Zoo News Digest 6th March 2017
(ZooNews 947)
(ZooNews 947)
Peter Dickinson
elvinhow@gmail.com
Dear Colleague,
It would appear that
no matter how many times I repeat myself but ZooNews Digest is Pro GOOD zoo and
Anti BAD DYSFUNCTIONAL zoo….Get it? I post links here and to the FaceBook Page
on stories about both. This in both mine and your interest. Why? Quite simply
because there are far more BAD zoos out there in the big bad world than there
are good ones. No reflection on the staff working in these places who may be caring professionals. BAD zoos
need to be policed by us. We need to criticise and condemn those places who
cannot or will not make the grade. We should not expect blinkered amateurs of
the likes of PETA or the Born Free Foundation to do our job for us. The 'old
boys club' is alive and well in Asia and in one or two other places too. This,
along with outright corruption and worship of Mammon is pushing caring conservation out of the picture.
Anyhow I have said
all this before. If you have fifteen minutes to spare you might like to read:
Dear Colleague,
It would appear that
no matter how many times I repeat myself but ZooNews Digest is Pro GOOD zoo and
Anti BAD DYSFUNCTIONAL zoo….Get it? I post links here and to the FaceBook Page
on stories about both. This in both mine and your interest. Why? Quite simply
because there are far more BAD zoos out there in the big bad world than there
are good ones. No reflection on the staff working in these places who may be caring professionals. BAD zoos
need to be policed by us. We need to criticise and condemn those places who
cannot or will not make the grade. We should not expect blinkered amateurs of
the likes of PETA or the Born Free Foundation to do our job for us. The 'old
boys club' is alive and well in Asia and in one or two other places too. This,
along with outright corruption and worship of Mammon is pushing caring conservation out of the picture.
Anyhow I have said
all this before. If you have fifteen minutes to spare you might like to read:
Did You Know?
ZooNews Digest has over 52,500 'Like's' on Facebook and has a weekly reach often exceeding over 350,000 people? That ZooNews Digest has subscribers in over 800 Zoos in 153+ countries? That the subscriber list for the mail out reads like a 'Zoos Who's Who?'
If you are a subscriber to the email version then you probably knew this already. You would also know that ZooNews Digest pre-dates any of the others. It was there before FaceBook. It was there shortly after the internet became popular and was a 'Blog' before the word had been invented. ZooNews Digest reaches zoo people.
Did You Know?
ZooNews Digest has over 52,500 'Like's' on Facebook and has a weekly reach often exceeding over 350,000 people? That ZooNews Digest has subscribers in over 800 Zoos in 153+ countries? That the subscriber list for the mail out reads like a 'Zoos Who's Who?'
If you are a subscriber to the email version then you probably knew this already. You would also know that ZooNews Digest pre-dates any of the others. It was there before FaceBook. It was there shortly after the internet became popular and was a 'Blog' before the word had been invented. ZooNews Digest reaches zoo people.
******************************************************
Dalton zoo hearing
today
A meeting will be
held today to see if the new owners of South Lakes Safari Zoo will be granted a
licence to keep the park open.
The business has
courted controversy in the last week after documents filed to Barrow Borough
Council showed that almost 500 animals had died at the zoo in less than three
years.
The situation was
branded the worst seen in 60 years by national campaigning charity the Captive
Animal Protection Society.
Maddie Taylor, Caps
campaigns officer, said: "The findings at South Lakes Safari Zoo are some
of the worst we have ever come across in 60 years.
"Our visit to
the zoo combined with the zoo inspectors' reports shows high death rates of
animals, animals in ill health and a lack of understanding about how to meet
even the most basic needs of the animals under their care.
"We urge the
local authority to take action by closing this appalling zoo down."
The team behind a
new company that took over Dalton zoo last month has spoken of the
"massive" improvements they have already secured as they work towards
their goal of transforming the attraction into a conservation showpiece.
Cumbria Zoo Company
Ltd was set up in January in a bid to secure the future of the failing site,
near Dalton.
The firm, led by
chief executive Karen Brewer, took the reins to South Lakes Safari Zoo just
days before government inspectors carried out a two-day visit to assess its
licence to keep animals held by its founder David Gill.
The cost of applying
for a zoo licence from Barrow Borough Council for the 2017/18 financial year is
proposed to be set at £7,900.
But anyone who is
successful in obtaining a
Former FNQ zoo owner
in trouble again
AN Englishman who
opened the ill-fated Mareeba Wild Animal Park has again found himself in
strife, this time over the treatment of animals at a zoo in his home country.
British media have
reported David Gill, who started the debt-ridden Far North wildlife attraction
in 2003, could face prosecution over his South Lakes Wild Animal Park in
Cumbria following a damning report.
The report found
nearly 500 animals at the zoo had d
Eight zoos
identified as causes for concern over animal welfare after tip-offs
Eight British zoos
are on the radar of a watchdog over animal welfare fears after tip-offs, it has
emerged.
It comes as
councillors are due to decide on Monday whether or not to issue a new licence
for a zoo where almost 500 animals have died within four years.
The deaths at South
Lakes Safari Zoo in Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria, were revealed in a report to
members of Barrow Borough Council's licensing regulatory committee.
THE FULL STORY: Harrowing animal death list revealed ahead of crunch meeting over zoo licence application
A HARROWING death list reveals for the first time how almost 500 animals - including tigers, lion cubs and giraffes - have died at a popular zoo in less than four years, the Evening Mail can exclusively reveal in a special investigation.
Poor management , emaciation and hypothermia are among the reasons for the above-average
mortality rate at South Lakes Safari Zoo in Dalton, while trauma and infighting caused by overstocked pens also account for the demise of scores of exhibits.
The shocking log, which provides a distressing catalogue of injuries and illnesses endured by a wide range of species at the site between December 2013 and September last year, has been branded the worst seen in 60 years by national campaigning charity the Captive Animal Protection Society.
It forms part of a huge bundle of documents disclosed to Barrow Borough Council which will be assessed by council bosses ahead of their decision on whether to approve either of two separate applications for a zoo licence at a crunch meeting for the business on March 6.
Maddie Taylor, Caps campaigns officer
Calls for Cumbrian zoo to be shut after 486 animals die in four years
Inspectors have called for the owner of a zoo to face prosecution after the revelation that nearly 500 animals in its care had died in less than four years.
A damning report into conditions at South Lakes Safari zoo in Cumbria, which is home to more than 1,500 animals, found that 486 inhabitants had died of causes including emaciation and hypothermia between December 2013 and September 2016.
One African spurred tortoise named Goliath died after being electrocuted by electric fencing, while the decomposing body of a squirrel monkey was discovered behind a radiator. The zoo had a death rate of about 12% of its animals a year.
Zoo inspectors said they had found “significant problems caused by overcrowding, poor hygiene, poor nutrition, lack of suitable animal husbandry and a lack of any sort of developed veterinary care”.
They said the local authority should consider prosecuting the zoo’s founder, David Gill, under the Animal Welfare Act for allowing animals to suffer, adding that the entire blame for the attraction’s problems could be laid at his door.
Last June, the zoo was fined £255,000 for
Millionaire zoo boss slammed over animal deaths had fling with 16-year-old zookeeper and was stabbed by jealous husband when caught in bed with his wife
The owner of a zoo where 500 animals have died in just five years boasted on Facebook claiming to be a 'huge success' even though a keeper was mauled to death by a tiger in 2013.
David Gill, 55, owner of the South Lakes Zoo in Dalton-on-Furness, Cumbria, declared he had good fortune because he 'always pursued a different style of management to the norm'.
Zoo inspectors to face questions from MPs over 500 animal deaths
Zoo inspectors have been called to give evidence to MPs after it was revealed that nearly 500 animals died at a zoo in Cumbria in less than four years.
This week a damning report on conditions at South Lakes Safari zoo in Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria, which is home to more than 1,500 animals, found that 486 inhabitants had died of causes including emaciation and hypothermia between December 2013 and September 2016.
Zoo inspectors recommended that the local authority refuse to renew the zoo’s licence and that the zoo’s founder, David Gill, be prosecuted under the Animal Welfare Act for allowing animals to suffer. The council will decide whether or not to renew the zoo’s licence on Monday.
The inspectors, who are appointed by the government, found “overcrowding, poor hygiene, poor nutrition, lack of suitable animal husbandry and a lack of any sort of developed veterinary care” when they visited in January.
Andrew Rosindell, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on zoos and aquariums, called on the government to launch an inquiry into how conditions at the zoo had been allowed to get so bad.
“I’d like to know what’s gone wrong here,” he said. “We in this country have a very proud record of conservation and animal welfare in zoos and what we are seeing in this zoo goes against what happens generally across the country.”
He said licensing bodies should attend his parliamentary group to “explain why this has been allowed to happen and explain
If we really love animals, we should close all zoos now
For a lifelong animal lover, zoo owner David Gill appears to have developed an unfortunate habit of loving creatures to extinction. Even before he came to national notice, after fresh reports of negligence, and 12% mortality, at his private zoo, South Lakes, his autobiography suggests his charges have long been unusually prone to escaping and/or dying. It is more than 10 years, for instance, since Australian authorities fined him $10,000 in absentia – he having “fled” the country – for breaches of permit conditions at his Queensland zoo, including the unreported death of a lemur and a cheetah on the loose. “Five witnesses,” said one newspaper report, “described the situation as one of panic and stated Gill was chasing the animal on a motorbike.”
The blurb for his self-published, Nine Lives: One Man’s Insatiable Journey Through Love, Life and Near Death, only hints at the suffering this has caused Gill. “He risked his own life attempting to save a drowning kangaroo and again when he walked into a raging inferno to save his own lemurs. Tragedy struck when he had to shoot his own rhino in a mercy killing.” In fact, it was the misfortune of the escaped white rhino, Zimba, to have been inadequately enclosed, for which Gill was fined £10,000.
Gill’s book was written before a 24-year-old employee, Sarah McClay, was killed, in 2013, by a tiger, after which the zoo was fined £297,500, plus £150,000 costs, the judge saying the accident was “as tragic a
If we really love
animals, we should SUPPORT zoos now.
Recently, and really
for a long time, there has been a group of very vocal anti-zoo people.
They aren’t just
anti-bad zoos, but rather are anti-ALL zoos.
We believe they mean
well but are just going about it the wrong way.
To give a bit of
background, these people are what we typically call “Animal Rights Activists”.
When most people
hear that term, they think it refers to anyone who loves animals and want
animals to live happy, healthy lives… but it does not.
There is a big
difference between Animal Rights and Animal Welfare.
Disgruntled employee
tried to blackmail Twycross Zoo boss out of £25,000
A disgruntled
employee tried to blackmail Twycross Zoo's Chief Executive out of £25,000 with
threats to "ruin" her reputation, a court heard.
Dillon Archibald
(21), who was jailed for eight months, sent a menacing letter threatening to
expose information about the death of three primates at the zoo.
Leicester Crown
Court was told that two incidents resulting in the demise of two chimpanzees
and a bonobo were already public knowledge and the zoo was exonerated from
blame following official inquiries.
Twycross Zoo CEO,
Sharon Redrobe, alerted the police and the defendant, an assistant ranger, was
later arrested.
In Zoos We Trust (In
A Post-Truth World)
Conspiracy theories
and beliefs based on outsider information and emotion over evidence-based
research has become the norm – so much so that Oxford Dictionaries chose
“post-truth” as its International Word of the Year in 2016.
What Steps can we
take to Rebuild this Trust?
What does this mean
for large, science-based organizations such as zoos and aquariums? We’ve seen
growing concern about animal welfare in a society that also devalues the
messages of these traditionally-trusted organizations. America’s Association of
Zoos and Aquariums‘ own research, as presented at the 2016 Annual Conference,
has indicated a slight downturn in the American confidence of its member
institutions.
To sustain our
missions and continue to provide q
THE GREAT ESC-APE
Apes, penguins and monkeys among the animals that escaped from Cork’s Fota
Wildlife Park
Some of the escapes
were witnessed by large crowds of visitors, who came into close contact with
the animals, according to documented reports from staff.
On January 11, 2015,
Stevie Wonder escaped from an island enclosure at least three times.
A member of staff
reported in a written record of the escape: “Crowds of visitors were watching.
He’s getting very bold and obviously not frightened of people and is getting
very close to them.”
The report also
stated that the animal had run ov
Komodo National
Park: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
Komodo National Park
is being celebrated on its 37th anniversary with a Google Doodle.
“Komodo National
Park in Indonesia sits at the center of an archipelago and consists mainly of 3
volcanic islands. The landscape is unlike any other, ranging from dry savanna
conditions to lush forests, all surrounded by white-sand beaches and bright blue
water,” Google says. “Despite the plethora of native wildlife, Komodo dragons
are still what the park is best known for. Thanks to National Parks like
Komodo, wildlife can continue to thrive largely uninterrupted by human
interference.”
Here’s what you need
to know about Komodo National Park and Komodo dragons:
WHAT DO YOU CALL THE
LAST OF A SPECIES?
When Robert Webster,
a physician in Jasper, Georgia, died, in 2004, he was survived by his wife of
more than half a century, two daughters, four grandchildren, and a single word,
which he had coined himself: “endling,” defined as the last person, animal, or
other individual in a lineage. According to Bruce Erickson, a former colleague
of Webster’s, the story of “endling” began at a convalescent center in suburban
Atlanta in the mid-nineteen-nineties, when a patient told Webster that she was
the only surviving member of her family. Unaware of any word that could
describe her situation, Webster saw an opportunity for neologism. In
conversation with Erickson and others, he considered candidates including
“ender,” “lastoline” (a contraction of “last of the line”), and “yatim” (Arabic
for “orphan”), but eventually settled on “endling,” which he liked because its
suffix recalled both “line” and “lineage.” But when the doctor submitted his
invention to Merriam-Webster—“It cracked me up that someone would just call up
the dictionary and propose a new word,” Erickson told me—he was informed that
to meri
10 Behind-the-Scenes
Secrets of Zoos
Zoos are a
constantly evolving workplace. Over the past 50 years, exhibits have gotten
increasingly naturalistic, diets for certain species have become more
standardized, and captive breeding programs have turned into nationwide
campaigns. Yet if one thing’s remained constant, it’s the fact that keeping the
animals in our zoos both happy and healthy requires a great deal of time,
coordination, expense, and old-fashioned willpower. It’s not an easy job, but
most zookeepers say they wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Crocodile stoned to
death at Tunisia zoo
A group of visitors
at a Tunisia zoo has stoned a crocodile to death, authorities in the capital
said on Wednesday, denouncing the “savage” act.
The municipality of
Tunis posted gory pictures on Facebook of the dead animal’s head next to what
appeared to be a bloodied paving slab and another large rock.
“A group of visitors
to the zoo threw stones at the head of a crocodile, causing internal
haemorrhage that killed it,” it said.
The municipality
said the act at the Belvedere Zoo in central Tunis was “savage behaviour”.
Beloved hippopotamus
'Gustavito' beaten to death at El Salvador zoo
Read more
The animal died
after being hit on the head by two large rocks late on Tuesday afternoon, Amor
Ennaifer, a vet at the zoo, told AFP.
“It’s terrible. You
cannot imagine what animals endure from some visitors,” he said.
“Citizens leave
waste and plastic bags … They throw stones at lions and hippos.”
Ennaifer said the
zoo had signs and guards but this was not enough, especially during school
holidays.
“There are more than
150 species in the zoo. We
Thanks to TCM, large
numbers of pangolins are smuggled to China from Southeast Asia
In the past couple of weeks, two people became
infamous online for posting photos of themselves eating pangolin meat. The
public flooded their accounts with insults and the pair were soon detained by
the police
○ In China, pangolins are extremely endangered. They
are a second-class protected animal in the country, but are still being killed
on a huge scale for food and medicine, because of traditional beliefs
○ A vast black market for pangolins exists between
China and neighboring countries, and fighting the trade requires more
cooperative efforts from multiple departments
Claws out over South
Africa's export of lion bones
In a statement
issued on Wednesday‚ Panthera‚ the global wild cat conservation organisation‚
called the quota “arbitrary and potentially devastating for wild lion and
critically endangered tiger populations” and have called on the department to
institute an immediate moratorium on lion bone exports.
The bones are a
response to the growing demand from an Asian market that has grown
exponentially since 2007‚ when lion bones took the place of increasingly rare
tiger bones.
Panthera claimed
that the department has agreed to institute a quota of 800 skeleton export
permits per year - but‚ early in February‚ the department said that the export
quota "was not yet finalised". A text message sent to spokesman Albi
Modise to check if the situation had changed in the last month
RHINO RESOURCE CENTER – NEWSLETTER 46 – MARCH 2016
Edited by Dr Kees Rookmaaker
Dolphin activists
stand against new aquarium in Busan Posted
In the wake of the
death of a bottlenose dolphin in Ulsan, Busan's brand-new aquarium project is
drawing criticism from animal rights activists.
A mega-sized ocean
park, called Osiria, scheduled to open in 2019, will house an ocean hotel and
an aquarium for dolphins, according to the city's website.
According to News1,
an online news outlet, Goldsea Korea Investment which owns Geoje Sea World on
Geoje Island, is one of the project partners, worrying activists further. Since
it opened, six dolphins have died at Geoje Sea World, according to News1.
"Approving a
new aquarium without measures ensuring quality of life for dolphins is
inhumane," said Cho Yak-gol, a member of animal rights activist group Hot
Pink Dolphins. "The government should act soon."
Bottlenose dolphins
are on the list of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which allows countries to trade dolphins but
under strict regulations. In Korea, bottlenose dolphins mostly come from Japan,
and the importer only needs permission from the Ministry of Env
Providence Zoo’s
Conservation Director is a Rare Breed
Lou Perrotti spends
much of his time working to protect threatened and endangered species. It’s
surprising then when one discovers the lifelong Rhode Islander could be the
last of his kind.
The 52-year-old West
Greenwich resident is Roger Williams Park Zoo’s director of conservation
programs. Every zoo in the country has a similar position, but most, if not
all, are filled by people with at least a master’s degree. On Perrotti’s office
wall, if he chose to display it, would hang a diploma from North Kingstown High
School.
“I’m just a
high-school graduate with no formal education,” Perrotti said during a recent
interview with ecoRI News. “Most people in my position have a Ph.D. I’m lucky.
I went from washing dishes to saving species.”
His journey didn’t
follow such a direct path, but the trip has been interesting, and it’s far from
over.
Perrotti began his
employment at the Providence zoo two decades ago, working as a zookeeper for
the first nine years. But his interest in animals, especially snakes, began has
a young child. He grew up watching Mutual of Omaha’s “Wild Kingdom” and reading
National Geographic. His parents allowed him to keep and study “crazy things,”
like snakes.
Today he describes
his responsibilities at the Roger Williams Park Zoo as such: “My job is to
utilize the zoo’s resources, staffing, space and means to protect wildlife
habitat.”
Perrotti is good at
his job. For instance, he is a leading expert on the plight of the American
burying beetle. The insect once populated 35 states, the District of Columbia
and large parts of Canada. Today, the burying beetle can only be found in five
states, including Rhode Island, and in one Canadian province. In fact, Block
Island is the species’s only natural home on the East Coast.
American burying b
Perth Zoo denies
'elephant yoga class' abuse claims
A zoo in Australia
has denied claims that it mistreats its elephants by involving them in a yoga
class with paying visitors.
For $125 (£78)
people can do Perth Zoo's Exercise for Elephants programme - a 45-minute
workout with a personal trainer that includes 15 minutes of interacting with
the elephants.
The zoo has released
footage of the daily activities of the elephants to try to refute allegations
that the exercise programme is abusive.
Zookeepers said the
elephants were not asked to do "tricks" for visitors or "to do
anything that they weren't capable of doing and that they don't enjoy".
One zookeeper, Jody,
said the claims were "extremely upsetting to those of us who dedicate our
lives to love and care for these animals" and "completely
untrue".
"We are a
conservation organisation and
Zoo Science for
Keepers and Aquarists
Smartwatch implants
help track elephant sleep patterns
Humans are obsessed
with sleep. We've not getting enough of it, and the tech world is flooded with
wearables that confirm this fact. Now, scientists hope using activity monitors
to study how and why animals sleep will help us get a better night's rest.
Professor Paul
Manger from Wits University and his colleagues are using a tracker called an
Actiwatch to study elephant sleep patterns in Botswana. They removed the
watches' bands, insulated them with electrical tape and biologically inert wax,
then attached them to the elephants' trunks. The trunk is the most mobile
appendage, Manger said, and if it's still for more than five minutes it's
reasonable to assume the animal is asleep.
Using the loggers
and GPS collars, researchers found the elephants slept for two hours per day on
average. They slept standing up most of the time, only lying down for about an
hour every three or four days. This is likely the only time they were able to
go into REM sleep, which means elephants possibly don't dream on a daily basis.
WOW! REALLY? IN THE
LAST 25 YEARS, THE BUDAPEST ZOO IS THE ONLY PLACE WHERE WOMBATS REPRODUCE IN
EUROPE
In the latest
installment of our new (semi)regular segment, Wow! Really?, we examine
little-known or unexpected facts about Hungary and Hungarian culture. Today, we
will look for wombats in the 150 year-old Zoo and Botanical Garden of Hungary.
First of all, let’s
have a look at the iconic and historical Zoo of Hungary. The Budapest Zoo and
Botanical Garden is one of the oldest zoological gardens not only in Hungary
but in the world: it was opened to the general public on 9 August 1866. Plans for
the zoo’s foundation date back to 1820-30s, but the 1848-49 Revolution and War
of Independence and the era of absolutism that followed did not favour the idea
of founding a zoo in Hungary. Finally, a group took the initiative, and in 1866 the first Hungarian Zoo opened its
gates to the sound of the midday bell on August 9th. In the last 150 years it
has had to close periodically for reconstruction, but the Zoo of Budapest has n
In pics:
elephant-related entertainments in Thailand
Elephant Wars: A
Story of 'Animal Arms Race' Between Berlin's Zoos
When the city of
Berlin was divided during the Cold War, the two city zoos, located in the
western and eastern parts of the metropolis, faced off in an "animal arms
race."
Three-Month Old
Polar Bear Cub Living in Berlin Zoo Finally Gets a Name (VIDEO)
As a result of its
division during the Cold War, the German capital now has two zoos — Tierpark
Berlin and the Berlin Zoological Garden. According to a book titled The Zoo of
the Others, penned by German journalist Jan Mohnhaupt, just as the Western and Eastern
blocs were locked in a global standoff during the second half of the 20th
century, these two establishments were engaged in an 'arms race' of their ow
Dolphin show changes
are coming to SeaWorld Orlando
SeaWorld Orlando
announced today that it will close its long-running Blue Horizons dolphin show
at the end of the month, replacing it with a new production that will debut the
next day.
In Dolphin Days,
"the audience will learn more about the individual personalities of each
Atlantic bottlenose dolphin while witnessing the special bond they share with
their trainers," according to SeaWorld's press release. That sounds a lot
more like a straight-forward educational experience than the current Blue
Horizons show, which used a mythical theme, Cirque du Soleil-style acrobatics,
and a musical narrative to complement the dolphins' behaviors.
Blue Horizons opened
in 2005 at SeaWorld Orlando. The show ran for five years in San Diego, before b
'First Ranieri and
now this' - Mercury readers blast decision to move elephants from Twycross
Mercury readers have
criticised Twycross Zoo's decision to move their all-female herd of elephants
to another zoo.
Zoo bosses announced
the controversial decision yesterday, and said that currently there were no
plans to replace them.
The move is intended
to allow the animals to breed and help ensure the long-term survival of this
VENOM’S HEALING
TOUCH
Snakes. Spiders.
Centipedes; the list of venomous animals is long and diverse. Indeed, thousands
of deaths and hospitalizations can be attributed to venomous wildlife. But the
tides may be turning—research is showing that venom can heal as well. Venom works
in highly desirable ways. Venoms affect the body in extremely precise ways,
work almost instantly, and tend to be stable. But before you stick your hand in
a box of funnel-web spiders, understand that the path from venom to cure is
complicated.
Interest in the
healing properties of venom dates to antiquity. Eating viper flesh was seen as
a cure for a wide variety of ills. In the nineteenth century venom cures fell
out of fashion, but in the 1920s and 1930s, venom studies re-emerged. The venom
of snakes, including Russell’s Viper and Indian cobras, was analyzed for use in
treating diverse conditions including hemophilia and chronic pain. An early
class of hypertension medications known a
MUMBAI ZOO: SNEAK
PEEK INTO BYCULLA’S HUMBOLDT PENGUINS ENCLOSURE
Notwithstanding all
the controversies, Mumbai's Byculla Zoo is ready to throw open its gates for
the new enclosure for the Humboldt Penguins. The swanky new house of the birds
will be inaugurated by Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.
The exact date of
the public opening is currently shrouded under the uncertainty over the mayoral
polls. The original date for the opening of the exhibit was scheduled for March
6. The outgoing mayor Snehal Ambekar has written to BMC chief Ajoy Mehta, asking
him to make necessary arrangements for inauguration. Mirror brings you a sneak
peek into the new world of penguins.
Tunis zoo to close
temporarily after visitors stone crocodile
A zoo in the
Tunisian capital is to close temporarily after visitors stoned a crocodile to
death.
The Belvedere Zoo
posted pictures of the bloodied reptile, with a paving stone and rock next to
its head, on its Facebook page on Wednesday.
It died from an
internal haemorrhage, the Tunis municipality said.
More guards and
environmental police will be employed at the site after "emergency
cleaning and maintenance works", the environment ministry said.
Measures would be
introduced to manage visitors entering and exiting, it said.
The zoo has long
faced problems
Zoo slammed for
'lying' about hippo stabbing death
El Salvador's main
zoo is in trouble for claiming a hippo died of a brutal stabbing attack by
unidentified people, when an autopsy finally revealed the animal in fact died
of possible poor care.
Gustavito, a
15-year-old hippopotamus who had been in the National Zoological Park in
eastern San Salvador almost all his life, died February 26 after suffering for
days.
The government,
giving information from the zoo, said the hippo had been stabbed and beaten by
unidentified assailants four days earlier, resulting in internal bleeding.
That account
triggered shock and revulsion in the Central American nation and was relayed in
international media reports.
But the autopsy
revealed no puncture marks in the animal's 2.5-centimeter (1-inch) thick skin,
state prosecutor Mario Salazar revealed on Thursday.
Instead a detailed
forensic examination showed Gustavito had apparently died from pulmonary
hemorrhaging -- acute bl
Wildlife’s Unsung
Heroes
While the numbers of
extinct, endangered, vulnerable and threatened species of animals and birds are
on a steady rise, people across the globe are only prattling about the muddle
associated with wildlife. At a time when the loss of wildlife and wildlife-rich
grasslands is rapidly growing, the problem often goes unnoticed. But, there are
individuals who are making a difference by contributing in their own little
ways to challenge the wildlife problems.
We are all aware of
the famous PETA endorsers like Amy Jackson, Imran Khan, Jacqueline Fernandez,
Sunny Leone, John Abraham, Shilpa Shetty and Lara Dutta, among others, who have
shelled out a great deal towards wildlife while keeping themselves away from
the media glare and helping raise awareness about the plight of the wild as
well as the street animals. However, there are other unknown faces who are no
celebrities and have been working for years now to help the wil
Next Group of ‘Alalā
Preparing for Release
Reintroduction
efforts for the ʻalalā, the native Hawaiian crow, began in December of last
year with the release of five ʻAlalā into a Hawai‘i Island State Natural Area
Reserve.
Sadly, three birds
did not survive, and the remaining two were brought back into captivity.
Members of The
‘Alalā Project said that the reintroduction of captive-raised birds without the
benefit of experienced ‘alalā already in the wild is very challenging.
Biologists around
the world said releases like this are usually marked with fits and starts, and
that reintroduction success is not usually seen before multiple releases.
Nēnē, the native
Hawaiian goose, once had a population of only
Proposed bill to
limit aquarium fish collecting advances
Lawmakers have
advanced a bill that would limit aquarium fish collecting.
"Some folks are
saying it's going to shut down the industry, it's not, but what it will do is
make sure that these reefs have these beautiful fish," State
Representative Kaniela Ing said.
Rep. Ing introduced
House Bill 1457. He says the measure was prompted by tourism officials and
environmental protection agencies after they noticed less colorful fish when
snorkeling.
"This bill will
limit entry, so the folks that are currently doing it could still do it. They
won't lose their jobs, but they just cannot have more people coming in and
taking fish," Rep. Ing said.
According to Rep.
Ing, the measure is based off input gathered from three-years of work on the
aquarium trade issue.
He says studies show
aquarium reef fish populations are sustainable at current levels, but would
decline if more businesses enter the industry.
"The fish that
are missing are the ones that are taken by the aquarium trade," For the
Fishes, executive director Rene Umberger said. "We need to increase the
most beautiful and important fish that the trade targets, that's why these
bills are so specific."
Umberger says she
supports bills that aim to protect
SCIENTIST STATEMENT
SUPPORTING RESEARCH IN MARINE MAMMAL FACILITIES
Some of you may be
aware the Vancouver Park Board is looking to ban the continued study of whales
and dolphins at our marine science centre due to pressure from animal rights
critics. They cite that there is no value in having whales and dolphins at a marine
science facility. Below is a signed statement by preeminent research scientists
from around the world who disagree.
April 8, 2016
We, the undersigned
members of the scientific community, wish to acknowledge the importance of
marine mammals in zoos, aquariums, and marine mammal facilities, and express
our support for research conducted at these facilities. We know that critical
research findings have come from studies of dolphins and related species in
managed care environments, which have provided the vast majority of what is
known about their perception, physiology, and cognition. This includes both
basic facts about these animals (e.g., echolocation and how it works[i], diving
physiology[ii], energetics[iii], gestation period[iv], hearing range[v],
signature whistles[vi], and so forth) and applied information such as how they
react to environmental stressors[vii] and how to diagnose and treat their
diseases.[viii]
The benefits of such
research extend well beyond the animals in zoological facilities. The
interpretation of data from field studies is directly informed by what we have
learned about the cognition and physiology of these animals in managed care
settings. Moreover, because science is inherently a collaborative endeavor,
research findings from these animals contribute to our collective unde
What drives the
demand for rhino horns?
Reports in February
that the South African government was considering lifting the 2009 domestic
moratorium on trade in rhino horns brought into focus something that is not
necessarily obvious to those outside of that country: there currently exist in
South Africa numerous large stockpiles of rhino horns, nearly all legal, all
potentially extremely valuable.
Legal rhino horn and
ivory trade should benefit Africa, says Swaziland government
Read more
Farming Rhinos
Some stockpiles come
from rhinos who have died of natural causes, others are contraband seized at
customs or confiscated from poachers, and many arise from dehorning programmes
undertaken by both government and individuals. Rhino farmers in South Africa dehorn
their rhinos to discourage poaching and therefore protect the endangered
species, but breeding and dehorning rhinos also creates a potential cash crop.
Conserved, inventoried, often micro-chipped and secured in strong rooms and
safes, rhino horns are stockpiled largely because of their future market value.
That future value rests on an assumption that the current high demand for rhino
horn, predominantly for use in Vietnamese medicine, will continue indefinitely,
and cannot be overcome or countered. That assumption itself rests in part on
characterising the demand for rhino horns as “traditional”.
No one disputes that
medicinal and recreational use of rhino horn, mostly in Vietnam, is directly
responsible for high levels of poaching in southern African countries, which
continues to threaten the species with extinction. But while it is true that rhino
products are mentioned in a variety of traditional Vietnamese medicine texts,
the scale of the Vietnamese market has risen hugely over the past 15 years:
this demand is a modern phenomenon. Influenced in part by rumours of a
prominent senior government official being cured, sick and dying cancer
sufferers and their families are directly targeted by unscrupulous vendors. In
addition over the past decade and a h
Ark of endangered
species on the brink in Yemen
In the besieged city
of Taiz, zookeeper and sub-manager Showky al-Haj is desperately trying to save
281 animals, which are on the brink of starvation.
Many of the zoo's
species are endangered, including 28 Arabian leopards, which could number as
few as 45 in the wild.
Additionally, the
zoo hosts 20 Barbary lions thought to be descended from the ones gifted to
Yemen by Ethiopian Emperor Emperor Haile Selassie in 1953. Today the species is
considered extinct in the wild.
For nearly two years
the Taiz Zoo has deteriorated under the pressure of Yemen's civil war. An
international coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, has imposed a sea blockade on the
country targeting Houthi forces. It has resulted in a widespread humanitarian and
environmental catastrophe.
"Before the war
the animals used to eat and we used to receive the money and the salaries and
we got to breed many animals like the Arabian leopard that is endangered…
everything was great until the war came in the beginning of 2015," says
al-Hajj.
"It couldn't
get any worse, [the government] they couldn't provide anything so they stopped
supplying, which led to the death of many of the animals. 11 lions, six
leopards, most of the Arabian Oryx that are endangered, and most of the birds
and other animals too."
To the rescue
The Taiz Zoo is
being sustained thanks to the initiative of Kim-Michelle Broderick, a British
theatre director, and actress, who has volunteered tirelessly to save the zoo's
population.
She has lead the
rescue effort since becoming aware of
Risky roundup: Navy
dolphins to help capture Mexican porpoises
U.S. Navy dolphins
trained in San Diego may soon be flown to Mexico to round up and capture
endangered vaquita porpoises.
The plan is
described as a rescue operation in the Sea of Cortez but animal advocates are
calling it a risky roundup.
Vaquita porpoises
are the most endangered marine mammal on the plant, according to a recent
survey in the northern Sea of Cortez, the only place where vaquita can be
found.
“Based on the data
we think there are only about 30 vaquita remaining,” said Barbara Taylor, a
NOAA marine biologist based in La Jolla.
Illegal gillnet
fishing in the Sea of Cortez is killing off vaquitas at an alarming rate.
“We have had a two
year ban on all gillnets in the area with the fisherman being paid not to fish
and we are still seeing this decline going on,” said Taylor, who participated
in the most recent vaquita survey in the summer of 2016.
Poachers use
gillnets to catch totoaba, an endangered fish sold for its swim bladder on the
Chinese black market.
“The draw of the
swim bladder is that it is used to make your skin look more youthful in soups.
So, it's actually cut up and used in soups,” Taylor said.
Marine biologists at
NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla and an international team
of scientists are working on a plan to save the vaquita from extinction.
“We have to find
them. We have to get a net around an animal that avoids boats. So, it’s going
to be a very tall order to be able to capture them,” according to Taylor.
The plan involves
using lightweight nets to capture up to 10 of the 30 remaining vaquita and
hopefully establish a captive-breeding program near San Felipe.
“They are using some
very specialized nets brought from the Netherlands. When the animals hit the
nets they can actually come up to the surface and breathe,” Taylor said.
There are only six
existing species of porpoise. Some have been held in captivity but others can
stress out and die during a capture attempt.
“We don’t know what
vaquita are going to be like and we won’t know until we try. If one stressed
out and died during the capture process – whic
Thai Officials Deny
the Re-opening of Tiger Temple
Thailand’s
Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plants Conservation has dismissed a
claim by the World Animal Protection Thailand (WAPT) that it has granted
permission for the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi to reopen it’s zoo.
In its official
complaint to the department, WAPT alleged that Tiger Temple or Wat Pha Luang Ta
Bua Yanasampanno was permitted to open a public zoo in April last year and to
operate under the name of Tiger Temple Co Ltd.
It then asked the
department to revise the zoo permit, voicing concern over the attempt to reopen
Tiger Temple for tourism.
However the
department director-general Mr Thanya Netithammakul denied the claim saying
that Tiger Temple was permitted to build structures that will be used in zoo.
He said under the
existing laws any juristic person which is qualified can apply for permit to
build a public zoo if it has exact location.
The department will
then appoint a committee to look through the application if it has required
qualifications.
The zoo permit is
valid for five years, he said.
In the case of Tiger
Temple Co Ltd, he said the company has nothing in connection with the Wat Pha
Luang Ta Bua Yanasampanno or Tiger Temple and the land which it planned as zoo
is not in the temple area.
Instead it is a land
which the company legally acquired.
But he said if the
company wanted to bring in wild animals to the public zoo, it still needs to
apply fo
Caught between
custom and conservation
Tirumala temple
wants to breed Small Indian Civet for perfume, but A.P. Forest Department seeks
control
The custom at Sri
Venkateswara temple at Tirumala, of using a fragrance derived from the Small
Indian Civet in the deity’s worship, faces a challenge as the Tirumala Tirupati
Devasthanams (TTD) and the A.P. Forest Department remain at loggerheads on captive
breeding of the animal.
The civet is caught
in a decade-long row over supply of its glandular ‘punugu’ secretion that
weighs less than a gram.
The yellow substance
from its perineal gland gets encrusted when dry and is ejected when the animal
rubs against a hard surface.
The fragrance is
used for ‘abhishekam’ of Lord Venkateswara. The temple has a ‘Punugu Ginne
Seva’ (offering in a vessel), where select devotees can touch the civet pooja
vessel. The secretion is mixed with gi
Gazipur safari park
staffer hospitalised after attack by deer
Officials said
Keeper Rokon Uz Zaman was attacked by a male Sambar as soon as he opened the
cage.
"The deer
attacked Rokon soon after he opened the cage to feed him. Both his hands have
sustained fractures," the park's Acting Coordinator Md Shahabuddin told
bdnews24.com.
Rokon is now being
treated at Dhaka's National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedic
Rehabilitation, commonly known as the 'Pongu Hospital'.
Quoting doctors,
Shahabuddin said he has gone through multiple surgeries and needs more time to
recover.
The senior park
official said that Sam
China builds first
'bird airport' to attract feathered friends
At first glance,
birds and airports do not seem like a particularly harmonious combination. Our
feathered friends generally don't feel too comfortable living between runways
and the wings of their (very) distant giant relatives. But in China, this is
about to change with the creation of the "Lingang Bird Sanctuary."
This
"airport" will not have any of the usual aircraft noise, and it will
not have barren tarmac runways. It will be solely for the use of migrating
birds in the peace and quiet of nature.
McGregor Coxall,
designers and landscape architects based in Australia, China, and England, came
up with the plans. They won an international design competition that was
initiated and co-financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Tianjin
Economic and Technological Development Area (TEDA), which is located close to
Tianjin, China. This port city is home to the project.
The idea behind the
catchy "airport" project is actually to create a giant nature
reserve. But since this pilot project is happening right on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway
(EAAF), a key migration route for birds, the term "Bird Airport"
seems appropriate. Fifty million migratory birds make use of this flyway every
year - and they are very likely to use the planned oasis in Tianjin for a
stopover, before they continue their journey. These birds cover huge distances.
The EAAF crosses 22 countries, among them China, Japan, New Zealand, Indonesia,
Thailand, Russia, and the USA (Alaska). Some birds fly more than 11,000
kilometers, and go ten days without nourishment just to make it to Tianjin.
"Birds'
migration routes are a wonder of the natural world," says Adrian McGregor,
director and founder of McGregor
China's first killer
whale breeding base put into operation in Guandong
Following a
comprehensive review, Twycross Zoo has announced today (1st March 2017) that it
will find a new home for its all-female herd of Asian elephants, which will
allow the animals to breed and help ensure the long-term survival of this
endangered species.
Twycross Zoo is
working in conjunction with European Endangered Species Breeding Programmes
(EEP) to arrange the transfer and the receiving zoo and timescales will be
announced as plans progress.
Through the zoo’s
Strategic Animal Collection Planning and its work alongside the EEP, Twycross
Zoo regularly assesses the species in its care and their potential for
breeding.
Asian elephants are
endangered in the wild, where they are threatened by illegal hunting and
habitat destruction. Captive breeding of this endangered species by zoos helps
to ensure that there are genetically healthy, self-sustaining populations which
can act as insurance against the possible future loss of wild populations
Frogs have unique
ability to see colour in the dark
The night vision of
frogs and toads appears to be superior to that of all other animals. They have
the ability to see colour even when it is so dark that humans are not able to
see anything at all. This has been shown in a new study by researchers from Lund
University in Sweden.
Most vertebrates,
including humans, have two types of visual cells located in the retina, namely
cones and rods. The cones enable us to see colour, but they usually require a
lot of light and therefore stop working when it gets dark, in which case the rods
take over so that we can at least find our way home, albeit in black and white.
In toads and frogs
the rods are a bit special, however. It was previously known that toads and
frogs are unique in having rods with two different sensitivities. This has not
been found in other vertebrates, and it is also the reason why researchers have
long suspected that frogs and toads might be able to see colour also in
low-light conditions. The new study was first in proving this to be true, and
the results exceeded all expectations.
“It’s amazing that
these animals can actually see colour in extreme darkness, down to the absolute
threshold of the visual system. These results were unexpected”, says Professor
of Sensory Biology Almut Kelber at the Faculty of Science, Lund University.
It was during the
third of three experiments that the researchers discovered that frogs are able
to use their rods to distinguish colour in extreme darkness. The researchers
studied the frogs in a situation that is as serious as it is common, namely,
when frogs need to find their way out in case they are trapped in conditions of
complete darkness. This is potentially an everyday occurrence, taking place in
dark dens and passageways on the ground. In such instances, finding the exit
becomes crucial, which also means that the frog is inclined to make use of any
sensory information that is available.
In the other
experiments the researchers studied to what extent frogs and toads use their
colour vision when searching for a mate or hunting for food. The results showed
that the animals stop using their c
Thought for
Behaviour: Negative Reinforcement… A Go or a No Go?
I grew in a
household together with my brother. We are actually only 1,5 year difference.
We lived in a village where we could play outside. It was that time when you
jumped in mudpools etc. Best time of our lives. But.. you probably know how it
goes when 2 brothers grow up. Yes we fought quite often but surprisingly that
completely changed around the age of 12-13. We started to develop similar
interest what helped our relationship what has been an amazing journey after..
While that problem was solved I was dealing with something completely personal.
I had this insane fear of needles. I don’t know exactly why but the reason
might have been because the doctor didn’t give us stickers or candy back then.
This actually went
to a point where I didn’t want to go to a doctor anymore. I was frightened
about needles. For me not going was the highest reinforcement I could
potentially provide myself. Over the years I started to discover that sometimes
for my own health it is necessary to get samples or help with potential higher
levels of pain. But o my was I happy when that needle left again. Happy when
that needle was gone so my body would be a bit more relax for what would come
after.
If we take this in
perspective, I would connect this bad experience with the doctor. What means I
wouldn’t go to him anymore what would reinforce
The world's coldest
elephant? Campaigners call for Edmonton's Lucy to head south
Lucy hesitated in
the doorway as she debated whether to leave the warmth of home and venture out
into the sub-zero cold.
Then she plodded
forward, scooping up freshly fallen snow with her trunk and shoving it in her
mouth. Every minute or so, a deep rumbling punctuated the air – a symptom of a
decades-old respiratory problem that forces her to breathe through her mouth.
Zookeepers hovered around her, monitoring her body temperature with an infrared
scanner to ensure she wasn’t getting cold.
For 40 years Lucy’s
life has played out in the 110 acres of the Edmonton Valley Zoo. But beyond the
steel gates and electric fencing of her 2,600 square foot barn, Lucy has become
one of the most controversial elephants in the world.
Some argue Lucy is a
well-adjusted Asian elephant who shares a deep bond with her keepers and
trainers. Others say that – as the only elephant living in a Canadian city
where the mercury at times drops to 20 below zero – she is the prisoner of a
practice whose time has long passed.
“Honestly, there is
no elephant in as bad a situation in the entire world as Lucy is,” said Julie
Woodyer of Zoocheck Canada. Woodyer claims that Lucy is the world’s “the most
northerly elephant” and has been fi
Shortage of
qualified staff hampers animal upkeep
The shortage of
qualified animal keepers in zoos across the country continues to hinder the
proper upkeep of animals.
DN Singh, member
secretary of the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), who was in Dehradun today to
attend the annual conference of Indian Zoos, said most of the animal keepers
were just matriculate and lack of education affected their day-to-day working.
He said, “I believe
that animal keepers should be a zoology graduate. In western countries, animal
keepers are even PhDs. But animal keepers here are just matriculate or senior
secondary at the farthest. In our country, animal keeping is considered a menial
job which is not an opinion for this job in Europe.”
He said the key
posts of director at the zoos continue to be unstable. “Due to routine
postings, directors at the zoos are reshuffled that
What Makes a Dolphin
a Dolphin?
In movies and TV
shows, dolphins are often portrayed as heroes who save humans through
remarkable feats of strength and tenacity. Now dolphins could save the day for
humans in real life, too – with the help of emerging technology that can
measure thousands of proteins and an improved database full of genetic data.
“Dolphins and humans
are very, very similar creatures,” said NIST’s Ben Neely, a member of the
Marine Biochemical Sciences Group and the lead on a new project at the Hollings
Marine Laboratory, a research facility in Charleston, South Carolina that includes
the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as one of its partner
institutions. “As mammals, we share a number of proteins and our bodies
function in many similar ways, even though we are terrestrial and dolphins live
in the water all their lives.”
Neely and his
colleagues have just finished creating a detailed, searchable index of all the
proteins found in the bottlenose dolphin genome. A genome is the complete set
of genetic material present in an organism. Neely’s project is built on years
of marine mammal research and aims to provide a new level of bioanalytical
measurements. The results of this work will aid wildlife biologists, veterinary
professionals and biomedical researchers.
Protein Maps Could
Help Dolphins and Humans
Although a detailed
map of the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) genome was first compiled in
2008, recent technological breakthroughs ena
Rhino sale bombshell
hidden in new draft regulations
It turns out the
two-per-person discussion was a red herring which effectively diverted
attention of the few attending MPs from the fact that this only applied to “a
person from a foreign state”. South Africans wanting to buy or sell rhino horn,
on obtaining a permit, would have no such restriction and could trade and
export as much horn as they pleased. Foreigners owning rhinos could also do so.
Because the
paragraph concerning the two-horn restriction referred to
“a person
contemplated” in another part of the regulations, it was easy to miss the key
point that the “person” referred to was only a foreign national not domiciled
in South Africa or not owning a rhino. No such restriction was placed on
locals.
South Africa has the
greatest number of rhinos in the world and a huge poaching problem. Legalising
trade and export is likely to collapse international attempts to protect
rhinos. If the trade regulations become law, the decline and possible
extinction in the wild of rhinos will be in the interest of rhino breeders, who
will then control the world market.
The back story to
the announcement is that last year the moratorium on sale was challenged by
private sector rhino breeders who won on a technicality. Molewa took the result
on appeal to the Constitutional Court. Then, on February 8 – possibly
anticipating losing the Constitutional Court appeal – she announced new draft
regulations, giving the public a mere 30 days to make representations or
objections.
The effect, if the
regulations become law, is that South Africa will be an almost open market for
trading and even exporting rhino horn. This is a slap in the face for the
overwhelming majority of countries that voted against the trade in horn at the
CITES CoP17 meeting in Gauteng last year and a huge victory for the very few,
extremely wealthy, rhino farmers and potential traders who have been lobbying
Molewa for years.
The draft
regulations seek to justify the trade through the fiction that it may only be
traded for personal purposes, but leaves out what “personal” may mean. In a
lengthy statement on Monday February 27, none of these issues were addressed by
the DEA.
In terms of Article
III of the CITES Convention, as long as the import is “not for commercial
purposes”, import and export permits are allowed. If the purpose is “personal”
there is no limit to the number of specimens involved. There is also the
exception (for residents) allowing for export of personal and household effects
(Article VII). 7
According to
Environmental attorney Cormac Cullinan, “by requiring exports to be for
‘personal purpose’ (whatever that means) the DEA is obviously trying to create
the impression that it is not contravening CITES by permitting trade for
commercial purposes”.
In answer to my
question about the difference between “trade” and “for commercial purposes”
upon which the export regulations would hang, the DEA responded:
“An import permit
can only be issued if the CITES authority of the state of import is satisfied
that the specimen (rhino horn) is not to be used for primarily commercial
purposes.
“Primarily
commercial purposes are defined in a CITES Resolution adopted at the 15th
Conference of the Parties, which req
ANALYSIS: Lies,
damned lies and rhino statistics
A 10% fall in
poaching last year is not the good news it appears to be — especially
considering SA plans to resume its horn trade, writes Tony Carnie
The latest 10% drop
in the national rhino poaching statistics may sound like good news, but it
masks the fact that the decade-long bloodbath has thinned out animal numbers so
deeply that rhinos are no longer such easy meat for poachers.
Poachers now have to
work that much harder to fill the order books for international crime cartels
because the Kruger National Park rhino population has been hammered since 2008.
Also, the target has
shifted away from the Kruger to KwaZulu-Natal, where there has been a
staggering 38% increase in horn poaching over the past year.
Environmental
Affairs Minister Edna Molewa announced on February 27 that 1,054 rhinos were
killed for their horns nationwide during 2016 — compared with 1,175 in 2015.
That adds up to 121
fewer rhinos killed during 2016, or 161 fewer than the record tally of 1,215
rhinos poached in 2014.
But it still adds up
to roughly three rhinos gunned down every 24 hours.
Compare this daily
killing rate with the decade preceding 2008, when annual poaching figures
barely exceeded double-digit figures.
It is true, as
Molewa noted, that rangers and anti-poaching units in the SA’s world-famous
Kruger Park have upped their game to the point that rhino killings dropped by
almost 20% (662 last year compared with 826 in 2015).
Yet is also clear
that the total rhino population in Kruger has dropped. The latest census
suggests there may be roughly 7,200 white rhinos left in Kruger, from about
8,800 in 2015.
It is quite
plausible that the natural birth rate of Kruger rhinos has also been hit hard
by several years of drought, but considering that the park’s white rhino
population stood at more than 10,000 seven years ago, it is clear that numbers
have now been thinned out significantly by the horn poachers.
KwaZulu-Natal
What of
KwaZulu-Natal, the cradle of global rhino conservation?
In the late 1800s,
there were just 50 to 100 Southern white rhinos left in the world (all of them
in the Imfolozi Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal). This tiny remnant population
was multiplied steadily thanks to the conservation work of the former Natal Parks
Board and game rangers like the late Dr Ian Player.
By 2008, when the
continental rhino-killing spree really hit
******************************************************
******************************************************
Dalton zoo hearing
today
A meeting will be
held today to see if the new owners of South Lakes Safari Zoo will be granted a
licence to keep the park open.
The business has
courted controversy in the last week after documents filed to Barrow Borough
Council showed that almost 500 animals had died at the zoo in less than three
years.
The situation was
branded the worst seen in 60 years by national campaigning charity the Captive
Animal Protection Society.
Maddie Taylor, Caps
campaigns officer, said: "The findings at South Lakes Safari Zoo are some
of the worst we have ever come across in 60 years.
"Our visit to
the zoo combined with the zoo inspectors' reports shows high death rates of
animals, animals in ill health and a lack of understanding about how to meet
even the most basic needs of the animals under their care.
"We urge the
local authority to take action by closing this appalling zoo down."
The team behind a
new company that took over Dalton zoo last month has spoken of the
"massive" improvements they have already secured as they work towards
their goal of transforming the attraction into a conservation showpiece.
Cumbria Zoo Company
Ltd was set up in January in a bid to secure the future of the failing site,
near Dalton.
The firm, led by
chief executive Karen Brewer, took the reins to South Lakes Safari Zoo just
days before government inspectors carried out a two-day visit to assess its
licence to keep animals held by its founder David Gill.
The cost of applying
for a zoo licence from Barrow Borough Council for the 2017/18 financial year is
proposed to be set at £7,900.
But anyone who is
successful in obtaining a
Former FNQ zoo owner
in trouble again
AN Englishman who
opened the ill-fated Mareeba Wild Animal Park has again found himself in
strife, this time over the treatment of animals at a zoo in his home country.
British media have
reported David Gill, who started the debt-ridden Far North wildlife attraction
in 2003, could face prosecution over his South Lakes Wild Animal Park in
Cumbria following a damning report.
The report found
nearly 500 animals at the zoo had d
Eight zoos
identified as causes for concern over animal welfare after tip-offs
Eight British zoos
are on the radar of a watchdog over animal welfare fears after tip-offs, it has
emerged.
It comes as
councillors are due to decide on Monday whether or not to issue a new licence
for a zoo where almost 500 animals have died within four years.
The deaths at South
Lakes Safari Zoo in Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria, were revealed in a report to
members of Barrow Borough Council's licensing regulatory committee.
THE FULL STORY: Harrowing animal death list revealed ahead of crunch meeting over zoo licence application
A HARROWING death list reveals for the first time how almost 500 animals - including tigers, lion cubs and giraffes - have died at a popular zoo in less than four years, the Evening Mail can exclusively reveal in a special investigation.
Poor management , emaciation and hypothermia are among the reasons for the above-average
mortality rate at South Lakes Safari Zoo in Dalton, while trauma and infighting caused by overstocked pens also account for the demise of scores of exhibits.
The shocking log, which provides a distressing catalogue of injuries and illnesses endured by a wide range of species at the site between December 2013 and September last year, has been branded the worst seen in 60 years by national campaigning charity the Captive Animal Protection Society.
It forms part of a huge bundle of documents disclosed to Barrow Borough Council which will be assessed by council bosses ahead of their decision on whether to approve either of two separate applications for a zoo licence at a crunch meeting for the business on March 6.
Maddie Taylor, Caps campaigns officer
Calls for Cumbrian zoo to be shut after 486 animals die in four years
Inspectors have called for the owner of a zoo to face prosecution after the revelation that nearly 500 animals in its care had died in less than four years.
A damning report into conditions at South Lakes Safari zoo in Cumbria, which is home to more than 1,500 animals, found that 486 inhabitants had died of causes including emaciation and hypothermia between December 2013 and September 2016.
One African spurred tortoise named Goliath died after being electrocuted by electric fencing, while the decomposing body of a squirrel monkey was discovered behind a radiator. The zoo had a death rate of about 12% of its animals a year.
Zoo inspectors said they had found “significant problems caused by overcrowding, poor hygiene, poor nutrition, lack of suitable animal husbandry and a lack of any sort of developed veterinary care”.
They said the local authority should consider prosecuting the zoo’s founder, David Gill, under the Animal Welfare Act for allowing animals to suffer, adding that the entire blame for the attraction’s problems could be laid at his door.
Last June, the zoo was fined £255,000 for
Millionaire zoo boss slammed over animal deaths had fling with 16-year-old zookeeper and was stabbed by jealous husband when caught in bed with his wife
The owner of a zoo where 500 animals have died in just five years boasted on Facebook claiming to be a 'huge success' even though a keeper was mauled to death by a tiger in 2013.
David Gill, 55, owner of the South Lakes Zoo in Dalton-on-Furness, Cumbria, declared he had good fortune because he 'always pursued a different style of management to the norm'.
Zoo inspectors to face questions from MPs over 500 animal deaths
Zoo inspectors have been called to give evidence to MPs after it was revealed that nearly 500 animals died at a zoo in Cumbria in less than four years.
This week a damning report on conditions at South Lakes Safari zoo in Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria, which is home to more than 1,500 animals, found that 486 inhabitants had died of causes including emaciation and hypothermia between December 2013 and September 2016.
Zoo inspectors recommended that the local authority refuse to renew the zoo’s licence and that the zoo’s founder, David Gill, be prosecuted under the Animal Welfare Act for allowing animals to suffer. The council will decide whether or not to renew the zoo’s licence on Monday.
The inspectors, who are appointed by the government, found “overcrowding, poor hygiene, poor nutrition, lack of suitable animal husbandry and a lack of any sort of developed veterinary care” when they visited in January.
Andrew Rosindell, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on zoos and aquariums, called on the government to launch an inquiry into how conditions at the zoo had been allowed to get so bad.
“I’d like to know what’s gone wrong here,” he said. “We in this country have a very proud record of conservation and animal welfare in zoos and what we are seeing in this zoo goes against what happens generally across the country.”
He said licensing bodies should attend his parliamentary group to “explain why this has been allowed to happen and explain
If we really love animals, we should close all zoos now
For a lifelong animal lover, zoo owner David Gill appears to have developed an unfortunate habit of loving creatures to extinction. Even before he came to national notice, after fresh reports of negligence, and 12% mortality, at his private zoo, South Lakes, his autobiography suggests his charges have long been unusually prone to escaping and/or dying. It is more than 10 years, for instance, since Australian authorities fined him $10,000 in absentia – he having “fled” the country – for breaches of permit conditions at his Queensland zoo, including the unreported death of a lemur and a cheetah on the loose. “Five witnesses,” said one newspaper report, “described the situation as one of panic and stated Gill was chasing the animal on a motorbike.”
The blurb for his self-published, Nine Lives: One Man’s Insatiable Journey Through Love, Life and Near Death, only hints at the suffering this has caused Gill. “He risked his own life attempting to save a drowning kangaroo and again when he walked into a raging inferno to save his own lemurs. Tragedy struck when he had to shoot his own rhino in a mercy killing.” In fact, it was the misfortune of the escaped white rhino, Zimba, to have been inadequately enclosed, for which Gill was fined £10,000.
Gill’s book was written before a 24-year-old employee, Sarah McClay, was killed, in 2013, by a tiger, after which the zoo was fined £297,500, plus £150,000 costs, the judge saying the accident was “as tragic a
If we really love
animals, we should SUPPORT zoos now.
Recently, and really
for a long time, there has been a group of very vocal anti-zoo people.
They aren’t just
anti-bad zoos, but rather are anti-ALL zoos.
We believe they mean
well but are just going about it the wrong way.
To give a bit of
background, these people are what we typically call “Animal Rights Activists”.
When most people
hear that term, they think it refers to anyone who loves animals and want
animals to live happy, healthy lives… but it does not.
There is a big
difference between Animal Rights and Animal Welfare.
Disgruntled employee
tried to blackmail Twycross Zoo boss out of £25,000
A disgruntled
employee tried to blackmail Twycross Zoo's Chief Executive out of £25,000 with
threats to "ruin" her reputation, a court heard.
Dillon Archibald
(21), who was jailed for eight months, sent a menacing letter threatening to
expose information about the death of three primates at the zoo.
Leicester Crown
Court was told that two incidents resulting in the demise of two chimpanzees
and a bonobo were already public knowledge and the zoo was exonerated from
blame following official inquiries.
Twycross Zoo CEO,
Sharon Redrobe, alerted the police and the defendant, an assistant ranger, was
later arrested.
In Zoos We Trust (In
A Post-Truth World)
Conspiracy theories
and beliefs based on outsider information and emotion over evidence-based
research has become the norm – so much so that Oxford Dictionaries chose
“post-truth” as its International Word of the Year in 2016.
What Steps can we
take to Rebuild this Trust?
What does this mean
for large, science-based organizations such as zoos and aquariums? We’ve seen
growing concern about animal welfare in a society that also devalues the
messages of these traditionally-trusted organizations. America’s Association of
Zoos and Aquariums‘ own research, as presented at the 2016 Annual Conference,
has indicated a slight downturn in the American confidence of its member
institutions.
To sustain our
missions and continue to provide q
THE GREAT ESC-APE
Apes, penguins and monkeys among the animals that escaped from Cork’s Fota
Wildlife Park
Some of the escapes
were witnessed by large crowds of visitors, who came into close contact with
the animals, according to documented reports from staff.
On January 11, 2015,
Stevie Wonder escaped from an island enclosure at least three times.
A member of staff
reported in a written record of the escape: “Crowds of visitors were watching.
He’s getting very bold and obviously not frightened of people and is getting
very close to them.”
The report also
stated that the animal had run ov
Komodo National
Park: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
Komodo National Park
is being celebrated on its 37th anniversary with a Google Doodle.
“Komodo National
Park in Indonesia sits at the center of an archipelago and consists mainly of 3
volcanic islands. The landscape is unlike any other, ranging from dry savanna
conditions to lush forests, all surrounded by white-sand beaches and bright blue
water,” Google says. “Despite the plethora of native wildlife, Komodo dragons
are still what the park is best known for. Thanks to National Parks like
Komodo, wildlife can continue to thrive largely uninterrupted by human
interference.”
Here’s what you need
to know about Komodo National Park and Komodo dragons:
WHAT DO YOU CALL THE
LAST OF A SPECIES?
When Robert Webster,
a physician in Jasper, Georgia, died, in 2004, he was survived by his wife of
more than half a century, two daughters, four grandchildren, and a single word,
which he had coined himself: “endling,” defined as the last person, animal, or
other individual in a lineage. According to Bruce Erickson, a former colleague
of Webster’s, the story of “endling” began at a convalescent center in suburban
Atlanta in the mid-nineteen-nineties, when a patient told Webster that she was
the only surviving member of her family. Unaware of any word that could
describe her situation, Webster saw an opportunity for neologism. In
conversation with Erickson and others, he considered candidates including
“ender,” “lastoline” (a contraction of “last of the line”), and “yatim” (Arabic
for “orphan”), but eventually settled on “endling,” which he liked because its
suffix recalled both “line” and “lineage.” But when the doctor submitted his
invention to Merriam-Webster—“It cracked me up that someone would just call up
the dictionary and propose a new word,” Erickson told me—he was informed that
to meri
10 Behind-the-Scenes
Secrets of Zoos
Zoos are a
constantly evolving workplace. Over the past 50 years, exhibits have gotten
increasingly naturalistic, diets for certain species have become more
standardized, and captive breeding programs have turned into nationwide
campaigns. Yet if one thing’s remained constant, it’s the fact that keeping the
animals in our zoos both happy and healthy requires a great deal of time,
coordination, expense, and old-fashioned willpower. It’s not an easy job, but
most zookeepers say they wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Crocodile stoned to
death at Tunisia zoo
A group of visitors
at a Tunisia zoo has stoned a crocodile to death, authorities in the capital
said on Wednesday, denouncing the “savage” act.
The municipality of
Tunis posted gory pictures on Facebook of the dead animal’s head next to what
appeared to be a bloodied paving slab and another large rock.
“A group of visitors
to the zoo threw stones at the head of a crocodile, causing internal
haemorrhage that killed it,” it said.
The municipality
said the act at the Belvedere Zoo in central Tunis was “savage behaviour”.
Beloved hippopotamus
'Gustavito' beaten to death at El Salvador zoo
Read more
The animal died
after being hit on the head by two large rocks late on Tuesday afternoon, Amor
Ennaifer, a vet at the zoo, told AFP.
“It’s terrible. You
cannot imagine what animals endure from some visitors,” he said.
“Citizens leave
waste and plastic bags … They throw stones at lions and hippos.”
Ennaifer said the
zoo had signs and guards but this was not enough, especially during school
holidays.
“There are more than
150 species in the zoo. We
Thanks to TCM, large
numbers of pangolins are smuggled to China from Southeast Asia
In the past couple of weeks, two people became
infamous online for posting photos of themselves eating pangolin meat. The
public flooded their accounts with insults and the pair were soon detained by
the police
○ In China, pangolins are extremely endangered. They
are a second-class protected animal in the country, but are still being killed
on a huge scale for food and medicine, because of traditional beliefs
○ A vast black market for pangolins exists between
China and neighboring countries, and fighting the trade requires more
cooperative efforts from multiple departments
Claws out over South
Africa's export of lion bones
In a statement
issued on Wednesday‚ Panthera‚ the global wild cat conservation organisation‚
called the quota “arbitrary and potentially devastating for wild lion and
critically endangered tiger populations” and have called on the department to
institute an immediate moratorium on lion bone exports.
The bones are a
response to the growing demand from an Asian market that has grown
exponentially since 2007‚ when lion bones took the place of increasingly rare
tiger bones.
Panthera claimed
that the department has agreed to institute a quota of 800 skeleton export
permits per year - but‚ early in February‚ the department said that the export
quota "was not yet finalised". A text message sent to spokesman Albi
Modise to check if the situation had changed in the last month
RHINO RESOURCE CENTER – NEWSLETTER 46 – MARCH 2016
Edited by Dr Kees Rookmaaker
Dolphin activists
stand against new aquarium in Busan Posted
In the wake of the
death of a bottlenose dolphin in Ulsan, Busan's brand-new aquarium project is
drawing criticism from animal rights activists.
A mega-sized ocean
park, called Osiria, scheduled to open in 2019, will house an ocean hotel and
an aquarium for dolphins, according to the city's website.
According to News1,
an online news outlet, Goldsea Korea Investment which owns Geoje Sea World on
Geoje Island, is one of the project partners, worrying activists further. Since
it opened, six dolphins have died at Geoje Sea World, according to News1.
"Approving a
new aquarium without measures ensuring quality of life for dolphins is
inhumane," said Cho Yak-gol, a member of animal rights activist group Hot
Pink Dolphins. "The government should act soon."
Bottlenose dolphins
are on the list of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which allows countries to trade dolphins but
under strict regulations. In Korea, bottlenose dolphins mostly come from Japan,
and the importer only needs permission from the Ministry of Env
Providence Zoo’s
Conservation Director is a Rare Breed
Lou Perrotti spends
much of his time working to protect threatened and endangered species. It’s
surprising then when one discovers the lifelong Rhode Islander could be the
last of his kind.
The 52-year-old West
Greenwich resident is Roger Williams Park Zoo’s director of conservation
programs. Every zoo in the country has a similar position, but most, if not
all, are filled by people with at least a master’s degree. On Perrotti’s office
wall, if he chose to display it, would hang a diploma from North Kingstown High
School.
“I’m just a
high-school graduate with no formal education,” Perrotti said during a recent
interview with ecoRI News. “Most people in my position have a Ph.D. I’m lucky.
I went from washing dishes to saving species.”
His journey didn’t
follow such a direct path, but the trip has been interesting, and it’s far from
over.
Perrotti began his
employment at the Providence zoo two decades ago, working as a zookeeper for
the first nine years. But his interest in animals, especially snakes, began has
a young child. He grew up watching Mutual of Omaha’s “Wild Kingdom” and reading
National Geographic. His parents allowed him to keep and study “crazy things,”
like snakes.
Today he describes
his responsibilities at the Roger Williams Park Zoo as such: “My job is to
utilize the zoo’s resources, staffing, space and means to protect wildlife
habitat.”
Perrotti is good at
his job. For instance, he is a leading expert on the plight of the American
burying beetle. The insect once populated 35 states, the District of Columbia
and large parts of Canada. Today, the burying beetle can only be found in five
states, including Rhode Island, and in one Canadian province. In fact, Block
Island is the species’s only natural home on the East Coast.
American burying b
Perth Zoo denies
'elephant yoga class' abuse claims
A zoo in Australia
has denied claims that it mistreats its elephants by involving them in a yoga
class with paying visitors.
For $125 (£78)
people can do Perth Zoo's Exercise for Elephants programme - a 45-minute
workout with a personal trainer that includes 15 minutes of interacting with
the elephants.
The zoo has released
footage of the daily activities of the elephants to try to refute allegations
that the exercise programme is abusive.
Zookeepers said the
elephants were not asked to do "tricks" for visitors or "to do
anything that they weren't capable of doing and that they don't enjoy".
One zookeeper, Jody,
said the claims were "extremely upsetting to those of us who dedicate our
lives to love and care for these animals" and "completely
untrue".
"We are a
conservation organisation and
Zoo Science for
Keepers and Aquarists
Smartwatch implants
help track elephant sleep patterns
Humans are obsessed
with sleep. We've not getting enough of it, and the tech world is flooded with
wearables that confirm this fact. Now, scientists hope using activity monitors
to study how and why animals sleep will help us get a better night's rest.
Professor Paul
Manger from Wits University and his colleagues are using a tracker called an
Actiwatch to study elephant sleep patterns in Botswana. They removed the
watches' bands, insulated them with electrical tape and biologically inert wax,
then attached them to the elephants' trunks. The trunk is the most mobile
appendage, Manger said, and if it's still for more than five minutes it's
reasonable to assume the animal is asleep.
Using the loggers
and GPS collars, researchers found the elephants slept for two hours per day on
average. They slept standing up most of the time, only lying down for about an
hour every three or four days. This is likely the only time they were able to
go into REM sleep, which means elephants possibly don't dream on a daily basis.
WOW! REALLY? IN THE
LAST 25 YEARS, THE BUDAPEST ZOO IS THE ONLY PLACE WHERE WOMBATS REPRODUCE IN
EUROPE
In the latest
installment of our new (semi)regular segment, Wow! Really?, we examine
little-known or unexpected facts about Hungary and Hungarian culture. Today, we
will look for wombats in the 150 year-old Zoo and Botanical Garden of Hungary.
First of all, let’s
have a look at the iconic and historical Zoo of Hungary. The Budapest Zoo and
Botanical Garden is one of the oldest zoological gardens not only in Hungary
but in the world: it was opened to the general public on 9 August 1866. Plans for
the zoo’s foundation date back to 1820-30s, but the 1848-49 Revolution and War
of Independence and the era of absolutism that followed did not favour the idea
of founding a zoo in Hungary. Finally, a group took the initiative, and in 1866 the first Hungarian Zoo opened its
gates to the sound of the midday bell on August 9th. In the last 150 years it
has had to close periodically for reconstruction, but the Zoo of Budapest has n
In pics:
elephant-related entertainments in Thailand
Elephant Wars: A
Story of 'Animal Arms Race' Between Berlin's Zoos
When the city of
Berlin was divided during the Cold War, the two city zoos, located in the
western and eastern parts of the metropolis, faced off in an "animal arms
race."
Three-Month Old
Polar Bear Cub Living in Berlin Zoo Finally Gets a Name (VIDEO)
As a result of its
division during the Cold War, the German capital now has two zoos — Tierpark
Berlin and the Berlin Zoological Garden. According to a book titled The Zoo of
the Others, penned by German journalist Jan Mohnhaupt, just as the Western and Eastern
blocs were locked in a global standoff during the second half of the 20th
century, these two establishments were engaged in an 'arms race' of their ow
Dolphin show changes
are coming to SeaWorld Orlando
SeaWorld Orlando
announced today that it will close its long-running Blue Horizons dolphin show
at the end of the month, replacing it with a new production that will debut the
next day.
In Dolphin Days,
"the audience will learn more about the individual personalities of each
Atlantic bottlenose dolphin while witnessing the special bond they share with
their trainers," according to SeaWorld's press release. That sounds a lot
more like a straight-forward educational experience than the current Blue
Horizons show, which used a mythical theme, Cirque du Soleil-style acrobatics,
and a musical narrative to complement the dolphins' behaviors.
Blue Horizons opened
in 2005 at SeaWorld Orlando. The show ran for five years in San Diego, before b
'First Ranieri and
now this' - Mercury readers blast decision to move elephants from Twycross
Mercury readers have
criticised Twycross Zoo's decision to move their all-female herd of elephants
to another zoo.
Zoo bosses announced
the controversial decision yesterday, and said that currently there were no
plans to replace them.
The move is intended
to allow the animals to breed and help ensure the long-term survival of this
VENOM’S HEALING
TOUCH
Snakes. Spiders.
Centipedes; the list of venomous animals is long and diverse. Indeed, thousands
of deaths and hospitalizations can be attributed to venomous wildlife. But the
tides may be turning—research is showing that venom can heal as well. Venom works
in highly desirable ways. Venoms affect the body in extremely precise ways,
work almost instantly, and tend to be stable. But before you stick your hand in
a box of funnel-web spiders, understand that the path from venom to cure is
complicated.
Interest in the
healing properties of venom dates to antiquity. Eating viper flesh was seen as
a cure for a wide variety of ills. In the nineteenth century venom cures fell
out of fashion, but in the 1920s and 1930s, venom studies re-emerged. The venom
of snakes, including Russell’s Viper and Indian cobras, was analyzed for use in
treating diverse conditions including hemophilia and chronic pain. An early
class of hypertension medications known a
MUMBAI ZOO: SNEAK
PEEK INTO BYCULLA’S HUMBOLDT PENGUINS ENCLOSURE
Notwithstanding all
the controversies, Mumbai's Byculla Zoo is ready to throw open its gates for
the new enclosure for the Humboldt Penguins. The swanky new house of the birds
will be inaugurated by Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.
The exact date of
the public opening is currently shrouded under the uncertainty over the mayoral
polls. The original date for the opening of the exhibit was scheduled for March
6. The outgoing mayor Snehal Ambekar has written to BMC chief Ajoy Mehta, asking
him to make necessary arrangements for inauguration. Mirror brings you a sneak
peek into the new world of penguins.
Tunis zoo to close
temporarily after visitors stone crocodile
A zoo in the
Tunisian capital is to close temporarily after visitors stoned a crocodile to
death.
The Belvedere Zoo
posted pictures of the bloodied reptile, with a paving stone and rock next to
its head, on its Facebook page on Wednesday.
It died from an
internal haemorrhage, the Tunis municipality said.
More guards and
environmental police will be employed at the site after "emergency
cleaning and maintenance works", the environment ministry said.
Measures would be
introduced to manage visitors entering and exiting, it said.
The zoo has long
faced problems
Zoo slammed for
'lying' about hippo stabbing death
El Salvador's main
zoo is in trouble for claiming a hippo died of a brutal stabbing attack by
unidentified people, when an autopsy finally revealed the animal in fact died
of possible poor care.
Gustavito, a
15-year-old hippopotamus who had been in the National Zoological Park in
eastern San Salvador almost all his life, died February 26 after suffering for
days.
The government,
giving information from the zoo, said the hippo had been stabbed and beaten by
unidentified assailants four days earlier, resulting in internal bleeding.
That account
triggered shock and revulsion in the Central American nation and was relayed in
international media reports.
But the autopsy
revealed no puncture marks in the animal's 2.5-centimeter (1-inch) thick skin,
state prosecutor Mario Salazar revealed on Thursday.
Instead a detailed
forensic examination showed Gustavito had apparently died from pulmonary
hemorrhaging -- acute bl
Wildlife’s Unsung
Heroes
While the numbers of
extinct, endangered, vulnerable and threatened species of animals and birds are
on a steady rise, people across the globe are only prattling about the muddle
associated with wildlife. At a time when the loss of wildlife and wildlife-rich
grasslands is rapidly growing, the problem often goes unnoticed. But, there are
individuals who are making a difference by contributing in their own little
ways to challenge the wildlife problems.
We are all aware of
the famous PETA endorsers like Amy Jackson, Imran Khan, Jacqueline Fernandez,
Sunny Leone, John Abraham, Shilpa Shetty and Lara Dutta, among others, who have
shelled out a great deal towards wildlife while keeping themselves away from
the media glare and helping raise awareness about the plight of the wild as
well as the street animals. However, there are other unknown faces who are no
celebrities and have been working for years now to help the wil
Next Group of ‘Alalā
Preparing for Release
Reintroduction
efforts for the ʻalalā, the native Hawaiian crow, began in December of last
year with the release of five ʻAlalā into a Hawai‘i Island State Natural Area
Reserve.
Sadly, three birds
did not survive, and the remaining two were brought back into captivity.
Members of The
‘Alalā Project said that the reintroduction of captive-raised birds without the
benefit of experienced ‘alalā already in the wild is very challenging.
Biologists around
the world said releases like this are usually marked with fits and starts, and
that reintroduction success is not usually seen before multiple releases.
Nēnē, the native
Hawaiian goose, once had a population of only
Proposed bill to
limit aquarium fish collecting advances
Lawmakers have
advanced a bill that would limit aquarium fish collecting.
"Some folks are
saying it's going to shut down the industry, it's not, but what it will do is
make sure that these reefs have these beautiful fish," State
Representative Kaniela Ing said.
Rep. Ing introduced
House Bill 1457. He says the measure was prompted by tourism officials and
environmental protection agencies after they noticed less colorful fish when
snorkeling.
"This bill will
limit entry, so the folks that are currently doing it could still do it. They
won't lose their jobs, but they just cannot have more people coming in and
taking fish," Rep. Ing said.
According to Rep.
Ing, the measure is based off input gathered from three-years of work on the
aquarium trade issue.
He says studies show
aquarium reef fish populations are sustainable at current levels, but would
decline if more businesses enter the industry.
"The fish that
are missing are the ones that are taken by the aquarium trade," For the
Fishes, executive director Rene Umberger said. "We need to increase the
most beautiful and important fish that the trade targets, that's why these
bills are so specific."
Umberger says she
supports bills that aim to protect
SCIENTIST STATEMENT
SUPPORTING RESEARCH IN MARINE MAMMAL FACILITIES
Some of you may be
aware the Vancouver Park Board is looking to ban the continued study of whales
and dolphins at our marine science centre due to pressure from animal rights
critics. They cite that there is no value in having whales and dolphins at a marine
science facility. Below is a signed statement by preeminent research scientists
from around the world who disagree.
April 8, 2016
We, the undersigned
members of the scientific community, wish to acknowledge the importance of
marine mammals in zoos, aquariums, and marine mammal facilities, and express
our support for research conducted at these facilities. We know that critical
research findings have come from studies of dolphins and related species in
managed care environments, which have provided the vast majority of what is
known about their perception, physiology, and cognition. This includes both
basic facts about these animals (e.g., echolocation and how it works[i], diving
physiology[ii], energetics[iii], gestation period[iv], hearing range[v],
signature whistles[vi], and so forth) and applied information such as how they
react to environmental stressors[vii] and how to diagnose and treat their
diseases.[viii]
The benefits of such
research extend well beyond the animals in zoological facilities. The
interpretation of data from field studies is directly informed by what we have
learned about the cognition and physiology of these animals in managed care
settings. Moreover, because science is inherently a collaborative endeavor,
research findings from these animals contribute to our collective unde
What drives the
demand for rhino horns?
Reports in February
that the South African government was considering lifting the 2009 domestic
moratorium on trade in rhino horns brought into focus something that is not
necessarily obvious to those outside of that country: there currently exist in
South Africa numerous large stockpiles of rhino horns, nearly all legal, all
potentially extremely valuable.
Legal rhino horn and
ivory trade should benefit Africa, says Swaziland government
Read more
Farming Rhinos
Some stockpiles come
from rhinos who have died of natural causes, others are contraband seized at
customs or confiscated from poachers, and many arise from dehorning programmes
undertaken by both government and individuals. Rhino farmers in South Africa dehorn
their rhinos to discourage poaching and therefore protect the endangered
species, but breeding and dehorning rhinos also creates a potential cash crop.
Conserved, inventoried, often micro-chipped and secured in strong rooms and
safes, rhino horns are stockpiled largely because of their future market value.
That future value rests on an assumption that the current high demand for rhino
horn, predominantly for use in Vietnamese medicine, will continue indefinitely,
and cannot be overcome or countered. That assumption itself rests in part on
characterising the demand for rhino horns as “traditional”.
No one disputes that
medicinal and recreational use of rhino horn, mostly in Vietnam, is directly
responsible for high levels of poaching in southern African countries, which
continues to threaten the species with extinction. But while it is true that rhino
products are mentioned in a variety of traditional Vietnamese medicine texts,
the scale of the Vietnamese market has risen hugely over the past 15 years:
this demand is a modern phenomenon. Influenced in part by rumours of a
prominent senior government official being cured, sick and dying cancer
sufferers and their families are directly targeted by unscrupulous vendors. In
addition over the past decade and a h
Ark of endangered
species on the brink in Yemen
In the besieged city
of Taiz, zookeeper and sub-manager Showky al-Haj is desperately trying to save
281 animals, which are on the brink of starvation.
Many of the zoo's
species are endangered, including 28 Arabian leopards, which could number as
few as 45 in the wild.
Additionally, the
zoo hosts 20 Barbary lions thought to be descended from the ones gifted to
Yemen by Ethiopian Emperor Emperor Haile Selassie in 1953. Today the species is
considered extinct in the wild.
For nearly two years
the Taiz Zoo has deteriorated under the pressure of Yemen's civil war. An
international coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, has imposed a sea blockade on the
country targeting Houthi forces. It has resulted in a widespread humanitarian and
environmental catastrophe.
"Before the war
the animals used to eat and we used to receive the money and the salaries and
we got to breed many animals like the Arabian leopard that is endangered…
everything was great until the war came in the beginning of 2015," says
al-Hajj.
"It couldn't
get any worse, [the government] they couldn't provide anything so they stopped
supplying, which led to the death of many of the animals. 11 lions, six
leopards, most of the Arabian Oryx that are endangered, and most of the birds
and other animals too."
To the rescue
The Taiz Zoo is
being sustained thanks to the initiative of Kim-Michelle Broderick, a British
theatre director, and actress, who has volunteered tirelessly to save the zoo's
population.
She has lead the
rescue effort since becoming aware of
Risky roundup: Navy
dolphins to help capture Mexican porpoises
U.S. Navy dolphins
trained in San Diego may soon be flown to Mexico to round up and capture
endangered vaquita porpoises.
The plan is
described as a rescue operation in the Sea of Cortez but animal advocates are
calling it a risky roundup.
Vaquita porpoises
are the most endangered marine mammal on the plant, according to a recent
survey in the northern Sea of Cortez, the only place where vaquita can be
found.
“Based on the data
we think there are only about 30 vaquita remaining,” said Barbara Taylor, a
NOAA marine biologist based in La Jolla.
Illegal gillnet
fishing in the Sea of Cortez is killing off vaquitas at an alarming rate.
“We have had a two
year ban on all gillnets in the area with the fisherman being paid not to fish
and we are still seeing this decline going on,” said Taylor, who participated
in the most recent vaquita survey in the summer of 2016.
Poachers use
gillnets to catch totoaba, an endangered fish sold for its swim bladder on the
Chinese black market.
“The draw of the
swim bladder is that it is used to make your skin look more youthful in soups.
So, it's actually cut up and used in soups,” Taylor said.
Marine biologists at
NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla and an international team
of scientists are working on a plan to save the vaquita from extinction.
“We have to find
them. We have to get a net around an animal that avoids boats. So, it’s going
to be a very tall order to be able to capture them,” according to Taylor.
The plan involves
using lightweight nets to capture up to 10 of the 30 remaining vaquita and
hopefully establish a captive-breeding program near San Felipe.
“They are using some
very specialized nets brought from the Netherlands. When the animals hit the
nets they can actually come up to the surface and breathe,” Taylor said.
There are only six
existing species of porpoise. Some have been held in captivity but others can
stress out and die during a capture attempt.
“We don’t know what
vaquita are going to be like and we won’t know until we try. If one stressed
out and died during the capture process – whic
Thai Officials Deny
the Re-opening of Tiger Temple
Thailand’s
Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plants Conservation has dismissed a
claim by the World Animal Protection Thailand (WAPT) that it has granted
permission for the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi to reopen it’s zoo.
In its official
complaint to the department, WAPT alleged that Tiger Temple or Wat Pha Luang Ta
Bua Yanasampanno was permitted to open a public zoo in April last year and to
operate under the name of Tiger Temple Co Ltd.
It then asked the
department to revise the zoo permit, voicing concern over the attempt to reopen
Tiger Temple for tourism.
However the
department director-general Mr Thanya Netithammakul denied the claim saying
that Tiger Temple was permitted to build structures that will be used in zoo.
He said under the
existing laws any juristic person which is qualified can apply for permit to
build a public zoo if it has exact location.
The department will
then appoint a committee to look through the application if it has required
qualifications.
The zoo permit is
valid for five years, he said.
In the case of Tiger
Temple Co Ltd, he said the company has nothing in connection with the Wat Pha
Luang Ta Bua Yanasampanno or Tiger Temple and the land which it planned as zoo
is not in the temple area.
Instead it is a land
which the company legally acquired.
But he said if the
company wanted to bring in wild animals to the public zoo, it still needs to
apply fo
Caught between
custom and conservation
Tirumala temple
wants to breed Small Indian Civet for perfume, but A.P. Forest Department seeks
control
The custom at Sri
Venkateswara temple at Tirumala, of using a fragrance derived from the Small
Indian Civet in the deity’s worship, faces a challenge as the Tirumala Tirupati
Devasthanams (TTD) and the A.P. Forest Department remain at loggerheads on captive
breeding of the animal.
The civet is caught
in a decade-long row over supply of its glandular ‘punugu’ secretion that
weighs less than a gram.
The yellow substance
from its perineal gland gets encrusted when dry and is ejected when the animal
rubs against a hard surface.
The fragrance is
used for ‘abhishekam’ of Lord Venkateswara. The temple has a ‘Punugu Ginne
Seva’ (offering in a vessel), where select devotees can touch the civet pooja
vessel. The secretion is mixed with gi
Gazipur safari park
staffer hospitalised after attack by deer
Officials said
Keeper Rokon Uz Zaman was attacked by a male Sambar as soon as he opened the
cage.
"The deer
attacked Rokon soon after he opened the cage to feed him. Both his hands have
sustained fractures," the park's Acting Coordinator Md Shahabuddin told
bdnews24.com.
Rokon is now being
treated at Dhaka's National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedic
Rehabilitation, commonly known as the 'Pongu Hospital'.
Quoting doctors,
Shahabuddin said he has gone through multiple surgeries and needs more time to
recover.
The senior park
official said that Sam
China builds first
'bird airport' to attract feathered friends
At first glance,
birds and airports do not seem like a particularly harmonious combination. Our
feathered friends generally don't feel too comfortable living between runways
and the wings of their (very) distant giant relatives. But in China, this is
about to change with the creation of the "Lingang Bird Sanctuary."
This
"airport" will not have any of the usual aircraft noise, and it will
not have barren tarmac runways. It will be solely for the use of migrating
birds in the peace and quiet of nature.
McGregor Coxall,
designers and landscape architects based in Australia, China, and England, came
up with the plans. They won an international design competition that was
initiated and co-financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Tianjin
Economic and Technological Development Area (TEDA), which is located close to
Tianjin, China. This port city is home to the project.
The idea behind the
catchy "airport" project is actually to create a giant nature
reserve. But since this pilot project is happening right on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway
(EAAF), a key migration route for birds, the term "Bird Airport"
seems appropriate. Fifty million migratory birds make use of this flyway every
year - and they are very likely to use the planned oasis in Tianjin for a
stopover, before they continue their journey. These birds cover huge distances.
The EAAF crosses 22 countries, among them China, Japan, New Zealand, Indonesia,
Thailand, Russia, and the USA (Alaska). Some birds fly more than 11,000
kilometers, and go ten days without nourishment just to make it to Tianjin.
"Birds'
migration routes are a wonder of the natural world," says Adrian McGregor,
director and founder of McGregor
China's first killer
whale breeding base put into operation in Guandong
Following a
comprehensive review, Twycross Zoo has announced today (1st March 2017) that it
will find a new home for its all-female herd of Asian elephants, which will
allow the animals to breed and help ensure the long-term survival of this
endangered species.
Twycross Zoo is
working in conjunction with European Endangered Species Breeding Programmes
(EEP) to arrange the transfer and the receiving zoo and timescales will be
announced as plans progress.
Through the zoo’s
Strategic Animal Collection Planning and its work alongside the EEP, Twycross
Zoo regularly assesses the species in its care and their potential for
breeding.
Asian elephants are
endangered in the wild, where they are threatened by illegal hunting and
habitat destruction. Captive breeding of this endangered species by zoos helps
to ensure that there are genetically healthy, self-sustaining populations which
can act as insurance against the possible future loss of wild populations
Frogs have unique
ability to see colour in the dark
The night vision of
frogs and toads appears to be superior to that of all other animals. They have
the ability to see colour even when it is so dark that humans are not able to
see anything at all. This has been shown in a new study by researchers from Lund
University in Sweden.
Most vertebrates,
including humans, have two types of visual cells located in the retina, namely
cones and rods. The cones enable us to see colour, but they usually require a
lot of light and therefore stop working when it gets dark, in which case the rods
take over so that we can at least find our way home, albeit in black and white.
In toads and frogs
the rods are a bit special, however. It was previously known that toads and
frogs are unique in having rods with two different sensitivities. This has not
been found in other vertebrates, and it is also the reason why researchers have
long suspected that frogs and toads might be able to see colour also in
low-light conditions. The new study was first in proving this to be true, and
the results exceeded all expectations.
“It’s amazing that
these animals can actually see colour in extreme darkness, down to the absolute
threshold of the visual system. These results were unexpected”, says Professor
of Sensory Biology Almut Kelber at the Faculty of Science, Lund University.
It was during the
third of three experiments that the researchers discovered that frogs are able
to use their rods to distinguish colour in extreme darkness. The researchers
studied the frogs in a situation that is as serious as it is common, namely,
when frogs need to find their way out in case they are trapped in conditions of
complete darkness. This is potentially an everyday occurrence, taking place in
dark dens and passageways on the ground. In such instances, finding the exit
becomes crucial, which also means that the frog is inclined to make use of any
sensory information that is available.
In the other
experiments the researchers studied to what extent frogs and toads use their
colour vision when searching for a mate or hunting for food. The results showed
that the animals stop using their c
Thought for
Behaviour: Negative Reinforcement… A Go or a No Go?
I grew in a
household together with my brother. We are actually only 1,5 year difference.
We lived in a village where we could play outside. It was that time when you
jumped in mudpools etc. Best time of our lives. But.. you probably know how it
goes when 2 brothers grow up. Yes we fought quite often but surprisingly that
completely changed around the age of 12-13. We started to develop similar
interest what helped our relationship what has been an amazing journey after..
While that problem was solved I was dealing with something completely personal.
I had this insane fear of needles. I don’t know exactly why but the reason
might have been because the doctor didn’t give us stickers or candy back then.
This actually went
to a point where I didn’t want to go to a doctor anymore. I was frightened
about needles. For me not going was the highest reinforcement I could
potentially provide myself. Over the years I started to discover that sometimes
for my own health it is necessary to get samples or help with potential higher
levels of pain. But o my was I happy when that needle left again. Happy when
that needle was gone so my body would be a bit more relax for what would come
after.
If we take this in
perspective, I would connect this bad experience with the doctor. What means I
wouldn’t go to him anymore what would reinforce
The world's coldest
elephant? Campaigners call for Edmonton's Lucy to head south
Lucy hesitated in
the doorway as she debated whether to leave the warmth of home and venture out
into the sub-zero cold.
Then she plodded
forward, scooping up freshly fallen snow with her trunk and shoving it in her
mouth. Every minute or so, a deep rumbling punctuated the air – a symptom of a
decades-old respiratory problem that forces her to breathe through her mouth.
Zookeepers hovered around her, monitoring her body temperature with an infrared
scanner to ensure she wasn’t getting cold.
For 40 years Lucy’s
life has played out in the 110 acres of the Edmonton Valley Zoo. But beyond the
steel gates and electric fencing of her 2,600 square foot barn, Lucy has become
one of the most controversial elephants in the world.
Some argue Lucy is a
well-adjusted Asian elephant who shares a deep bond with her keepers and
trainers. Others say that – as the only elephant living in a Canadian city
where the mercury at times drops to 20 below zero – she is the prisoner of a
practice whose time has long passed.
“Honestly, there is
no elephant in as bad a situation in the entire world as Lucy is,” said Julie
Woodyer of Zoocheck Canada. Woodyer claims that Lucy is the world’s “the most
northerly elephant” and has been fi
Shortage of
qualified staff hampers animal upkeep
The shortage of
qualified animal keepers in zoos across the country continues to hinder the
proper upkeep of animals.
DN Singh, member
secretary of the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), who was in Dehradun today to
attend the annual conference of Indian Zoos, said most of the animal keepers
were just matriculate and lack of education affected their day-to-day working.
He said, “I believe
that animal keepers should be a zoology graduate. In western countries, animal
keepers are even PhDs. But animal keepers here are just matriculate or senior
secondary at the farthest. In our country, animal keeping is considered a menial
job which is not an opinion for this job in Europe.”
He said the key
posts of director at the zoos continue to be unstable. “Due to routine
postings, directors at the zoos are reshuffled that
What Makes a Dolphin
a Dolphin?
In movies and TV
shows, dolphins are often portrayed as heroes who save humans through
remarkable feats of strength and tenacity. Now dolphins could save the day for
humans in real life, too – with the help of emerging technology that can
measure thousands of proteins and an improved database full of genetic data.
“Dolphins and humans
are very, very similar creatures,” said NIST’s Ben Neely, a member of the
Marine Biochemical Sciences Group and the lead on a new project at the Hollings
Marine Laboratory, a research facility in Charleston, South Carolina that includes
the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as one of its partner
institutions. “As mammals, we share a number of proteins and our bodies
function in many similar ways, even though we are terrestrial and dolphins live
in the water all their lives.”
Neely and his
colleagues have just finished creating a detailed, searchable index of all the
proteins found in the bottlenose dolphin genome. A genome is the complete set
of genetic material present in an organism. Neely’s project is built on years
of marine mammal research and aims to provide a new level of bioanalytical
measurements. The results of this work will aid wildlife biologists, veterinary
professionals and biomedical researchers.
Protein Maps Could
Help Dolphins and Humans
Although a detailed
map of the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) genome was first compiled in
2008, recent technological breakthroughs ena
Rhino sale bombshell
hidden in new draft regulations
It turns out the
two-per-person discussion was a red herring which effectively diverted
attention of the few attending MPs from the fact that this only applied to “a
person from a foreign state”. South Africans wanting to buy or sell rhino horn,
on obtaining a permit, would have no such restriction and could trade and
export as much horn as they pleased. Foreigners owning rhinos could also do so.
Because the
paragraph concerning the two-horn restriction referred to
“a person
contemplated” in another part of the regulations, it was easy to miss the key
point that the “person” referred to was only a foreign national not domiciled
in South Africa or not owning a rhino. No such restriction was placed on
locals.
South Africa has the
greatest number of rhinos in the world and a huge poaching problem. Legalising
trade and export is likely to collapse international attempts to protect
rhinos. If the trade regulations become law, the decline and possible
extinction in the wild of rhinos will be in the interest of rhino breeders, who
will then control the world market.
The back story to
the announcement is that last year the moratorium on sale was challenged by
private sector rhino breeders who won on a technicality. Molewa took the result
on appeal to the Constitutional Court. Then, on February 8 – possibly
anticipating losing the Constitutional Court appeal – she announced new draft
regulations, giving the public a mere 30 days to make representations or
objections.
The effect, if the
regulations become law, is that South Africa will be an almost open market for
trading and even exporting rhino horn. This is a slap in the face for the
overwhelming majority of countries that voted against the trade in horn at the
CITES CoP17 meeting in Gauteng last year and a huge victory for the very few,
extremely wealthy, rhino farmers and potential traders who have been lobbying
Molewa for years.
The draft
regulations seek to justify the trade through the fiction that it may only be
traded for personal purposes, but leaves out what “personal” may mean. In a
lengthy statement on Monday February 27, none of these issues were addressed by
the DEA.
In terms of Article
III of the CITES Convention, as long as the import is “not for commercial
purposes”, import and export permits are allowed. If the purpose is “personal”
there is no limit to the number of specimens involved. There is also the
exception (for residents) allowing for export of personal and household effects
(Article VII). 7
According to
Environmental attorney Cormac Cullinan, “by requiring exports to be for
‘personal purpose’ (whatever that means) the DEA is obviously trying to create
the impression that it is not contravening CITES by permitting trade for
commercial purposes”.
In answer to my
question about the difference between “trade” and “for commercial purposes”
upon which the export regulations would hang, the DEA responded:
“An import permit
can only be issued if the CITES authority of the state of import is satisfied
that the specimen (rhino horn) is not to be used for primarily commercial
purposes.
“Primarily
commercial purposes are defined in a CITES Resolution adopted at the 15th
Conference of the Parties, which req
ANALYSIS: Lies,
damned lies and rhino statistics
A 10% fall in
poaching last year is not the good news it appears to be — especially
considering SA plans to resume its horn trade, writes Tony Carnie
The latest 10% drop
in the national rhino poaching statistics may sound like good news, but it
masks the fact that the decade-long bloodbath has thinned out animal numbers so
deeply that rhinos are no longer such easy meat for poachers.
Poachers now have to
work that much harder to fill the order books for international crime cartels
because the Kruger National Park rhino population has been hammered since 2008.
Also, the target has
shifted away from the Kruger to KwaZulu-Natal, where there has been a
staggering 38% increase in horn poaching over the past year.
Environmental
Affairs Minister Edna Molewa announced on February 27 that 1,054 rhinos were
killed for their horns nationwide during 2016 — compared with 1,175 in 2015.
That adds up to 121
fewer rhinos killed during 2016, or 161 fewer than the record tally of 1,215
rhinos poached in 2014.
But it still adds up
to roughly three rhinos gunned down every 24 hours.
Compare this daily
killing rate with the decade preceding 2008, when annual poaching figures
barely exceeded double-digit figures.
It is true, as
Molewa noted, that rangers and anti-poaching units in the SA’s world-famous
Kruger Park have upped their game to the point that rhino killings dropped by
almost 20% (662 last year compared with 826 in 2015).
Yet is also clear
that the total rhino population in Kruger has dropped. The latest census
suggests there may be roughly 7,200 white rhinos left in Kruger, from about
8,800 in 2015.
It is quite
plausible that the natural birth rate of Kruger rhinos has also been hit hard
by several years of drought, but considering that the park’s white rhino
population stood at more than 10,000 seven years ago, it is clear that numbers
have now been thinned out significantly by the horn poachers.
KwaZulu-Natal
What of
KwaZulu-Natal, the cradle of global rhino conservation?
In the late 1800s,
there were just 50 to 100 Southern white rhinos left in the world (all of them
in the Imfolozi Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal). This tiny remnant population
was multiplied steadily thanks to the conservation work of the former Natal Parks
Board and game rangers like the late Dr Ian Player.
By 2008, when the
continental rhino-killing spree really hit
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New Meetings and Conferences updated Here
New Meetings and Conferences updated Here
If you have anything to add then please email me at elvinhow@gmail.com
I will include it when I get a minute. You know it makes sense.
Recent Zoo Vacancies
Vacancies in Zoos and Aquariums and Wildlife/Conservation facilities around the World
*****
About me
After more than 49 years working in private, commercial and National zoos in the capacity of keeper, head keeper and curator Peter Dickinson started to travel. He sold house and all his possessions and hit the road. He has traveled extensively in Turkey, Southern India and much of South East Asia before settling in Thailand. In his travels he has visited well over 200 zoos and many more before 'hitting the road' and writes about these in his blog http://zoonewsdigest.blogspot.com/
or on Hubpages http://hubpages.com/profile/Peter+Dickinson
Peter earns his living as an independent international zoo consultant, critic and writer. Currently working as Curator of Penguins in Ski Dubai. United Arab Emirates. He describes himself as an itinerant zoo keeper, one time zoo inspector, a dreamer, a traveler, an introvert, a people watcher, a lover, a thinker, a cosmopolitan, a writer, a hedonist, an explorer, a pantheist, a gastronome, sometime fool, a good friend to some and a pain in the butt to others.
"These are the best days of my life"
Peter Dickinson
Independent International Zoo Consultant        |
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