Big Cat News: May 2006

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Tippi Hedren Rescues Michael Jackson's Pet Tigers

Tippi Hedren Rescues Michael Jackson's Pet Tigers

Actress Tippi Hedren has come to the rescue of pop star Michael

Jackson's pet tigers who were left abandoned at his Neverland Ranch in

California. The star of The Birds - who is dedicated to saving large

cats at her Shambala wildlife sanctuary - has adopted the animals

because she couldn't bear to see them starved or abused.

A source tells Globe, "When Michael couldn't find a buyer for them, he

approached Tippi, begging her to take both the male and the female.

Tippi couldn't bear the thought of these beautiful animals ending up in

a tiny cage somewhere or - even worse, being mistreated or starved in a

traveling sideshow. Although Michael promised her he would be

financially responsible for his two tigers, I don't think Tippi honestly

believes she will see a penny."

The 76-year-old star, who is also the mother of actress Melanie

Griffith, adopted the tigers after animal rights group People for the

Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) broke the news of the deplorable

conditions the animals were living under.

The source adds, "Tippi has placed them in quarantine for this first

month, ensuring they are in good health and their diet is monitored.

Once they've made this initial adjustment, they will be safely

introduced to the rest of the pride."

More news HERE.

http://www.starpulse.com/news/

index.php/2006/05/22/tippi_hedren_rescues_michael_jackson_s_p

For the cats,

Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue

an Educational Sanctuary home

to more than 100 big cats

12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL 33625

813.493.4564 fax 885.4457

http://www.BigCatRescue.org MakeADifference@BigCatRescue.org

Sign our petition here:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/344896451?ltl=1140270431

This message contains information from Big Cat Rescue that may be confidential or privileged. The information contained herein is intended only for the eyes of the individual or entity named above. You are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, disclosure, and/or copying of the information contained in this communication is strictly prohibited. The recipient should check this e-mail and any attachments for the presence of viruses. Big Cat Rescue accepts no liability for any damage or loss caused by any virus transmitted by this e-mail.

Lions, tigers, bears: no way

Circus makes plans for local show, but law prohibits exotic animals

By _Joel Mathis_ (http://www2.ljworld.com/staff/

joel_mathis/) (_Contact_

(http://www2.ljworld.com/staff/

joel_mathis/contact/) )

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

The circus is welcome — but the animals aren’t.

City officials said Tuesday that Florida-based Circus Pages won’t be

permitted to bring “exotic” animals to Lawrence for a scheduled May 24

performance.

City code allows only a few domestic animals to be kept and owned in town.

“We have looked it over,” said Toni Wheeler, a staff attorney at City Hall.

“And it appears the exotic animals — lions, tigers and bears — would not be

permitted in this city.”

The Douglas County Commission last year banned exotic animal acts from

unincorporated areas of the county, including the fairgrounds, where such

performances had been allowed.

Circus Pages’ planned performance is the first locally since the vote;

officials with the circus did not return calls to comment on how the ban might

affect their plans.

(http://www2.ljworld.com/photos

/2006/may/17/98129/)

A flier for a circus scheduled in Lawrence promotes jungle cats and rides on

elephants. Both animals are among those banned in the city.

But fliers promising jungle cats and elephant rides have been posted across

town, drawing the ire of critics who say such acts are harmful to the

animals.

“It seems to me in this day and age, we should all be well aware of the

dangers of keeping large animals in the circumstances that sometimes they’re

kept,

” said Andrea Albright, a Lawrence resident who fired off a letter to city

officials this week.

The circus was scheduled to perform at the Kansas National Guard armory, 200

Iowa. On Tuesday, Ernie Gwin, a unit administrator at the armory, said he saw

nothing wrong with circuses. He said he planned to take his young daughter

to the event.

More about the ban

* _6News video: Circus coming to town, but animals unwelcome_

(http://www.6newslawrence.com

/news/2006/may/16/circus_

coming_town_animals_

unwelcome/)

* _County bans exotic animals in circuses (06-30-05)

(http://www2.ljworld.com/news/

2005/jun/30/city_bans_exotic_

animals_circuses/)

* _Lions, tigers and bears, no more? (06-28-05)_

(http://www2.ljworld.com/news/

2005/jun/28/lions_tigers_and_

bears_no_more/)

* _Douglas County Commission meeting minutes: action on circus ban

(06-29-05)_

(http://www.douglas-county.com/local_govt/minutes

_details.asp?Min_ID=260)

For the cats,

Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue

an Educational Sanctuary home

to more than 100 big cats

12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL 33625

813.493.4564 fax 885.4457

http://www.BigCatRescue.org MakeADifference@BigCatRescue.org

Sign our petition here:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/344896451?ltl=1140270431

Wild Animal Trade Plays Role in Bird Flu Spread, Scientists

Wild Animal Trade Plays Role in Bird Flu Spread, Scientists Say

May 31 (Bloomberg) -- The legal and illegal trade of wild birds is playing a role in spreading the H5N1 avian flu virus that's killed 127 people, scientists said.

``We still don't understand this movement of wildlife,'' William Karesh, the New York-based director of the field veterinary program at the Wildlife Conservation Society said today at a conference in Rome. ``We have good records for legal trade, but that's only a bit of what's going on and it's probably not where the problems are.''

About 350 million live animals are moved worldwide to become pets or serve other domestic purposes in a trade worth about $20 billion a year. About one-quarter of this trade is thought to be illegal and so isn't inspected or tested. Disease outbreaks resulting from wildlife trade have caused hundreds of billions of dollars of economic damage globally, Karesh said.

Scientists from more than 100 countries are meeting in Rome to try to shift the focus of bird flu prevention back to the animals that incubate the disease. The H5N1 virus has killed almost two of every three people infected this year, leading governments to buy antivirals, including Roche Holding AG's Tamiflu, and to sponsor vaccine development. Focusing on controlling the disease in animal populations would be better, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says.

``We have to focus on this issue of trade because it's the most frequent way if spreading disease from one region to another,'' said Joseph Domenech, chief veterinary officer at the Rome-based FAO. ``We're talking about illegal trade here as well, which is much more difficult to regulate. This includes legal and illegal trade in wild birds which is quite significant and often ignored.''

Exotic Birds

Health officials are worried the H5N1 virus may change into a form easily spread among people, touching off a pandemic similar to the one that began in 1918 in which as many as 50 million people died. Since 2003, H5N1 is known to have infected 224 people in 10 countries, killing 127 of them, according to the World Health Organization in Geneva.

Wild fowl in the pet or exotic bird trade may carry parasites, bacteria and viruses that don't cause disease in the host animal and become dangerous when introduced to new geographic areas or to new host species. Dangerous strains of both the avian flu virus and Newcastle's disease, another ailment that can affect birds, have been found in internationally traded non-domestic birds.

Decreasing contact among different species, including that between humans and birds, may be a better way of tackling the disease than trying to eliminate the virus or the wild species that may harbor them, Karesh said.

More Monitoring Needed

``Focusing efforts at markets to regulate, reduce, or, in some cases, eliminate the trade in wildlife could provide a cost- effective approach to decrease the risks in disease for humans, domestic animals and wildlife,'' he said.

In addition to monitoring trade, more work needs to be done to study the presence of the H5N1 virus in wild birds, scientists at the conference said.

The FAO and partners including not-for-profit Wetlands International, based in Wageningen, Netherlands, and the Paris- based French Agricultural Research Center for International Development started an 18-month study of the disease in wild birds in January. They haven't yet been able to find an instance of the virus in wild birds collected in Africa and parts of Europe, said Nicholas Gaidet, a researcher at the French center.

Poultry Farms

Avian flu virus was found in about 3 percent of the 4,893 samples collected. Those found are referred to as low-pathogenic strains though because they don't cause severe disease and typically only infect specific organs, such as the respiratory tract and gut. The researchers will continue to collect and take samples from birds and expand the surveillance coverage to new regions, Gaidet said.

The research is aimed at determining the role that wild birds play in the spread of the disease. H5N1 is rampant in poultry farms in Africa, but the inability of researchers to find the virus in wild birds in the area suggests that trade rather than migration may have introduced the virus.

``We haven't found a needle, but we haven't looked through enough haystacks yet either,'' said Juan Lubroth, head of infectious diseases at the FAO.

Some scientists suggested though that the H5N1 virus hasn't been found because the studies may be flawed. Researchers need to give more details about the low-pathogenic strains that they're finding in the birds, said Henry Niman, the president of Pittsburgh-based Recombinomics Inc., a closely-held company that looks at the emergence of new infectious diseases. These infections are commonly found in wild birds and if the researchers aren't finding these strains, it may also indicate that they're overlooking the H5N1 virus, he said.

Wrong End?

``The low-path detection rate would certainly provide insight into the relevance of the negative data on H5N1,'' Niman said.

Researchers have been focused on sampling feces, though the H5N1 virus is primarily found in the respiratory tract rather than the digestive system, said Ron Fouchier, a researcher at the Department of Virology at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands. He recommends that researchers take samples from the throats of birds too.

``I think we've been looking at the wrong end of the bird,'' he said.

To contact the reporters on this story:

Carey Sargent in Geneva at Csargent3@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 31, 2006 07:21 EDT

For the cats,

Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue

an Educational Sanctuary home

to more than 100 big cats

12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL 33625

813.493.4564 fax 885.4457

http://www.BigCatRescue.org MakeADifference@BigCatRescue.org

Sign our petition here:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/344896451?ltl=1140270431

No pattern in deaths at zoo

9 prominent animals have died in the past year, 2 this month

By KATHY MULADY AND JOHN IWASAKI

P-I REPORTERS

Nine high-profile animals have died at Woodland Park Zoo in the past year, including an ocelot and a tree kangaroo in the past two weeks.

Some of the animals were longtime zoo residents, including a 32- year-old zebra named Rosie and a 16- year-old cougar.

Other animals that died this year were an 11-year-old pony named Bonnie, a snow leopard, a Rocky Mountain goat, a Pallas' cat and a DeBrazza's guenon, a type of monkey.

The list comprises only mammals, not the reptiles, birds, smaller animals or insects that are in the zoo's collection.

The ocelot that died last week was the second the zoo lost in 14 months.

It has been the zoo's policy for many years to announce the deaths of large or otherwise notable animals that are especially familiar to zoo visitors.

Zoo officials in Seattle and nationally say it is impossible to draw any conclusions from the deaths, which represent about 4 percent of the 250 mammals at the zoo.

"In my seven years here, our animal mortality has been pretty good, pretty low," said Zoo Deputy Director Bruce Bohmke. "Many of our animals live way beyond what their life span would be in the wild. You expect to see a certain percent die over the year."

The American Zoo and Aquarium Association, which accredits zoos, doesn't have specific policies or keep statistics on mortality rates at its member zoos.

"There are no easy comparisons on deaths at zoos," said Jane Ballentine, a spokeswoman for the association. "Each zoo has a unique collection of species that have different life spans.

"Comparing a zoo with a bigger bird collection to one with more mammals would be comparing oranges to apples. Also, some of our members are small, compared to others that are quite large with a zoo population to go with it."

Ballentine said the association, based in Maryland, likely would be concerned if a zoo lost a large number of animals from a single species.

And zoos sometimes call on the association to request an independent investigation if they lose a large number of high-profile animals, mainly to reassure the public about the quality of their animal care, Ballentine said.

Some of the animals at Woodland Park Zoo died earlier than generally expected for zoo animals.

In zoos, zebras can live to be 40 years old. Rosie, the 32-year- old zebra, was euthanized because of discomfort from arthritis in her legs.

The tree kangaroo that died last week was 14 years old. In captivity, the kangaroos may live up to 20 years old.

"Be very careful about talking about averages," Bohmke advised. "I know people who lived to be 95 and others who have died at 60 or 65.

"When you look at what the number of deaths means, or what the number of births means, you have to know a lot more about it. There is a lot more to it than that."

Dr. Charles Leathers, a professor of pathology at the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at Washington State University, agreed.

Whether a string of animal deaths means anything has much to do "with historical information -- the number of animals in the collection, the mortality in the last year and last decade," Leathers said.

A spike in mortality or some other unusual pattern would have to be compared with the historical average, he said.

Animals generally live longer in zoos than in the wild because of good nutrition, health and medical care and a lack of predators.

But detecting illness, injury or disease isn't always easy, even under close watch in a zoo. Even in captivity, animals follow their natural instinct to hide signs of injury or weakness that might single them out from the crowd in the wild and make them easy prey.

Nancy Hawkes, Woodland Park Zoo's general curator, emphasized that the zoo has a more experienced staff than other zoos and has two full-time veterinarians.

Woodland Park also takes advantage of community expertise and medical equipment to provide top care for its animals.

Disease or old age were the primary reasons for the most recent deaths, Bohmke said. The zoo always performs a complete necropsy for each animal that dies. Tissue samples from animals are sent to labs for testing.

A growing database of information is helping zookeepers and veterinarians understand their animals, diseases and causes of death.

By coincidence, nine mammals were born at the zoo this year, Bohmke noted.

Accredited zoos nationwide work together on breeding programs and sometimes share or exchange animals under careful watch of the zoo and aquarium association.

Thorough records are kept on each animal.

Very few zoo animals are imported from the wild anymore; most are born in captivity.

The ocelot that died last week came from the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City.

Ocelots are spotted cats that can live to be 20 in zoos and usually 10 to 13 in the wild, according to zoo statements. The 12- year-old ocelot, a male, had been at Woodland Park Zoo for less than a year.

The animal recently had surgery after it began losing weight and accumulating fluid in its abdomen.

Animal deaths, like births, are part of life at zoos.

The San Francisco Zoo experienced two significant deaths last week. An Australian black swan unexpectedly died May 21, less than three weeks after it went on exhibit.

On May 24, Pogo, a Western lowland gorilla -- and one of the oldest apes in the nation -- died at age 48.

Zoo officials still don't know the cause of the swan's death. They said Pogo's demise was not surprising, given her heart problems and other ailments.

"A zoo is no different than any other segment of life," said Lora LaMarca, a spokeswoman for the Bay Area zoo.

"Animals are born, and animals die."

Drawing general conclusions about animal deaths is difficult because so many factors are involved, said Chris Pfefferkorn, general curator of the Oregon Zoo in Portland.

"You have to look at the circumstances, the natural history (of an individual animal), the genetics," he said.

Like Bohmke, Pfefferkorn compares the average life span of animals in zoos to trying to predict the average life span for a person.

The average life span for a man in the United States might be 82, Pfefferkorn said, but "men live past 82 and die before 82."

At Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma, 10 mammals died between June 2005 and last week, including a llama that was almost 24 and an opossum that was nearly 3, elderly by that marsupial's standards.

Some animals are euthanized when their quality of life diminishes, "like you'd do for a pet," Point Defiance Zoo spokeswoman Carolyn Cox said.

A spike in mortality or some other unusual pattern would be compared with the historical average, Bohmke said.

"No one likes to focus on death, even though it is part of life."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/272174_deadanimals31.html

For the cats,

Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue

an Educational Sanctuary home

to more than 100 big cats

12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL 33625

813.493.4564 fax 885.4457

http://www.BigCatRescue.org MakeADifference@BigCatRescue.org

Sign our petition here:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/344896451?ltl=1140270431

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Ohio Dangerous animals

Dangerous animals

After an Ashtabula County woman was mauled in her own home by a captive black bear Monday, it’s obvious that Ohio’s laws regulating wild animal breeders must be tightened.

The 500-pound bear escaped its pen at a business that breeds and sells wild animals and attacked a neighbor in her home. The bear was eventually shot and killed by its owner. The woman was hospitalized for her injuries.

The breeding facility is also home to wild foxes, mountain lions, coyotes and bobcats.

This isn’t an isolated incident.

On Wednesday, a fire at the home of an exotic farm owner near Akron killed two tiger cubs, two bear cubs and an iguana. A Summit County judge had ordered the man to remove all of his animals in 2003 because he had not effectively dealt with waste and odor, but a higher court later voided the decision.

In 1983, the man’s 2-year-old son was mauled to death by a Bengal tiger. The father was charged with involuntary manslaughter, but the charges were later dropped.

In 2005, a pet macaque monkey escaped from a cage in Noble County, Ohio, jumped into a truck, bit the driver and then fled. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, macaques carry Hepatitis B virus, making them unsuitable as pets.

There is no question that animals such as lions, tigers and bears are dangerous. They should never be kept as pets. If the state is going to allow breeding facilities such as the one in Ashtabula County – and we have our doubts whether such facilities should even be allowed – they should be tightly regulated. The neighbors of such facilities should never have to live in fear that they – or their children – might be attacked in their own home by a wild animal.

According to the Associated Press, Ohio law doesn’t require cages or fences to seclude wild animals owned by breeders, though state wildlife officials have asked for such regulations for years. Attempts to toughen the laws have repeatedly failed.

The AP found that 57 businesses – almost all of them in northeastern Ohio, hold breeding permits for 137 black bears.

We call upon our lawmakers to act now to tighten regulations on animal breeders. Does someone have to die before they will toughen the laws?

http://www.timesreporter.com/index.php?ID=54531

For the cats,

Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue

an Educational Sanctuary home

to more than 100 big cats

12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL 33625

813.493.4564 fax 885.4457

http://www.BigCatRescue.org MakeADifference@BigCatRescue.org

Sign our petition here:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/344896451?ltl=1140270431

Ohio More oversight of wild animal ownership sought

Friday, May 26, 2006

John Horton

Plain Dealer Reporter

A pair of national animal-protection organizations on Thursday urged Ohio to ban the private ownership of wild animals, calling the backyard operations "ticking time bombs" that put the public at risk.

The appeals from the Humane Society of the United States and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals came three days after a 500-pound black bear escaped from an Ashtabula County animal compound and mauled a 36-year-old woman inside her nearby home.

The attack has focused attention on the state's lax laws on wild-animal breeding operations.

State Sen. Tim Grendell, a Geauga County Republican, said more oversight is needed. He said he's preparing legislation to establish minimum confinement standards for dangerous wild animals such as bears, wolves and cougars.

The proposal - modeled after federal guidelines - would require caging and perimeter fencing, creating a "double layer of protection," Grendell said. State wildlife officials said a perimeter fence could have prevented Monday's incident in Hartsgrove Township.

"We need to ensure that dangerous animals don't wander free," said Grendell, who called the issue a priority. State law now requires wild-animal breeders to obtain a license and keep records of their animals, but does not require cages.

Grendell also said the business of breeding wild animals needs to be reviewed to gauge whether it's appropriate for Ohio.

To animal protection groups, however, the answer to that question is simple: Leave wild animals in the wild.

Many other states already restrict private ownership of wild animals, said Dean Vickers, state program coordinator for the Humane Society. He said that in Ohio, dog owners face more regulations than people who traffic in wild animals.

"Legislators are tripping over themselves to write vicious dog laws," Vicker said. "But a neighbor can have a tiger or a bear, and nothing's being done. Common sense dictates that this is an issue that needs to be addressed. We don't want to see anybody else hurt."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

jhorton@plaind.com, 800-962-1167

http://www.cleveland.com/news/

plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/

news/1148632242130040.xml&coll=2

Carole’s letter to John:

Dear John

You may wish to talk to those who were instrumental in changing the laws in the states listed on this page: http://www.bigcatrescue.org/lawsbigcatbans.htm

Florida boasts the toughest exotic animal regulations in the country, but when these state’s looked at Florida’s model what they found is that Florida also attracts more exotic breeders and dealers than any other state and that the cost of regulating the exotic animal industry far exceeds the money that can be raised through permit fees to regulate it. That means that for an industry that only represents .0002 of Florida’s population, the tax payers are having to fund hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to allow a practice that serves no purpose. Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recently reported to the legislature that they charge 100.00 for a permit, but that it costs 125.00 to issue the permit and do one inspection. The only thing they can do to keep their jobs funded is to NOT do inspections, so it really doesn’t matter how wonderful the laws are, if there is no one to enforce them, they will not do anything to protect the public or the animals.

For the cats,

Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue

an Educational Sanctuary home

to more than 100 big cats

12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL 33625

813.493.4564 fax 885.4457

http://www.BigCatRescue.org MakeADifference@BigCatRescue.org

Sign our petition here:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/344896451?ltl=1140270431

Park: Tiger cub boom not great news

www.chinaview.cn 2006-05-25 09:47:30

BEIJING, May 25 -- The Siberian Tiger Park in the capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province is expecting about 100 new cubs this year.

The media coverage will be widespread, said Wang Ligang, the park manager, who seemed less than enthusiastic about the new arrivals on account of the financial burden they'll put on the park.

"More cubs means more mouths to feed," he complained.

The park, which contains only Siberian tigers, is the world's biggest artificial breeding base for the rare species.

About a quarter of the park's 200 females of fertile age are expected to bring the total number of tigers there to more than 700.

The fast increase has obviously made the 144-hectare park's compounds more crowded and rendered its facilities inadequate.

Wang said that the fast increase is partly due to a change in the tigers' fertility habits.

"Those living in the wild will not mate again before their cubs are 2 years old; however, an artificially raised tiger could give birth twice in a year," Wang said.

An adult tiger consumes about 10 kilos of beef a day, plus some milk powder and eggs, at a cost of about 120 yuan (US$15). Feeding cubs generally costs half that amount.

Ticket sales, the park's chief source of income alongside some government funding, bring in a little more than 10 million yuan (US$1.25 million) a year. The park lost 3 million yuan (US$375,000) last year, when about 100 cubs were also born.

"We have always been in a tight situation, and no change is foreseeable," Wang said.

The more than 600 tigers are currently crowding into more than 100 accommodations, with many resting outdoors.