A Project of Animal People, Inc., 1992-2013
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2011:
CAIRO, DUBLIN— Egyptian animal advocate Dina Zulfikar and John Carmody, founder of the Animal Rights Action Network in Limerick, Ireland, agree that their longterm goal is not bigger cages but no cages. Yet both were ecstatic in September 2011 over winning larger cages for several chimpanzees and gorillas for whom there is little hope of life outside of zoos. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2011:
SILVER SPRING, Maryland– The American Zoo Association on August 12, 2011 announced that “As soon as possible, and no later than September 1, 2014, elephant care providers at AZA facilities shall not share the same unrestricted space with elephants,” except “for the specific purposes of required health and welfare procedures, transport, research, active breeding and calf management programs, and medical treatments and testing.” The new policy, adopted after more than seven months of internal discussion and review, will become part of the AZA accreditation standards for elephant management and care, most recently updated in May 2011. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2011:
TRIPOLI–Veterinarian Amir Khalil of the Austrian-based international animal charity Vier Pfoten on September 9, 2011 led a rescue team to the aid of the 700 animals at the Tripoli Zoo. Vier Pfoten is believed to be the first animal charity allowed to work in Libya in more than 40 years.
North Carolina Zoo director David Jones and the International Fund for Animal Welfare had raised $10,000 to help the rescue, Jones said on the North Carolina Zoo web site. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:
LONDON, SEATTLE–Growing almost unnoticed amid the buzz of the Internet, Worldwide Web, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media, the electronic information management industry appears to have eclipsed the annual income of animal charities worldwide even before most pro-animal campaign strategists knew what it was. Read more
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2011:
GIZA, Egypt–Amid drifting tear gas, as demonstrators and
police clashed on May 15, 2011 just outside the Giza Zoo, a zebra
died of officially unknown causes.
“At least 120 people were injured,” reported Al Jazeera,
“when Egyptian security forces fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel
bullets at pro-Palestinian protesters who were trying to storm the
Israeli embassy. Protesters gathered to commemorate the 63rd
anniversary of the “Nakba” or “catastrophe” –the day Israel declared
independence and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were
expelled from their homes. At least 20 people were arrested. Al
Jazeera’s Rob Gilles, at the scene, said that some protesters
burned tires in the middle of the road and threw stones.”
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2011:
KYIV, Ukraine–The Kyiv Prosec-utor’s Office on May 3, 2011
announced that it had opened a criminal case against former Kyiv Zoo
director Svitlana Berzina, who now heads the city dog licensing
bureau. “Berzina is suspected of embezzling some $47,000 from the
zoo by commissioning projects that weren’t fully carried out, if at
all,” reported Associated Press.
“Berzina was fired last year,” Associated Press recalled,
“after nearly one-half of the zoo’s animals either died or
disappeared. Rights groups claimed the deaths were caused by
mistreatment, with rare animals illegally sold to private
collectors.”
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2011:
LONDON–Tiny, a seven-month-old western gorilla, the first
gorilla born at the London Zoo since 1988, suffered a broken arm and
died of apparent internal injuries on May 12, 2011 in an attack by
the recently acquired silverback male Kesho. Tiny and his mother
Mjukuu had just been introduced to Kesho for the second time.
“Kesho’s arrival was recommended by experts to create a
cohesive social group, after the death of the zoo’s previous male
gorilla,” reported BBC News. “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 introduced to the two other female gorillas at
the zoo, but keepers waited many months for an introduction to the
youngster and his mother.”
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2011:
Bridget Sipp, 43, was killed on April 11, 2011 when she
rushed back into her blazing log house in Springfield, New Jersey,
to try to rescue her mother, Lenore Edwards, 68, who had already
escaped. Bridget Sipp operated the Animal Kingdom Zoo in
Springfield, in partnership with her husband Burton K. Sipp, 64,
who was away in connection with his race horse training business.
Bridget Sipp, also a race horse owner, was often mentioned
for bottle-feeding baby animals at the Animal Kingdom Zoo, which
reopened three days after the fire. But the zoo itself, and Burton
Sipp, have been controversial for more than 25 years.
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2011:
TOKYO–Fourteen zoos and aquariums were hit by the Thoku Chih
earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster, Japan Association of
Zoos & Aquariums chair Shigeyuki Yamamoto confirmed on March 18,
2011, but for most the earthquake and tsunami were much less
problematic than trying to keep animals alive amid the shortages of
supplies, electricity, and transportation that followed.
“Due to the inability to distribute resources, including
feed, water, electricity, and other basic necessities,” Yamamoto
said, “zoos and aquariums have suffered greatly in their ability to
acquire the proper commodities for the animals. JAZA, in
cooperation with our member institutions, has already been
cooperating in supplying as many resources as possible to those
members affected.”