Zoo notes
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1994:
A deal to move Ivan the gorilla to the 17-member
colony at Zoo Atlanta has collapsed. Ivan has been kept in a
cage at a now-bankrupt shopping mall in Tacoma, Washington,
for nearly 30 years. Bankruptcy trustee Bianca Harrison claims
the obstacle was that Zoo Atlanta wouldn’t let his keepers to stay
with him during quarantine, wouldn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t
be moved again, and wouldn’t promise that he wouldn’t be elec-
troejaculated. Zoo Atlanta says the real issue is that the creditors
think they can get more money for Ivan abroad than the $30,000
the Progressive Animal Welfare Society offered to send him to
Atlanta.
Four gorillas have died at the Columbus Zoo in the
past year––Oscar of a heart attack, Molly and her baby as result
of a premature birth, and Colbi, age six, of apparent severe coli-
tis on May 3. Antibiotic treatments failed.
A 12-year-old gorilla, Casey II, scaled a 16-foot
wall and took a 30-minute stroll through the St. Paul Zoo on May
12, peaceably window-shopping at souvenir stands and befriend-
ing the resident antelopes before he was tranquilized, recaptured,
and temporarily confined indoors.
In the year since former Philadelphia city streets
commissioner Pete Hoskins was appointed president of the
Philadelphia Zoo, membership has increased 14% to a record
50,000, after a four-year skid, and the 1993-1994 operating loss
is expected to be $300,000, down from $1.5 million in 1992-
1993. The zoo has also raised $5 million toward $6.5 million
worth of planned improvements to animal care facilities, plus
$5.4 million toward a $10.4 million wildlife education center.
The Philadelphia Zoo, founded in 1859, is the oldest in the U.S.
Parc Safari, at Hemmingford, Quebec, reopened
May 21 after hastily acquiring nearly 400 animals to replace 630
animals who were killed during the winter by Agriculture Canada
to prevent the spread of an outbreak of bovine tuberculosis.
About 250 resident animals of various species not vulnerable to
bovine TB were spared.
Three children, ages 4, 10, and 13, were mauled by
bears at the Moscow Zoo during March. “It is a legacy of our
Soviet mentality,” cheetah keeper Lena Aliskerova told Howard
Witt of the Chicago Tribune. “People just do not believe any-
thing written on official signs. If a sign says, ‘Danger: do not
touch the animals,’ they think it means it’s okay.” Observed Witt,
“The zoo resembles an animal gulag.” About 4,500 animals of
800 species endure short rations in cramped quarters. “Yet the
Moscow Zoo is more than a reflection of Russia’s crushing prob-
lems,” Witt added. “Among the employees, a visitor can also
discover a selfless, absolute devotion to the animals in their care,
a willingness to endure pitiable wages for thankless jobs, and a
zeal to improve conditions as quickly as possible,” by learning
western fundraising and promotional methods, to finance the
necessary changes.
The Wilds, a financially struggling 9,154-acre con-
servation center for rhinos, red wolves, and seven other
endangered species in southeastern Ohio, is beginning van
tours for visitors to help offset costs. Founded in 1986 as the
International Center for the Preservation of Wild Animals, Inc.,
the wilds has only managed to raise 22% of its $800,000-a-year
budget through individual and corporate contributions.
Foundations and government grants furnish the rest.
