Freedom at last for Ivan the gorilla?

November 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

TACOMA, Washington––Bankruptcy judge Philip Brandt ruled October 26 in

favor of a Chapter 11 reorganization plan presented by B&I Shopping Center minority owner

Mary Ann Borgert that includes selling the property and moving Ivan, a lowland gorilla who

has spent 29 years there in solitary confinement, to an appropriate zoo. The Columbus Zoo,

in Ohio, appears to be the most likely destination, having 18 gorillas already, including

potential mates for Ivan, but the National Zoo in Washington D.C., the Woodland Park Zoo

in Seattle, and the Atlanta Zoo, which rehabilitated a gorilla kept in solitary confinement

almost as long, are also possibilities. The Dallas Zoo, which reportedly tried to buy Ivan at

one point, no longer has a place for him. B&I principal owner Ron Irwin had always refused

cash offers because, he said, Ivan was “like family.” Ivan was imported nearly a decade

before the passage of the Endangered Species Act cut off private gorilla acquisiitons. The

Progressive Animal Welfare Society and the American Society of Zoological Parks and

Aquariums met October 23 to review contingency plans for Ivan’s hoped-for imminent

move––but Borgert said she wouldn’t make a relocation decision quickly.

COURT CALENDAR

November 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

Humane Enforcement

Concluding a three-year probe

begun in September 1990, the USDA in

October charged American Airlines w i t h

multiple violations of the Animal Welfare

Act. Seventy-one animals died aboard U.S.

domestic flights in 1990, the worst toll since

the USDA began monitoring air transport of

pets in 1976. Numerous airlines were

charged. 1992, however, was worse yet, as

50 puppies died aboard a single TWA flight

from Missouri to St. Louis. The puppies

were en route from breeders to pet shops.

Zoos

November 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1993:

Trying to share World Series pub-

licity, the Philadelphia Zoo wagered the loan of

two white lion cubs against the loan of two

Tasmanian Devils from the Toronto Zoo on

October 17––and incensed some Philadelphians

who thought the deal showed a casual attitude

toward the fate of the animals. Both zoos are

well-reputed, and the animals were apparently

scheduled to be moved elsewhere anyway.

The San Diego Zoo, barred from

renting two giant pandas from China at $1

million a year by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, is trying to decide what to do with a

new million-dollar panda cage and an extensive

stock of panda souvenirs. Interior Secretary

Bruce Babbitt ruled that the deal might con-

tribute to “irresistible pressure for the capture

and export of pandas,” contrary to the best

interest of the highly endangered species, even

though it was billed as a breeding loan and

China was supposed to spend the revenue on

panda conservation projects––which have

included such only vaguely related activities as

building hotels and hydroelectric dams in the

recent past. The deal also contradicted policy

of the American Society of Zoological Parks

and Aquariums.

Marine mammals

October 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1993:

The Dolphin Alliance, of

Melbourne Beach, Florida, announced

September 22 that Bogie and Bacall, the

Ocean Reef Club dolphins, will be going

home to the Indian River Lagoon as soon

as they complete rehabilitation with former

“Flipper” trainer Ric O’Barry, who heads

the closely allied Dolphin Project.

Publicity surrounding the 1988 capture of

Bogie and Bacall influenced the National

Marine Fisheries Service to ban further dol-

phin captures for the benefit of facilities

not open to the public. When the Ocean

Reef Club was sold recently, it lost the

grandfather clause enabling it to keep

Bogie and Bacall.

Marine Mammals

September 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1993:

The hit film Free Willy gave new

impetus to the ongoing campaign to persuade

Sea World in San Diego to return an orca named

Corky to her native habitat off British Columbia.

Her mother and several siblings remain with the

pod from which she was captured 24 years ago.

Sea World contends Corky could no longer sur-

vive in the wild. Free Willy has also started a

campaign on behalf of Keiko, the star of the

film, who resides at the El Nuevo Reino

Aventura amusement park in Mexico City. Free

Willy producers Lauren Shuler-Donner and

Richard Donner are reportedly ready to buy

Keiko and move him to a better facility, perhaps

even a fenced inlet off Cape Cod, using

$200,000 contributed by Warner Brothers, the

film’s distributor. Captured off Iceland in 1982,

and kept at Marineland in Niagara Falls before

being sold to his present keepers, Keiko hasn’t

drawn interest from major aquariums because of

a purportedly debilitating skin condition.

Zoos

September 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1993:

In a case with implications for

zoos the world over, the California State

Board of Equalization argues that the San

Diego Zoo owes the state $3.5 million in

back taxes and penalties incurred via trans-

actions involving 1,992 animals between

1984 and 1987. The zoo lists the total

value of its 3,300 animals of 800 species at

just $1, claiming there can be no fair mar-

ket value for creatures who cannot be sold

on the open market or even transferred

without federal permits, but after finding

that the zoo does in fact keep records of

the animals’ estimated value, a Board of

Equalization auditor assessed the collec-

tion as being worth $19 million. The zoo

has offered to pay about $330,000 to settle

the matter, which zoo spokesperson Jeff

Jouett claims arose because the auditor in

question was on a vendetta.

Zoos

July 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1993:

Interior Secretary Bruce

Babbitt told the San Diego Zoo on June

25 that, “Frankly, at this time, I am not

optimistic that our biologists can issue the

permit” the zoo seeks to import three pan-

das from China under a captive breeding

loan, because the import might violate the

Endangered Species Act. Babbitt said the

zoo would be allowed to bring in the pan-

das only if it can prove that the breeding

loan “will ultimately result in enhanced

protection for the species.” He added that

his staff was concerned “that this transac-

tion will set a precedent and generate irre-

sistible pressure for the capture and export

of pandas from the only region where they

are found wild.” The San Diego Zoo has

already spent more than $1 million in

preparation to receive the pandas, who are

expected to be a record-breaking attrac-

tion, and has agreed to pay China $1 mil-

lion a year during their visit plus $600,000

per cub who lives longer than six months.

Zoos & Aquariums

June 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1993:

The Zoological Society of London on April 13

rejected plans by entrepreneur David Laing and New Zoo

Developments Ltd. to build a $55 million walk-through

aquarium and wildlife film theatre on the 36-acre site. The

166-year-old London Zoo, the world’s oldest, has raised

$3.8 million independently, toward the cost of $32.5 mil-

lion worth of renovations it needs to become a captive

breeding facility. Laing said he would try to situate the pro-

posed aquarium and theatre elsewhere in London.

The Pittsburgh Zoo opened an insect gallery on

April 24, featuring a $24,000 video camera that allows visi-

tors to zoom in on particular insects, magnify their view,

and follow them around a terrarium. Nineteen insect species

are featured in the gallery, and are rotated in the magnifica-

tion area.

AAZPA ADOPTS GIANT PANDA CONSERVATION ACTION PLAN

June 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1993:

Stung by criticism of panda rental deals, which have enabled some U.S. zoos to rake in millions of dollars by

spending several hundred thousand dollars to borrow a giant panda from China, the American Association of Zoological

Parks and Aquariums adopted a comprehensive giant panda conservation action plan on April 23. Under the plan,

AAZPA will for the first time station a species survival coordinator in China, at cost of $100,000 a year, to make sure

money paid by U.S. zoos for panda and panda habitat protection is actually spent for the stated purpose. China is presently

receiving more than $1 million a year from AAZPA members in connection with panda rentals, but indications are that

much of the money is diverted, as was a considerable portion of the $2.5 million the World Wildlife Fund sent to China

for panda protection between 1961 and 1986. The budget for a WWF-funded panda breeding facility included building a

town-sized hydroelectric plant––and the breeding facility, for all the spending, had produced only one stillborn panda cub

as of 1990. Wildlife Conservation Society science director George Schaller, author of The Last Panda, praised the

AAZPA action as a step in the right direction. Meanwhile, concerned that money for pandas might stop coming if the last

thousand left in the wild and last 100 in captivity die without reproducing, China has over the past year announced the cre-

ation or expansion of 14 panda reserves, and the birth of 13 pandas in captivity, of whom 11 are still alive. Panda loans

continue: the San Diego Zoo has just agreed to pay China $1 million a year for each of the next three years to borrow a

breeding pair, and may renew the deal for up to 10 years.

« 1 … 20 21 22 23 24 »