The science and heartbreak of zoo romance

By Daniel Nasaw and Matt Danzico
BBC News Magazine, Chicago

Zoo biologists use genetic analysis, demographic statistics and keen familiarity to plan the sex lives of their charges. Their goal is to avoid inbreeding and produce healthy offspring, but sometimes, even the best scientists and most attentive zoo-keepers cannot prevent a tragedy.

The couple seemed like a good pair.

Already sporting a distinguished coat of grey fur at the age of 22, he was a stout, hale and hearty father of a young son.

She was a bit younger - 16 - but those who knew her thought she was ready for motherhood.

And crucially, the computer analysis showed they did not share any recent ancestors, making them a good genetic match.

So, in a Chicago love story, zoo-keepers brought together Kwan, a male silverback western lowland gorilla, and Bana, a demure female. They hit it off, and on 16 November, Bana gave birth to a healthy baby girl.

Managed sex lives
"Kwan did a really great job," said Maureen Leahy, curator of primates at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, in an interview shortly before the birth.

"This romance and match has actually paid off."


The pairing of Kwan and Bana was the product of a sophisticated breeding plan devised by a team of biologists to ensure the future genetic health of the US gorilla population.

The western lowland gorillas are just one of more than 300 species of animals in zoos across the US whose sex lives are carefully managed by the Population Management Center at the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Species specialists play matchmaker to anteaters, okapis, hyacinth macaws and many others, with more than 80,000 individual critters subject to their plans.

It's similar to internet dating, said Sarah Long, the centre's director.

"We use computers and databases to get a male and female together - and sometimes produce offspring," she said.

"We're not getting new founders... wild-born animals. Now zoos are more focused on preserving what we have."


The computer software they use weighs the pedigree of the males and females, in some cases all the way back to the wild, to determine whether they are a good genetic match.

Ideally, they want two animals whose ancestors' genes are scarce among the population - that is, they have few relatives living in US zoos.

Other factors include the ages of the possible mates and the distance between them, and whether a zoo has the resources to feed and care for another one.

Read more here ...

Thanks a bunch! Europe's oldest (and grumpiest) gorilla is distinctly unimpressed with his 50th birthday flowers

Expectations had been high. But judging by the look on the birthday boy’s face, these roses were something of a letdown.
But then what do you get the gorilla who has everything?

At the grand old age of 50, Nico the silverback is a rather pampered primate.

He lives in a classical-style brick house at Longleat safari park in Wiltshire where he luxuriates in central heating and evenings watching telly.

Outside, there is plenty of room to roam and trees to climb. And there is a nice glass of Ribena and milk waiting for him every morning.

But the humans he has trained so well disappointed him when they handed over a bunch of flowers for his 50th.
The 32-stone primate looked unimpressed as he handled his present - which he promptly threw to the floor in disgust.

Staff also believe Nico's ungrateful behaviour might also be due to the spoilt and pampered lifestyle he enjoys and that he might have been expecting a bigger present.

However, the hulking beast appeared more satisfied with his banana-shaped birthday cake which he devoured in seconds.

Nico is the famous safari park's oldest resident and is the second oldest male silverback gorilla in captivity in the world.

Keeper Mark Tye said: 'It's difficult to think of new present ideas for him as he's pretty much got everything already.

'Although he is now an old man, Nico is still extremely active and in amazingly good condition considering his age.

'We came up with a selection of presents for him; some of which were more warmly received than others.

'Someone came up with the idea of a bouquet of flowers and although I'm sure he appreciated the sentiment he couldn't really disguise his lack of enthusiasm for them.

'Fortunately the banana-shaped cake went down a lot better, quite literally.'

Nico arrived at Longleat soon after the park opened in 1966, from a zoo in Switzerland.

The oldest gorilla in the world in captivity is Colo, a female who was born in 1956. She lives at Columbus Zoo, Ohio, USA.

The oldest male gorilla in the world is Ozoum who lives in Atlanta Zoo and was born a few months before Nico in 1961.Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2026574/Nico-Europes-oldest-gorilla-unimpressed-50th-birthday-present.html#ixzz1VNOakJyc

Gorilla becomes cameraman

A gorilla became a cameraman for a day - with amazing results - at a wildlife park on Jersey.

Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust gave an HD camera to Ya Kwanza, a 27-year-old silverback, to see what he would come up with.

The charity provide their gorillas with 'enrichment devices' to encourage them to forage for food and keep them mentally stimulated.

This time, the bright yellow box was not only coated with honey and oats and stuffed with raisins, but was also fitted with a hi-tech camera.

The idea came from one of the charity's mammal keepers Jon Stark, who has taken care of the critically endangered western lowland gorillas for four years.

He wondered what it would be like to take a look at life from the primate's perspective.

The resulting footage shows the silverback investigating the device and meticulously picking out raisins with a surprisingly delicate touch.

He then turns cameraman and takes a number of close ups and profile shots before peeling off the branding on the case.

Ya Kwanza then perfectly captures a shot of Jon asking for the device back, before happily throwing the box to his waiting keeper on the outside of the enclosure.

http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Gorilla_becomes_cameraman

Gorilla adopted by French couple

A childless French couple have adopted a 13-year-old female gorilla named Digit. The gorilla spends the day at the Saint Martin la Plaine Zoo, before going home with zookeepers Pierre and Elianne Thivillon.

Liliet Heredero reports.

Read on, and see the video...

Breakdancing Calgary gorilla becomes online sensation

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/travel/Breakdancing+Calgary+gorilla+becomes+online+sensation/4979692/story.html



Zola, an eight-year-old lowland gorilla living at the Calgary Zoo, is the star of the latest animal video online to go viral.

Zookeepers captured the gorilla on video late last week "breakdancing" inside his enclosure; splashing, spinning on one heel and stomping through a puddle.

At one point he appears to be breakdancing.

Read on

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

Rare gorilla twins born in wild

Wednesday, 9 February 2011

Twin mountain gorillas have been born in Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda.

The babies born on 3 February 2011 are only the fifth set of twins ever recorded in the history of Rwanda's mountain gorillas.

The last reported birth of mountain gorilla twins was in 2004, according to conservation group The Gorilla Organization.

Fewer than 800 mountain gorillas are thought to remain in the wild, though numbers are thought to be increasing.

"It is very rare to hear of mountain gorilla twins, so we were all excited to hear the news from rangers yesterday," says Emmanuel Bugingo, Programme Manager in Rwanda for The Gorilla Organization, which has staff in London, UK and Africa.

Double gain

The twins are both boys.

"Gorilla mothers usually have only one baby every four years or so - which is one reason why they are so vulnerable - so twins give a rare double gain in one birth," adds Says Ian Redmond, Chairman of the Ape Alliance, an international coalition of organisations and individuals that works for the conservation and welfare of apes.

The mother, known fondly to rangers as Kabatwa, belongs to the Hirwa group of gorillas.

The last mountain gorilla twins, born in 2004, were named Byishimo and Impano by the President of the Republic of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, at a gorilla naming ceremony in 2005.

Mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) are a subspecies of the Eastern gorilla.

The Eastern Lowland Gorilla (G. b. graueri) is the other subspecies, and is the most populous, at about 5,000 individuals.

Last year a census revealed that the population of endangered mountain gorillas has increased significantly in the last 30 years.

A survey carried out in the Virunga Massif - where most of the world's mountain gorillas live - revealed 480 individuals living in 36 groups.

Conservationists say that, 30 years ago, only 250 gorillas survived in this same area.

Along with the 302 mountain gorillas from a census in Bwindi in 2006, the world population is now more than 780.

The Virunga Massif includes three contiguous national parks: Parc National des Virunga in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda.
The only other location where mountain gorillas exist is Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, and scientists are considering elevating the few hundred remaining Bwindi gorillas to the rank of subspecies.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9391000/9391967.stm
(Submitted by Dawn Holloway)

See also: http://news.uk.msn.com/environment/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=156089219

Twin gorillas born in Congo

Gorilla family group now 30 strong

December 2010: Twin gorillas have been born at Kahuzi Beiga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).


They join the Chiminuka group - and are the fourth pair of twins born into the family.

There are fewer than 5,000 eastern lowland gorillas remaining in the wild and Kahuzi Biega National Park, on the eastern edge of DRC, is home to one of the largest populations.

Kahuzi Beiga ranger Tuver said: ‘The birth of the twins brings the number of gorillas in Chiminuka's family to a grand total of 30, which is wonderful.

No one has yet managed to photograph the newborn twins so here is a photo of the magnificent Chiminuka - the proud father.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/gorilla-twins.html

Twin gorillas born in Congo

Gorilla family group now 30 strong

December 2010: Twin gorillas have been born at Kahuzi Beiga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).


They join the Chiminuka group - and are the fourth pair of twins born into the family.

There are fewer than 5,000 eastern lowland gorillas remaining in the wild and Kahuzi Biega National Park, on the eastern edge of DRC, is home to one of the largest populations.

Kahuzi Beiga ranger Tuver said: ‘The birth of the twins brings the number of gorillas in Chiminuka's family to a grand total of 30, which is wonderful.

No one has yet managed to photograph the newborn twins so here is a photo of the magnificent Chiminuka - the proud father.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/gorilla-twins.html

Gorillas may be key to malaria mystery

2010/10/01

MALARIA appears to have jumped to humans from gorillas, and the parasite may have spread globally from a single gorilla to a single human, researchers report.

DNA from the droppings of nearly 3000 apes – gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos – shows the strain of malaria parasite most common in humans is virtually identical to one of many strains that infects gorillas.

Beatrice Hahn, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues used ape droppings collected to study the origins of the Aids virus for their study, published in the journal Nature.

Hahn’s team looked for DNA from malaria parasites, including the Plasmodium falciparum parasite that causes most human cases.

“Wild apes, in particular the common chimps and the western gorillas, are naturally infected with at least eight or nine different Plasmodium species,” Hahn said. For years chimps were the chief suspects. But Hahn’s data shows only gorillas are infected by a Plasmodium species virtually identical on the genetic level to the type that infects humans. The findings could have implications for efforts to get rid of malaria, said Dr Larry Slutsker, who heads the malaria programme at the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

“If we were trying to rid the planet of every last parasite and there was a reservoir in western gorillas, that would have implications for eradication. I don’t think we are there, obviously,” he said. — BY MAGGIE FOX Reuters

http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=437111
(Submitted by Chad Arment)

Gorillas may be key to malaria mystery

2010/10/01

MALARIA appears to have jumped to humans from gorillas, and the parasite may have spread globally from a single gorilla to a single human, researchers report.

DNA from the droppings of nearly 3000 apes – gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos – shows the strain of malaria parasite most common in humans is virtually identical to one of many strains that infects gorillas.

Beatrice Hahn, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues used ape droppings collected to study the origins of the Aids virus for their study, published in the journal Nature.

Hahn’s team looked for DNA from malaria parasites, including the Plasmodium falciparum parasite that causes most human cases.

“Wild apes, in particular the common chimps and the western gorillas, are naturally infected with at least eight or nine different Plasmodium species,” Hahn said. For years chimps were the chief suspects. But Hahn’s data shows only gorillas are infected by a Plasmodium species virtually identical on the genetic level to the type that infects humans. The findings could have implications for efforts to get rid of malaria, said Dr Larry Slutsker, who heads the malaria programme at the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

“If we were trying to rid the planet of every last parasite and there was a reservoir in western gorillas, that would have implications for eradication. I don’t think we are there, obviously,” he said. — BY MAGGIE FOX Reuters

http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=437111
(Submitted by Chad Arment)

Gorilla saved by French doc's hip op

Agence France-Presse
Posted at 08/21/2010 3:25 PM | Updated as of 08/21/2010 3:25 PM

PARIS - A French surgeon may have entered the record books by saving a 70-kilo (154-pound) female gorilla that sustained a crippling injury after falling from a tree in a safari park.

Louis-Etienne Gayet, an orthopaedic surgeon at the University Hospital Centre in Poitiers, central France, was called in to help eight-year-old Kwanza after the ape snapped her thighbone at Vallee des Singes (Valley of the Apes) in Romagne.

The break occurred very close to where the thighbone, or femur, enters the hip, where its ball-like end is enclosed by a ring of bone, the park said in a press release on Friday.

The problem was that, because the femur had been completely fractured, the ball end twisted around in the hip casing. As a result, the two bones were left back-to-front.

Delicate cases such as these are relatively common in human surgery but almost unheard-of for veterinarians.

Gayet rolled up his sleeves and in a three-hour operation at a veterinary clinic last Monday gently turned the bone's ball end in the right direction and reattached it to the rest of the femur with a 15-centimeter (six-inch) plate, along with an eight-cm (3.5-inch) screw in the hip.

There was a stroke of luck because Kwanza, still youthful in gorilla terms, has the same femur anatomy as a human adult, which meant Gayet could fix a standard plate which he uses in his day-to-day patients.

The neck of a femur in a young gorilla forms a boney crook of about 130 degrees. In adult gorillas, the angle is about 100 degrees, Gayet explained.

Kwanza can now crawl around, but it will take another six weeks to know whether the bones have knitted properly and she has recovered full mobility.

"It was a fantastic experience," Gayet said in an interview with AFP, before wondering aloud: "I don't know -- has anyone ever fixed a fracture of the neck of a femur on a gorilla before?"

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/classified-odd/08/21/10/gorilla-saved-french-docs-hip-op

Gorillas 'play games of tag just like human children'

It could almost be a scene from a school playground. But the youngsters playing tag are gorillas, not children.

Cheeky apes sneak up on their rivals, clip them round the head and then run away as fast as they can, researchers have found. The ‘hit and run’ attacks often lead to full-scale games of tag, in which the animals take turns to chase each other around their cages.

The astonishing discovery shows once again how similar great apes are to people – and how much of our behaviour can be seen in the animal world.
http://beforeitsnews.com/story/102/097/Gorillas_play_games_of_tag_just_like_human_children.html

Gorilla psychologists: Weird stuff in plain sight

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627660.900-gorilla-psychologists-weird-stuff-in-plain-sight.html


Gorilla psychologists: Weird stuff in plain sight
• 23 June 2010 by Liz Else
• Magazine issue 2766.


The "gorilla in our midst" psychology experiment is up there among the world's most famous. But as Liz Else found out from Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons, the psychologists who devised it, exactly how it fools half of the people who take part is still a mystery

How did you come up with the experiment?

Christopher Chabris: We didn't say, "let's do a really intriguing experiment people will talk about for years". It was just a class project on visual attention in a course we were teaching 12 years ago. The gorilla suit was lying around in a lab. If it hadn't been there, who knows?

Daniel Simons: Our study revisited work from the 1970s by Ulric Neisser, where subjects had to watch a video and count the times players passed a ball. Neisser had someone with an open umbrella walk through the game, and many people didn't notice it. But his video had an odd, ghostly appearance which gave people an excuse for missing the person with the umbrella. We filmed the entire game with a single camera so that everything was fully visible - and the person in the gorilla suit was there for 9 seconds! When we showed the video, only half of the viewers saw the gorilla.

Is it the same for every group?

DS: The first subjects were Harvard University students but it worked as well with everyone we tested. For years, whenever I showed the video, I held my breath, thinking everybody would notice it. It took years before I could discount that gut instinct. Missing the gorilla is jarring. It's natural to assume that you would see it, so it's surprising and compelling when you realise what you've missed.

So why do people miss the gorilla?

CC: It's like a Rorschach (inkblot) test for cognitive abilities or personality: people think there must be something different about the people who see the gorilla compared with those who don't. Some speculate that if you are in a detail-oriented job, you are going to notice it because you notice everything, or you are not going to notice it because you are really good at focusing. But the truth is, so far no researcher has found anything that solidly predicts who is going to see it and who is not.

DS: We have looked at basic measures of attention and memory - how much you can hold in mind while doing something else, and how much you can take in with one attentional glance. These basic measures predict how well you can focus attention and count the passes, but they don't seem to predict whether you will notice the gorilla. I have just done a follow-up to the gorilla study, which I showed to about 1000 vision scientists who knew about the original video. As the gorilla enters, I introduced two changes: a backdrop curtain changes from red to gold, and one player wearing a black shirt leaves the court. The vast majority missed both, despite knowing the video was about unexpected objects. When they started looking for a gorilla, they missed other unexpected events.

Is there an evolutionary reason to miss things?

DS: I think that's the wrong way around. These failures of awareness are more a consequence of something that we need to do and that we do well - focus attention. To do any task, you need to focus on things that matter and avoid things that don't. One consequence is that sometimes you filter out things you might want to see. Intuitively we think that things that matter will catch our attention, but they don't.

CC: In our book (reviewed, right) we tell the story of a Boston police officer chasing a suspect. When you do that, you're paying careful attention, figuring out where he's going, if he's got a gun or is throwing evidence away. The officer ran past an incident of police brutality taking place close by and later claimed not to have seen it. He went to prison because the jury didn't realise the extent to which focusing on one task makes you unable to see outside that. They decided he lied to protect fellow officers.

So our picture of reality can be very wrong?

DS: Our picture of reality is correct most of the time for most of what we do. It is inherently incomplete, though, and most of the time we don't realise how much we miss. Usually, it doesn't matter - we see what's relevant to what we're doing. It's important to know that we have such limitations, though. We think we see more than we do, and that has consequences. We also think our memories are more perfect than they are, that we understand complex systems better than we do. If we were aware of our limitations, we wouldn't text and drive or think everybody who mis-remembers is lying.

Can you devise another experiment this good?

CC: The statistics are against it! But who knows what we'll find lying around tomorrow...

Profile
Christopher Chabris is a psychology professor at Union College in New York; Daniel Simons is a psychology professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The "Gorillas in Our Midst" study is at bit.ly/bg2rI7

Crafty gorilla tries to use branch to flee exhibit

Jun 15, 9:09 PM EDT

ASHEBORO, N.C. (AP) -- The North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro temporarily closed its gorilla exhibit after one of the apes nearly made a break for it. Zoo spokesman Tom Gillespie said a branch from a tree fell into the exhibit Sunday. One female gorilla tried to use the branch as a ladder to climb out of the exhibit, but she didn't make it.

The exhibit remained closed Tuesday as staff horticulturists checked nearby trees for loose limbs. Zoo officials think the branch came down after being weakened by a storm Saturday.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ODD_CRAFTY_GORILLA

RIP Gordy the Gorilla

http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/92124734.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUycaEacyUs

One of three adult male gorillas at the Como Park Zoo in St. Paul has died.

Gordy, a 400-pound western lowland gorilla, collapsed April 19, according to zoo officials. He was 23. Gordy had been acting normally during veterinarian rounds that morning, but zookeepers later found him unconscious and with no detectable pulse. They tried to revive Gordy, even using a defibrillator, but nothing worked.

The cause of Gordy's death remains unknown, officials said. They held off on announcing his death until autopsy results came in, but it could take a few more weeks before they arrive. Officials think it might be heart-related
because of the suddenness of Gordy's death. Heart disease is a common cause of death in captive adult gorillas.

The typical lifespan of gorillas in the wild is 30 years. In captivity, gorillas can live into their late 40s and early 50s. Gordy came to Como from the San Diego Wild Animal Park in 1991. Schroeder, 24, and Togo, 21, are Como's remaining male gorillas.

Gorillas Could Disappear in 15 Years, UN Agency Warns

24 March 2010

Gorillas could disappear from large parts of the Greater Congo Basin in central Africa by the mid-2020s unless urgent action is taken to safeguard their habitats and counter poaching, a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and INTERPOL warned today.

Projections in 2002 had suggested that only 10 per cent of the original gorilla ranges would remain by 2030, but the report found that those estimates were too optimistic given the intensification of pressures including illegal logging, mining, charcoal production and increased demand for bush meat, of which an increasing proportion is ape meat.

Outbreaks of the Ebola haemorrhagic fever virus are adding to concerns. These epidemics have killed thousands of great apes, including gorillas, and by some estimates up to 90 per cent of animals infected by the virus will die.

The report, launched at the meeting of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) currently taking place in Qatar, said the situation is especially critical in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where a great deal of the escalating damage is linked with militias operating in the region.

It stated that the militias are behind much of the illegal trade, which may be worth several hundred million dollars a year.

"This is a tragedy for the great apes and one also for countless other species being impacted by this intensifying and all too often illegal trade," said Achim Steiner, UNEP's executive director.

"Ultimately it is also a tragedy for the people living in the communities and countries concerned. These natural assets are their assets: ones underpinning lives and livelihoods for millions of people. In short it is environmental crime and theft by the few and the powerful at the expense of the poor and the vulnerable," he added.

Mr. Steiner welcomed the involvement of INTERPOL and called on the international community to step up support for the agency's environmental crime programme.

Christian Nellemann, a senior officer at UNEP who was lead author of the 2002 report and headed up the new one, said the original assessment had underestimated the scale of the bush meat trade, the rise in logging and the impact of the Ebola virus on great ape populations.

"With the current and accelerated rate of poaching for bush meat and habitat loss, the gorillas of the Greater Congo Basin may now disappear from most of their present range within 10 to 15 years," said Mr. Nellemann.

"We are observing a decline in wildlife across many parts of the region, and also side-effects on poaching outside the region and on poaching for ivory and rhino horn, often involving poachers and smugglers operating from the Congo Basin, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda, to buyers in Asia and beyond," he added.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201003250006.html

UN animal conference tackles Mideast animal trade

By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Writer Zeina Karam, Associated Press Writer – Wed Mar 17, 4:55 am ET

BEIRUT – A 2-year-old lion, emaciated and barely breathing, is found in a tiny cage off a Beirut highway. Monkeys are hauled through the dark tunnels of Gaza, bound for private zoos. Rare prize falcons are kept in desert encampments by wealthy Arab sheiks.

The trade in endangered animals is flourishing in the Middle East, fueled by corruption, ineffective legislation and lax law enforcement.

"It's a problem in the Arab world that we can no longer ignore," said Marguerite Shaarawi, co-founder of the animal rights group Animals Lebanon.

The group is pushing for Lebanon to join the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, whose signatories are meeting this month in Qatar. It is the first time the 175-nation convention is meeting in an Arab country.

Lebanon and Bahrain are the only Arab countries yet to sign the convention.

Delegates at the U.N. conference are considering nearly four dozen proposals on a range of endangered species from rhinos to polar bears.

John Sellar, chief enforcement officer for CITES, said it is difficult to estimate the extent of the illegal trade in the Arab world, but Animals Lebanon estimates that it is the third largest illegal trade in the region, after weapons and drugs.

"Much of the illegal trade that takes place here is of a specialized nature," Sellar said, citing the example of prize falcons, kept by many Arab sheiks in desert encampments, particularly in the United Arab Emirates.

"We've also seen some smuggling of very exotic species ... like very rare parrots, young chimpanzees, gorillas and leopards that seem to be for the private collections of some of the rich individuals in the Gulf area," he said.

Several recent incidents have underscored the plight of animals in Lebanon — a country where the only law that refers to animal rights stipulates that anyone who purposely harms an animal has to pay a fine of up to $15.

Willem Wijnstekers, the secretary-general of CITES, said countries must have strong laws in place to discourage animal smuggling. Otherwise, he said, smugglers will simply see the penalties as part of the cost of doing business, and not a deterrent.

In December 2009, Animals Lebanon began a campaign against Egypt's Monte Carlo Circus after it received a tip that the circus animals — six lions and three tigers — did not have proper certificates and had not received water or food during the six-day trip from Egypt to Lebanon.

The group sent several activists and a veterinarian to the circus grounds to investigate, and they reported the animals were malnourished and that one cub had been de-clawed.

The circus was declared illegal in January after Agriculture Minister Hussein Hajj Hassan sent the ministry's own experts to investigate, but the circus has appealed. While the case continues, the circus is still giving daily performances attended by small crowds.

"The case of the circus, and the trade of the lions and tigers, highlighted the urgent need to have Lebanon join CITES and protect these endangered species," Hajj Hassan said.

A circus employee at a recent performance denied the animals were treated badly.

"They say we are not feeding them. Look at them, do they look hungry to you?" the employee asked the audience as lions and tigers dutifully performed acrobatics around a caged tent near a highway just north of Beirut.

There was no official comment from the circus.

The animals looked healthy at the performance, weeks after the allegations were made.

In February 2009, Animals Lebanon managed to close down a zoo and rescue its 42 neglected and dying animals that had become a health hazard to its neighbors.

The starving animals languishing in dirty, rusty cages included bears, jackals, a chimpanzee, monkeys and a vulture that had apparently spent years tied by a chain that prevented it from flying or moving out of its cage, which measured just 20 square feet (2 square meters).

"The lion and chimpanzee died, but we flew the monkeys to a sanctuary in Wales and two bears to a sanctuary in Turkey," Shaarawi said. "I cannot describe the happiness I feel when we are able to rescue abused animals and find new homes for them."

In September, a 2-year-old lion cub was rescued by members of another local animal welfare organization after he was apparently abandoned off the main road in Beirut by the owner of the pet shop that imported him.

The severely dehydrated "King of the Jungle" was emaciated and malnourished with open sores on his body, according to Beta, the organization that rescued him. Beta tried to save the animal — which the group named Adam — but it died shortly after it was found.

There are similar problems across the region.

In Egypt, a gateway from Africa to the Middle East, there is a flourishing chimpanzee trade and exotic animals are frequently smuggled in and out. The owners are believed to bribe airport officials to look away.

Last year, panic broke out on a flight from the United Arab Emirates to Egypt when a foot-long baby crocodile wriggled out of a passenger's hand luggage.

In blockaded Gaza, residents smuggle animals through tunnels that link the territory to Egypt to supply their private zoos. Smugglers proudly speak of hauling lions, monkeys and exotic birds through the underground passageways, making deals with animal smugglers in Egypt.

Most animals are drugged first, but in a particularly cruel practice, zoo owners usually rip out the teeth of lions to ensure they don't bite visitors.

Activists say many of the pet shops in Lebanon are unlicensed and keep the animals in appalling conditions without proper health care.

One pet shop owner who identified himself only by his first name, Elie, to avoid "trouble" from activists, scoffed at the allegations.

"Everything in here is legal," he says of the dogs, cats, parrots and rabbits he sells. Asked whether it was fair to keep a puppy locked up in a cage the size of a bird cage, he shrugged: "They are fine. It is only until I sell them."

___

Associated Press writers Diaa Hadid in Gaza and Sarah El Deeb in Cairo contributed to this report.

___

On the Net:

http://www.animalslebanon.org/
http://betalebanon.org/
http://www.cites.org/

___

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100317/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_un_smuggling_animals

Mystery of disappearing stuffed gorilla solved

Alfred the gorilla with Ron Mrogan, right, and Fred Hooper, centre. Photo: SWNS

When the stuffed body of Alfred, a 7ft gorilla, disappeared from Bristol Museum in March 1956 it sparked one of the more unusual police investigations.

By By Richard Savill
Published: 11:47AM GMT
05 Mar 2010

Alfred had been one of the prize attractions at Bristol Zoo during his 18 years in captivity. Such was his appeal that after his death in 1946 he was stuffed and mounted in a glass case at the museum.

Police appealed for information, scoured the local university campus and interviewed leaders of the student union in an attempt to find him, but to no avail. They suspected he may have been stolen by rival students.

For nearly three days there was no sign of Alfred, until Donald Boulton, the university caretaker, found him in a doctor's waiting room.

But the mystery of who took Alfred and where he went has remained a mystery for more than 50 years.

Now, after the death of one of the culprits, Ron Morgan, 79, a former estate agent in Bristol, the secret behind the `escape’ from the museum has been revealed.

The story had never been told because Mr Morgan, his university friend Fred Hooper, 77, and his other accomplice, known only as DS, feared they would be prosecuted.

Mr Morgan, of Clevedon, Somerset, kept a scrapbook with photographs of the gorilla, in which the animal was dressed in a hat, a wig and with middle-eastern head dress.

As a tribute to Mr Morgan, his family and friends have spoken of the stunt.

Mr Hooper, 77, who lives in Cheltenham, Glos., said: “It was initially my idea. I was about 23 at the time and I thought it would be a great rag week jape.

“It took a bit of planning. We knew the porter and so we were able to get a key cut to the secondary door that linked the museum to the university.

“Then we hid in the belfry until about 1am when everything was closed. It wasn't such a good idea in hindsight as the bells were still ringing and were incredibly loud.

“We got into the museum and then we used the side door to get him out.

It was very early in the morning and we stuffed him into the boot of an old Vauxhall car, which cost me £35, folded back the seats and sped off to my bedsit.

“That's where he stayed for the duration and we took pictures of him in different guises.''

The friends kept the stuffed gorilla in the bedsit in Clifton, Bristol, for 60 hours.

Mr Hooper added: ''There were all sorts of stories going around, people thought Cardiff students had kidnapped him and there was a rumour he was in a cave somewhere.

“It was always our intention to return him and so the easiest thing was to take him to a doctor's waiting room which was just across the road. It was midday on a Saturday and we just carried him over and left him there.”

Mr Morgan’s son, Gerard, 45, said the scrapbook, containing the photographs and original stories from the local newspaper, the Bristol Evening Post, had become a family heirloom.

“My father used to develop his own photographs which is why he was able to take these pictures without anyone else finding out,” he added.

“This scrapbook has been locked in a secret drawer in our home and travelled around the world with him.

“Occasionally the scrapbook would come out and along with my brothers I loved listening to the story of Alfred.”

Bristol Museum has sent a letter to Gerard Morgan assuring the family that no one will be prosecuted.

Tim Corum, deputy head of Bristol's Museums, Galleries and Archives service, said the revelations were “intriguing”.

“Although we would never condone any such illegal activity as reportedly happened, the council will not be taking any action against the reputed perpetrators either.

“Instead we will be adding the latest reports to the bulging file relating to one of Bristol's best loved figures.”

Bristol Zoo in 1948, and was then stuffed and put on display in a glass case at the city's museum.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7368549/Mystery-of-disappearing-stuffed-gorilla-solved.html

Gorilla who kept dead baby in 2008 dies

Sunday January 17, 2010 MYT 8:45:00 PM

BERLIN (AP): A German zoo says the gorilla who gained fame for mourning her dead baby by carrying its body for several days in 2008 has died following illness.

Muenster zoo spokeswoman Ilona Zuehlke told the DAPD news agency that a keeper found 12-year-old Gana dead in her cage early Sunday. Zuehlke said the exact cause of death has not been determined, but the gorilla had been ill for several weeks.

Gana became famous through pictures of her cradling the lifeless body of her 3-month-old son Claudio who had died of a severe intestinal infection in 2008. Zookeepers said at the time such behavior is not uncommon for gorillas.

Last April she gave birth to a healthy daughter who was named Claudia and still lives at the zoo.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/17/apworld/20100117204944&sec=apworld