunks out of the boy's legs.
The 15-year-old had jumped over a 1.4-metre barrier surrounding an
outdoor exercise area for pandas yesterday, while 8-year-old Gu Gu
the panda and another bear were being fed, said the director of the
zoo management office, who identified himself only by his surname,
Zhang.
The teen startled the 110kg panda, who responded by biting the
unwanted visitor on both legs, Zhang said.
The Beijing News identified the teen as Li Xitao, citing emergency
medical officials who said he
http://www.smh.com.au/news/news/panda-attacks-teen-in-zoo-
enclosure/2007/10/24/1192941107544.html

Farmer's award for work with zoo
A Cheshire farmer has won an award for his role in feeding the
animals at Chester Zoo.
Huw Rowlands from Mickle Trafford donates willow branches from Grange
Farm to feed the zoo's hungry herds of giraffes, elephants and
rhinoceros.
He will now represent the north west of England in the national
finals of the "Future of Farming" awards
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/7058091.stm

Unpacking their TRUNKS
Lecture to offer behind-the-scenes look at The Elephant Sanctuary in
Tennessee, where once captive animals roam free from circus chains or
cramped zoo habitats
Eighty-five miles southwest of the crowded, fast-paced interstates
and freeways of Nashville, nearly 20 elephants roam a 2,700-acre
wilderness.
These elephants, unlike many in the country, are finally free.
They are free from the noise and fanfare of high-top tents, platforms
and costumes, and free from cramped zoo habitats and the staring eyes
of visitors.
That freedom allows these majestic creatures to live like their
counterparts in the wild, said Carol Buckley, founding director of
the 12-year-old elephant sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tenn. The nonprofit
sanctuary is the nation's largest natural-habitat elephant refuge,
and is sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
"Most people have no idea that to force an elephant to live in a zoo
enclosure or live in chains in a circus — they don't recognize how
intensely harmful that is," Buckley said. "It's a death sentence for
the animal."
Buckley will speak at the Princess Theatre Center for the Performing
Arts on Monday at 7 p.m. for the first lecture event of the theater's
season. The Princess lecture series is a partnership with Calhoun
Community College and Bank Independent.
Buckley's lecture, entitled "The Elephant Sanctuary: A Captive
Elephant's Only Acceptable Alternative," will feature video footage
of the sanctuary's elephant
http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/livingtoday/071023/elephant.s
html

Dolphin export lawful
THE Management Authority of the Solomon Islands supports the issuance
of valid wildlife permits by the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine
Resources and by the Ministry of Natural Resources Department of
Forests, Environment and Conservation, to export 28 live Indo-Pacific
bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncas).
All specimens have been legally obtained in adherence to all
applicable laws.
Based upon the recommendation of the recognised Scientific Authority,
this export will not have a detrimental effect on the survival of
this species in the Solomon Islands.
Approval of this permit has been thoughtfully and carefully
considered, using best available science whenever available.
The basis for this decision includes;
lscientific data,
lpeer reviewed literature,
l export opinion,
lanecdotal evidence,
l cultural knowledge and
lhistoric information about this important species.
Live specimens exported under this permit will be transported by
marine mammal experts who are experienced in live animal transport,
and in a manner that exceeds the current CITES IATA/Live Animal
Regulations.
These animals will become part of a regulated public display marine
mammal zoological facility.
We have been assured that these live specimens will be well cared for;
lby qualified marine mammal specialists,
lwill reside in high quality facilities,
lwill receive daily nutrition,
lwill receive frequent medical evaluations,
lwill receive daily physical and mental enrichment,
lwill enhance public education and
lwill participate in breeding programmes.
These programmes advance our current knowledge of marine mammals and
enhance both captive and wild populations.
The export of live specimens
http://www.solomonstarnews.com/?q=node/15457

Marksmen Hunt Escaped Crocs in Thailand
Marksmen cruised rivers in northeastern Thailand on Sunday hunting
for 11 crocodiles that scampered away from a farm during floods last
week.
A total of 34 crocodiles escaped the commercial farm in Nakorn
Ratchasima province on Wednesday, but the rest have been shot and
killed, said Suwira Phonkoh, an official in the province's special
task force to help flood victims.
Many people in the province have been evacuated due to the flooding.
Authorities warned the remaining residents about the crocodiles,
which were being raised for their meat and skins.
Some of them are as much as
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/strange/news-article.aspx?
storyid=94144&ref=rss

21Oct2007

TRIBUTES TO WORLD ZOO LEGEND AS MOLLY DIES
Molly Badham, the inspired animal lover who co-founded Twycross Zoo
and turned it into one of Britain's best-loved attractions, has died.
Tributes to Miss Badham, 93, credited her with doing as much for
tourism in Leicestershire as the legendary Thomas Cook.
But it was not tourism which was her driving passion - it was animals,
and in particular primates.
Together with business partner and long-time friend Nathalie Evans,
they eventually turned their love of exotic animals into the largest
collection of primates in the world.
It is now also known as the World Primate Centre in recognition of its
collection of monkeys and apes.
A spokesman for the zoo said: "Miss Molly Badham was loved by both the
animals and staff of the zoo, and its many visitors. Sh
http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=132384&command=displayContent&sourceNode=232710&home=yes&more_nodeId1=132393&contentPK=18728260

Brookfield experts make an appeal for the apes
Helping to save orangutans from extinction could be as simple as
buying the right salad dressing.
Experts from around the world came to Brookfield Zoo to call attention
to the plight of orangutans in the wild, which are dying by the
thousands due to habitat loss.
But there are ways to protect the species, including choosing retail
products that don't destroy the rainforest, scientists said during a
Thursday conference.
"As humans, we should be stewards of the planet. By protecting
orangutans, we protect other species," said anthropologist Cheryl
Knott, who leads an orangutan research project at Harvard University.
"Orangutans tell us a lot about ourselves. They share 95 percent of
human DNA," Knott added.
Orangutans, known for their reddish hair and expressive faces, spend
most of their time in trees, where they feed on fruit as well as bark,
insects and leaves. Next to gorillas they are the largest of the great
apes with males weighing up to 200 pounds in the wild; females are
usually half that size. Young orangutans rely on their mothers for
survival for up to seven years.
The species once lived across Southeast Asi
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=60262&src=2

Dolphin airlift enrages environmentalists
A controversial Canadian dolphin broker is at the centre of an
animal-rights uproar in the South Pacific after his marine mammal
"education centre" in the Solomon Islands sent two planeloads of live
dolphins to a private aquarium in Dubai despite protests by
environmentalists and objections from the Australian government.
Chris Porter, a former Vancouver Aquarium trainer, has become a prime
target for the outrage of wildlife advocates around the world since
setting up a dolphin-export business five years ago in the Solomons, a
politically volatile group of islands in Melanesia, about 2,000
kilometres northeast of Australia.
Porter, 37, has been cast as a "dolphin slave trader" by his harshest
critics but defended by Solomon Islands officials as a humane wildlife
expert intent on boosting the developing
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=44cbdc4e-e5dc-4ffc-967e-ba3edae82e9d&k=83562

Performing pigs steal the show at Thai zoo
Pigs can fly? Well not quite fly, but they can jump through rings of
fire and twirl on pedestals, as a new show at a Thai zoo proves.
Five pink and black piglets are the unlikely new stars of the
performance, outbilling even tigers and crocodiles in the Chinese year
of the pig.
They dance, pick up tennis balls and zig-zag through poles. They even
jump, or lumber to be precise, through flaming hoops, lured by the
reward of biscuits.
In five months of pig shows at the Sriracha Tiger Zoo in the Thai
resort province of Chon Buri, around 80 km (50 miles) east of Bangkok,
not a loin of pork has been charred.
"We didn't think they could do anything like this. We thought pigs
just lie there and do nothing. It's great!" said 28-year-old Dutch
tourist Tanja van den Bogert, who watched the show along with several
hundred other enthusiastic zoo goers.
Surat Tiplaksaa, in charge of the zoo's new stars, used to train
tigers. More patience is needed with pigs, he says, because their
attention span is limited by a constant urge to forage for food.
"Tigers are dangerous and it's more of a challenge. With pigs, it's
difficult to control them because they can't stand still," said Surat,
after trying to teach five-month-old Tong to
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-30048820071018

And another pig story.

Critically Endangered Pygmy Hog Upgraded as a Unique Evolutionary Line
Durrell scientists show that Victorian taxonomists got it right first
time
Scientists working for the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust in
Jersey have used DNA sequencing to prove that the pygmy hog of Assam
in India, a species so rare it was once believed extinct, belongs to a
unique evolutionary line.
A team of conservation geneticists from Jersey (Channel Islands),
Hyderabad, (India) and Durham (UK) have analysed mitochondrial DNA in
blood samples taken from the founders of Durrell's captive breeding
programme in Assam, and from two specimens collected by Victorian
scientist B.H. Hodgson from the research collection of the Natural
History Museum, London..
The pig's current Latin name is Sus salvinius which reflects the
widespread belief that it is closely related to the domestic pig and
other members of the Sus family which also includes wild boar.
In their paper, published in the journal Molecular Phylogenetics and
Evolution, the authors found that Victorian taxonomist Hodgson was
correct in his original suspicion
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/pygmy-hog456.html

Elephants never forget the smell of a tribesman
Elephants mourn their dead and engage in long-distance communication
using barely audible, low-frequency growls. Now they have been shown
to be able to distinguish between different human tribes based on the
smell and colour of their clothing.
It is believed to be the first time that any wild animal has been
found to have the ability to categorise different sub-groups within
the same species depending on the potential threat that they pose.
A study of elephants in the Amboseli National Park in Kenya has found
that they react differently to members of the Maasai, cattle-herding
pastoralists whose young men sometimes spear elephants to prove their
virility, and the Kamba, who are village-dwelling farmers who pose
little threat to elephants.
Scientists from the University of St Andrews and the Amboseli Trust
for Elephants in Nairobi conducted field experiments which have shown
that the elephants base their distrust of the Maasai on the colour of
their traditional clothing – red – and their body scent.
Anecdotal evidence gathered over the past 35 years suggested that the
elephants might be able to distinguish between the Maasai and the
Kamba, which led the scientists to devise an experiment based on
clothing worn for five days by members of each tribe.
"We expected that elephants might be able to distinguish among
different human groups according to the level of risk that each
presents to them, and we were not disappointed," said Professor
Richard Byrne, who led the study published in the journal Current
Biology.
"In fact, we think this is the first time that it has been
experimentally shown that any animal can categorise a single species
of potential predator into subclasses based on such subtle cues,"
Professor Byrne said.
The scientists subjected elephant
http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article3075681.ece

Finally, world-class marine park in Manila
Imagine going to Manila Bay and coming face-to-face with a shark or
even a school of fierce barracudas.
Come December, this awesome scene would be experienced by Filipinos --
adults and children alike -- with the completion of the Manila Ocean
Park just behind the Quirino Grandstand at the Rizal Park.
The ocean park, a P1-billion project of Singaporean and Malaysian
investors, is the first world-class marine park to adopt a "fusion
concept," according to Manila Ocean Park president Lim Chee Yong.
Lim said the concept entailed bringing together an oceanarium, a mall,
a boutique hotel, a restaurant row and open marine habitats -- where
marine enthusiasts could learn to swim and dive with the fishes.
"The park will house the first and largest aquarium facility in the
Philippines," Lim announced during a walking tour with the media
Wednesday at the site.
He said that both the oceanarium and the open marine habitats would
contain 12,000 cubic meters of seawater featuring 300 marine species
indigenous to the Philippines and Southeast Asia.
Larger than Sentosa's
Lim proudly said that the Manila Ocean Park would be among the most
advanced
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view_article.php?article_id=95168

'Follow India and ban gifting animals to foreign countries'
Sri Lankan animal rights activists have made a strong plea to the
government to follow India and stop the practice of gifting animals to
foreign countries as this is not only cruel, but depletes Sri Lanka's
fauna.
It is time we took India as an example and stopped the practice of
gifting animals to foreign countries as a diplomatic gesture," said
Sagarica Rajakarunanaike, President of Sathva Mithra, about the Sri
Lankan cabinet's decision to gift an elephant to an ill-equipped zoo
in cold and inhospitable Yerevan in Armenia as a gesture of friendship.
he recalled that in 2005, animal rights activists in Bangalore,
supported by Maneka Gandhi, had successfully protested against the
government of India's decision to officially gift an elephant from the
Bannerghatta National Park, to the very same zoo in Armenia.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not only stopped the gift, but banned
the gifting of animals to foreign countries as a gesture of
international friendship, Rajakarunanaike told Hindustan Times.
Sri Lanka was losing its fauna, she pointed out. "A lan
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=ee6a486a-982c-4bdb-9d24-b168406316a4&&Headline='Follow+India%2c+don't+gift+animals+to+foreign +nations'

Mill Mountain Zoo Director Leaving
In just 20 months, he's handled the Mill Mountain Zoo's struggle with
accreditation, the escape of Oops the monkey and the death of the
zoo's most eloved animal, Ruby the Tiger. Now, zoo director Sean
Greene is saying good-bye to the Roanoke Valley.
36-year old Greene says that he's taken a position with the Dallas
Zoo, the largest zoo in Texas. This will be a homecoming of sorts for
Greene and his wife, Tracy. Tracy is from Dallas and Sean worked at
the Fort Worth Zoo for a decade before coming to Mill Mountain.
He says this is an opportunity for
http://new.wset.com/news/stories/1007/464067.html

PETA asks club to change aquarium dance floor
A new nightclub is drawing fire from an animal rights group upset that
the dance floor is a giant aquarium filled with sharks and other
marine life.
Qua Lounge opened last week, and one of its main attractions is a
19,000 gallon underground aquarium. That's exactly what PETA (People
for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and other animal rights group
want changed.
"It's almost euphoric, watching people come in and see the tank, its
just incredible, its been great," said Benny Siegert, Qua designer,
coordinator.
The aquarium has 12 coral reef sharks and at least three different
kinds of stingrays. Animal rights groups say confining the wild
animals is cruel and could put them in danger.
"A big shark that's meant to be free in the wild, is just trying to
make money off something -- that's pointless," said Celeste Landrum,
who is against the tank.
"Using sharks and rays as bar decorations is cruel and sure to turn
off compassionate patrons," said PETA Director Debbie Leahy in a news
release. "People go to nightclubs to have fun, not to torment animals.
What could be
http://www.kvue.com/news/local/stories/101807kvuenightclub-cb.1830c7b9b.html

WHAT DO ANIMALS NEED?
Zoo management standards 'too vague'
Nong Porn, or Paula, is no longer the small creature she was 14 years
ago when Suwan Netlak was able to hold her in one hand, but the young
orangutan is still as self-centred as ever. When surrounded by a crowd
at PATA Zoo, on the sixth and seventh floors of the PATA shopping mall
where she has lived since she was born, Nong Porn becomes nervous and
starts to pull at her caretaker to take her away from the crowd.
For more than 20 years, the 57-year-old zoo keeper has taken care of
animals at the indoor private zoo and has developed such a bond with
them that he feels as if he's their ''father''.
Mr Suwan arrives at PATA Zoo in the morning and begins his day by
examining the floor of the cage of each animal under his supervision.
Excrement left by the animals can cause diseases, so it is Mr Suwan's
duty to clean it up.
Animal overcrowding at some zoos in the country have highlighted the
debate over whether zoo management practices should be overhauled.
After cleaning the cages, he feeds the animals and takes some of them
out for exercise and relaxation.
This routine has been the same for more than two decades and Mr Suwan
is committed to it, not out of duty, but out of love.
When he heard news reports about the alleged maltreatment of animals
at the zoo, and particularly of a young gorilla named Bua Noi, Mr
Suwan's morale plummeted.
''They may not understand us,'' said Mr Suwan, with Nong Porn's hand
grabbing his tightly.
''When approaching such sensitive animals as Bua Noi, I always
disinfect myself to make sure that I will not bring diseases to her. I
think I take care of the animals to the best of my ability, but not
everyone will see it the same.''
The latest PATA zoo scandal has prompted concerned parties to
seriously look into the country's zoo management standards.
Dusit Zoo — Thailand's first — was established about 70 years ago and
currently has more than 1,600 animals.
The number of zoos has steadily increased, and now there are about 45
nationwide, according to the Thai Zoological Society.
Several wildlife experts agree that Thai zoos are still relatively
young when compared with zoos in other countries, which have developed
to provide surroundings similar to animals' natural habitat.
Before the Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act came into effect
in 1992, zoo operators could run their businesses without having to
register their animals with relevant state agencies.
But since the law took effect, zoo owners have been required to report
to the Royal Forestry Department.
In addition, an agency overseeing zoo management has been moved from
the Forestry Department to the National Park, Wildlife and Plant
Conservation Department. The government also issued a ministerial
regulation in 1997 to govern zoo management.
However, the regulation has been criticised for containing vague terms
about zoo operations. This has triggered endless debate about zoo
management in Thailand.
Surapon Duangkhae, a former member of the National Wildlife
Preservation and Protection Committee, which authorises regulations
regarding wildlife management, said the regulations are still lax.
He said the ministerial regulation does not mention
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/16Oct2007_news23.php

A mall with animals
The gorilla sat on top of an upright tyre. She scratched herself here
and there. She walked around a bit, but not much. It's difficult to
tell from her dark mien or her gestures if she was bored or depressed,
as some visitors have claimed.
The huge orangutan on my left, a male apparently, sat idly, moving
only to scratch his armpit vigorously from time to time, while his
wife was busy looking after and entertaining the baby. That was
educational.
Welcome to Pata Zoo, a private menagerie on the roof of an old-style
department store that has come under fire in the past weeks for
alleged failure to take good enough care of its animals. Animal
welfare activists have also argued that the zoo's location on top of a
shopping mall was not suitable for the animals' health and hygiene.
The complaints prompted the National Park, Wildlife and Plant
Conservation Department to inspect the zoo and conduct health checks
on the animals. It found that they were all healthy.
The assurance failed to put the minds of animal lovers to rest. The
questions are as many. Are the animals healthy physically and
mentally? What about the location of the zoo on top of a shopping
mall? Is the limited space too cramped for large animals such as the
Bengal tiger? What about fire safety? How would the zoo transport its
300 to 400 animals in case of a fire?
In summary, is the existence of the department-store zoo _ which
opponents claim is far behind in the latest methods or technology
regarding care for animals in captivity _ tantamount to animal cruelty?
Let's start with the pair of Bengal tigers. The first thing that
struck me was the big cats were in very close range with visitors: if
I stretched my arm out I could have touched its face through the
cage's iron grid. This did not look safe to me.
The tigers have been placed in separate cages. One kept walking back
and forth in its ''home''. I counted 16 steps from one end of the cage
to the other. Then it turned and took another 16 steps back _ again
and again.
The penguins were a sadder sight. There were two of them in a glass
cage that is, for lack of a better comparison, the size of a small
bathroom. The sign
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/19Oct2007_news22.php

Spain to fund aquarium upgrade in exchange for manatees
A pair of manatees was on Friday exported to Spain under an agreement
that will provide funding for improvements to the aquarium to house
the Arapaima exhibits at the Guyana Zoological Park.
The manatees were exported through the National Parks Commission (NPC)
and they will be used to increase the population and improve the
genetic stock of this species at the Faunia Zoo in Madrid, and at
other zoos in Europe, a press release from the Government Information
Agency (GINA) said. A similar agreement was finalised with the Odense
Zoo in Denmark in 2001 as zoological parks around the world build
partnerships to develop conservation and management programmes to curb
the decline of several endangered plant and animal species.
The agreement provides for a collaborative conservation research and
development programme by the NPC while the Faunia Zoo would fund the
aquarium improvements and boost technical knowledge about the Arapaima
exhibits.
GINA said manatees are listed
http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article_general_news?id=56531127

China And Taiwan's Conservationists Join Hands To Save Rare Sea Bird
 From Extinction
Conservationists from China and Taiwan have joined efforts to save
Chinese crested tern, a rare endangered sea bird from extinction whose
eggs are prized by some as a delicacy.
The conversationalists are also urging fishermen to stop collecting
and eating the birds' eggs, a Taiwanese birdwatcher said Monday.
Although the birds are rarely seen outside of China or Taiwan, they
migrate to eastern Chinese coasts between May and September to escape
the heat in South Asia.
This rare white bird with a black-and-white sea crest was spotted for
the first time
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7008765470


Arabian deer hand-reared
AN Arabian deer has been successfully hand-reared for the first time
in the Gulf at Al Areen Wildlife Park, Zallaq.
The fawn had to be hand-fed when its mother died suddenly from a
sickness, the reserve's director Dr Adel Al Awadhi told the GDN.
He said that the mother got ill in August when she was still pregnant.
"We could not treat her during the pregnancy, so we kept a watch on
her until she gave birth," he said.
"However, before giving birth the mother deer died and we had to take
a decision, especially after we knew that the fawn was still alive."
Dr Al Awadhi said they acted fast and the fawn was successfully
delivered by caesarean.
"We have never heard of an Arabian fawn being hand-reared before and
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=197225&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=30213

Kano Zoo - Garden Or Jungle?
It was Alhaji Audu Bako, former military governor of Kano State, who
established the Kano Zoological Garden as part of his efforts to
modernise the ancient city. During the commissioning of the zoo in
1972, Bako said, "At this time, both my friends and detractors have
questioned my wisdom of having such a garden in Kano. But my main
objectives in establishing such a recreational facility is to bring to
our people different specimens of wildlife with particular emphasis on
animals which are not now available in this country, but which have
been exterminated by hunters as from 99 AD. In this year 1972, we are
trying to regenerate these animals that have long lost for our present
and future generations."
This is one of the three reasons that necessitated the establishment
of the Kano Zoological Garden, according Alhaji Audu Bako. The second
reason, according to late Bako, was to enable the general collections
of animals, birds, reptiles, fish and insects in the garden to give an
overall picture of their classification into different ecological
areas. The third reason, he said, was for the garden to serve as
source of animals, birds, reptiles, fish and insects which can later
be taken
http://allafrica.com/stories/200710151018.html

Preventing Extinction: The Miracle of the Frozen Zoo
On a sunny spring afternoon, the San Diego Zoo is teeming with
shorts-clad tourists of all ages. While most visitors gravitate toward
the pandas, giraffes, and gorillas, one little boy seems particularly
taken with the Javan bantengs, a species of endangered Southeast Asian
wild cattle that can grow to be seven feet long and weigh nearly a
ton. Asked which one is his favorite, the child sizes up each of the
animals before settling on a male with a dark blue-black coat grazing
closest to him. It happens to be the spitting image of another banteng
that died in 1980, and the resemblance is more than superficial: The
four-year-old animal at the zoo is its clone.
The banteng wouldn't be alive if it weren't for a satellite program of
the San Diego Zoo located 35 miles north of the city, in Escondido. It
too houses an impressive collection of exotic animals, but there are
no tourists milling about here. Tucked in a corner room on the first
floor of the zoo's Center for Conservation Research, its inhabitants
-- not entire animals, but samples of their sperm, eggs, embryos,
tissue, and other cells -- are cryogenically preserved. Inside one of
its thousands of vials, which are stored on tall racks and kept in
huge cylindrical stainless-steel freezers, are cells from the banteng
that scientists preserved 27 years ago.
Welcome to the Frozen Zoo, perhaps the world's largest repository of
genetic samples from endangered species. For the past three decades,
scientists have relied on its collection to carry out a variety of
critical conservation and research efforts. And with the number of
endangered species on the rise, its leaders hope to one day stockpile
samples from virtually every type of animal on Earth.
When geneticist Oliver Ryder and his colleagues began collecting
samples for the Frozen Zoo 31 years ago, they had no idea how
essential these actions would be to saving endangered species. The
project was the brainchild of pathologist Kurt Benirschke, who led the
Frozen Zoo until Ryder took over 15 years ago. These days, Ryder
sports a neat salt-and-pepper beard, wears a button-down shirt and
slacks, and socks with his sandals. His serious demeanor drops
occasionally when, without changing his facial expression, he cracks a
joke to lighten the mood. But he's all business as he explains that
http://www.alternet.org/environment/64927/

Poaching and Population Threaten India's Tigers
Development, New Law on Tribal Rights Add to Pressure
With homemade muskets, Lakhan and his brothers tracked one of India's
endangered Bengal tigers as it slunk along the forested trails and
lakes of Ranthambhore National Park, not far from Lakhan's village.
Then, under cover of night, one of them fired a bullet into the chest
of the howling cat.
"Hunger," said the wiry Lakhan, pointing to his concave stomach, which
was covered by a white lungi, or skirt-like wrap. "That's why I did
it. That scenario hasn't changed much. My heart pounds when we kill a
tiger. But we have pressures."
Lakhan has killed three tigers in recent years and has been in jail on
and off for selling their thick yellow-and-black striped coats, as
well as their bones, whiskers and even their glowing amber eyes. Each
tiger has fetched him more money than he can earn in six months of
farming sesame for its seeds. Lakhan is from the Mogya community, a
poaching tribe whose people have hunted the giant felines for
centuries here in the northern desert state of Rajasthan.
But just as poaching ensures the Mogyas' survival, it might also
ensure the tigers' extinction.
In the past 100 years, tiger populations around the world have
declined by 95 percent. In India, home to at least half of the world's
tigers, only an estimated 1,500 remain, a decline of more than 50
percent since 2001, according to the government-run National Tiger
Conservation Authority. In the past six years, it is believed, tigers
have been killed at a rate of nearly one a day.
Over the next 20 years, the tiger population
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/15/AR2007101501674.html?nav=rss_world&g=1

Zoo needs new rules
Often times, we hear of animals escaping zoos across the world.
What is the big deal? They escape and the trained zoologist rescues
and returns them to their cage.
When rescuing bigger animals, of course, they must use a tranquilizer
gun or some other form of non-lethal object to stop the animal in
their tracks and bring them back to the zoo; however, this was not the
case at a zoo in the UK.
Two chimpanzees, Jonnie and Coco, broke out of their compound at the
Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire, which is about thirty five miles north
of London.
After a conscious effort, Coco was recaptured, but Jonnie could not be
immediately caught and therefore had to be shot, and was unfortunately
killed.
Alright, so how is it that one chimpanzee can be captured immediately
and the other could not?
According to Christine Drabwell, a press officer at the Whipsnade Zoo,
"It is just standard procedure, if the animal cannot be quickly and
safety recaptured, it will be shot."
I understand the guards tha
http://media.www.asuherald.com/media/storage/paper898/news/2007/10/15/Opinion/Zoo-Needs.New.Rules-3032955.shtml

CZA to send experts to inspect zoo in November
Since its approval in June by the Municipal Commissioner Jairaj
Phatak, the Rs 434-crore makeover plan of the Byculla zoo has been
lying with the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) for its final nod. After a
five-month long wait, the CZA has ordered a field visit in November
for the inspection of the site, according to CZA officials.
B R Sharma, member and secretary of CZA, said, "Next month, two of our
officials will visit the zoo for field inspection. Once, all our
concerns are cleared, the zoo makeover plan will be approved from our
side." Sharma said that the approval process should be completed by
November-end.
The plan is a contract between the BMC, Thai-based Malaysian company
HKS Designer and Consultant International and the Portico Group.
R A Rajeev, additional municipal commissioner (City), who had earlier
said that the plan was held up with the CZA due to internal problems,
said, "While everything else seems fine now, the CZA wants to discuss
some issues regarding the size of enclosures. Two of their experts
will visit the zoo next month to view the site personally and to
discuss on having the enclosures as per CZA norms." Rajeev hoped that
the plan will be passed by November-end.
The mega revamp plan, scheduled to take place in three phases and four
years, is proposed to have on display more than 90 animal species form
three continents — Asia, Africa and Australia. The new zoo will also
include a 3-D theatre,
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/CZA-to-send-experts-to-inspect-zoo-in-November/228703/

Croc on club menu offends Irwin's zoo
The manager of a Queensland bowling club condemned by Steve Irwin's
Australia Zoo for serving crocodile says the club will offer croc meat
to its customers again - if there is the demand.
Donna Forrest, the head chef of the Caloundra Bowls Club on
Queensland's Sunshine Coast, received a stern phone call from an
Australia Zoo representative after serving up a chicken and crocodile
mornay special last Friday night.
The club's secretary-manager Tony Blake said some customers were upset
by the dish and contacted the zoo, which was established by the late
Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin and is now run by his widow Terri Irwin.
"We were just shocked - you can buy crocodile in supermarkets all over
Australia, and very many restaurants throughout the country," Mr Blake
told AAP.
"It's totally legal, it's farmed the same way as cattle and sheep."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Croc-on-club-menu-offends-Irwins-
zoo/2007/10/19/1192301019118.html

Two apprentices working
Bail for Zoo workers
Three employees of the Dehiwala Zoological Gardens arrested by the
Police and remanded in connection with the alleged assault on its
Acting Director during a rumpus on October 10 were released on Rs. 500
cash and Rs. 50,000 surety bail by Mt. Lavinia Chief Magistrate
Ayishani Jayasena on Tuesday.
The Magistrate who also severely warned the
http://www.dailynews.lk/2007/10/18/news51.asp

Letter of warning over zoo future
Edinburgh Zoo officials have sent out a warning letter to their
members telling them of their fears for the future of the popular city
attraction.
The zoo wants to sell greenbelt land off Kaimes Road to housebuilders
to help fund a £72m revamp of the site.
But the planning committee of the SNP/Lib Dem-led council has
overturned the old council's support for the plan.
The council intends to side with local protesters at a public inquiry
which will consider the issue next year.
The zoo has grown to become the second most popular paid tourist
attraction in Scotland, with more than 650,000 visitors a year.
However, the council has receive
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7048777.stm

A local zoo is fined and its license is being suspended, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture says because of unsafe conditions for animals.
Natural Bridge Zoo has been open for 35 years and is known for its
rare animals. But, now the zoo faces a $10,000 fine on charges it
violated the federal animal welfare act. The U.S.D.A. is also
suspending the zoo's license from January 1 through January 30th, 2008.
The zoo is cited for not keeping cages clean and having poor fencing
among other things.
The zoo's owner, Karl Mogenson admits the zoo did not meet every
federal standard,
http://www.wsls.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSLS%2FMGArticle%2FSLS_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173353157181&path=!news!localnews


Daily animal shows soon at Wildlife Park
Kota Kinabalu: The Lok Kawi Wildlife Park will be adding a new
programme for visitors by the middle of next month.
According to Wildlife Department Senior Veterinarian, Dr Sen Nathan,
the Park is abuzz with daily training lessons now being given to a
handful of birds, orang-utan and even snakes to prepare them for daily
shows at a special stage within the park.
The Wildlife Department is now targeting to prepare the animals to
take centre-stage by mid November for simple half-hour shows to add
more attraction to the Park, he said.
At the moment, however, the public is invited to watch the daily
"interactive" training sessions as part of the training to get the
animals used to the presence of large audiences.
Consultant, Wild Concepts International, is overlooking the
preparation of the animals for the presentations which include birds
of prey swooping over the heads of the audiences and orang-utan
peeling coconut husks.
Manager Shamima Rafi, who oversees the training programme, said
http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=53313

Pittsburgh Zoo Joins Fight Against Animal Extinction
Most people have heard about the polar bears' food supply dwindling
thanks to global warming, but there's another species that is reaching
this critical stage: primates.
The gelada baboon is a dying breed.
"Within the eight months I just spent in Ethiopia with the geladas, I
saw people destroying the grasslands where the geladas live," said
conservation biologist
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/14371127/detail.html

Zoo Unveils New Animal Wellness Plaza
he Cincinnati Zoo unveiled its newest project on Saturday morning that
will allow the public to better learn how animals are cared for and
treated.
The Iams Animal Wellness Plaza connects the zoo's conservation and
research center with its animal hospital.
For visitors, the new addition means learning more about what goes on
behind the scenes to keep the animals
http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=b52639e4-2259-4f42-a945-9d9a3a7672e2

13Oct2007

Endangered tiger caught on camera
A South China tiger has been caught on camera by a hunter-turned-
farmer, the first confirmed sighting for 30 years of a sub-species
experts had feared was extinct in the wild, the Xinhua news agency
said on Friday.
Zhou Zhenglong took over 70 snaps of the young tiger lying in the
grass near a cliff in a mountainous part of central China. Experts
confirmed the images showed one of the elusive cats.
Villagers from his home area
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/1318360/1402102

Zoo transfer kills four springboks
Hamilton and Wellington zoo keepers are investigating better ways to
transfer animals between zoos, after being distressed by the deaths
of four springboks.
Two of the animals died from heat exhaustion on the way to
Wellington, and, the other two died within the next couple of weeks.
Hamilton Zoo manager Stephen
http://www.tv3.co.nz/News/Story/tabid/209/articleID/36686/Default.aspx

Elephant kills handler in Russian zoo
A nervous elephant at a Russian zoo killed its handler on Wednesday
with a single blow of its trunk after lashing out while being moved
onto a truck.
Elephant handlers at Moscow city zoo had been trying to load three
African elephants onto a specially designed truck to transfer them to
a zoo in Spain when the elephant killed the 40-year-old woman.
"It was a most unfortunate
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL10412628

Staff's wild behaviour shuts Sri Lanka zoo
Wild behaviour briefly closed Sri Lanka's main zoo Wednesday, but
humans, not animals, were the culprits, police said.
Several staff were injured in fighting that broke out over pay and
conditions at the National Zoo in the Colombo suburb of Dehiwala. One
senior manager was beaten so badly he needed to be taken to hospital.
"We have brought the situation at the zoo under control," a police
officer said.
"It was open to the public after being shut
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gFhdCOYttxUVZZ14a6JoG5Re_m5Q

Zoo bosses: £72m plan KO is a 'kick in the guts'
ZOO chiefs have described the council's decision to fight its plans
to sell land for housing as a "kick in the guts" and promised to
battle for their vision.
Henry Elliot, chairman of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland's
Council of Trustees, said the council's move was "ill-considered" and
would have a "profound impact" on the zoo.
The zoo wants to sell greenbelt land off Kaimes Road to housebuilders
to help fund its £72 million masterplan.
But the planning committee of the SNP/Lib Dem-led council has
overturned the old council's support for the plan.
The council intends to side with local protesters, who have raised
fears about severe congestion on local roads, at a public inquiry
which will consider the issue next year.
Mr Elliot has now
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1619762007

Flamingo Spotted With Companion in La.
After two years on the lam, a pink flamingo that escaped from the
Sedgwick County Zoo has been spotted in Louisiana with a wild
Caribbean flamingo in a ship channel area of southwest Louisiana.
The latest sighting three weeks ago was in the Calcasieu Ship Channel
on private land accessible only by boat. Officials with the zoo in
Wichita learned of the wayward flamingo's whereabouts late Friday
because the birds were identified by numbers on their leg bands.
The zoo's flamingo was still traveling with the same companion that
was with it during an earlier sighting. The two birds were seen at
the Arkansas National Wildlife Refuge on the Gulf Coast of Texas in
December 2006.
The other bird, a rosy red wild greater flamingo, came
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iUP6LEWN45Smjsnw5atqvrvCWkJAD8S5UHS
O2

Zoo passes inspection
Natural Resources and Environment Ministry officials yesterday found
nothing wrong with animals caged at Bangkok's Pata Zoo after pictures
of the animals allegedly showed them ailing and kept in poor
conditions.Zoological Park Organisation director Sopon Damnui said
zoo executives had tried to improve the living conditions of the
animals, which in general were still healthy except for being
confined in small spaces.
Udom Tanwattanakul, head of the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant
Conservation Department's Wildlife Registration Division, visited
Pata Zoo without advance warning yesterday morning along with
veterinarians and wildlife experts.
Udom said they found no sick or ill-treated animals except some
penguins that had suffered some feather loss, possibly due to annual
moulting. Officials collected the feathers and water samples from
their cages to see if they were ill.
Two tigers, previously reported as being thin, looked to be of
average weight, despite zoo staff putting them on a controlled diet
to prevent them becoming obese and
http://nationmultimedia.com/2007/10/09/headlines/headlines_30051807.ph
p

Pata Zoo's 'location in shopping mall not appropriate'
Bangkok's Pata Zoo came under fire yesterday for operating a zoo
inside a shopping mall despite the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant
Conservation Depart-ment's assertion that the caged animals were
being treated well.The Thai Animal Guardians Association (TAGA) filed
a complaint with the zoo and claimed its location was inappropriate.
TAGA chairman Roger Lohanan said the authorities found nothing wrong
when they inspected the zoo on Monday because their criteria was
based on the legal fact that the gorilla rightfully belongs to the
zoo.
But he said the matter at hand had more to do with the ethics of
opening a zoo at a shopping mall.
The zoo's location was not appropriate and could not provide
http://nationmultimedia.com/2007/10/10/national/national_30051970.php

Images of ageing gorilla revive concerns about fate of animals in
shopping mall zoos
The word ''zoo'' is normally associated with the feeling of happiness
and joy. Children laugh as they see animals act strangely in the
cages, parents eagerly taking pictures of their kids with rare
creatures, lovers tempting each other to look at the beautiful and
naughty wildlife. But the picture of a ''tearful King Kong'' at the
Pata zoo e-mailed to the media and animal lovers two weeks ago might
have changed people's perception of a zoo, especially those located
in department stores.
Although the National Park, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation
Department has now medically confirmed that the caged King Kong, a
female gorilla aged around 20, as well as a pair of tigers and
penguins at the department store's indoor
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/13Oct2007_news26.php

Renegade troops trying to enlist DR Congo mountain gorilla rangers
Renegade troops in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are trying to
forcibly enlist park rangers charged with protecting rare mountain
gorillas, an animal welfare charity charged Sunday.
Forces loyal to cashiered general Laurent Nkunda, a powerful local
leader, took control of the gorilla sector in Virunga national park
as they fought with government troops, Wildlife Direct said.
"As a sign of escalating conflict however the rangers at Jomba
(patrol post) were forced to flee Friday because the rebels were
trying to force them to become combatants," it said in statement.
Wildlife Direct spokeswoman Samantha Newport told AFP by telephone
that rebels had taken control of the whole gorilla sector, adding
that "shelling and heavy gunfire was heard from the park ... in and
around the gorilla sector".
"It is very serious and the situation for gorillas is now worse than
it was when fighting started five weeks ago," Newport added.
"All Congolese mountain gorillas are
http://www.enews.ma/renegade-troops_i72634_3.html

Killer Whale Hits Trainer in Spain Zoo
A killer whale at a marine park hit its trainer and dragged her
underwater repeatedly until it finally freed the woman with a badly
bruised chest and a broken arm, park officials said Monday.
The trainer, 29-year-old German national Claudia Vollhardt, remained
hospitalized Monday after her weekend scare at Loro Parque, a zoo on
Tenerife, one of Spain's Canary Islands.
Vollhardt was working with a 1.5-ton male orca named Tekoa on
Saturday, rehearsing a trick in which they swim together with the
whale pushing her feet from behind with its snout, when something
went wrong.
Tekoa slammed the woman in the chest from underneath and ended up
pulling her right arm, park officials said.
Pulling Vollhardt with her, the whale submerged
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gbdAc1I2CD-
QS89F43cdbRyzu8LQD8S57UD80

Say ahhhhh: Dentist tends to zoo's most dangerous predators
Few dentists get to say "open wide" to a bear, jaguar or puma.
But for exotic animal specialist Peter Kertesz it was all in a day's
work as he unleashed the tools of his trade on an array of over-size
mouths.
During a 16-hour marathon at Dartmoor Zoo, in Sparkwell, South Devon,
the intrepid dentist carried out major root canal surgery and teeth
extractions.
Some of his patients had teeth up to 8in long - a challenge for any
dental technician.
Modest Mr Mee said: "It was a long and fairly gruesome day but very
satisfying to be able to provide such highly skilled expert care for
these
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?
in_article_id=486383&in_page_id=1770

Mauritius: 'Exporting Monkeys for Research Helps Conservation'
Some 10,000 macaque monkeys, considered a nuisance in Mauritius, were
exported last year to the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan
to be used in medical research.
For Mauritians, the sale of the monkeys (macaca fascicularis)
generated foreign exchange and provided jobs to about 1,000 people.
But European animal rights activists have protested against the trade
in monkeys for research purposes, organizing campaigns to urge
tourists to boycott the island as a holiday destination.
"Monkeys are not indigenous to Mauritius," says Gerald de Senneville,
CEO of Noveprim, one of the six firms engaged in the business of
breeding and exporting the primates. Noveprim has been operating for
17 years.
The animal was introduced to the island between the 16th and the 17th
centuries. It was probably brought from the Indonesian peninsula by
Dutch sailors.
"The monkeys are certainly a nuisance from a conservation point of
view," exclaims Jacques Julienne, executive director of the Mauritian
Wildlife Foundation (MWF). They eat birds' eggs, kill small and adult
birds alike and attack indigenous plants.
"Endangered species like the Pink Pigeon, the Echo Parakeet and even
the Kestrel are regular victims of
http://allafrica.com/stories/200710110949.html

Broken Needle Traveled Through Animal's Body, Pierced Her Heart
Today, PETA sent an urgent letter to Dr. Robert M. Gibbens, Western
Regional director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA)
animal care unit urging him to immediately investigate the September
29 death of a rhinoceros named Goyana. According to news reports,
Goyana's death -- which followed months of lethargic behavior and
appetite loss -- was the result of a heart infection caused by a
tranquilizer needle that broke off inside her body during sedation at
the San Diego Zoo prior to her being shipped to the Delhi Zoo in
India in April 2007. According to Delhi Zoo officials, Goyana also
http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=10333

Accidents happen...PETA should be concentrating on likes of the link
below

Pets Hurled Off Bridge in Puerto Rico
Animal control workers seized dozens of dogs and cats from housing
projects in the town of Barceloneta and hurled them from a bridge to
their deaths, authorities and witnesses said Friday. Mayor Sol Luis
Fontanez blamed a contractor hired to take the animals to a shelter.
``This is an irresponsible, inhumane and shameful act,'' he told The
Associated Press.
Fontanez said the city hired Animal Control Solution to clear three
housing projects of pets after warning residents about a no-pet
policy. He said the city paid $60 for every animal recovered and
another $100 for each trip to a shelter in the San Juan suburb of
Carolina.
Raids were conducted on Monday and Wednesday, and residents told TV
reporters they
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6993122,00.html

Madagascan forests profit from Zurich zoo
A Zurich zoo conservation project that helps to both preserve
rainforests in Madagascar and provide locals with better living
conditions has been hailed a success.
Ten years after starting its work at the African island state, the
zoo has helped convert many farmers to conservation ideas. And four
years ago it created its own replica rainforest in Zurich.
The zoo invests $100,000 (SFr118,000) a year on a number of projects
in Madagascar to provide park wardens and infrastructure in the
national park and improve rice farming methods, irrigation and
drinking water supplies for surrounding villagers.
Four years ago the zoo created its own Madagascan rainforest
biosphere in Zurich – called Masoala
http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/front/detail/Madagascan_forests_profit_fr
om_Zurich_zoo.html?siteSect=105&sid=8302643&cKey=1192087783000&ty=st

Al Ain Zoo to remain open longer during the holidays
Al Ain Zoo will remain open for a longer period from the first day of
Eid Al Fitr to offer a unique day and night experience to visitors.
The time has been extended due to the public response for the night
zoo concept, said a spokesperson of the zoo, adding that the extended
hours would continue even after the Eid holidays.
"The new daily zoo timings, from 8am to 10pm, will give visitors the
opportunity to view the fascinating range of exhibits in their
natural environment
http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07/10/12/10159767.html

8Oct2007

Times -Standard editorial: Rethinking what a zoo should be
The releasing of Whidehch the fisher into the wild after being cared
for at the Sequoia Park Zoo makes for an interesting end to a story,
which Times-Standard reporter Thadeus Greenson relates today on Page
A1. But it also is symbolic for the way zoos such as Eureka's are
changing the concept of what a zoo should be.
The traditional concept of a zoo was where creatures -- the more
exotic and non-native, the better -- were put behind windows and
fences for the public to pass by. Visitors would speculate about what
the caged animals were thinking -- and sometimes the animals would
show them, as when Sequoia Park Zoo's late and beloved Bill the Chimp
would throw poo through the bars.
But what was really being learned by us, and taught to our children?
Often, it was not something useful about nature, but rather
reinforcing how man holds the power to control other animals. The
problem was not with the zoo's treatment of the animals -- there is no
doubt zoo employees love and care for them -- but with those of us who
see zoos as entertainment. (How often we have pitied zoo animals for
having
http://times-standard.com/opinion/ci_7081490

Plea to ministers over zoo crisis
COMMUNITY leaders have urged the Scottish Government to help find
funds for Edinburgh Zoo's £72 million expansion plan.
Local MSPs, councillors and tourism agencies have said that SNP
ministers should help fund the crisis-hit attraction.
The zoo faces a £20m funding black hole for its masterplan, following
the decision by councillors not to designate land at the attraction as
suitable for housing.
It had originally planned to sell off a swathe of greenbelt land at
the west of its site to developers.
But the plan has been thrown into doubt after councillors voted to
overturn a decision to include the housing in the Edinburgh City Local
Plan - a massive blueprint setting out rules to developers over the
next eight years.
Although community leaders have welcomed the refusal, they appealed to
the Scottish Government to help the attraction complete its revamp.
Edinburgh West Liberal Democrat MSP Margaret Smith said she would
appeal to Scottish ministers to see if funds could be allocated.
She said: "There is a wider issue about the future of the zoo and I
have been trying to make th
http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1599302007

Zoo hopes for roar passion
After nearly a year of solitary confinement at Chessington Zoo, Ashok
the lion has finally got some female company.
Kalinga the lioness arrived at Chessington on Friday from Terra Natura
Zoo and Waterpark in Benidorm, where she was born. Five-year-old
Kalinga, an Asiatic lioness, has been brought to Chessington as part
of the European Breeding Programme.
Although Kalinga has never lived with a male lion before and has never
bred, zookeepers at Chessington have high hopes
http://www.surreycomet.co.uk/news/localnews/display.var.1732880.0.zoo_hopes_for_roar_passion.php

Oakland Zoo manager accused of stealing $52,000
A former Oakland Zoo marketing manager has been charged with
embezzling $52,000 over a 10-month period to pay for trips to
Disneyland and hotel stays and airline trips, authorities said today.
Gregory Jueneman, 27, of Oakland started by stealing small sums, then
gradually pilfered larger amounts via electronic transfer, said
Norbert Chu, Alameda County's senior deputy district attorney.
"He went from $200 to $300 to about $700, then a series of $950
transfers before getting into $1,000, then $2,000," Chu said.
Jueneman was caught when his attempt to transfer $3,000 was rejected
by a bank, which notified the zoo, authorities said. The zoo
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/06/BANBSL2DS.DTL

Yogyakarta to build wildlife park
The Yogyakarta administration will turn a 634-ha piece of land in the
Bunder area of Gunungkidul district into a wildlife park for research
and tourism as well as to increase the local people`s welfare, an
official said.
"Therefore, the administration will set up a technical implementation
unit in 2008 to manage development of the proposed forest," head of
the Yogyakarta forestry and plantation office`s program development
division, Hardiyanto, said here Thursday.
"Ten percent of the proposed wildlife area will be used by the
technical implementation unit to develop supporting facilities," he said.
Bunder conservation forest has
http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2007/9/27/yogyakarta-to-build-wildlife-park/

Ape on the run is shot dead
A runaway chimpanzee was shot dead by staff at Whipsnade zoo yesterday
after he and another animal escaped from their enclosure.
The second chimp gave herself up to a keeper in a nearby field.
Hundreds of visitors were told to lock themselves in their cars or
were led to shelter in a gift shop while the animals were being traced.
The drama began just after the wild animal park opened yesterday
morning when the two adult animals, Johnny and Koko, were found to be
missing from the their enclosure.
The two had been moved to Bedfordshire from Regent's Park zoo in north
London last year.
Johnny, 41, who underwent a vasectomy five years ago, was considered
the more dangerous. In a profile written in 2003, staff described him
as "a bit of a thug". He was shot dead in the zoo grounds by a keeper
using
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2558255.ece

Anger after escaped chimp shot dead at zoo
AN ANIMAL-welfare campaign group criticised zoo bosses yesterday for
shooting dead a chimpanzee that escaped from its enclosure.
Two chimps - Jonnie and Coco - broke free from their enclosure at
Whipsnade Zoo, Bedfordshire, over the weekend.
Coco was quickly recaptured, but Jonnie was killed. The Zoological
Society of London (ZSL), which runs the attraction, said it was in the
interests of public safety.
Tim Phillips, campaigns director with Animal Defenders International,
criticised ZSL and said holding chimps in captivity should be
reconsidered.
He said: "It will be said that Jonnie was shot because he was
dangerous, but this just further raises the question: how suitable are
these
http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1571802007

Work on zoo master plan finally begins today
Zoo director says Rs 50m project work will take two years to complete
Work on a master plan to restructure the Lahore Zoo will start today
(Tuesday) after a delay of more than three years.
Some zoo officials said the plan's implementation had been delayed
because of the "laziness of senior officials, lack of funds and lack
of manpower".
Zoo director Yousaf Pal told Daily Times on Monday that some flaws in
the initial design and space problems had caused the delay. He said
the initial plan had suggested a double-storey Reptile Building, but
it was redesigned as a single-storey building because of a space
shortage and because the two-storey building would have `looked weird'.
Mohsin Shakoor, consultant at the Communications and Works (C&W)
Department, said the department had submitted the initial plan, but
the zoo authorities made several changes in it because of space problems.
The delay in the implementation of the plan has left most parts of the
zoo in shambles. Many animal enclosures have been razed or dug up, but
stopped midway. Construction equipment is lying everywhere, but no
work is being done. There are also no plaques outside
under-construction enclosures to tell visitors where the animals had
been taken to.
The zoo director said a Rs 50 million budget had been approved for the
plan. Pal said the plan would take two years to complete. He said the
zoo would remain open during the implementation of the plan. He said
the animals, whose cages and enclosures would be restructured, would
remain in the zoo.
Zoo officials said the new plan would give the animals "a true feel of
the real thing". They said undergrowth would be planted in the cages
and the enclosures would be made as disease-free as possible.
The new plan consists of renovating
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C10%5C02%5Cstory_2-10-2007_pg13_7

New Baby Rhino
It's a bouncing baby boy. A black rhino was born last Thursday at the
Caldwell Zoo. Zoo workers will have an event this Saturday to come up
with a name for him.
The rhino's mother was only in labor for about 20 minutes, and the
baby was standing 15 minutes after birth.
Black rhinos inhabit eastern and southern Africa. These huge he
http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=7170993

London Zoo in the good old days: historic archive goes online
THE photographic archive of London Zoo, one of the world's most
important such collections, is to be published for the first time,
with the pictures offered for sale to fund conservation, writes Holly
Watt.
From tomorrow, the Zoological Society of London will place photographs
on its website. These will include elephants walking through docks in
Camden, north London, and a tiger cub pictured in 1914 with a
disgruntled-looking peccary, a pig-like animal from South America.
In another photograph, two zookeepers trim an elephant's feet and,
from 1920, there is a snapshot of a llama pulling a cart holding a
family of three.
In one image, almost 140 years old, a seal is lying sleepily on the
lap of a zookeeper, while another
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2558257.ece

Foreign experts want to help TT zoo
The Zoological Society of Trinidad and Tobago (ZSTT) was represented
at the recently convened Association of American Zoos and Aquariums
(AZA) annual conference by the President, Gupte Lutchmedial and First
Vice President, Ben de la Rosa.
The conference which saw representatives from all the member zoos and
aquariums of the AZA from across the USA and Canada ran from the 17th
to the 21st of September 2007. Attendees also included affiliates from
institutions such as the ZSTT and the Cheetah Conservation Fund of
Kenya and many other zoos and aquariums around the world.
In addition to the wealth of information transfer on modern zoo and
aquarium management attendees were afforded the unique opportunity of
meeting with and networking with most of the leaders in modern
research and development of wildlife conservation and husbandry.
The ZSTT representatives took advantage of the occasion to forge
alliances with key proponents of modern zoo construction
http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,65103.html

Animal Day debate: Should Manila Zoo be shut down?
As the world observes Animal Day on Thursday, a debate rages on
whether the Manila Zoo should be shut down.
With more than 700 creatures crammed inside the facility, the
country's oldest and one of the region's first, rights groups are
calling for its closure and protesting the alleged mistreatment of the
creatures penned inside.
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said the zoo
animals should be returned to the wild -- their natural habitat --
because most of them exhibited "zoochosis," a condition where animals
are driven "mad" by captivity.
As concern for the residents of the Manila Zoo mounts, animal lovers
elsewhere celebrate this day with fund-raising and information
campaigns and other special events.
Oct. 4 was designated World Animal Day because it is the feast day of
St. Francis of Assisi, a nature lover and patron saint of animals and
the environment.
"It's really sad," said Mona Consunji, board secretary of the Animal
Welfare Coalition, of the Manila Zoo's current state. "That elephant,
I think is already going crazy," referring to Mali, prancing about in
his small pen near the gate.
"If you watch that elephant for 30 minutes, you'd see that it's doing
the same thing over and over again," she said.
But while PETA wants the creatures to go back to their environment,
Consunji said her group of 15 nongovernment animal rights groups
disagreed because the zoo animals would not stand a chance in the wild.
"We do not agree with that because the animals cannot sustain
themselves anymore ... Where will you put them, in a sanctuary? Will
(PETA) spend for it? If you do a campaign, you provide a solution,"
she said.
The foreign case of dolphin
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view_article.php?article_id=92417

Rare white rhino born at SA zoo
A southern white rhinoceros has been born at South Australia's Monarto
Zoo.
Weighing in at a hefty 40 kilograms, Watoto the baby white rhino is
the second for Monato Zoo's breeding program.
The male calf was born on Tuesday morning and is said to be wrinkly,
with big feet and ears.
Poaching and civil wars all but wiped-out the southern white rhino in
the 19th century, but conservation programs like the one at Monarto
have helped restore the species to
http://uk.f260.mail.yahoo.com/ym/ShowLetter?MsgId=8020_8294444_6879_1789_2276_0_56653_7851_4292649621&Idx=3&YY=73860&y5beta=yes&y5beta=yes&inc=25&order=down&sort=date&pos=0&view=a&head=b&box=100Digest

30Sep2007

Exclusive: Dutch zoo can breed jellyfish
It has been hailed as a major breakthrough: Burgers' Ocean, the
marine section of Burgers' Zoo in the Dutch city of Arnhem, has
successfully bred jellyfish in captivity.
Jellyfish are vulnerable creatures with a very complicate life
cycle. All of its stages have to be run through for an animal to
reach maturity. Marine biologists across the globe have attempted
it, but usually the breeding programme ends after a couple of months
http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/070925jellyfish

Malaysian aquarium shuts down after 600 fish die mysteriously
The main section of Malaysia's largest aquarium has been shut after
about 600 fish died mysteriously, possibly because of deliberate
poisoning, officials said Wednesday.
The fish, including sharks, stingrays and groupers, died within
hours Monday evening at the Langkawi Underwater World, said an
official at the center who declined to be named because he is not
authorized to make public statements.
Langkawi police chief Mohamed Ali Jamaludin said the water in the
tanks smelled of gasoline and was believed to be contaminated with a
pesticide or poison. Police are awaiting the results of a water
analysis, he said.
"This is not a work of negligence," he told The Associated Press,
saying that police believed it was deliberate sabotage of the
tourist attraction in Langkawi, a resort island in northern Malaysia.
The center, which features some 5,000 ocean and freshwater fish, has
offered a 10,000 ringgit (US$2,900) reward to anyone who provides
information leading to an arrest, he said.
The center's marine
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailgeneral.asp?
fileid=20070926163700&irec=16

New Dubai Zoo project not scrapped, clarifies official
The Dubai Municipality has categorically declared that the new Dubai
Zoo project at DubaiLand has not been scrapped.
Rashad Bukhash, Director of the General Projects Department at the
Dubai Municipality, said the project, which boasts of the
construction of the biggest zoo in the region with all facilities
and different features, is very much in the pipeline.
Earlier, there have been reports that the project is being scrapped.
The present zoo is situated in Jumeirah and houses around 1,200
animals, raising concerns that it is overcrowded. It has also been
under the scanner of prominent animal welfare groups like PETA
(People for Ethical Treatment of Animals).
"The project has not been scrapped or postponed. It is still on. The
new Dubai Zoo would come up in DubaiLand. And it would consist of
different facilities for the animals. We would be coming out with
the details in a couple of weeks," said Bukhash.
Earlier reports had said that the zoo project had been postponed
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?
xfile=data/theuae/2007/September/theuae_September745.xml&section=theu
ae&col=

Kingston's longtime zookeeper dies
Robert J. Horvers, keeper of the city's Forsyth Park zoo for more
than four decades, died Tuesday at home at the age of 65.
Mayor James Sottile described Horvers as a fixture at the Lucas
Avenue park who laid the groundwork for what the zoo has become
today - a bona fide nature center.
"Bobby Horvers worked tirelessly for the city for 40 years," Sottile
said. "As a kid, growing up, I remember Bobby would retrieve the
hardball when we'd hit it into the peacock pen. ... He put his heart
and soul into the zoo and helped to make it what it is today."
Sottile said Horvers fought many times to keep the zoo open when
city officials tried to cut its funding.
"He was the one who defended the zoo when there were calls to close
it,' Sottile said. "He withstood those calls."
City Parks Administrator Mary Jo Wiltshire spoke similarly.
"Bobby always defended the zoo to the hilt," Wiltshire said. "He
defended
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?
newsid=18853822&BRD=1769&PAG=461&dept_id=74958&rfi=6

'Green Fuel' Harming Rainforests
Buying biofuel for your car could be more devastating to the planet
than traditional fossil fuels.
A Sky News investigation has revealed that filling up with bio
diesel containing palm oil is helping to destroy some of the world's
most precious rainforests.
With forecourts across Europe and the United States now offering the
so-called "green fuel", demand for palm oil has boomed.
But the well-intentioned switch to biofuels in the West is
destroying Borneo's rainforests - one of the greenest places on
Earth.
Environmentalists claim that an area of forest the size of Wales was
cleared last year as Indonesia
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30400-1286104,00.html

Central Zoo saw million visitors last year
Around one million people visited the Central Zoo (CZ) at Jawalakhel
in the last fiscal year. Keeping this surge in visitors, the
management body is all set to upgrade the physical design of the zoo.
The number of visitors had dwindled in the past decade due to the
insurgency in the country.
R K Shrestha, director of the CZ said that about 28,000 people
visited the zoo on Baishak 1, 2064 alone.
"In the earlier years, the number of visitors never exceeded nine
thousand a day. In this context, we have been encouraged to improve
the zoo." Records show that
http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullstory.asp?
filename=aCXatKsbwzqea6Va3wa0HNamal&folder=aCXatK&Name=City&sImageFil
eName=&dtSiteDate=20070929

Parrots return to Cook Islands
Two centuries after a dazzlingly feathered parrot called the
Rimitara lorikeet disappeared from the Cook Islands, a breeding
colony of the birds has been re-established with the help of the
islands' royalty.
About 100 years ago after the parrots died out on the Cook Islands,
the queen of Rimitara Island in French Polynesia to the east issued
a royal decree that locals say saved the last naturally occurring
population of the lorikeet, one of the Pacific's most beautiful
parrots.
The decree prevented lorikeets from being caught and removed from
Rimitara.
But now her royal counterpart, Queen Rongomatane of Atiu in the Cook
Islands, has accompanied 27 of the birds on the journey back to her
island.
Already, the birds have spread over the whole 30 square kilometres
of Atiu, a coral atoll also known as Enuamanu (land of the birds)
187km northeast of Rarotonga, the capital of the Cook Islands.
"This was the bird that provided the feathers for chiefs
http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-
1443_2191250,00.html

Zoo officials liable in gorilla attack
Jury awards girl $175k in damages
A Dorchester girl who was attacked four years ago by a gorilla that
escaped from the Franklin Park Zoo and terrorized the surrounding
neighborhood was awarded $175,000 yesterday by a Suffolk Superior
Court jury.
The jury found that five caretakers of the western lowland gorilla
named Little Joe were liable for the injuries the animal inflicted
on Nia Scott on Sept. 28, 2003, when she was 2 years and 9 months
old. But the jury decided against awarding damages to the girl's
mother, Terrasita Duarte-Scott, who was not present during the
attack but said her relationship with her daughter had suffered as a
result.
Duarte-Scott, who appeared disappointed by the verdict, met
privately with her lawyers for about 10 minutes and then walked
briskly to an elevator. On the way, she said, "They did what they
thought was fair, but I'm speechless, just speechless. What I wanted
to do was prove that they were negligent."
Her lawyer, Donald L. Gibson, said
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/09/27/zo
o_officials_liable_in_gorilla_attack/

FEATURE-Orphan chimps turned killer find Leone refuge
They can leap playful somersaults or maul a human to death.
Meet the chimpanzee, man's closest relative.
Today, Philip, a powerful male, plays tricks to earn a juicy
passionfruit. But last year he was among 31 chimps from the Tacugama
sanctuary in Sierra Leone which mauled one man to death and attacked
four others after escaping from their enclosure.
Most of the runaways, including Philip, were recaptured. But four
chimps are still at large in the mist-shrouded forests outside the
war-scarred
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL21903208

Zoo boss wins
MULTI millionaire and Cumbrian zoo boss David Gill is celebrating a
victory over council officials.
A government inspector says he can keep a new car park which local
authority officials ordered him to rip up.
In his latest run-in with planning officials in Barrow, Mr Gill had
asphalted a large parking area outside his South Lakes Wild Animal
Park in Dalton without planning permission.
The council's planning committee said it was
http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=546670

Native bats bound for Auckland Zoo
Twelve native short-tailed bats from the genetically rare Tararua
Forest's Waiohine Valley population are leaving their home on Kapiti
Island to take up residence at Auckland Zoo.
The Department of Conservation, Auckland Zoo, and iwi are hopeful
that the bats will successfully breed to assist the recovery plan
for this genetically unique group.
The Waiohine Valley population, discovered in the late 1990s, is the
only known short-tailed bat population living in the southern North
Island, and currently numbers just 200.
The 12 bats, which are aed between two and three years, have been
part of the most ambitious conservation project ever undertaken
anywhere in the world for native bats. During 2005 and 2006, this
involved DOC taking pregnant females from Waiohine
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411365/1381852

White Rhino Born In Israel
In the Junk Drawer tonight:Henry Mancini wrote 'Baby Elephant
Walk'... well one baby in Israel could use a catchy theme of his
own. This little white rhinoceros was born yesterday at the Ramat
Gan Safari park in Israel, the first rhinoceros baby to be born
there in 15 years. The baby, named Tibor, and its mother Tanda are
both in good health. Tanda was transferred to the safari in 2003 in
an attempt to revive the
http://www.keyc.tv/article/view/129114/

Zoo secures £11m visitor centre
Twycross Zoo has announced it has secured funding for an £11m
visitor centre.
The zoo said a final grant of £3m meant it can now go ahead with the
ambitious eco-friendly building.
It will contain a large gift shop and diner as well as information
about the zoo and its conservation work.
Managers said it was important visitors were given a top quality
experience when they arrived. Work is due to start next summer and
should
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/7018323.stm

Army engineers prepare park for tigers' arrival
THE Army moved in to the Highland Wildlife Park at Kincraig last
weekend on a very special mission.
Men from 39 Royal Engineers, armed with picks and shovels, as well
as heavy earth-moving equipment, set to work in the park, but they
weren't building fortifications or readying for trench warfare –
their efforts were for a much more peaceful reason.
The 100-strong force are working on a new £400,000 enclosure to
house three of the latest attractions to the park, Siberian Amur
tigers, which are due to move in next spring from their present home
in Edinburgh Zoo. They are also constructing a walk-through
enclosure for Himalayan snowcocks.
The tigers' arrival is part of plans by park owners, The
http://www.strathspey-
herald.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/1963/Army_engineers_prepare_park_
for_tigers'_arrival.html

Great ape mugs tourist for backpack
A wildlife park orangutan has attacked a tourist snatching her
backpack then bit her while pulling off her shoes, socks and
trousers.
The French tourist, who asked to be identified only as Odile, was
taking photographs of Delima - a female orangutan roaming free in
Malaysia's Semenggoh Wildlife Centre on Borneo island - when the
animal struck.
Wilfred Landong, chief park warden, said
http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5goZhjodtJPoeGCgg-mR6ArRcGuHQ

Veterinarians Probe Second Possible Case of Virgin Shark Conception
Veterinarian Bob George sliced open the dead shark and saw the
outline of a fish.
No surprise there, since sharks digest their food slowly.
Then George realized he wasn't looking at the stomach of the
blacktip reef shark , but at her uterus.
In it was a perfectly formed, 10-inch-long shark pup that was almost
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,286523,00.html

Congo rangers break suspected gorilla traffic ring
Congolese park rangers have arrested two members of a gang they
suspect of trying to traffic rare gorillas for $8,000 (4,000 pounds)
each, but were too late to save a young ape found rotting in the
forest, conservationists said.
Poachers and gunmen have killed at least nine mountain gorillas this
year and a possible revival in trafficking poses another threat to
the mighty beasts, of whom just 700 remain, spread between
Democratic Republic of Congo
http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL2530693.html

East London zoo to receive a facelift
The old East London zoo is to be given a multi-million rand
facelift. This comes from a new master plan for the zoo which maps
the route forward for the next 15 years. The plan, if it succeeds,
will rate the zoo as one of the best in the world.
It's the only zoo in the Eastern Cape, and about 100 000 people
visit it yearly to be entertained and to learn. The plan will cost
the taxpayer R280 million and authorities say proper consultation
and research has been done. East London Zoo Manager, Nico Roux,
says "The development will be done in phases, so should funding
become available, we will start with phase 1."
Buffalo City Municipality has blessed the plan and shown confidence
in it by putting forward R1,3 million this financial year. It's
expected
http://www.sabcnews.com/south_africa/general/0,2172,156330,00.html

Fort Worth Zoo Announces $18 Million Creation
Zoo solidifies efforts to save amphibians and reptiles with
30,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art complex
The Fort Worth Zoo's Executive Director and Fort Worth Mayor
unveiled plans today to construct an $18 million, 30,000 square-foot
herpetological facility, which will house 165 amphibian and reptile
species, representing about 900
animals.
In response to the recent global amphibian crisis (32% of the world's
amphibians are facing extinction in the next five to 10 years), the
Fort
Worth Zoo prioritized housing, research and breeding amphibians in a
building specifically designed to meet the animals' needs. The new
facility, dubbed Museum of Living Art (MOLA), will include spacious,
humidity-controlled exhibits and
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?
ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/09-24-2007/0004668856&EDATE=

Stop tigers from going extinct
Unless drastic action is taken now, the lord of the jungle will go
extinct this century.
The magnificent tiger could, in the early part of this century, be
extinct in the wild. That is the unthinkable yet undeniable
situation facing the lord of the jungle. The only way to stave off
such a disaster is for the two largest developing economies, China
and India, to take urgent action to control the trade in tiger parts
and to protect habitats.
Several subspecies of the tiger (Bali, Javan and Caspian) have
become extinct in the last few decades, while others (South China,
Indochinese) are critically endangered. The latest census confirms
that the number of Bengal tigers in India -- the single largest
population -- has dwindled by more than 50% in the last five years
to fewer than 1,500 in the wild, which experts say could be the
tipping point for extinction.
How has the tiger's fate come to this? The foremost reason is
poaching to meet demand for tiger products used in traditional
medicines in China and other parts of East Asia. The other crucial
factor is the continuous loss of tiger habitat, which is down by
about 40% across India in the last decade, along with which has
disappeared much of its prey.
To make matters worse, there now is relentless pressure from tiger
farmers in East Asia to legalize the trade in the bones, fur, paws,
penis and teeth of their animals. On the surface, the case made for
legalizing the sale of tiger parts is beguiling. By flooding the
market with parts from farm-raised tigers, it's argued, prices will
plummet, reducing the profitability of poaching. A cited analogy:
People don't hunt wild turkeys for Thanksgiving when supermarkets
overflow with farmed supplies.
But to reduce poaching, those who raise tigers in captivity would
need to undercut the cost of supplying the parts from wild tigers.
That's improbable. Poaching in India, by poisoning or with simple
steel traps, costs less than $100 a tiger (plus transport and other
costs). Raising one in captivity -- even three or more to a cage --
costs about $3,000.
Conservationists warn that legalizing the tiger trade would be the
death knell for tigers in the wild. That's because it will always be
cheaper to hunt tigers, and poaching will be less risky if poached
parts can be easily laundered -- that is, passed off as coming from
captive-bred animals.
Without DNA analysis, even lion bones are indistinguishable from
tiger's, and they too are sold on East Asia's black market. So
India's poachers also now are hunting the last lions in Asia --
about 350 in the Gir forest in the western state of Gujarat. In just
two weeks in May, poachers killed a dozen lions.
India still offers the best hope for the tigers' future because it
has the most tigers and a conservation infrastructure. In 1973, the
Indian government initiated Project Tiger, designating protected
areas and wildlife corridors. This led to a dramatic recovery --
their numbers nearly tripled by the 1990s. But that commitment
faltered, and the population collapsed again.
What now? It is essential to deal with poaching and the demand for
tiger parts in traditional medicine immediately. The World
Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies states that tiger parts are
not necessary for traditional medicines, and alternatives are
available and effective. So there are solid reasons to strongly
enforce the international ban on the tiger trade, and for China to
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-
thomas27sep27,0,7598804.story

24Sep2007

Zoo reopens, few visitors
The Kuwait Zoo is a very entertaining place which is often visited by
kids. During Ramadan, people visiting Kuwait Zoo has very much
decreased. The zoo was closed for a couple of months because of the
bird flu outbreak in Kuwait, but it was reopened last week after the
danger of this disease disappeared. Many people wondered what
happened with the zoo when they went to it and found it closed.
Moreover, the hours of the zoo during Ramadan isn't clear to the public.
Even when trying to call the zoo, the information given to the caller is
the zoo's old hours. When you dial zero to reach the operator and ask
for further information, nobody answers the phone.
The hours of the Kuwait Zoo for this year is from 8 am to 8 pm in winter
and from 8 am to 12 noon and 4 pm to 8 pm in summer. These hours
were changed in Ramadan to 12 pm till 4:30 pm. Also since September,
the day the zoo is closed on Sunday and not Saturday.
Located in Omariya on the Airport Road, the Kuwait Zoo covers 180,000
square meters of parkland. The entrance fees haven't changed and it is
still 500 Fils only. Now with the decreased number of visitors, people
will not find problems with parking their cars.
An informed source from the Kuwait Zoo told the Kuwait Times that the
number of daily visitors in Ramadan is relatively low. "The number of
visitors yesterday was about 400 people. The reason behind the
decrease in visitors is the short hours of the zoo, which was decreased
to only four and half hours per day. In addition to this, the weather
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=ODM5NjkyMTA3

Zoo's battle to protect lemurs
BLACKPOOL zoo has won an award for its fundraising efforts to help
protect lemurs in Madagascar.
Staff at the zoo won the coveted platinum award for fundraising at this
year's European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) annual
conference.
They were heralded as joint second fundraisers out of all zoos in
Europe after they raised 20,000 euros for the appeal.
The award was presented to director, Darren Webster, and head
keeper, Peter Dillingham, at the EAZA conference in Warsaw, Poland.
They joined more than 500 staff from zoos all over Europe to discuss
topical issues and to make plans for conserving species in the future.
As Madagascar is home to several species of lemur, a mammal which
originates on the island, zoo staff put huge efforts into arranging
events
to swell the EAZA coffers for projects to protect these endangered
species.
Staff raised money by selling lemur key rings and pens as well as asking
for donations from visitors who came to
http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/blackpool-news/Zoo39s-battle-to-
protect-lemurs.3224539.jp

Roof zoo plan to put pizzazz into Harrods
Harrods owner Mohamed al-Fayed has a pet project to build a zoo on
the roof of the world-famous London store.
What would be a retail first is the brainchild of Harrods creative
director
Bill Mitchell, who is retained by al-Fayed to come up with ideas to
inject
pizzazz into the 158-year-old department store.
Mitchell, an artist in his own right, is installed in a garret on the
eighth
floor of the Knightsbridge store. His commissions for Harrods include
the
statue dedicated to the memory of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed, as
well as the store's kitsch Egyptian Room.
Harrods' motto is 'Omnia omnibus ubique', which means 'All things, for
all people, everywhere', with staff said to have procured unorthodox
gifts for its ultra-wealthy clientele over the years that include a baby
elephant and an alligator - the latter given to Noel Coward as a
Christmas present.
A Harrods spokesman confirmed a zoo could form part of a new
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,2174726,00.html

Durrell Breeds First Captive EU Reptile
Herpetologists at the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust have
announced the first successful captive breeding of Haitian giant
galliwasps, an endangered breed of skink-like lizard.
The 22 reptiles are the first ever to have been bred in Europe, and
herald a major step forward in the preservation of the Haitian
galliwasp's much rarer cousin – the Montserrat galliwasp.
Galliwasps have been kept at Durrell for the last 18 months, after 19
captive bred animals were given to the trust by Nashville Zoo in the US.
Dr Gerardo Garcia, Head of Herpetology, Durrell, said:
"We were delighted to discover a mini-invasion of galliwasps at the
reptile facility – the newborns are tiny weighing just 1.5g but are
all in
good health.
"We are hoping that in the future we can
http://www.ukpets.co.uk/ukp/index.php?
rtn=temp66_249_66_199_at_1457&sf=317864407&section=Home&sub=
News&rws=&method=fetch&item=1307&tb=introduction

Some conservation successes amongst the threat of increased extinction
September 2007. The 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species shows
the scale of the escalating extinction crisis, however an unobtrusive
parakeet from Mauritius is showing that, with funding and dedicated
fieldworkers, species can recover from the brink of extinction.
According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species an unprecedented
numbers of species are now threatened with extinction. 1,221 species
of birds are considered threatened with extinction. The overall
conservation status of the world's birds has deteriorated steadily since
1988, when they were first comprehensively assessed, and 189 birds
are now listed as Critically Endangered - the highest
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/conservation-success897.html

East London zoo to receive a facelift
The old East London zoo is to be given a multi-million rand facelift.
This
comes from a new master plan for the zoo which maps the route
forward for the next 15 years. The plan, if it succeeds, will rate
the zoo
as one of the best in the world.
It's the only zoo in the Eastern Cape, and about 100 000 people visit it
yearly to be entertained and to learn. The plan will cost the taxpayer
R280 million and authorities say proper consultation and research has
been done. East London Zoo Manager, Nico Roux, says "The
development will be done in phases, so should funding become
available, we will start with phase 1."
Buffalo City Municipality has blessed the plan and shown confidence
in it
by putting forward R1,3 million this financial year. It's expected to
become one of the city's major tourist attractions. Director at the
community
http://www.sabcnews.com/south_africa/general/0,2172,156330,00.html

Zoo move on hold again as safari park plan axed
Animals cramped in Dubai's small zoo will continue to suffer as
construction of a new bigger zoo has once again been delayed, Gulf
News has learnt.
Although a Dubai Municipality official said in July construction of
the new
Dubai Zoo would start in August, the ambitious plan to have the biggest
zoo in the region, which included a safari and night zoo, never took off
as the project has been thrown out of Dubailand - the last planned
venue for the zoo.
It is the fourth time in the last six years the zoo project has been
postponed and this time it was done even after the project design had
been finalised. When asked to comment, the municipality official
declined to speak, saying the matter was with the higher authorities.
Abandoned
The municipality first announced they would build a new zoo in Mushrif
Park in 2003 but the plan was shelved. Again, the civic body announced
the Dh200 million zoo would be built at a new location in November
2005 as an extension of Mushrif Park but it was again scrapped. The
last zoo project was announced in Dubailand but again it has been
abandoned.
The zoo project is now in jeopardy and no one at the municipality has
an answer to this. An official, however, told Gulf News that the project
would be announced again only after finding a new location. But he said
he was not sure when this would be done.
Visitors to the zoo have long been demanding a bigger place as animals
are living in cramped conditions at Dubai Zoo on Jumeirah Road. There
has been a phenomenal growth
http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/Society/10154773.html

Hope, at last, for zoo modernisation programme
There may be light, after all, at the end of the tunnel for the much-
delayed modernisation programme at the Thiruvananthapuram zoo. On
September 20 the Culture Secretary has called a meeting of zoo
officials and those from the Public Works Department to discuss the
completion of pending construction work associated with the
modernisation programme.
The programme was initiated in 1998 and was expected to be over in
five years. The idea was that the city zoo would become a pseudo-
habitat paradise for various species of animals and birds. Today,
however, close to 40 per cent of the work related to the modernisation
programme remain to be completed. Enclosures that were to have been
inaugurated in 2005-2006 remain as patches of land overgrown with
weeds. The September 20 meeting is expected to take stock of this look
for a way out.
The immediate task in front of zoo authorities is to complete the
construction work on the reptile enclosure
http://www.hindu.com/2007/09/20/stories/2007092050720200.htm

Monkeys put down at zoo
EDINBURGH Zoo has destroyed three remaining stump-tailed macaques
from a colony saved by animal campaigners.
A zoo spokeswoman said the three macaques, known as "ugly
monkeys", were suffering from cancer and were euthanised in April.
Three had earlier died of old age.
The macaques, from south-east Asia, had been due to be killed after
being used in behavioural experiments at Stirling University. A public
campaign in the 1980s resulted in the university agreeing
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1501082007

ZOO HELPS IN FIGHT TO SAVE SPECIES
Paignton Zoo is doing its part to help save some of the 200 new species
which have been added to the world's 'at risk' list.
Among the additions is the Western Gorilla, a group of which live at the
popular South Devon zoo, which has been moved on to the critical
list.Scientists have warned of a 'global extinction crisis'
threatening to
wipe out thousands of animals and plants.
Nearly 200 species have been newly added to the World Conservation
Union's annual Red List of those threatened with extinction.
There are now more than 40,000 species on the list, and the situation is
getting worse.
The Western gorilla, which is one of man's closest genetic relations in
the animal kingdom, lives in jungles in central Africa.
A bachelor group of the animals is kept at Paignton Zoo and a
spokesman said: "Sadly, wherever you look in the world you see
species under threat.
"We have a range of endangered species at Paignton Zoo, including
Western gorillas and Bornean orang-utans.
"We also have species that are extinct in the wild, such as the native
British grass interrupted brome and the Socorro dove.
"The new report highlights the importance of zoos in conservation
breeding, in preserving the gene pools of rare species, and in
educating, engaging and inspiring our visitors.
"When we look at global conservation, it is easy to feel overwhelmed
http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?
nodeId=135239&command=displayContent&sourceNode=135077&conte
ntPK=18429660&folderPk=79060&pNodeId=134831

Bali Zoo unveils new Tiger habitat, thanks industry for help
As many readers would remember, e-Travel Blackboard has in recent
months ran quite a few campaigns to try and raise money for the Bali
Zoo in the village of Singapadu (near Ubud).
Due to much industry support, private donations, and the help of a few
sponsors Bali Zoo has just announced the completion of a new
Sumatran
http://www.etravelblackboard.com/index.asp?id=69437&nav=46

19Sep2007

Primate lessons for conservation staff
All for a monkey
It's back to books for officials of 19 forest divisions in this Upper
Assam
district.
Forest officials are taking part in a training session at Gibbon
Wildlife
Sanctuary in Jorhat on conservation of the hoolock gibbon, a primate
found
only on the southern bank of the Debang.
Mohan Chandra Malakar, the principal chief conservator of forests
(wildlife), Assam, inaugurated the programme on September 8. The
session will conclude on September 19.
Malakar explained the scientific and ecological value of the species.
He said
the hoolock gibbon was an important indicator of bio-diversity and
that it
would not be possible to save the habitat of this endangered species
without people's participation in the conservation programme.
The Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary in Jorhat is the only protected area in
the
country to be named after a primate species. The sanctuary is home to
seven species of primates, including the hoolock gibbon (hoolock
hoolock),
and is one of the main primate-diverse areas in the country.
The western hoolock gibbon is found on the
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070915/asp/northeast/story_8313816.asp

Zooming in on Sabah
Kota Kinabalu is situated on the tropical island of Borneo and is the
capital
of the Malaysian state of Sabah, one of the two states of East Malaysia.
Often called the 'Land below the Wind' because it lies below the typhoon
belt, Sabah occupies the eastern part of North Borneo and is East
Malaysia's second largest state with an area of 74,500 sq kms. Sabah has
the South China Sea on the west and the Sulu and Celebes Seas on the
east. Kota Kinabalu, lies in a fertile lowland plain where most
commercial
and administrative activities are concentrated and is named after Mount
Kinabalu, situated about 90 kilometres north-east of the city. A well
known
destination internationally, it is a major getaway into the state of
Sabah
and Borneo. The city offers good recreational facilities and there is no
dearth of leisure spots and conservation areas. Anjung Samudra is a
waterfront entertainment spot in the city, speckled with restaurants,
cafes,
pubs and nightclubs. Tanjung Aru, located about six kilometres from the
city centre has a beach stretching over two kilometres in length studded
with a number of food and drink stalls.
Kota Kinabalu also plays host to one of the most popular national
parks in
Malaysia, the Kinabalu national park, about two hours drive from the
city.
The park covers an area of 754 sq kms and is made up of Mount Kinabalu,
Mount Tambayukon and the foothills. It has been gazetted to preserve
this
valuable natural environment. The mountains have a fascinating
geological
history, taking 'just' a million years to form. The mighty
http://www.expresstravelworld.com/200709/taficonvention06.shtml

U.S. zoo works with Mongolia to save endangered vulture
A U.S. zoo, working in cooperation with Mongolia, has reported
success in
hatching and raising an endangered cinereous vulture.
The vulture chick was born May 14 at the Denver Zoo. Zoo staff members
had to assist the chick in breaking out of its shell. Weighing only
one-half
pound, the bird had to be hand-fed for its first seven weeks.
To assure the bird would adapt to a wildlife habitat, zoo staff fed
the bird
using a hand puppet vulture to prevent the chick from associating its
being
fed with human contact. Today, the chick weighs 16 pounds.
The cinereous vulture population in the world has been decimated through
illegal hunting, poisoning and the general encroachment by human
communities. It is estimated that only 7,000 to 10,000 cinereous vulture
couples exist today.
The Denver Zoo has worked with Mongolian officials to tag and track the
vultures within the country. The information has allowed officials to
develop a conservation
http://www.mongolia-web.com/content/view/1368/2/

China to give Japan 2 more crested ibises
China will present two more Japanese crested ibises to Japan as early as
mid-October, the first such donation since 2000, officials said Tuesday.
In exchange, 13 birds born in the Sado Japanese Crested Ibis
Conservation
Center in Sado, Niigata Prefecture, will be taken back to China at
about the
same time.
Officials hope resuming the joint research program will accelerate
government efforts to return the birds to the wild.
The two birds to be presented by China have been selected from among
adult birds in captivity in Shaanxi Province. They are currently in
quarantine.
The last crested ibis to be received from China before the suspension of
the program was Mei Mei, a female who arrived in October 2000.
The Japanese crested ibis, whose scientific name is Nipponia
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070912TDY01002.htm

Family Of Girl Hurt By Gorilla Sues Zoo
Jury Selection To Begin In Case
It's been nearly four years since the gorilla named Little Joe
escaped from
the Franklin Park Zoo and injured a 2-year-old girl.
Now, a lawsuit brought by the family of Nia Simone Scott is going to
trial.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in the case, with the family
accusing the zoo of failing to protect the public from the 350-pound
gorilla.
Nia, now 6, sustained a gash on her head and other injuries when Little
Joe knocked her from the arms of her teenage baby sitter. The family
said
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/14128778/detail.html

Zoo Deaths Raise Concerns
The call of the wild at the Lehigh Valley Zoo is being overshadowed by
voices of concern.
The concern is over the recent death of a zebra's 6-month old colt.
Animal keepers said there was no outward sign the zebra was sick. The
zoo's relatively small size allows them to keep a close eye on their
animals,
but this death is the fourth here over the past month.
On August 21st, a 24-year-old horse died of abdominal tumors. Ten days
later, a 13-year-old horse died after it was anesthetized for a medical
examination. Then, on September 9th, an 8-year-old ostrich died of a
severe infection.
The necropsy on the zebra revealed a round-worm infestation, but it's
unclear if that was the cause of death. The zebra also suffered a growth
plate fracture in her right thigh, but officials said they don't
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=animals_oddities&id=5663866

AZA grants accreditation to Topeka Zoo
The Association of Zoos & Aquariums today announced that the Topeka
Zoo has been accredited by its independent Accreditation Commission.
"Only the very best zoos and aquariums can meet tough Association of
Zoos and Aquariums accreditation standards," said Jim Maddy, AZA
president and chief executive officer. "The leadership and staff of the
Topeka Zoo are to be congratulated
http://cjonline.com/stories/091807/bre_zoo.shtml

Zoo gets $1 million grant for new elephant exhibit
The San Diego Zoo has received a nearly $1 million state grant to help
build a new elephant exhibit. The zoo is weeks away from breaking ground
on the $45 million project.
Advertisement The funds come from the California Cultural and Historical
Endowment Board, which distributes money from a state infrastructure
bond that voters approved in 2002.
The exhibit, to be called Elephant Odyssey, qualified for the public
money
because it will show how modern-day animals, such as elephants and
jaguars, are related
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20070918-9999-
1m18b2briefs.html

ZOO story
With almost 3,000 visitors a day, this is the most visited place in
Chennai,
after the beach. SHONALI MUTHALALY on the country's largest zoo
How do you address a tiger? Having never really hobnobbed with one in a
social situation, I'm not sure about the etiquette. Fortunately, A.
Manimozhi, dedicated biologist at the Arignar Anna Zoological Park
(better
known as Vandalur Zoo) is in no such quandary.
He whistles, then yells, "Vijay, Vijay. Come here." I look at him in
amazement. "Oh, they respond to their names," he says airily, "But he's
probably sound asleep now."
Fortunately, the chimpanzees are far more gregarious. Bombi, Okipowki
and Soki sit in a row preening for a bunch of appreciative college
students.
It's all very attractive till Okipowki (or was it Soki) decides it's
time to
spring clean his nose. Manimozhi quickly takes me behind the
enclosure to
meet Tun Tun, gazing at us endearingly through the bars, holding out his
long, wrinkly fingers. "We establish a bond. But they are not pets,"
cautions
Manimozhi, insisting that we keep a distance, and adding that the zoo
believes in respecting the fact that they are, after all, wild animals.
That's just one of the things that sets the country's largest zoo,
covering
1,600 hectares of what was once a scrub jungle forest in Vandalur,
apart.
Thanks to the space and lush greenery, the animals are given generous
enclosures to wander around. Chief Conservator
http://www.thehindu.com/mp/2007/09/19/stories/2007091950260100.htm

New zoo for Accra
The Management of the Accra Zoo is determined to keep a zoo in Accra
irrespective of the relocation of the previous one at Kumasi to pave
way for
the building of the Presidential Palace.
The new zoo, started two weeks ago in the heart of the Achimota Forest,
already has some monkey species feared to be nearly extinct such as the
White Napped Mangabey and Diana. There are also parrots, peacocks, a
donkey and some ducks.
The collection being the core of the new zoo would be beefed up
within the
next couple of weeks with other animal species through the collaboration
of the West Africa Primate Conservation Action (WAPCA), an NGO.
Dr Richard Suu-Ire, Manager, Accra Zoo, in an interview with the sub-
region.
He said although management was still depending on government to fulfil
its promise to establish a zoo in Accra, they could not continue to wait
without taking some initiative on their own. "We are appealing to
NGOs to
assist us with animals and financial assistance
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?
ID=130828

Big Beasts To Roam in New City Zoo
At least five elephants, a herd of zebras and thousands more animals
from
St. Petersburg's zoo will find a new spacious home near the Yuntolovsky
reserve by 2011.
A decision on the construction of the new zoo in the Primorsky
district was
announced by Governor Valentina Matviyenko last week at a meeting of
City Hall.
"It should be done in such a way that the animals will be living not
in `communal apartments' [cramped multi-family residences common in
downtown St. Petersburg] but in luxurious separate accommodation,"
Matvienko said. That way, she said "we can watch them with pleasure."
"The city needs a zoo that is part of nature and not the one trapped
in the
center of the city," she said.
The old zoo, still known as the Leningrad Zoo and located near Peter and
Paul Fortress, will remain open to house small animals and an
educational
center on ecology, said Galina Afanasyeva, scientific secretary of
the zoo.
The new zoo will occupy 300 hectares of land compared to 7.3 hectares at
the current zoo. The bigger space will allow for the enlargement of the
animal collection from the current 2,000 individual animals to 8,000
representing 1,500 species as opposed to the current 400, Afanasyeva
said.
"The limited space of the current zoo prevents us from
http://www.sptimesrussia.com/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=23019

Peta presses campaign for zoo closure
Members of the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals (Peta) renewed yesterday calls for the closure of all zoos in
the
country.
Protesters painted from head to toe in bright colors held a lunchtime
rally
in front of the Manila Zoo and the Botanical Garden in Malate carrying
banners that read: "Let animals show their real colors, boycott the
zoos."
The protest was part of Peta's worldwide campaign against zoos, said
Rochelle Regodon, campaigns manager.
"Zoos only present us with a distorted view of wildlife. Visitors
don't see
the animals' natural behavior because the animals' natural needs—space,
exercise, privacy and mental stimulation aren't met. They just wait
to be
fed and basically sleep the whole day," she told reporters. Some of the
animals in the zoo were often "kidnapped" from the wild leading
to "zoochosis," she added. "This is when animals are driven `mad' by
captivity."
Symptoms of zoochosis include biting, rubbing the mouth along—or even
sucking on—the bars of a cage, continuous licking of walls, bars or
gates of
enclosure; continuous pacing, unnatural
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view_article.php?
article_id=88443

Endangered crane may be sent to Seoul: Taipei Zoo
A Taipei Zoo official said yesterday that an endangered crane, which has
been staying at the zoo after an accident three years ago, may be
transferred to South Korea and released into the wild.
The red-crowned crane, dubbed "Dan Dan" , was injured at Hsinchu Air
Force Base in September 2004 and taken to the zoo for treatment.
Zoo director Chen Pao-chung said that South Korea has obtained
permission from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) -- an international treaty
drafted
in 1973 to protect wildlife and prevent international trade from
threatening
species with extinction -- allowing Taiwan to send the bird to South
Korea
legally.
With the document, South Korea hopes to take Dan Dan to its zoo in Seoul
to build up the bird's muscles before releasing it into the wild.
Chen said that red-crowned cranes can be found in China, Korea and
Japan. Taipei Zoo will cooperate with its counterpart in South
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2007/09/14/2003378664

It's Bon Voyage as the Arrangements for the Return of the Taiping Four
Gorillas to Cameroon are Finalized
The four Western Lowland Gorillas, affectionately known as the Taiping
Four, will be returned to Cameroon in late November 2007. The official
announcement regarding the plans and timing towards the relocation of
the animals was made by South Africa's Deputy Minister of Science and
Technology, Derek Hanekom, at a celebratory function held that
Pretoria's
zoo earlier today.
This effectively ends the five-year saga surrounding the four animals
when
they made international headlines in Malaysia in 2002. At that time, the
four young gorillas (one male and three females), were illegally
smuggled
to the Taiping Zoo in Malaysia using forged documents.
The Malaysian government, through its CITES (Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) Management
Authority, subsequently confiscated and transferred the animals to the
Pretoria Zoo, where they have been housed for safekeeping since 2004.
The celebratory function, officiated by Deputy Minister Hanekom
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20070914/pl_usnw/it_s_bon_voyage_as_the_arrangements_for_the_return_of_the_taiping_four_gorillas_to_cameroon_are_finalized

Gorillas and coral at top of endangered list
The world's animal kingdom continues to be jeopardized as more than a
hundred new species make it onto the endangered list.
The western gorilla, a Chinese dolphin and even coral are all at the
top of
the World Conservation Union's (IUCN) priority cases, according to the
organization's Red List released Wednesday.
Furthermore, one in four mammals, one in eight birds, one third of all
amphibians and 70 per cent of the world's assessed plants are also
endangered.
"This year's IUCN Red List shows that the invaluable efforts made so
far to
protect species are not enough," said Julia Marton-Lefèvre, the IUCN's
director general in a news release. "The rate of biodiversity loss is
increasing and we need to act now to significantly reduce it and
stave off
this global extinction crisis. This can be done, but only with a
concerted
effort by all levels of society."
Conservation efforts have had some success, though, this year. Only one
species, a rare parakeet, was upgraded from the Critically Endangered
list
to the Endangered list.
This year is the first time corals have appeared on the Red List,
including
74 types of seaweed. The main threats
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070912/species_e
ndangered_070912/20070912?hub=TopStories

Paris Hilton has her own zoo keeper
The Simple Life star Paris Hilton has confessed that she employs a zoo
keeper to look after all her pets.
Hilton told Elle: "My animals make me really happy. I just love my
pets. I
have 11 dogs, three ferrets, two rabbits, two monkeys, and three cats."
However, the 'Stars Are Blind' singer admitted that her busy social life
means that she can't be around all the time to care of them, so she
employs a zoo keeper.
She added: "The monkeys and ferrets are at my ranch, but the dogs and
cats and bunnies run around my house. I have this guy, Eric, who's
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/a75432/paris-hilton-has-her-own-zoo-
keeper.html

Monkey business
Animal rights groups object to the trade in longtailed macaques for fear
that a cruel fate awaits the monkeys in testing facilities.
IN 1984, the government banned the export of long-tailed macaques
(Macaca fascicularis) amidst international outcry against the abuse
of the
monkeys in bio-medical and military laboratories in the United States.
An international syndicate was capturing and smuggling the monkeys
primarily for US scientific testing needs. More than 300,000 long-tailed
macaques from Peninsular Malaysia were exported
http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?
file=/2007/9/11/lifefocus/20070911081410&sec=lifefocus

Guard knocked out in zoo break-in
The youths were found in the centre's deer enclosure
A security guard at a wildlife centre near Dundee was knocked
unconscious
after she disturbed three youths in one of the animal enclosures.
Security at Camperdown Wildlife Centre had been heightened after vandals
tortured and killed birds and animals there earlier this year.
In the latest incident, the 24-year-old was attacked after she found the
youths in the deer enclosure on Sunday night.
Tayside Police appealed for anyone with information to contact them.
The guard, who has not been named, was carrying out a patrol at about
2100 BST when she was attacked.
She was taken to Ninewells Hospital and released without treatment.
Tayside Police said one of
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/tayside_and_central/6987609.stm

Zoo's exotic idea about to cause a flap with visitors
VISITORS to Edinburgh Zoo will soon be able to get "up close and
personal" with a flock of exotic birds.
Workers are currently putting the finishing touches to the £325,000
Rainbow Landings exhibit, which is on target to open at the start of
October.
The indoor walk-through will be home to a flock of around 100 rainbow
lorikeets. People will be able to buy small pots of nectar to feed
the birds,
which will land on the visitors as they drink the sweet liquid.
It is hoped the interactive experience, the first part of the zoo's
£58 million
masterplan to be completed, will quickly become one of its most popular
exhibits.
The opening is being timed to coincide with the October holidays, and
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1446142007

10Sep2007

BIG CAT EXPERT SNAPS UP A ZOO
A Plymouth 'big cat' expert has bought a West Country zoo for more
than £400,000.
Chris Moiser, a former biology lecturer at Plymouth College of Further
Education (now called City College), took over the 5.5-acre Tropiquaria
in Watchet, Somerset, two weeks ago.
He purchased the zoo with his business partner, former Derriford
Hospital nurse Jane Bassett, and another investor.
The pair are now living in the zoo, an art deco former BBC radio station.
Mr Moiser is famous for tracking the sightings of mystery big cats in the
South West.
He has written five books, four of which, including a novel, are about
the so-called Beast of Bodmin Moor and other mysterious cats.
He is planning to increase visitor numbers at Tropiquaria from about
60,000 to 100,000 a year.
The zoo, which opened in 1988, was built in the 1930s as a BBC radio
station.
It is still used to transmit BBC
http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk./displayNode.jsp?
nodeId=133464&command=displayContent&sourceNode=133158&conte
ntPK=18321195&folderPk=78031&pNodeId=133174

GTA's last polar bear heads back up north
Polar bear lovers are out in the cold in Toronto.
The last polar bear has left the Toronto Zoo and the exhibit has shut
down while a $12 million, two-year redevelopment begins.
The zoo has shipped off 27-year-old Bisitek to northern Ontario, where
she is to enjoy "a restful retirement" at the Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat,
according to zoo officials.
The move was made to allow the zoo to launch a bigger and better
polar bear habitat and tundra phase, where Arctic wolves, reindeer,
snowy owls and other animals would be introduced.
The project is expected to be completed in 2009.
"Polar bear lovers will just have to be patient," said Toronto Zoo curator
Maria Franke.
For the next two years, Cochrane will be the only Ontario city with polar
bears in captivity.
The Cochrane exhibit now has four polar bears at the all-season
habitat, located eight hours north of Toronto.
Bisitek, who was taken by a refrigerated
http://www.thestar.com/article/254145

Singapore Zoo to invest close to S$9m in new children's attraction
The Singapore Zoo is pumping in S$8.8 million (US$5.8 million) to build
an attraction called Rainforest Challenge.
The new attraction will fuse ecological and conservation themes,
becoming a living classroom for children.
"The urban kids can learn about the animals and our relationship with
the animals. We want our next generation of kids to understand the
importance of preserving the rainforest, so they learn as they play," said
Fanny Lai, executive director of the Singapore Zoo.
The three-hectare Rainforest Challenge will replace the current Animal
Land and Play Land, which used to be a kid's haunt when it was built 16
years ago.
Construction of the new attraction, which will come with new animal
rides, an animal petting centre and a rainforest-themed water
playground, will start on Monday.
A new boat ride at nearby Seletar
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/298
249/1/.html

Secret life of endangered species comes to light in zoo deal
IN ALL the impenetrable haze of polite diplomatic language swirling
behind the security fence in Sydney we can bring you one definitive fact:
Australia's Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, does not want to be a
panda.
As enthusiastic as Mr Downer is about a looming transfer of two rare
and endangered giant pandas to delight punters at the Adelaide Zoo,
he's perturbed by their short annual breeding cycle.
Learning yesterday from zoo director Chris West that pandas could only
go at it successfully four days a year Mr Downer blurted, "Glad I wasn't
born a panda," before blushing to the roots of his wavy hair and giggling
at his own risque hilarity.
Two-year-old male panda Wangwang and his
betrothed/beloved/intended/object of desire, one-year-old Funi, will
come to the zoo for a 10-year visit under one of several agreements
announced by Prime Minister John Howard and Chinese President Hu
Jintao at the APEC summit.
Mr Downer's penetrating observation on the secret life of the panda
came at the end of the Howard-Hu joint press conference, which was a
study in contrasts with the well-oiled White House-George Bush
operation in evidence the day before. Where the Bush show was hushed
and controlled and seamless and mighty, the Chinese performance was
defiant in its natural exuberance, the noise was on full volume, the
chaos only just under control.
Mr Howard's small press briefing room in his Sydney offices was
transformed into a bustling mini Beijing as the enormous and loquacious
Chinese delegation squashed into the
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/secret-life-of-endangered-
species-comes-to-light-in-zoo-deal/2007/09/06/1188783415805.html

Katraj zoo theft: 7 held
The Katraj police on Wednesday night arrested seven people involved in
stealing 12 peacocks and two sandalwood trees from the Rajiv Gandhi
zoo in Katraj, on Tuesday. A piece of a Sangli newspaper found at the
scene of the crime traced investigations to the seven accused at
Budgaonkar Mala in Miraj, Sangli, police said. The accused were booked
under the Wildlife Protection Act.
"After raiding the park, we found some peacock feathers as well as
weapons that may have been used to cut the trees," said PSI Bharat
Kindre adding one of the accused had been arrested earlier in a
separate
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=254901

Congo rebels seize gorilla park
Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo have taken control of large
parts of the Virunga National Park, home to rare mountain gorillas.
The move has raised fears for the fate of the gorillas. Only 700 remain -
half of which are in Virunga.
Meanwhile, the army says it has killed at least 28 troops loyal to rebel
General Laurent Nkunda in the latest fighting in eastern DR Congo.
Some 170,000 people have fled the
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6977720.stm

Nandankanan Zoo to go for planned tiger breeding
With 28 tigers, including 10 white, the Nandankanan Zoo has chalked
out a planned breeding programme for the animal to maintain its viable
population in the zoo.
Zoo director Ajit Kumar Pattnaik said, ''it is imperative to go for planned
breeding in the zoo as the youngest group tiger is now four years old.''
''We are going for breeding of tigers after careful planning and genetic
analysis,'' he said, adding that in any case the zoo would meet the
guidelines of the CZA and maintain the stipulated number through
exchange of animals with other zoos.
During early 1980s, zoo managers had
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?
ID=IEQ20070901141052&Page=Q&Headline=Nandankanan+Zoo+to+go+
for+planned+tiger+breeding&Title=ORISSA&Topic=0

Zoo animals never `rest in peace'
* Animals' body parts being sold after death
* Wildlife director general says auctioning of rare species' horns is
prohibited
The animals at the Lahore Zoo may have a peaceful life, but after
death, they are not allowed to `rest in peace', according to zoo officials.
They said that the animals' bodies are operated upon after their death
and `important' parts are taken out and auctioned, mostly to medicine
companies.
Wildlife Department director general Imtiaz Tajwar said the Veterinary
Research Institute (VRI) conducted the autopsy of the animals that die
at the zoo. He said the report stated whether the animal had died a
natural death or due to a human fault. He said that if the animal had
died due to human negligence, an inquiry was conducted on the cause
of its death and the animal was burned at the VRI's Burning Unit. He
said that the body parts of animals that died natural deaths were sold
after their auctions were advertised in national newspapers. He said the
parts are sold to companies who could use them for a good cause.
Tajwar said that under the law, the animals' skin could be sold, but no
rare species' horn was allowed to be auctioned. He said strict action
would be taken against the people
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C09%5C02%
5Cstory_2-9-2007_pg7_35

State Zoo to carry out captive breeding
In a significant development for the conservation of select species it has
been decided that scientific captive breeding would be carried out in
Assam State Zoo, Guwahati. Even though there have been instances of
some wildlife breeding well in the zoo, it would be for the first time that
scientific captive breeding would take place under strict supervision.
Among the species identified for the project are one-horned rhino,
golden langur, serow, and grey Bhutan pheasant.
The Central Zoo Authority has already given the green signal for the
endeavour to be spread over several years, and would also provide
necessary funds and knowledge inputs.
The captive breeding programme has carefully selected the species
because all of them face grave threats in the wild. Besides, their
numbers are closeted in few wildlife areas, which make them
vulnerable to habitat destruction or an outbreak of disease.
Speaking to The Assam Tribune, Narayan Mahanta
http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=sep0207/at08

Subic zoo faces probe over `pet' Bengal tiger
Zoobic Safari, a popular tourist attraction in the Subic Bay Freeport,
may lose its permit if found guilty of engaging in the illegal trade of wild
animals, officials of the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR) said.
Francisco de Lara, head of this city's community environment and
natural resources office (CENRO), said Zoobic Safari has been traced as
the origin of a Bengal tiger kept as a pet in the residence of Olongapo
resident Voltaire Tagle.
"This is against the law because Zoobic Safari still has no wildlife farm
permit that would allow it to transfer animals outside of its facility," De
Lara said.
Pedro Galban, chief of the DENR's Protected Area and Wildlife Division in
Region 3, had ordered the confiscation of the Bengal
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=91140

Developers Told To Steer Clear Of Zoo Negara
Housing developers should not develop land too close to Zoo Negara in
Hulu Kelang, near here, as it might endanger the animals there, said
Natural Resources and Environment Ministry Parliamentary Secretary
Datuk Sazmi Miah.
Expressing his hope that developers would no longer develop the
surrounding areas of Zoo Negara, he said they should not solely think of
profits but more importantly the negative impact of the development to
the animals at the sanctuary.
"The government is highly committed to preserving wildlife through
enforcement (of laws) and prevention of environmental pollution or
destruction," he told reporters after opening the 16th South East Asia
Zoos Association (SEAZA 2007) Conference at the Putra World Trade
Centre here today.
SEAZA 2007 chairman and Zoo Negara director Dr Mohamad
http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=282789

Zoo keepers release their animalArticle from: Font size: Decrease
Increase CLARENCE Sophie Dany has a rare ability to help people find
their inner animal.
The NIDA director, an Australian with French parents, has been training
Taronga Zoo keepers in the art of communicating to the crowds that
come to see animals in their care perform.
It wasn't hard to bring out the animal in zookeepers, Ms Dany
said. "What's fascinating is the zookeepers themselves were so free and
so in tune with that child-like instinct," she said.
"They seem to have adopted that animal persona."
And the zoo workers, such as Taronga's marine
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22349447-
5001021,00.html

Senior Male Orangutan Dies At Metrozoo
Jasper, 34, Died During Physical Exam
It is with great sadness that we report the death of Jasper, a 34-year-
old male Orangutan, Metrozoo officials said.
The 368-pound great ape died under anesthesia during a procedure
yesterday afternoon at Metrozoo's animal hospital. The procedure was
an extensive physical exam planned as a general check-up that includes
blood tests, X-rays, and other measures designed to screen for a
variety of health concerns commonly associated with primates in
general and great apes in particular.
Under anesthesia, Jasper showed signs of respiratory distress soon
after arriving at the hospital which quickly
http://www.nbc6.net/news/14020194/detail.html

Last refuge of the orang-utan
Once it was a mighty orange army, 300,000-strong. Now the tree-
dwelling mammal is down to its last 25,000 as its habitat is destroyed in
favour of palm oil plantations. David McNeill reports from the sanctuary
in Borneo battling to keep them alive
Homeless, semi-paralysed and blind in one eye, Montana faces an
uncertain future. Even if his friends find somewhere for him to live, the
15-year-old has been seriously weakened by years in assisted care.
The lethal dangers of readjustment in his natural home include men like
those who shot him out of a tree when he was just a baby and the
hostile attentions of his stronger neighbours. But for the source of the
greatest threat to Montana's existence, say his supporters, look no
further than your food cupboard.
The orang-utan, one of our closest animal relatives and the largest tree-
living mammal on the planet, is in deep crisis. A once-mighty orange
army of 300,000 that swung through the dense forests of much of south-
east Asia has dwindled to fewer than 25,000 concentrated on the two
Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sumatra, conservationists
http://environment.independent.co.uk/wildlife/article2924404.ece

BSE-like disease detected in German zoo's cheetah
A cheetah at a zoo in Nuremberg has died after contracting an illness
similar to mad cow disease, becoming the first confirmed case in
Germany of so-called feline spongiform encephalopathy, city authorities
said Thursday.
Lulu, a female cheetah born in 1998, had suffered for six weeks from
problems that included trouble balancing and weakness in her hind legs,
the Nuremberg city government said in a statement.
The animal eventually was euthanized. Tests by Bavarian and federal
labs were positive for FSE, the statement
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/06/europe/EU-GEN-Germany-
Cheetah-Death.php

Aquarium, zoo leaders to meet, discuss effort to stem deaths of frog
populations
Kermit the Frog might be recruited, along with governments,
corporations, and philanthropists, to help in a worldwide effort to stem
the deaths of frog populations around the world.
Next week, leaders of the world's zoos and aquariums meeting in
Budapest, Hungary, will discuss the logistics of the frog-saving effort,
dubbed Amphibian Ark.
Members of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums will discuss
who's going to take which species for safekeeping and breeding.
The plan calls for 500 frogs of 500 species to be held in biosecure
facilities around the world. The frogs' temporary digs would be
regulated for temperature, humidity and other living conditions.
At the Budapest meeting, zoo and aquarium leaders also will be
presented with a strategy for raising global awareness of the crisis and
the
http://www.cp.org/english/online/OnlineFullStory.aspx?
filename=g082411A&newsitemid=21909018&languageid=1

1Sep2007

Judge OKs Rule That May Endanger Species
Judge Upholds "No Surprises" Rule For Development Despite Threat To
Endangered Species
A federal judge has upheld the government's practice of allowing
development to proceed even if it is discovered after a project begins
that the work could endanger protected species.
The National Association of Home Builders praised the ruling Friday,
saying its members might have had to delay some projects if U.S.
District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan had not agreed with the "no
surprises" approach to development.
"The vast majority of endangered species exist on private property,
and there is no way to protect endangered species unless sufficient
incentives are given to private landowners," said Duane Desiderio, the
trade group's vice president for legal affairs.
The case affects a pair of rules which allow landowners a
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/31/ap/tech/main3226764.shtml

Simba, Tonga and the Taiping Four Are the former zoo animals really
better off at 'home'
Simba the lion gets bones to gnaw, rocks to lie on and scrubby bush to
hide behind, should he feel the need, in his new home in Shamwari in
South Africa's Eastern Cape. For the first time, Tonga the circus
hippopotamus has mud aplenty in which to wallow:
he will be released today on a wildlife reserve in Limpopo.
And soon, the Taiping Four (who are gorillas, not freedom fighters,
although their story is suitably dramatic) may have fresh wild celery
to lunch on, when they are shipped out of a Pretoria zoo to a reserve
in Cameroon.
t's all part of efforts here to take former zoo animals "home" -
initiatives that are high on the feel-good factor, but highlight some
of the more problematic aspects of our relationship with wild animals.
After four western lowland gorillas, a highly endangered species, died
at the Calgary Zoo over the past year, animal-welfare organizations
renewed their call to end the captivity of wild animals, and said the
remaining gorillas should be taken from the zoo. But taken where,
exactly? As the stories of Simba, Tonga and the Taiping gorillas
attest, there isn't an easy answer.
Tonga, all two tonnes of him, was owned by a French circus. An
animal-welfare group in France won a court order to have the hippo and
some other animals seized because they were not being properly cared
for, and French actor Brigitte Bardot's foundation paid to ship Tonga
to a wild animal sanctuary here.
Simba and three lion pals were rescued from a failing zoo in Romania
by the British-based Born Free Foundation and flown to South Africa
this month.
But the lions won't be heading off into the bush any time soon.
Experts say it is difficult or impossible to "re-wild" a lion. These
and other rescued zoo cats at Shamwari have been fed all their lives
and have no hunting skills, which lions learn as cubs from their
mothers and her sisters. So the reserve will have to go on providing
their meals.
Bringing them to South Africa cost £50,000 (more than $100,000), and
Daniel Turner, who runs the Zoo Check monitoring program for Born
Free, admits it is a controversial use of funds. The money might be
better spent improving zoo conditions (zoos all over the former Soviet
states are struggling to care for their animals, for example, while
those in Iraq are truly dire) and training wildlife officials in
developing countries.
"The £50,000 should be used improving the conditions of those
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070831.wgorilla31/BNStory/International/?page =rss&id=RTGAM.20070831.wgorilla31

Doctor designs new hummingbird feeder
thirty-five years ago, radiologist Jay Whelan was mowing his backyard
when something whizzed past his ear.
He thought it was a bumblebee. But then it stopped, and hovered. It
backed up, then forward -- and flew off.
Thus began Whelan's love affair with the hummingbird.
"It was so small. I was astounded at how it could move like that,"
said Whelan, now 70, semiretired and a resident of Charlotte, N.C.
"I became captivated by their unique size," he said. "I love anatomy
and physiology, and was amazed at how their wing connections allowed
them to hover and fly backwards."
Over the years, he tried dozens of feeders. None suited. They leaked.
They were hard to clean and grew moldy. They broke or were hard to fill.
"I thought I could build a better mousetrap," he said.
So Dr. Jaybird, as he's known to friends, designed his own.
He came up with Dr. JB's Clean Feeders, available at his Web site,
www.drjbs.com. Its hard plastic holds up to the hot sun, fans say. Its
three parts are easily disma
http://www.timesdispatch.com/cva/ric/entertainment_living.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-09-01-0005.html

Zoo rabbit cruelty man's custody
A man spared jail for feeding a live rabbit to an alligator has been
sent to a young offenders' institution.
Damien French, 20, received a suspended sentence in April for the
offence at Colwyn Bay's Welsh Mountain Zoo.
He has now been jailed by Prestatyn magistrates for trespass with
intent to burgle at Rhyl Golf Club.
French, of Rhyl, admitted the offence, and the court activated three
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/6157814.stm

Lowry Park Zoo's manatee hospital funding in limbo
Since 1991, the manatee hospital at Lowry Park Zoo has treated nearly
200 sea cows that have been slashed by propellers, hit by boats,
suffering from cold stress or poisoned by Red Tide.
Now its funding is in jeopardy as the state prepares for another round
of budget cuts. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission put manatee
rehabilitation on a list of proposed cuts for the Legislature to
consider during a special session in three weeks.
The roughly $350,000 a year that the zoo's hospital would lose
accounts for nearly half of its operating budget.
In the last two years, the zoo has released 22 treated manatees back
into the wild. Florida's
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/08/30/Hillsborough/Lowry_Park_Zoo_s_mana.shtml

Kaka breeding success at Wellington Zoo
Wellington Zoo has had a bumper North Island kaka breeding season with
five chicks hatching this year, Forests Team Leader Suzette Nicholson
announced today.
`The best part about our breeding success with North Island kaka this
year is that, when they are a little bigger, all of our chicks will be
released into the wild. The first clutch, born in September, will go
to Maungatautari Mainland Island Sanctuary in the Waikato, and the
other chicks, born in early December, will be released into Karori
Wildlife Sanctuary
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC0612/S00062.htm

Zoo car park row hots before crucial decision
THE ASPHALT JUNGLE: The controversial car park at South Lakes Wild
Animal Park, Dalton MILTON HAWORTH REF: 0398528THE row over a
controversial car park at a South Lakes zoo is hotting up ahead of a
crucial planning decision.
An inspector is set to decide next month if David Gill should rip up
the car park at South Lakes Wild Animal Park.
The row flared after Mr Gill laid an asphalt car park without planning
permission.
He said he was worried about safety of visitors on the often muddy
surface of the parking area.
http://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=536559

Waiting game for park zoo accused
A TIME limit has been set to decide "if" or "when" youths charged with
animal cruelty at Camperdown Wildlife Centre will appear before a
children's panel.
The youths, aged 11, 13 and 14, won't appear at Dundee Sheriff Court,
but will now be dealt with by the children's hearings system.
A spokesman for the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration (SCRA)
said yesterday that the chairman now has 50 days to decide whether the
boys will appear before a children's hearing—and, if so, when.
If the hearing does go ahead, however, the public will not be able to
attend and it will be up to the chairman to decide what parts the
press can sit through and report.
"The SCRA targets for the chairman is that he must
http://www.thecourier.co.uk/output/2007/08/29/newsstory10200099t0.asp

Girl injured at zoo after chimpanzee throws stone at her
An 8-year-old girl sustained a minor forehead injury when a chimpanzee
threw a stone at her at a zoological park in Toyohashi, Aichi
Prefecture, park officials said Tuesday. The incident, which happened
in May, prompted the city government to pay the girl some 34,000 yen
in compensation and medical
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/416373

Orangutan Escapes At Zoo Atlanta
A 14-year-old orangutan got loose at Zoo Atlanta Sunday for less than
an hour before workers tranquilized the animal and returned him to his
habitat.
He got loose about 2:43 p.m. and roamed no farther than 100 feet from
the exhibit. Dennis Kelly, president and CEO of the zoo, said no one
was injured.
Robin Haynie was visiting the zoo with several childre
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/13980685/detail.html

China builds salvage center for endangered sturgeon
China has built a salvage center in the Yichang section of the Yangtze
River where Chinese sturgeon spawns to protect the endangered species.
A 80-km river section from Gezhouba Dam, the first dam along the
Yangtze, to Lujiahe shallows has also been set as a nature reserve for
the species, said an official with the fishery bureau of Yichang,
central China's Hubei Province.
The central government has invested more than 10 million yuan in the
Chinese sturgeon protection project, including the establishment of
the salvage center, the nature reserve and others.
The Chinese sturgeon is one of the oldest vertebrates in the world,
surviving for more than 150 million years, and a "living fossil" under
state-level protection.
It is a migratory fish mainly living in the Yangtze River
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-09/01/content_6643661.htm

Zoo Animals to Be Put on Diet
Animals at the zoo in Seoul Grand Park will be put on a diet to
prevent obesity.
The management office of the zoo in Gyeonggi Province, one of the
world's top 10 zoos with 3,000 animals covering 350 species, said
Monday it would implement the new diet next month by reducing or
changing the feed currently given.
``We have fed the animals highly nutritive foods since 1998, and many
of the have become
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2007/08/113_9063.html

$57 million zoo architect visits TT
Internationally known zoo architect Patrick Janikowski met Tourism
Minister Howard Chin Lee on Friday, centre of discussion was the
proposed $57M upgrade of the Emperor Valley Zoo.
Janikowski who has designed zoos all over the world, is now bidding to
design a US$700M zoo in Hong Kong.
The $57M allocated
http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,63078.html

How zoo's tigers were shot for the taxidermist
Lingering death of two caged animals killed so that they could be
skinned and stuffed
See the videos: 1. Zoo tigers are shot for their skins. It is unclear
whether they are being killed by Jean-Pierre Gerard, a Belgian
taxidermist, or by one of his associates. Warning: shows prolonged
sequences of animals suffering
2. One of the shot tigers is skinned by Gerard
A TAXIDERMIST exposed for buying healthy exotic animals from zoos in
order to stuff them has been filmed taking part in the brutal
slaughter of two caged tigers for their skins.
Jean-Pierre Gerard, who last month offered undercover Sunday Times
reporters the pelts of young zoo tigers for £3,000 each, was present
while two further specimens from a German zoo were peppered with
bullets.
Video footage shows the animals suffering a lingering death as they
were repeatedly and inexpertly shot over more than 20 minutes.
Afterwards Gerard is shown skinning the animals with a view to their
being stuffed. He also confessed on camera to having shot the animals
himself, although he subsequently insisted to The Sunday Times that
his "friend", who he would not identify, had actually pulled the
trigger.
Gerard has fuelled his lucrative taxidermy business buying surplus
animals from zoos across Europe. The footage now suggests that he has
also been involved in the death of unwanted zoo animals as well as
stuffing them.
Rare captive species are routinely being overbred by zoos, which use
cubs to attract visitors in the peak summer season. Later in the year
"excess" animals are killed and their skins sold to Gerard for no
other reason than the fact that the zoos no longer have any room for
them.
Belgian police said this weekend they would like to view the footage
and Bart Staes, a Belgian MEP, said he would table questions in the
European parliament this week.
The video raises new questions over the provenance of the tiger skins
offered for sale to undercover reporters last month. When Gerard
offered the skins of two young female tigers for £6,000, he altered
official Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of
Wild Fauna and Flora (
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2327856.ece

Baby Panda, Conceived Naturally, is Born in Vienna Zoo
A baby panda was born Thursday at Vienna's Schoenbrunn Zoo, the first
in Europe to be conceived naturally while in captivity, the zoo said.
The cub, which measures about 10 centimetres and weighs just 100
grammes, is the product of the zoo's two giant pandas in residence,
Yang Yang and Long Hui.
The couple, now aged seven, came to Vienna in 2003 as a loan from
China and became an item a year later.
"We had almost given up on it," Schoenbrunn Zoo's director Dagmar
Schratter said, adding that Yang Yang's latest ultrasound on August 6
showed no signs that she was pregnant.
The baby panda, pink and almost hairless, will grow its distinctive
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=84558

Zoo vet sets record straight
It is time to present the actual facts about The Zoo - Northwest
Florida's animals and operations. Much misinformation has been stated
and suggested in the press, on the web, and at the water coolers at
work.
To start out, the monthly rate (percentage of animals dying) at The
Zoo has been right in line with any zoo in the nation, at about 3 to
3.5 percent. This is most remarkable when you realize that our numbers
are elevated by all the sick and malnourished reptiles we rescued in
Milton, the one hundred sick and malnourished cockatiels we accepted
to give care and shelter from animal rescue, the scores of New York
City animal control cases we have accepted, and finally, the geriatric
animals we sometimes accept from larger zoos. Incidentally, most of
these animals would have been euthanized if The Zoo did not give them
a chance for a better life.
Nobody loves their animals more than the zoo keepers at The Zoo. Each
keeper develops an attachment and relationship with the animals they
take care of on a daily basis. They know what the individual animal's
normal personality is, what and how much they eat and drink, and their
likes and dislikes. This is true of everything from the rhino to the
snakes. Even though The Zoo's animals are not pets, they are every bit
as attached to those animals as you are to your beloved pet cat or
dog. They make sure they get proper diets, necessary preventive
vaccinations, routine health checks, and seek medical or husbandry
assistance when anything is out of the ordinary. Why else but for
animal love would these keepers work day in and day out in extremes of
heat, and at a financially strapped zoo that can't afford salaries
like Busch Gardens or Disney?
When these animals get sick or die, as with Niles the hippo or Sammy
the giraffe, there is nobody more upset than the keepers. It hurts all
the more when followed by allegations and innuendos of animal neglect.
The public does deserve an understanding of the animal medical care at
The Zoo. Each and every animal at The Zoo has a medical record at The
Zoo, just like you and your children have individual medical records
at your doctor's office. These records indicate information about
their diet, weight, abnormal behavior, illnesses, treatments, and
preventative health care such as vaccinations and medications tailored
to that animal's needs. It also makes record of annual periodic exams
of the animals, including fecal exams and blood work. These animals,
like all of
http://www.gulfbreezenews.com/news/2007/0830/Opinion/030.html

Regional health inspection performs exam of bear, kept in a zoo after
signal from Animal Protection organization
Karnobat. Experts from the regional environment and waters inspection
in the Bulgarian town of Burgas performed an examination of a bear
kept in a zoo in the town of Karnobat, the correspondent of FOCUS News
Agency informed.
The reason for the exam were publications in the media that the bear
was in bad health condition and
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n120605

Animal `family' is Alison's biggest source of strength
LIFE, Dr Alison Cronin insists more than once, marches on.
She means it of course, but it's obvious from her eloquent words that
it is likely be a long, slow and painful process.
Something else is clear. While the 160 primates whose home is Monkey
World need her, she needs them just as much.
"Coming back to Monkey World without Jim was one of the most difficult
things I have ever done in my life," she says, her voice cracking with
emotion.
"But the animals need us and they always will. It was one of the
strangest things when people asked me, with everything that's
happened, if I would carry on the work.
"Of course. It never crossed my mind
http://www.thisisdorset.net/display.var.1648285.0.animal_family_is_alisons_biggest_source_of_strength.php

Protesters want elephants relocated
Wearing an elephant costume and standing on the corner of the Valley
Zoo parking lot entrance yesterday, Edmonton's Valerie Roberton said
she realized a basic fact about human nature - people love elephants.
"Everyone was laughing and waving. I had so much fun."
However, Roberton said what many motorists leaving the local zoo might
not have realized, is these giant animals are suffering in Edmonton.
She was one of a hand full of animal rights activists who showed up at
the zoo yesterday, asking the public to support the group's call to
relocate Lucy and Samantha, the zoo's elephants, to a 2,700-acre
wildlife sanctuary in Tennessee.
However, yesterday's Voice for Animals protest only lasted a couple
hours. Tove Reece, the group's president, said a zoo vehicle drove up
and told the group to leave shortly after they
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Edmonton/2007/08/26/4447404-sun.html

Chester Zoo's hi-tech bid to save 'the old man of the trees'
Me man. You ape...and there's not much difference, as ladies I have
known would claim.
Stood close to the orang-utans in Chester Zoo's new Realm of the Red
Ape facility, a feeling of kinship is hard to disown, even when the
"stars" may be slouched in a corner looking like a pile of old carpet.
But confront them face to face through the glass windows of their
enclosure and the solemn returning gaze suggests they know a thing or
two that you don't.
Add to this their effortless grace in climbing, their casual feats of
strength, and you realise this is an animal to admire and respect. It
is also one that could be extinct in the wild during the next 10 or 20
years.
Illegal logging in Borneo and Sumatra is rapidly clearing the ancient
forests which are the orang's natural habitat. Added to burning to
clear ground for palm oil plantations, the combined effect is to force
the apes into smaller and smaller areas.
Sometimes they die horribly in circles of fire. Other times the
parents are shot and their distraught babies sold to the pet market. A
harsh fate for a creature known poignantly as "the old man of the
trees" and known for their intelligence.
The Realm of the Red Ape is a protected gene bank for the orang-utans,
and a project synonymous with the zoo's vision
http://www.eveningleader.co.uk/latest-features/Chester -Zoo39s-hitech-
bid-to.3149049.jp

Terrified, sick and starved in the zoo - the final days of a rare,
pregnant rhino...
She was the young rhino who loathed life in a zoo, trembling whenever
she was forced to face the world from behind a fence. But there was
nowhere for a 2-tonne animal to hide at Taronga Zoo in Sydney and in
June Kua, a rare greater one-horned rhino, died at the age of 4, an
ulcerated and emaciated mess. In rhino terms, she was barely out of
her childhood.
The zoo claimed that Kua, imported from San Diego Zoo, died from a
gastrointestinal illness. And there the matter might have stayed had
not the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper used Australia's freedom of
information laws to force the zoo and the RSPCA to make public the
results of an autopsy. The details have scandalised Australians and
prompted renewed debate about the ethics of keeping large animals in
zoos.
A postmortem examination revealed that the young rhino was heavily
pregnant, a state not known to her keepers, and had the equivalent of
70 litres of compacted sand blocking her intestine. It is believed
that Kua ate her sand-based bed after senior managers put her on a
strict diet that left her underfed. According to an internal report,
her decline began soon after she arrived in Sydney late last year.
Within ten days her keepers were noticing muscle tremors. Then lesions
began to develop around her mouth.
By mid-December staff noted that she was reluctant to enter her
exhibit area, but they were unable to provide alternative
accommodation. Over Christmas Kua continued to show signs of extreme
nervousness while she was being exhibited, and she developed signs of
depression when she was returned to her night enclosure. From December
until the morning of her death, on June 4, her carers observed on six
occasions that Kua appeared to be depressed or very depressed.
The zoo agreed to let the RSPCA conduct a post mortem - but not to
make it public - after Lee Rhiannon, a Green Party MP from New South
Wales, alleged that the zoo was putting profits before the welfare of
its animals.
The decision to place Kua on a restricted diet was confirmed by the
zoo managers, but they denied that she was mistreated. Larry
Vogelnest, the head vet, said
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article2317162.ece

Expert calls for closure of zoo
The city zoo should be kept closed to visitors for three to four weeks
to allow for the complete elimination of the foot and mouth disease
(FMD) virus that has claimed the lives of many animals, head of the
medicine division Indian Veterinary Research Institute D. Swaroop said
here on Monday.
He was speaking to presspersons during an inspection of various animal
enclosures at the zoo. It can now be said that the FMD virus is under
control; otherwise there would have been more deaths of animals.
Resorting to vaccinating animals against the virus can only have so
much of an impact. The very act of giving vaccines can cause stress in
the animals. Better animal management and greater stress on the
hygiene front are what can help the zoo tide over the present situation.
The FMD virus could have come into the zoo through people or through
vehicles used for transporting fodder or construction material. The
virus is highly sensitive to high temperature change in PH values.
After infecting an animal the
http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/21/stories/2007082159090300 .htm

Row over zoo safety in wake of fatal incident
All zoos are prone to people falling/ climbing into cages, whether
deliberately or not. It's fair to assume that the aim is to keep
animals in and not humans out!
(kate, 21. August 2007 12:13)
RecommendSuggest for removalWhat's thisNumber of recommendations 1
There is a large restaurant that overlooks Belgrade zoo in which
anyone can climb over a 1.5 metre wall and fall 10 metres directly
into the animal enclosures. My table overlooked the lions and tigers.
While I believe the West has become far too safety conscious, I have
to say that Kalemegdan is far too dangerous for public use. The
fortress was originally designed for military use and not for tourists
to stroll in and for children to play. There are several
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/comments.php?nav_id=43161

NGOs against lifting of monkey trade ban
Animal lovers and non-governmental organisations are expressing their
concern over the lifting of the ban on trading in macaques and the
decision to export them.
They feel the decision was made without enough thought for the
possible consequences.
The Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) and Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM)
said that other options to control the macaque population, especially
in urban areas, were not considered.
MNS said it was concerned that lifting the ban would fuel the illegal
wildlife trade in the country.
It said rules and regulations should have been clearly defined before
the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry decided to lift the
23-year ban in June.
The group acknowledges that some macaque populations have become a
problem in urban areas, but they feel the move is premature .
SAM said the ministry and the Wildlife Department should not forget
the abuse many exported macaques suffered before th
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Sunday/National/20070826080816/Article/index_html

Ontario to study zoo animal safety
The governing Liberals are putting together a group to study how to
better protect animals in roadside zoos, but it won't report back
until after the October provincial election.
In a move welcomed by animal-rights groups who have long advocated for
the regulation of small zoos, the Liberals will unveil the working
group today at the Toronto Zoo.
It falls short of adopting a Liberal backbencher's bill that would
have established minimum standards for the estimated 50 small zoos in
Ontario, but some advocates say it puts the issue of animal cruelty on
the election campaign agenda.
"It's an amazing victory for animals because
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/CityandRegion/2007/08/31/4459860-sun.html

Steve Irwin's dream for Australia Zoo becoming reality
"MATE, it's going to be bigger than Disneyland."
Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin might have sounded a tad ambitious when
talking to The Courier-Mail a few years ago about plans for his
beloved Australia Zoo on the Sunshine Coast.
But not any more.
As the first anniversary of his death looms, the zoo continues to go
from strength to strength – with record-breaking attendances and a
multimillion-dollar development schedule.
Irwin's best friend and now zoo director Wes Mannion said an estimated
$200 million-plus was set to be spent in the next 10 years as the zoo
expanded to become a world-leading zoological park sprawling over
300ha. Staff numbers are expected to rocket from today's 550 up to 2000.
That's a far cry from its humble beginnings in 1970 when Irwin's
parents, Bob and Lynn Irwin, bought the original 2ha site at Beerwah
to open the Beerwah Reptile Park. But right from the start Irwin had a
vision that has now become his legacy – building the world's biggest
interactive zoo.
"I want to be as smart as Walt Disney in what I do," he said nearly
four years ago.
His dream was to showcase animals from all around the world in themed
animal exhibits featuring the Americas, Africa, South East Asia and
beyond, which would complement live animal shows in the 5000-seat
Crocoseum as well as the "wandering wildlife" experience where staff
roam the zoo with animals and birds that can be touched and petted.
That dream is well on the way to being realised.
Ahead of jetting to the US where she has pleaded for privacy to mark
the anniversary of her husband's death in seclusion with their
children Bindi, 9, and Robert, 3
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,22341319-3102,00.html

Werribee zoo acts on infection fears
WERRIBEE Open Range Zoo is on high alert over equine flu, cancelling
its rhinoceros tours and moving some equine species off display.
The zoo has 39 animals from four species susceptible to the highly
contagious virus — nine rhinoceros, 23 zebra, five Przewalski horses
and two donkeys.
Zoos have imposed a nationwide halt on the movement of any equine
species.
With a high number of interstate visitors from NSW and Queensland,
Werribee zoo fears its animals may contract the virus from humans or
from an outbreak at the neighbouring Werribee Park Equestrian Centre.
"It's absolutely top of mind for us and of course we are concerned
that there are horses there and it could pose a risk to our animals,"
zoo spokeswoman Leah Grinter said.
The zoo is enforcing strict
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/werribee-zoo-acts-on-infection-fears/2007/08/30/1188067277989.html

SCARS AND STRIPES
A WORLD first for a Dalton tiger charity is offering new hope for
Sumatra's big cats.
The Sumatran Tiger Trust, funded entirely by money raised at South
Lakes Wild Animal Park, has saved an aggressive tiger trapped by
villagers.
The adult male was at risk of being shot after regularly entering
Teluk Palas village and attacking cattle.
One of the trust's major areas for protection is the translocation of
conflict tigers — animals which put themselves at risk by coming into
contact with villagers.
The trust funds and equips a tiger conflict response team which works
within any village, responding to reports of problem tigers.
Prior to the tiger conflict team's inception, those tigers
http://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=536597

Safari park's bid to save rare dogs
A FUNDRAISING campaign is underway at Knowsley Safari Park to save
from extinction one of its rarest inhabitants, the African Hunting Dog.
With only an estimated 3,000 of the species left in the wild, down
from a population believed once to have numbered half a million,
`painted dogs', as they are also known, have become the second most
endangered carnivore in Africa.
Knowsley is the only location in the region where these animals, with
their uniquely mottled coats, can be found.
The park, in support of conservation work in South Africa, is hoping
to raise thousands of pounds to help the species. The money will be
directed towards the ongoing work at the Centre for Wildlife
Management in Kwazulu-Natal.
The Safari Park's general manager David Ross said: "The dogs have
suffered a catastrophic drop in numbers. In some areas they are close
to extinction, which
http://icseftonandwestlancs.icnetwork.co.uk/icmaghull/news/tm_headline=safari-park-8217-s-bid-to-save-rare-dogs&method=full&objectid=19700978&siteid=60252-name_page.html

American Association of Zoo Veterinarians, 581705 White Oak Road, Yulee, FL 32097; Telephone: (904)225-3275