Egyptian Central Zoos director agrees to use contraception to prevent perennial lion surplus

April 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2010:

CAIRO–Egyptian Central Zoos director and Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species representative Nabil Sidki
announced on April 6, 2010 that Egyptian zoos will begin using birth
control drugs and surgical sterilization to prevent surplus lion
births.
At least three zoos in Egypt, including the 120-year-old
Giza Zoo, have been criticized for decades for doing little to
curtail births of inbred lion cubs, some of whom are believed to be
illegally trafficked, while others contribute to severe overcrowding.
Frequently exposing conditions at the Giza Zoo since 1991,
former London Zoological Society fellow and Cairo resident Richard
Hoath in May 2009 noted in Egypt Today that the Giza Zoo lions are
still “kept in bare concrete cages, without any habitat or
behavioral enrichment,” even though the lion exhibit still includes
an extensive moated veldt that was meant to be the main lion habitat
when the zoo opened in 1891.

India bans keeping elephants in zoos & circuses

November 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2009:

NEW DELHI–The Central Zoo Authority of
India on November 9, 2009 sent a rumble
throughout the world with a decree that elephants
may no longer be exhibited by zoos and circuses.
Rumored to be coming for more than 18
months, the order came from the government of
the nation with the most captive elephants,
about 3,500 in all; the oldest history of
elephant use and exhibition, about 3,500 years;
the largest population of wild Asian elephants,
approximately 28,000; and the longest record of
protecting both elephants and elephant habitat,
beginning about 2,240 years ago.

Gangetic dolphins in zoo?

October 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2009:

NEW DELHI, PATNA–Created to protect the Ganga River and
tributaries, the Ganga River Basin Authority debuted on October 5,
2009 by declaring Gangetic dolphins the Indian national aquatic
animal, on a motion by Bijar chief minister Nitish Kumar. The
action gives Gangetic dolphins status equivalent to tigers, the
national animal, and peacocks, the national bird. As few as 1,500

ALF burns Italian zoo

April 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2009:
TURIN–An arson claimed by the Animal Liberation Front with
spray-painted slogans and a posting to the Florida-based Bite Back
web site on February 25, 2009 razed the newly built Zoom Zoo near
Turin, Italy. The zoo was to open in April.
“Several bottles filled with petrol were used to start the
fire, which killed some 40 hawks, buzzards and owls,” Europe News
and Italian media reported. The ALF claimed to have released about
30 birds.
Also killed were two hedgehogs, but firefighters kept the
blaze from harming several tigers who were also on the premises.

Senior Ragunan Zoo curator speaks out for orangs

January 1, 2009 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2009:
JAKARTA, Indonesia–Ragunan Zoo senior
curator Ulrike Freifrau von Mengden on December
30, 2008 for the second time in three years put
her unpaid job and her home inside the zoo at
risk by speaking out on behalf of the orangutans
she has looked after ever since the zoo opened.
Prompting von Mengden’s concern each time
were the implications for nearly 50 orangutans
of a long-evolving deal whereby the Ragunan Zoo
is reportedly to acquire a female gorilla from
the Howletts Wild Animal Park in Britain in early
2009, in trade for 12 primates of Indonesian
species.
Brokered by Gibbon Foundation director
Willie Smits, a Dutch-born Indonesian resident,
the exchange was disclosed in February 2006.
Five silvery gibbons and several Javan langurs
were sent to Howletts. Smits credited Howletts
with curing the gibbons of diseases and getting
them out of small cages.
Preparations to receive the female
gorilla are still underway, Ragunan Zoo
spokesperson Bambang Wahyudi recently told
Mariani Dewi of the Jakarta Post.
The female gorilla is expected to arrive
after a Ragunan Zoo veterinarian, a senior
keeper, and a data base administrator complete
three months of training at Howletts. Their
training started in October 2008.

BOOKS: The Rhino With Glue-On Shoes & Trust Me: I’m not a veterinarian

December 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 2008:

The Rhino With Glue-On Shoes
& other surprising stories of zoo vets and their patients
Edited by Lucy H. Spelman, DVM and Ted Y. Mashima, DVM
Delacorte Press (c/o Random House,
1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019), 2008.
Hardcover, 310 pages. $22.00.

Trust Me: I’m not a veterinarianŠNo Dog Before His Time!
James D. Schwartz
Next To Kin Foundation (5954 S. Monaco Way, Centennial, CO 80111), 2008.
324 pages, paperback. $15.99.

The Rhino With Glue-On Shoes and Trust
Me: I’m not a veterinarian could scarcely
present more contrasting views of the veterinary
profession.
Twenty-eight zoo vets in The Rhino With
Glue-On Shoes recall their most memorable
patients. Each appears to work in the tradition
of All Creatures Great & Small author James
Herriot, authentically fond of animals and quick
to respond to any crisis involving any sort of
animal, from sea dragons to gorillas and polar
bears.

Off-exhibit secrets of troubled zoos

September 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2008:
UBUD, GIANYAR–The Bali Zoo, featuring
exhibits from which animals often “go walkabout,”
might be described as emphasizing form over
substance.
Occupying a six-acre forested ravine in a
residential neighborhood in Singapadu, a suburb
of Ubud, the Bali Zoo has been described by
tourism media as a “hidden jewel”–and it is, at
a glance.
A closer look reveals
species-inappropriate exhibits, neglect of
animal health, and potentially deadly accidents
to visitors and neighbors lurking just around
many of the bends of the zoo’s winding paths.

San Francisco supervisors consider turning S.F. Zoo into wildlife rescue center

July 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2008:
SAN FRANCISCO–The San Francisco Board of Supervisors are to
decide in September 2008 whether to convert the zoo, one of the
oldest in the U.S., into a wildlife rescue center.
“Supervisor Chris Daly proposed the measure six months after
a tiger escaped on December 25, 2007 and fatally mauled Carlos Souza
Jr., 17, of San Jose,” San Francisco Chronicle staff writer
Marissa Lagos reported on August 8, 2008.
As drafted, “The measure would make animal welfare a
priority at the zoo,” Lagos wrote, “and would require that any
future acquisitions be rescued animals, including those who were
abused or were confiscated by law enforcement after being illegally
owned or imported. The zoo would be barred from acquiring new
animals ‘unless the needs of all animals currently at the zoo have
been met.’ Some breeding programs for endangered animals would be
allowed to continue.”

Could the Giza Zoo become a rescue center?

March 1, 2008 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2008:
CAIRO–Little changed in 117 years, the
Giza Zoo is either the best of zoos or the worst
of zoos, according to many noisy authorities,
and may actually be a bit of both.
The animal collection is distinctly
idiosyncratic and of little value from a
conservation perspective, since most of the
examples of rare species represent inbred genetic
lines.
Yet the zoo does include enough lions,
elephants, hippos, zebras, giraffes, and
monkeys to satisfy most visitors. The animal
care attracts far more complaints than the
variety.

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