Dog nurses 2 ligers after tiger mom abandons them

In this photo taken on Thursday, May 19, 2011, a dog
nurses two liger cubs at a zoo in Weihai in east China's
Shandong province. Cong Wen of Xixiakou Wildlife Zoo
in eastern China says four cubs were born to a female tiger
and a male lion on May 13. The tiger mom fed the ligers for
four days then for unknown reasons abandoned them, she
says. Chinese zoo workers brought in a dog to nurse them
instead, but two died of weakness. (AP Photo) CHINA OUT

Posted on Tue, May. 24, 2011 04:50 AM
The Associated Press

A Chinese zoo official says two rare cubs born to a male lion and a female tiger are being nursed by a dog after they were abandoned by their mother.

Cong Wen of Xixiakou Wildlife Zoo in eastern China says four cubs called ligers were born to the lion and tiger earlier this month.

She said Tuesday the tiger mother fed the ligers for four days but then abandoned them for unknown reasons. Two died of weakness.

Cong said staff at the zoo in Shandong province found a dog who had just given birth to feed the surviving cubs.

She said the two cubs had trouble at first drinking milk from the dog but are now used to it.

Ligers are rare and are sometimes bred in zoos by mistake.

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/05/24/2898589/dog-nurses-ligers-after-tiger.html

Happy orangutans live longer in zoos

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/13925983

Happier orangutans are more likely to live for longer, according to a study. A team of researchers in the UK and US devised a method to measure the happiness, or subjective well-being, of captive orangutans. In a follow-up study seven years later, the scientists found that happier primates were much more likely still to be alive. The findings are published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters.



Read on...

Escaped wolf shot; security probed

The escaped wolf trotted past people on a pedestrian bridge after squeezing
out of its enclosure. The animal never left zoo grounds.

Article by: SARAH LEMAGIE and PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune staff writers
Updated: June 10, 2011 - 6:55 AM

Tranquilizers would not have acted soon enough, Minnesota Zoo officials said, forcing them to destroy the 8-year-old male.

A wolf wiggled out of its enclosure and jumped a fence at the Minnesota Zoo on Wednesday morning, and Mary Woestehoff and her 18-month-old daughter got a little closer to a predator than they had planned.

Woestehoff, of Richfield, spotted the escaped wolf, quickly scooped up her daughter and placed an emergency call. Within minutes, a zoo emergency response team had shot the animal dead.

"There's a lot of little kids here, and it could have turned out really badly," said Michelle McGuire, 19, of Apple Valley, who brought her 5-year-old half-sister to the zoo later in the morning.

The wolf never left the zoo's grounds in Apple Valley and no one was harmed, said Tony Fisher, the zoo's animal collections manager.

The endangered Mexican gray wolf squeezed through a gap between two chain-link panels in its off-exhibit enclosure, then made it over an 8-foot fence into the Northern Trail area of the zoo. Experts said it did not appear that the zoo fell short of safety standards, but the zoo will inspect other holding areas to check for potential openings.

The gap in the wolf enclosure may have been caused by snowfall last winter, Fisher said.

"We're going to be checking a lot of our holding areas that are subjected to snowfall, for sure, and make sure we don't have any more loose connections," Fisher said.

Zoo employees check enclosure fences daily, among other safety measures, Fisher said. Some fences have alarms designed to sound if trees fall on them. But nobody noticed a problem with the wolf's enclosure before the escape. The loose chain-link panel might have been difficult to spot until the animal pushed on it, officials said.

It was the first animal classified by the zoo as potentially dangerous to escape in Fisher's 25 years working there, he said.

Visitors in the area of the escape were evacuated and other guests were rushed into nearby buildings while zoo employees found the wolf and shot it.

Zoo officials did not want to give the wolf a chance to flee to major public areas of the zoo or leave the grounds entirely, Fisher said. "The wolf was just trying to get away," Fisher said, "but wolves, if cornered, can be aggressive."

The wolf, an 8-year-old male that was born at the zoo, is one of an endangered subspecies with only a few dozen living in the wild. There were three Mexican gray wolves at the zoo, but this one was not on exhibit because it didn't get along with the other two, Fisher said.

Instead, the wolf had been put in a separate enclosure with a chain-link roof and walls about a week and a half ago.

To shoot or not?

While Fisher was watching the wolves from the exhibit's public viewing area about 10 a.m., he noticed that the sequestered wolf was outside its enclosure, in a brushy area surrounded by a fence. He called other zoo personnel, who initially planned to tranquilize it.

But before they could act, the wolf jumped over the fence and made its way to the Northern Trail, stunning patrons, including Woestehoff.

She said the wolf "looked scared, looked like it didn't know where to go. ... It just wanted to get away from everyone."

The zoo's decision to shoot the wolf drew criticism from some visitors. After assuming responsibility for the care of wild animals, "They should be better prepared for that," said Miadad Rashid of Minneapolis, who visited the zoo with his girlfriend and her 3-year-old daughter.

Others deferred to the judgment of zoo staff. "They're very qualified and trained to determine whether it needs to be tranquilized or not," said Kim McCray, who drove to the zoo from Wisconsin with her three daughters. "It's sad that a wolf had to be shot, but obviously you can't endanger kids and families."

One problem, Fisher said, is that tranquilizer guns don't have the range of a traditional firearm. Plus, "We didn't have the time for a tranquilizer to take effect," he said, estimating that it would take eight to 10 minutes.

"Nobody wants to kill their animals, but it's our responsibility to keep the public safe and to keep the animals on-site," he said.

The zoo is accredited with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which requires safety procedures, drills and other measures to keep the public safe, said association spokesman Steve Feldman. "As unfortunate as it was that they had to put those into practice, it worked," he said.

Fisher said zoo officials didn't think the wolf could clear the fence.

"We thought we had him secure," he said. "Sometimes animals will surprise you with what they can do."

Lori Schmidt, a curator at the International Wolf Center in Ely, agreed. "Wolves are amazing. If they can find a small opening, they don't need much."

The Ely center has a 10-foot fence with a 45-degree overhang at the top, plus buried ground wire to prevent wolves from digging their way out, she said. A secondary 8-foot-high fence beyond that has barbed wire at the top, primarily to keep humans out.

Given a description of the Minnesota Zoo's enclosure, she said, "It sounds like they're well within the range of what's typical."

http://www.startribune.com/local/south/123464329.html

Bid to save sandpiper at risk of extinction in Russia

Will this spoon-billed sandpiper chick make it to adulthood?

3 June 2011
By Matt Walker
Editor, BBC Nature

Conservationists have embarked on a mission to save one of the world's rarest birds, the spoon-billed sandpiper, from extinction.

Fewer than 200 pairs of spoon-billed sandpipers were thought to exist in 2009, and since then, the population has thought to have declined by a quarter each year.

So a specialist team of bird experts are flying to the sandpiper's home in northeast Russia to collect and incubate eggs and set up a captive breeding population.

The captive population of spoon-billed sandpipers will be housed in Moscow Zoo for quarantine purposes, then moved to a specially built unit at the headquarters of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) in Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, UK.

The emergency mission is being undertaken by the WWT and Birds Russia, working with colleagues from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), BirdLife International, ArcCona, the Spoon-billed Sandpiper Task Force and Moscow Zoo.

Experts fear that, without intervention, the spoon-billed sandpiper could be extinct within ten years.

The count of 200 pairs in 2009 is an upper estimate and there may have been as few as 120 pairs at that time.

Surveys since suggest that the counted population is falling by 26% a year, with juveniles having a particularly low rate of survival.

Spoon-billed sandpipers (Eurynorhynchus pygmeus) are a small Arctic wading bird, sporting a bill shaped like a spoon.

"This adaptation, entirely unique to its family, makes it one of the most weird and wonderful bird species on the planet," says Dr Geoff Hilton, Head of Species Research at the WWT.

The BTO's shorebird expert, Dr Nigel Clark, agrees: "There is only one wader that eats with a spoon and we need to try everything we can to save it from extinction."

The bird divides its time between northeast Russia and the Bay of Bay of Martaban, Myanmar (Burma) and the Bay of Bengal in Bangladesh.

Travelling between, they migrate over 8,000km (4,970 miles) on a journey that may pass through Japan, North Korea, the Republic of Korea, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh and India.

Unsustainable levels of subsistence hunting, particularly within the wintering areas in Myanmar and Bangladesh, are thought to be driving the species's decline.

Degradation and reclamation of the inter-tidal mudflats along many countries in Asia is exacerbating the problem.

No spoon-billed sandpipers currently exist in captivity.

Currently the team are in Russia waiting to locate and collect eggs from the breeding grounds.

They will construct an incubation facility out on the tundra where they will hatch the chicks before transferring the fledged young via sea and air back to Moscow Zoo for quarantine.

"It is absolutely clear that the spoon-billed sandpiper cannot be saved without action to reduce the threats to the wild population, but it is going to be difficult to achieve a turnaround quickly enough to avert extinction. Creating a captive population now may buy us some time," says Dr Hilton.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/13627796

Whipsnade Zoo Celebrates 80th Birthday

23rd May 2011, 14:27

Eight decades of looking after some of the world’s most endangered and exotic animals are marked celebrated at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo today (Monday May 23rd) on its 80th birthday.

Whipsnade first opened its gates on 23rd May 1931 as Europe’s first open zoo and is celebrated today as a much-respected and world renowned conservation and breeding centre.

To mark the big birthday two supersize figures of 8 and 0 in bold red will be mingling with some of the zoo’s favourite animals.

Zoological Director David Field commented on the anniversary and has been telling Heart:

"ZSL Whipsnade Zoo has, in its 80 years, gone from strength to strength, acting as a focus point for education and raising awareness of the plight of some of the world’s most endangered and exotic animals.

“Today it still provides a wonderful day out in an unrivalled setting. At Whipsnade we can honestly say that at the grand old age of 80 – we’ve only just begun.”

http://www.heart.co.uk/dunstable/news/local/zoo-celebrates-80th-birthday/

Request for hippo for India’s zoo

Tuesday, 24 May 2011

The Arignar Anna Zoological Park (AAZP) in Vandalur, India could soon get a female pygmy hippopotamus from the Dehiwala Zoo under the animal exchange programme, ending nearly two decades of wait, Times of India reports.

The zoo in Vandalur, some 31 km from Chennai, has two male pygmy hippos who have been without a mate since 1992. The National Zoological Gardens at Dehiwala in April saw the birth of three pygmy hippos.

“We have sought from them (Colombo Zoo authorities) a female hippo under the animal exchange programme and are expecting a positive response,” India’s zoo director and chief conservator of forests KSSVP Reddy told The Times of India.

Currently, there is no animal exchange programme between the two zoos. But if the deal comes through, it will be a big boost for the captive breeding programme at the park, Indian zoo authorities said. Modalities, including the mode of transportation and the animals that have to be given in return by the Vandalur zoo, will be worked out once a formal letter of willingness is received.

“Once their willingness is conveyed to us, we will request union environment and forests ministry and the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) for clearance and a health certificate for the endangered animal mandatory for species brought from abroad,” said zoo sources.

At present, the Vandalur zoo has two male pygmy hippos, 19-year-old Bharati and his father Chubbi. The latter came with a female hippo from the Honolulu zoo in the US in 1990. Two years later, after the birth of Bharati, the mother hippo died. Since then, the two have remained without females.

The widespread prevalence of the foot-and-mouth disease, common among hippos, and bird flu in some western countries convinced the zoo authorities to search for hippos in countries with similar climate and environment, and less cumbersome processes in this regard.

Pygmy hippos, originally inhabitants of West Africa are monogamous and nocturnal herbivores. They have in captivity a lifespan of up to 55 years.

Courtesy Times of India

http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/05/24/news52.asp

Rare lion tamarin monkey born at Durrell

Francisco is now almost two months old

18 May 2011
By Matt Walker
Editor, BBC Nature online

One of the world's most endangered primates has been born at the headquarters of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.

The male baby black lion tamarin monkey is the first born outside of Brazil for eight years.

The species of monkey is critically endangered in the wild, with fewer than 1,000 black lion tamarins remaining.

Named Francisco, the baby's arrival will help efforts to reintroduce the species to its native habitat.

Black lion tamarins (Leontopithecus chrysopygus) are small agile monkeys, which have silky long black hair and a mane around their heads.

Adults are 25-33cm long with a slightly longer tail, and weigh 550-700g.

The species only survives in 11 localities in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

This rarity led the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, an internal charity based in Jersey that works to save species from extinction, to begin a captive breeding programme of the species.

Francisco was born on 22 March this year by Caesarean section. Durrell delayed announcing his birth until keepers were confident he had made it past his potentially risky early few weeks of life.

"This birth is great news; monitoring and successfully delivering the baby has been a very tricky event to manage," says Mark Brayshaw, head of Durrell's animal collection.

He is the first healthy baby born to his mother, named Roxanne, who has previously lost two babies and suffered several miscarriages.

Due to her previous problems the Durrell staff decided to monitor her four-and-a-half month pregnancy and deliver the baby by Caesarean at the appropriate time.

"Predicting when the infant would be sufficiently developed yet intervening prior to natural parturition has been key and has involved dedicated input from the mammal team with lots of early mornings and late nights to monitor progress."

According to Durrell staff, so far both mother and baby are doing well.

The infant is being hand-reared and syringe-fed every two hours throughout the day and night and over the next few weeks they will slowly teach him to lap milk from a dish. When he is able to do this successfully he will be returned to his family.

"The importance of this is that it is the first live birth of a black lion tamarin in captivity outside of Brazil for eight years and thus incredibly important to the European Endangered Species Programme," added Mr Brayshaw.

"There is still a very long way to go to ensure that the captive population's viability is assured but this is most definitely a step in the right direction."

There are currently nine critically endangered black lion tamarins, including the new baby, at Durrell's headquarters in Jersey.

In 1999 the Durrell team returned a group of black lion tamarins to Brazil for reintroduction to the wild.

See video at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/13424246
(Submitted by Dawn Holloway)

London Zoo's baby gorilla 'Tiny' killed in attack

13 May 2011 Last updated at 17:47

Tiny died after being injured by a new silverback male

A baby gorilla nicknamed "Tiny" by keepers at London Zoo has died after an attack by a new male silverback.

The seven-month-old western lowland gorilla was injured on Thursday when he and his mother Mjukuu were introduced to new male Kesho for the second time.

During a scuffle between the whole group the baby suffered a broken arm and suspected internal injuries.

The infant gorilla underwent a three-hour operation to pin his arm but vets were unable to revive him.

Zoological Society of London (ZSL) director David Field said everyone at the zoo was "completely heartbroken".

Kesho's arrival last year was recommended by experts to create a cohesive social group, after the death of the zoo's previous male gorilla.

In the wild male gorillas often attack the offspring of their rivals, so staff were cautious about introducing Kesho to the baby, who was the offspring of the former male.

Kesho had been gradually introduced to the two other female gorillas at the zoo but keepers waited many months for an introduction to the youngster and his mother.

Mr Field said Mjukuu had begun to interact confidently with Kesho and the The first introduction on Wednesday "went very well".

'Utterly devastated'

Kesho asserted his authority during a second attempt on Thursday, and during a scuffle between the whole group the baby's arm was seriously injured.

The gorillas were separated and the baby taken to the on-site vet hospital.

When he was brought off the anaesthetic, Tiny was unable to breathe by himself, and vets suspected he had also sustained internal injuries.

Despite repeated efforts he could not be revived, ZSL said.

Mr Field said: "We knew this was going to be an extremely difficult situation for the gorillas and their keepers and we've always been open about the challenges we would face introducing a new male in such difficult circumstances.

"Everyone here is utterly devastated. Although we had tried to be prepared for the worst, we are all completely heartbroken by this."

Keepers returned the baby's body to Mjukuu so she could come to terms with his death.

A post-mortem examination will be carried out and gorilla introductions between the adults will continue in order to create a stable, secure group, ZSL said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-13395331

Kakapo's future may lie with ailing chick

KENT BLECHYNDEN/Dominion Post

IMPORTANT PATIENT: The sick baby kakapo, known as
Solstice One, which has been sent to Wellington Zoo for
diagnosis and treatment.

STACEY WOOD
Last updated 13:00 15/04/2011

A chick with "precious genes" has been flown from Codfish Island sanctuary to be treated by Wellington Zoo's resident kakapo expert.

The gangly grey chick is one of 11 hatchlings from this year's kakapo breeding season and could one day play an important role in the rare parrot's survival.

Solstice One, as the 34-day-old chick is known, had been suffering from unknown respiratory problems and low health.

On Tuesday, it was flown to Wellington for one-on-one treatment from veterinary science manager and kakapo chick expert Lisa Argilla.

She has helped to hand-raise 26 chicks, after working with Conservation Department rangers in heavy breeding seasons.

This week Dr Argilla and her team had been running blood tests, X-rays and other diagnostics to try to work out what was wrong.

She said the chick might be suffering from "fatty liver", which can happen when rangers supplement the adult kakapo population's food sources. "It can be deadly – there was a chick a few years ago that died from it."

Kakapo have a 100 per cent herbivorous diet and rely on rimu fruit for much of their nutrition. In years when rimu trees fail to bear enough fruit, rangers give the birds pellets, but these can be too rich in protein and energy for the baby birds to tolerate.

Solstice One is the only chick from this season's 11 hatchlings to show signs of ill health.

Its mother, Solstice, was found on Stewart Island in June 1997. She was the first kakapo to be found and taken from the island in five years. She laid three eggs in 2002, but all of the chicks died before hatching. "This little chick is very precious, genetically," Dr Argilla said.

Solstice was artificially inseminated to increase the population's genetic diversity, so her chick would be a valuable breeding bird if it stayed healthy. Solstice One, believed to be a female, will be given an official name after her gender is confirmed and iwi have been consulted.

Dr Argilla said she completely disagreed with the suggestion by University of Adelaide scientist Cory Bradshaw this week that the "wonderfully weird" kakapo was among endangered species that were beyond saving.

"I don't think they are – DOC are doing such a good job," Dr Argilla said. "In 10 years they've managed to more than double the population, and also the big breeding seasons are happening closer and closer together, and there's now a higher percentage of females."

DOC's Kakapo Recovery Programme has increased the number of kakapo from 50 to 120 since 1995, not including the 11 chicks hatched this season.

- The Dominion Post

See video at: http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/4890410/Kakapos-future-may-lie-with-ailing-chick#share

New Protests in Egypt: Activists to Picket Cairo Zoo for Animal Rights

11 April 2011
By: Erin Skarda

The Egyptian uprising was enough to wrestle a dictator from his long-held post and bring shadows of democracy to a Middle Eastern nation. But can people power also be utilized to elicit support for an animal-rights movement?

A coalition of organizations and activists in Egypt have banded together to demand an overhaul of animal treatment within the country, and just as weeks of protests forced the resignation of former president Hosni Mubarak in February, they hope that a citizen demonstration will bring a renewed focus to the issues that have long plagued the country and seem to only get worse over time.

The Egyptian Society for Mercy to Animals (ESMA), along with the Egyptian Society of Animal Friends (ESAF) and Animal Welfare Awareness Research (AWAR), announced over the weekend that a protest will take place outside the Giza Zoo on April 16 to bring to light matters ranging from the state of the zoo itself to illegal wildlife trades, unregulated pet breeding and the government's propensity for shooting or poisoning homeless animals in order to control their population.

(More on TIME.com: See the fate of Cairo's many cats)

Mona Khalil, ESMA co-founder, said in a press release announcing the protest that now is the time to seek rights for Egypt's animals, as the nation is currently focused on building a more humane society overall.

"The way Egypt treats animals is a shame. The Giza Zoo is a national disgrace, Egypt has become known as a hub of the international illegal trade in wildlife, and the municipal policy of controlling street animal populations by shooting and poisoning is deplorable," Khalil said in the release. "At the root of all this is a not only systemic corruption but also policy failure, as Egypt is lacking even the basic animal welfare legislation that would enable the prosecution of violators."

As a new, democratic government is being constructed within Egypt, these organizations and their supporters have outlined specific (and likely controversial) demands, including launching investigations into corruptions at the Ministry of Agriculture and enacting legislation that will provide legal standards on how animals should be treated within the country. But while Egypt has a history of respecting — and even revering – animals like cats and camels, the current environment is a far cry from ancient times.

Whether or not the demands of these demonstrators will be met remains in question, but NewsFeed agrees with the group's effort to piggyback on the country's newly-united spirit. After all, if you're going to reform a nation, why stop at its human citizens?


http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/04/11/new-protests-in-egypt-activists-to-picket-cairo-zoo-for-animal-rights/

Polar bear Mercedes put to sleep

15 April 201

Mercedes the polar bear has been "put to sleep" after a "recent rapid deterioration in her welfare", the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) has announced.

The 30-year-old female bear was moved from Edinburgh Zoo to a new, larger enclosure at the Highland Wildlife Park near Aviemore two years ago.

She had been suffering severe arthritis which was treated with painkillers.

The RZSS said it was "with great sadness" that it announced the death.

Mercedes was captured after being rescued from being shot in Canada in 1984 and added to the animal collection at Edinburgh Zoo.

She was relocated to the park at Kincraig in 2009.

During her 25 years in Edinburgh, Mercedes reared two cubs, both sired by her partner Barney, who was born at Whipsnade Zoo.

After the death of Barney in 1996, Mercedes lived by herself at Edinburgh Zoo until she moved to the Highland Wildlife Park in 2009.

A two-year-old male polar bear called Walker was introduced to Mercedes's enclosure in November 2010.

However, an ageing Mercedes was not happy to play with a young cub.

Rapid downturn

A statement from the RZSS, which runs Edinburgh Zoo and the Highland Wildlife Park, said: "More recently we noted a marked and rapid downturn in her behaviour and her demeanour, and she appeared to be ageing very rapidly and possibly showing signs of senility.

"We had been keeping her separate from the male bear so as to avoid any possibility of him causing her to move more than she wanted to.

"Recently, all of the individuals responsible for her care sadly concluded that our only remaining option was to put her to sleep on age and health grounds."

Simon Girling, RZSS head of veterinary services, said: "We have been monitoring Mercedes's condition for some time now and have tried a number of different therapies for her advanced arthritis, which we were having some success with.

"However, even on medication, Mercedes has now taken a significant turn for the worse in terms of her mobility and is also showing signs of mental confusion.

"This deterioration in her welfare has prompted us to step in and humanely euthanase her."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-13094316

Cull of trapped Tayside beavers avoided

7 April 2011

An agreement to avoid trapped beavers being killed was struck after experts estimated there were only about 20 animals running loose in Scotland.

Edinburgh Zoo had suggested it may need to humanely destroy beavers captured by Scottish Natural Heritage at a cost of £100 if new homes could not be found.

The details have been revealed in a letter to Scottish Natural Heritage, after a trapping trial in Tayside.

SNH said at first it was thought there were more than 100 beavers in the wild.

In a letter, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, which runs Edinburgh Zoo, said it may have to put down the escaped animals caught on the River Tay.

Zoo officials said in the letter they were prepared to provide temporary accommodation for beavers and would seek new homes for them for three weeks, before culling them if none could be found.

The letter to SNH, dated 25 October 2010, said the zoo would charge "£100 plus VAT for the cost of drugs for the destruction of each animal, and subsequent disposal of the cadaver".

However SNH said it had since told Edinburgh Zoo that it had "hard evidence" there were far fewer beavers in the wild in Scotland than had been speculated and only one had been caught.

An SNH spokesman said: "The suggestion that beavers may have to be put down was made early on, after speculation that there could be more than a 100 beavers to be caught.

"We fully understood and accepted that the zoo had to have a fall-back position if homes could not be found for all the beavers.

"However, the hard evidence of beaver activity suggested there were at most about 20 beavers in the wild, so we were able to agree subsequently that euthanasia would not be necessary. We were confident that new homes could be found."

SNH said that now the trapping trial had ended in Tayside, it was assessing the results to decide what to do in the future.

One captured

A Royal Zoological Society of Scotland spokeswoman said: "At the time of writing the letter there was potentially an unknown number of beavers that the RZSS were going to be asked to hold by Scottish Natural Heritage.

"We were willing to accommodate as many as resources would allow, but we would never have been able to accommodate a large number.

"Both the RZSS and SNH jointly wanted to find another solution, therefore verbally days later all involved decided we could offer a home at Edinburgh Zoo.

"The captured Tayside beaver in question was housed at Edinburgh Zoo from early December and provided with the best husbandry and veterinary care."

It comes after one wild beaver, the only one captured by SNH so far, died at Edinburgh Zoo within months of its arrival.

Edinburgh zoo stressed that the beaver was not destroyed and that a post-mortem examination was under way.

SNH believes up to 20 beavers have escaped private collections in Angus and Perthshire.

The beavers are being recaptured because it is illegal to allow their escape or release into the wild and because their welfare may be at risk, SNH said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-13002471

Beware of thieving monkeys

The Times of Malta
Monday, April 11, 2011, by Liam Creedon, PA

A troupe of pilfering primates are being taught to turn their backs on the fashion world after embarking on a crime wave.

London Zoo’s gang of Bolivian squirrel monkeys have taken a shine to the sunglasses worn by visitors in the recent warm weather.

Pinching with impunity, the quick-fingered monkeys have developed a habit of whipping sunglasses off the heads of startled visitors.

The shameless simians have now built up an impressive stash of designer shades including Ray-Bans and aviator sunglasses.

As a result, their keepers have had to dream up a course of corrective behaviour to stem the animals criminal tendencies.

Staff have coated a selection of sunglasses with a bitter tasting apple substance.

It is hoped the monkeys will find the taste so unpleasant that their stealing habits will come to an abrupt end.

Zoological Society of London keeper Kate Sanders said it was the youngest monkeys that posed the biggest problem.

She said: “The little one are very inquisitive, they are attracted to the shiny lenses on the sunglasses.

“Once they get hold of a pair they all race round the enclosure chasing the monkey with the glasses. They’ve grabbed around seven pairs so far.

“Hopefully this treatment with the bitter apple will work, we are planning to repeat it until they associate sunglasses with something that is unpleasant.”

This is not the troupe’s first brush with criminality, four years ago keepers also had to put the monkeys on a short mobile phone training programme – to discourage them from stealing phones.

Bolivian squirrel monkeys live in the rainforest and eat insects, fruit and seeds. ZSL London Zoo, along with other zoos in England, is involved in breeding programmes aimed at increasing numbers of the species.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110411/world-news/beware-of-thieving-monkeys.359334

Zoo's Dolphin Habitat Celebrates 50th Anniversary

March 25, 2011
Kane Farabaugh | Chicago

More than two million people each year visit the Brookfield Zoo’s Seven Seas exhibit in suburban Chicago. The exhibit, celebrating its 50th anniversary, is the oldest inland dolphin habitat in the United States. It focuses on the Chicago Zoological Society’s efforts to promote marine conservation.

Fifty years ago, the only way people in the US. Midwest could see dolphins up close was by visiting the coastline. The Chicago Zoological Society wanted to bring that experience closer to home.

"This was a very groundbreaking facility," said Rita Stacey, curator of the Seven Seas exhibit at Brookfield Zoo. She's worked with dolphins at the zoo for twenty years. "It was the first inland Dolphinarium. It was the first one to use artificial saltwater. We now create our own man-made saltwater here."

That technological advance allowed the zoo to create a permanent habitat for marine mammals far from the ocean. The exhibit, which Stacey said is as close to their natural environment as possible, attracts millions of visitors every year, even when temperatures are below freezing outside.

"This is actually our second building," said Stacey. "Our first building was operated for close to about 25 years. And in that 25 years, we had estimated about 11.5 million people had gone into that facility and saw the dolphins there."

Stacey said the Chicago Zoological Society, which runs the Brookfield Zoo, is one of the leading institutions promoting a better understanding of marine life. She said some research, including how dolphins breed and communicate, is a product of studying dolphins at the zoo.

"There is so much that we have learned in the last 50 years about caring for the dolphins, about the inner workings of their society and their relationships with each other, as well as about anatomy and about how dolphins actually work," said Stacey.

Melissa Zabojnik is a senior keeper at the Seven Seas exhibit. She has been working with dolphins for 10 years, and helps show the mammals to the public.

"We can use the dolphins as ambassadors to teach the public," said Zabojnik. "The zoo’s mission is to inspire conservation leadership, so that’s something that we try to portray in our dolphin shows as well."

The Zoo’s conservation efforts were tested during last year’s Gulf Oil spill. The Chicago Zoological Society’s Dolphin Research Center in Sarasota Florida, a sister facility, saw some changes in the dolphin population in the Gulf.

Zabojnik said their history with the mammals is helping them track the long term environmental effects of the disaster. "Because we’ve gotten to know these animals so well in the past, it helps us in the future by determining if the oil spill has any effect on the future of them….. where the animals spend their time, if they migrate for any reason, if there’s any difference of their health and population year after year because of the oil spill."

The Brookfield Zoo now works with six other U.S. facilities that also are away from coastlines. Together, they promote a better understanding of the world under the sea.

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/environment/Zoos-Dolphin-Habitat-Celebrates-50th-Anniversary-118679504.html

'Runaway' tigress

By: Amit Singh
Date: 2011-03-22
Place: Delhi

The officials at the Capital's National Zoological Park had to face some tense moments on Monday morning after a white tigress escaped from her cage and jumped over a 12ft high fence of her enclosure.

The tigress was later captured and put back into her cage. Interestingly, Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh was supposed to visit the zoo for an event related to the World Forestry Day in the evening.

The incident took place at around 9:30am when the caretakers opened the cage of the tigress for its routine exercise. The moment the cage was opened, she came out and jumped over the fence into the adjacent enclosure. The zoo staff then rushed the visitors to safe areas and closed the entry to the park.

"The moment she escaped, a team of 10-15 officials was formed who after two hours managed to render the tigress unconscious using tranquilisers and then put her back into the cage. Luckily neither any animal nor any visitor was hurt," said spokesperson of National Zoological Park, Riaz Khan while speaking to MiD DAY, Talking about the incident, a zoo official said, "The fence of tiger's enclosure is supposed to be 10ft high, but Delhi Zoo has around 12ft high fence. We may now consider making the fence four more feet high to prevent such incidents from happening."

http://www.mid-day.com/news/2011/mar/220311-news-delhi-National-Zoological-Park-tigress-escaped-jumped-over.htm

Shocking number of animals dying at Kiev Zoo

Dozens, maybe hundreds, have died in recent years, animal welfare groups say

By Maria Danilova
The Associated Press
updated 3/23/2011 8:42:37 PM ET

KIEV, Ukraine — An Indian elephant called Boy, the pride of the Kiev Zoo, collapsed and died in his enclosure. Around the same time, Maya the camel succumbed to a digestive illness and Theo the zebra died after crashing into a metal fence.

And there's more, much more.

The animals just keep on dying at the Kiev Zoo, a place some have likened to an unkempt warehouse for those with fur and feathers. Animal welfare groups say dozens if not hundreds of animals have died at the zoo in recent years due to malnutrition, a lack of medical care and mistreatment — and some suspect that corruption is at the heart of the problem.

Naturewatch, a British-based animal welfare group, is among the organizations calling for the 100-year-old zoo to be closed and its animals sent elsewhere in Europe.

"The Kiev Zoo will never attain any basic standards, it's so far removed from any zoo in Europe," said John Ruane of Naturewatch. "The conditions have been absolutely horrendous and no matter how many more directors were appointed the situation still remained the same."

New managers appointed in October said that nearly half of the zoo's animals either died or mysteriously disappeared over two years under their predecessors, and a government audit found that thousands of dollars were misspent as animals were illegally sold and funds earmarked for their food and care disappeared. Ukrainian prosecutors have also opened an investigation.

But despite the management change, the zoo's animals are still dying. Some activists suspect a secret real estate deal is in the works — that the zoo is being deliberately decimated so it can be closed down and the prime land that it sits on in the center of Kiev can be sold.

Other violations included the purchase of medication for already deceased apes, paying for hyenas that were never shipped to the zoo, the illegal sale of 12 macaques, the unrecorded sale of zoo tickets and the misallocation of funds earmarked for feeding zoo animals. The violations totaled the equivalent of $200,000, according to Irina Parkhomenko, spokeswoman for the government auditing agency.

Deterioration started after Soviet Union's collapse
Once the jewel of the Ukrainian capital and a favorite weekend spot for families, the zoo began to deteriorate after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and the years of poverty that followed. Animals were kept in cramped, poorly lit and poorly heated enclosures, fed improperly and left unattended, according to watchdogs.

The Kiev Zoo gained international notoriety in 2007 when it was expelled from the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria after the tragic death of a female bear.

The elderly brown bear named Dinara had been moved from a small enclosure where she had spent all her life to a bigger pen with a male Malayan sun bear. Stressed by the new premises and her new companion, Dinara began to bang her head against the concrete walls of the enclosure, leaving blood stains on the walls and floor. After days of this, she was euthanized.

On a recent visit, the zoo looked desolate. The elephant's pen stood empty, a lonely wolf paced an open-air enclosure, a collection of farm animals was closed to visitors and two giraffes were locked in two small indoor cells.

Mayor accused of mismanagement
The zoo's problems grew worse under the leadership of the city's eccentric mayor, Leonid Chernovetsky, who has been widely accused of mismanagement. Under his appointed zoo director, Svitlana Berzina, about a quarter of the animals died and another quarter disappeared in the two years before she was ousted in October, according to the new zoo director, Oleksiy Tolstoukhov.

Boy, the biggest Indian elephant in a European zoo, collapsed in his enclosure and died in April at age 39. Berzina denied any wrongdoing and claimed the elephant was poisoned.

Others disagree. Serhiy Hryhoryev, a zoo worker who has set up a group to protect the animals, believes that Boy was killed by a yo-yo diet. He said zoo staff considered Boy to be overweight and put him on a diet of mainly water and hay, causing him to lose more than a third of his weight in four months.

"By the end, his ribs were sticking out," Hryhoryev said.

Then Boy was put back on beets, carrots and apples, which caused rapid weight gain, which Hryhoryev said led to the elephant's heart failure. An autopsy was inconclusive.

Bad diet — or poison?
A month later, Maya the camel died. Hryhoryev said zoo workers failed to treat her for abdominal bloating after a sudden diet change. The zoo, however, blamed the death on a mysterious poisoner, a middle-aged man with an earring who just happened to resemble the whistleblower Hryhoryev. He was fired from his job but then reinstated through a court order late last year.

Theo the zebra died in late March after being separated from his female companions, as the animals were let outside after spending the winter in cramped indoor quarters. The male zebra threw himself into a metal fence in a desperate attempt to reach the females.

Officials are having a hard time determining exactly how many animals died or disappeared under the previous management. The zoo now has 2,600 animals from 328 species.

'Not as bad as they say'
Oleksandr Mazurchak, deputy head of the Kiev city administration, said about 250 animals died due to "problems" during two years under Berzina. The government audit last year also found that 131 other animals were missing.

Mazurchak said 50 animals have died since Tolstoukhov took over, though most from old age. But some deaths could have been avoided, like those of the three fish that died in late December when a power outage stopped the flow of oxygen into their tank.

Defending his record, the new director said the zoo has not purchased any new animals in recent years due to funding shortages and 60 percent of the zoo's animals are approaching the end of their natural life span anyway.

"It's not as bad as they say," Tolstoukhov said. "In all the zoos, including in Europe, animals don't live a million years. They also die and get sick."

Ecologist cites close to 250 deaths
But Volodymyr Boreiko, an ecologist who has monitored developments at the zoo, said in a report last week that the number of animals that have died since the new managers took over in October is closer to 250 and includes a penguin, a crane, turkeys and mongooses. The zoo said his findings are falsified.

Tolstoukhov said the zoo hopes to attract funds to restore existing enclosures and build new ones, and to repair the heating, air conditioning and electric systems. The zoo also plans to acquire new animals, including two young female elephants and 12 blue sheep.

He denied any plans to sell the 84 acres of land the zoo occupies in central Kiev.

Luisa Kuznetsova, 26, who came to the zoo last week with her 2-year-old twins Kolya and Karina, hopes it can be saved.

"I want there to be a beautiful zoo here with all the beautiful animals because the kids are growing and the zoo helps them develop," Kuznetsova said as the twins watched a giraffe attempt to kiss them through a glass wall.

But Tamara Tarnavska of the Kiev-based SOS animal rights group believes the zoo must be closed to protect its animals from further abuse.

"The zoo is in such a condition that it's no longer a zoo, it's a concentration camp," Tarnavska said. "When I look those animals in the eyes, I am ashamed to be a human being."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42240723/ns/technology_and_science-science/

Deadly Egyptian cobra missing from Bronx Zoo

By Deborah Brunswick, CNN
March 27, 2011 -- Updated 1625 GMT (0025 HKT)

New York (CNN) -- A venomous Egyptian cobra went missing from New York's Bronx Zoo, prompting the closure of the zoo's reptile house until further notice.

Staff was alerted Saturday that the adolescent Egyptian cobra was missing from an off-exhibit enclosure, according to a statement from the zoo. Staff members closed and secured the reptile house.

Zoo officials said they are confident the 20-inch-long snake is contained in a nonpublic, isolated area of the building.

"Based on our knowledge of the natural history and behavior of snakes, we know they seek closed-in spaces and are not comfortable in open areas," the zoo statement said.

The Egyptian cobra is most commonly found in North Africa. Its venom is so deadly that it can kill a full-grown elephant in three hours -- or a person in about 15 minutes, according to wildlife experts. The venom destroys nerve tissue and causes paralysis and death due to respiratory failure.

Scholars believe the Egyptian cobra was known in ancient times as the asp. Legend has it that Cleopatra, the ancient Egyptian queen, used an asp to commit suicide.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/03/27/new.york.missing.cobra/index.html?hpt=T2

Tiger kills lion in Turkish zoo

7 March 2011 Last updated at 19:46

A Bengal tiger has killed a lion at Ankara Zoo after finding a gap in the fence separating their cages, say zoo officials in the Turkish capital.

The tiger severed the lion's jugular vein in a single stroke with its paw, leaving the animal dying in a pool of blood, officials said.

They denied local media reports that the tiger had broken down the fence during the incident last September.

The zoo says it is safe for visitors, despite the incident.

Six tigers and two lions remain at the zoo.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12669308

Roaches are forever as novel Valentine's gift

NEW YORK | Fri Feb 11, 2011 7:20pm GMT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - In what is described as the perfect Valentine's Day gift, New York's Bronx Zoo is offering the chance to name a Madagascar hissing cockroach after that special someone in your life.

"Flowers wilt. Chocolates melt. Roaches are forever," the zoo said on its website about the name a roach gift, which was also billed as a limited Valentine's Day offer.

More than 1,000 people chose the cockroach option for their Valentine in the first 24 hours of the offer this week, a zoo spokesman said.

The recipient of the present gets a certificate explaining that there is a special insect living at the zoo with his or her name on it.

The $10 (6 pounds) donation for the gift will go to helping preserve wildlife and forests in Madagascar, according to the zoo, which has some 58,000 Madagascar specimens that need names.

The Madagascar is the largest and noisiest variety of cockroach.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/02/11/oukoe-uk-valentine-cockroaches-idUKTRE71A67920110211

Polar scare! Children swim inches from monster bears (which would be a worry if you don't notice the glass barrier)

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 5:27 PM on 8th February 2011

It's a heart-in-the-mouth moment that would have most parents running for help.

The massive carnivores loom menacingly over their bite-size pool companions in these remarkable pictures.

But there's more to the scenario than meets the eye, in fact the children are separated from certain death by 10-inch thick plexiglas.

Within touching distance: Children swim incredibly close to two enormous polar bears at a rescue centre with a difference in Ontario, Canada

Both children and bears are actually very safely taking part in an amazing initiative by the owners of Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat, in Ontario, Canada, in a attempt to promote awareness about the amazing animals.

The sanctuary takes in only bears rescued from the wild and through letting visitors get so close they hope to foster understanding and reduce hunting in the wild.

Former director at the centre and keen photographer Gerry Robichaud took the amazing photographs of the moment bear meets man in the safety of the tank.

He said: 'You do get some very surprised reactions from visitors when they first see the bears and the children in the pool.

'When you're in the water and up by the glass next to these animals it barely seems like there is anything protecting you, when in fact there's a 10-inch think barrier.

'We get various reactions from the children, some of them can't wait to get in the pool and others really don't want to. It's the adults you have to watch out for, some of them jump in still with all their clothes on.

'The two bears in the pictures are actually females, Aurora and Nikita, both who we took in as rescue animals.

'They came to us a cubs after a tribe told us about them because their mother had been shot by a hunter near Winisk, near the Hudson Bay in the far north.'

Gerry, 59, said the aim was to give the bears as much stimulation as possible in their 100m by 200m enclosure.

He said: 'I have been in the water myself when the public have not been here and actually realised one of the bears was stalking me, she was hiding and keeping very low in the water. It was quite an odd feeling.

'I have lived in the far north with the people up there myself and documented their lives, it's a different world up there.'

More: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1354786/Children-swim-inches-monster-polar-bears.html