Zooblog |
|
|
News about zoos, wildlife, animals, and ''every living thing of all flesh.'' Contact ZooBlog
Archives
|
Friday, January 11, 2002
The lion shall lie down with the oryx "The spectacular friendship between a lioness and a baby oryx that has had all Kenya talking remains a puzzle for game workers and wildlife experts," reports The Nation of Nairobi. Living in Kenya's Samburu National Reserve, the lioness adopted the oryx after chasing away its mother and even defended it against a leopard attack. The laws of nature were put back in place Sunday when a male lion killed the oryx while the lioness was sleeping. Mastodon discovered in Simi Valley, California "I saw what I think was part of the scapula [shoulder]," Julia Frazier tells the Los Angeles Times. "It was literally just an inch out of the ground. I started picking away at it with an ice pick, and a whole row of teeth began to emerge. I saw these molars that were 5 inches across. I said, 'Please, don't be a cow.' " Tiger injured at India's Chhatbir Zoo An apparent mating brawl Tuesday ended with the serious injury of one of the Chhatbir Zoo's Royal Bengal tigers, reports The Indian Express. ‘‘This tiger was injured a month ago as well," explains zoo wildlife inspector Sukhdev Singh "After it recovered, we again introduced the tiger into the enclosure hoping that it would mix up. But it was seriously injured on Tuesday. We will not introduce this tiger into the enclosure again.’’ Last year, the Express reported that the zoo was facing controversy over the kind of meat fed to its animals, and that the lack of veterinarians and an animal hospital meant the possible closing of the zoo. This dying planet? "Half of all living bird and mammal species will be gone within 200 or 300 years," say a University of Texas at Austin botanist and his son, a National Marine Fisheries Service biologist. The column, by Phillip S. Levin and Donald A. Levin, appears in the January-February issue of American Scientist magazine, but apparently isn't available online. National symbol, smashinal symbol It’s the national bird at the National Zoo. But it won’t be there for long. A new eagle exhibit (to replace the crumbling one built in the 1930s) scheduled to open next year will only be for maimed birds, and the zoo’s resident bald eagle is too fit for it. “It is our duty to take care of this bird all his days,” one anonymous zoo employee complained to The Washington Times. “He has been here forever. And with everything that has gone on in the country since September 11, it is [strange] to get rid of the nation's symbol.” Senior curator John Seidensticker says not to worry: Captain the Bald Eagle will be taken care of. Australian zoos get $75 million overhaul Zoos Victoria, which runs Melbourne Zoo and two others, is making some major changes in its $75 million upgrade. The biggest change may be the most controversial: The Herald Sun reports, “The major change will see public involvement in day-to-day activities, such as animal feeding.” The Herald Sun also reports that the changes come after three years of diminishing attendance. But the oddest line in the article has to be when The Herald Sun calls Zoos Victoria “the nation's premier animal attractions.” Did somebody close the Great Barrier Reef? Zoos unite China and Taiwan—maybe Ah, nothing warms the heart like seeing a love for animals unite two enemies. The zoos in Taipei and Beijing have agreed on an animal exchange program. It’s an unprecedented show of cooperation between Taiwan and China, but political problems still threaten to derail the deal, reports The Taipei Times. Call them Ishmael’s enemies It’s time for the annual controversy over the Makah Tribe’s hunting gray whales. Animal rights groups and environmentalists want the tribe to stop until a comprehensive impact study can be conducted. The National Marine Fisheries Service says the two studies that have already been done are good enough. Here’s The Oregonian’s coverage of last year’s hunt. Thursday, January 10, 2002
Tragedies at Gladys Porter Zoo lead to investigations Gladys Porter Zoo, "regarded as one of the finest small-town zoos in the nation" (Texas Monthly) is in trouble, says The Brownsville Herald. "The accidental deaths of three western lowland gorillas on Sunday at Gladys Porter Zoo came less than four months after a rare white rhinoceros died there, raising concerns from national and federal agencies." A space heater in the gorilla pen melted a bucket of chlorine tablets. The toxic fumes killed the three gorillas and injured two zookeepers. The next day, a female gorilla miscarried, reportedly due to stress over the incident. Back in September, somebody put two male rhinos in the same enclosure, and one died in the ensuing fight (again, zookeepers were injured). The USDA and AZA are both looking investigating the zoo, but in the meantime the zoo's Web site is loaded with AZA logos (the zoo's five-year AZA accreditation is up for renewal this year). Giraffe stolen Somebody swiped a giraffe from the Girault Farm in Bayview, Texas. Apparently, it's not too hard to do. "Somebody put her in a trailer and took off," says Howard Girault. "You could tranquillise her. She's very gentle." How about naming him "Oops"? There's a baby giraffe at the Oakland Zoo--and the herd's getting crowded. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the baby's mother was given birth control injections, but they obviously didn't take. "It's not an exact science," zookeeper Rhiannon Judd told the paper. "They have thick hides, and the injection darts don't always work." Clearly. But now the giraffe enclosure is too small for the nine-giraffe herd--and upgrading it will cost at least $150,000. Want to name the giraffe? It'll cost you ten grand. One year later, everyone still loves National Zoo's pandas 2.5 million people have come to the National Zoo over the last year to see Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, reports The Washington Post. (See them for yourself at the Zoo's panda cam.) This weekend, the zoo will have a special celebration, and will give more details on the upcoming panda habitat (which will be sponsored by Fujifilm.) Revelations in the Post: "Both like big trees. But they avoid sand pits, and do not like mud." And they like long walks in the park and men with a sense of humor... 81 dogs, 14 cats in "dungeon of horrors" Usually Maui, Hawai'i, is considered paradise. Not when you're one of 81 dogs locked in a 1,200-square-foot, three-bedroom house. All but seven of the dogs and two cats were euthanized after their discovery. The owner (who lived with all these animals) finally called Animal Control after one of the dogs was killed by others. A Maui Humane Society official described the home to The Honolulu Advertiser as a "dungeon of horrors." Legislator says wildlife officials are faking grizzlies Washington State Rep. Bob Sump says a biologist's request for a taxidermists' grizzly-bear hairs are part of a plot to defraud the public and get grizzly bears moved from threatened status to endangered. "Had these cases of fraud not been exposed, they would have given rabid environmentalists a free lunch of closed parks and restricted recreational activities," editorializes The Washington Times. "Heaven knows what else these people have been up to." (Sounds like a bad case of rabies has broken out at the Times.) The Washington Times has been beating the drums pretty hard on problems in recent lynx studies, but there's no evidence that biologists were trying to fake grizzly evidence. Researchers say they needed the hair for DNA testing. What's next? The Times attacking a biologist for going to a zoo? |