Big cat owner says proposal overdone
A lot of residences bear the sign "Beware of dog," but in front of Zuzana Kukol's house is a sign that warns, "Beware of cat."
In this case, the cat isn't an ordinary Siamese, Maltese or tabby cat, but an eight-year-old, 350-pound white tiger named "Pepper."
Lately, Pepper has been a little jealous about the attention paid by her owner to "Bam Bam," a 10-month-old 110-pound African lion.
To complete the menagerie, Kukol also has an ocelot and a bobcat on her spacious property located in a remote part of Pahrump Valley.
Despite her overwhelming power and size, "Pepper" was hiding in her spacious cage when a reporter arrived for a visit, afraid of a strange human. That same fear of the unknown is what Kukol thinks is behind strict new regulations on exotic animal owners that are a major part of the proposed Nye County Animal Ordinance that will be discussed by county commissioners at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
Kukol showed a copy of a handout that urges: "Punish someone for deeds, not breeds."
"Go after the bad exotic owners," she said. "Why punish us for someone else's act?"
Kukol was referring to Gert Abby Hedengran, 58, and his wife Roena Emma Hedengran, 54, who recently moved to Pahrump. The Hedengrans were arrested March 16, 2005, at their former home in Moorpark, Calif., in Ventura County, after a Siberian tiger escaped and roamed for three weeks before being shot near an elementary school and public park in a residential neighborhood.
There were rumors of dangerous animals on the loose in Pahrump last December around the Hedengrans property. The Nye County Sheriff's Department and Nye County Emergency Services responded to the call, a Mercy Air helicopter even flew overhead, but no exotic animals were loose.
"Their housing is excellent," Debbie Pemberton, Nye County Animal Control Supervisor, told the Pahrump Valley Times. "I do not have any concerns with these animals getting out."
Pemberton, who compiled the ordinance draft, said she thought the alert came from nervous neighbors, after they heard lions roaring. At the time she said the Hedengrans had four or five caged lions and tigers as well as 14 smaller cats, like lynx and snow leopards.
"What happens if one of these animals gets out? It happened in California. It's a huge liability there," she said.
Gert Hedengran agreed to plead guilty to one felony count of making a false statement and one felony count of obstruction of justice in a plea agreement. The Justice Department claims Hedengran misled and obstructed officers who were attempting to track down and capture the tiger.
He also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of improper transportation of exotic felines; improper handling of exotic felines, in a manner causing physical and emotional trauma; and exhibition of exotic felines without a license.
Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Central District of California, said U.S. District Judge George H. King had some questions about the vagueness of the animal welfare charges in the misdemeanor counts.
The only reaction to a reporter's visit at Kukol's house was some growling from Pepper. The lion club was led out of his cage briefly for some photos, during which he endured some provoking from a Doberman. When Bam Bam reaches maturity, a trip out of the cage would be less likely. He will probably weigh 400 pounds and boast a beautiful mane.
Kukol said she agrees with provisions requiring double doors and perimeter fencing but complained about requirements for a $1 million liability insurance policy and notification of neighbors within one mile.
"Don't treat us like pedophiles, telling everybody within one mile," Kukol said. "I've been here six years. My current neighbors like me. Why put me at the mercy of new neighbors? This county, there's so few people here. Why are they trying to regulate us like this? People move here for freedom."
Kukol said no animal should be at large, regardless of species.
She sought to dispel some of the hysteria about exotic animals. In Clark County, animal control reported 29 bites by animals other than dogs and cats, which includes horses, 3 percent of the total. Nationally, nine fatalities involved exotic mammals (over half by elephants) out of 227 fatalities reported from all animal attacks between 1992 and 1997.
It's a matter of scale, Kukol indicated, saying a $1 million liability insurance policy would be applicable to some place like the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, Fla.
A Web site by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, PETA, reported 16 people were fatally mauled by big cats between 1990 and 2006, or one per year. All the deaths occurred on the property where the animals were kept, Kukol said.
While Kukol lives some distance away from her nearest neighbor, LDO Management has submitted plans for 42 lots on 84 acres near her home.
"Here we have two people per square mile. Why do we need all these ordinances?" she asked. "In Clark County they adopted a new ordinance in 2003, and they formed an animal control board where exotic animal owners have input."
Kukol said Clark County has gradually reduced its liability insurance requirements down to from $10,000 to $50,000, depending on the size of the cat. She said there are only a few companies in the country who offer the insurance. A $1 million policy would require $3,000 in premiums per year, with a $10,000 deductible.
"If the regulations get so tough, sometimes it means a ban. People can't afford the insurance," Kukol said.
She said Pemberton's draft ordinance is based on an old Clark County ordinance, "which they never passed because it's so horrible."
Then there would be a $500 initial fee and a $250 annual permit fee. Nye County deputies would also be inspecting the facilities twice annually, while the animal control board would have authority to revoke her permit.
"You're subject to their mercy at any time," Kukol said. "Why? Because there's one idiot who shouldn't even be here if California officials were doing their job?"
Kukol said she doesn't need a federal license because she doesn't exhibit her lion and tiger as a commercial activity. She has a state license for the bobcat, which is a native species.
Pemberton said she's paying keen attention to the Hedengrans' case. She said the reason people like the Hedengrans are in Pahrump is because of a lack of ordinances on exotic animals. Existing county ordinances require exotic animal owners to get a permit, but she said, "The sheriff's office has never seen one, and they never issued a permit.
"If everyone with animals had a setup like Zuzana got, we wouldn't have an issue. If everyone was as conscientious as Zuzana is, we wouldn't have an issue," Pemberton said. "We're talking public safety here. One of these big cats get out, we're in a big deal of hurt."
Among a few other residents who harbor such animals, Pemberton said Brian Turner owns a couple cougars. But Carl Beck, who owned tigers and used to perform in magic shows on the Las Vegas strip, has moved out of Pahrump. Jeanie Stevenson, who brought a lion, tiger, cougar and four bobcats to Pahrump, has also left.
"They're my pets," Kukol said.
When it comes to Pepper, Kukol added, "I still go to the cage, I don't let her hug me. But Bam Bam, I could hug him forever."
http://www.pahrumpvalleytimes.com/2006/ Sep-29-Fri-2006/news/9917808.html
Saturday, September 30, 2006
South Africa's "Big Cat Doctor"
JAMES RAMPTON
For the average British veterinary surgeon - think James Herriot in It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet - what's the worst that can happen? On a really bad day, he might have to stick his arm in an unmentionable part of a cow. But even in the most dreadful situation imaginable for a vet in this country, he is never going to end up as his patient's lunch.
That, however, is the very real threat faced every day by Dr Johan Joubert. Working at a game reserve in South Africa, he deals with some of the most lethal animals known to man: lions, leopards, cheetahs, rhinos, elephants and hippos. This is a man for whom the phrase "dicing with death" is not some clichéd fantasy but an occupational hazard.
I'm sitting chatting to the so-called Big Cat Doctor at the Shamwari Game Reserve, a 20,000-hectare site an hour's drive from Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. Getting there from the Garden Route, you pass such familiar names as Motherwell and Colchester.
Joubert and I are taking morning tea on the verandah of the well-appointed lodge. We're looking out across manicured lawns, meticulously tended flowerbeds and an inviting oval aquamarine swimming pool.
But the civility of the scene is in stark contrast to the danger Joubert faces every time he leaves the lodge and ventures into the jungle beyond.
As if to bolster his fearless credentials, the vet, who features in a documentary appropriately entitled Big Cat Doctor on Discovery's Animal Planet channel on Monday, has a fresh scar running down the middle of his nose. It is the legacy of a recent close en-counter with a wild animal that didn't take kindly to his treatment table.
Forty-nine-year-old Joubert is a tall, imposing figure with impeccable manners. Dressed in a standard-issue Shamwari safari suit, he resembles a better-looking version of Stewart Granger in one of those creaky 1950s jungle-set B movies (invariably shot nowhere more perilous than a Hollywood backlot).
He has worked as the resident vet and wildlife manager at Shamwari since the game reserve opened in 1995, and thoroughly impresses me with his list of some of the close calls he has had while in the company of wild beasts.
"The scariest thing happened recently when I wasn't even working," he recalls with a wry smile. "It was a real close shave. I love going on foot through the bush, and I was walking through this very dense thicket when all of a sudden this highly aggressive black rhino came out of nowhere and charged me.
"I had a split second to escape and climb whatever was nearest me, which unfortunately was a prickly pear tree. I clambered up in double-quick time and was in agony because I had dozens of thorns sticking in me, all over my body. But I couldn't scream out in pain as the black rhino has very poor eyesight and I didn't want her to hear me.
"So there I was, clinging on for dear life and muffling my cries, when at the very worst possible moment my mobile phone went off. The rhino went mad, repeatedly charging the tree till it gave way. I fell out of the tree onto her back and she tried to gore me. Fortunately, her eyesight was so bad that she mistook the remains of the tree for me and carried on attacking it as I ran for my life!"
In the course of his work, Joubert has got into more than the odd scrape with a wild animal. For his own safety, he usually anaesthetises the beasts with a dart-gun before working on them, but judging the right amount of tranquilliser to use is a fine art.
Later, when I watch him work in the Vets' Centre at Shamwari, he has a frightening run-in with a cheetah which recovers from its anaesthetic unexpectedly quickly and suddenly bares its ferociously sharp teeth at him.
If you ever happen to find yourself in a similar situation, which I sincerely hope you don't, the trick is apparently to grab the cheetah by the tail. It doesn't hurt the animal, but it enables you to get control of it, as far away as possible from those flashing incisors.
Joubert says: "I've never been seriously injured by an animal I've been treating, but you have to be extremely careful when they're coming round from being darted. I've had a lot of cuts and bruises then, as well as several horns in the leg."
Ironically, the most serious damage inflicted on Joubert came when he was trying to help an animal in distress. "A waterbuck had got stuck on a fence, and as I released it, it kicked back and broke my knee.
"I'm not brave," he asserts in a tone that brooks no contradiction. "You just have to be able to read the signs and respect the animals. If you follow the rules, you can get close to them in a safe way. You must remember that they're not predictable."
Perhaps surprisingly, the most deadly of all the beasts is the hippo. Every year, it kills more humans than any other African species. Even though hippos are vegetarians, they are highly territorial. So if you have the misfortune to get between one and its stretch of water, it will stop at nothing to remove you. The hippo also possesses fearsome power in its jaws - it can cut a crocodile in two with a single bite.
"If you're walking through a thicket, it's vital that you keep looking and listening," Joubert stresses. "There is always more going on than you first think. You have to remain alert at all times. One minute you can be making your way through a dense area, and the next a lion is standing straight ahead, spitting at you. You must stand your ground and never run away. It's important whenever we introduce wild animals to the reserve that they don't get used to people. They must still fear you. When they don't, they become very dangerous indeed."
He is also quick to reject any notions that the animals should be anthropomorphised. The game reserve reminds us that nature is red in tooth and claw. This is exemplified by the behaviour of the lions. When a new alpha male takes over a pride, his first act is to kill the cubs born to his ousted rival in order to establish his superiority and to ensure the continuation of his genes. So at Shamwari, Joubert never intervenes for simply sentimental reasons.
"Here we like to be hands off. We let nature take its course. The zebra and kudu populations, for example, are completely independent. Unless they suffer human-induced injuries - like getting caught on a fence - our policy is never to interfere.
"It's sad, but sometimes when an animal dies, it can be a blessing in disguise. We saw an elephant calf recently with its intestines hanging out after a fight. The only kind thing to do was to put it down. Why let an animal suffer unnecessarily?"
The vet emphasises that the 300-strong staff at the game reserve are discouraged from growing too attached to the wildlife. "We don't give our animals names. We try to avoid forming bonds with them. They must be independent from humans. They're not pets."
Joubert trusts that the documentary will help spread his conservationist message. To underline the point, at Shamwari he runs the Born Free Centre, which nurses traumatised animals that have been previously kept in captivity. He also oversees an armed unit which acts as a round-the-clock deterrent to would-be poachers.
"I hope that watching this film, people realise what beautiful creatures these wild animals are and will help us protect them," Joubert observes. "The world can't just be for people, there must be a place in it for wildlife, too. Because the human population is growing so fast, there is more and more pressure on the land. In the future, the biggest danger to wildlife will be the lack of land."
That conservationist message is reinforced when we go on a game drive around the reserve in a Land Rover driven by one of Joubert's most trusted colleagues, an infectiously enthusiastic ranger named Dave Olsen.
He takes us to a favourite hiding place of one of the very few leopards on the reserve. Eagle-eyed, he spots the well-camouflaged animal lurking in the bushes.
Pulling the vehicle to a halt, he whispers: "Don't try this at home," before creeping towards the leopard - clutching as an insurance policy the rifle he assures us he has never had to use. Very gingerly, Olsen approaches the bush, knowing the leopard will be unable to resist the temptation to come out and investigate.
People talk about feline elegance, and as the aesthetically perfect leopard swaggers around the open-topped Land Rover preening and posturing, you can see exactly what they mean.
This is the raw thrill of the natural world that Joubert wishes to communicate. Our conversation over, he is called away to a poorly lioness that requires his urgent attention on the other side of the game reserve.
But before he leaps into his vehicle, he pauses for a second, beaming with almost childlike enthusiasm.
"Working here has been a life-changing experience for me. Before I came to Shamwari, I was really interested in wildlife, but now it's my absolute passion. Every day, I do something I've always wanted to do. After 11 years, it still gives me a buzz and it still doesn't feel like a job. I don't want anything else in my life."
But just how does Joubert maintain that passion in the face of such daily peril? "The most important thing about animals is that they're genuine," the Big Cat Doctor concludes. "There is so much that is fake about humans. Animals are much more straightforward. With them, what you see is what you get. There is no hidden agenda. And that's what I love about them."
FACT FILE: SHAMWARI
HOW TO GET THERE
Flights from Scotland to Port Elizabeth with British Airways start at £864 return from Glasgow and Edinburgh and £865 from Aberdeen. Tel: 0870 850 9850, or visit www.ba.com
WHERE TO STAY
Shamwari Game Reserve lodge has luxury rooms starting from £186 in the low season (1 May to 30 September) and £356 in the high season (1 October to 30 April). For reservations, contact the UK office, tel: 01483 425465, or visit www.shamwari.com
For more details on the Born Free Centre, including a Shamwari Big Cat Diary and organised holidays to the reserve, see www.bornfree.org.uk
AND THERE'S MORE
The documentary Big Cat Doctor screens on Discovery's Animal Planet channel on Monday, at 9pm.
Last updated: 29-Sep-06 00:59 BST
http://living.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1424982006
For the average British veterinary surgeon - think James Herriot in It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet - what's the worst that can happen? On a really bad day, he might have to stick his arm in an unmentionable part of a cow. But even in the most dreadful situation imaginable for a vet in this country, he is never going to end up as his patient's lunch.
That, however, is the very real threat faced every day by Dr Johan Joubert. Working at a game reserve in South Africa, he deals with some of the most lethal animals known to man: lions, leopards, cheetahs, rhinos, elephants and hippos. This is a man for whom the phrase "dicing with death" is not some clichéd fantasy but an occupational hazard.
I'm sitting chatting to the so-called Big Cat Doctor at the Shamwari Game Reserve, a 20,000-hectare site an hour's drive from Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. Getting there from the Garden Route, you pass such familiar names as Motherwell and Colchester.
Joubert and I are taking morning tea on the verandah of the well-appointed lodge. We're looking out across manicured lawns, meticulously tended flowerbeds and an inviting oval aquamarine swimming pool.
But the civility of the scene is in stark contrast to the danger Joubert faces every time he leaves the lodge and ventures into the jungle beyond.
As if to bolster his fearless credentials, the vet, who features in a documentary appropriately entitled Big Cat Doctor on Discovery's Animal Planet channel on Monday, has a fresh scar running down the middle of his nose. It is the legacy of a recent close en-counter with a wild animal that didn't take kindly to his treatment table.
Forty-nine-year-old Joubert is a tall, imposing figure with impeccable manners. Dressed in a standard-issue Shamwari safari suit, he resembles a better-looking version of Stewart Granger in one of those creaky 1950s jungle-set B movies (invariably shot nowhere more perilous than a Hollywood backlot).
He has worked as the resident vet and wildlife manager at Shamwari since the game reserve opened in 1995, and thoroughly impresses me with his list of some of the close calls he has had while in the company of wild beasts.
"The scariest thing happened recently when I wasn't even working," he recalls with a wry smile. "It was a real close shave. I love going on foot through the bush, and I was walking through this very dense thicket when all of a sudden this highly aggressive black rhino came out of nowhere and charged me.
"I had a split second to escape and climb whatever was nearest me, which unfortunately was a prickly pear tree. I clambered up in double-quick time and was in agony because I had dozens of thorns sticking in me, all over my body. But I couldn't scream out in pain as the black rhino has very poor eyesight and I didn't want her to hear me.
"So there I was, clinging on for dear life and muffling my cries, when at the very worst possible moment my mobile phone went off. The rhino went mad, repeatedly charging the tree till it gave way. I fell out of the tree onto her back and she tried to gore me. Fortunately, her eyesight was so bad that she mistook the remains of the tree for me and carried on attacking it as I ran for my life!"
In the course of his work, Joubert has got into more than the odd scrape with a wild animal. For his own safety, he usually anaesthetises the beasts with a dart-gun before working on them, but judging the right amount of tranquilliser to use is a fine art.
Later, when I watch him work in the Vets' Centre at Shamwari, he has a frightening run-in with a cheetah which recovers from its anaesthetic unexpectedly quickly and suddenly bares its ferociously sharp teeth at him.
If you ever happen to find yourself in a similar situation, which I sincerely hope you don't, the trick is apparently to grab the cheetah by the tail. It doesn't hurt the animal, but it enables you to get control of it, as far away as possible from those flashing incisors.
Joubert says: "I've never been seriously injured by an animal I've been treating, but you have to be extremely careful when they're coming round from being darted. I've had a lot of cuts and bruises then, as well as several horns in the leg."
Ironically, the most serious damage inflicted on Joubert came when he was trying to help an animal in distress. "A waterbuck had got stuck on a fence, and as I released it, it kicked back and broke my knee.
"I'm not brave," he asserts in a tone that brooks no contradiction. "You just have to be able to read the signs and respect the animals. If you follow the rules, you can get close to them in a safe way. You must remember that they're not predictable."
Perhaps surprisingly, the most deadly of all the beasts is the hippo. Every year, it kills more humans than any other African species. Even though hippos are vegetarians, they are highly territorial. So if you have the misfortune to get between one and its stretch of water, it will stop at nothing to remove you. The hippo also possesses fearsome power in its jaws - it can cut a crocodile in two with a single bite.
"If you're walking through a thicket, it's vital that you keep looking and listening," Joubert stresses. "There is always more going on than you first think. You have to remain alert at all times. One minute you can be making your way through a dense area, and the next a lion is standing straight ahead, spitting at you. You must stand your ground and never run away. It's important whenever we introduce wild animals to the reserve that they don't get used to people. They must still fear you. When they don't, they become very dangerous indeed."
He is also quick to reject any notions that the animals should be anthropomorphised. The game reserve reminds us that nature is red in tooth and claw. This is exemplified by the behaviour of the lions. When a new alpha male takes over a pride, his first act is to kill the cubs born to his ousted rival in order to establish his superiority and to ensure the continuation of his genes. So at Shamwari, Joubert never intervenes for simply sentimental reasons.
"Here we like to be hands off. We let nature take its course. The zebra and kudu populations, for example, are completely independent. Unless they suffer human-induced injuries - like getting caught on a fence - our policy is never to interfere.
"It's sad, but sometimes when an animal dies, it can be a blessing in disguise. We saw an elephant calf recently with its intestines hanging out after a fight. The only kind thing to do was to put it down. Why let an animal suffer unnecessarily?"
The vet emphasises that the 300-strong staff at the game reserve are discouraged from growing too attached to the wildlife. "We don't give our animals names. We try to avoid forming bonds with them. They must be independent from humans. They're not pets."
Joubert trusts that the documentary will help spread his conservationist message. To underline the point, at Shamwari he runs the Born Free Centre, which nurses traumatised animals that have been previously kept in captivity. He also oversees an armed unit which acts as a round-the-clock deterrent to would-be poachers.
"I hope that watching this film, people realise what beautiful creatures these wild animals are and will help us protect them," Joubert observes. "The world can't just be for people, there must be a place in it for wildlife, too. Because the human population is growing so fast, there is more and more pressure on the land. In the future, the biggest danger to wildlife will be the lack of land."
That conservationist message is reinforced when we go on a game drive around the reserve in a Land Rover driven by one of Joubert's most trusted colleagues, an infectiously enthusiastic ranger named Dave Olsen.
He takes us to a favourite hiding place of one of the very few leopards on the reserve. Eagle-eyed, he spots the well-camouflaged animal lurking in the bushes.
Pulling the vehicle to a halt, he whispers: "Don't try this at home," before creeping towards the leopard - clutching as an insurance policy the rifle he assures us he has never had to use. Very gingerly, Olsen approaches the bush, knowing the leopard will be unable to resist the temptation to come out and investigate.
People talk about feline elegance, and as the aesthetically perfect leopard swaggers around the open-topped Land Rover preening and posturing, you can see exactly what they mean.
This is the raw thrill of the natural world that Joubert wishes to communicate. Our conversation over, he is called away to a poorly lioness that requires his urgent attention on the other side of the game reserve.
But before he leaps into his vehicle, he pauses for a second, beaming with almost childlike enthusiasm.
"Working here has been a life-changing experience for me. Before I came to Shamwari, I was really interested in wildlife, but now it's my absolute passion. Every day, I do something I've always wanted to do. After 11 years, it still gives me a buzz and it still doesn't feel like a job. I don't want anything else in my life."
But just how does Joubert maintain that passion in the face of such daily peril? "The most important thing about animals is that they're genuine," the Big Cat Doctor concludes. "There is so much that is fake about humans. Animals are much more straightforward. With them, what you see is what you get. There is no hidden agenda. And that's what I love about them."
FACT FILE: SHAMWARI
HOW TO GET THERE
Flights from Scotland to Port Elizabeth with British Airways start at £864 return from Glasgow and Edinburgh and £865 from Aberdeen. Tel: 0870 850 9850, or visit www.ba.com
WHERE TO STAY
Shamwari Game Reserve lodge has luxury rooms starting from £186 in the low season (1 May to 30 September) and £356 in the high season (1 October to 30 April). For reservations, contact the UK office, tel: 01483 425465, or visit www.shamwari.com
For more details on the Born Free Centre, including a Shamwari Big Cat Diary and organised holidays to the reserve, see www.bornfree.org.uk
AND THERE'S MORE
The documentary Big Cat Doctor screens on Discovery's Animal Planet channel on Monday, at 9pm.
Last updated: 29-Sep-06 00:59 BST
http://living.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1424982006
Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act
Update 9/30/06: The Senate bill S3880 known as the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act passed as amended on the night of 9/29/06 by Unanimous Consent. That means not one Senator opposed the bill. There was an amendment made at the last minute, but it was not substantial enough to protect your Free Speech. The House adjourned for recess without taking any action, so it will still have to go over to the House during the next session which begins Nov. 9 and may last until Christmas. It is more imperative than ever that you contact your Representative in the House and ask them to vote against this bill.
More about this bill here: http://capwiz.com/bigcatrescue/issues/alert/?alertid=9014956&type=CO
For the cats,
Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
an Educational Sanctuary home
to more than 100 big cats
12802 Easy Street
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
Subscribe to our Podcast 
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Friday, September 29, 2006
WI animal park owner says tiger cub birth a surprise
A few days after Jeff Kozlowski told the Baraboo News Republic "no, I never have and never will" let the big cats at his rescue breed, he got a big surprise while cleaning one of the cages.
He heard an odd noise, kind of like a hawk, and upon investigating found two teeny white fuzz balls were born to tigers Zeus and Racheal Monday afternoon.
He didn't know Racheal was pregnant. If he had known the animals were young enough to breed he would not have had them in the same cage, he said.
Kozlowski took in the cats, along with nine others, after being contacted by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources about a year ago, he said. The animals needed homes because the United States Department of Agriculture found Dennis Hill, of the White Tiger Sanctuary and Willow Hill Center for Rare and Endangered Species, guilty of willfully violating the animal welfare act. The animals were in rough shape and Kozlowski thought they were too old to breed since they had been caged together before.
See Thursday's paper for more on this story.
http://www.wiscnews.com/bnr/news/index.php?ntid=100630&ntpid=1#
He heard an odd noise, kind of like a hawk, and upon investigating found two teeny white fuzz balls were born to tigers Zeus and Racheal Monday afternoon.
He didn't know Racheal was pregnant. If he had known the animals were young enough to breed he would not have had them in the same cage, he said.
Kozlowski took in the cats, along with nine others, after being contacted by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources about a year ago, he said. The animals needed homes because the United States Department of Agriculture found Dennis Hill, of the White Tiger Sanctuary and Willow Hill Center for Rare and Endangered Species, guilty of willfully violating the animal welfare act. The animals were in rough shape and Kozlowski thought they were too old to breed since they had been caged together before.
See Thursday's paper for more on this story.
http://www.wiscnews.com/bnr/news/index.php?ntid=100630&ntpid=1#
Upper Midwest is home to several big cat facilities
Jill Carnegie bought her first cougar from an ad in the back of a "Field and Stream" magazine. Little did she know more than three decades later she would have about 46 lions and tigers, three bears and a menagerie of animals to care for and the calls keep coming in requesting she take more. She's not alone.
Tammy Quist was working in advertising and went to a photo shoot where a guy had a tiger — she didn't realize that anyone could own a tiger and knowing that prompted her to open The Wildcat Sanctuary, where she gets about 30 calls a month from people and agencies looking for big cat homes.
Big cat advocate Jeff Kozlowski of the Rock Springs-based Big Dad's Big Cat Rescue and Education Center took in a tiger from a privately-owned zoo in 2003 and has since provided housing for others big cats that have been neglected or turned away. For him, the calls keep coming — even after Sauk County's legal advisor filed suit Sept. 15 hoping to force him to move the lions, tigers and leopards from his property. Kozlowski and his attorney have until Oct. 30 to respond to six complaints, which include violations of county animal control ordinances and the threat to public welfare because the cages are not strong enough, among others.
In addition to compelling Kozlowski to move the animals, the county's legal advisor Todd Liebman asks the court to impose a forfeiture between $50 and $200 a day for the time he says Kozlowski failed to obey a previous county order to correct problems.
If Kozlowski fails to move the animals, the court should authorize Sauk County to arrange for their transportation and housing, and charge the costs back to Kozlowski, court documents show.
Kozlowski says he knows there is a great need for animal homes and there is nowhere for his cats to go if he is forced to shut down.
The problem, said Carnegie, who founded Valley of the Kings Sanctuary & Retreat in Sharon, Wis., is people can too easily purchase exotic animals and have no idea what they are getting into. There are weeks when she gets dozen of inquiries from people looking for a place to get rid of their unwanted "pets." Kozlowski said he has turned away about 60 cats in the last five to six months.
http://www.wiscnews.com/bnr/news/index.php?ntid=100629&ntpid=0#
Tammy Quist was working in advertising and went to a photo shoot where a guy had a tiger — she didn't realize that anyone could own a tiger and knowing that prompted her to open The Wildcat Sanctuary, where she gets about 30 calls a month from people and agencies looking for big cat homes.
Big cat advocate Jeff Kozlowski of the Rock Springs-based Big Dad's Big Cat Rescue and Education Center took in a tiger from a privately-owned zoo in 2003 and has since provided housing for others big cats that have been neglected or turned away. For him, the calls keep coming — even after Sauk County's legal advisor filed suit Sept. 15 hoping to force him to move the lions, tigers and leopards from his property. Kozlowski and his attorney have until Oct. 30 to respond to six complaints, which include violations of county animal control ordinances and the threat to public welfare because the cages are not strong enough, among others.
In addition to compelling Kozlowski to move the animals, the county's legal advisor Todd Liebman asks the court to impose a forfeiture between $50 and $200 a day for the time he says Kozlowski failed to obey a previous county order to correct problems.
If Kozlowski fails to move the animals, the court should authorize Sauk County to arrange for their transportation and housing, and charge the costs back to Kozlowski, court documents show.
Kozlowski says he knows there is a great need for animal homes and there is nowhere for his cats to go if he is forced to shut down.
The problem, said Carnegie, who founded Valley of the Kings Sanctuary & Retreat in Sharon, Wis., is people can too easily purchase exotic animals and have no idea what they are getting into. There are weeks when she gets dozen of inquiries from people looking for a place to get rid of their unwanted "pets." Kozlowski said he has turned away about 60 cats in the last five to six months.
http://www.wiscnews.com/bnr/news/index.php?ntid=100629&ntpid=0#
Australia's first white lion cubs to be unveiled
Last Update: Friday, September 29, 2006. 10:10am (AEST)
The first white lion cubs born in Australia are being unveiled to the public today at a zoo on the far south coast of New South Wales.
Ten-week-old Purr and Joe will be released into their exhibit at Mogo Zoo, near Bateman's Bay.
The zoo's co-owner, Sally Padey, says white lions are highly endangered and there are only 200 left in the world.
She says the zoo imported the cubs' mother and two other white lions from South Africa three years ago and the breeding program is an important contribution to the conservation of the animals.
"It would be wonderful to think that one day we would be able to return some of these progenies to the Timbavati, but it's a long way to go before something like this happens," she said.
"They're doing lots of wonderful things at the Timbavati now to protect the white lion, so it would be nice to think that one day that we could return progeny to the wild."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200609/s1751725.htm
The first white lion cubs born in Australia are being unveiled to the public today at a zoo on the far south coast of New South Wales.
Ten-week-old Purr and Joe will be released into their exhibit at Mogo Zoo, near Bateman's Bay.
The zoo's co-owner, Sally Padey, says white lions are highly endangered and there are only 200 left in the world.
She says the zoo imported the cubs' mother and two other white lions from South Africa three years ago and the breeding program is an important contribution to the conservation of the animals.
"It would be wonderful to think that one day we would be able to return some of these progenies to the Timbavati, but it's a long way to go before something like this happens," she said.
"They're doing lots of wonderful things at the Timbavati now to protect the white lion, so it would be nice to think that one day that we could return progeny to the wild."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200609/s1751725.htm
Troubled Australian zoo reopens under new ownership
Friday, September 29, 2006
A far north Queensland zoo reopened its doors today after years of turmoil, a number of animal escapes and a change of ownership.
Official opening
The Cairns Wildlife Safari Reserve, formally the Mareeba Wild Animal Park, was officially opened by Mareeba Shire Mayor Mick Borzi in a small ceremony that included a number of local dignitaries.
Cr Borzi complimented new owners Udo and Jenny Jattke for the speed at which the new park had been reopened and thanked them for the investment they had made in the Mareeba Shire.
"I want to compliment Udo, Jenny and their staff, because what they've achieved in the past 8 or 9 weeks is nothing short of amazing," he said.
"It's a quantum leap forward in the provision of visitor infrastructure in the Shire. We currently have something like 64 visitor attractions and things to do in the Shire, which surprises a lot of people because Mareeba, in the past, has been considered as not having very much to offer the visitor, but this one is just over the top."
The wildlife reserve is currently home to hippopotami, lemurs, bears, cheetahs, tigers, lions, rhinos, deer, ostrich, antelope and a variety of monkeys.
Udo Jattke took the occasion to thank everyone involved in the park's restoration, especially zoo keepers Tim and Wendy Husband, who have been at the park through the whole saga.
"I just want to say thank-you to everyone that helped us get to this point, especially (zoo keepers) Wendy and Tim for doing an awesome job, over the last two years, keeping these animals in such great, great condition," he said.
Udo also took the opportunity to correct those who said reopening the park in the allotted time was a pipedream.
"They said there is no way you'll get this park open in under 12 months... that's like holding a red flag in front of my nose, we actually did it, as Mick said, in 8 weeks."
There are now plans in place to provide extra shade and water features to make the park more attractive to visitors in the warmer months of the year as well as introducing extra enclosures for more animals. Accommodation facilities are also being developed and will include a caravan park to tap the 'grey nomad' market.
http://www.abc.net.au/farnorth/stories/s1751710.htm?backyard
A far north Queensland zoo reopened its doors today after years of turmoil, a number of animal escapes and a change of ownership.
Official opening
The Cairns Wildlife Safari Reserve, formally the Mareeba Wild Animal Park, was officially opened by Mareeba Shire Mayor Mick Borzi in a small ceremony that included a number of local dignitaries.
Cr Borzi complimented new owners Udo and Jenny Jattke for the speed at which the new park had been reopened and thanked them for the investment they had made in the Mareeba Shire.
"I want to compliment Udo, Jenny and their staff, because what they've achieved in the past 8 or 9 weeks is nothing short of amazing," he said.
"It's a quantum leap forward in the provision of visitor infrastructure in the Shire. We currently have something like 64 visitor attractions and things to do in the Shire, which surprises a lot of people because Mareeba, in the past, has been considered as not having very much to offer the visitor, but this one is just over the top."
The wildlife reserve is currently home to hippopotami, lemurs, bears, cheetahs, tigers, lions, rhinos, deer, ostrich, antelope and a variety of monkeys.
Udo Jattke took the occasion to thank everyone involved in the park's restoration, especially zoo keepers Tim and Wendy Husband, who have been at the park through the whole saga.
"I just want to say thank-you to everyone that helped us get to this point, especially (zoo keepers) Wendy and Tim for doing an awesome job, over the last two years, keeping these animals in such great, great condition," he said.
Udo also took the opportunity to correct those who said reopening the park in the allotted time was a pipedream.
"They said there is no way you'll get this park open in under 12 months... that's like holding a red flag in front of my nose, we actually did it, as Mick said, in 8 weeks."
There are now plans in place to provide extra shade and water features to make the park more attractive to visitors in the warmer months of the year as well as introducing extra enclosures for more animals. Accommodation facilities are also being developed and will include a caravan park to tap the 'grey nomad' market.
http://www.abc.net.au/farnorth/stories/s1751710.htm?backyard
Pakistan's First Lady welcomes snow leopard to Bronx Zoo
First Lady attends ceremony to officially welcome Pakistani Snow Leopard
'Pakistan Times' US Bureau Report
NEW YORK (US): First Lady Begum Sehba Musharraf on Monday visited Bronx zoo and attended a ceremony to officially welcome Leo " a Pakistani snow leopard " which has been loaned by Pakistan to the facility, recognized as one of the best in the world and the first to exhibit snow leopards in 1903.
Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, Environment and Science Claudia A. McMurray welcomed the First Lady on her arrival at the zoo.
In her remarks at the ceremony, Begum Sehba Musharraf said: "Wildlife is among our greatest resources it provides both beauty and a discovery of the natural world around us."
Leo is a most fitting wildlife "ambassador" representing both Pakistan and his species, she said and hoped he would inspire others to care.
The First Lady said Leo will return to Pakistan where a centre would be developed for its rehabilitation and other such endangered species. She said Pakistan attached great importance to cooperation in the field of conservation of wildlife.
Presence of Leo at the Bronx zoo is a symbol of excellent cooperation between the governments of Pakistan and the United States and the enduring friendship between their people, the First Lady added.
The cub, estimated to be 14-months old, was initially discovered last year after its mother was killed. It could not be released into the wild, as it was denied the opportunity to learn hunting skills from its parent.
Through a unique partnership with the government of Pakistan, facilitated by the US State Department, a team of Wildlife Conservative Society (WCS) wildlife experts was deployed to Pakistan's remote Naltar Valley which was then brought to New York for a capitve breeding programme.
Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, Claudia A McMurray in her remarks said: "Today we celebrate the arrival of this beautiful snow leopard cub as a symbol of hope for the global effort to save endangered wildlife."
Leo will remain at the Bronx Zoo and serve as an animal ambassador for his species until an appropriate facility is constructed in Pakistan.
Snow leopards are among the world's most endangered big cats with an estimated 3,500 to 7,000 remaining in the wild, restricted to remote mountains of Central Asia.
Minister for Social Welfare for Special Education, Zobaida Jalal, Minister of State for Women Development Sumeria Malik were also present on the occasion.
http://www.pakistantimes.net/2006/09/26/top10.htm
'Pakistan Times' US Bureau Report
NEW YORK (US): First Lady Begum Sehba Musharraf on Monday visited Bronx zoo and attended a ceremony to officially welcome Leo " a Pakistani snow leopard " which has been loaned by Pakistan to the facility, recognized as one of the best in the world and the first to exhibit snow leopards in 1903.
Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, Environment and Science Claudia A. McMurray welcomed the First Lady on her arrival at the zoo.
In her remarks at the ceremony, Begum Sehba Musharraf said: "Wildlife is among our greatest resources it provides both beauty and a discovery of the natural world around us."
Leo is a most fitting wildlife "ambassador" representing both Pakistan and his species, she said and hoped he would inspire others to care.
The First Lady said Leo will return to Pakistan where a centre would be developed for its rehabilitation and other such endangered species. She said Pakistan attached great importance to cooperation in the field of conservation of wildlife.
Presence of Leo at the Bronx zoo is a symbol of excellent cooperation between the governments of Pakistan and the United States and the enduring friendship between their people, the First Lady added.
The cub, estimated to be 14-months old, was initially discovered last year after its mother was killed. It could not be released into the wild, as it was denied the opportunity to learn hunting skills from its parent.
Through a unique partnership with the government of Pakistan, facilitated by the US State Department, a team of Wildlife Conservative Society (WCS) wildlife experts was deployed to Pakistan's remote Naltar Valley which was then brought to New York for a capitve breeding programme.
Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, Claudia A McMurray in her remarks said: "Today we celebrate the arrival of this beautiful snow leopard cub as a symbol of hope for the global effort to save endangered wildlife."
Leo will remain at the Bronx Zoo and serve as an animal ambassador for his species until an appropriate facility is constructed in Pakistan.
Snow leopards are among the world's most endangered big cats with an estimated 3,500 to 7,000 remaining in the wild, restricted to remote mountains of Central Asia.
Minister for Social Welfare for Special Education, Zobaida Jalal, Minister of State for Women Development Sumeria Malik were also present on the occasion.
http://www.pakistantimes.net/2006/09/26/top10.htm
Nashville Zoo hosts snow leopard cubs
Sep 28, 2006 07:22 PM EDT
The Nashville Zoo has some pretty important visitors, and they are showing them off in a new exhibit.
Snow leopard cubs will be spending the next month or so at the zoo.
They are just 10 weeks old.
The cubs live at a wildlife park in Kansas, but that park is going through a renovation, so the Nashville Zoo welcomed them in.
You can see the snow leopards at the zoo starting Saturday, until Nov. 1, when they will head back to Kansas.
http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=5473399
The Nashville Zoo has some pretty important visitors, and they are showing them off in a new exhibit.
Snow leopard cubs will be spending the next month or so at the zoo.
They are just 10 weeks old.
The cubs live at a wildlife park in Kansas, but that park is going through a renovation, so the Nashville Zoo welcomed them in.
You can see the snow leopards at the zoo starting Saturday, until Nov. 1, when they will head back to Kansas.
http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=5473399
Chinese artist wants to experience a lion's caged life
UPDATED: 16:47, September 29, 2006
A Chinese performance artist will live for 10 days in a cage in a wildlife park. He will not talk to anyone and every move he makes will be confined to the cage.
Ye Fu, a poet and performance artist, locked himself in a lion cage Tuesday in Qingdao Forest Wild Life World, in east China's Shandong Province, starting a 10-day performance art work in which he will switch roles with lions.
His goal is to feel what it is like to be an animal locked up in a cage by men and to call for public awareness of animal protection, the artist said.
A 26-year-old woman has quit her job in Beijing to join Ye Fu for the project. Though living in the same cage, the two will not communicate or have any physical contact.
Their life in the cage will involve no talking, no cleaning, no changing of clothes and all activities including defecation will take place inside the cage, just like an animal.
Ye Fu will eat like an animal too. For his first lunch, Ye Hu ate half a kilo of raw beef.
The artist's intention has not won public acceptance. More than 50,000 comments were posted online, with over 90 percent critical.
Many say that Ye Fu is "out of his mind", "going nuts" and motivated by "self publicity". Some say that Ye Fu's behavior is nothing to do with "art" and what he is doing is a "smear on art"
Nutritionist Hu Min said that half a kilo of raw meat represents a protein intake far in excess of human needs and raw beef with blood can have bacteria and will possibly lead to disease.
"I felt terrible the whole afternoon after eating the raw beef, " Ye Fu wrote in his diary. "My limbs feel weak and I want to puke... Watching the lions under my cage fighting each other, I feel extremely depressed..."
Last year, Ye Fu built a "bird nest" in Beijing's Jianwai Soho Complex, an upscale office building in downtown Beijing. He lived in the "bird nest" for a month through rain and sun, which made him rise from obscurity.
Source: Xinhua
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/29/eng20060929_307595.html
A Chinese performance artist will live for 10 days in a cage in a wildlife park. He will not talk to anyone and every move he makes will be confined to the cage.
Ye Fu, a poet and performance artist, locked himself in a lion cage Tuesday in Qingdao Forest Wild Life World, in east China's Shandong Province, starting a 10-day performance art work in which he will switch roles with lions.
His goal is to feel what it is like to be an animal locked up in a cage by men and to call for public awareness of animal protection, the artist said.
A 26-year-old woman has quit her job in Beijing to join Ye Fu for the project. Though living in the same cage, the two will not communicate or have any physical contact.
Their life in the cage will involve no talking, no cleaning, no changing of clothes and all activities including defecation will take place inside the cage, just like an animal.
Ye Fu will eat like an animal too. For his first lunch, Ye Hu ate half a kilo of raw beef.
The artist's intention has not won public acceptance. More than 50,000 comments were posted online, with over 90 percent critical.
Many say that Ye Fu is "out of his mind", "going nuts" and motivated by "self publicity". Some say that Ye Fu's behavior is nothing to do with "art" and what he is doing is a "smear on art"
Nutritionist Hu Min said that half a kilo of raw meat represents a protein intake far in excess of human needs and raw beef with blood can have bacteria and will possibly lead to disease.
"I felt terrible the whole afternoon after eating the raw beef, " Ye Fu wrote in his diary. "My limbs feel weak and I want to puke... Watching the lions under my cage fighting each other, I feel extremely depressed..."
Last year, Ye Fu built a "bird nest" in Beijing's Jianwai Soho Complex, an upscale office building in downtown Beijing. He lived in the "bird nest" for a month through rain and sun, which made him rise from obscurity.
Source: Xinhua
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/29/eng20060929_307595.html
Big Cats Make Bad Pets Podcast
Brian’s new PodCats is called Big Cats Make Bad Pets. Check it out here and see why: http://www.bigcatrescue.org/big_cat_news.htm
For the cats,
Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
an Educational Sanctuary home
to more than 100 big cats
12802 Easy Street
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
Subscribe to our Podcast 
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.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Gallery owner gets probation for smuggling wildlife items
CHICAGO - A suburban Chicago man who smuggled prohibited wildlife artifacts into the United States, including ivory and items made from tigers, has been sentenced to five years' probation.
At a hearing Wednesday, a federal judge also ordered Glen Joffe to do 1,500 hours of community service and surrender more than $500,000 in prohibited artifacts. He had faced up to 18 months in prison.
Joffe, 56, pleaded guilty earlier to violating federal laws protecting endangered species. He also pleaded guilty to importing protected wildlife and to illegally possessing a headdress made from protected birds.
Joffe and his 54-year-old partner Claudia Ashleigh-Morgan, who co-own Primitive Art Works gallery in Chicago, were accused of stocking their gallery and Oak Brook home with prohibited items.
Prosecutors have said those artifacts included ivory carvings, feathered hairpins, as well as items made from elephants and other animals.
In June, a judge sentenced Ashleigh-Morgan to three years' probation for owning a headdress made from the feathers of protected birds. She was also fined $12,000 and ordered to perform 600 hours of community service.
Both Joffe and Ashleigh-Morgan were indicted in January on 20 counts, including smuggling merchandise made from protected wildlife and making false statements to U.S. Customs agents.
The couple first came to the attention of federal agents in March 2003 after they appeared in a newspaper article with items that looked as if they had been made from endangered species.
The two were stopped at O'Hare International Airport in April 2003 as they were coming back from China with illegally imported items made from ivory and sea turtle in their luggage, prosecutors have said.
http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/ state/15626128.htm
At a hearing Wednesday, a federal judge also ordered Glen Joffe to do 1,500 hours of community service and surrender more than $500,000 in prohibited artifacts. He had faced up to 18 months in prison.
Joffe, 56, pleaded guilty earlier to violating federal laws protecting endangered species. He also pleaded guilty to importing protected wildlife and to illegally possessing a headdress made from protected birds.
Joffe and his 54-year-old partner Claudia Ashleigh-Morgan, who co-own Primitive Art Works gallery in Chicago, were accused of stocking their gallery and Oak Brook home with prohibited items.
Prosecutors have said those artifacts included ivory carvings, feathered hairpins, as well as items made from elephants and other animals.
In June, a judge sentenced Ashleigh-Morgan to three years' probation for owning a headdress made from the feathers of protected birds. She was also fined $12,000 and ordered to perform 600 hours of community service.
Both Joffe and Ashleigh-Morgan were indicted in January on 20 counts, including smuggling merchandise made from protected wildlife and making false statements to U.S. Customs agents.
The couple first came to the attention of federal agents in March 2003 after they appeared in a newspaper article with items that looked as if they had been made from endangered species.
The two were stopped at O'Hare International Airport in April 2003 as they were coming back from China with illegally imported items made from ivory and sea turtle in their luggage, prosecutors have said.
http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/ state/15626128.htm
Denver Zoo's lion cubs pounce into public view
Visitors to Denver Zoo can now see two eight-week-old lion cubs, Razi (which is Swahili for "secret") and Zuri (which is Swahili for "beautiful") on exhibit to in "Pahalli Ya Mwana," the maternity den habitat in the Predator Ridge exhibit at Denver Zoo. Born August 2, the cubs have been bonding behind the scenes with their mother, a lioness named Baby.
The two African lion cubs recently were given a clean bill of health from zoo veterinarians after their first wellness checkup and immunization shots at the Denver Zoo's hospital. Zoo vets also weighed the cubs during the exam. Razi weighed 18.3 pounds; Zuri weighed 16.7 pounds
The two cubs, are lionesses, Baby, and male, Krueger's second litter together; Baby and Krueger are also the parents of ten-month old cub, Asali. Baby gave birth to Asali, her first cub, less than a year ago and despite zookeepers' best efforts, after about three weeks of caring for Asali, Baby lost interest and the cub and quit nursing. This time around zookeepers are very pleased with the how Baby is doing, and say she is a very protective mother.
Krueger and Baby are both eight-year-old African lions on breeding loan to Denver Zoo from Columbus Zoo as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP). The newborn cubs are highly valued in North America for their genetic uniqueness.
http://denver.yourhub.com/DENVER/Stories/News/General-News/Story~130757.aspx
Inside Edition Investigates Exotic Pet auction
Anyone who wants a pet these days can simply go to the local animal shelter and adopt one of the thousands of pets who are in need of a home. However, for some, exotic animals are the only way to go when it comes to pets. But do they make good pets?
INSIDE EDITION traveled to rural
Signs posted in the barn say "Danger," suggesting the animals are not as cute and cuddly as they may seem.
INSIDE EDITION took hidden cameras to the auction accompanied by Tim Harrison, a police officer in another
The auction is legal in
The animals look cute and harmless when they are purchased, but in a year or so, many will be full-grown and extremely difficult to handle, not to mention dangerous.
In March 2000, while visiting relatives, a boy almost got his arm ripped off by a pet tiger. In 1999 a 10-year-old was killed by a pet tiger in her father's ex-wife's backyard.
So where do these exotic animals come from? One man selling some animals at the
Asked if there was any danger to Mr. Ash's breeding and selling of these exotic animals, Ash's lawyer said, "There's a danger to anything. There's a danger to owning a German Shepard."
Ash says he never sells an exotic animal to someone who isn't qualified to handle them, but
http://www.insideedition.com/ourstories/reports/story.aspx?storyid=395
For the cats,
Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
an Educational Sanctuary home
to more than 100 big cats
12802 Easy Street
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
Subscribe to our Podcast 
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.
Zoo vets harvest eggs of rare black-footed cat
Scott Huddleston
Express-News Staff Writer
Web Posted: 09/27/2006 11:08 PM CDT
Buffy doesn't know it — she's sound asleep, after all — but she might just be helping save her species.
In an in vitro procedure that's been around for only two years, zoo veterinarians removed eggs from her ovaries Wednesday in a procedure aimed at helping protect black-footed cats like Buffy. Only about 30 of the little cats live in U.S. zoos, and many others in their native habitat in southern Africa are endangered by habitat destruction.
Buffy is prepared for surgery at the San Antonio Zoo. Vets and staffers removed 10 of the black-footed cat's eggs on Wednesday.
"They're sort of small, but a mighty little creature," said Dr. Danelle Okeson, a veterinarian at the San Antonio Zoo.
Buffy and her companion, Dijan, a male, have been together for three months on display in the zoo's African Rift Valley, near the cheetah exhibit. As is too common for this little-understood, typically nocturnal cat, Buffy and Dijan haven't bred.
"We'd prefer for them to breed naturally, as much as possible," said Dr. Jason Herrick, of the Cincinnati Zoo's Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife.
But unlike domestic cats, which quickly become mature sexually and breed, black-footed cats have little contact between the sexes — even in courtship.
Working under a species survival plan of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Herrick removed 10 eggs from Buffy's ovaries. Using an endoscope to see video images of the cat's inner organs, he carefully took out the tiny black eggs, each measuring about one-tenth of a millimeter, with a suction needle.
The 3-year-old, 4-pound cat, fully anesthetized for the procedure, will likely be back in her enclosure today, Okeson said. A patch of skin on her belly where hair was shaved will be the only visible sign of the procedure on her exotic patched and striped coat, Okeson said.
Herrick also extracted sperm from Dijan and placed it with the eggs in petri dishes. He may know today how many eggs have developed into embryos.
Since the process for implanting embryos into female black-footed cats is still in development, embryos of the species are kept frozen with liquid nitrogen. There now are 22 frozen embryos in storage."Plus whatever we get out of these," Herrick said, smiling.
There are only two breeding pairs of the species nationwide, he said. More than half of the black-footed cats at U.S. zoos are first- or second-generation offspring of the same pair.
Though the cats aren't popular in zoos because of their size and tendency to hide, they're fierce hunters and strong diggers that can survive on little water. They've been known to leap into the air to catch birds and even bring down sheep by attacking the throat.
Embryos have successfully been transferred into female domestic cats, ocelots, tigers and African wildcats, Herrick said.
"Hopefully, black-footed cats will be on the list soon," he said. "They're really cool cats if you take the time to study them."
shuddleston@express-news.net
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/ MYSA092806.01B.catoperation.319d1f2.html
Express-News Staff Writer
Web Posted: 09/27/2006 11:08 PM CDT
Buffy doesn't know it — she's sound asleep, after all — but she might just be helping save her species.
In an in vitro procedure that's been around for only two years, zoo veterinarians removed eggs from her ovaries Wednesday in a procedure aimed at helping protect black-footed cats like Buffy. Only about 30 of the little cats live in U.S. zoos, and many others in their native habitat in southern Africa are endangered by habitat destruction.
Buffy is prepared for surgery at the San Antonio Zoo. Vets and staffers removed 10 of the black-footed cat's eggs on Wednesday.
"They're sort of small, but a mighty little creature," said Dr. Danelle Okeson, a veterinarian at the San Antonio Zoo.
Buffy and her companion, Dijan, a male, have been together for three months on display in the zoo's African Rift Valley, near the cheetah exhibit. As is too common for this little-understood, typically nocturnal cat, Buffy and Dijan haven't bred.
"We'd prefer for them to breed naturally, as much as possible," said Dr. Jason Herrick, of the Cincinnati Zoo's Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife.
But unlike domestic cats, which quickly become mature sexually and breed, black-footed cats have little contact between the sexes — even in courtship.
Working under a species survival plan of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Herrick removed 10 eggs from Buffy's ovaries. Using an endoscope to see video images of the cat's inner organs, he carefully took out the tiny black eggs, each measuring about one-tenth of a millimeter, with a suction needle.
The 3-year-old, 4-pound cat, fully anesthetized for the procedure, will likely be back in her enclosure today, Okeson said. A patch of skin on her belly where hair was shaved will be the only visible sign of the procedure on her exotic patched and striped coat, Okeson said.
Herrick also extracted sperm from Dijan and placed it with the eggs in petri dishes. He may know today how many eggs have developed into embryos.
Since the process for implanting embryos into female black-footed cats is still in development, embryos of the species are kept frozen with liquid nitrogen. There now are 22 frozen embryos in storage."Plus whatever we get out of these," Herrick said, smiling.
There are only two breeding pairs of the species nationwide, he said. More than half of the black-footed cats at U.S. zoos are first- or second-generation offspring of the same pair.
Though the cats aren't popular in zoos because of their size and tendency to hide, they're fierce hunters and strong diggers that can survive on little water. They've been known to leap into the air to catch birds and even bring down sheep by attacking the throat.
Embryos have successfully been transferred into female domestic cats, ocelots, tigers and African wildcats, Herrick said.
"Hopefully, black-footed cats will be on the list soon," he said. "They're really cool cats if you take the time to study them."
shuddleston@express-news.net
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/ MYSA092806.01B.catoperation.319d1f2.html
FW: Today (Thursday) on Inside Edition: Exotic Pets
Today (Thursday) on Inside Edition: Exotic Pets
Exotic Pets
You've never seen an auction like this! Zebras, monkeys, even a kangaroo all
sold to the highest bidder! But where are they ending up? INSIDE EDITION
investigates!
http://www.insideedition.com/
Beth Preiss
301-258-3167
BPreiss@hsus.org
The Humane Society of the United States
Interested in taking action online to help animals? Then join our online
community and sign up for our Humane Action Network. Go to www.hsus.org/join
.
Hulk Hogan sends message to Congress
Hulk Hogan sends message to Congress
The wrestler supports federal legislation toughening penalties for dog fighting and cockfighting
The legislation will strengthen the federal penalties for interstate and foreign transport of dogs and roosters for illegal animal fighting, and also will ban commerce in cockfighting implements such as razor-sharp knives and icepick-like gaffs strapped to birds’ legs.
He may be a tough guy in the ring, but Hogan has a big heart for animals, and says that dogs and roosters have no place in the fighting arena.
“The laws against animal fighting just aren’t tough enough. The criminals need to get more than a slap on the wrist. Let’s hit ’em with a felonious legdrop,” he said in the video. “I love animals and, brother, it makes my blood boil when I think of people forcing animals to fight. I wish I could take these cowards into the ring myself.”
The Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act has 323 co-sponsors in the House, more than nearly any other bill in Congress. Identical legislation passed the Senate by unanimous consent in April 2005.
The legislation has been endorsed by the National Sheriffs’ Association, more than 400 law enforcement agencies from all 50 states, the National Chicken Council, the American Veterinary Medical Association, the National Coalition Against Gambling Expansion, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Texas Poultry Federation, and many others.
To view the Hogan video, visit www.hsus.org/hulkhogan on the web.
Article published on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2006
Copyright © Tampa Bay Newspapers: All rights reserved.
http://www.tbnweekly.com/pubs/belleair_bee/content_articles/092806_bee-06.txt
For the cats,
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an Educational Sanctuary home
to more than 100 big cats
12802 Easy Street
813.493.4564 fax 885.4457
http://www.BigCatRescue.org MakeADifference@BigCatRescue.org
Sign our petition here:
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Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Illegal zoos abound in Vietnam
DI AN, Vietnam - A bespectacled man in a wide-brim hat slips his hand between the blue iron bars and casually ruffles the orange and black fur of a tiger's head.
At the private zoo of a self-described Vietnamese conservationist, other adult tigers prowl around an enclosure of grass and rocks, playfully paw at each other or snatch with their sharp teeth at live chickens being thrown to them for lunch.
The man, beer brewery owner Ngo Duy Tan, announced in August that he had successfully bred tiger cubs in his compound at Di An in the southern province of Binh Duong about 40 km north of Ho Chi Minh City.
The feat raised eyebrows among conservationists who say breeding in captivity is difficult for even some of the world's most advanced zoos, but Tan said it was the result of his love for one of the most endangered species in Vietnam.
"I wanted to send out a message to other nature lovers that I am doing my best to save the tigers because there are reports that there are only 150 left in Vietnam," said Tan, a former soldier who strides around his property in light-brown clothing and hat.
Tan said he also keeps about 1,000 crocodiles and more than a dozen Asiatic black bears, another endangered species.
While Tan says he is helping to save endangered animals, wild life experts and the government have targeted other private zoos because they illegally capture animals and hold them in cruel, unsafe conditions.
Forests and jungles in the poor, densely-populated Southeast Asian country of 83 million have been reduced by rapid economic development -- the perennial conflict between animals and humans played out elsewhere in Asia and in Africa.
ENDANGERED SPECIES
Illegal trade in pelts, bones and body parts by poachers -- often to extract animal parts for medicines -- has also endangered many species in Vietnam such as the Indochinese sub-species of tiger bred by businessman Tan.
The enormous demand in Vietnam and other Asian countries to consume parts of exotic animals for culinary or medicinal purposes threatens species as different as soft-shell turtles and Asiatic black bears.
The bears are trapped in forests and then held captive to remove their bile for medicines.
"The ongoing demand for consumption of wildlife in Vietnam and China continues to result in unsustainable levels of harvesting, legal and illegal, of animal species," said Mark Infield of Flora and Fauna International (FFI) in Hanoi.
Indochinese tigers are solitary animals that need a lot of space and live food, conservationists say.
"They are a critically-endangered species and they belong in the wild but if you have to keep them in captivity, space is a big issue," said Tim Knight, spokesman for the conservation group Wildlife At Risk in Ho Chi Minh City.
"Some of the most famous zoos in the world still have difficulty breeding wild animals. If the animals do not feel comfortable, then breeding is the last thing on their minds."
Tiger-owner Tan keeps 19 orange and black-striped big cats in a 5,000 square metre area enclosed with blue bars, but filled with grass and rocks. They are fed live chickens and also pork.
"I don't know how other zoos breed tigers. For me, I try my best to create a habitat that is closest to natural conditions," said Tan, 55, whose love for tigers began while serving in Cambodia in the early 1970s.
During an interview, four cuddly-looking five-week old cubs pad around at people's feet and Tan strokes them and holds them as though they were any other domestic cats.
Tan said he has permission from provincial authorities to keep the tigers and he dreams of expanding their territory one day by buying more land around the compound.
He said he initially bought tigers in Cambodia several years ago and later bought six cubs at a Vietnamese market and raised them.
ANIMAL TRADE
Vietnam has been a signatory to the Convention in International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, since April 1994, but wild life groups have criticised the country for inconsistent enforcement.
They say there is a long list of endangered species in a country rich in biological treasures.
Among them is Vietnam's wild elephants.
Vietnam's Forestry Protection Department found that between 1999 and 2002 there were between 59 and 81 elephants in 11 locations compared with 122 to 148 elephants found in 20 locations from 1990 to 1995.
In mid-July, in the same province of Binh Duong where Tan keeps his tigers, Vietnamese forestry officials confiscated two orangutans from a small cage in a hotel.
The orangutans, which are protected by CITES, were smuggled from the Indonesian province of Kalimantan on Borneo and kept as an attraction for tourists at the Thanh Canh Hotel, conservation groups said.
They were returned to their home in the jungles of Borneo, four months after tourists reported their captivity.
Jakarta-based Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation said the hotel housed more than 200 animals, mostly Vietnamese wildlife.
"This illegal zoo (Thanh Canh Hotel) is one of many in the country and it is believed that for zoos around the country tens of thousands of animals have been illegally obtained from the forests of Vietnam and neighbouring Laos and Cambodia," it said.
Story by Grant McCool
Story Date: 27/9/2006
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/ newsid/38265/story.htm
At the private zoo of a self-described Vietnamese conservationist, other adult tigers prowl around an enclosure of grass and rocks, playfully paw at each other or snatch with their sharp teeth at live chickens being thrown to them for lunch.
The man, beer brewery owner Ngo Duy Tan, announced in August that he had successfully bred tiger cubs in his compound at Di An in the southern province of Binh Duong about 40 km north of Ho Chi Minh City.
The feat raised eyebrows among conservationists who say breeding in captivity is difficult for even some of the world's most advanced zoos, but Tan said it was the result of his love for one of the most endangered species in Vietnam.
"I wanted to send out a message to other nature lovers that I am doing my best to save the tigers because there are reports that there are only 150 left in Vietnam," said Tan, a former soldier who strides around his property in light-brown clothing and hat.
Tan said he also keeps about 1,000 crocodiles and more than a dozen Asiatic black bears, another endangered species.
While Tan says he is helping to save endangered animals, wild life experts and the government have targeted other private zoos because they illegally capture animals and hold them in cruel, unsafe conditions.
Forests and jungles in the poor, densely-populated Southeast Asian country of 83 million have been reduced by rapid economic development -- the perennial conflict between animals and humans played out elsewhere in Asia and in Africa.
ENDANGERED SPECIES
Illegal trade in pelts, bones and body parts by poachers -- often to extract animal parts for medicines -- has also endangered many species in Vietnam such as the Indochinese sub-species of tiger bred by businessman Tan.
The enormous demand in Vietnam and other Asian countries to consume parts of exotic animals for culinary or medicinal purposes threatens species as different as soft-shell turtles and Asiatic black bears.
The bears are trapped in forests and then held captive to remove their bile for medicines.
"The ongoing demand for consumption of wildlife in Vietnam and China continues to result in unsustainable levels of harvesting, legal and illegal, of animal species," said Mark Infield of Flora and Fauna International (FFI) in Hanoi.
Indochinese tigers are solitary animals that need a lot of space and live food, conservationists say.
"They are a critically-endangered species and they belong in the wild but if you have to keep them in captivity, space is a big issue," said Tim Knight, spokesman for the conservation group Wildlife At Risk in Ho Chi Minh City.
"Some of the most famous zoos in the world still have difficulty breeding wild animals. If the animals do not feel comfortable, then breeding is the last thing on their minds."
Tiger-owner Tan keeps 19 orange and black-striped big cats in a 5,000 square metre area enclosed with blue bars, but filled with grass and rocks. They are fed live chickens and also pork.
"I don't know how other zoos breed tigers. For me, I try my best to create a habitat that is closest to natural conditions," said Tan, 55, whose love for tigers began while serving in Cambodia in the early 1970s.
During an interview, four cuddly-looking five-week old cubs pad around at people's feet and Tan strokes them and holds them as though they were any other domestic cats.
Tan said he has permission from provincial authorities to keep the tigers and he dreams of expanding their territory one day by buying more land around the compound.
He said he initially bought tigers in Cambodia several years ago and later bought six cubs at a Vietnamese market and raised them.
ANIMAL TRADE
Vietnam has been a signatory to the Convention in International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, since April 1994, but wild life groups have criticised the country for inconsistent enforcement.
They say there is a long list of endangered species in a country rich in biological treasures.
Among them is Vietnam's wild elephants.
Vietnam's Forestry Protection Department found that between 1999 and 2002 there were between 59 and 81 elephants in 11 locations compared with 122 to 148 elephants found in 20 locations from 1990 to 1995.
In mid-July, in the same province of Binh Duong where Tan keeps his tigers, Vietnamese forestry officials confiscated two orangutans from a small cage in a hotel.
The orangutans, which are protected by CITES, were smuggled from the Indonesian province of Kalimantan on Borneo and kept as an attraction for tourists at the Thanh Canh Hotel, conservation groups said.
They were returned to their home in the jungles of Borneo, four months after tourists reported their captivity.
Jakarta-based Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation said the hotel housed more than 200 animals, mostly Vietnamese wildlife.
"This illegal zoo (Thanh Canh Hotel) is one of many in the country and it is believed that for zoos around the country tens of thousands of animals have been illegally obtained from the forests of Vietnam and neighbouring Laos and Cambodia," it said.
Story by Grant McCool
Story Date: 27/9/2006
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/ newsid/38265/story.htm
Mountain lion dropped off at Las Vegas Zoo
Sep 26, 2006 06:19 PM EDT
It was a surprising find at the front gates of the Las Vegas Zoo. Someone abandoned a sick mountain lion. He was dropped off a few days ago and now staff members are nursing him back to health.
The mountain lion was probably a house pet, but wore out his welcome when he started to get bigger. The zoo director says the one year old was dropped off in the middle of the night, found in a wire cage at the front entrance.
Staff members took him in. They say he'd clearly been starved and was severely malnourished. The 50 pound cub has also been de-clawed and neutered.
If he hadn't been dropped off, the zoo director says this lion probably would have been put down.
Staff members think they can nurse him back to health in the next few months and then the zoo is planning to make him the star of a new exhibit. To help take care of this mountain lion the zoo is asking for donations. If you would like to help out call 647-4685 or drop them off at 1775. N. Rancho.
http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=5461809&nav=15MV
It was a surprising find at the front gates of the Las Vegas Zoo. Someone abandoned a sick mountain lion. He was dropped off a few days ago and now staff members are nursing him back to health.
The mountain lion was probably a house pet, but wore out his welcome when he started to get bigger. The zoo director says the one year old was dropped off in the middle of the night, found in a wire cage at the front entrance.
Staff members took him in. They say he'd clearly been starved and was severely malnourished. The 50 pound cub has also been de-clawed and neutered.
If he hadn't been dropped off, the zoo director says this lion probably would have been put down.
Staff members think they can nurse him back to health in the next few months and then the zoo is planning to make him the star of a new exhibit. To help take care of this mountain lion the zoo is asking for donations. If you would like to help out call 647-4685 or drop them off at 1775. N. Rancho.
http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=5461809&nav=15MV
Canada: Report highlights need for zoo reform
Problems result of government indifference
2006-09-08
by: Zoocheck
Today, the first in a series of reports about Ontario zoos has been released by wildlife protection organization Zoocheck Canada. The three zoos profiled in the report are the Killman Zoo in Caledonia, Twin Valley Zoo in Brantford and the Lickety Split Ranch and Zoo in London. Both the Killman Zoo and Lickety Split Ranch and Zoo received failing grades, while the Twin Valley Zoo fared better.
According to Rob Laidlaw, Zoocheck Canada director, "This first report shows how bad things are in two out of three zoos surveyed. These zoos represent the tip of the iceberg in this province."
While the report highlights current conditions in three central Ontario zoos, it also calls on the provincial government to do something about the longstanding zoo animal welfare and safety problems throughout the province that were first brought to their attention nearly 20 years ago.
Ontario has no official policy, rules or regulations governing exotic animal housing and safety in zoos and private wildlife collections, even when highly dangerous species are being kept. Anyone in Ontario can acquire exotic animals, build whatever cages they want and show animals to the public regardless of their experience, expertise or financing.
”This issue was first brought to the attention of the Liberal government back in 1988. They promised new zoo rules in six months. But 20 years later, we're still waiting. These days, Natural Resources Minister David Ramsay claims zoos are the responsibility of Monte Kwinter, Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services. Monte Kwinter says the opposite. And while they endlessly pass the buck, things remain the same. Years, or even decades, after some of these zoos have opened, they're just as poor as the day they started," said Laidlaw.
According to Else Poulsen, the expert who reviewed the three zoos in July, as well as many others in the province in August, "I've been involved in the more professional side of the zoo industry for more than 25 years. I was astonished at the state of the zoos in this province. There's only one reason why things are this bad. No one in the Ontario government thinks the lives of these animals is worth their time. It's time they did.”
View the REPORT here: http://www.zoocheck.com/programs/zoocheck/Report06index.shtml
http://www.zoocheck.com/news/?articleId=299
2006-09-08
by: Zoocheck
Today, the first in a series of reports about Ontario zoos has been released by wildlife protection organization Zoocheck Canada. The three zoos profiled in the report are the Killman Zoo in Caledonia, Twin Valley Zoo in Brantford and the Lickety Split Ranch and Zoo in London. Both the Killman Zoo and Lickety Split Ranch and Zoo received failing grades, while the Twin Valley Zoo fared better.
According to Rob Laidlaw, Zoocheck Canada director, "This first report shows how bad things are in two out of three zoos surveyed. These zoos represent the tip of the iceberg in this province."
While the report highlights current conditions in three central Ontario zoos, it also calls on the provincial government to do something about the longstanding zoo animal welfare and safety problems throughout the province that were first brought to their attention nearly 20 years ago.
Ontario has no official policy, rules or regulations governing exotic animal housing and safety in zoos and private wildlife collections, even when highly dangerous species are being kept. Anyone in Ontario can acquire exotic animals, build whatever cages they want and show animals to the public regardless of their experience, expertise or financing.
”This issue was first brought to the attention of the Liberal government back in 1988. They promised new zoo rules in six months. But 20 years later, we're still waiting. These days, Natural Resources Minister David Ramsay claims zoos are the responsibility of Monte Kwinter, Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services. Monte Kwinter says the opposite. And while they endlessly pass the buck, things remain the same. Years, or even decades, after some of these zoos have opened, they're just as poor as the day they started," said Laidlaw.
According to Else Poulsen, the expert who reviewed the three zoos in July, as well as many others in the province in August, "I've been involved in the more professional side of the zoo industry for more than 25 years. I was astonished at the state of the zoos in this province. There's only one reason why things are this bad. No one in the Ontario government thinks the lives of these animals is worth their time. It's time they did.”
View the REPORT here: http://www.zoocheck.com/programs/zoocheck/Report06index.shtml
http://www.zoocheck.com/news/?articleId=299
New Indiana zoo exhibit will have lions, servals
By Kevin Kilbane
kkilbane@news-sentinel.com
Posted on Tue, Sep. 26, 2006
Imagine walking through a concrete tunnel and emerging in an African oasis of tall grasses, small pools of water and a jungle of plants.
From there, the trail meanders across what appears to be an East African savannah, where you encounter new animals around every turn. Along the way, young explorers can crawl through tunnels in the rocks, try on warthog tusks, report animal activity on a database or use remotely controlled video cameras to study lions and zebras.
The Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo’s new African Journey exhibit will engage visitors in a way they never have been before when it opens in spring 2009, zoo Director Jim Anderson said.
“It’s all those little things and a lot of interactive things that pay off for kids and families,” added Anderson, who announced details of the $7 million project Tuesday afternoon.
The highlight of the announcement was that the zoo already has raised $5.4 million of the estimated cost, capital campaign chairman Mark Hagerman said. The largest contribution has come from Lincoln Financial Group Foundation, which pledged $1.1 million.
“Lincoln is very proud to have a part in helping the zoo continue its tradition of being the very best it can be,” said Jon Boscia, Lincoln Financial Group chairman and chief executive officer. Lincoln Financial has now donated $2.4 million to the 38-acre zoo since it opened in 1965 in Franke Park off Sherman Boulevard.
The zoo plans to continue seeking donations from foundations, businesses and other large donors during the winter, Anderson said. The public will be invited to help beginning this spring.
Transforming the existing African Veldt area, which opened in 1976, into the new African Journey exhibit will be a two-year process, Anderson said. Demolition work will begin after the zoo closes Oct. 15. The area will be closed to visitors during construction, but the zoo hopes to arrange sneak peaks at the area as opportunities present themselves, he said.
The basic form of the current African Veldt area will be preserved, but the contents of the 26-acre exhibit will change dramatically, a written description of the exhibit said.
Instead of walking along the current raised boardwalk around the main veldt area, visitors will travel at ground level along the Savannah Trail. The path will wander along a small stream through grasslands, woodlands and ponds to outcroppings of massive boulders, called kopjes in East Africa.
As in Africa, the kopjes will be home to many different animals, such as deerlike dik diks, hyenas and large birds known as bustards. The fake rock outcroppings also will form the skins around zoo service buildings, making them nearly invisible to visitors, Anderson said.
Large, fake boulders also will frame the lion exhibit, where visitors can get face-to-face with lions through 2-inch-thick secure glass. Youngsters also can peer into the lions’ den by operating a remotely controlled video camera.
The lion exhibit will be large enough to house three adult lions, or a pair of lions and their cubs, said Mark Weldon, zoo animal curator. It will occupy land located approximately where the current African wild dog exhibit stands, Weldon said. The dogs will be sent to another zoo and will not be part of the African Journey exhibit.
Around the lion exhibit, visitors also will be able to see hyenas, vultures, servals and honey badgers. The zoo exhibited the cat-like serval in the 1980s, Weldon said.
The zoo has decided not to display cheetahs, Weldon said, as an exhibit description the zoo presented to prospective large donors earlier this year stated.
The zoo also hasn’t decided whether to display meerkats or the banded mongoose, Weldon said. The zoo also is debating whether to continue exhibiting warthogs, which tend to lie around a lot, or to replace them with Red River hogs, Weldon said. Red River hogs look somewhat like warthogs, but have reddish-orange fur and weigh about 100 to 250 pounds.
The African Journey exhibit also will expand the zoo’s giraffe population, with a new exhibit area and barn designed for seven or eight adults as well as babies, Weldon said. Visitors will be to stand on a platform to hand-feed giraffes with snacks, such as carrots.
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/ news/nation/15615082.htm
kkilbane@news-sentinel.com
Posted on Tue, Sep. 26, 2006
Imagine walking through a concrete tunnel and emerging in an African oasis of tall grasses, small pools of water and a jungle of plants.
From there, the trail meanders across what appears to be an East African savannah, where you encounter new animals around every turn. Along the way, young explorers can crawl through tunnels in the rocks, try on warthog tusks, report animal activity on a database or use remotely controlled video cameras to study lions and zebras.
The Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo’s new African Journey exhibit will engage visitors in a way they never have been before when it opens in spring 2009, zoo Director Jim Anderson said.
“It’s all those little things and a lot of interactive things that pay off for kids and families,” added Anderson, who announced details of the $7 million project Tuesday afternoon.
The highlight of the announcement was that the zoo already has raised $5.4 million of the estimated cost, capital campaign chairman Mark Hagerman said. The largest contribution has come from Lincoln Financial Group Foundation, which pledged $1.1 million.
“Lincoln is very proud to have a part in helping the zoo continue its tradition of being the very best it can be,” said Jon Boscia, Lincoln Financial Group chairman and chief executive officer. Lincoln Financial has now donated $2.4 million to the 38-acre zoo since it opened in 1965 in Franke Park off Sherman Boulevard.
The zoo plans to continue seeking donations from foundations, businesses and other large donors during the winter, Anderson said. The public will be invited to help beginning this spring.
Transforming the existing African Veldt area, which opened in 1976, into the new African Journey exhibit will be a two-year process, Anderson said. Demolition work will begin after the zoo closes Oct. 15. The area will be closed to visitors during construction, but the zoo hopes to arrange sneak peaks at the area as opportunities present themselves, he said.
The basic form of the current African Veldt area will be preserved, but the contents of the 26-acre exhibit will change dramatically, a written description of the exhibit said.
Instead of walking along the current raised boardwalk around the main veldt area, visitors will travel at ground level along the Savannah Trail. The path will wander along a small stream through grasslands, woodlands and ponds to outcroppings of massive boulders, called kopjes in East Africa.
As in Africa, the kopjes will be home to many different animals, such as deerlike dik diks, hyenas and large birds known as bustards. The fake rock outcroppings also will form the skins around zoo service buildings, making them nearly invisible to visitors, Anderson said.
Large, fake boulders also will frame the lion exhibit, where visitors can get face-to-face with lions through 2-inch-thick secure glass. Youngsters also can peer into the lions’ den by operating a remotely controlled video camera.
The lion exhibit will be large enough to house three adult lions, or a pair of lions and their cubs, said Mark Weldon, zoo animal curator. It will occupy land located approximately where the current African wild dog exhibit stands, Weldon said. The dogs will be sent to another zoo and will not be part of the African Journey exhibit.
Around the lion exhibit, visitors also will be able to see hyenas, vultures, servals and honey badgers. The zoo exhibited the cat-like serval in the 1980s, Weldon said.
The zoo has decided not to display cheetahs, Weldon said, as an exhibit description the zoo presented to prospective large donors earlier this year stated.
The zoo also hasn’t decided whether to display meerkats or the banded mongoose, Weldon said. The zoo also is debating whether to continue exhibiting warthogs, which tend to lie around a lot, or to replace them with Red River hogs, Weldon said. Red River hogs look somewhat like warthogs, but have reddish-orange fur and weigh about 100 to 250 pounds.
The African Journey exhibit also will expand the zoo’s giraffe population, with a new exhibit area and barn designed for seven or eight adults as well as babies, Weldon said. Visitors will be to stand on a platform to hand-feed giraffes with snacks, such as carrots.
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/ news/nation/15615082.htm
Vietnamese tiger-raiser keeps it in the family
You could say this guy keeps it all in the family – a man from southern Binh Duong province has raised 19 tigers, drawing huge crowds cause he’s done it all within the confines of his own home.
Ngo Duy Tan conceived the idea of building an appealing ecotourism site in the province as he was running the Pacific Brewery Company in 2000.
Tan brought in rare animals like bears, panthers, and peacocks in preparation for the establishment of his very own ecotourism farm.
Tan also bought five tigers from Cambodia, only to find out later that the cubs were paralyzed and on the brink of death.
Determined to pursue his dream, Tan was relentlessly in seeking medical treatments for the five tigers, resorting to applying medical treatments he learned by chance from a Cambodian family in 1972 in the army.
Remarkably enough, Tan’s seemingly hit-and-miss methods worked, and consequently the five tigers survived and were tamed to be friendly with people.
Boosted by the success, Tan procured another male and female to add to his family, which has been growing by leaps and bounds ever since, and now numbers 19 of the big cats.
“I’m sure my family will grow steadily over the next two years, I’d like to have hundreds of tigers to create a truly remarkable ecotourism farm,” Tan said.
Now that’s a family.
Reported by Quang Thuan – Translated by An Dien
Story from Thanh Nien News
Published: 25 September, 2006, 21:22:57 (GMT+7)
http://www.thanhniennews.com/entertaiments/?catid=6&newsid=20451
Ngo Duy Tan conceived the idea of building an appealing ecotourism site in the province as he was running the Pacific Brewery Company in 2000.
Tan brought in rare animals like bears, panthers, and peacocks in preparation for the establishment of his very own ecotourism farm.
Tan also bought five tigers from Cambodia, only to find out later that the cubs were paralyzed and on the brink of death.
Determined to pursue his dream, Tan was relentlessly in seeking medical treatments for the five tigers, resorting to applying medical treatments he learned by chance from a Cambodian family in 1972 in the army.
Remarkably enough, Tan’s seemingly hit-and-miss methods worked, and consequently the five tigers survived and were tamed to be friendly with people.
Boosted by the success, Tan procured another male and female to add to his family, which has been growing by leaps and bounds ever since, and now numbers 19 of the big cats.
“I’m sure my family will grow steadily over the next two years, I’d like to have hundreds of tigers to create a truly remarkable ecotourism farm,” Tan said.
Now that’s a family.
Reported by Quang Thuan – Translated by An Dien
Story from Thanh Nien News
Published: 25 September, 2006, 21:22:57 (GMT+7)
http://www.thanhniennews.com/entertaiments/?catid=6&newsid=20451
Humane Society houses former "pet" bobcat, other wildfire refugees
By Emanuel Parker Staff Writer
PASADENA, CA - A turkey vulture, a bobcat and a red-tailed hawk, refugees from the Pines Fire burning above La Cañada Flintridge, are being given temporary shelter at the Pasadena Humane Society.
The vulture, which has one wing, is by far the most outgoing of the trio, hopping around its cage. The bobcat hides in its shelter, coming out infrequently to stare wistfully at a nearby flock of noisy, captive birds. The hawk is kept indoors in a towel-covered cage.
Steve McNall, PHS executive director, said turkey vultures are common locally, although you may not notice them circling high overhead.
"They're native to the area," he said. "They're all over the place. You see them a lot in the Irwindale \ Dam area."
The birds, he said, have an interesting way of defending themselves: "They don't have retractable talons, so when you confront them they spit on you," he said.
"They eat carrion, so when they regurgitate all this dead stuff comes up. And whatever has grabbed them usually turns them loose."
Even with one wing, the bird has a wing-span close to five feet. Its head is devoid of feathers so the bird can insert it into a carcass without getting fouled, McNall said.
"It's so ugly it's cute," said Veronica Fincher, a PHS wildlife officer.
The bobcat is a female named Gabby. It was raised by a family until it became too aggressive to handle. But it had become too comfortable around humans, and couldn't be released back into the wild, Fincher said.
"There are a lot of bobcats in the foothills," she said. "They're native to California. They hunt at night and eat mice, squirrels, rabbits and roadkill if they're really hungry. Because they're active at night, most people don't know they're around."
Fincher didn't know much about the hawk, except that it has a wing injury that would make survival on its own exceedingly difficult.
The vulture and hawk dine on raptor mix, mostly raw meat, while the bobcat gets hamburger.
The trio will be returned Monday to Clear Creek school and outdoor education center in the Angeles National Forest. The school serves the children of U.S. Forest Service personnel and has permits to keep the animals.
On Wednesday the school was threatened by the Pines Fire, Fincher said. The fire was contained on Friday.
A PHS officer was patrolling the area and managed to get to the school, which was wrapped in smoke, and evacuate the animals, which were suffering from smoke inhalation.
emanuel.parker@sgvn.com
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_4384526
PASADENA, CA - A turkey vulture, a bobcat and a red-tailed hawk, refugees from the Pines Fire burning above La Cañada Flintridge, are being given temporary shelter at the Pasadena Humane Society.
The vulture, which has one wing, is by far the most outgoing of the trio, hopping around its cage. The bobcat hides in its shelter, coming out infrequently to stare wistfully at a nearby flock of noisy, captive birds. The hawk is kept indoors in a towel-covered cage.
Steve McNall, PHS executive director, said turkey vultures are common locally, although you may not notice them circling high overhead.
"They're native to the area," he said. "They're all over the place. You see them a lot in the Irwindale \ Dam area."
The birds, he said, have an interesting way of defending themselves: "They don't have retractable talons, so when you confront them they spit on you," he said.
"They eat carrion, so when they regurgitate all this dead stuff comes up. And whatever has grabbed them usually turns them loose."
Even with one wing, the bird has a wing-span close to five feet. Its head is devoid of feathers so the bird can insert it into a carcass without getting fouled, McNall said.
"It's so ugly it's cute," said Veronica Fincher, a PHS wildlife officer.
The bobcat is a female named Gabby. It was raised by a family until it became too aggressive to handle. But it had become too comfortable around humans, and couldn't be released back into the wild, Fincher said.
"There are a lot of bobcats in the foothills," she said. "They're native to California. They hunt at night and eat mice, squirrels, rabbits and roadkill if they're really hungry. Because they're active at night, most people don't know they're around."
Fincher didn't know much about the hawk, except that it has a wing injury that would make survival on its own exceedingly difficult.
The vulture and hawk dine on raptor mix, mostly raw meat, while the bobcat gets hamburger.
The trio will be returned Monday to Clear Creek school and outdoor education center in the Angeles National Forest. The school serves the children of U.S. Forest Service personnel and has permits to keep the animals.
On Wednesday the school was threatened by the Pines Fire, Fincher said. The fire was contained on Friday.
A PHS officer was patrolling the area and managed to get to the school, which was wrapped in smoke, and evacuate the animals, which were suffering from smoke inhalation.
emanuel.parker@sgvn.com
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_4384526
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
A trip to the zoo with lots of food
The BETA (Beirut Ethical Treatment of Animals) folks have their hands full caring for abandoned dogs and cats every day. Yet they’re also trying to help other animals of all kinds, including at zoos. A few days ago, two of the Best Friends team joined BETA founder Joelle on a food delivery trip to a zoo about three hours away from the animal sanctuary.
In a country where food is still in short supply, it can be difficult to find food for animals. But the lions and tigers have been starving, and so the BETA folks have been buying a little here and a little there, from many different stores, as they make their way to the zoo.
“People must think we’re holding a big party or starting a salad bar,” said Joelle. “But it does make them wonder when I ask for 50 pounds of bananas!”
Eventually, the group finished their rounds and brought the goodies to the animals in the zoo. And you can bet the animals were very happy to see them.
“It’s been very difficult on them during this time,” said Joelle. “We have trouble keeping a supply of cat and dog food for our shelter. Can you imagine what it’s like for these poor creatures?”
The lions and tigers eagerly scarfed down the raw meat. Primates hooted their enthusiasm when the bananas came into view. And all the other animals did their special dances of joy to meet the Good People with the Food.
Joelle said BETA would try to make another trip to the zoo soon.
“But hopefully, things will open up enough so that supplies won’t be so hard to come by,” said Joelle.
http://network.bestfriends.org/middleeast/news/7853.html
In a country where food is still in short supply, it can be difficult to find food for animals. But the lions and tigers have been starving, and so the BETA folks have been buying a little here and a little there, from many different stores, as they make their way to the zoo.
“People must think we’re holding a big party or starting a salad bar,” said Joelle. “But it does make them wonder when I ask for 50 pounds of bananas!”
Eventually, the group finished their rounds and brought the goodies to the animals in the zoo. And you can bet the animals were very happy to see them.
“It’s been very difficult on them during this time,” said Joelle. “We have trouble keeping a supply of cat and dog food for our shelter. Can you imagine what it’s like for these poor creatures?”
The lions and tigers eagerly scarfed down the raw meat. Primates hooted their enthusiasm when the bananas came into view. And all the other animals did their special dances of joy to meet the Good People with the Food.
Joelle said BETA would try to make another trip to the zoo soon.
“But hopefully, things will open up enough so that supplies won’t be so hard to come by,” said Joelle.
http://network.bestfriends.org/middleeast/news/7853.html
Circus animals getting bigger retirement home
September 26, 2006
ALBION, Ind. -- Workers at a sanctuary for retired circus animals and rescued exotic pets are working seven days a week preparing to move the park's 83 animals to a new location.
Black Pine Animal Park will begin moving animals, including chimpanzees, Bengal tigers, African lions, a leopard, a cougar and two camels next month to 18 acres of land formerly used by the county's 4-H program.
Park staff is working 13 hours a day to get the new site ready. Park officials have already raised $95,000 to pay for the move and house the animals while the rest of the park is built.
Their goal is to raise $150,000 by Oct. 31 and an additional $150,000 to be able to open next summer.
''We're rebuilding the entire zoo. We're not allowed to take anything with us at the current site,'' said Jessica Price, senior zookeeper. ''We can take with us what we've built since 2004 and that's it.''
The new site offers more room for larger habitats for the animals.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/72270,CST-NWS-animal26.article
ALBION, Ind. -- Workers at a sanctuary for retired circus animals and rescued exotic pets are working seven days a week preparing to move the park's 83 animals to a new location.
Black Pine Animal Park will begin moving animals, including chimpanzees, Bengal tigers, African lions, a leopard, a cougar and two camels next month to 18 acres of land formerly used by the county's 4-H program.
Park staff is working 13 hours a day to get the new site ready. Park officials have already raised $95,000 to pay for the move and house the animals while the rest of the park is built.
Their goal is to raise $150,000 by Oct. 31 and an additional $150,000 to be able to open next summer.
''We're rebuilding the entire zoo. We're not allowed to take anything with us at the current site,'' said Jessica Price, senior zookeeper. ''We can take with us what we've built since 2004 and that's it.''
The new site offers more room for larger habitats for the animals.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/72270,CST-NWS-animal26.article
Juárez police confiscate lion
By Louie Gilot / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 09/25/2006 03:33:00 PM MDT
Juárez police confiscated a lion from a padded trailer in the Valley of Juárez on Saturday, police said.
Patrolling police officers spotted the feline inside the trailer that was hitched to a pickup truck. Several men in the truck told police they were taking the lion from the village of San Isidro to the inauguration of a recreation center in the village of San Agustin where there would be exhibitions of animals and cart races. The men had no papers for the lion and were arrested.
They are Juan Carlos Fernández, 43, Jerónimo Ortega, 20, Jesús García Romero, 47, Fernando Mendiola, 22, and Jorge Antonio Ortega Cortes, 17.
The lion, who is one year and seven months old, was turned over to a federal environmental agency.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/breakingnews/ci_4394291
Article Launched: 09/25/2006 03:33:00 PM MDT
Juárez police confiscated a lion from a padded trailer in the Valley of Juárez on Saturday, police said.
Patrolling police officers spotted the feline inside the trailer that was hitched to a pickup truck. Several men in the truck told police they were taking the lion from the village of San Isidro to the inauguration of a recreation center in the village of San Agustin where there would be exhibitions of animals and cart races. The men had no papers for the lion and were arrested.
They are Juan Carlos Fernández, 43, Jerónimo Ortega, 20, Jesús García Romero, 47, Fernando Mendiola, 22, and Jorge Antonio Ortega Cortes, 17.
The lion, who is one year and seven months old, was turned over to a federal environmental agency.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/breakingnews/ci_4394291
Tiger escape prompts Canadian zoo probe
Cruelty-prevention group probes zoo
Investigation spurred by tiger's escape from trailer after accident
JANE ARMSTRONG
POSTED ON 26/09/06
VANCOUVER -- A tiger that sprang loose from a trailer on a busy B.C. highway last week caught conservation officers off guard. But the big cat's unexpected appearance in northeastern B.C. also raised alarm bells with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which has begun an investigation.
An SPCA investigator was dispatched yesterday to Taylor, about 55 kilometres north of Dawson Creek, to inspect the Outback Zoo, which recently reopened under a new name and new owners.
On Friday, the three-year old female tiger found itself in the wilds of B.C. after the pickup truck that was hauling the animal in a trailer collided with a gravel truck on the Alaska Highway between Dawson Creek and Fort St. John.
When the trailer landed in a ditch, its door opened and the tiger escaped to a nearby roadside pasture. A passenger in the pickup truck was killed in the collision.
B.C. SPCA spokeswoman Lorie Chortyk said any news of an exotic animal in captivity makes animal advocates suspicious. She said the SPCA disapproves on principle of people owning or displaying exotic animals.
The society is particularly opposed to roadside zoos owned by people with no formal animal training, even if they are well meaning.
"It has to do with how they [the animals] were captured and treated," Ms. Chortyk said. "These are complex animals and in the cases of lions and tigers, there are huge danger issues as well."
The tiger was en route from the Lower Mainland to the Outback Zoo in Taylor.
The zoo was previously known as Hidden Valley Exotics Mini Zoo, which was a popular attraction for years. The zoo had two lions, monkeys, llamas, peacocks and its star attraction, Jake the tiger.
Taylor Mayor Fred Jarvis said the zoo drew visitors to the region, especially young families.
The current owners have refused to discuss their operation, telling a reporter who telephoned that they won't comment. A woman who answered the telephone on the weekend and who identified herself as an owner said she and her partner were upset about the car accident, adding she knew the passenger who died.
Police have not released the passenger's name.
Conservation officers, with the help of the tiger's owner, were able to coax the tiger into a bear trap on Friday morning.
The SPCA investigated the zoo when it was called Hidden Valley and operated by its previous owners. While the group is "vehemently opposed" to hobby zoos, Ms. Chortyk said they found no instances of animals being mistreated.
Ms. Chortyk said the SPCA recently closed a roadside zoo near Nelson and seized 103 primates. Many of the animals were kept in small cages in the back of a garage, she said. It took the society nearly two years, at a cost of $100,000, to find decent facilities to take the animals.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/ LAC.20060926.BCTIGER26/TPStory/National
Investigation spurred by tiger's escape from trailer after accident
JANE ARMSTRONG
POSTED ON 26/09/06
VANCOUVER -- A tiger that sprang loose from a trailer on a busy B.C. highway last week caught conservation officers off guard. But the big cat's unexpected appearance in northeastern B.C. also raised alarm bells with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which has begun an investigation.
An SPCA investigator was dispatched yesterday to Taylor, about 55 kilometres north of Dawson Creek, to inspect the Outback Zoo, which recently reopened under a new name and new owners.
On Friday, the three-year old female tiger found itself in the wilds of B.C. after the pickup truck that was hauling the animal in a trailer collided with a gravel truck on the Alaska Highway between Dawson Creek and Fort St. John.
When the trailer landed in a ditch, its door opened and the tiger escaped to a nearby roadside pasture. A passenger in the pickup truck was killed in the collision.
B.C. SPCA spokeswoman Lorie Chortyk said any news of an exotic animal in captivity makes animal advocates suspicious. She said the SPCA disapproves on principle of people owning or displaying exotic animals.
The society is particularly opposed to roadside zoos owned by people with no formal animal training, even if they are well meaning.
"It has to do with how they [the animals] were captured and treated," Ms. Chortyk said. "These are complex animals and in the cases of lions and tigers, there are huge danger issues as well."
The tiger was en route from the Lower Mainland to the Outback Zoo in Taylor.
The zoo was previously known as Hidden Valley Exotics Mini Zoo, which was a popular attraction for years. The zoo had two lions, monkeys, llamas, peacocks and its star attraction, Jake the tiger.
Taylor Mayor Fred Jarvis said the zoo drew visitors to the region, especially young families.
The current owners have refused to discuss their operation, telling a reporter who telephoned that they won't comment. A woman who answered the telephone on the weekend and who identified herself as an owner said she and her partner were upset about the car accident, adding she knew the passenger who died.
Police have not released the passenger's name.
Conservation officers, with the help of the tiger's owner, were able to coax the tiger into a bear trap on Friday morning.
The SPCA investigated the zoo when it was called Hidden Valley and operated by its previous owners. While the group is "vehemently opposed" to hobby zoos, Ms. Chortyk said they found no instances of animals being mistreated.
Ms. Chortyk said the SPCA recently closed a roadside zoo near Nelson and seized 103 primates. Many of the animals were kept in small cages in the back of a garage, she said. It took the society nearly two years, at a cost of $100,000, to find decent facilities to take the animals.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/ LAC.20060926.BCTIGER26/TPStory/National
Snow leopard cub settles into Bronx Zoo
Global effort to conserve endangered wildlife hailed
By Judy Aita
Washington File Staff Writer
25 September 2006
New York -- Leo, the orphaned snow leopard cub from Pakistan, made his New York debut September 25, greeted by delighted officials from two continents who worked to save one of the world's most endangered and beautiful mammals.
Leo's new home is a quiet .4 hectare area -- known as the Himalayan Highlands Habitat -- at the end of a path through a bamboo grove in the 107-hectares Bronx Zoo. But Leo's tranquil retreat and the hushed voices of his greeters belie the size and complexity of his rescue, care, travel from Pakistan and temporary stay in the United States at one of the world's greatest zoos.
Steven Sanderson, president of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and its Bronx Zoo, said that the cub will be an inspiration to 2 million zoo visitors each year.
The beautiful snow leopard "is a symbol of shared values between our two countries, a sense of devotion to natural resources, and preservation of our heritage both cultural and biological," Sanderson said at a small ceremony.
After WCS heard that Leo had been orphaned and could not be released into the wild because he would not have the opportunity to learn hunting and survival skills from his parent, the zoo was invited by the government of Pakistan to help, Sanderson said.
"We are uniquely situated to care for this wonderful animal because we were the first zoo in the world to show snow leopards over 100 years ago," Sanderson said. "Since 1903, we've had 90 snow leopard babies at the Bronx Zoo. So rest assured Leo will have the best of care and a wonderful situation."
Sehba Musharraf, the first lady of Pakistan, said Leo marks "the beginning of a new dimension" in the multifaceted U.S.-Pakistani relationship.
"Leo will return to Pakistan," the first lady said. But before he returns, Pakistan will develop a snow leopard conservation center for rehabilitation and breeding facilities for snow leopards with the support of the United Nations and in cooperation with the Bronx Zoo.
"I know Leo will meet new friends at the Bronx Zoo. His presence is symbolic of the excellent cooperation between Pakistan and the United States and the enduring friendship and goodwill" between Pakistan and the United States, she said.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, Environment and Science Claudia McMurray called Leo's arrival "an important success story in the global effort to conserve endangered wildlife."
"Some might ask, is it important to bring an animal from the wild to live temporarily in a U.S. zoo? Does this action actually help save the endangered snow leopard for future generations? The answer to both of these questions is an overwhelming yes," McMurray said.
Leo can educate thousands of visitors, both American and from other countries, about the plight of the snow leopard. And, eventually, he will spread the same word among the Pakistani people, McMurray said.
The assistant secretary of state read a letter from U.S. first lady Laura Bush, who hailed the cub as an ambassador of friendship and education that can "teach all of us so much about how to save other endangered snow leopards and about our responsibilities as stewards of the earth."
LEO NAPPED
Leo appeared unmoved by the event. True to his species, he was shy and barely could be seen through the trees as he lounged on a boulder with his back to the visitors. His pale gray fur with dark rosettes made him blend into his new home so well that only when he moved could he be seen near the top of a hill.
Leo's new neighbors, two red pandas, seemed equally unimpressed by the distinguished visitors. One slept in a tree; the other paced by a stream. White-naped cranes, the endangered Asian birds bred successfully at the Bronx Zoo, reside in a marsh area across the path from Leo.
The snow leopard cub, now about 14 months old, was found by a goatherd in the Naltar Valley in the Karakorum Mountains of northern Pakistan. After caring for the growing cub in their house, the herder and his family approached representatives of the World Wildlife Fund, which was working in the region, for help. The cub then was moved to Gilgit where the Pakistani government took over its care. (See related article.)
A cooperative effort by Pakistan, the U.S. government and the WCS enabled a team of wildlife experts to travel to the remote valley and transport the animal by jeep to Islamabad. Leo arrived in New York on August 9 aboard a British Airways plane after an officially arranged quick transfer through Heathrow Airport in London to minimize the effect of the summer heat.
Leo then underwent routine quarantine at the zoo's Wildlife Health Center and an acclimation period in his new home among tall oaks, tulip trees, boulders and 12 other snow leopards before his official presentation September 25.
Snow leopards are among the world's most endangered big cats. An estimated 3,500 to 7,000 remain in the wild, restricted to remote mountains of Central Asia, according to zoo officials. Pakistan has 200 to 400 snow leopards in the wild.
Snow leopards still are hunted for their pelts, in spite of the fact they are a protected species under the Convention on International Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora and are listed on the World Conservation Union Red List of Threatened Species as endangered.
Additional information is available on the WSC Web site.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile- english&y=2006&m=September&x=20060925180702eaifas0.7183344
By Judy Aita
Washington File Staff Writer
25 September 2006
New York -- Leo, the orphaned snow leopard cub from Pakistan, made his New York debut September 25, greeted by delighted officials from two continents who worked to save one of the world's most endangered and beautiful mammals.
Leo's new home is a quiet .4 hectare area -- known as the Himalayan Highlands Habitat -- at the end of a path through a bamboo grove in the 107-hectares Bronx Zoo. But Leo's tranquil retreat and the hushed voices of his greeters belie the size and complexity of his rescue, care, travel from Pakistan and temporary stay in the United States at one of the world's greatest zoos.
Steven Sanderson, president of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and its Bronx Zoo, said that the cub will be an inspiration to 2 million zoo visitors each year.
The beautiful snow leopard "is a symbol of shared values between our two countries, a sense of devotion to natural resources, and preservation of our heritage both cultural and biological," Sanderson said at a small ceremony.
After WCS heard that Leo had been orphaned and could not be released into the wild because he would not have the opportunity to learn hunting and survival skills from his parent, the zoo was invited by the government of Pakistan to help, Sanderson said.
"We are uniquely situated to care for this wonderful animal because we were the first zoo in the world to show snow leopards over 100 years ago," Sanderson said. "Since 1903, we've had 90 snow leopard babies at the Bronx Zoo. So rest assured Leo will have the best of care and a wonderful situation."
Sehba Musharraf, the first lady of Pakistan, said Leo marks "the beginning of a new dimension" in the multifaceted U.S.-Pakistani relationship.
"Leo will return to Pakistan," the first lady said. But before he returns, Pakistan will develop a snow leopard conservation center for rehabilitation and breeding facilities for snow leopards with the support of the United Nations and in cooperation with the Bronx Zoo.
"I know Leo will meet new friends at the Bronx Zoo. His presence is symbolic of the excellent cooperation between Pakistan and the United States and the enduring friendship and goodwill" between Pakistan and the United States, she said.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, Environment and Science Claudia McMurray called Leo's arrival "an important success story in the global effort to conserve endangered wildlife."
"Some might ask, is it important to bring an animal from the wild to live temporarily in a U.S. zoo? Does this action actually help save the endangered snow leopard for future generations? The answer to both of these questions is an overwhelming yes," McMurray said.
Leo can educate thousands of visitors, both American and from other countries, about the plight of the snow leopard. And, eventually, he will spread the same word among the Pakistani people, McMurray said.
The assistant secretary of state read a letter from U.S. first lady Laura Bush, who hailed the cub as an ambassador of friendship and education that can "teach all of us so much about how to save other endangered snow leopards and about our responsibilities as stewards of the earth."
LEO NAPPED
Leo appeared unmoved by the event. True to his species, he was shy and barely could be seen through the trees as he lounged on a boulder with his back to the visitors. His pale gray fur with dark rosettes made him blend into his new home so well that only when he moved could he be seen near the top of a hill.
Leo's new neighbors, two red pandas, seemed equally unimpressed by the distinguished visitors. One slept in a tree; the other paced by a stream. White-naped cranes, the endangered Asian birds bred successfully at the Bronx Zoo, reside in a marsh area across the path from Leo.
The snow leopard cub, now about 14 months old, was found by a goatherd in the Naltar Valley in the Karakorum Mountains of northern Pakistan. After caring for the growing cub in their house, the herder and his family approached representatives of the World Wildlife Fund, which was working in the region, for help. The cub then was moved to Gilgit where the Pakistani government took over its care. (See related article.)
A cooperative effort by Pakistan, the U.S. government and the WCS enabled a team of wildlife experts to travel to the remote valley and transport the animal by jeep to Islamabad. Leo arrived in New York on August 9 aboard a British Airways plane after an officially arranged quick transfer through Heathrow Airport in London to minimize the effect of the summer heat.
Leo then underwent routine quarantine at the zoo's Wildlife Health Center and an acclimation period in his new home among tall oaks, tulip trees, boulders and 12 other snow leopards before his official presentation September 25.
Snow leopards are among the world's most endangered big cats. An estimated 3,500 to 7,000 remain in the wild, restricted to remote mountains of Central Asia, according to zoo officials. Pakistan has 200 to 400 snow leopards in the wild.
Snow leopards still are hunted for their pelts, in spite of the fact they are a protected species under the Convention on International Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora and are listed on the World Conservation Union Red List of Threatened Species as endangered.
Additional information is available on the WSC Web site.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile- english&y=2006&m=September&x=20060925180702eaifas0.7183344
India: Camp will introduce public to jungle cat, desert cat
Here comes a treat for nature lovers
P. Oppili
CHENNAI: The World Wide Fund for Nature - India is providing an opportunity for nature lovers to visit the Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, by organising a camp at the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, between November 7 and 11.
The sanctuary has been set up to house the Asiatic Wild Ass, but animals such as chinkara, blackbuck, wild boar, jungle cat, desert cat, desert fox, reptiles and more than 300 species of birds, including cranes, flamingos, pelicans, storks and ducks can also be seen.
Preston Ahimaz of the education division of WWF-I said the organisation had arranged a comfortable, rustic accommodation near the sanctuary.
Various programmes have been scheduled for the four-day camp, which include nature trails, bird watching, safari visits, camel-cart safaris besides slide and video shows.
Those who wish to participate in the programme should register on or before September 30.
For more details, contact WWF-India, Education Division, at 011-41504192/41504190 or e-mail: edu@wwfindia.net or Preston Ahimaz at prestonahimaz@gmail.com.
The nature camp is aimed at spreading awareness among students, corporates, families and members of public, Mr. Preston said.
http://www.hindu.com/2006/09/26/stories/2006092603970200.htm
P. Oppili
CHENNAI: The World Wide Fund for Nature - India is providing an opportunity for nature lovers to visit the Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, by organising a camp at the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, between November 7 and 11.
The sanctuary has been set up to house the Asiatic Wild Ass, but animals such as chinkara, blackbuck, wild boar, jungle cat, desert cat, desert fox, reptiles and more than 300 species of birds, including cranes, flamingos, pelicans, storks and ducks can also be seen.
Preston Ahimaz of the education division of WWF-I said the organisation had arranged a comfortable, rustic accommodation near the sanctuary.
Various programmes have been scheduled for the four-day camp, which include nature trails, bird watching, safari visits, camel-cart safaris besides slide and video shows.
Those who wish to participate in the programme should register on or before September 30.
For more details, contact WWF-India, Education Division, at 011-41504192/41504190 or e-mail: edu@wwfindia.net or Preston Ahimaz at prestonahimaz@gmail.com.
The nature camp is aimed at spreading awareness among students, corporates, families and members of public, Mr. Preston said.
http://www.hindu.com/2006/09/26/stories/2006092603970200.htm
Wildlife sanctuary picnic is slated
By Sandy Meindersma CORRESPONDENT
PRINCETON— A meadow may not be everyone’s idea of a perfect place for a 50th anniversary party. Except when it’s the meadow itself that’s having the party.
In recognition of the Crocker family’s donation of their summer home, barn and other outbuildings as well as 500 acres of land, the Massachusetts Audubon Society will host a 50th anniversary picnic from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary, 113 Goodnow Road. The event will be held rain or shine.
“It’s about honoring that donation, and celebrating the fact that the land has been set aside for conservation,” Cindy A. Dunn, ecological management coordinator said.
Families are encouraged to bring a picnic lunch. Beverages and snacks will be available for purchase.
The event will feature a variety of things, including tours of the Crocker House, which was restored in 2000, along with kids’ games, a mini maze, face painting and hay and pony rides.
“We’re also going to do ponding,” Ms. Dunn said. “Kids will be able catch stuff in the wetlands and get help identifying what they find.”
Canoeing, hiking, a hawk watch and banding of monarch butterflies are also on the agenda, along with entertainment by Patsy Mollica.
“And of course, birthday cake,” Ms. Dunn said.
The wildlife sanctuary, which has grown to 1,200 acres, features 11 miles of walking trails and a 200-acre beaver pond. The pond is home to beaver, mink, otter, wood ducks and herons.
The event is free for Audubon Society members and Princeton residents, but registration is required. To register, call the wildlife sanctuary at (978) 464-2712. The cost for nonmembers is $4 for adults and $3 for children and seniors.
http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20060925/NEWS/609250598/1008/NEWS02
PRINCETON— A meadow may not be everyone’s idea of a perfect place for a 50th anniversary party. Except when it’s the meadow itself that’s having the party.
In recognition of the Crocker family’s donation of their summer home, barn and other outbuildings as well as 500 acres of land, the Massachusetts Audubon Society will host a 50th anniversary picnic from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary, 113 Goodnow Road. The event will be held rain or shine.
“It’s about honoring that donation, and celebrating the fact that the land has been set aside for conservation,” Cindy A. Dunn, ecological management coordinator said.
Families are encouraged to bring a picnic lunch. Beverages and snacks will be available for purchase.
The event will feature a variety of things, including tours of the Crocker House, which was restored in 2000, along with kids’ games, a mini maze, face painting and hay and pony rides.
“We’re also going to do ponding,” Ms. Dunn said. “Kids will be able catch stuff in the wetlands and get help identifying what they find.”
Canoeing, hiking, a hawk watch and banding of monarch butterflies are also on the agenda, along with entertainment by Patsy Mollica.
“And of course, birthday cake,” Ms. Dunn said.
The wildlife sanctuary, which has grown to 1,200 acres, features 11 miles of walking trails and a 200-acre beaver pond. The pond is home to beaver, mink, otter, wood ducks and herons.
The event is free for Audubon Society members and Princeton residents, but registration is required. To register, call the wildlife sanctuary at (978) 464-2712. The cost for nonmembers is $4 for adults and $3 for children and seniors.
http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20060925/NEWS/609250598/1008/NEWS02
Monday, September 25, 2006
Leo’s debut at Bronx Zoo today
KARACHI, Sept 24: Leo, the orphaned snow leopard cub who made headlines last month when he was flown from Pakistan to the US, will make his official debut today at New York’s Bronx Zoo, event organisers told Dawn.
First Lady of Pakistan Begum Sehba Musharraf will be the honoured guest on the occasion, according to programme details provided by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the administrators of the Bronx Zoo.
Leo and a female sibling that later died were rescued last year by a shepherd in Naltar Valley, Northern Areas, after their mother was reportedly killed by a landslide. In July 2005, little Leo was handed over to the World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P) and was subsequently hand-reared by Mr Kamaluddin of the Northern Areas Forest and Wildlife Department.
“Leo was ill, very weak and weighed only 1.5 kilograms when he was given to me on July 14 last year,” Kamaluddin, a resident of Sust in upper Hunza, said at a handing-over ceremony in Islamabad on August 8, 2006. “I looked after the cub like my child and gave him goat’s milk.”
The next day 13-month-old Leo left for the Bronx Zoo under a unique partnership between the US and Pakistan governments, facilitated by WCS and other conservation groups including WWF-P and IUCN.
All animals brought to the Bronx Zoo pass through a mandatory quarantine protocol and acclimatisation process, WCS assistant director of communications Linda Corcoran told Dawn. With this settling-in period now over, Leo is set to make his first public appearance at the Bronx Zoo’s Himalayan Highlands exhibit.
The zoo is renowned for its captive breeding programme for snow leopards, a critically endangered species whose natural high-altitude mountain habitat extends from Mongolia to Uzbekistan.
http://www.dawn.com/2006/09/25/top10.htm
Canned hunting: South Africa's shame
UPDATED 19.9.06
The hunting of captive animals in a confined area is known as canned hunting. It is widespread in South Africa and North America. Since January 2005 the South African government has been in the process of updating the legislation for the hunting industry. The final draft regulations were available in June and the public invited to submit comments by the 19th June 2006.
See:
http://www.environment.gov.za/HotIssues/2006/ protected/protected_regs.html#
The Born Free Foundation welcomes new legislation to regulate the hunting industry in South Africa and stamp out the existence of canned hunts. However, we do have some serious concerns about the draft regulations which appear not only to leave many loopholes open but also provide a means for the registration of captive breeding operations for listed large predators, which would be able to supply and facilitate the canned hunt industry (see later in this document).
CANNED HUNTING - WHAT IS IT?
Canned hunting operations refer to the hunting of captive animals that are trapped within enclosures and have little chance of escape. Some canned hunt operations have recently begun to allow their clients to hunt these trapped animals remotely via the internet. The animals involved are often habituated to human contact, having been hand-raised and bottle fed, so are no longer naturally fearful of people. In many situations the animals will approach people expecting to get fed but instead receive a bullet. This makes it easier for clients to be guaranteed a trophy and thus the industry is lucrative and has expanded over time. The industry thrives in both North America and South Africa, although South Africa holds the unfortunate title of providing the most lion and elephant trophies from canned hunts.
CANNED HUNTING - ALERTING THE WORLD
Two television programs have been especially effective in the past at drawing the world's attention to the excesses and cruelty involved in canned hunting in South Africa: the Cook Report shown on British television on 6th May 1997, and then its screening on the popular South African program, Carte Blanche.
http://www.mnet.co.za/CarteBlanche/Display/Display.asp?Id=2728
The '97 Cook Report footage was horrific. We see a lioness pacing alongside a fence, frantic to get to the three cubs she had been separated from that morning. The professional hunter arrives with his client, a German tourist. We see a bullet slam into her side and her body twists in the air alongside the fence. She has made no attempt to run away - and why should she? Her cubs are on the other side of the fence and why she should fear humans, they had been feeding her up until two days ago. We learnt that hunters are advised how to lame a lion by shooting it in the shoulder so no damage is done to the head, the "trophy". One procurer of lions explains that breaking a lion's limbs makes the killing of the maimed animal "easier on the dogs, easier on us." With sickening disregard for the animals the man goes on to say that lions are easy to maim, they are "soft-skinned, with a highly developed nervous system…..it hurts them…. 'Smoke him and he'll bounce around."
The Cook Report researchers were even offered Bengal tigers and jaguars, big cats not indigenous to South Africa.
International outrage followed the screening of this program, and the Born Free Foundation launched it's "Ban the Can" campaign. Animal rights groups and sickened members of the public and the media have continued to highlight what goes on to provide the hunter with his trophy, but the animals keep on dying. For example, in 1997 there were 300 lions held in South African captive breeding facilities - the number has now grown to over 3000.
CANNED HUNTING - A PROCESS NOT AN EVENT
It is not just the brutal death of the captive-bred animals that outrages its opponents, but the whole process involved.
In the case of lions, the breeders usually remove the cubs when they are three-four days old. This is extremely stressful for the lioness, with her deeply ingrained maternal instincts but it does induce her into another estrus cycle making her more receptive to mating. In addition, hand-rearing the cubs make future management easier and ensure the trophy hunters don't have to face a wild animal when it's time for the kill. There may also be a sex culling process at this stage - hunters like to kill male lions - their manes look more impressive in that final photo of the hunter standing beside the body, so most of the females may be killed.
Adult male selection in complex species such as lions can have far-reaching impacts on pride dynamics. If the dominant male of a pride is killed, this leaves the way open for pride take-over by male outsiders, who will usually kill the cubs of the previous dominant male, to bring the lionesses into season again. This means that he will sire his own cubs, rather than bringing up the cubs of another male. Ultimately, the death of just one "trophy" results in a ripple effect causing the deaths of many more lions.
PRO-HUNTING ARGUMENTS
"If it pays it stays" - the mantra of many conservationists and certainly the excuse used by hunters around the world. With habitats shrinking and agriculture and industry taking over the wild areas, humans insist that the remaining wild animals must pay their way if we humans are to grant them permission to remain on the planet.
Conservation gun-smoke screen - Captive lion breeders call themselves conservationists and some allow day visitors who are blatantly misinformed that the lions are being bred for re-introduction to the wild. Not only is this an unrecognized management policy for lion conservation, the reverse is happening - breeders have to take lions from the wild to add fresh blood to their in-bred captive populations. This adds an additional burden on the wild population which recent reports estimate has crashed to around 15,000 - 23,000 lions. It is well known that the large provincial reserves of Pilansberg and Madikwe in the North West Province and Phinda Privace Reserve in KwaZulu-Ntal are the primary source of wild lions for re-introduction purposes, not the breeding farms.
Also the costs of lion-breeding make these conservation claims a nonsense. It takes large amounts of meat to feed all these lions. Africa Geographic has investigated the Mokwalo breeding farm in the Province of Limpopo. The farm had 110 animals behind wire and they eat approx. 144 tones of food a year. The meat costs about 40p / kilo which give an annual food bill of about £57,000. So, with each lion costing the farmer about £500 per year to feed, and he is only selling about 20 a year, it is hard to imagine he would settle for the price these lions fetch at auction for conservation projects - on average £1,000.
Hunters from America, Germany, Spain, the UK and other European countries pay big money for the thrill of shooting a normal colored lion - about £3,500.
Wish lists - Of course, hunters prefer the more striking male animals in their photographs or as stuffed trophies. They also prefer unusual colors. A black-manned lion can fetch around £17,000. In January 1994 the UK's Sunday Express reported on how a black-manned lion at a lion auction was sold to a secret telephone bidder for £22,000. The owner later said that a European or American hunter will pay double that to shoot the lion as part of a hunting package. Up to $200,000 has been known to change hands for the opportunity to shoot a white lion at close range and take home its pale skin.
As ever, there is an argument regarding the possible loss of jobs and income if canned hunting is made illegal. However, most of the big hunting outfits are land owners and so have other options, such as eco-tourism, even if it is less lucrative in the short-term. And do we say the burglar can continue his trade because stopping it would reduce his income? Canned hunting is morally bankrupt and must be banned.
PLANNED LEGISLATION
In the USA, the legislation is on a state by state basis and although it is banned in some form in some states, canned hunting operations are sprouting up from Maine to Arkansas and Indiana to Texas.
The Humane Society of the United States estimates there are more than 1,000 canned hunt operations in at least 25 different states. They are most common in Texas, but they are found throughout the continental United States and Hawaii. Safari Club International (SCI) has done its part to promote canned hunting by creating a hunting achievement award, "Introduced Trophy Game Animals of North America," which may support the operation of canned hunts.
In South Africa, the latest draft regulations will allow captive breeding and canned hunting of large predators.
Born Free is a representative of The Species Survival Network (SSN)-an international coalition of more than 75 conservation and animal protection organizations. In June 2006 we submitted comments to the South Africa Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism regarding the proposed regulations on the hunting industry and threatened and protected species (including captive breeding and canned hunting of large predators) through SSN.
The draft regulations on threatened and protected species will allow the captive breeding and canned hunting of large predators to continue. Mr. Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, stated on 2 May 2006 that the intention of the regulations was to stop "immoral activities like canned hunting" and to stop the "captive breeding of listed species for any purposes except science and conservation". However, the draft regulations allow large predators to be funneled from captive-breeding operations, rehabilitation facilities and even sanctuaries into 'extensive wildlife systems' where they can be 'rehabilitated' and hunted two years later. Furthermore, hunting will be allowed to take place on 'extensive wildlife systems' where the animals are confined within fenced areas of any size. In addition, the canned hunting and captive breeding aspects apply only to six species of 'listed large predators' and not to all species.
The draft regulations on the hunting industry also require revision as they allow hunting in protected areas, as well as on private land adjacent to protected areas, and do not firmly establish control of the hunting industry at the national level.
"We appreciate that the government of South Africa has requested comments from the public on these important regulations," said Will Travers, Born Free's CEO and Chairman of the SSN. "We certainly hope that the government addresses the serious inadequacies of these proposed regulations."
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Please write respectfully to:
The Chief Director: Biodiversity and Heritage
Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
Private Bag X447
PRETORIA
0001
For Attention: Dr Pieter Botha
largepredator@deat.gov.za
You may wish to say you welcome the actions of the South African government in taking steps to ban canned hunting but that you feel captive-bred or captive-reared predators should NEVER be hunted.
Further comments by the Born Free Foundation on the legislation in question will shortly be posted on this web site.
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/big.cat/cannedhunt.shtml
The hunting of captive animals in a confined area is known as canned hunting. It is widespread in South Africa and North America. Since January 2005 the South African government has been in the process of updating the legislation for the hunting industry. The final draft regulations were available in June and the public invited to submit comments by the 19th June 2006.
See:
http://www.environment.gov.za/HotIssues/2006/ protected/protected_regs.html#
The Born Free Foundation welcomes new legislation to regulate the hunting industry in South Africa and stamp out the existence of canned hunts. However, we do have some serious concerns about the draft regulations which appear not only to leave many loopholes open but also provide a means for the registration of captive breeding operations for listed large predators, which would be able to supply and facilitate the canned hunt industry (see later in this document).
CANNED HUNTING - WHAT IS IT?
Canned hunting operations refer to the hunting of captive animals that are trapped within enclosures and have little chance of escape. Some canned hunt operations have recently begun to allow their clients to hunt these trapped animals remotely via the internet. The animals involved are often habituated to human contact, having been hand-raised and bottle fed, so are no longer naturally fearful of people. In many situations the animals will approach people expecting to get fed but instead receive a bullet. This makes it easier for clients to be guaranteed a trophy and thus the industry is lucrative and has expanded over time. The industry thrives in both North America and South Africa, although South Africa holds the unfortunate title of providing the most lion and elephant trophies from canned hunts.
CANNED HUNTING - ALERTING THE WORLD
Two television programs have been especially effective in the past at drawing the world's attention to the excesses and cruelty involved in canned hunting in South Africa: the Cook Report shown on British television on 6th May 1997, and then its screening on the popular South African program, Carte Blanche.
http://www.mnet.co.za/CarteBlanche/Display/Display.asp?Id=2728
The '97 Cook Report footage was horrific. We see a lioness pacing alongside a fence, frantic to get to the three cubs she had been separated from that morning. The professional hunter arrives with his client, a German tourist. We see a bullet slam into her side and her body twists in the air alongside the fence. She has made no attempt to run away - and why should she? Her cubs are on the other side of the fence and why she should fear humans, they had been feeding her up until two days ago. We learnt that hunters are advised how to lame a lion by shooting it in the shoulder so no damage is done to the head, the "trophy". One procurer of lions explains that breaking a lion's limbs makes the killing of the maimed animal "easier on the dogs, easier on us." With sickening disregard for the animals the man goes on to say that lions are easy to maim, they are "soft-skinned, with a highly developed nervous system…..it hurts them…. 'Smoke him and he'll bounce around."
The Cook Report researchers were even offered Bengal tigers and jaguars, big cats not indigenous to South Africa.
International outrage followed the screening of this program, and the Born Free Foundation launched it's "Ban the Can" campaign. Animal rights groups and sickened members of the public and the media have continued to highlight what goes on to provide the hunter with his trophy, but the animals keep on dying. For example, in 1997 there were 300 lions held in South African captive breeding facilities - the number has now grown to over 3000.
CANNED HUNTING - A PROCESS NOT AN EVENT
It is not just the brutal death of the captive-bred animals that outrages its opponents, but the whole process involved.
In the case of lions, the breeders usually remove the cubs when they are three-four days old. This is extremely stressful for the lioness, with her deeply ingrained maternal instincts but it does induce her into another estrus cycle making her more receptive to mating. In addition, hand-rearing the cubs make future management easier and ensure the trophy hunters don't have to face a wild animal when it's time for the kill. There may also be a sex culling process at this stage - hunters like to kill male lions - their manes look more impressive in that final photo of the hunter standing beside the body, so most of the females may be killed.
Adult male selection in complex species such as lions can have far-reaching impacts on pride dynamics. If the dominant male of a pride is killed, this leaves the way open for pride take-over by male outsiders, who will usually kill the cubs of the previous dominant male, to bring the lionesses into season again. This means that he will sire his own cubs, rather than bringing up the cubs of another male. Ultimately, the death of just one "trophy" results in a ripple effect causing the deaths of many more lions.
PRO-HUNTING ARGUMENTS
"If it pays it stays" - the mantra of many conservationists and certainly the excuse used by hunters around the world. With habitats shrinking and agriculture and industry taking over the wild areas, humans insist that the remaining wild animals must pay their way if we humans are to grant them permission to remain on the planet.
Conservation gun-smoke screen - Captive lion breeders call themselves conservationists and some allow day visitors who are blatantly misinformed that the lions are being bred for re-introduction to the wild. Not only is this an unrecognized management policy for lion conservation, the reverse is happening - breeders have to take lions from the wild to add fresh blood to their in-bred captive populations. This adds an additional burden on the wild population which recent reports estimate has crashed to around 15,000 - 23,000 lions. It is well known that the large provincial reserves of Pilansberg and Madikwe in the North West Province and Phinda Privace Reserve in KwaZulu-Ntal are the primary source of wild lions for re-introduction purposes, not the breeding farms.
Also the costs of lion-breeding make these conservation claims a nonsense. It takes large amounts of meat to feed all these lions. Africa Geographic has investigated the Mokwalo breeding farm in the Province of Limpopo. The farm had 110 animals behind wire and they eat approx. 144 tones of food a year. The meat costs about 40p / kilo which give an annual food bill of about £57,000. So, with each lion costing the farmer about £500 per year to feed, and he is only selling about 20 a year, it is hard to imagine he would settle for the price these lions fetch at auction for conservation projects - on average £1,000.
Hunters from America, Germany, Spain, the UK and other European countries pay big money for the thrill of shooting a normal colored lion - about £3,500.
Wish lists - Of course, hunters prefer the more striking male animals in their photographs or as stuffed trophies. They also prefer unusual colors. A black-manned lion can fetch around £17,000. In January 1994 the UK's Sunday Express reported on how a black-manned lion at a lion auction was sold to a secret telephone bidder for £22,000. The owner later said that a European or American hunter will pay double that to shoot the lion as part of a hunting package. Up to $200,000 has been known to change hands for the opportunity to shoot a white lion at close range and take home its pale skin.
As ever, there is an argument regarding the possible loss of jobs and income if canned hunting is made illegal. However, most of the big hunting outfits are land owners and so have other options, such as eco-tourism, even if it is less lucrative in the short-term. And do we say the burglar can continue his trade because stopping it would reduce his income? Canned hunting is morally bankrupt and must be banned.
PLANNED LEGISLATION
In the USA, the legislation is on a state by state basis and although it is banned in some form in some states, canned hunting operations are sprouting up from Maine to Arkansas and Indiana to Texas.
The Humane Society of the United States estimates there are more than 1,000 canned hunt operations in at least 25 different states. They are most common in Texas, but they are found throughout the continental United States and Hawaii. Safari Club International (SCI) has done its part to promote canned hunting by creating a hunting achievement award, "Introduced Trophy Game Animals of North America," which may support the operation of canned hunts.
In South Africa, the latest draft regulations will allow captive breeding and canned hunting of large predators.
Born Free is a representative of The Species Survival Network (SSN)-an international coalition of more than 75 conservation and animal protection organizations. In June 2006 we submitted comments to the South Africa Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism regarding the proposed regulations on the hunting industry and threatened and protected species (including captive breeding and canned hunting of large predators) through SSN.
The draft regulations on threatened and protected species will allow the captive breeding and canned hunting of large predators to continue. Mr. Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, stated on 2 May 2006 that the intention of the regulations was to stop "immoral activities like canned hunting" and to stop the "captive breeding of listed species for any purposes except science and conservation". However, the draft regulations allow large predators to be funneled from captive-breeding operations, rehabilitation facilities and even sanctuaries into 'extensive wildlife systems' where they can be 'rehabilitated' and hunted two years later. Furthermore, hunting will be allowed to take place on 'extensive wildlife systems' where the animals are confined within fenced areas of any size. In addition, the canned hunting and captive breeding aspects apply only to six species of 'listed large predators' and not to all species.
The draft regulations on the hunting industry also require revision as they allow hunting in protected areas, as well as on private land adjacent to protected areas, and do not firmly establish control of the hunting industry at the national level.
"We appreciate that the government of South Africa has requested comments from the public on these important regulations," said Will Travers, Born Free's CEO and Chairman of the SSN. "We certainly hope that the government addresses the serious inadequacies of these proposed regulations."
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Please write respectfully to:
The Chief Director: Biodiversity and Heritage
Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
Private Bag X447
PRETORIA
0001
For Attention: Dr Pieter Botha
largepredator@deat.gov.za
You may wish to say you welcome the actions of the South African government in taking steps to ban canned hunting but that you feel captive-bred or captive-reared predators should NEVER be hunted.
Further comments by the Born Free Foundation on the legislation in question will shortly be posted on this web site.
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/big.cat/cannedhunt.shtml
Escaped tiger startles Canadian wildlife officer
JANE ARMSTRONG
VANCOUVER -- Before last week, the biggest wild cat conservation officer Jeff Ginter ever tangled with was a 58-kilogram cougar. On Friday morning, Mr. Ginter came eye-to-eye with a dazed tiger nearly three times as big.
The three-year-old Siberian tiger, whose origins and destination are shrouded in mystery, was wandering loose near B.C.'s busy Alaska Highway after a tragic vehicle wreck that killed a passenger and tied up traffic for hours.
Mr. Ginter was immediately struck by the creature's massive head and muscled shoulders. "They're quite impressive."
The 23-year veteran was taken aback, too, when the animal's owner arrived on the scene and told conservation officers -- who were armed with tranquilizer guns -- that he intended to coax his tiger back into the cage himself.
The owner, who asked that his name be withheld, approached the tiger, gave it a pat on the head, tied a rope around its neck and led it in the direction of a bear cage.
"He almost walked it out, just like you walk a dog," Mr. Ginter said yesterday in a telephone interview from Dawson Creek, B.C., 1,200 kilometres northeast of Vancouver.
"There was probably a moment of truth or two for him to be walking up there," Mr. Ginter said, adding the tiger appeared agitated as it was led into the caged enclosure.
"It was pacing back and forth, kind of doing the head-rocking thing that a larger carnivore would do, and the hair was kind of raised up on its back."
Eventually, the tiger was pulled into a bear cage by a rope that conservation officers threaded though the enclosure and attached to the lead leash.
It was a peaceful end to an otherwise tragic accident.
The tiger got loose Friday morning after the pickup truck that was pulling its trailer collided with a gravel truck on the Alaska Highway between Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, B.C.
The passenger in the pickup was killed in the crash, RCMP said. They have not released the passenger's name.
The tiger was being transported from the Vancouver area to Outback, an animal sanctuary in Taylor, about 55 kilometres north of Dawson Creek.
One of the owners of Outback said the tiger belongs to her and another partner, but refused to comment further.
The former owners, who ran the attraction as Hidden Valley Exotics Mini Zoo, sold their property approximately a year ago. The zoo was run by a local family and featured another male tiger, llamas, lemurs and exotic birds.
Since the new owners took over, its hours of operation have been drastically reduced, a tourism official said.
A zoo watchdog group said there are as many as 15,000 tigers in captivity in North America. Their natural habitat is Asia. There are fewer than 5,000 tigers left in the wild, Rob Laidlaw of Zoocheck Canada said. Siberian tigers, which can be found in Russia, China and North Korea, are rarer still, with fewer than 400 left in their natural environments.
The vast majority of tigers in captivity in North America are hybrid tigers, Mr. Laidlaw said. They can be purchased for as little as several hundred dollars.
"The chances of anyone getting a true-bred Siberian is pretty darn remote. Most of tigers out there [in zoos], their genetic background is completely unknown. Nobody's keeping careful track because it's basically . . . roadside zoos."
Whatever its origin, the tiger Mr. Ginter encountered was fairly complacent when its owner appeared.
"He [the owner] was obviously taking a risk," he said. "He knew the cat better than anyone else. You have to give him the benefit of the doubt. It is his property."
In fact, the tiger was calm right up until it was forced into the cage.
Once inside, Mr. Ginter said the tiger went "ballistic" for several minutes, banging its body around the cage.
Owning an exotic animal is not a violation of any wildlife regulations in British Columbia, Mr. Ginter said
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060925.BCTIGER/ TPStory/National
VANCOUVER -- Before last week, the biggest wild cat conservation officer Jeff Ginter ever tangled with was a 58-kilogram cougar. On Friday morning, Mr. Ginter came eye-to-eye with a dazed tiger nearly three times as big.
The three-year-old Siberian tiger, whose origins and destination are shrouded in mystery, was wandering loose near B.C.'s busy Alaska Highway after a tragic vehicle wreck that killed a passenger and tied up traffic for hours.
Mr. Ginter was immediately struck by the creature's massive head and muscled shoulders. "They're quite impressive."
The 23-year veteran was taken aback, too, when the animal's owner arrived on the scene and told conservation officers -- who were armed with tranquilizer guns -- that he intended to coax his tiger back into the cage himself.
The owner, who asked that his name be withheld, approached the tiger, gave it a pat on the head, tied a rope around its neck and led it in the direction of a bear cage.
"He almost walked it out, just like you walk a dog," Mr. Ginter said yesterday in a telephone interview from Dawson Creek, B.C., 1,200 kilometres northeast of Vancouver.
"There was probably a moment of truth or two for him to be walking up there," Mr. Ginter said, adding the tiger appeared agitated as it was led into the caged enclosure.
"It was pacing back and forth, kind of doing the head-rocking thing that a larger carnivore would do, and the hair was kind of raised up on its back."
Eventually, the tiger was pulled into a bear cage by a rope that conservation officers threaded though the enclosure and attached to the lead leash.
It was a peaceful end to an otherwise tragic accident.
The tiger got loose Friday morning after the pickup truck that was pulling its trailer collided with a gravel truck on the Alaska Highway between Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, B.C.
The passenger in the pickup was killed in the crash, RCMP said. They have not released the passenger's name.
The tiger was being transported from the Vancouver area to Outback, an animal sanctuary in Taylor, about 55 kilometres north of Dawson Creek.
One of the owners of Outback said the tiger belongs to her and another partner, but refused to comment further.
The former owners, who ran the attraction as Hidden Valley Exotics Mini Zoo, sold their property approximately a year ago. The zoo was run by a local family and featured another male tiger, llamas, lemurs and exotic birds.
Since the new owners took over, its hours of operation have been drastically reduced, a tourism official said.
A zoo watchdog group said there are as many as 15,000 tigers in captivity in North America. Their natural habitat is Asia. There are fewer than 5,000 tigers left in the wild, Rob Laidlaw of Zoocheck Canada said. Siberian tigers, which can be found in Russia, China and North Korea, are rarer still, with fewer than 400 left in their natural environments.
The vast majority of tigers in captivity in North America are hybrid tigers, Mr. Laidlaw said. They can be purchased for as little as several hundred dollars.
"The chances of anyone getting a true-bred Siberian is pretty darn remote. Most of tigers out there [in zoos], their genetic background is completely unknown. Nobody's keeping careful track because it's basically . . . roadside zoos."
Whatever its origin, the tiger Mr. Ginter encountered was fairly complacent when its owner appeared.
"He [the owner] was obviously taking a risk," he said. "He knew the cat better than anyone else. You have to give him the benefit of the doubt. It is his property."
In fact, the tiger was calm right up until it was forced into the cage.
Once inside, Mr. Ginter said the tiger went "ballistic" for several minutes, banging its body around the cage.
Owning an exotic animal is not a violation of any wildlife regulations in British Columbia, Mr. Ginter said
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060925.BCTIGER/ TPStory/National
UK: Isle of Wight Zoo on "This Morning"
The Isle of Wight Zoo (formerly known as Sandown Zoo) was featured on ITV’s This Morning on 21st September 2006, as part of the programme’s “Out of the Wild” feature.
Some months ago, the Born Free Foundation was contacted by This Morning’s production team for information about the Zoo. A member of Born Free’s ZooCheck team visited the Zoo in August 2006, and made the following observations:
“Signs indicated that a proportion of entrance fees is donated to tiger conservation in India. Despite asking several members of staff, and searching the zoo’s literature and signage, I was unable to determine the exact proportion nor the total donated to date
Most of the tigers were housed in visual, auditory and olfactory contact with other tigers (or lions). Research has shown that the presence of tigers in neighbouring cages causes stress and frustration in captive tigers.
Several of the tiger enclosures had no pools, despite these being recognised a basic requirement for tigers in captivity
One of the capuchins was observed to display stereotypic behaviour, and several of the tigers were observed to be repetitively pacing throughout the duration of my visit. Such behaviour is generally considered to be an indicator of poor welfare.
Several of the enclosures for reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates were extremely small, and did not appear to provide an adequate area for normal behaviour to be expressed
The construction of several of the enclosures appeared insufficient to securely hold the animals. In particular, several of the big cat and primate enclosures were simply constructed of panels of wire mesh, nailed to wooden supports by U-shaped nails. It is possible that an animal climbing, leaning or pulling on the caging might dislodge the wire panel sufficiently to allow escape. There were also small gaps between mesh panels in some enclosures.
The “Nature’s Nightmares” area was extremely busy during my visit, with high levels of noise and crowding by visitors. It is possible that this may have an adverse effect on the animals.
2 coatis housed together had entirely lost the hair on their tails.
There was evidence of human food waste and rubbish in the vervet monkey and porcupine enclosures, including sauce and sugar packets. These enclosures were situated adjacent to the café seating area.
The sign on the rat enclosure indicated that the animals were black rats (Rattus rattus), but the animals inside were actually domesticated brown rats (Rattus norvegicus).”
These observations were made available to This Morning yet, despite our concerns, the programme has now aired.
If you watched this “Out of the Wild” feature, or have any comment on Isle of Wight Zoo’s inclusion within it, please contact ITV with your comments:
Duty Office
Gas Street
Birmingham
B1 2JT
Tel: 0870 600 6766
Fax: 0121 634 4898
Minicom: 0870 241 6346
Email: dutyoffice@itv.com
Monday to Friday: 8.00am to 11.00pm
Saturdays and Sundays: 10.00am to 10.00pm
Closed on Bank Holidays.
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/zoocheck/zcnews060921.shtml
Some months ago, the Born Free Foundation was contacted by This Morning’s production team for information about the Zoo. A member of Born Free’s ZooCheck team visited the Zoo in August 2006, and made the following observations:
“Signs indicated that a proportion of entrance fees is donated to tiger conservation in India. Despite asking several members of staff, and searching the zoo’s literature and signage, I was unable to determine the exact proportion nor the total donated to date
Most of the tigers were housed in visual, auditory and olfactory contact with other tigers (or lions). Research has shown that the presence of tigers in neighbouring cages causes stress and frustration in captive tigers.
Several of the tiger enclosures had no pools, despite these being recognised a basic requirement for tigers in captivity
One of the capuchins was observed to display stereotypic behaviour, and several of the tigers were observed to be repetitively pacing throughout the duration of my visit. Such behaviour is generally considered to be an indicator of poor welfare.
Several of the enclosures for reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates were extremely small, and did not appear to provide an adequate area for normal behaviour to be expressed
The construction of several of the enclosures appeared insufficient to securely hold the animals. In particular, several of the big cat and primate enclosures were simply constructed of panels of wire mesh, nailed to wooden supports by U-shaped nails. It is possible that an animal climbing, leaning or pulling on the caging might dislodge the wire panel sufficiently to allow escape. There were also small gaps between mesh panels in some enclosures.
The “Nature’s Nightmares” area was extremely busy during my visit, with high levels of noise and crowding by visitors. It is possible that this may have an adverse effect on the animals.
2 coatis housed together had entirely lost the hair on their tails.
There was evidence of human food waste and rubbish in the vervet monkey and porcupine enclosures, including sauce and sugar packets. These enclosures were situated adjacent to the café seating area.
The sign on the rat enclosure indicated that the animals were black rats (Rattus rattus), but the animals inside were actually domesticated brown rats (Rattus norvegicus).”
These observations were made available to This Morning yet, despite our concerns, the programme has now aired.
If you watched this “Out of the Wild” feature, or have any comment on Isle of Wight Zoo’s inclusion within it, please contact ITV with your comments:
Duty Office
Gas Street
Birmingham
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Tel: 0870 600 6766
Fax: 0121 634 4898
Minicom: 0870 241 6346
Email: dutyoffice@itv.com
Monday to Friday: 8.00am to 11.00pm
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Closed on Bank Holidays.
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/zoocheck/zcnews060921.shtml
Australia: Tigers king for a day
Mary Bolling
September 25, 2006 12:00am
Tiger Binjai was centre of attention as Melbourne Zoo celebrated International Tiger Day yesterday.
But keeper Sam Cooper was also drawing attention to the plight of tigers in the wild.
Ms Cooper, who returned from volunteering at a wildlife refuge in Cambodia on Saturday, said the day was to promote protection of endangered tigers.
Working with tigers rescued from illegal traders, she said it reminded her why tiger protection was so important.
"I was working with seven Indo-Chinese tigers injured by illegal trade but they were still so beautiful and majestic," Ms Cooper said.
Binjai and mate Ramalon are the zoo's only sumatran tigers, and are part of an international conservation program.
Melbourne Zoo is Australia's first to promote International Tiger Day.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20469207-2862,00.html#
September 25, 2006 12:00am
Tiger Binjai was centre of attention as Melbourne Zoo celebrated International Tiger Day yesterday.
But keeper Sam Cooper was also drawing attention to the plight of tigers in the wild.
Ms Cooper, who returned from volunteering at a wildlife refuge in Cambodia on Saturday, said the day was to promote protection of endangered tigers.
Working with tigers rescued from illegal traders, she said it reminded her why tiger protection was so important.
"I was working with seven Indo-Chinese tigers injured by illegal trade but they were still so beautiful and majestic," Ms Cooper said.
Binjai and mate Ramalon are the zoo's only sumatran tigers, and are part of an international conservation program.
Melbourne Zoo is Australia's first to promote International Tiger Day.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20469207-2862,00.html#
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Australian zoo hopes for Sumatran tiger litter
Chris Evans
September 25, 2006
Despite dark skies, a shower of hailstones and temperatures of a less-than-tropical 10 degrees, Melbourne Zoo yesterday observed its fourth International Tiger Day in honour of the critically endangered Sumatran tiger.
The zoo is home to two captive-bred Sumatran tigers. The male, Ramalon, was born in Sydney in 1995 and was brought to Melbourne in 1999. The female, Binjai, came to Melbourne in 2004 from Rotterdam Zoo in the Netherlands, where she was born in 2002.
They have not yet produced a litter, although the pair have mated in recent weeks. The tigers have a gestation period of 92 to 110 days, so zoo officials say it is still too early to tell if Binjai is expecting.
Few more than 400 Sumatran tigers survive in the wild. Melbourne Zoo is one of more than 70 fauna conservation organisations worldwide which are co-operating in an international breeding program.
Zoo spokeswoman Judith Henke said a third of all tiger habitats worldwide had been lost.
"Big companies are now clearing hundreds and even thousands of hectares of tropical rainforest to make way for commercial palm oil plantations," Ms Henke said.
"The clearing of Sumatra's lowland forests — prime tiger territory — has resulted in tigers roaming into villages where they are sometimes captured and killed … Tigers have been killed in retaliation for the loss of both livestock and human lives."
The other threat to tiger numbers is poaching. Ms Henke said the illegal trade in animal parts is the third-biggest after the armament and drug trades.
"We work very closely with Australian Customs to educate the public to not buy anything … made from the body parts of endangered species, especially tigers," Ms Henke said.
The Zoological Board of Victoria, which runs Melbourne Zoo, is also involved in two tiger conservation projects in South-East Asia.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/zoo-hopes-for-big-cat-litter/ 2006/09/24/1159036415343.html#
September 25, 2006
Despite dark skies, a shower of hailstones and temperatures of a less-than-tropical 10 degrees, Melbourne Zoo yesterday observed its fourth International Tiger Day in honour of the critically endangered Sumatran tiger.
The zoo is home to two captive-bred Sumatran tigers. The male, Ramalon, was born in Sydney in 1995 and was brought to Melbourne in 1999. The female, Binjai, came to Melbourne in 2004 from Rotterdam Zoo in the Netherlands, where she was born in 2002.
They have not yet produced a litter, although the pair have mated in recent weeks. The tigers have a gestation period of 92 to 110 days, so zoo officials say it is still too early to tell if Binjai is expecting.
Few more than 400 Sumatran tigers survive in the wild. Melbourne Zoo is one of more than 70 fauna conservation organisations worldwide which are co-operating in an international breeding program.
Zoo spokeswoman Judith Henke said a third of all tiger habitats worldwide had been lost.
"Big companies are now clearing hundreds and even thousands of hectares of tropical rainforest to make way for commercial palm oil plantations," Ms Henke said.
"The clearing of Sumatra's lowland forests — prime tiger territory — has resulted in tigers roaming into villages where they are sometimes captured and killed … Tigers have been killed in retaliation for the loss of both livestock and human lives."
The other threat to tiger numbers is poaching. Ms Henke said the illegal trade in animal parts is the third-biggest after the armament and drug trades.
"We work very closely with Australian Customs to educate the public to not buy anything … made from the body parts of endangered species, especially tigers," Ms Henke said.
The Zoological Board of Victoria, which runs Melbourne Zoo, is also involved in two tiger conservation projects in South-East Asia.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/zoo-hopes-for-big-cat-litter/ 2006/09/24/1159036415343.html#
Police find lion in U-Haul truck in Juarez, Mexico
POSTED: 8:44 pm MDT September 23, 2006
September 23, 2006 -- Juarez police made quite a discovery when they found a caged lion in the back of U-Haul truck Saturday.
Police said they'd received reports from drivers near a colonia in east Juarez or an animal in a cage.
Officers stopped the driver, Jesus Garcia, who did not have any papers to transport the lion.
Garcia told police he bought the lion for 600 dollars.
He was arrested for traveling with an unregistered animal and for not having proper proof of ownership.
http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/9919429/detail.html
September 23, 2006 -- Juarez police made quite a discovery when they found a caged lion in the back of U-Haul truck Saturday.
Police said they'd received reports from drivers near a colonia in east Juarez or an animal in a cage.
Officers stopped the driver, Jesus Garcia, who did not have any papers to transport the lion.
Garcia told police he bought the lion for 600 dollars.
He was arrested for traveling with an unregistered animal and for not having proper proof of ownership.
http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/9919429/detail.html
Teaching captive Siberian tigers how to go wild
By Xinhua
Changchun (China), Sep 24 (Xinhua) An artificial breeding base for Siberian tigers in China has announced plans to train 620 captive-bred animals to live in the wild.
Liu Dan, the engineer-in-chief with the Siberian Tiger Artificial Propagation Base of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, said the plan would be carried out 'soon'.
Tigers will be shifted south in batches from their enclosures in the suburbs of Harbin City, capital of Heilongjiang and released into a fenced 15-hectare stretch of primitive forest at the foot of Mount Changbai on the border with Korea.
The massive campaign will be of great significance in conserving and improving the genetic stock of Siberian tigers and in gaining experience prior to releasing them into nature for good, said Liu.
Organisers have been encouraged by the success of an experiment in which 12 adult Siberian tigers were released into the Mount Changbai Siberian Tiger Wilderness Training Ground four years ago.
'All 12 tigers developed their natural capabilities, including the ability to hunt and secure territory,' said Liu. 'Ten of the tigers have been brought back to the Siberian Tiger Artificial Propagation Base.'
Staff at the base will continue to teach the 10 returned tigers how to hunt, while other tigers begin training.
However, Sun Haiyi, deputy leader of the Heilongjiang Provincial Institute of Wildlife, is sceptical about Liu's plan.
Tigers thrive in areas of dense vegetation with numerous sources of water and large populations of ungulate prey, but the reality check was the serious loss of forested land, said Sun.
'Increased human activities such as highway construction have turned tiger habitats into isolated islands and large tiger groups have split into smaller ones, which results in in-breeding and degrades the species,' said Sun.
'Success in releasing the trained tigers into the deep mountains should begin with the protection of the ecological environment and I think right now it would be more meaningful to spend the money on cultivating an environment where Siberian tigers can flourish,' Sun added.
Wang Shubai, head of the Mount Changbai Siberian Tigers Wilderness Training Ground, said Mount Changbai was close to the natural habitat of tigers with a wealth of vegetation and primitive forest.
Wang recalled that the 12 tigers previously sent for training had refused to drink creek water because it was too cold and had trouble adjusting to stinging insects.
But after four years, the animals all showed improved abilities in living in the wild and had produced 34 cubs. Two adult tigers remained at the ground: one pregnant and the other recovering from a leg injury.
The Siberian tiger is listed as endangered on the Red List of Threatened Species of the World Conservation Union and is also listed on the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Appendix I which prohibits trade in live tigers or tiger parts.
The tigers mainly prowl the cold areas of northeast China and Siberia in Russia.
Their fur is longer and thicker than that of the slightly smaller Bengal tiger. Their long winter coat enlarges their appearance. They have less striping than other tigers and the stripes are more brown than black.
The largest recorded Siberian tiger weighed in at 1,000 pounds. Captive cats normally outgrow their wild cousins, who are lucky to reach 650 to 675 pounds. Their number in the wild is estimated at 400 worldwide, of which 20 or so inhabit the forests of northeast China's border areas.
Some experts warn the tigers will become completely extinct in China if no effective conservation measures are adopted.
The Siberian Tiger Artificial Propagation Base was founded in 1980s, with 13 million yuan ($1.63 million) from state coffers to rear and breed the animals.
http://www.dailyindia.com/show/62921.php/Teaching_captive_ Siberian_tigers_how_to_go_wild
Changchun (China), Sep 24 (Xinhua) An artificial breeding base for Siberian tigers in China has announced plans to train 620 captive-bred animals to live in the wild.
Liu Dan, the engineer-in-chief with the Siberian Tiger Artificial Propagation Base of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, said the plan would be carried out 'soon'.
Tigers will be shifted south in batches from their enclosures in the suburbs of Harbin City, capital of Heilongjiang and released into a fenced 15-hectare stretch of primitive forest at the foot of Mount Changbai on the border with Korea.
The massive campaign will be of great significance in conserving and improving the genetic stock of Siberian tigers and in gaining experience prior to releasing them into nature for good, said Liu.
Organisers have been encouraged by the success of an experiment in which 12 adult Siberian tigers were released into the Mount Changbai Siberian Tiger Wilderness Training Ground four years ago.
'All 12 tigers developed their natural capabilities, including the ability to hunt and secure territory,' said Liu. 'Ten of the tigers have been brought back to the Siberian Tiger Artificial Propagation Base.'
Staff at the base will continue to teach the 10 returned tigers how to hunt, while other tigers begin training.
However, Sun Haiyi, deputy leader of the Heilongjiang Provincial Institute of Wildlife, is sceptical about Liu's plan.
Tigers thrive in areas of dense vegetation with numerous sources of water and large populations of ungulate prey, but the reality check was the serious loss of forested land, said Sun.
'Increased human activities such as highway construction have turned tiger habitats into isolated islands and large tiger groups have split into smaller ones, which results in in-breeding and degrades the species,' said Sun.
'Success in releasing the trained tigers into the deep mountains should begin with the protection of the ecological environment and I think right now it would be more meaningful to spend the money on cultivating an environment where Siberian tigers can flourish,' Sun added.
Wang Shubai, head of the Mount Changbai Siberian Tigers Wilderness Training Ground, said Mount Changbai was close to the natural habitat of tigers with a wealth of vegetation and primitive forest.
Wang recalled that the 12 tigers previously sent for training had refused to drink creek water because it was too cold and had trouble adjusting to stinging insects.
But after four years, the animals all showed improved abilities in living in the wild and had produced 34 cubs. Two adult tigers remained at the ground: one pregnant and the other recovering from a leg injury.
The Siberian tiger is listed as endangered on the Red List of Threatened Species of the World Conservation Union and is also listed on the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Appendix I which prohibits trade in live tigers or tiger parts.
The tigers mainly prowl the cold areas of northeast China and Siberia in Russia.
Their fur is longer and thicker than that of the slightly smaller Bengal tiger. Their long winter coat enlarges their appearance. They have less striping than other tigers and the stripes are more brown than black.
The largest recorded Siberian tiger weighed in at 1,000 pounds. Captive cats normally outgrow their wild cousins, who are lucky to reach 650 to 675 pounds. Their number in the wild is estimated at 400 worldwide, of which 20 or so inhabit the forests of northeast China's border areas.
Some experts warn the tigers will become completely extinct in China if no effective conservation measures are adopted.
The Siberian Tiger Artificial Propagation Base was founded in 1980s, with 13 million yuan ($1.63 million) from state coffers to rear and breed the animals.
http://www.dailyindia.com/show/62921.php/Teaching_captive_ Siberian_tigers_how_to_go_wild
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Editorial: Keep the wild things wild, not as pets
By DAVID HITZIG
guest columnist
September 24, 2006
There are illegal aliens living amongst us, but I am not referring to the two-legged kind.
The ones I speak of are feathered, scaled, slimy and furry that are wreaking havoc on the environment and changing the face of Florida as we once knew it.
The small brown lizards that scurry across your path that most people assume are native inhabitants were introduced many years ago and have just about wiped out the native population of the cute little green lizards that once occupied our back yards.
But, that is just the tip of the iceberg.
We get dozens of calls each week at the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary from local residents reporting all types of wild aliens running rampant through their neighborhoods. Iguanas, parrots and pythons have become a common site these days, not to mention African wild cats, foxes from the Middle East, ducks, wild pigs, and toads. Yes, toads that can kill your dog! Run for your lives!
Wait, there's more — wolves living in your neighbor's bathroom, tigers running loose in residential neighborhoods, and boa constrictors climbing underneath hoods of cars pulling on accelerator cables, causing vehicles to go out of control.
I am no longer surprised these days when I hear about a non-native species being found, it has just become such a common place for illegal aliens of the wild kind to be living in south Florida. The impact these foreign creatures can have on our environment is staggering.
They can out-compete our native animals for food, shelter, and space; the essential elements all living things need to survive. Not to mention what they could potentially do to the human race.
Where did most of these creatures from distant lands originally come from? Many from the pet trade, and others simply hitched a ride on a passing ship. Several of the smaller species of exotic animals were stowaways with shipments from foreign soils.
People have become tired of the traditional dog and cat companions and search for something a little more hip and out of the ordinary. Unfortunately, we have also become a throwaway society and simply discard that which we no long want or need, and sadly that has become true for our beloved pets as well. When someone gets tired of the responsibility of their four-legged, furry, scaly, or feathered friend they just toss it out like a piece of trash.
Florida has many laws that protect animals; both domestic and wild. But, getting caught by the law is sometimes an easy thing to avoid. In the blink of an eye and the acceleration of the gas peddle, an illegal animal is on its way to a new home, or an unwanted pet is left behind to fend for itself and compete with native creatures in the wild.
It is not so far-fetched to say that the introduction of non-native animals will eventually lead to the demise of many species of indigenous creatures. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, our state's wildlife regulatory agency, is currently considering new laws governing the sale and possession of wild animals, including large snakes like pythons.
Current laws make it illegal own many types of wild animals, or to release non-native species into the environment.
If people would use a little more common sense, and the government was successful in making it more difficult to sell, obtain, and possess these alien creatures to begin with, only the responsible individuals would be allowed to make exotic animals a part of their families.
Editor's Note: David Hitzig is director of Busch Wildlife Sanctuary
http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/editorials/article/ 0,,TCP_24460_5014008,00.html
guest columnist
September 24, 2006
There are illegal aliens living amongst us, but I am not referring to the two-legged kind.
The ones I speak of are feathered, scaled, slimy and furry that are wreaking havoc on the environment and changing the face of Florida as we once knew it.
The small brown lizards that scurry across your path that most people assume are native inhabitants were introduced many years ago and have just about wiped out the native population of the cute little green lizards that once occupied our back yards.
But, that is just the tip of the iceberg.
We get dozens of calls each week at the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary from local residents reporting all types of wild aliens running rampant through their neighborhoods. Iguanas, parrots and pythons have become a common site these days, not to mention African wild cats, foxes from the Middle East, ducks, wild pigs, and toads. Yes, toads that can kill your dog! Run for your lives!
Wait, there's more — wolves living in your neighbor's bathroom, tigers running loose in residential neighborhoods, and boa constrictors climbing underneath hoods of cars pulling on accelerator cables, causing vehicles to go out of control.
I am no longer surprised these days when I hear about a non-native species being found, it has just become such a common place for illegal aliens of the wild kind to be living in south Florida. The impact these foreign creatures can have on our environment is staggering.
They can out-compete our native animals for food, shelter, and space; the essential elements all living things need to survive. Not to mention what they could potentially do to the human race.
Where did most of these creatures from distant lands originally come from? Many from the pet trade, and others simply hitched a ride on a passing ship. Several of the smaller species of exotic animals were stowaways with shipments from foreign soils.
People have become tired of the traditional dog and cat companions and search for something a little more hip and out of the ordinary. Unfortunately, we have also become a throwaway society and simply discard that which we no long want or need, and sadly that has become true for our beloved pets as well. When someone gets tired of the responsibility of their four-legged, furry, scaly, or feathered friend they just toss it out like a piece of trash.
Florida has many laws that protect animals; both domestic and wild. But, getting caught by the law is sometimes an easy thing to avoid. In the blink of an eye and the acceleration of the gas peddle, an illegal animal is on its way to a new home, or an unwanted pet is left behind to fend for itself and compete with native creatures in the wild.
It is not so far-fetched to say that the introduction of non-native animals will eventually lead to the demise of many species of indigenous creatures. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, our state's wildlife regulatory agency, is currently considering new laws governing the sale and possession of wild animals, including large snakes like pythons.
Current laws make it illegal own many types of wild animals, or to release non-native species into the environment.
If people would use a little more common sense, and the government was successful in making it more difficult to sell, obtain, and possess these alien creatures to begin with, only the responsible individuals would be allowed to make exotic animals a part of their families.
Editor's Note: David Hitzig is director of Busch Wildlife Sanctuary
http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/editorials/article/ 0,,TCP_24460_5014008,00.html
Big cat shelter bound for Nevada
GUY CLIFTON
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Posted: 9/23/2006
Rural Northern Nevada is about to become a safe haven for big cats and other wild animals in need of rescue and rehabilitation.
Linda and David Sugasa, who own the nonprofit Safe Haven Wildlife Center near Chicago, are in the process of moving their facility to a 160-acre site in the Buena Vista Valley in eastern Pershing County.
Coming with them will be several permanent guests, including Monty and Cooper the cougars and Phoenix the bobcat. Not only does the facility rescue and rehabilitate animals, it also houses permanent-placement animals that can be viewed by the public and used in educational programs.
"We're very excited," said Linda Sugasa. "We are really looking forward to moving out there."
Her husband is already in Northern Nevada and starting to prepare the site, which is about halfway between Lovelock and Winnemucca near Imlay.
"We were looking to be able to buy a large land parcel to be able to expand our facility," Linda Sugasa said. "My husband has a lot of family out there so it seemed to be the perfect place."
David Sugasa, a recently retired pilot and aviation executive for the McDonald's corporation, said it's nice to be back in Nevada.
"I was raised in Wells, Elko and Winnemucca and lived in Carson City and Reno," he said. "It is a homecoming. I've always wanted to move back West."
He said his uncle, Wally Seagraves, and cousin, Jan Griffin, both longtime Lovelock residents, helped find the property for the wildlife center.
"It's pretty pristine," David Sugasa said. "It's remote enough that it appeals to me."
The Nevada property will certainly be a change for Safe Haven and its resident animals.
It currently sits on five acres just outside of Marengo, Ill., and is one of the few places in the country equipped to take big cats, restore them to health and return them to the wild. The demand is great, Linda Sugasa said. Just last year, the center had to turn down 50 cats from across the nation.
The planned larger facility in Nevada will allow Safe Haven to treat up to 20 big cats at a time, Sugasa said.
The cats won't be running free at any time, she added. They'll be held in enclosures.
The Illinois facility has a staff of 12 volunteers, several of whom are considering relocating to Nevada, Sugasa said. Safe Haven will be seeking volunteers for the Nevada operation.
Safe Haven is licensed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and accredited by TAOS, The Association of Sanctuaries.
In addition, she added, Safe Haven isn't just for the big cats, but for other animals in need of treatment and care as well.
"We don't turn away something because it's not a big cat," Linda Sugasa said. "It's based on need, and it's based on urgent need."
Safe Haven has also become a safe haven for animals that are part of the illegal pet trade. Linda Sugasa said such animals as mountain lions, arctic foxes and bobcats are favorites of illegal pet owners.
In order to make the move to Nevada, the Sugasas had to secure a special-use permit from the Pershing County Planning Commission.
Adam Niles, planning and building technician for Pershing County, said the permit was issued April 5. He said public reaction to the facility was mixed.
"I think there's a lot of people that are excited about it and a lot of people that are not so excited," he said. "I think some people are worried about the animals getting out."
Linda Sugasa said care of the animals is the top priority of the facility. It is not a zoo, she said, and any public viewing of the animals will be during limited hours so as not to put any stress on the animals.
Linda Sugasa said Safe Haven does plan and number of community-based projects once the facility is up and running in Nevada.
They include: classrooms for on-site educational presentations, an intern program and an Eagle Scout program.
She is continuing to run the facility in Illinois as her husband prepares the new one in Nevada.
David Sugasa said he hopes the new facility will be up and running before Christmas.
Save Haven has also started a $2 million nationwide capital campaign to help fund expansion of the facility and its education programs.
http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article? AID=/20060923/NEWS/609230317/1002/NEWS
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Posted: 9/23/2006
Rural Northern Nevada is about to become a safe haven for big cats and other wild animals in need of rescue and rehabilitation.
Linda and David Sugasa, who own the nonprofit Safe Haven Wildlife Center near Chicago, are in the process of moving their facility to a 160-acre site in the Buena Vista Valley in eastern Pershing County.
Coming with them will be several permanent guests, including Monty and Cooper the cougars and Phoenix the bobcat. Not only does the facility rescue and rehabilitate animals, it also houses permanent-placement animals that can be viewed by the public and used in educational programs.
"We're very excited," said Linda Sugasa. "We are really looking forward to moving out there."
Her husband is already in Northern Nevada and starting to prepare the site, which is about halfway between Lovelock and Winnemucca near Imlay.
"We were looking to be able to buy a large land parcel to be able to expand our facility," Linda Sugasa said. "My husband has a lot of family out there so it seemed to be the perfect place."
David Sugasa, a recently retired pilot and aviation executive for the McDonald's corporation, said it's nice to be back in Nevada.
"I was raised in Wells, Elko and Winnemucca and lived in Carson City and Reno," he said. "It is a homecoming. I've always wanted to move back West."
He said his uncle, Wally Seagraves, and cousin, Jan Griffin, both longtime Lovelock residents, helped find the property for the wildlife center.
"It's pretty pristine," David Sugasa said. "It's remote enough that it appeals to me."
The Nevada property will certainly be a change for Safe Haven and its resident animals.
It currently sits on five acres just outside of Marengo, Ill., and is one of the few places in the country equipped to take big cats, restore them to health and return them to the wild. The demand is great, Linda Sugasa said. Just last year, the center had to turn down 50 cats from across the nation.
The planned larger facility in Nevada will allow Safe Haven to treat up to 20 big cats at a time, Sugasa said.
The cats won't be running free at any time, she added. They'll be held in enclosures.
The Illinois facility has a staff of 12 volunteers, several of whom are considering relocating to Nevada, Sugasa said. Safe Haven will be seeking volunteers for the Nevada operation.
Safe Haven is licensed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and accredited by TAOS, The Association of Sanctuaries.
In addition, she added, Safe Haven isn't just for the big cats, but for other animals in need of treatment and care as well.
"We don't turn away something because it's not a big cat," Linda Sugasa said. "It's based on need, and it's based on urgent need."
Safe Haven has also become a safe haven for animals that are part of the illegal pet trade. Linda Sugasa said such animals as mountain lions, arctic foxes and bobcats are favorites of illegal pet owners.
In order to make the move to Nevada, the Sugasas had to secure a special-use permit from the Pershing County Planning Commission.
Adam Niles, planning and building technician for Pershing County, said the permit was issued April 5. He said public reaction to the facility was mixed.
"I think there's a lot of people that are excited about it and a lot of people that are not so excited," he said. "I think some people are worried about the animals getting out."
Linda Sugasa said care of the animals is the top priority of the facility. It is not a zoo, she said, and any public viewing of the animals will be during limited hours so as not to put any stress on the animals.
Linda Sugasa said Safe Haven does plan and number of community-based projects once the facility is up and running in Nevada.
They include: classrooms for on-site educational presentations, an intern program and an Eagle Scout program.
She is continuing to run the facility in Illinois as her husband prepares the new one in Nevada.
David Sugasa said he hopes the new facility will be up and running before Christmas.
Save Haven has also started a $2 million nationwide capital campaign to help fund expansion of the facility and its education programs.
http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article? AID=/20060923/NEWS/609230317/1002/NEWS
Infection led to Indian zoo tiger deaths
Express News Service
Chandigargh, September 22: In a preliminary report sent by the PAU authorities to the Chhatbir Zoo officials this morning, it has come to light that the two Royal Bengal Tigers died due to a parasite infection in the blood. The two white Royal Bengal tigers died one after another on September 20. The Zoo officials said that every angle related to the sudden demise of the tigers is being investigated.
"We are also looking at the vaccination aspect and won’t rule out any human error in adminstering medicine to the tigers," Kuldeep Kumar, Conservator of Forests said here today.
He further said that the records pertaining to the vaccines given to the three tigers on September 19 were being scrutinised in order to rule out any human error. A departmental inquiry in the matter was ordered yesterday by the Chief Wild Life Warden Swaran Singh to be conducted by Kuldeep Kumar on the sudden demise of the two tigers.
Meanwhile, in order to chalk out further plans in wake of the death of the tigers in the zoo, a review meeting was held today in the Chattbir Zoo in which senior forest officials as well as the general staff of the zoo participated.
Speaking about the meeting Kuldeep Kumar said that issues like disinfecting the enclosures of the animals were discussed during the meeting. He further said that the third tiger, which was also vaccinated, was gradually getting healthier. According to the sources, a blood test was conducted on him yesterday by the PAU team.
With the recent death of four tigers in the zoo, there are now only 10 Royal Bengal tigers left in the zoo, thereby severely hampering the breeding process. Out of these 10, six are females and four are males. Among the males, three cannot breed as they have been vasectomised, leaving just one for mating purposes.
When asked about the breeding problem, zoo officials said that there are 12 tigers at Ludhiana Tiger Safari and if need arises, tigers could be shifted from there to the Chattbir Zoo. Speaking about the white tiger couple of Sourav and Dia, Kuldeep Kumar said that the loss is irreparable.
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=202405
Chandigargh, September 22: In a preliminary report sent by the PAU authorities to the Chhatbir Zoo officials this morning, it has come to light that the two Royal Bengal Tigers died due to a parasite infection in the blood. The two white Royal Bengal tigers died one after another on September 20. The Zoo officials said that every angle related to the sudden demise of the tigers is being investigated.
"We are also looking at the vaccination aspect and won’t rule out any human error in adminstering medicine to the tigers," Kuldeep Kumar, Conservator of Forests said here today.
He further said that the records pertaining to the vaccines given to the three tigers on September 19 were being scrutinised in order to rule out any human error. A departmental inquiry in the matter was ordered yesterday by the Chief Wild Life Warden Swaran Singh to be conducted by Kuldeep Kumar on the sudden demise of the two tigers.
Meanwhile, in order to chalk out further plans in wake of the death of the tigers in the zoo, a review meeting was held today in the Chattbir Zoo in which senior forest officials as well as the general staff of the zoo participated.
Speaking about the meeting Kuldeep Kumar said that issues like disinfecting the enclosures of the animals were discussed during the meeting. He further said that the third tiger, which was also vaccinated, was gradually getting healthier. According to the sources, a blood test was conducted on him yesterday by the PAU team.
With the recent death of four tigers in the zoo, there are now only 10 Royal Bengal tigers left in the zoo, thereby severely hampering the breeding process. Out of these 10, six are females and four are males. Among the males, three cannot breed as they have been vasectomised, leaving just one for mating purposes.
When asked about the breeding problem, zoo officials said that there are 12 tigers at Ludhiana Tiger Safari and if need arises, tigers could be shifted from there to the Chattbir Zoo. Speaking about the white tiger couple of Sourav and Dia, Kuldeep Kumar said that the loss is irreparable.
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=202405
British Columbia: Tiger recaptured after Alaska Highway accident
Last Updated: Friday, September 22, 2006 | 12:13 PM PT
CBC News
Police and conservation officials caught a Siberian tiger that escaped from a truck during an accident in northeastern B.C. on Friday morning.
The tiger got loose after the truck was involved in an accident with a semi-trailer on the Alaska Highway near Braden Road, between Dawson Creek and Fort St. John.
The accident left one person in hospital with serious injuries, said the B.C. Ambulance Service.
The crash occurred near a former exotic animal petting zoo, where the tiger continues to live.
The feline was being taken from his home when the accident occurred. The tiger's owner helped officials recapture the animal by coaxing it into a bear trap that conservation officers had taken to the scene.
The crash forced traffic to be rerouted around the accident site.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/ story/2006/09/22/bc-tiger-bc.html
CBC News
Police and conservation officials caught a Siberian tiger that escaped from a truck during an accident in northeastern B.C. on Friday morning.
The tiger got loose after the truck was involved in an accident with a semi-trailer on the Alaska Highway near Braden Road, between Dawson Creek and Fort St. John.
The accident left one person in hospital with serious injuries, said the B.C. Ambulance Service.
The crash occurred near a former exotic animal petting zoo, where the tiger continues to live.
The feline was being taken from his home when the accident occurred. The tiger's owner helped officials recapture the animal by coaxing it into a bear trap that conservation officers had taken to the scene.
The crash forced traffic to be rerouted around the accident site.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/ story/2006/09/22/bc-tiger-bc.html
Friday, September 22, 2006
Lion Country's elephants packing their trunks
By Kelly Wolfe
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 22, 2006
LOXAHATCHEE, Florida — Stumpy and Mama have been munching hay side by
side at Lion Country Safari since Richard Nixon was president.
Once, they had plenty of friends. Today, they represent the end of an
era — the last two elephants left at the 39-year-old wildlife park,
and the last two on display in Palm Beach County.
As soon as the drive-through zoo off Southern Boulevard finds a new
home for them, the park will shut down its elephant exhibit.
Meanwhile, they go about their business, sharing the kind of
comfortable silence enjoyed only by those who have known each other
for a long, long time.
"It tears my heart out," said Terry Wolf, wildlife director at Lion
Country Safari. "When Bulwagi left to go to Disney, it was like when
my son went off to go to college. It's heartbreaking, but you know
that it's a step that he needs to take in his life.
"And it will be the same with these guys when they leave. I've known
Stumpy since 1970, when I started here... and Mama came to us in
1972, so I've known these guys more than I've known most of my
friends and family. They are part of your family, and it's hard."
Mama was 2 when she left her native Africa to come to Lion Country.
Stumpy, then about 11, was here to greet her. A decade later, Stumpy
saw Mama through her first and only pregnancy, then served as
spinster aunt to Mama's calf, Bulwagi. (Stumpy also looked on,
presumably in horror, while Bulwagi nursed for nine years.)
Wolf said Lion Country Safari is getting out of the elephant business
because it is a "huge commitment, not only financially but resource-
wise as far as staff, buildings and time."
"I'm not making a joke when I say elephants are a big problem," Wolf
said. "We take care of their feet every day, we bathe them every
week, we have an exercise program for them so they don't get fat, we
have to monitor their diet and run blood tests."
Lion Country is not the only zoo-type facility reevaluating its
elephant exhibit. Pressure from animal rights groups, coupled with
changes in industry standards, have made caring for elephants more
expensive (about $30,000 a year) and labor-intensive.
The Palm Beach Zoo at Dreher Park has not had elephants for years.
Zoos in San Francisco and Detroit have closed exhibits. The Bronx Zoo
in New York has said it will not take on new elephants.
The National Zoo in Washington, bucking the trend, has announced
plans to spend $60 million to expand its elephant facility.
Nonprofit groups such as In Defense of Animals want all zoos to move
elephants to sanctuaries. The group says there are two U.S.
sanctuaries that take elephants, in California and Tennessee.
"When students go to a zoo, what they see is a crippled elephant in
an unnatural setting," said Elliot Katz, a veterinarian who founded
the California-based In Defense of Animals. "You don't see their
energy. They are cartoons, almost."
People would be better off learning about elephants through videos
and the Animal Planet cable channel, Katz said.
Wolf, Lion Country's wildlife director, disagreed.
"We feel elephants are so important in teaching the public, and
especially the children, about conservation," he said.
In Defense of Animals also criticized Lion Country Safari for
splitting up its elephants. The park had four at the start of the
year, before Bulwagi went to Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom,
where he will have more opportunity to breed, and Ladybird was sent
to Greenville, S.C., to be a companion for another elephant.
Wolf said both were doing well, especially Bulwagi.
"He's fine up there," Wolf said. "They have a great elephant
facility, and there are plenty of new girlfriends for him to go to."
Wolf wants to send Mama and Stumpy to the same zoo. "Our hope is that
they stay together," he said.
Katz said Lion Country's elephants should be sent to the Tennessee
sanctuary, which he said has room for 20 more. Elephants who are
separated from longtime companions become depressed, he said.
"Elephants are herd animals," Katz said. "When you have three animals
who have lived together for 34 years, they are a family unit."
Wolf agreed that elephants suffer from separation anxiety. When
Ladybird was shipped to South Carolina, he stayed with her for two
weeks to ease her transition.
"They are very social animals," Wolf said. "It does occur in the wild
where females will move from one herd to another. But what's bad is
when an animal is left alone."
Wolf said he doesn't want to send Stumpy and Mama to a sanctuary
where people can't see them.
"You can watch all the videos you want, but there is nothing like
seeing them up close, smelling them, when they look you in the eye,"
he said. "Those kind of teaching moments are what zoos are all about."
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbcwest/content/local_news/ epaper/2006/09/22/m1a_ELEPHANTS_0922.html
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 22, 2006
LOXAHATCHEE, Florida — Stumpy and Mama have been munching hay side by
side at Lion Country Safari since Richard Nixon was president.
Once, they had plenty of friends. Today, they represent the end of an
era — the last two elephants left at the 39-year-old wildlife park,
and the last two on display in Palm Beach County.
As soon as the drive-through zoo off Southern Boulevard finds a new
home for them, the park will shut down its elephant exhibit.
Meanwhile, they go about their business, sharing the kind of
comfortable silence enjoyed only by those who have known each other
for a long, long time.
"It tears my heart out," said Terry Wolf, wildlife director at Lion
Country Safari. "When Bulwagi left to go to Disney, it was like when
my son went off to go to college. It's heartbreaking, but you know
that it's a step that he needs to take in his life.
"And it will be the same with these guys when they leave. I've known
Stumpy since 1970, when I started here... and Mama came to us in
1972, so I've known these guys more than I've known most of my
friends and family. They are part of your family, and it's hard."
Mama was 2 when she left her native Africa to come to Lion Country.
Stumpy, then about 11, was here to greet her. A decade later, Stumpy
saw Mama through her first and only pregnancy, then served as
spinster aunt to Mama's calf, Bulwagi. (Stumpy also looked on,
presumably in horror, while Bulwagi nursed for nine years.)
Wolf said Lion Country Safari is getting out of the elephant business
because it is a "huge commitment, not only financially but resource-
wise as far as staff, buildings and time."
"I'm not making a joke when I say elephants are a big problem," Wolf
said. "We take care of their feet every day, we bathe them every
week, we have an exercise program for them so they don't get fat, we
have to monitor their diet and run blood tests."
Lion Country is not the only zoo-type facility reevaluating its
elephant exhibit. Pressure from animal rights groups, coupled with
changes in industry standards, have made caring for elephants more
expensive (about $30,000 a year) and labor-intensive.
The Palm Beach Zoo at Dreher Park has not had elephants for years.
Zoos in San Francisco and Detroit have closed exhibits. The Bronx Zoo
in New York has said it will not take on new elephants.
The National Zoo in Washington, bucking the trend, has announced
plans to spend $60 million to expand its elephant facility.
Nonprofit groups such as In Defense of Animals want all zoos to move
elephants to sanctuaries. The group says there are two U.S.
sanctuaries that take elephants, in California and Tennessee.
"When students go to a zoo, what they see is a crippled elephant in
an unnatural setting," said Elliot Katz, a veterinarian who founded
the California-based In Defense of Animals. "You don't see their
energy. They are cartoons, almost."
People would be better off learning about elephants through videos
and the Animal Planet cable channel, Katz said.
Wolf, Lion Country's wildlife director, disagreed.
"We feel elephants are so important in teaching the public, and
especially the children, about conservation," he said.
In Defense of Animals also criticized Lion Country Safari for
splitting up its elephants. The park had four at the start of the
year, before Bulwagi went to Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom,
where he will have more opportunity to breed, and Ladybird was sent
to Greenville, S.C., to be a companion for another elephant.
Wolf said both were doing well, especially Bulwagi.
"He's fine up there," Wolf said. "They have a great elephant
facility, and there are plenty of new girlfriends for him to go to."
Wolf wants to send Mama and Stumpy to the same zoo. "Our hope is that
they stay together," he said.
Katz said Lion Country's elephants should be sent to the Tennessee
sanctuary, which he said has room for 20 more. Elephants who are
separated from longtime companions become depressed, he said.
"Elephants are herd animals," Katz said. "When you have three animals
who have lived together for 34 years, they are a family unit."
Wolf agreed that elephants suffer from separation anxiety. When
Ladybird was shipped to South Carolina, he stayed with her for two
weeks to ease her transition.
"They are very social animals," Wolf said. "It does occur in the wild
where females will move from one herd to another. But what's bad is
when an animal is left alone."
Wolf said he doesn't want to send Stumpy and Mama to a sanctuary
where people can't see them.
"You can watch all the videos you want, but there is nothing like
seeing them up close, smelling them, when they look you in the eye,"
he said. "Those kind of teaching moments are what zoos are all about."
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbcwest/content/local_news/ epaper/2006/09/22/m1a_ELEPHANTS_0922.html
Farm reopens China’s trade in tiger products
September 13, 2006
A tiger farm in China’s Guangxi Province claims it is selling tiger-bone wine with the government’s blessing and that profits already top US$10 million a year.
This news was reported in detail in a recent expose published in the popular China Youth Daily. If the reporting is based on fact, China has begun lifting its 13-year ban on trade in tiger products, or the farm is boastfully and blatantly breaking the law.
“We have 400 vats in this cellar, each containing a tiger carcass,” the manager of the wine-production facility within Guilin Xiong Sen Tiger and Bear Farm reportedly boasted as he lifted a tiger skeleton from an alcoholic brew. “Construction of another cellar is being completed, which will increase our production capacity."
In 1993, China’s State Council issued a “notice” forbidding all trade in tiger bone and rhino horn. The legally-binding proclamation prohibited the sale, purchase and transport of tiger bone, rhino horn and products made from them. Existing products containing the forbidden ingredients were locked away under government seal, and China’s official pharmaceutical protocol for their use as medicine was canceled.
Recently, however, a flurry of reliable rumors has surfaced saying that China’s State Forestry Administration (SFA) has taken steps to begin lifting the ban on trade in tiger bone from farms, permitting those with more than 500 captive-bred tigers to start limited legal sales of tiger bone directly to medicine manufacturers, who in turn can sell their products directly to hospitals.
One SFA official told Save The Tiger Fund that medicines containing tiger bone are essential in treating SARS. Representatives of the traditional Chinese medicine industry say this is ludicrous. While tiger bone has long been useful in treating arthritis and other rheumatic disorders, it is not essential for treating these or any other diseases because natural alternatives are plentiful and effective.
The SFA so far has refused to confirm whether they have authorized limited legal trade of any kind. However, tiger farmers and the SFA jointly hosted a small group of sympathetic foreigners for an all-expense-paid VIP tour of the farms earlier this year, asking them for their support of China'splan to farm tigers like cattle .
Furthermore, an official of the Guangxi Forestry Bureau confirmed to China Youth Daily that the SFA gave the Guilin tiger and bear farm nearly US$1 million to enhance tiger breeding efforts and build its brewery. According farm officials, the SFA also issued the facility - which, ironically, opened in 1993 - the only permit in the country to openly retail tiger bone wine.
The brewery manager is quoted as saying that some of his vats of tiger bone wine have been steeping for eight years. Wines sold on the premises range in price from US$41 a bottle to US$106, depending on vintage. At Nanning’s airport, the reporter found a bottle priced at $135.
The manager was adamant about his claim that his farm has government permission to sell tiger products. “Who would dare to sell tiger bone wine without permission from relevant authorities?” he is quoted as saying.
He implied that this major reversal of China’s national policy is being phased in quietly. “Because tiger trade is a sensitive issue internationally,” he said, “we will have to wait until after the 2008 Olympics to take the wine to the markets in Beijing and other cities.”
China Youth Daily has confirmed what conservation groups have been hearing - and fearing. Shortly after the three-part series was published, China’s new and improved wildlife trade control law came into effect. To honor the occasion, Conservation International, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Save The Tiger Fund, TRAFFIC, Wildlife Conservation Society and World Wide Fund for Nature sent an open letter to China’s Premier Wen Jaibao praising the new law and also China’s long-standing ban on tiger trade.
“The recent proposal by China’s tiger farms to legalize trade in tiger parts and derivatives will jeopardize the great efforts that the Chinese government and the world have invested to save wild tigers,” the letter reads. It mentions the dangers of “laundering” the bones of wild tigers as bones from farmed tigers, the folly of reigniting China’s potentially huge appetite for tiger bone products and also the complications posed for law enforcement efforts to stop illegal tiger trade.
The letter goes on to gently imply how reopening tiger trade would fly in the face of the environmental theme of China’s upcoming Olympic Games. “We hope that China, in the spirit of its new… law and the upcoming 2008 Green Olympics, will discourage the consumption of endangered wildlife in general, reiterate its commitment to the 1993 ban of trade in all tiger derivatives from all sources, and thereby continue to play a responsible leadership role in protecting the world’s few remaining wild tigers.”
The intentions of China’s tiger farms are clear. Their advocates in the government are increasingly active in their support and now, it appears, are forging the way for tigers to be legally produced, rendered and sold like cattle. Tragically, wild tigers, which are dirt cheap to kill and far more valued as medicine, will be the first to be slaughtered.
Thank you for your interest in the survival of wild tigers,
Judy
Judy Mills
Director
Campaign Against Tiger Trafficking (CATT): An organized response to an organized crime
http://www.savethetigerfund.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section =News_Headlines&CONTENTID=2827&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm
A tiger farm in China’s Guangxi Province claims it is selling tiger-bone wine with the government’s blessing and that profits already top US$10 million a year.
This news was reported in detail in a recent expose published in the popular China Youth Daily. If the reporting is based on fact, China has begun lifting its 13-year ban on trade in tiger products, or the farm is boastfully and blatantly breaking the law.
“We have 400 vats in this cellar, each containing a tiger carcass,” the manager of the wine-production facility within Guilin Xiong Sen Tiger and Bear Farm reportedly boasted as he lifted a tiger skeleton from an alcoholic brew. “Construction of another cellar is being completed, which will increase our production capacity."
In 1993, China’s State Council issued a “notice” forbidding all trade in tiger bone and rhino horn. The legally-binding proclamation prohibited the sale, purchase and transport of tiger bone, rhino horn and products made from them. Existing products containing the forbidden ingredients were locked away under government seal, and China’s official pharmaceutical protocol for their use as medicine was canceled.
Recently, however, a flurry of reliable rumors has surfaced saying that China’s State Forestry Administration (SFA) has taken steps to begin lifting the ban on trade in tiger bone from farms, permitting those with more than 500 captive-bred tigers to start limited legal sales of tiger bone directly to medicine manufacturers, who in turn can sell their products directly to hospitals.
One SFA official told Save The Tiger Fund that medicines containing tiger bone are essential in treating SARS. Representatives of the traditional Chinese medicine industry say this is ludicrous. While tiger bone has long been useful in treating arthritis and other rheumatic disorders, it is not essential for treating these or any other diseases because natural alternatives are plentiful and effective.
The SFA so far has refused to confirm whether they have authorized limited legal trade of any kind. However, tiger farmers and the SFA jointly hosted a small group of sympathetic foreigners for an all-expense-paid VIP tour of the farms earlier this year, asking them for their support of China'splan to farm tigers like cattle .
Furthermore, an official of the Guangxi Forestry Bureau confirmed to China Youth Daily that the SFA gave the Guilin tiger and bear farm nearly US$1 million to enhance tiger breeding efforts and build its brewery. According farm officials, the SFA also issued the facility - which, ironically, opened in 1993 - the only permit in the country to openly retail tiger bone wine.
The brewery manager is quoted as saying that some of his vats of tiger bone wine have been steeping for eight years. Wines sold on the premises range in price from US$41 a bottle to US$106, depending on vintage. At Nanning’s airport, the reporter found a bottle priced at $135.
The manager was adamant about his claim that his farm has government permission to sell tiger products. “Who would dare to sell tiger bone wine without permission from relevant authorities?” he is quoted as saying.
He implied that this major reversal of China’s national policy is being phased in quietly. “Because tiger trade is a sensitive issue internationally,” he said, “we will have to wait until after the 2008 Olympics to take the wine to the markets in Beijing and other cities.”
China Youth Daily has confirmed what conservation groups have been hearing - and fearing. Shortly after the three-part series was published, China’s new and improved wildlife trade control law came into effect. To honor the occasion, Conservation International, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Save The Tiger Fund, TRAFFIC, Wildlife Conservation Society and World Wide Fund for Nature sent an open letter to China’s Premier Wen Jaibao praising the new law and also China’s long-standing ban on tiger trade.
“The recent proposal by China’s tiger farms to legalize trade in tiger parts and derivatives will jeopardize the great efforts that the Chinese government and the world have invested to save wild tigers,” the letter reads. It mentions the dangers of “laundering” the bones of wild tigers as bones from farmed tigers, the folly of reigniting China’s potentially huge appetite for tiger bone products and also the complications posed for law enforcement efforts to stop illegal tiger trade.
The letter goes on to gently imply how reopening tiger trade would fly in the face of the environmental theme of China’s upcoming Olympic Games. “We hope that China, in the spirit of its new… law and the upcoming 2008 Green Olympics, will discourage the consumption of endangered wildlife in general, reiterate its commitment to the 1993 ban of trade in all tiger derivatives from all sources, and thereby continue to play a responsible leadership role in protecting the world’s few remaining wild tigers.”
The intentions of China’s tiger farms are clear. Their advocates in the government are increasingly active in their support and now, it appears, are forging the way for tigers to be legally produced, rendered and sold like cattle. Tragically, wild tigers, which are dirt cheap to kill and far more valued as medicine, will be the first to be slaughtered.
Thank you for your interest in the survival of wild tigers,
Judy
Judy Mills
Director
Campaign Against Tiger Trafficking (CATT): An organized response to an organized crime
http://www.savethetigerfund.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section =News_Headlines&CONTENTID=2827&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm
Thursday, September 21, 2006
The lion king of Kabul
MARY BRENNAN September 21 2006
It started with a newspaper story about the death of Marjan, the legendary lion in Kabul Zoo in Afghanistan. Actor and director Gill Robertson read it, was moved and intrigued, then got on with the hectic daily business behind Catherine Wheels, one of Scotland's leading children's theatre companies.
That was early 2002 - but Marjan's story was like an itch that demanded to be scratched. It lodged in Robertson's memory to the point where she found herself clicking 'search' on the computer and discovering more about this beleaguered beast and the appalling circumstances that had made him a talismanic hero in Kabul and beyond. The more she read, the more her instincts told her, "This is an amazing story." And what do sussed and successful theatre directors do with amazing stories? Make them into stage plays - only most get others to do the actual graft of performing.
Not Robertson. From now until early November she will be on the road, roaring up a storm in a solo show called The Lion of Kabul that's aimed at children aged eight to 12.
In it, she is Marjan. And it takes more than just pinning on a tail to get into character. "Actually, I could do with a leg transplant," she says, laughing. "I'm on my haunches a lot, then up and down a lot - I'm telling the story as well as being in it - and both legs are really aching. And yes, I do roar. I have this massive roar in the middle of the show; the kids absolutely love that. So as well as having to do a really good physical warm-up beforehand, I have to do a vocal warm-up as well.
"But I'm loving it, really. There are moments during the show when I've had a shivery feeling … a feeling that Marjan's story really is special and exciting. Just a really good story that's worth telling."
Telling it has, however, proved one of the most ambitious projects Catherine Wheels has faced. Last November, with the encouragement of the National Theatre of Scotland, the company boldly went site-specific with Home: East Lothian. In it, a walk in the squelchy, spooky woods after dark gave a whole new feel to the story of Hansel and Gretel - and ensured no-one was left unaware of how chilling it is to be homeless, unwanted, lost and vulnerable to sweet-talking strangers. It was a remarkable achievement, which brought Robertson and Catherine Wheels the cachet of Best Children's Show 2006 at the Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS).
Home will return next year, but meanwhile there's a tent to put up … and take down … and put up again - in the name of Marjan. "It started off with us thinking, "How do you encourage an audience to feel they're somewhere else, where the culture is very different?'' says Robertson. "And a tent seemed an ideal way to transform the space, create a different world," she explains.
Everywhere the tour goes - from Paisley to Peebles, Kilmarnock to Falkirk - the tent will go on ahead. "It takes a whole day, really, to put everything together, because it is complicated. But you just have to grip your knickers and get on with it. The technical team construct a black box, then erect the tent inside. Then we fit around 80 kids inside that."
Inside, four projectors surround the audience with animations, images and newsreel footage as a backdrop to Marjan's story. "When I started working on it with the writer Nicola McCartney, there was this part of it about Marjan's friend - a wee girl, Sonia - but other plays have looked at a wee girl experiencing war.
"We wanted a different perspective. We wanted audiences to connect with what was happening - the civil war, the bombings, the years of suffering and hardship - from where Marjan was: stuck in a zoo, in a cage, unable to escape, with no choices. At the mercy of people."
She swiftly sketches in the key points in Marjan's fascinating life. There's the moment when a bored Taliban soldier jumped into Marjan's cage - provoked, the lion mauled him and the soldier died. There's the subsequent reprisal when a grenade was lobbed into Marjan's cage, leaving the ageing lion blinded, lame and with his jaw shattered. And there's Marjan's survival, which sees the lion assume emblematic status within war-torn Kabul and become a living metaphor for dignity, resilience and hope. His death from old age, weeks after the US bombings had ushered in an era of possible improvements, underlined his mythic image.
Those grim times - many other zoo animals were eaten by the starving residents of Kabul - suggest a bleak script. "Well the end is bleak, but in an uplifting way," says Robertson.
"But there's also a lot of comedy, because we make it Marjan's journey from being a playful cub, through finding his roar and then surviving all the upheavals in Afghanistan and how they affected the zoo.
"And being Nicola, it's also quite poetic in how it uses language - we wanted Marjan to have a different way of speaking that reflected his experience. So I'll say, 'Do you smell that noise?' and the kids will laugh, but then they'll start to understand that he's an animal and he senses things differently."
While youngsters across Scotland enter Marjan's life, Catherine Wheels are preparing to enter Broadway with another production, their staging of Nicola McCartney's Lifeboat.
"We all go over in March," says Robertson. "But we can't stay around for the whole run, because we have to come back and do Home, but indoors this time - which will be a bit of a challenge, especially for Karen [Tennent, whose previous settings won the 2006 CATS for Best Design].
"Oh, and there's Martha [another Catherine Wheels production] at the Tron over Christmas - yes, the goose is back! And I'm working on a new show, A Town Called Elsewhere, that tours round schools in January."
As she rushes off for another feedback preview of The Lion of Kabul, it's hard to imagine how Gill Robertson ever found the time to read that newspaper article in the first place.
The Lion of Kabul is at Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh, until Saturday, then touring.
http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/70443.html
It started with a newspaper story about the death of Marjan, the legendary lion in Kabul Zoo in Afghanistan. Actor and director Gill Robertson read it, was moved and intrigued, then got on with the hectic daily business behind Catherine Wheels, one of Scotland's leading children's theatre companies.
That was early 2002 - but Marjan's story was like an itch that demanded to be scratched. It lodged in Robertson's memory to the point where she found herself clicking 'search' on the computer and discovering more about this beleaguered beast and the appalling circumstances that had made him a talismanic hero in Kabul and beyond. The more she read, the more her instincts told her, "This is an amazing story." And what do sussed and successful theatre directors do with amazing stories? Make them into stage plays - only most get others to do the actual graft of performing.
Not Robertson. From now until early November she will be on the road, roaring up a storm in a solo show called The Lion of Kabul that's aimed at children aged eight to 12.
In it, she is Marjan. And it takes more than just pinning on a tail to get into character. "Actually, I could do with a leg transplant," she says, laughing. "I'm on my haunches a lot, then up and down a lot - I'm telling the story as well as being in it - and both legs are really aching. And yes, I do roar. I have this massive roar in the middle of the show; the kids absolutely love that. So as well as having to do a really good physical warm-up beforehand, I have to do a vocal warm-up as well.
"But I'm loving it, really. There are moments during the show when I've had a shivery feeling … a feeling that Marjan's story really is special and exciting. Just a really good story that's worth telling."
Telling it has, however, proved one of the most ambitious projects Catherine Wheels has faced. Last November, with the encouragement of the National Theatre of Scotland, the company boldly went site-specific with Home: East Lothian. In it, a walk in the squelchy, spooky woods after dark gave a whole new feel to the story of Hansel and Gretel - and ensured no-one was left unaware of how chilling it is to be homeless, unwanted, lost and vulnerable to sweet-talking strangers. It was a remarkable achievement, which brought Robertson and Catherine Wheels the cachet of Best Children's Show 2006 at the Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS).
Home will return next year, but meanwhile there's a tent to put up … and take down … and put up again - in the name of Marjan. "It started off with us thinking, "How do you encourage an audience to feel they're somewhere else, where the culture is very different?'' says Robertson. "And a tent seemed an ideal way to transform the space, create a different world," she explains.
Everywhere the tour goes - from Paisley to Peebles, Kilmarnock to Falkirk - the tent will go on ahead. "It takes a whole day, really, to put everything together, because it is complicated. But you just have to grip your knickers and get on with it. The technical team construct a black box, then erect the tent inside. Then we fit around 80 kids inside that."
Inside, four projectors surround the audience with animations, images and newsreel footage as a backdrop to Marjan's story. "When I started working on it with the writer Nicola McCartney, there was this part of it about Marjan's friend - a wee girl, Sonia - but other plays have looked at a wee girl experiencing war.
"We wanted a different perspective. We wanted audiences to connect with what was happening - the civil war, the bombings, the years of suffering and hardship - from where Marjan was: stuck in a zoo, in a cage, unable to escape, with no choices. At the mercy of people."
She swiftly sketches in the key points in Marjan's fascinating life. There's the moment when a bored Taliban soldier jumped into Marjan's cage - provoked, the lion mauled him and the soldier died. There's the subsequent reprisal when a grenade was lobbed into Marjan's cage, leaving the ageing lion blinded, lame and with his jaw shattered. And there's Marjan's survival, which sees the lion assume emblematic status within war-torn Kabul and become a living metaphor for dignity, resilience and hope. His death from old age, weeks after the US bombings had ushered in an era of possible improvements, underlined his mythic image.
Those grim times - many other zoo animals were eaten by the starving residents of Kabul - suggest a bleak script. "Well the end is bleak, but in an uplifting way," says Robertson.
"But there's also a lot of comedy, because we make it Marjan's journey from being a playful cub, through finding his roar and then surviving all the upheavals in Afghanistan and how they affected the zoo.
"And being Nicola, it's also quite poetic in how it uses language - we wanted Marjan to have a different way of speaking that reflected his experience. So I'll say, 'Do you smell that noise?' and the kids will laugh, but then they'll start to understand that he's an animal and he senses things differently."
While youngsters across Scotland enter Marjan's life, Catherine Wheels are preparing to enter Broadway with another production, their staging of Nicola McCartney's Lifeboat.
"We all go over in March," says Robertson. "But we can't stay around for the whole run, because we have to come back and do Home, but indoors this time - which will be a bit of a challenge, especially for Karen [Tennent, whose previous settings won the 2006 CATS for Best Design].
"Oh, and there's Martha [another Catherine Wheels production] at the Tron over Christmas - yes, the goose is back! And I'm working on a new show, A Town Called Elsewhere, that tours round schools in January."
As she rushes off for another feedback preview of The Lion of Kabul, it's hard to imagine how Gill Robertson ever found the time to read that newspaper article in the first place.
The Lion of Kabul is at Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh, until Saturday, then touring.
http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/70443.html
On this day in 1919: Lion mauls teenager posing for photo
From the archives of the Los Angeles Times:
1919: Lion mauls teenager posing for photo
September 21, 2006
Sept. 21, 1919: Lillian Harmon, 17, wanted to pose for a picture with Leo, a usually tame African lion who had appeared in many films. But when she stepped into his enclosure at E&R Jungles near Eastlake Park, Leo attacked.
"Miss Harmon … had her hand on the animal's head. It is one of the performances for which Leo was trained," The Times reported, citing H.J. Harmon, Lillian's brother.
"For just one second, the lion stood motionless and then without the least warning struck the girl with his paw, knocking her to the ground," the newspaper said. "In the next instant he was clawing her."
Several men rushed to her aid and hit the lion with an iron bar. But "before a bar could be found, Leo had the girl in his jaw," The Times said.
"At the Receiving Hospital, it was found that the girl was badly torn on the back, arms and thighs where the claws and the teeth of the animal found their marks."
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-me-a2anniversary 21sep21,1,367153.story?coll=la-news-a_section
1919: Lion mauls teenager posing for photo
September 21, 2006
Sept. 21, 1919: Lillian Harmon, 17, wanted to pose for a picture with Leo, a usually tame African lion who had appeared in many films. But when she stepped into his enclosure at E&R Jungles near Eastlake Park, Leo attacked.
"Miss Harmon … had her hand on the animal's head. It is one of the performances for which Leo was trained," The Times reported, citing H.J. Harmon, Lillian's brother.
"For just one second, the lion stood motionless and then without the least warning struck the girl with his paw, knocking her to the ground," the newspaper said. "In the next instant he was clawing her."
Several men rushed to her aid and hit the lion with an iron bar. But "before a bar could be found, Leo had the girl in his jaw," The Times said.
"At the Receiving Hospital, it was found that the girl was badly torn on the back, arms and thighs where the claws and the teeth of the animal found their marks."
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-me-a2anniversary 21sep21,1,367153.story?coll=la-news-a_section
Memphis Zoo gets "rare" white tiger
Posted: 9/20/2006 4:55:06 PM
For the first time since 2000, there will be a white tiger on exhibit at the Memphis Zoo, and zoo officials say she's here to stay.
"Orissa," a female white Bengal tiger, and two other Bengal tiger cubs will be joining the Zoo's Cat Country exhibit this Saturday, September 23.
"Kumari" is a butterscotch-colored female, and "Naryan" is an orange male.
All three of the cubs are about six months old. Orissa is from a private breeder, and siblings Kumari and Naryan came from The Texas Zoo in Victoria, Texas.
Temporary exhibits of white tigers were at the Memphis Zoo in 1988 and again in 2000. White tigers are Bengal tigers with white fur, blue eyes and chocolate-colored stripes.
Bengal tigers are endangered.
The University of Memphis tiger mascot, cheerleaders and athletic coaches will be at the zoo Saturday to celebrate the zoo's newest residents.
http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story.aspx? content_id=83264D71-317A-4206-96A9-2CE7B0608DD3
For the first time since 2000, there will be a white tiger on exhibit at the Memphis Zoo, and zoo officials say she's here to stay.
"Orissa," a female white Bengal tiger, and two other Bengal tiger cubs will be joining the Zoo's Cat Country exhibit this Saturday, September 23.
"Kumari" is a butterscotch-colored female, and "Naryan" is an orange male.
All three of the cubs are about six months old. Orissa is from a private breeder, and siblings Kumari and Naryan came from The Texas Zoo in Victoria, Texas.
Temporary exhibits of white tigers were at the Memphis Zoo in 1988 and again in 2000. White tigers are Bengal tigers with white fur, blue eyes and chocolate-colored stripes.
Bengal tigers are endangered.
The University of Memphis tiger mascot, cheerleaders and athletic coaches will be at the zoo Saturday to celebrate the zoo's newest residents.
http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story.aspx? content_id=83264D71-317A-4206-96A9-2CE7B0608DD3
Iowa city planning stricter animal ordinance
By The Quad City Times
Sunday, September 17, 2006
MAQUOKETA, Iowa - Council members are revamping this city’s animal ordinance, two months after authorities seized a black bear and several cougars from a nearby farm.
No longer can residents have sharks in their bathtub or elephants in their backyard. Nor can they keep lions and tigers and bears in this eastern Iowa city.
That’s bad news for anyone who has a pet collection like Randy and Pam Garien, who had 55 animals seized from their rural Maquoketa farm in July after reports of animal neglect. No charges were filed, and three cougars and several horses and dogs were returned to the farm.
Council members say exotic animals have not been a problem here, and the main reason for the makeover is to create a licensing system for cats and dogs.
The licensing proposal has been discussed for almost a year by council committees. If the new ordinance passes Monday, residents who have cats and dogs must license them annually beginning Oct. 1 for $5 each.
Police Chief Brad Koranda said revenues from the licenses will be used to buy the tags and help offset officer costs. He said the city pays $12,000 annually to the Jackson County Humane Society to take care of stray pets.
http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2006/09/17/ news/local/doc450ce5d55924b193384513.txt
Sunday, September 17, 2006
MAQUOKETA, Iowa - Council members are revamping this city’s animal ordinance, two months after authorities seized a black bear and several cougars from a nearby farm.
No longer can residents have sharks in their bathtub or elephants in their backyard. Nor can they keep lions and tigers and bears in this eastern Iowa city.
That’s bad news for anyone who has a pet collection like Randy and Pam Garien, who had 55 animals seized from their rural Maquoketa farm in July after reports of animal neglect. No charges were filed, and three cougars and several horses and dogs were returned to the farm.
Council members say exotic animals have not been a problem here, and the main reason for the makeover is to create a licensing system for cats and dogs.
The licensing proposal has been discussed for almost a year by council committees. If the new ordinance passes Monday, residents who have cats and dogs must license them annually beginning Oct. 1 for $5 each.
Police Chief Brad Koranda said revenues from the licenses will be used to buy the tags and help offset officer costs. He said the city pays $12,000 annually to the Jackson County Humane Society to take care of stray pets.
http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2006/09/17/ news/local/doc450ce5d55924b193384513.txt
Missouri: Exotic animals may be sold for canned hunts
Reporter: Chris Grogan, cgrogan@kolr10.com
In just weeks, a tourism mainstay in the Ozarks will shut its gates for good. The owners of Exotic Animal Paradise say economic factors mean it`s just not feasible to keep the operation running. So what`s going to happen to the hundreds of animals there?
During KOLR 10’s investigation, it came as a surprise how big the exotic animal trade industry is. The money and animals exchanging hands amounts to millions of dollars each year. Yet, it`s also an industry that has few regulations and a lot of the trade is happening right here in Missouri.
It`s a place that attracts people from across the country. Since 1971, families have been winding through Exotic Animal Paradise, stopping to feed the camels, llamas, and various other species. With around 800 animals, the park is one of the largest drive-through facilities in the country. So, many were surprised with the announcement that these gates would close for good.
"This has been a major tourist attraction for 35 years and there were certain obstacles that I didn`t want to try and overcome." says Ron Armitage, owner of Exotic Animal Paradise.
Just weeks after the gates close in October, they will open for one final time for what Armitage calls "a dispersal sale."
On October 13th, everything will be sold-off, including the hundreds of exotic animals.
Armitage says, "It`ll be advertised nationally. There will be probably five to six hundred people that will come probably from out of the area."
It`s a sale that`s also attracting some big time attention from animal advocates.
Nancy Grove with the St. Louis-based Missouri Alliance for Animal Legislation says, "It may come as a surprise to some of those people that these animals are not necessarily going to be sold at auction to someone who`s going to let the animals live out their days and see to its needs until it dies from natural causes."
Grove says there`s a long history of petting zoos selling animals at these auctions to dealers, who then turn around and sell the animals to canned hunting facilities.
She says, "More properly, it should be referred to as hunting animals in confined spaces."
Indeed, most of these canned hunt facilities rely on exotic animals because of their prized trophy racks. But it`s those exotic animals that have been tamed that fetch the most.
"If they are sold to a hunting facility of some kind, they`re probably not going to behave in any other way. They`re not going to show the traditional fear of humans. They`re not going to run at the sight of guns, but rather stay pretty much where they are." says Grove.
Yet, it`s not just animal rights groups that are concerned about these exotic animals winding up as hunting trophies. Mainstream hunting organizations shun the practice. They say it just doesn`t fit in with the concept of fair chase where the hunter and animal are on the same level."
George Bettas is with the Boone and Crockett Club, based in Missoula, Montana. He says, "We want to continue raising the bar and to give the animal the advantage, rather than the hunter the advantage."
The organization was founded on the concept of fair chase more than 100 years ago. And this organization is not alone. In fact, most of the major mainstream hunting organizations shun canned hunting facilities as part of the sport. At Boone and Crockett, those hunts are referred to as "canned shoots".
Bettas says, "Because they are simply shooting animals that do not have the same advantage as wild animals, that are free ranging and have to escape the hunter."
Nancy Grove agrees. "Unfortunately, there are not enough sanctuaries and refugees in the United States, much less in Missouri, for all of those animals to live out their lives until they die of natural causes."
Advocates also say most zoos are too full to even consider accepting more adult animals. For his part, Armitage says he`s going to do everything he can to make sure the animals end up in safe havens to live out their lives.
He says, "We want to make sure they have good homes. These animals have been a part of our lives for a long time."
Animal rights advocates say that can only happen with plenty of time to find good homes, an ideal they`re hoping will become the reality here.
During KOLR 10’s investigation, we found out a company called "Lolli Brothers Auctions" will be conducting the October dispersal sale. It`s actually one of the largest auctioneers of exotic animals and is based in Macon, Missouri.
When KOLR 10 spoke to a representative from there on Thursday, he said there`s no way to prevent these animals from ending up in canned hunting facilities saying quote "when money`s there, who knows."
Also, once the Humane Society of the United States found out about KOLR 10’s investigation, it began its own investigation. It’s sent letters to the U.S Department of Agriculture, asking that department closely monitor October`s sale. Meanwhile, Ron Armitage tells KOLR 10 he welcomes the scrutiny and believes it will help make sure the animals don`t end up in the wrong hands.
Air Date: 9/14/2006
http://www.kolr10.com/news/default.asp?mode=shownews&id=6272
In just weeks, a tourism mainstay in the Ozarks will shut its gates for good. The owners of Exotic Animal Paradise say economic factors mean it`s just not feasible to keep the operation running. So what`s going to happen to the hundreds of animals there?
During KOLR 10’s investigation, it came as a surprise how big the exotic animal trade industry is. The money and animals exchanging hands amounts to millions of dollars each year. Yet, it`s also an industry that has few regulations and a lot of the trade is happening right here in Missouri.
It`s a place that attracts people from across the country. Since 1971, families have been winding through Exotic Animal Paradise, stopping to feed the camels, llamas, and various other species. With around 800 animals, the park is one of the largest drive-through facilities in the country. So, many were surprised with the announcement that these gates would close for good.
"This has been a major tourist attraction for 35 years and there were certain obstacles that I didn`t want to try and overcome." says Ron Armitage, owner of Exotic Animal Paradise.
Just weeks after the gates close in October, they will open for one final time for what Armitage calls "a dispersal sale."
On October 13th, everything will be sold-off, including the hundreds of exotic animals.
Armitage says, "It`ll be advertised nationally. There will be probably five to six hundred people that will come probably from out of the area."
It`s a sale that`s also attracting some big time attention from animal advocates.
Nancy Grove with the St. Louis-based Missouri Alliance for Animal Legislation says, "It may come as a surprise to some of those people that these animals are not necessarily going to be sold at auction to someone who`s going to let the animals live out their days and see to its needs until it dies from natural causes."
Grove says there`s a long history of petting zoos selling animals at these auctions to dealers, who then turn around and sell the animals to canned hunting facilities.
She says, "More properly, it should be referred to as hunting animals in confined spaces."
Indeed, most of these canned hunt facilities rely on exotic animals because of their prized trophy racks. But it`s those exotic animals that have been tamed that fetch the most.
"If they are sold to a hunting facility of some kind, they`re probably not going to behave in any other way. They`re not going to show the traditional fear of humans. They`re not going to run at the sight of guns, but rather stay pretty much where they are." says Grove.
Yet, it`s not just animal rights groups that are concerned about these exotic animals winding up as hunting trophies. Mainstream hunting organizations shun the practice. They say it just doesn`t fit in with the concept of fair chase where the hunter and animal are on the same level."
George Bettas is with the Boone and Crockett Club, based in Missoula, Montana. He says, "We want to continue raising the bar and to give the animal the advantage, rather than the hunter the advantage."
The organization was founded on the concept of fair chase more than 100 years ago. And this organization is not alone. In fact, most of the major mainstream hunting organizations shun canned hunting facilities as part of the sport. At Boone and Crockett, those hunts are referred to as "canned shoots".
Bettas says, "Because they are simply shooting animals that do not have the same advantage as wild animals, that are free ranging and have to escape the hunter."
Nancy Grove agrees. "Unfortunately, there are not enough sanctuaries and refugees in the United States, much less in Missouri, for all of those animals to live out their lives until they die of natural causes."
Advocates also say most zoos are too full to even consider accepting more adult animals. For his part, Armitage says he`s going to do everything he can to make sure the animals end up in safe havens to live out their lives.
He says, "We want to make sure they have good homes. These animals have been a part of our lives for a long time."
Animal rights advocates say that can only happen with plenty of time to find good homes, an ideal they`re hoping will become the reality here.
During KOLR 10’s investigation, we found out a company called "Lolli Brothers Auctions" will be conducting the October dispersal sale. It`s actually one of the largest auctioneers of exotic animals and is based in Macon, Missouri.
When KOLR 10 spoke to a representative from there on Thursday, he said there`s no way to prevent these animals from ending up in canned hunting facilities saying quote "when money`s there, who knows."
Also, once the Humane Society of the United States found out about KOLR 10’s investigation, it began its own investigation. It’s sent letters to the U.S Department of Agriculture, asking that department closely monitor October`s sale. Meanwhile, Ron Armitage tells KOLR 10 he welcomes the scrutiny and believes it will help make sure the animals don`t end up in the wrong hands.
Air Date: 9/14/2006
http://www.kolr10.com/news/default.asp?mode=shownews&id=6272
Judge delays court action in CA tiger death
By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com
U.S. District Judge George King has delayed action on plea agreements by Gert "Abby" Hedengran and Roena "Emma" Hedengran, owners of a tiger killed last year in Moorpark, until last-minute questions can be answered.
The large tiger, "Tuffy," was shot to death by authorities near a park early last year. The tiger had allegedly escaped from an inadequate enclosure during the couple's move to the Tierra Rejada Valley.
"The judge indicated that he has a question regarding the applicability of criminal penalties for the misdemeanor violations of the Animal Welfare Act," said the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Johns.
King wanted to determine whether some of the charges faced by the couple are criminal or misdemeanor violations.
The judge, Johns said, questioned whether the federal act criminalizes factual violations agreed to by the defendants, because he found the plea agreements they signed and submitted ambiguous.
"It is ironic to note that even the defendants agree that the charges they have agreed to plead guilty to are crimes," Johns said.
However, since this issue has been raised by the judge, both sides will either persuade the court to accept the plea agreements "as is" or the couple will plead guilty to other violations of the act which the judge accepts as criminal, the prosecutor said.
The delay is a reasonable and technical action by a curious and cautious district court judge and nothing more, Johns said.
King has not questioned the real meat of the matter-Abby Hedengran's guilty plea to felony charges of witness tampering, and making a false statement and obstructing justice, according to Johns, who lives in Moorpark.
He agreed to plead guilty early this summer to six counts, among them four misdemeanor charges, including transporting exotic cats in insufficient enclosures that could harm the animal.
Charges also included exhibiting exotic cats without a license, and not keeping the animals in facilities that could prevent escape.
Both of the Hedengrans originally faced felony charges but Johns said he had agreed to allow Emma to plead guilty only to misdemeanor counts.
They were to have appeared in federal court in Los Angeles on Sept. 5.
Public defender Kimberly Savo, who represents Abby Hedengran, was unavailable for comment Monday and Emma Hedengran's attorney, Janet Sherman, said she had no comment for now.
http://www.toacorn.com/news/2006/0921/Community/034.html
U.S. District Judge George King has delayed action on plea agreements by Gert "Abby" Hedengran and Roena "Emma" Hedengran, owners of a tiger killed last year in Moorpark, until last-minute questions can be answered.
The large tiger, "Tuffy," was shot to death by authorities near a park early last year. The tiger had allegedly escaped from an inadequate enclosure during the couple's move to the Tierra Rejada Valley.
"The judge indicated that he has a question regarding the applicability of criminal penalties for the misdemeanor violations of the Animal Welfare Act," said the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Johns.
King wanted to determine whether some of the charges faced by the couple are criminal or misdemeanor violations.
The judge, Johns said, questioned whether the federal act criminalizes factual violations agreed to by the defendants, because he found the plea agreements they signed and submitted ambiguous.
"It is ironic to note that even the defendants agree that the charges they have agreed to plead guilty to are crimes," Johns said.
However, since this issue has been raised by the judge, both sides will either persuade the court to accept the plea agreements "as is" or the couple will plead guilty to other violations of the act which the judge accepts as criminal, the prosecutor said.
The delay is a reasonable and technical action by a curious and cautious district court judge and nothing more, Johns said.
King has not questioned the real meat of the matter-Abby Hedengran's guilty plea to felony charges of witness tampering, and making a false statement and obstructing justice, according to Johns, who lives in Moorpark.
He agreed to plead guilty early this summer to six counts, among them four misdemeanor charges, including transporting exotic cats in insufficient enclosures that could harm the animal.
Charges also included exhibiting exotic cats without a license, and not keeping the animals in facilities that could prevent escape.
Both of the Hedengrans originally faced felony charges but Johns said he had agreed to allow Emma to plead guilty only to misdemeanor counts.
They were to have appeared in federal court in Los Angeles on Sept. 5.
Public defender Kimberly Savo, who represents Abby Hedengran, was unavailable for comment Monday and Emma Hedengran's attorney, Janet Sherman, said she had no comment for now.
http://www.toacorn.com/news/2006/0921/Community/034.html
Opinion: Indiana should impose stricter limits on exotic animal ownership
There are stray alligators, too
Article published Sep 20, 2006
South Bend Tribune
With the possible exception of the curator at the Potawatomi Zoo, we can't think of anyone in Michiana who has any business owning an alligator. When people choose to do so, their "pets" may well become someone else's problem.
That is the case in Elkhart County, where two residents turned their growing, increasingly aggressive alligators over to the Humane Society. Now the Humane Society must figure out what to do with them. There isn't a waiting list of willing and qualified alligator adopters.
At least these owners did the responsible thing by taking the reptiles to the animal shelter. Not everyone does. Last summer, an alligator spotted in the St. Joseph River -- apparently released there by someone who didn't want it anymore -- was shot by an Indiana Department of Natural Resources conservation officer. It was deemed a danger to be disposed of.
Many exotic animals are dangerous. Alligators are on a long list of exotics that may be owned in Indiana if the owner obtains a permit. Lions, tigers and bears, anyone? The state requires a permit for an alligator more than 5 feet long -- an inadequate limitation, in our view.
But at least there is a limitation. No permit is required to own a reticulated python. One crushed its owner to death in southern Indiana earlier this month.We think the DNR and the General Assembly should revisit the subject of exotic animal ownership. In the interest of public safety, Indiana needs a law that makes more sense.
http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/ 20060920/Opinion02/609200436/-1/OPINION/CAT=Opinion02
Article published Sep 20, 2006
South Bend Tribune
With the possible exception of the curator at the Potawatomi Zoo, we can't think of anyone in Michiana who has any business owning an alligator. When people choose to do so, their "pets" may well become someone else's problem.
That is the case in Elkhart County, where two residents turned their growing, increasingly aggressive alligators over to the Humane Society. Now the Humane Society must figure out what to do with them. There isn't a waiting list of willing and qualified alligator adopters.
At least these owners did the responsible thing by taking the reptiles to the animal shelter. Not everyone does. Last summer, an alligator spotted in the St. Joseph River -- apparently released there by someone who didn't want it anymore -- was shot by an Indiana Department of Natural Resources conservation officer. It was deemed a danger to be disposed of.
Many exotic animals are dangerous. Alligators are on a long list of exotics that may be owned in Indiana if the owner obtains a permit. Lions, tigers and bears, anyone? The state requires a permit for an alligator more than 5 feet long -- an inadequate limitation, in our view.
But at least there is a limitation. No permit is required to own a reticulated python. One crushed its owner to death in southern Indiana earlier this month.We think the DNR and the General Assembly should revisit the subject of exotic animal ownership. In the interest of public safety, Indiana needs a law that makes more sense.
http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/ 20060920/Opinion02/609200436/-1/OPINION/CAT=Opinion02
Day after vaccination, two white tigers die in city zoo
Day after vaccination, two white tigers die in city zoo
Three-yr-olds Sourav and Dia were fine yesterday; another vaccinated tiger critical; zoo officials are waiting for the postmortem report
Express News Service
Chandigargh, September 20: The Chatbir Zoo lost its two white tigers this morning within a span of few hours. The tigers had been vaccinated last evening, said sources in the zoo. One more tiger, which had been vaccinated yesterday, is in a critical condition.
The male, Sourav, was found dead when the cage was opened in the morning. The female, Dia, died at 10.30 am, said the zoo officials. Both tigers were around 3 years old.
When contacted, Dharmender Sharma, the zoo’s Field Director, said: “Preliminary reports of the post mortem do not say anything about wrong vaccination. We can only confirm the cause of the death when the detailed reports come in.”
A team of veterinary doctors had been summoned from Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, to conduct the postmortem. They were assisted by vets from the zoo. The samples have been sent to the PAU and the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) in Utter Pradesh.
The cage attendants said the tigers were fine till yesterday night. Though Sourav was a little sluggish and ate only a few pieces of meat, Dia ate well.
In the morning, Sourav was found dead. Sources said his urine had blood in it. Soon after, Dia died too.
Sourav and Dia were big draws at the zoo due to their white colour. Dia was born here on 30 May 2003. Sourav was brought from Aurangabad last year.
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=202149
Three-yr-olds Sourav and Dia were fine yesterday; another vaccinated tiger critical; zoo officials are waiting for the postmortem report
Express News Service
Chandigargh, September 20: The Chatbir Zoo lost its two white tigers this morning within a span of few hours. The tigers had been vaccinated last evening, said sources in the zoo. One more tiger, which had been vaccinated yesterday, is in a critical condition.
The male, Sourav, was found dead when the cage was opened in the morning. The female, Dia, died at 10.30 am, said the zoo officials. Both tigers were around 3 years old.
When contacted, Dharmender Sharma, the zoo’s Field Director, said: “Preliminary reports of the post mortem do not say anything about wrong vaccination. We can only confirm the cause of the death when the detailed reports come in.”
A team of veterinary doctors had been summoned from Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, to conduct the postmortem. They were assisted by vets from the zoo. The samples have been sent to the PAU and the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) in Utter Pradesh.
The cage attendants said the tigers were fine till yesterday night. Though Sourav was a little sluggish and ate only a few pieces of meat, Dia ate well.
In the morning, Sourav was found dead. Sources said his urine had blood in it. Soon after, Dia died too.
Sourav and Dia were big draws at the zoo due to their white colour. Dia was born here on 30 May 2003. Sourav was brought from Aurangabad last year.
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=202149
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Idaho hunters going for ban on canned hunts, limits on game farms
By Bill Schneider, 9-19-06
In the contentious aftermath of the escape of up to 160 domestic elk from a 200-acre game farm near Rexburg, Idaho, on the west edge of Yellowstone National Park, hunters in the Gem State have decided this is the time to go for a ban on these "shooter bull operations."
In a NewWest interview, Mark Bell, President of the Idaho Sportsman's Caucus, said his coalition would be "relentless" in pursuing an end to what he calls "high-fence shooting" of elk. "It's not hunting, so I won't call it hunting."
"We believe the facts indicate that the escaped animals were not properly tagged, were not monitored, and, once escaped, were not reported as required," Bell explained. "The implications of such escapes include not only passing diseases to wild populations, but polluting the genetic makeup of elk herds in Idaho, as well as in Montana and Wyoming, and in this instance, the famous Yellowstone herd. Such effects could be disastrous for those herds."
Bell said his coalition of 26 sportsman's groups, including national groups like the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and Safari Club International is already drafting a bill for the upcoming Idaho legislature. "If we can't get the legislature to pass it," Bell said, "we will go for a ballot initiative."
The coalition's website lists the member organizations and claims to represent 18,384 Idaho sportsmen and women.
That is the same scenario played out in Montana. After several failed attempts to get a meaningful bill through the Montana legislature, hunters put the issue on the ballot and passed it with the leadership of the Montana Wildlife Federation. The Montana initiative placed an outright ban on shooting of captive wildlife and put tough restrictions on game farms that is expected to result in a gradual phase out of such operations. The 2000 law, which is still being debated in the courts, disallows the expansion of game farms or the transfer of the license from the current owners.
Bell said his group is studying the Montana approach, but he does not know if that's the route Idaho will take. Idaho hunters could also go for an outright ban as Wyoming did in 1975.
Oregon and Washington also have bans on game farming in place.
"With public sentiment the way it is now with the recent escape of the those elk," he explained, "we don't see any need to allow or accelerate high fence shooting. This situation points out the pitfalls with allowing it."
"I wish we would have been more proactive," he admitted. "Now, we're in a crisis mode. All of a sudden the barn is on fire and we don't know if the fire truck is coming."
Bell is confident they can do it now, though. He pointed out that his group managed to kill a bill in the last legislature that would have allowed the importation of exotic cervids into Idaho. This would have meant not just caribou, reindeer and red deer coming to Idaho, but all cervids like the pudu, brocket, guemal and muntjac. (Haven't even heard of them? Well, you can thank the Idaho Sportman's Caucus for that.)
"Idaho’s wildlife and hunting heritage are too great a resource to all of Idaho to allow them to be placed at such grave risk by the actions of just a few merely for personal gain," Bell concluded.
http://www.newwest.net/index.php/topic/article/idaho_hunters_going_for_ ban_on_canned_hunts_limits_on_game_farms/C41/L41/
In the contentious aftermath of the escape of up to 160 domestic elk from a 200-acre game farm near Rexburg, Idaho, on the west edge of Yellowstone National Park, hunters in the Gem State have decided this is the time to go for a ban on these "shooter bull operations."
In a NewWest interview, Mark Bell, President of the Idaho Sportsman's Caucus, said his coalition would be "relentless" in pursuing an end to what he calls "high-fence shooting" of elk. "It's not hunting, so I won't call it hunting."
"We believe the facts indicate that the escaped animals were not properly tagged, were not monitored, and, once escaped, were not reported as required," Bell explained. "The implications of such escapes include not only passing diseases to wild populations, but polluting the genetic makeup of elk herds in Idaho, as well as in Montana and Wyoming, and in this instance, the famous Yellowstone herd. Such effects could be disastrous for those herds."
Bell said his coalition of 26 sportsman's groups, including national groups like the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and Safari Club International is already drafting a bill for the upcoming Idaho legislature. "If we can't get the legislature to pass it," Bell said, "we will go for a ballot initiative."
The coalition's website lists the member organizations and claims to represent 18,384 Idaho sportsmen and women.
That is the same scenario played out in Montana. After several failed attempts to get a meaningful bill through the Montana legislature, hunters put the issue on the ballot and passed it with the leadership of the Montana Wildlife Federation. The Montana initiative placed an outright ban on shooting of captive wildlife and put tough restrictions on game farms that is expected to result in a gradual phase out of such operations. The 2000 law, which is still being debated in the courts, disallows the expansion of game farms or the transfer of the license from the current owners.
Bell said his group is studying the Montana approach, but he does not know if that's the route Idaho will take. Idaho hunters could also go for an outright ban as Wyoming did in 1975.
Oregon and Washington also have bans on game farming in place.
"With public sentiment the way it is now with the recent escape of the those elk," he explained, "we don't see any need to allow or accelerate high fence shooting. This situation points out the pitfalls with allowing it."
"I wish we would have been more proactive," he admitted. "Now, we're in a crisis mode. All of a sudden the barn is on fire and we don't know if the fire truck is coming."
Bell is confident they can do it now, though. He pointed out that his group managed to kill a bill in the last legislature that would have allowed the importation of exotic cervids into Idaho. This would have meant not just caribou, reindeer and red deer coming to Idaho, but all cervids like the pudu, brocket, guemal and muntjac. (Haven't even heard of them? Well, you can thank the Idaho Sportman's Caucus for that.)
"Idaho’s wildlife and hunting heritage are too great a resource to all of Idaho to allow them to be placed at such grave risk by the actions of just a few merely for personal gain," Bell concluded.
http://www.newwest.net/index.php/topic/article/idaho_hunters_going_for_ ban_on_canned_hunts_limits_on_game_farms/C41/L41/
Former volunteer and current supporter Elizabeth Jordan makes the news
Former volunteer and current supporter Elizabeth Jordan makes the news by speaking up for the tigers being used by the Shriners. She took photos of the animals in obvious distress that she is sending to us.
It's a circus out there
Do all circuses abuse their animals? What sort of license does a circus with exotic animals have to have in
These are the posers I pondered last week when people complained about the Shrine Circus.
The 43rd Shrine Circus started Saturday and continues at 1:30 and 5 p.m. today in the
Moyerman, a Brookstone senior, is not alone in objecting to a circus that has animal acts. But he has been alone before -- the only guy outside holding up a sign. This year he expects about a dozen people to join him.
Among other locals objecting to circus animal acts is Elizabeth Jordan, 36, who said she has worked with big cats at Big Cat Rescue in
(www.bigcatrescue.org). She saw a performer smack a tiger in the face with a stick during a 2003 Sterling & Reid circus at the Civic Center, she said.
The Shriners said they don't use Sterling & Reid. They for years have hired Serge Coronas Circus Hollywood. Ledger-Enquirer files show the Sterling & Reid circus was here in January 2003, but the annual Shrine Circus was that September, as usual.
Having gathered information from Web sites such as circusspotlight.org and www.circuses.com,
Some of the circus acts such online sites accused of mistreating or failing to control their animals were associated with Shrine circuses, but I could not find "Serge Coronas Circus Hollywood" among them.
But "Circus Hollywood" popped up on the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals site at www.circuses.com/fact-
hollywood.asp. It said the circus based at
Bad publicity?
The family running Serge Coronas Circus Hollywood has been in the business for generations. I went to the
He said the clowns here in
Online postings from animal welfare groups could be bad circus publicity, as no responsible parent comes home and hollers, "Hey kids! Guess what? We're going to watch powerful animals abused and humiliated until they perform tricks for us!"
"Oh no! Not another football game!" the kids whine.
"Nope! This time we're going to the CIRCUS!"
"Yay!" the kids cheer.
I was going to be careful about implicating Shriners in this, because I sure didn't want a bunch of angry men in fezzes trying to run me down in those tiny cars. After they circle a few times.
But I did ask questions, such as: Is the circus subject to state licensing? And is anyone running background checks on the clowns?
On Thursday I called the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and the DNR's Todd Nims said any circus employing elephants and tigers must get a wild animal license. He checked on the Coronas circus and told me it had not renewed its license in two years. If it did not do that right away, then it could not have its animals in the state of
Nims called the
The show must go on. It promises "mirthful music-making," "artfully arranged airborne arabesques," "exuberantly exhibited exotic entities" and other amazing acts of alliteration -- like people protesting the oppression of performing pachyderms.
Local Shriner Herbert Johnston said the circus is the club's major fundraiser, an event it has sponsored since the 1960s. He has noticed a protester or two outside in recent years, and that's OK: If people want to protest, that's their business, he said. The Shriners otherwise get no complaints, and the money helps support their burn hospitals, he said.
I forgot to ask him whether anyone's running criminal record checks on the clowns. Hester didn't know: He said no one had ever asked before.
Maybe all clowns should have to get licenses and photo IDs that list aliases like "Wiggles" and "Fuzzy" and "Snuffy."
You can't be too careful with those Bozos, you know.
Contact Tim Chitwood at 706-571-8508 or tchitwood@ledger-enquirer.com
For the cats,
Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
an Educational Sanctuary home
to more than 100 big cats
12802 Easy Street
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
Subscribe to our Podcast 
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.
Border seizure highlights exotic-pet abandonment
Border seizure highlights exotic-pet abandonment
By CHELSI MOY
Tribune Staff Writer
Reptiles are by no means cuddly animals, yet a trend in the last decade has more exotic-seeking pet owners trying — often unsuccessfully — to care for these cold-blooded creatures.
Once the itty-bitty baby snake hits six feet long, pet owners begin to second guess their exotic-pet decision. Finding a reptile rescue shelter is no easy task.
ADVERTISEMENT
Last week's episode at the Sweet Grass and
Authorities at the border crossing apprehended five snakes from a 24-year-old
When presented with the option of either obtaining the proper exporting permits, storing the animals with a local veterinarian or turning the snakes over to federal authorities, the man abandoned the reptiles at the border.
"It boggles my mind that someone could be so callous," Pauli said. "It shows part of the problem with these animals. They are exotic animals with convenience."
Another example of reptile abandonment occurred just outside Kalispell a little more than a month ago.
An 11-year-old boy came across a five-foot alligator at a pond in Evergreen. Frightened onlookers ended up shooting the creature with a bow, then tying its snout shut with fishing line and slitting its throat.
Federal officials later ended up shooting the creature to put it out of its misery.
Pauli has worked at the federal agency for 26 years, but recently noticed an increase in the number of abandoned alligators and Caimans, or dwarf alligators, in the region's eight Western states:
"I'm running out of places to ship alligators," Pauli said. "Nationally, the system is overloaded also. Few people are physically, mentally, emotionally and financially able to care for these unique critters."
The snakes confiscated at the Sweet Grass port last week were sent to a reptile rescue mission in Zortman.
The rescue mission, Mostly Scales, Snakes & Reptiles, rehabilitates abandoned venomous and nonvenemous reptiles. It is one of few reptile sanctuaries that exist in the Northwest, Pauli said.
Inspired by the late "crocodile hunter" Steve Irwin, Director Angela Boland established the reptile hospital four years ago.
"They're not cuddly critters, but they need help just the same," said the 34-year-old, who transformed her love of reptiles 18 years ago into a full-time job.
The shelter has 30 reptile species on hand and houses everything from turtles to alligators and venomous rattlers. Boland keeps 300 to 500 frozen dead mice on hand at any given time.
"There's not a room in my house without a reptile in it," she said. "Except for maybe my bathroom, and even that changes."
The rehabilitation process takes approximately four to six months, she said, and after that, Boland will try to find the reptile a new home. Some native species are released back into the wild.
The two red-tail boa constrictors and three ball pythons delivered last week by U.S. Fish Wildlife and Parks officials from the boarder were dehydrated and had mites, Boland said.
"People purchase reptiles and don't realize how much it takes to care for them," she said.
Ellen Schubarth, owner of Jack's
Jack's
Schubarth argues that often reptiles are easier to care for than dogs or cats because daily feeding is not necessary; most make fewer messes and don't need the same amount of social interaction, she said.
But exotic-seeking pet owners have a tendency to overlook the fact that many reptiles require live rodents to eat and strict temperature and humidity control, Pauli said.
"We are talking more zoological-type habitats, and sadly, very few people can set up their animals in that way," he said.
This can lead to frustration, and subsequently, neglect and abandonment.
For the cats,
Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
an Educational Sanctuary home
to more than 100 big cats
12802 Easy Street
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
Subscribe to our Podcast 
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.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Man charged with smuggling exotic cats through L.A. airport
Canadian Press
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A 45-year-old man was arrested Monday on charges of sneaking two protected Asian leopard cats through Los Angeles International Airport and lying for a friend who smuggled two pygmy monkeys in his pants.
Chris Edward Mulloy of Palm Springs, Calif., brought the protected cats into the United States June 13, 2002, on a flight from Thailand, federal authorities contend. While Mulloy made it passed airport customs agents, his travelling companion, Robert Cusack, was arrested after inspectors found four birds of paradise and several orchids of a threatened species in his baggage.
Cusack also admitted to hiding two endangered pygmy monkeys in his underwear, authorities said. He was later sentenced to 57 days in jail for trying to smuggle the animals, which were confiscated and taken to the Los Angeles Zoo.
Mulloy, who allegedly was hiding two Asian leopard newborns his own backpack, was able to slip passed inspectors "perhaps because of the excitement at the discovery of the monkeys," said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office.
Federal prosecutors claim Mulloy called his sister, Darlah Kaye Mulloy, to help unload the cats. She allegedly helped him deliver the cats to her son and his girlfriend at the time, Mrozek said. One cat ended up in Texas and one is in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, with his former girlfriend.
The case against Mulloy and his sister, detailed in a federal indictment handed down in February, was filed only recently after the parties involved came forward, Mrozek said.
Chris Mulloy faces counts of smuggling, fraudulently concealing a protected species and lying to officials with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Customs. He could face up to 20 years in prison and fines up to US$1 million if convicted on all charges, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph O. Johns.
His sister was charged with illegally receiving, concealing and transporting wildlife, and attempting to obstruct justice and tamper with a witness.
Chris Mulloy was released on US$50,000 bond after agreeing to surrender his passport. His arraignment was set for next Monday.
Attempts to reach Chris Mulloy were unsuccessful; his number was unlisted.
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/oddities/story.html? id=1576dc44-af95-497b-9607-c41eac45fea1&k=53196
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A 45-year-old man was arrested Monday on charges of sneaking two protected Asian leopard cats through Los Angeles International Airport and lying for a friend who smuggled two pygmy monkeys in his pants.
Chris Edward Mulloy of Palm Springs, Calif., brought the protected cats into the United States June 13, 2002, on a flight from Thailand, federal authorities contend. While Mulloy made it passed airport customs agents, his travelling companion, Robert Cusack, was arrested after inspectors found four birds of paradise and several orchids of a threatened species in his baggage.
Cusack also admitted to hiding two endangered pygmy monkeys in his underwear, authorities said. He was later sentenced to 57 days in jail for trying to smuggle the animals, which were confiscated and taken to the Los Angeles Zoo.
Mulloy, who allegedly was hiding two Asian leopard newborns his own backpack, was able to slip passed inspectors "perhaps because of the excitement at the discovery of the monkeys," said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office.
Federal prosecutors claim Mulloy called his sister, Darlah Kaye Mulloy, to help unload the cats. She allegedly helped him deliver the cats to her son and his girlfriend at the time, Mrozek said. One cat ended up in Texas and one is in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, with his former girlfriend.
The case against Mulloy and his sister, detailed in a federal indictment handed down in February, was filed only recently after the parties involved came forward, Mrozek said.
Chris Mulloy faces counts of smuggling, fraudulently concealing a protected species and lying to officials with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Customs. He could face up to 20 years in prison and fines up to US$1 million if convicted on all charges, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph O. Johns.
His sister was charged with illegally receiving, concealing and transporting wildlife, and attempting to obstruct justice and tamper with a witness.
Chris Mulloy was released on US$50,000 bond after agreeing to surrender his passport. His arraignment was set for next Monday.
Attempts to reach Chris Mulloy were unsuccessful; his number was unlisted.
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/oddities/story.html? id=1576dc44-af95-497b-9607-c41eac45fea1&k=53196
Animal park moves to new Arizona location
Big cats are on the move near Arizona town
J.C. Amberlyn
Miner Staff Photographer
Monday, September 18, 2006
Kraft with one of his tigers. The mutual trust between the two is obvious. The tiger lives in one of the new naturalistic habitats where it can feel the earth under its paws and rest with the shade of trees overhead.
"Making a Difference." How many times has this phrase been used to describe the people who volunteer their time helping others?
It is almost a catchphrase, a ubiquitous motto that tends to instantly come to any volunteer's mind when trying to describe why they do what they do. Sometimes I wonder if we'll wear that phrase out.
And yet, what better phrase do we have to describe the actions of a few dedicated people who give from their heart to a cause that tries to make this planet just a bit better place to live in?
A good case in point are those people involved with Keepers of the Wild, a non-profit animal park and sanctuary that will soon be opening its gates to the public a little more than 20 miles north of Kingman on Historic Route 66.
Keepers of the Wild sprang from the mind and heart of Jonathan Kraft, who serves as founder and director. Kraft came here from Holland searching for the "American Dream." He wound up in Las Vegas working as a showman.
Having a natural empathy for wildlife, he couldn't help but notice the neglect and abuse occurring in the exotic animal industry around him. He soon found himself involved in animal rescue.
One particularly heart-wrenching experience began when the mother of a popular Vegas performer wanted to give Kraft a tiger.
When he arrived at her house, he not only found the tiger but a female lion with a broken leg and a male lion close to death. The male, confined in a small wire cage, was starving, flea-infested and filthy.
Kraft asked for all the animals. At first, the woman resisted, but the next morning Kraft was able to convince her to hand them all over.
The male lion, Sabu, was diagnosed with rickets and arthritis and it was recommended that he be put to sleep. Kraft refused and began a vigorous medication and treatment regimen. As Kraft spent many long hours with the big cat, talking to him, feeding him, even sleeping beside him, they began to form a deep bond.
Sabu eventually recovered, and from that day on whenever Kraft entered his enclosure, the lion would leap up and hug him. Kraft had indeed made a difference in the big cat's life.
Sabu had many peaceful years at the sanctuary before passing away on October 13, 2000 - what Kraft describes as "one of the saddest days of my life."
Today, Jonathan is head of an organization that exists solely for the purpose of making a difference for wildlife and exotic animals in particular.
Keepers of the Wild has been featured in the Smithsonian magazine, a National Geographic TV program and other places worldwide. It houses over one hundred animals, most of them rescued from neglectful or abusive situations in the entertainment or pet industries.
Keepers is not a new organization to this area. It has been in residence along Highway 93, not too far from the Hoover Dam, since 1999. Unable to buy more land for expansion, Kraft recently began looking for another area to grow in.
He says he happened to be driving along Route 66 north of Kingman when he saw a "For Sale" sign near Valentine and fell in love with the spot.
Things fell into place quickly and he was able to buy the land. Keepers of the Wild has not yet opened at their new location, but they are planning a soft opening sometime this fall or winter, with a grand opening this coming spring.
The new property near Valentine is in a better location for tourists, and it allows for expansion. Sixty acres are being developed in the initial phase but the property totals 175 acres. The boulder-strewn, sloping desert will feature naturalistic habitats where animals can roam freely among the rocks and trees.
Kraft states that Keepers of the Wild's goal is to build a facility that will be the standard for all future animal parks. They maintain a strict no-breeding policy.
Ask Kraft about this subject and he looks a bit like the fierce big cats he works to protect.
He says that many zoos and other animal facilities breed so many animals there are more animals than places for them to live, and they get moved around a lot - or just fall through the cracks.
"There are more tigers in captivity in this country than exist in the wild in their native habitat," he said. Some of the animals that fall through the cracks end up in "canned hunts," where a person pays a good sum of money to shoot a caged, often tame, animal.
Others wind up abused or neglected. Kraft goes on to say that the black market exotic animal trade is a huge industry, and over-breeding does not help matters.
However, he said his goal is not to knock zoos. He hopes to encourage zoos to rescue animals that already exist instead of breeding more.
People who support zoos and other animal care institutions can keep on top of these things by asking questions and being more proactive in watching the management of organizations that they donate their money to.
Keepers of the Wild is currently in the construction phase as animals are moved from their old property, and new buildings, enclosures and trails are built on the new one.
Kraft envisions a park where visitors can come, walk trails and look at the animals and even picnic at a high spot looking out over the park. But it is expensive.
Kraft has also had to pay for construction of a turning lane on Route 66, adding to his expenses. Not surprisingly, Keepers of the Wild is always on the lookout for donations. Just feeding the animals alone costs about $1,200-$1,500 a month.
But money alone doesn't run the sanctuary. That is where volunteers come in.
There are currently about 30 people who donate their time (and more are needed), cleaning cages, feeding animals, running the office and doing other everyday chores at the facility.
If Kraft is the heart of the organization, they are the blood that runs through this organization's veins. It's a passion, and they find it highly rewarding.
Just spend time with a few of them, and you can see the love and respect they hold for these creatures, even the fierce ones. And they can indeed be fierce.
In the past there have been a few frightening incidents with the big cats, where people were attacked. They recovered, but now strict safety procedures are in place.
Most people are not allowed in with the big cats anymore, and there are double-gated security systems in the new, naturalistic cages at the Valentine facility.
There is no doubt these are unpredictable wild animals and must be treated with due respect. But that wildness is part of the human fascination with these exotic creatures - a fascination that condemned these normally wild animals to a lifetime of captivity.
Jonathan Kraft seems to understand these animals as well as any human can and loves them just the way they are. So do the people who volunteer their time there.
And so, they do make a difference. Not only for the animals or for themselves, but also for all the people they touch with their message of respect, compassion and education.
For more information, visit their Web site at http://www.keepersofthewild.org/ or call (928) 769-1800.
http://www.kingmandailyminer.com/main.asp?SectionID=13&SubSectionID=18 &ArticleID=10305&TM=54252.73
J.C. Amberlyn
Miner Staff Photographer
Monday, September 18, 2006
Kraft with one of his tigers. The mutual trust between the two is obvious. The tiger lives in one of the new naturalistic habitats where it can feel the earth under its paws and rest with the shade of trees overhead.
"Making a Difference." How many times has this phrase been used to describe the people who volunteer their time helping others?
It is almost a catchphrase, a ubiquitous motto that tends to instantly come to any volunteer's mind when trying to describe why they do what they do. Sometimes I wonder if we'll wear that phrase out.
And yet, what better phrase do we have to describe the actions of a few dedicated people who give from their heart to a cause that tries to make this planet just a bit better place to live in?
A good case in point are those people involved with Keepers of the Wild, a non-profit animal park and sanctuary that will soon be opening its gates to the public a little more than 20 miles north of Kingman on Historic Route 66.
Keepers of the Wild sprang from the mind and heart of Jonathan Kraft, who serves as founder and director. Kraft came here from Holland searching for the "American Dream." He wound up in Las Vegas working as a showman.
Having a natural empathy for wildlife, he couldn't help but notice the neglect and abuse occurring in the exotic animal industry around him. He soon found himself involved in animal rescue.
One particularly heart-wrenching experience began when the mother of a popular Vegas performer wanted to give Kraft a tiger.
When he arrived at her house, he not only found the tiger but a female lion with a broken leg and a male lion close to death. The male, confined in a small wire cage, was starving, flea-infested and filthy.
Kraft asked for all the animals. At first, the woman resisted, but the next morning Kraft was able to convince her to hand them all over.
The male lion, Sabu, was diagnosed with rickets and arthritis and it was recommended that he be put to sleep. Kraft refused and began a vigorous medication and treatment regimen. As Kraft spent many long hours with the big cat, talking to him, feeding him, even sleeping beside him, they began to form a deep bond.
Sabu eventually recovered, and from that day on whenever Kraft entered his enclosure, the lion would leap up and hug him. Kraft had indeed made a difference in the big cat's life.
Sabu had many peaceful years at the sanctuary before passing away on October 13, 2000 - what Kraft describes as "one of the saddest days of my life."
Today, Jonathan is head of an organization that exists solely for the purpose of making a difference for wildlife and exotic animals in particular.
Keepers of the Wild has been featured in the Smithsonian magazine, a National Geographic TV program and other places worldwide. It houses over one hundred animals, most of them rescued from neglectful or abusive situations in the entertainment or pet industries.
Keepers is not a new organization to this area. It has been in residence along Highway 93, not too far from the Hoover Dam, since 1999. Unable to buy more land for expansion, Kraft recently began looking for another area to grow in.
He says he happened to be driving along Route 66 north of Kingman when he saw a "For Sale" sign near Valentine and fell in love with the spot.
Things fell into place quickly and he was able to buy the land. Keepers of the Wild has not yet opened at their new location, but they are planning a soft opening sometime this fall or winter, with a grand opening this coming spring.
The new property near Valentine is in a better location for tourists, and it allows for expansion. Sixty acres are being developed in the initial phase but the property totals 175 acres. The boulder-strewn, sloping desert will feature naturalistic habitats where animals can roam freely among the rocks and trees.
Kraft states that Keepers of the Wild's goal is to build a facility that will be the standard for all future animal parks. They maintain a strict no-breeding policy.
Ask Kraft about this subject and he looks a bit like the fierce big cats he works to protect.
He says that many zoos and other animal facilities breed so many animals there are more animals than places for them to live, and they get moved around a lot - or just fall through the cracks.
"There are more tigers in captivity in this country than exist in the wild in their native habitat," he said. Some of the animals that fall through the cracks end up in "canned hunts," where a person pays a good sum of money to shoot a caged, often tame, animal.
Others wind up abused or neglected. Kraft goes on to say that the black market exotic animal trade is a huge industry, and over-breeding does not help matters.
However, he said his goal is not to knock zoos. He hopes to encourage zoos to rescue animals that already exist instead of breeding more.
People who support zoos and other animal care institutions can keep on top of these things by asking questions and being more proactive in watching the management of organizations that they donate their money to.
Keepers of the Wild is currently in the construction phase as animals are moved from their old property, and new buildings, enclosures and trails are built on the new one.
Kraft envisions a park where visitors can come, walk trails and look at the animals and even picnic at a high spot looking out over the park. But it is expensive.
Kraft has also had to pay for construction of a turning lane on Route 66, adding to his expenses. Not surprisingly, Keepers of the Wild is always on the lookout for donations. Just feeding the animals alone costs about $1,200-$1,500 a month.
But money alone doesn't run the sanctuary. That is where volunteers come in.
There are currently about 30 people who donate their time (and more are needed), cleaning cages, feeding animals, running the office and doing other everyday chores at the facility.
If Kraft is the heart of the organization, they are the blood that runs through this organization's veins. It's a passion, and they find it highly rewarding.
Just spend time with a few of them, and you can see the love and respect they hold for these creatures, even the fierce ones. And they can indeed be fierce.
In the past there have been a few frightening incidents with the big cats, where people were attacked. They recovered, but now strict safety procedures are in place.
Most people are not allowed in with the big cats anymore, and there are double-gated security systems in the new, naturalistic cages at the Valentine facility.
There is no doubt these are unpredictable wild animals and must be treated with due respect. But that wildness is part of the human fascination with these exotic creatures - a fascination that condemned these normally wild animals to a lifetime of captivity.
Jonathan Kraft seems to understand these animals as well as any human can and loves them just the way they are. So do the people who volunteer their time there.
And so, they do make a difference. Not only for the animals or for themselves, but also for all the people they touch with their message of respect, compassion and education.
For more information, visit their Web site at http://www.keepersofthewild.org/ or call (928) 769-1800.
http://www.kingmandailyminer.com/main.asp?SectionID=13&SubSectionID=18 &ArticleID=10305&TM=54252.73
Ohio city council says it was mistaken to include hamsters, other common pets in exotic animal ban
ALEX M. PARKER , Morning Journal Writer
09/19/2006
ELYRIA -- When Elyria City Council passed an exotic animal ban two weeks ago, the vote came quickly, and with no discussion. Now the animal ban is arguably the most talked-about issue in the city.
Several council members are having second thoughts about their votes, claiming they only barely read the ordinance before voting ''Aye.'' And one councilman urged residents to bring their pets to last night's meeting in protest.
Several council members said they erred in passing a ban on "exotic animals" that included a provision barring anyone from owning a "fowl or animal" within 500 feet of another person.
The law excluded only cats and dogs from the last provision -- not hamsters, gerbils, Guinea pigs, rabbits, goldfish or the many other animals city-dwellers often keep.
Councilman Herman Larkins, D-5, who proposed the legislation for the Public Safety Committee, which he chairs, said he'd now like to see a more broad exclusion for pets.
"We're not infallible," said Larkins. "We make mistakes."
The law hasn't yet taken effect, and the committee plans to discuss the issue again and revise the ordinance before it's on the law books.
The issue has raised sparked controversy among both residents and elected officials.
Councilman Gary Gibbs, R-3, said he encouraged those opposed to the law to come to council -- and bring their pets.
Those who followed his advice were met by two police officers at the City Hall doors, who wouldn't let any animals in.
After the meeting, Mayor Bill Grace claimed Gibbs was trying to "make a mockery of things" by bringing pets into the council chamber.
"Any rational person would recognize it's inappropriate," Grace said. "For an elected official to invite people to do just that is a case in point, that his motives are often to cause disruption."
Gibbs said he didn't see any problem with residents bringing pets to council.
"I don't know why the mayor stopped them," said Gibbs. "I think we should be a public-friendly city. I don't see any problem or issue with that.
"(Grace) needs to take responsibility for it as much as council," said Gibbs. "He's the one that signed a foolish law."
The law was signed on Sept. 6, one day after it was passed by the entire council -- including Gibbs. The law was written by the city law department. Gibbs admitted he hadn't read the "catch-all" section relating to farm animals and pets.
Assistant Law Director Michael Szekely said he based the ordinance on several exotic animal bans already on the books in other cities.
The law bans "exotic animals," including alligators and crocodiles longer than 30 inches, poisonous animals, piranha fish, bears, leopards and tigers, and only excludes "licensed pet shops, menageries, zoological gardens and circuses."
While one piranha-owner spoke up last night, most of the residents' ire has been focused on the ordinance's second part, which sets limits on other pets.
"No person shall keep, harbor, or maintain, any horse, mule, cattle, sheep, goat, swine, rabbit, chicken, goose or other fowl or animal, except a dog or cat, within 500 feet of the inhabited dwelling of any other person," the ordinance reads.
Larkins read a law from the city of Newark, which excluded from its limitations hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, goldfish, parakeets and several other common pets. He said he hoped to see a similar provision in an exotic animal ban.
He said he only glanced at the second provision and now admits he was wrong.
Other City Council members admitted they hadn't looked at the law closely or considered what it would affect.
"I can't say I didn't read it," said Bonnie Ivancic, D-4, who also sits on the Public Safety Committee. "I was just uninformed."
She said she didn't realize it would affect programs such as 4-H, where children raise goats and other animals for the county fair and other events.
Elyria resident Deborah Zerbini spoke at the meeting to defend 4-H, noting that the only way for local youth to apply is to raise an animal at home.
Zerbini also questioned some of the law's provisions. "My son can have a crocodile less than 30 inches long, but he can't own a rabbit?" she asked.
The ordinance was passed "under suspension of rules," which allows council members to pass the ordinance immediately rather than after readings at three meetings as required by the city charter. A majority of council must vote to suspend the rules, and the three readings are often avoided by council to keep things running smoothly.
Gibbs said council might want to review how it passes legislation.
"Maybe if we would have had all three readings, we would have had more public input," Gibbs said.
Mayor Bill Grace disagreed, claiming council shouldn't change its procedures just because of one case.
"It think it's been blown far out of proportion," Grace said. "We should be thankful that this is the most controversial thing in Elyria city government right now."
http://www.morningjournal.com/site/news.cfm? newsid=17215102&BRD=1699&PAG=461&dept_id=46371&rfi=6
09/19/2006
ELYRIA -- When Elyria City Council passed an exotic animal ban two weeks ago, the vote came quickly, and with no discussion. Now the animal ban is arguably the most talked-about issue in the city.
Several council members are having second thoughts about their votes, claiming they only barely read the ordinance before voting ''Aye.'' And one councilman urged residents to bring their pets to last night's meeting in protest.
Several council members said they erred in passing a ban on "exotic animals" that included a provision barring anyone from owning a "fowl or animal" within 500 feet of another person.
The law excluded only cats and dogs from the last provision -- not hamsters, gerbils, Guinea pigs, rabbits, goldfish or the many other animals city-dwellers often keep.
Councilman Herman Larkins, D-5, who proposed the legislation for the Public Safety Committee, which he chairs, said he'd now like to see a more broad exclusion for pets.
"We're not infallible," said Larkins. "We make mistakes."
The law hasn't yet taken effect, and the committee plans to discuss the issue again and revise the ordinance before it's on the law books.
The issue has raised sparked controversy among both residents and elected officials.
Councilman Gary Gibbs, R-3, said he encouraged those opposed to the law to come to council -- and bring their pets.
Those who followed his advice were met by two police officers at the City Hall doors, who wouldn't let any animals in.
After the meeting, Mayor Bill Grace claimed Gibbs was trying to "make a mockery of things" by bringing pets into the council chamber.
"Any rational person would recognize it's inappropriate," Grace said. "For an elected official to invite people to do just that is a case in point, that his motives are often to cause disruption."
Gibbs said he didn't see any problem with residents bringing pets to council.
"I don't know why the mayor stopped them," said Gibbs. "I think we should be a public-friendly city. I don't see any problem or issue with that.
"(Grace) needs to take responsibility for it as much as council," said Gibbs. "He's the one that signed a foolish law."
The law was signed on Sept. 6, one day after it was passed by the entire council -- including Gibbs. The law was written by the city law department. Gibbs admitted he hadn't read the "catch-all" section relating to farm animals and pets.
Assistant Law Director Michael Szekely said he based the ordinance on several exotic animal bans already on the books in other cities.
The law bans "exotic animals," including alligators and crocodiles longer than 30 inches, poisonous animals, piranha fish, bears, leopards and tigers, and only excludes "licensed pet shops, menageries, zoological gardens and circuses."
While one piranha-owner spoke up last night, most of the residents' ire has been focused on the ordinance's second part, which sets limits on other pets.
"No person shall keep, harbor, or maintain, any horse, mule, cattle, sheep, goat, swine, rabbit, chicken, goose or other fowl or animal, except a dog or cat, within 500 feet of the inhabited dwelling of any other person," the ordinance reads.
Larkins read a law from the city of Newark, which excluded from its limitations hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, goldfish, parakeets and several other common pets. He said he hoped to see a similar provision in an exotic animal ban.
He said he only glanced at the second provision and now admits he was wrong.
Other City Council members admitted they hadn't looked at the law closely or considered what it would affect.
"I can't say I didn't read it," said Bonnie Ivancic, D-4, who also sits on the Public Safety Committee. "I was just uninformed."
She said she didn't realize it would affect programs such as 4-H, where children raise goats and other animals for the county fair and other events.
Elyria resident Deborah Zerbini spoke at the meeting to defend 4-H, noting that the only way for local youth to apply is to raise an animal at home.
Zerbini also questioned some of the law's provisions. "My son can have a crocodile less than 30 inches long, but he can't own a rabbit?" she asked.
The ordinance was passed "under suspension of rules," which allows council members to pass the ordinance immediately rather than after readings at three meetings as required by the city charter. A majority of council must vote to suspend the rules, and the three readings are often avoided by council to keep things running smoothly.
Gibbs said council might want to review how it passes legislation.
"Maybe if we would have had all three readings, we would have had more public input," Gibbs said.
Mayor Bill Grace disagreed, claiming council shouldn't change its procedures just because of one case.
"It think it's been blown far out of proportion," Grace said. "We should be thankful that this is the most controversial thing in Elyria city government right now."
http://www.morningjournal.com/site/news.cfm? newsid=17215102&BRD=1699&PAG=461&dept_id=46371&rfi=6
Puma cub born in Russian zoo
9/19/2006 3:09:44 PM
A puma cub was born to Kalina and Graf pumas in Krasnoyarsk zoo "Royev Ruchey" on September, 17. The cub feels well, but its mother refused to feed the newborn, so the zoo workers are taking urgent measures to find a wet nurse for the cub, as the scientific department of the flora and fauna park reported.
A big dog will suit the role of a wet nurse best of all. Several dog owners have already responded to the request, so the zoo workers hope they will manage to grow a healthy animal.
It is worth reminding that a contest on wet nurses for three tiger cubs, whose mother refused to feed them, had been announced in the zoo a year ago. The cubs were fed by domestic dog Nayda then.
http://english.newslab.ru/news/201342
A puma cub was born to Kalina and Graf pumas in Krasnoyarsk zoo "Royev Ruchey" on September, 17. The cub feels well, but its mother refused to feed the newborn, so the zoo workers are taking urgent measures to find a wet nurse for the cub, as the scientific department of the flora and fauna park reported.
A big dog will suit the role of a wet nurse best of all. Several dog owners have already responded to the request, so the zoo workers hope they will manage to grow a healthy animal.
It is worth reminding that a contest on wet nurses for three tiger cubs, whose mother refused to feed them, had been announced in the zoo a year ago. The cubs were fed by domestic dog Nayda then.
http://english.newslab.ru/news/201342
Jack Hanna visits Penn State campus with serval, dingo, other animals
Reviewed by Dustin Pangonis
Collegian Staff Writer
Snakes and owls sat next to the popcorn stands. The sound of rustling leaves and monkey voices drifted from the arena into the lobby. The Bryce Jordan Center was transformed into a jungle before the members of the audience even reached their seats.
On Friday night, 'Jungle' Jack Hanna delighted the crowd from the BJC's side stage, which has a capacity of 2,200. For most of the show, Hanna wove entertainment with information about problems facing animals and conservation.
Though the side stage set-up means the audience is closer, there was a large video display behind Hanna for close-ups of the animals, which led to some animal interaction. A serval cat turned toward the display, giving the impression he was looking at his mirror image.
"He sees himself up on the screen. That's a big serval cat!" Hanna said.
Later on, a dingo went up to a cameraman and began licking the lens.
"Uh-oh! He has rabies! Just kidding," Hanna said to the cameraman. "Did you have a hamburger for dinner? What's that? You're a vegetarian?"
Hanna was quick with jokes all night. While showing off a blue and gold macaw parrot, Hanna explained the bird's ability to mimic the human voice and mentioned one in Texas that knows more than 300 words in four languages.
Hanna said although his bird was capable of speaking, he could not show him off in the interest of keeping it a family show.
"This bird has four words, and they're all bad," he said.
The live animals were interspersed with video footage of Hanna, both in old shows and sneak footage from an upcoming program on mountain gorillas in Rwanda, where Hanna also works with an orphanage. The clips of the video, which Hanna said would be aired in about six months, showed Hanna observing the gorillas and included rare footage of a gorilla constructing its nest for the night.
"It didn't matter that I'd seen the gorillas before," he said. "I was more excited to see them this time because I had my family with me."
Another clip from Bearly Asleep showed Hanna and his team finding a black bear den with a newborn black bear, weighing in at only 3 pounds, 8 ounces.
In a powerful segment of the show, Hanna showed video from his visit with Anna Merz, a conservationist who set up a 60,000-acre wildlife preserve for the black rhino in Africa. The rhinos are prized for their horns, a symbol of power in some Middle Eastern cultures.
In the video, Hanna visited a baby rhino, Samia. Hanna revisited years later when the rhino had grown up.
"She sure has grown since I saw her. She's only gained about 3,000 pounds," Hanna said in the video.
Unfortunately, as Hanna said, "this story doesn't have a happy ending." Most rhinos aren't as lucky as Samia and are frequently poached. A few weeks after making the video, despite the high security measures of the wildlife preserve, she was killed by poachers.
Hanna said exotic animals are the second biggest smuggling industry in the United States, behind drugs.
Sprinkled throughout the show there were also references to the recent death of Steve Irwin, fellow animal expert. Hanna called Irwin "the greatest communicator in the history of the business." Hanna also responded to criticisms of Irwin by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA.)
"That's really the bottom of the barrel -- they didn't need to do that. [Steve] did so much for conservation," Hanna said. "All you kids, don't worry. Steve's up there starting a zoo."
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2006/09/ 09-18-06tdc/09-18-06dnews-02.asp
Collegian Staff Writer
Snakes and owls sat next to the popcorn stands. The sound of rustling leaves and monkey voices drifted from the arena into the lobby. The Bryce Jordan Center was transformed into a jungle before the members of the audience even reached their seats.
On Friday night, 'Jungle' Jack Hanna delighted the crowd from the BJC's side stage, which has a capacity of 2,200. For most of the show, Hanna wove entertainment with information about problems facing animals and conservation.
Though the side stage set-up means the audience is closer, there was a large video display behind Hanna for close-ups of the animals, which led to some animal interaction. A serval cat turned toward the display, giving the impression he was looking at his mirror image.
"He sees himself up on the screen. That's a big serval cat!" Hanna said.
Later on, a dingo went up to a cameraman and began licking the lens.
"Uh-oh! He has rabies! Just kidding," Hanna said to the cameraman. "Did you have a hamburger for dinner? What's that? You're a vegetarian?"
Hanna was quick with jokes all night. While showing off a blue and gold macaw parrot, Hanna explained the bird's ability to mimic the human voice and mentioned one in Texas that knows more than 300 words in four languages.
Hanna said although his bird was capable of speaking, he could not show him off in the interest of keeping it a family show.
"This bird has four words, and they're all bad," he said.
The live animals were interspersed with video footage of Hanna, both in old shows and sneak footage from an upcoming program on mountain gorillas in Rwanda, where Hanna also works with an orphanage. The clips of the video, which Hanna said would be aired in about six months, showed Hanna observing the gorillas and included rare footage of a gorilla constructing its nest for the night.
"It didn't matter that I'd seen the gorillas before," he said. "I was more excited to see them this time because I had my family with me."
Another clip from Bearly Asleep showed Hanna and his team finding a black bear den with a newborn black bear, weighing in at only 3 pounds, 8 ounces.
In a powerful segment of the show, Hanna showed video from his visit with Anna Merz, a conservationist who set up a 60,000-acre wildlife preserve for the black rhino in Africa. The rhinos are prized for their horns, a symbol of power in some Middle Eastern cultures.
In the video, Hanna visited a baby rhino, Samia. Hanna revisited years later when the rhino had grown up.
"She sure has grown since I saw her. She's only gained about 3,000 pounds," Hanna said in the video.
Unfortunately, as Hanna said, "this story doesn't have a happy ending." Most rhinos aren't as lucky as Samia and are frequently poached. A few weeks after making the video, despite the high security measures of the wildlife preserve, she was killed by poachers.
Hanna said exotic animals are the second biggest smuggling industry in the United States, behind drugs.
Sprinkled throughout the show there were also references to the recent death of Steve Irwin, fellow animal expert. Hanna called Irwin "the greatest communicator in the history of the business." Hanna also responded to criticisms of Irwin by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA.)
"That's really the bottom of the barrel -- they didn't need to do that. [Steve] did so much for conservation," Hanna said. "All you kids, don't worry. Steve's up there starting a zoo."
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2006/09/ 09-18-06tdc/09-18-06dnews-02.asp
Monday, September 18, 2006
Hillsborough Co. man clawed by tiger goes back in the cage
Another day in the tiger cage
Despite stitches in lip and arm, he returns to his big cats.
S.I. ROSENBAUM
Published September 15, 2006
BALM - He stood holding his lip. Blood was pouring out, but he kept his voice calm, level. "Good girl," he said to Rula. "Easy. Easy." The tiger listened to his voice, settling.
Then Lancelot Kollmann walked out of the training cage. He went into the house and looked in the mirror.
Where Rula had clawed him, it looked like he'd been hit with a hatchet.
His lower lip was split in two. On the side of his arm, the tiger had sliced down to bone.
That was Tuesday.
On Thursday, Kollmann, 37, walked back into the training cage with 25 stitches in his lip, five stitches and a drainage shunt in his arm, and 10 tigers.
Kollmann put them through their paces, calling each by name. They leaped between platforms and lay down at his feet at the tap of the whip. They snarled at him. He rubbed them under the chin.
It's his routine. He does this every morning, at his compound in rural eastern Hillsborough County, even though he hasn't performed in a circus in six years.
Family tragedy and legal roadblocks threw him out of the circus world. He's still finding his way back, but the circus has changed: animal acts have fallen out of favor.
Still he keeps training. How could he walk away?
* * *
Tiger training runs in his blood. His grandmother's grandmother was in the circus. His grandfather trained tigers, and his uncles carried on the tradition.
Kollmann grew up cleaning out the big cats' cages.
He wanted more. Larry allenDean, who worked alongside the family, remembers him as a "google-eyed" kid crazy about tigers.
allenDean gave him a whip to play with. But neither he nor Kollmann's uncles would let the boy touch a tiger.
"You don't bring a little 8-year-old kid in a cage," allenDean said. "They're snacks."
When Kollmann was a teenager, his father and uncles owned a circus. One night, the three men argued. The uncles stormed off.
Kollman's father looked at him.
Lance, he said, you do the act.
That night Kollmann walked into the big top. He was 16, with no formal training. But he had watched uncle Arturo for nine years.
"I knew exactly how he moved," Kollmann said. "I knew exactly what he said ... I never realized I was going to school. I learned to read the animals."
At his command, lions, tigers and leopard jumped through fiery hoops.
"I was more nervous after I came out than when I went in," he said. "I'd never seen the animals without some wire in between us. Once you see them without the wire, they're a lot bigger."
That night under the big top, his fate was sealed.
"Once you do your first performance, that's it," Kollmann said.
"I don't know how to explain it, because I ain't never been high. Something stimulates your brain ... like when you feel scared, but also excited."
* * *
Kollmann spreads out newspaper clippings on the kitchen table.
They show him in his gladiator costume, travelling with his family's circus. Those days are gone now. He doesn't know if they will return.
The catastrophe struck on Jan. 26, 2000.
That day one of the family's elephants, Kenya, broke free and stomped his aunt, Teresa Ramos-Caballero, to death in Riverview.
Teresa's death was the beginning of the family's undoing.
The state charged Kollmann's father, Manuel Ramos, with misdemeanors. The U.S. Department of Agriculture threatened to prosecute him for violating the federal Animal Welfare Act.
Ramos avoided federal prosecution by giving up his USDA license and turning his animals over to Kollmann.
But without his father's license, Kollmann couldn't perform with the cats.
He applied for a license of his own. He was turned down.
So he took a job driving trucks. Later, he borrowed money and bought a meat processing plant down the road.
Every morning, sometimes before dawn, he would train the cats.
* * *
In 2005, Kollmann finally got his federal license.
Kollmann's facilities are much better than his father's, said Lt. Steve DeLacure of the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
"He does a really good job," DeLacure said. "His facility is top notch."
But Kollmann still hasn't gone back to the big top.
"In the years I wasn't performing, I lost contact with a lot of people," he said.
And the circus has also changed.
There are fewer jobs for cat acts now, said Larry allenDean, Kollmann's old mentor.
"There's no work left," allenDean said. "Shows are giving it up."
Animal-rights groups put pressure on circuses, allenDean said. And cat acts require extra insurance premiums and labor.
DeLacure said he's watched the industry dwindle over the last 10 years.
But some hang on.
"It's the only life they know," he said.
* * *
When Rula attacked him on Tuesday, Kollmann said, it was an accident - hers and his.
Kollmann let the new, untrained tiger hang out in the training cage, so that she could get used to the space while he cleaned up.
He was behind her when he slipped in the mud. Startled, she whipped around, swiping him with her claws.
"When she wheeled up and clawed me in the lip I was thinking, 'Be ready. Be ready in case she tries to bite you,' " he recalled.
Two days later, his wife, Nelitza Vallellanes, rubbed hydrogen peroxide on his wounds. He ate a donut. It hurt to chew.
In a few months, a friend will come to train with Kollmann's tigers. Then, next summer, the tigers will go touring with a circus.
Kollmann will stay behind. He has responsibilities now. And years of rest have softened his once-firm physique.
He's been training his son, Michael, 13. Someday he might decide to enter the family business.
How will he know if it's in him to train tigers?
Once he has his first performance, Kollmann said. Once tigers lie down at his feet. Then he'll know.
S.I. Rosenbaum can be reached at 813 661-2442 or srosenbaum@sptimes.com
OWNING A TIGER
To own a tiger in Florida, a resident is required to:
* Own or lease at least 5 contiguous acres of land.
* Build cages that are surrounded by a fence that is at least 8 feet high.
* Specify what commercial purpose the animal will be used for, such as a pet shop, wildlife lectures or a traveling circus act.
* Document at least one year of substantial practical experience caring for, feeding, handling and husbandry of tigers or similar animals.
* Secure a permit from the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. For information, go to "Wildlife Dealers, Owners and Exhibitors" at http://myfwc.com/license_permit/index.aspx .
Source: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/15/Hillsborough/ Another_day_in_the_ti.shtml
Despite stitches in lip and arm, he returns to his big cats.
S.I. ROSENBAUM
Published September 15, 2006
BALM - He stood holding his lip. Blood was pouring out, but he kept his voice calm, level. "Good girl," he said to Rula. "Easy. Easy." The tiger listened to his voice, settling.
Then Lancelot Kollmann walked out of the training cage. He went into the house and looked in the mirror.
Where Rula had clawed him, it looked like he'd been hit with a hatchet.
His lower lip was split in two. On the side of his arm, the tiger had sliced down to bone.
That was Tuesday.
On Thursday, Kollmann, 37, walked back into the training cage with 25 stitches in his lip, five stitches and a drainage shunt in his arm, and 10 tigers.
Kollmann put them through their paces, calling each by name. They leaped between platforms and lay down at his feet at the tap of the whip. They snarled at him. He rubbed them under the chin.
It's his routine. He does this every morning, at his compound in rural eastern Hillsborough County, even though he hasn't performed in a circus in six years.
Family tragedy and legal roadblocks threw him out of the circus world. He's still finding his way back, but the circus has changed: animal acts have fallen out of favor.
Still he keeps training. How could he walk away?
* * *
Tiger training runs in his blood. His grandmother's grandmother was in the circus. His grandfather trained tigers, and his uncles carried on the tradition.
Kollmann grew up cleaning out the big cats' cages.
He wanted more. Larry allenDean, who worked alongside the family, remembers him as a "google-eyed" kid crazy about tigers.
allenDean gave him a whip to play with. But neither he nor Kollmann's uncles would let the boy touch a tiger.
"You don't bring a little 8-year-old kid in a cage," allenDean said. "They're snacks."
When Kollmann was a teenager, his father and uncles owned a circus. One night, the three men argued. The uncles stormed off.
Kollman's father looked at him.
Lance, he said, you do the act.
That night Kollmann walked into the big top. He was 16, with no formal training. But he had watched uncle Arturo for nine years.
"I knew exactly how he moved," Kollmann said. "I knew exactly what he said ... I never realized I was going to school. I learned to read the animals."
At his command, lions, tigers and leopard jumped through fiery hoops.
"I was more nervous after I came out than when I went in," he said. "I'd never seen the animals without some wire in between us. Once you see them without the wire, they're a lot bigger."
That night under the big top, his fate was sealed.
"Once you do your first performance, that's it," Kollmann said.
"I don't know how to explain it, because I ain't never been high. Something stimulates your brain ... like when you feel scared, but also excited."
* * *
Kollmann spreads out newspaper clippings on the kitchen table.
They show him in his gladiator costume, travelling with his family's circus. Those days are gone now. He doesn't know if they will return.
The catastrophe struck on Jan. 26, 2000.
That day one of the family's elephants, Kenya, broke free and stomped his aunt, Teresa Ramos-Caballero, to death in Riverview.
Teresa's death was the beginning of the family's undoing.
The state charged Kollmann's father, Manuel Ramos, with misdemeanors. The U.S. Department of Agriculture threatened to prosecute him for violating the federal Animal Welfare Act.
Ramos avoided federal prosecution by giving up his USDA license and turning his animals over to Kollmann.
But without his father's license, Kollmann couldn't perform with the cats.
He applied for a license of his own. He was turned down.
So he took a job driving trucks. Later, he borrowed money and bought a meat processing plant down the road.
Every morning, sometimes before dawn, he would train the cats.
* * *
In 2005, Kollmann finally got his federal license.
Kollmann's facilities are much better than his father's, said Lt. Steve DeLacure of the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
"He does a really good job," DeLacure said. "His facility is top notch."
But Kollmann still hasn't gone back to the big top.
"In the years I wasn't performing, I lost contact with a lot of people," he said.
And the circus has also changed.
There are fewer jobs for cat acts now, said Larry allenDean, Kollmann's old mentor.
"There's no work left," allenDean said. "Shows are giving it up."
Animal-rights groups put pressure on circuses, allenDean said. And cat acts require extra insurance premiums and labor.
DeLacure said he's watched the industry dwindle over the last 10 years.
But some hang on.
"It's the only life they know," he said.
* * *
When Rula attacked him on Tuesday, Kollmann said, it was an accident - hers and his.
Kollmann let the new, untrained tiger hang out in the training cage, so that she could get used to the space while he cleaned up.
He was behind her when he slipped in the mud. Startled, she whipped around, swiping him with her claws.
"When she wheeled up and clawed me in the lip I was thinking, 'Be ready. Be ready in case she tries to bite you,' " he recalled.
Two days later, his wife, Nelitza Vallellanes, rubbed hydrogen peroxide on his wounds. He ate a donut. It hurt to chew.
In a few months, a friend will come to train with Kollmann's tigers. Then, next summer, the tigers will go touring with a circus.
Kollmann will stay behind. He has responsibilities now. And years of rest have softened his once-firm physique.
He's been training his son, Michael, 13. Someday he might decide to enter the family business.
How will he know if it's in him to train tigers?
Once he has his first performance, Kollmann said. Once tigers lie down at his feet. Then he'll know.
S.I. Rosenbaum can be reached at 813 661-2442 or srosenbaum@sptimes.com
OWNING A TIGER
To own a tiger in Florida, a resident is required to:
* Own or lease at least 5 contiguous acres of land.
* Build cages that are surrounded by a fence that is at least 8 feet high.
* Specify what commercial purpose the animal will be used for, such as a pet shop, wildlife lectures or a traveling circus act.
* Document at least one year of substantial practical experience caring for, feeding, handling and husbandry of tigers or similar animals.
* Secure a permit from the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. For information, go to "Wildlife Dealers, Owners and Exhibitors" at http://myfwc.com/license_permit/index.aspx .
Source: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/15/Hillsborough/ Another_day_in_the_ti.shtml
Georgians protest circus featuring tigers, elephants
Jon Kalahar, Report
jkalahar@wtvm.com
Columbus, GA - The Shrine Circus is wrapping up a busy weekend. The fourth and final show is happening as we speak. Over ten thousand spectators attended the two day event...but a few local residents are just happy the circus will be leaving.
Protesters believe the circus is cruel to animals and should be animal free. As for circus management, they say these protesters don't know what they're talking about.
Just ask any one of the several hundred children streaming into the civic center for the Shrine Circus what their favorite part is and you get a quick response.
"Seeing the zebras." said Yasmeen Minniefield, circus spectator.
"Seeing the elephants." said Whitney Carter, circus spectator.
Being so close you could almost touch one of the giant elephants or snarling tigers leaves many wide eyed with wonder. But for some residents the circus means cruelty to animals.
"They're put in cages all they're lives an it's just wrong." said Doug Moyerman, circus protester.
Doug Moyerman is a senior at Brookstone High School. This is his second year to protest in front of the Shrine Circus.
"As long as we have people out her showing that we care and how we want to give a voice to these animals who are suffering and tortured, I think we're making a difference." said Moyerman.
We decided to check it out for ourselves. And while we found the tigers in cages, they didn't look to be sickly or even tortured. The elephants were mostly out in the open. Plus, this one found our camera pretty interesting.
"They have shaded areas, water, the trainers are there, they play with the animals. There's nothing to hide here. Everyone's welcome to come see it." said Serge Coronas, Jr., circus management.
Serge Coronas and his family have brought the circus to Columbus for the last twenty two years. He says without the animals there shouldn't be a circus.
"If everyone wants to keep protesting an try and stop animals in the show which everybody's trying hard to an then the circus entertainment is gone, shat is left." said Coronas.
We were shown licenses and veterinarian records for the elephants and everything seemed to be current and up to date.
And we would to totally remiss if we didn't mention how much money this circus raises for the local shriners' organization.
The Shrine Circus is expected to raise close to twenty five thousand dollars. And of course that goes to help children who are burn victims or that have disabilities.
http://www.wtvm.com/Global/story.asp? S=5419389&nav=8fap
jkalahar@wtvm.com
Columbus, GA - The Shrine Circus is wrapping up a busy weekend. The fourth and final show is happening as we speak. Over ten thousand spectators attended the two day event...but a few local residents are just happy the circus will be leaving.
Protesters believe the circus is cruel to animals and should be animal free. As for circus management, they say these protesters don't know what they're talking about.
Just ask any one of the several hundred children streaming into the civic center for the Shrine Circus what their favorite part is and you get a quick response.
"Seeing the zebras." said Yasmeen Minniefield, circus spectator.
"Seeing the elephants." said Whitney Carter, circus spectator.
Being so close you could almost touch one of the giant elephants or snarling tigers leaves many wide eyed with wonder. But for some residents the circus means cruelty to animals.
"They're put in cages all they're lives an it's just wrong." said Doug Moyerman, circus protester.
Doug Moyerman is a senior at Brookstone High School. This is his second year to protest in front of the Shrine Circus.
"As long as we have people out her showing that we care and how we want to give a voice to these animals who are suffering and tortured, I think we're making a difference." said Moyerman.
We decided to check it out for ourselves. And while we found the tigers in cages, they didn't look to be sickly or even tortured. The elephants were mostly out in the open. Plus, this one found our camera pretty interesting.
"They have shaded areas, water, the trainers are there, they play with the animals. There's nothing to hide here. Everyone's welcome to come see it." said Serge Coronas, Jr., circus management.
Serge Coronas and his family have brought the circus to Columbus for the last twenty two years. He says without the animals there shouldn't be a circus.
"If everyone wants to keep protesting an try and stop animals in the show which everybody's trying hard to an then the circus entertainment is gone, shat is left." said Coronas.
We were shown licenses and veterinarian records for the elephants and everything seemed to be current and up to date.
And we would to totally remiss if we didn't mention how much money this circus raises for the local shriners' organization.
The Shrine Circus is expected to raise close to twenty five thousand dollars. And of course that goes to help children who are burn victims or that have disabilities.
http://www.wtvm.com/Global/story.asp? S=5419389&nav=8fap
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Children can get up close and personal with tiger cubs, baby grizzlies at MO fair
Saturday, September 16, 2006
TJ GREANEY ~ Southeast Missourian
Children can get up close and personal with rabbits, tigers and wallabies.
For some exhibitors at the SEMO District Fair, sparking children's interest in wildlife is the goal.
"Critter" Chris Moss is the ringleader of a magic show known as Tropical Illusions. During Moss' three daily performances, doves turn into rabbits, a canary crows like a rooster and paper snakes explode from a wicker basket. But his wild and rollicking show wasn't always this way.
"Up until five years ago we had all that chrome and glitter of a Las Vegas act," said Moss, who hails from Oklahoma and performs at fairs, conferences and churches from April to October every year. "But for some reason, there was this glass wall up between me and the audience. It was all about me being up on stage. So I wanted to do something that had more of a positive message that made people feel connected."
Moss said he wanted a show where magic gets children hooked and the substance leaves parents happy. "I like to call it edu-tainment," he said.
This style was on display when he brought out Twinkles, an English Angora rabbit whose fluffy white fur looks like something Jim Henson might have dreamed up.
Moss explained that Twinkles' white hair can be combed out and used to make sweaters. He said this use is safe for the rabbits and actually serves to keep them cool during summer months.
But just to make sure everyone paid attention, Moss shot a stream of water on the children sitting in the front rows. For comic effect, Moss acted like Twinkles had just tinkled on them. Moss says it might seem silly, but the shrieks and smiles on the children's faces are proof that this was a show they wouldn't soon forget.
"We want kids to hold onto that sense of wonder they experience when they see the natural world," he said.
At another exhibit, children get the chance to get up close and personal with some even wilder animals. Woody's Menagerie has creatures ranging from baby grizzly bears and tigers all the way to wallabies, bison and dwarf deer. Visitors can pet and feed most of the animals.
Six-year-old twins Ireland and Rhaegan Lloyd were brave enough to try to tame the tiger. The children, who are animal enthusiasts, paid to have a picture taken with the cub. They said they can't decide if they want to be zoo keepers, veterinarians or animal rescue officers when they grow up.
"I really like tigers. They're my favorite animal," Rhaegan said. And posing for the picture she proved it by giving the cub a kiss on the nose. The tiger squealed and showed its teeth, but this was no biggy for the future naturalist. "He's just being a grumpy tiger," she said.
tgreaney@semissourian.com
335-6611, extension 245
http://www.semissourian.com/story/1168543.html
TJ GREANEY ~ Southeast Missourian
Children can get up close and personal with rabbits, tigers and wallabies.
For some exhibitors at the SEMO District Fair, sparking children's interest in wildlife is the goal.
"Critter" Chris Moss is the ringleader of a magic show known as Tropical Illusions. During Moss' three daily performances, doves turn into rabbits, a canary crows like a rooster and paper snakes explode from a wicker basket. But his wild and rollicking show wasn't always this way.
"Up until five years ago we had all that chrome and glitter of a Las Vegas act," said Moss, who hails from Oklahoma and performs at fairs, conferences and churches from April to October every year. "But for some reason, there was this glass wall up between me and the audience. It was all about me being up on stage. So I wanted to do something that had more of a positive message that made people feel connected."
Moss said he wanted a show where magic gets children hooked and the substance leaves parents happy. "I like to call it edu-tainment," he said.
This style was on display when he brought out Twinkles, an English Angora rabbit whose fluffy white fur looks like something Jim Henson might have dreamed up.
Moss explained that Twinkles' white hair can be combed out and used to make sweaters. He said this use is safe for the rabbits and actually serves to keep them cool during summer months.
But just to make sure everyone paid attention, Moss shot a stream of water on the children sitting in the front rows. For comic effect, Moss acted like Twinkles had just tinkled on them. Moss says it might seem silly, but the shrieks and smiles on the children's faces are proof that this was a show they wouldn't soon forget.
"We want kids to hold onto that sense of wonder they experience when they see the natural world," he said.
At another exhibit, children get the chance to get up close and personal with some even wilder animals. Woody's Menagerie has creatures ranging from baby grizzly bears and tigers all the way to wallabies, bison and dwarf deer. Visitors can pet and feed most of the animals.
Six-year-old twins Ireland and Rhaegan Lloyd were brave enough to try to tame the tiger. The children, who are animal enthusiasts, paid to have a picture taken with the cub. They said they can't decide if they want to be zoo keepers, veterinarians or animal rescue officers when they grow up.
"I really like tigers. They're my favorite animal," Rhaegan said. And posing for the picture she proved it by giving the cub a kiss on the nose. The tiger squealed and showed its teeth, but this was no biggy for the future naturalist. "He's just being a grumpy tiger," she said.
tgreaney@semissourian.com
335-6611, extension 245
http://www.semissourian.com/story/1168543.html
Animal ordinances in Northern Ohio
Hey, can I pet your camel ?
Because of Elyria’s new city animal ordinance, this question isn’t as bizarre as it might sound
Cindy Leise
The Chronicle-Telegram
ELYRIA — Under a new animal ordinance in the city, you can have a camel but you can’t have a bunny within 500 feet of another home.
You can have a gecko, but you can’t have a spider.
You can have a shark, but you can’t have a piranha.
You can have a sea lion, but you can’t have a monkey.
You can have a kinkajou, a brownish critter from South America, but you can’t have a chicken within 500 feet of another home.
The passage of a new law on Sept. 4 banning various exotic animals and limiting farm animals has been ridiculed by critics, including people posting messages on Web sites.
Is Elyria “Banning the Bunny” but allowing elephants?
The law prohibits people from keeping any horse, mule, cattle, sheep, goat, swine, rabbit, chicken, goose or other fowl or animal, except a dog or cat, within 500 feet of an inhabited dwelling.
Violating the law is punishable by a fine of up to $100.
The exotic animal part of the ordinance also prohibits the following: all poisonous animals, including fanged snakes and spiders; apes, baboons and monkeys; bears; cheetahs; crocodiles; constrictor snakes 6 feet or longer; coyotes; gamecocks and other fighting birds; hyenas; jaguars; leopards; lions; lynxes; foxes; piranhas; pumas; snow leopards; tigers; wolves; and birds of prey.
Violating the exotic animal portion is punishable by up to six months in jail and a maximum fine of $1,000.
The harshest critics of the ordinance are 4-H parents who say the law would strike at the heart of projects involving rabbits, chickens, pigs and goats.
The law is scheduled to go into effect in two weeks, but Mayor Bill Grace said it won’t be enforced until City Council revises it with help from the city Law Department.
Assistant Law Director Michael Szekely said he is researching several options.
The city could limit people to having no more than two of any animal, which would eliminate complaints about odor from a whole pen of animals, he said.
Another alternative is to exempt 4-H or school projects from being covered under the law, he said.
The proposal to limit ownership to just two animals doesn’t make sense, said Debbie Zerbini.
Her son, Anthony, exhibited a doe — a breeding female — and a litter of pure-bred rabbits at the Lorain County Fair last month.
“How can a 4-H kid take a doe and litter with only two rabbits?” Zerbini asked.
She said the other proposal doesn’t make sense either because some of her neighbors have rabbits that cause no harm, but those animals are not 4-H projects.
The owners of exotic animals are also concerned but are keeping a lower profile, according to the manager of Best-In-Pets pet store on North Abbe Road.
The manager, who declined to give her name, said about 100 customers have mentioned the new law to her and have urged her to start a petition to oppose it.
“There are people out there who want something other than dogs for pets,” she said.
Dedendra Schwarz, an employee at the shop, is one of those people.
Her 8-year-old son, Tyler, owns an 18-inch Chinese Water Dragon, a lizard he named Albert Pujols after his favorite baseball player.
Lizards are not listed as banned animals, and Schwarz hopes Council keeps it that way.
“He’s very attached to his lizard,” she said. “Even my great-aunt likes it, and she’s in her late 70s.”
Councilman Garry Gibbs, R-3rd Ward, said he thinks the whole law is a mess and it should be tossed.
There were no real problems to deal with in the first place, he said.
“I don’t recall the last time in Elyria when someone was eaten by a raptor,” he said.
Complaints about the law have been flowing in ever since it was approved.
Eric Woody, who lives in the Robin Park subdivision, said the law is ridiculous.
“If rabbits are now illegal in the city of Elyria, does that mean that at 4 a.m. when I leave for work and I see rabbits all over the neighborhood that I should be calling the police and reporting this illegal activity?” he asked.
“There are also illegal spiders all over my back yard, along with occasional raccoons, skunks, deer and squirrels,” he said. “I now feel it will be my civic job to report this to the proper authorities.”
Gibbs encouraged 4-H participants to express their views and even bring their pets to the City Council meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at City Hall.
Szekely, who drew up the new law, said a little more input wouldn’t hurt.
“Maybe someone from one of these pet shops should come and testify before Council,” Szekely said.
If Council rewrites the ordinance and continues to ban some animals, Law Director Terry “Pete” Shilling said any existing pets might have to be “grandfathered in.”
The only issue is that people would have to keep some proof that they owned the animal before the law went into effect, he said.
“I’m inclined to believe if they can prove they had the animal before this went into effect that we can’t do anything,” Shilling said.
HOW ANIMALS ARE REGULATED
Amherst: You must have 5 or more acres to have farm animals. Within one hour you must report to authorities the escape of any exotic animal.
Avon: No ordinances
Avon Lake: No ordinances
Elyria: You must have 5 or more acres to have farm animals. A new law passed Monday prohibits keeping horses, mules, cattle, sheep, goats, swine, rabbits, chicken, goose or other fowl or animal, except a dog or cat, within 500 feet of an inhabited dwelling. The new law also bans the following: all poisonous animals, including fanged snakes and spiders; apes, baboons and monkeys; bears; cheetahs; crocodiles; constrictor snakes of six feet or more; coyotes; game cocks and other fighting birds; hyenas; jaguars; leopards; lions; lynxes; foxes; piranha fish, pumas, snow leopards, tigers, wolves and birds of prey.
Lorain: The city bans wild animals or any carnivorous animal capable of causing physical harm or death to humans ranging from lions and bears to ferrets. The city also bans farm animals used for meat or fiber including cattle, sheep, swine, goats, chickens, roosters, llamas or horses.
North Ridgeville: Farm animals and exotic animals are required to have proper confinement and sanitary conditions.
Oberlin: No animal is prohibited as long as it does not create a nuisance, health hazard or stench.
Sheffield Lake: Information unavailable
Sheriff’s Department (includes all townships): No animal is prohibited, but quarters for exotic or farm animals can be inspected by the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
Wellington: Within one hour you must report to authorities the escape of any animal not indigenous to Ohio that could present the risk of serious physical harm to persons or property. If you keep a snake, reptile or other exotic animal, you are required to keep it secure.
Source: police departments, Council clerks or mayor’s offices
http://www.chroniclet.com/Daily%20Pages/091706head6.html
Because of Elyria’s new city animal ordinance, this question isn’t as bizarre as it might sound
Cindy Leise
The Chronicle-Telegram
ELYRIA — Under a new animal ordinance in the city, you can have a camel but you can’t have a bunny within 500 feet of another home.
You can have a gecko, but you can’t have a spider.
You can have a shark, but you can’t have a piranha.
You can have a sea lion, but you can’t have a monkey.
You can have a kinkajou, a brownish critter from South America, but you can’t have a chicken within 500 feet of another home.
The passage of a new law on Sept. 4 banning various exotic animals and limiting farm animals has been ridiculed by critics, including people posting messages on Web sites.
Is Elyria “Banning the Bunny” but allowing elephants?
The law prohibits people from keeping any horse, mule, cattle, sheep, goat, swine, rabbit, chicken, goose or other fowl or animal, except a dog or cat, within 500 feet of an inhabited dwelling.
Violating the law is punishable by a fine of up to $100.
The exotic animal part of the ordinance also prohibits the following: all poisonous animals, including fanged snakes and spiders; apes, baboons and monkeys; bears; cheetahs; crocodiles; constrictor snakes 6 feet or longer; coyotes; gamecocks and other fighting birds; hyenas; jaguars; leopards; lions; lynxes; foxes; piranhas; pumas; snow leopards; tigers; wolves; and birds of prey.
Violating the exotic animal portion is punishable by up to six months in jail and a maximum fine of $1,000.
The harshest critics of the ordinance are 4-H parents who say the law would strike at the heart of projects involving rabbits, chickens, pigs and goats.
The law is scheduled to go into effect in two weeks, but Mayor Bill Grace said it won’t be enforced until City Council revises it with help from the city Law Department.
Assistant Law Director Michael Szekely said he is researching several options.
The city could limit people to having no more than two of any animal, which would eliminate complaints about odor from a whole pen of animals, he said.
Another alternative is to exempt 4-H or school projects from being covered under the law, he said.
The proposal to limit ownership to just two animals doesn’t make sense, said Debbie Zerbini.
Her son, Anthony, exhibited a doe — a breeding female — and a litter of pure-bred rabbits at the Lorain County Fair last month.
“How can a 4-H kid take a doe and litter with only two rabbits?” Zerbini asked.
She said the other proposal doesn’t make sense either because some of her neighbors have rabbits that cause no harm, but those animals are not 4-H projects.
The owners of exotic animals are also concerned but are keeping a lower profile, according to the manager of Best-In-Pets pet store on North Abbe Road.
The manager, who declined to give her name, said about 100 customers have mentioned the new law to her and have urged her to start a petition to oppose it.
“There are people out there who want something other than dogs for pets,” she said.
Dedendra Schwarz, an employee at the shop, is one of those people.
Her 8-year-old son, Tyler, owns an 18-inch Chinese Water Dragon, a lizard he named Albert Pujols after his favorite baseball player.
Lizards are not listed as banned animals, and Schwarz hopes Council keeps it that way.
“He’s very attached to his lizard,” she said. “Even my great-aunt likes it, and she’s in her late 70s.”
Councilman Garry Gibbs, R-3rd Ward, said he thinks the whole law is a mess and it should be tossed.
There were no real problems to deal with in the first place, he said.
“I don’t recall the last time in Elyria when someone was eaten by a raptor,” he said.
Complaints about the law have been flowing in ever since it was approved.
Eric Woody, who lives in the Robin Park subdivision, said the law is ridiculous.
“If rabbits are now illegal in the city of Elyria, does that mean that at 4 a.m. when I leave for work and I see rabbits all over the neighborhood that I should be calling the police and reporting this illegal activity?” he asked.
“There are also illegal spiders all over my back yard, along with occasional raccoons, skunks, deer and squirrels,” he said. “I now feel it will be my civic job to report this to the proper authorities.”
Gibbs encouraged 4-H participants to express their views and even bring their pets to the City Council meeting at 7 p.m. Monday at City Hall.
Szekely, who drew up the new law, said a little more input wouldn’t hurt.
“Maybe someone from one of these pet shops should come and testify before Council,” Szekely said.
If Council rewrites the ordinance and continues to ban some animals, Law Director Terry “Pete” Shilling said any existing pets might have to be “grandfathered in.”
The only issue is that people would have to keep some proof that they owned the animal before the law went into effect, he said.
“I’m inclined to believe if they can prove they had the animal before this went into effect that we can’t do anything,” Shilling said.
HOW ANIMALS ARE REGULATED
Amherst: You must have 5 or more acres to have farm animals. Within one hour you must report to authorities the escape of any exotic animal.
Avon: No ordinances
Avon Lake: No ordinances
Elyria: You must have 5 or more acres to have farm animals. A new law passed Monday prohibits keeping horses, mules, cattle, sheep, goats, swine, rabbits, chicken, goose or other fowl or animal, except a dog or cat, within 500 feet of an inhabited dwelling. The new law also bans the following: all poisonous animals, including fanged snakes and spiders; apes, baboons and monkeys; bears; cheetahs; crocodiles; constrictor snakes of six feet or more; coyotes; game cocks and other fighting birds; hyenas; jaguars; leopards; lions; lynxes; foxes; piranha fish, pumas, snow leopards, tigers, wolves and birds of prey.
Lorain: The city bans wild animals or any carnivorous animal capable of causing physical harm or death to humans ranging from lions and bears to ferrets. The city also bans farm animals used for meat or fiber including cattle, sheep, swine, goats, chickens, roosters, llamas or horses.
North Ridgeville: Farm animals and exotic animals are required to have proper confinement and sanitary conditions.
Oberlin: No animal is prohibited as long as it does not create a nuisance, health hazard or stench.
Sheffield Lake: Information unavailable
Sheriff’s Department (includes all townships): No animal is prohibited, but quarters for exotic or farm animals can be inspected by the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
Wellington: Within one hour you must report to authorities the escape of any animal not indigenous to Ohio that could present the risk of serious physical harm to persons or property. If you keep a snake, reptile or other exotic animal, you are required to keep it secure.
Source: police departments, Council clerks or mayor’s offices
http://www.chroniclet.com/Daily%20Pages/091706head6.html
Actress plays panther-sitter for designer pal
Former Lost star Michelle Rodriguez almost missed out on pal Anand Jon's New York Fashion Week party earlier this week when she was put in charge of the designer's pet panther.
The actress took charge of her friend's exotic pet, Maya, backstage ate Jon's Spring 2007 fashion show at the Metropolitan Pavilion and agreed to make sure the big cat got safely to his after-show party at the Stereo club.
But when she arrived at the bash, the music was too loud for the six-week-old panther. Jon's spokeswoman says, "When the DJ refused to turn the music down, Michelle took the panther back to the car."
She later partied briefly but took her panther-sitting role seriously and quickly dashed back to the limousine, where the cub was sleeping.
http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2006/09/17/ michelle_rodriguez_plays_big_cat_sitter_
The actress took charge of her friend's exotic pet, Maya, backstage ate Jon's Spring 2007 fashion show at the Metropolitan Pavilion and agreed to make sure the big cat got safely to his after-show party at the Stereo club.
But when she arrived at the bash, the music was too loud for the six-week-old panther. Jon's spokeswoman says, "When the DJ refused to turn the music down, Michelle took the panther back to the car."
She later partied briefly but took her panther-sitting role seriously and quickly dashed back to the limousine, where the cub was sleeping.
http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2006/09/17/ michelle_rodriguez_plays_big_cat_sitter_
India; Politician advocates for lion safari park in his state
UP CM wants lion safari for Saifai
Dhananjay Mahapatra
[ 16 Sep, 2006 2353hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav continues to pamper his constituency of Saifai.
After having rewarded his pocketborough with a sports complex, an airstrip and entertainment extravaganza featuring Bollywood biggies, he wants to dole out another gift to the constituency for standing steadfast behind him, but has run into an obstacle in the form of a guideline laid down by the Supreme Court.
To give shape to his dream 'lion safari' project, the UP government has to comply with the November 27, 2000, order of the Supreme Court, which said: "No state government or Union territory shall set up a new zoo without getting clearance from the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) and orders from this court."
In an application seeking the SC's permission, the state said except for zoos at Lucknow and Kanpur, western and eastern UP had no zoo, depriving a vast population an opportunity to learn and educate themselves about wildlife protection and conservation.
To correct this, the state government wishes to open a lion safari, which it described as a special kind of zoo, in the Fischer forest area of Etawah district.
To buttress its arguments for a lion safari, the state, in its application moved through advocate Wasim A Qadri, expressed concern about the dwindling numbers of Asiatic lions, facing "serious threat of survival".
It narrated how these royal beasts were found roaming in south-western Asia and northern India just 200 years ago and are now confined to a small pocket in the Gir reserved forest of Gujarat.
"In view of this and the importance of the role of zoos and safaris in terms of conservation education, a lion safari park in an area of 150 hectares in the Fischer forest is being conceived,"the application said.
On the selection of Etawah district for the proposal, the government said, "There is a remarkable similarity of temperature and humidity, vegetation, ruggedness of the terrain etc between the selected area and the Gir protected area."
After justifying Etawah's suitability, the state explained its seriousness about the project by pointing out that a budgetary allocation of Rs 1.04 crore has already been made in this financial year towards the lion safari, which is estimated to cost Rs 5.6 crore.
The state also placed before the apex court its communication to CZA seeking permission to set up the safar
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1998627.cms
Dhananjay Mahapatra
[ 16 Sep, 2006 2353hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav continues to pamper his constituency of Saifai.
After having rewarded his pocketborough with a sports complex, an airstrip and entertainment extravaganza featuring Bollywood biggies, he wants to dole out another gift to the constituency for standing steadfast behind him, but has run into an obstacle in the form of a guideline laid down by the Supreme Court.
To give shape to his dream 'lion safari' project, the UP government has to comply with the November 27, 2000, order of the Supreme Court, which said: "No state government or Union territory shall set up a new zoo without getting clearance from the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) and orders from this court."
In an application seeking the SC's permission, the state said except for zoos at Lucknow and Kanpur, western and eastern UP had no zoo, depriving a vast population an opportunity to learn and educate themselves about wildlife protection and conservation.
To correct this, the state government wishes to open a lion safari, which it described as a special kind of zoo, in the Fischer forest area of Etawah district.
To buttress its arguments for a lion safari, the state, in its application moved through advocate Wasim A Qadri, expressed concern about the dwindling numbers of Asiatic lions, facing "serious threat of survival".
It narrated how these royal beasts were found roaming in south-western Asia and northern India just 200 years ago and are now confined to a small pocket in the Gir reserved forest of Gujarat.
"In view of this and the importance of the role of zoos and safaris in terms of conservation education, a lion safari park in an area of 150 hectares in the Fischer forest is being conceived,"the application said.
On the selection of Etawah district for the proposal, the government said, "There is a remarkable similarity of temperature and humidity, vegetation, ruggedness of the terrain etc between the selected area and the Gir protected area."
After justifying Etawah's suitability, the state explained its seriousness about the project by pointing out that a budgetary allocation of Rs 1.04 crore has already been made in this financial year towards the lion safari, which is estimated to cost Rs 5.6 crore.
The state also placed before the apex court its communication to CZA seeking permission to set up the safar
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1998627.cms
Video Operant Conditioning
Watch our Veterinarian, Dr. Liz Wynn, DVM demonstrating operant conditioning at Big Cat Rescue HERE
Lions Dying in Indian Zoo After Failed Experiment
Lajwanti (front) and Lakshmi rest inside their special off display exhibit enclosure at Chhatbir Zoo in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh on September 6, 2006. Twenty-one feeble lions are waiting to die in their cages at a north Indian zoo after a breeding experiment meant to boost the park's attractions with a number of healthy animals went horribly wrong. Photo taken September 6, 2006. REUTERS/Ajay Verma (INDIA)
By Palash Kumar
CHANDIGARH, India (Reuters) - Twenty-one lions are dying in a zoo in north India after a cross-breeding experiment to boost the park's attractions went disastrously wrong. In the 1980s officials at the Chhatbir Zoo in the northern city of Chandigarh, bred captive Asiatic lions with a pair of African circus animals, resulting in a hybrid species.
Within a few years it became obvious it had not worked.
The offspring found it hard to walk, let alone run, because their hind legs were weak. And by the mid 1990s the big cats -- which live for up to 20 years in captivity -- showed symptoms of failing immune systems.
But it wasn't until 2000 that the breeding programme was ended, and the male lions given vasectomies, by which time the zoo had 70 to 80 such lions.
Their number dwindled slowly, with disease killing some and some dying of wounds inflicted by other lions.
Authorities say they are waiting for the population to "phase out" before they can start breeding pure Asiatic lions.
"But the effort here is to help them die with dignity," said Dharminder Sharma, a senior zoo official. "We give them all the facilities to live a happy life in their last years. Some of the old lions are even given boneless meat."
Last year the zoo opened a special enclosure, away from the main exhibit area, where it keeps lions who have become too feeble to defend themselves.
It has been dubbed an "old age home" for lions.
Ailing Lakshmi and Lajwanti now live in these sheds, which have a small caged courtyard.
Both are hybrid and are extremely weak. They can barely stand up or walk. Their only activity is a small but painful walk to eat their meals. However, if challenged, they can still muster a spine-chilling roar.
In August, Lakshmi stopped eating. Doctors at the zoo put her on a drip and fed her glucose through water.
"Those were nervous times for us," said Sharma.
"We tried very hard to keep her alive and eventually succeeded when she slowly started to eat ... Even if they are meant to die, it doesn't meant we kill them by not treating them," he added.
Asiatic lions are found only in India and, at present, there are about 300 of them in the Gir national park in the western state of Gujarat.
In the mid-20th century, their numbers were less then 15 as they were vigorously hunted by the Maharajas and princes for whom the majestic animal was the most coveted game. The population recovered after a breeding programme launched in the Gir sanctuary in the 1960s.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1375372006
By Palash Kumar
CHANDIGARH, India (Reuters) - Twenty-one lions are dying in a zoo in north India after a cross-breeding experiment to boost the park's attractions went disastrously wrong. In the 1980s officials at the Chhatbir Zoo in the northern city of Chandigarh, bred captive Asiatic lions with a pair of African circus animals, resulting in a hybrid species.
Within a few years it became obvious it had not worked.
The offspring found it hard to walk, let alone run, because their hind legs were weak. And by the mid 1990s the big cats -- which live for up to 20 years in captivity -- showed symptoms of failing immune systems.
But it wasn't until 2000 that the breeding programme was ended, and the male lions given vasectomies, by which time the zoo had 70 to 80 such lions.
Their number dwindled slowly, with disease killing some and some dying of wounds inflicted by other lions.
Authorities say they are waiting for the population to "phase out" before they can start breeding pure Asiatic lions.
"But the effort here is to help them die with dignity," said Dharminder Sharma, a senior zoo official. "We give them all the facilities to live a happy life in their last years. Some of the old lions are even given boneless meat."
Last year the zoo opened a special enclosure, away from the main exhibit area, where it keeps lions who have become too feeble to defend themselves.
It has been dubbed an "old age home" for lions.
Ailing Lakshmi and Lajwanti now live in these sheds, which have a small caged courtyard.
Both are hybrid and are extremely weak. They can barely stand up or walk. Their only activity is a small but painful walk to eat their meals. However, if challenged, they can still muster a spine-chilling roar.
In August, Lakshmi stopped eating. Doctors at the zoo put her on a drip and fed her glucose through water.
"Those were nervous times for us," said Sharma.
"We tried very hard to keep her alive and eventually succeeded when she slowly started to eat ... Even if they are meant to die, it doesn't meant we kill them by not treating them," he added.
Asiatic lions are found only in India and, at present, there are about 300 of them in the Gir national park in the western state of Gujarat.
In the mid-20th century, their numbers were less then 15 as they were vigorously hunted by the Maharajas and princes for whom the majestic animal was the most coveted game. The population recovered after a breeding programme launched in the Gir sanctuary in the 1960s.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1375372006
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Escaped big cats, other exotics in the British countryside
It's a (sort of) jungle out there
By James Clarke
BBC News, England
Pumas, lynx and vultures may not be creatures people would expect to see in England.
But according to experts they could all be out there - some as escapees from zoos or wildlife parks and others as unexplained secretive residents of rural regions.
Reports of a tiger spotted in Yorkshire earlier this year remain unconfirmed, but other less-threatening but similarly-unlikely species are believed to be making England their home.
The changing climate could be a reason why breeds of owl and water fowl not normally found in the UK have been seen in this country, according to zoologist Jacqueline Pearson.
She is head of waterfowl at Blackbrook Zoological Park in Staffordshire, from where a vulture named Bones escaped in August.
Bones has not been re-captured and reported sightings of him have suggested he could be on a moor a few miles away.
People keen to help have reported seeing vultures further afield, but Ms Pearson and her fellow zoo keepers believe those vultures, spotted in locations including Cornwall, Norfolk and north Wales, could not be Bones.
"Knowing Bones, he hasn't got the instinct to go that far," she said.
"It would be different with some other birds but vultures are not hunters, they live off carrion [carcasses of already dead animals].
"Some birds of prey escape all the time, but when we began to realise there could be other vultures out there, we couldn't believe it."
Ms Pearson said any other vultures on the loose in Europe were likely to be escapees from zoos like Bones, but admitted they could be appearing for other reasons.
"Obviously with climate change there are things going on. There are griffin vultures in Spain and we're not that far from Spain.
"Owls seem to be on the move that we didn't know about, some European breeds are definitely moving into Britain."
In June North Yorkshire Police received several reports of a tiger on the loose in countryside near Tadcaster.
A wildlife expert told officers the animal could have been a cub bought illegally and then released - and warned it could be very dangerous.
It was not confirmed that the animal people had spotted was a tiger, but whatever the cat was, it appears it is not alone.
Danny Bamping, of the British Big Cats Society (BBCS) said he receives about 200 reports a month of big cat sightings, with the number increasing over the past three to five years.
The BBCS was set up to scientifically identify, quantify, catalogue and protect the big cats roaming the British countryside, offering people the chance to report any big cats they have seen.
Mr Bamping said: "We're getting more reports than ever.
"The South West is still the area with most sightings but the area around the England-Wales border gets a lot too - they are rural areas, maybe that's why there are more there.
"They are mainly black cats, but others are brown, which I think are pumas, and there are also reports of big cats without tails, which would be lynx.
"About a third you can immediately disregard as hoaxes but that still leaves more than 60% which we take seriously."
Earlier this year it was confirmed Norfolk Police had found a dead lynx in a gamekeeper's freezer in the 1990s.
The cat was found in 1991 when officers searched the man's house after reports he had been killing birds of prey - but the identity of the animal was only made public this year after a request under the Freedom of Information Act.
Leopard in garden
It was confirmed the lynx had been shot while roaming near Great Witchingham - about 12 miles (19.3km) north west of Norwich.
Big cats sightings are not only the reserve of rural areas though - in 2005 the BBCS received a report from a man in south London that a "big black cat" had pounced on him at the bottom of his garden.
And it is not only wild big cats who may make their homes in the capital - in May magistrates gave conservationist Todd Dalton permission to keep a leopard in a cage in his garden in Peckham.
A resident of the South West?
Other animals which have unexpectedly found themselves in an unusual habitat have not fared so well.
SpongeBob, a squirrel monkey stolen from Chessington World of Adventures in Surrey in July, was bullied by other monkeys on his return and had to be moved to a new zoo in Battersea, south London.
And when Ralph, a 5ft tall South American rhea who escaped from his enclosure at a smallholding in Kent, was found four days later, his owner said he only had a 50-50 chance of survival because of the shock.
A Scottish-based group called the Wild Beasts Trust has received publicity for its aims of returning creatures such as wolves, bears, elk, boars, bison and walruses to the UK.
Members have told the BBC they are aiming to "bring back Britain's lost mammals", but the release of such animals would be illegal and the group's ambitions have been criticised as dangerous by politicians, farmers and the Countryside Alliance.
But if the group gets its way it could be that any "wild beasts" they do release find there are a number of others out there waiting for them already.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/5338760.stm
By James Clarke
BBC News, England
Pumas, lynx and vultures may not be creatures people would expect to see in England.
But according to experts they could all be out there - some as escapees from zoos or wildlife parks and others as unexplained secretive residents of rural regions.
Reports of a tiger spotted in Yorkshire earlier this year remain unconfirmed, but other less-threatening but similarly-unlikely species are believed to be making England their home.
The changing climate could be a reason why breeds of owl and water fowl not normally found in the UK have been seen in this country, according to zoologist Jacqueline Pearson.
She is head of waterfowl at Blackbrook Zoological Park in Staffordshire, from where a vulture named Bones escaped in August.
Bones has not been re-captured and reported sightings of him have suggested he could be on a moor a few miles away.
People keen to help have reported seeing vultures further afield, but Ms Pearson and her fellow zoo keepers believe those vultures, spotted in locations including Cornwall, Norfolk and north Wales, could not be Bones.
"Knowing Bones, he hasn't got the instinct to go that far," she said.
"It would be different with some other birds but vultures are not hunters, they live off carrion [carcasses of already dead animals].
"Some birds of prey escape all the time, but when we began to realise there could be other vultures out there, we couldn't believe it."
Ms Pearson said any other vultures on the loose in Europe were likely to be escapees from zoos like Bones, but admitted they could be appearing for other reasons.
"Obviously with climate change there are things going on. There are griffin vultures in Spain and we're not that far from Spain.
"Owls seem to be on the move that we didn't know about, some European breeds are definitely moving into Britain."
In June North Yorkshire Police received several reports of a tiger on the loose in countryside near Tadcaster.
A wildlife expert told officers the animal could have been a cub bought illegally and then released - and warned it could be very dangerous.
It was not confirmed that the animal people had spotted was a tiger, but whatever the cat was, it appears it is not alone.
Danny Bamping, of the British Big Cats Society (BBCS) said he receives about 200 reports a month of big cat sightings, with the number increasing over the past three to five years.
The BBCS was set up to scientifically identify, quantify, catalogue and protect the big cats roaming the British countryside, offering people the chance to report any big cats they have seen.
Mr Bamping said: "We're getting more reports than ever.
"The South West is still the area with most sightings but the area around the England-Wales border gets a lot too - they are rural areas, maybe that's why there are more there.
"They are mainly black cats, but others are brown, which I think are pumas, and there are also reports of big cats without tails, which would be lynx.
"About a third you can immediately disregard as hoaxes but that still leaves more than 60% which we take seriously."
Earlier this year it was confirmed Norfolk Police had found a dead lynx in a gamekeeper's freezer in the 1990s.
The cat was found in 1991 when officers searched the man's house after reports he had been killing birds of prey - but the identity of the animal was only made public this year after a request under the Freedom of Information Act.
Leopard in garden
It was confirmed the lynx had been shot while roaming near Great Witchingham - about 12 miles (19.3km) north west of Norwich.
Big cats sightings are not only the reserve of rural areas though - in 2005 the BBCS received a report from a man in south London that a "big black cat" had pounced on him at the bottom of his garden.
And it is not only wild big cats who may make their homes in the capital - in May magistrates gave conservationist Todd Dalton permission to keep a leopard in a cage in his garden in Peckham.
A resident of the South West?
Other animals which have unexpectedly found themselves in an unusual habitat have not fared so well.
SpongeBob, a squirrel monkey stolen from Chessington World of Adventures in Surrey in July, was bullied by other monkeys on his return and had to be moved to a new zoo in Battersea, south London.
And when Ralph, a 5ft tall South American rhea who escaped from his enclosure at a smallholding in Kent, was found four days later, his owner said he only had a 50-50 chance of survival because of the shock.
A Scottish-based group called the Wild Beasts Trust has received publicity for its aims of returning creatures such as wolves, bears, elk, boars, bison and walruses to the UK.
Members have told the BBC they are aiming to "bring back Britain's lost mammals", but the release of such animals would be illegal and the group's ambitions have been criticised as dangerous by politicians, farmers and the Countryside Alliance.
But if the group gets its way it could be that any "wild beasts" they do release find there are a number of others out there waiting for them already.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/5338760.stm
Plea agreements in CA tiger case thrown out
Judge questions whether charges should be heard in criminal court
By Jean Ortiz, jortiz@VenturaCountyStar.com
September 16, 2006
A federal court case involving a former Tierra Rejada Valley couple accused of owning an escaped tiger that was shot and killed in Moorpark last year has hit another snag.
U.S. District Judge George H. King has thrown out the recently submitted signed plea agreements of the alleged owners of the tiger, Gert "Abby" Hedengran and Roena "Emma" Hedengran, until a prosecution issue is resolved.
King questions whether some of the charges the couple face are violations of criminal statutes or more properly heard as regulatory violations, according to court records.
Abby Hedengran had agreed to plead guilty to six counts, including four misdemeanor charges for transporting exotic cats in enclosures of "insufficient structural strength" and in a manner that could cause them harm; exhibiti
ng exotic cats without a license; and keeping the animals in facilities that couldn't prevent their escape, according to court records summarizing the plea agreements submitted Aug. 21. The remaining charges, according to the complaint, are felonies: making a false statement to a federal authority, obstruction of justice and witness tampering.
Emma Hedengran had agreed to plead guilty to the same misdemeanor charges minus the exhibiting without a license charge.
King has called into question only the misdemeanor charges and suggests that they could be violations of administrative rules, subject to an administrative hearing before the Department of Agriculture. If so, punishment would be in the form of fines rather than prison time. It does not affect the felony charges Abby Hedengran faces, which are still intact, nor indicate the case could be thrown out.
"It's better to figure it out now than it is to convict them and then find out later through the appellate process at the U.S. Court of Appeals that this was never a crime and have the convictions reversed," said Alfred Vargas, a Ventura lawyer not connected with the case but familiar with federal court proceedings.
The matter is not unusual, but merely an area of untested law, he said.
Laurie Levenson, a Loyola Law School professor and former federal prosecutor, agreed, saying it's always good when there is thorough consideration of a case.
"It's an indication that they're a bit in uncharted territory and they want to make sure they are on the right track," she said.
The couple were to appear in court Sept. 5 for the change of plea hearing, but that was pushed off pending resolution of this latest issue.
Lawyers have until Sept. 25 to submit briefs arguing whether the couple violated the criminal code or administrative rules.
The Hedengrans were at the center of controversy during a weeklong search for the exotic cat in February 2005. The 352-pound tiger was found in a city park and shot and killed by wildlife officials out of concern for public safety. Authorities alleged the animal belonged to the couple, who had recently moved to the area with nearly two dozen exotic cats, and that the animal escaped two weeks before the search began. A ranch worker's sighting prompted the search.
The couple now live in Nevada.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Johns, the prosecutor in the case, did not return repeated calls seeking comment.
Janet Sherman, who represents Emma Hedengran in the case, declined comment.
Kimberly Savo, Abby Hedengran's lawyer, was unavailable for comment.
When the couple were initially charged in March 2005, Abby Hedengran faced as much as 60 years in federal prison, while Emma Hedengran faced a maximum 10-year federal prison sentence.
http://www.venturacountystar.com/vcs/co_valley/article/ 0,1375,VCS_166_4998845,00.html
By Jean Ortiz, jortiz@VenturaCountyStar.com
September 16, 2006
A federal court case involving a former Tierra Rejada Valley couple accused of owning an escaped tiger that was shot and killed in Moorpark last year has hit another snag.
U.S. District Judge George H. King has thrown out the recently submitted signed plea agreements of the alleged owners of the tiger, Gert "Abby" Hedengran and Roena "Emma" Hedengran, until a prosecution issue is resolved.
King questions whether some of the charges the couple face are violations of criminal statutes or more properly heard as regulatory violations, according to court records.
Abby Hedengran had agreed to plead guilty to six counts, including four misdemeanor charges for transporting exotic cats in enclosures of "insufficient structural strength" and in a manner that could cause them harm; exhibiti
ng exotic cats without a license; and keeping the animals in facilities that couldn't prevent their escape, according to court records summarizing the plea agreements submitted Aug. 21. The remaining charges, according to the complaint, are felonies: making a false statement to a federal authority, obstruction of justice and witness tampering.
Emma Hedengran had agreed to plead guilty to the same misdemeanor charges minus the exhibiting without a license charge.
King has called into question only the misdemeanor charges and suggests that they could be violations of administrative rules, subject to an administrative hearing before the Department of Agriculture. If so, punishment would be in the form of fines rather than prison time. It does not affect the felony charges Abby Hedengran faces, which are still intact, nor indicate the case could be thrown out.
"It's better to figure it out now than it is to convict them and then find out later through the appellate process at the U.S. Court of Appeals that this was never a crime and have the convictions reversed," said Alfred Vargas, a Ventura lawyer not connected with the case but familiar with federal court proceedings.
The matter is not unusual, but merely an area of untested law, he said.
Laurie Levenson, a Loyola Law School professor and former federal prosecutor, agreed, saying it's always good when there is thorough consideration of a case.
"It's an indication that they're a bit in uncharted territory and they want to make sure they are on the right track," she said.
The couple were to appear in court Sept. 5 for the change of plea hearing, but that was pushed off pending resolution of this latest issue.
Lawyers have until Sept. 25 to submit briefs arguing whether the couple violated the criminal code or administrative rules.
The Hedengrans were at the center of controversy during a weeklong search for the exotic cat in February 2005. The 352-pound tiger was found in a city park and shot and killed by wildlife officials out of concern for public safety. Authorities alleged the animal belonged to the couple, who had recently moved to the area with nearly two dozen exotic cats, and that the animal escaped two weeks before the search began. A ranch worker's sighting prompted the search.
The couple now live in Nevada.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Johns, the prosecutor in the case, did not return repeated calls seeking comment.
Janet Sherman, who represents Emma Hedengran in the case, declined comment.
Kimberly Savo, Abby Hedengran's lawyer, was unavailable for comment.
When the couple were initially charged in March 2005, Abby Hedengran faced as much as 60 years in federal prison, while Emma Hedengran faced a maximum 10-year federal prison sentence.
http://www.venturacountystar.com/vcs/co_valley/article/ 0,1375,VCS_166_4998845,00.html
Friday, September 15, 2006
PETA says: Irwin harassed wildlife
PETA VP Dan Mathews on Tucker Carlson, top video on MSNBC.com:
PETA says: Irwin harassed wildlife
Watch and see what you think.
Siberian tiger cub dies at Pittsburgh zoo
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Thursday, September 14, 2006 · Last updated 4:39 p.m. PT
PITTSBURGH -- The smallest of three rare Siberian tiger cubs born at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium died Thursday, zoo officials said.
Respiratory problems likely caused the 5-week-old cub's death, the zoo said. But results of a necropsy performed Thursday won't be available for several weeks.
Zookeepers noticed the cub was lethargic Wednesday when its mother, Toma, allowed her three cubs to leave the den where they were born Aug. 8. Veterinarians tried to treat the cub, but its condition worsened.
The 4-pound female was half the size of her brother and sister, the zoo said.
There are only about 400 Siberian tigers in the wild and about 190 in U.S. zoos. Their mortality rate in the wild is about 30 to 40 percent.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/ 1110AP_BRF_Tiger_Cub_Dies.html
Thursday, September 14, 2006 · Last updated 4:39 p.m. PT
PITTSBURGH -- The smallest of three rare Siberian tiger cubs born at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium died Thursday, zoo officials said.
Respiratory problems likely caused the 5-week-old cub's death, the zoo said. But results of a necropsy performed Thursday won't be available for several weeks.
Zookeepers noticed the cub was lethargic Wednesday when its mother, Toma, allowed her three cubs to leave the den where they were born Aug. 8. Veterinarians tried to treat the cub, but its condition worsened.
The 4-pound female was half the size of her brother and sister, the zoo said.
There are only about 400 Siberian tigers in the wild and about 190 in U.S. zoos. Their mortality rate in the wild is about 30 to 40 percent.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/ 1110AP_BRF_Tiger_Cub_Dies.html
French zoo welcomes rare Barbary lion cubs
September 15 2006 at 02:34AM
Les Sables D'Olonne, France - Two Atlas lion cubs, which are extinct in the wild, have been born in a zoo in western France, the zoo said on Thursday.
Djebel and Taza, both females, were born on July 25 to seven-year-old mother Jerada and 17-year-old father Bali, the Sables d'Olonne zoo said.
The last known Atlas lion in the wild, a sub-species also known as Barbary or Nubian lions, was killed by a poacher in Morocco in 1922.
Around 50 live in zoos around the world.
Jerada was being "a real mother hen and very protective", the zoo's scientific director Sandrine Silhol said. - Sapa-AFP
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31& art_id=qw1158265981271B216
Les Sables D'Olonne, France - Two Atlas lion cubs, which are extinct in the wild, have been born in a zoo in western France, the zoo said on Thursday.
Djebel and Taza, both females, were born on July 25 to seven-year-old mother Jerada and 17-year-old father Bali, the Sables d'Olonne zoo said.
The last known Atlas lion in the wild, a sub-species also known as Barbary or Nubian lions, was killed by a poacher in Morocco in 1922.
Around 50 live in zoos around the world.
Jerada was being "a real mother hen and very protective", the zoo's scientific director Sandrine Silhol said. - Sapa-AFP
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31& art_id=qw1158265981271B216
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Vietnam: Three more culprits surrender in tiger theft case
Three more men turned themselves in and police arrested another Wednesday for involvement in selling a gutted tiger stolen from a farm in southern Vietnam in June.
Dinh Bui Son Lam, Tran Quoc Dat, and Tran Xuan Thanh, aged 21 to 26, who surrendered, were all from Dong Nai province, Tien Giang province police said.
They were members of a gang led by Huynh Van Khau which had broken into the Dong Tam snake farm in Tien Giang, poisoned and disemboweled the tiger, and transported it to Dong Nai to sell to Pham Van Tuan at VND180 million (US$11,250).
Police found the stolen animal stored in a fridge in Ho Chi Minh City.
They also nabbed Loc Mang Phung, another gang member, bringing the total number of people held in custody for stealing and buying the tiger to 15.
Khau had been arrested earlier.
The gang was also involved in stealing 27 other rare animals in Dong Nai, Ba Ria – Vung Tau, and Ho Chi Minh City.
They had all pleaded guilty and would be charged with “violating regulations on protection of rare animals”, the police said.
Reported by Hoang Phuong – Translated by An Dien
http://www.thanhniennews.com/society/?catid=3&newsid=20040
Dinh Bui Son Lam, Tran Quoc Dat, and Tran Xuan Thanh, aged 21 to 26, who surrendered, were all from Dong Nai province, Tien Giang province police said.
They were members of a gang led by Huynh Van Khau which had broken into the Dong Tam snake farm in Tien Giang, poisoned and disemboweled the tiger, and transported it to Dong Nai to sell to Pham Van Tuan at VND180 million (US$11,250).
Police found the stolen animal stored in a fridge in Ho Chi Minh City.
They also nabbed Loc Mang Phung, another gang member, bringing the total number of people held in custody for stealing and buying the tiger to 15.
Khau had been arrested earlier.
The gang was also involved in stealing 27 other rare animals in Dong Nai, Ba Ria – Vung Tau, and Ho Chi Minh City.
They had all pleaded guilty and would be charged with “violating regulations on protection of rare animals”, the police said.
Reported by Hoang Phuong – Translated by An Dien
http://www.thanhniennews.com/society/?catid=3&newsid=20040
NY game farm cited for violations
By CHARLES FIEGL, cfiegl@poststar.com
Thursday, September 14, 2006 6:15 AM EDT
GREENWICH -- A recent investigation by the state Department of Environmental Conservation found the Ashville Game Farm and Exotic Zoo had more animals than its permits allowed.
The Department of Environmental Conservation inspected the game farm and zoo last month after a white tiger owned by the zoo scratched a 4-year-old Milton boy at the Saratoga County Fair on July 18. The boy suffered a gash about an inch long and needed 14 stitches to close the wound.
The game farm's owner, Jeffrey W. Ash, of Lick Springs Road, was charged with a misdemeanor and was cited for a violation after the incident, according to the DEC.
The department later launched its investigation and discovered the game farm was not in compliance with some of its permits to keep animals, according to information obtained by The Post-Star through the state's Freedom of Information Law. Department officials ticketed Ash for 15 license or permit violations on Aug. 7 and 9.
Similar game farms exist in Washington County and have previously been cited for exotic animal permit violations. In New York, owners of large, wild mammals must obtain a license from the federal government in addition to state permits. The owner must be trained to monitor the animals or find a veterinarian for the job, and he or she must prove the animals are being kept for breeding, exhibition or research.
Owners must also agree to adhere to standards of the Animal Welfare Act and must allow periodic inspections of their facilities.
Municipalities may have their own regulations for keeping exotic animals as pets, but most rural areas do not.
Ash said the department's investigation and the incident at the fair are not related. He also said some of the tickets issued by the department were "bogus."
He said during a telephone interview that the department issued multiple tickets for one violation. According to the Department of Environmental Conservation, Ash has two dangerous wildlife licenses allowing him to possess one African lion; a dangerous wildlife license to possess four American black bears and two bobcats; and an endangered or threatened species license to have 20 American alligators, seven tigers, two cotton-top tamarin, three leopards, two lynx, three mountain lions, two ringtail lemurs, one spotted hyena and one arctic wolf. The farm has several other animals that do not require permits.
The game farm had a tiger, a mountain lion and a leopard that were not covered by permits or licenses, according to the DEC. Ash also obtained a "replacement tiger" without a license amendment, the department said.
The matters have yet to be heard in court, Ash said.
"I can't get into it without speaking to my lawyer," Ash said.
After the fair incident, Environmental Conservation Police charged Ash with failing to exercise due care in safeguarding the public from attack by a wild animal that caused bodily harm, a misdemeanor under the state agriculture and markets law, according to a police report. The charge carries a punishment of up to one year in jail and a $500 fine. Ash was also ticketed for violating a condition of a DEC permit that states he must maintain the tiger in a cage that is not in contact with humans. The violation is punishable by up to 15 days in jail and a fine of $250.
Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy III said the misdemeanor charge is still in court.
On Nov. 16, a full-grown female tiger escaped from Ash's game farm and zoo. It remained at large for more than three hours before it was found about a mile away from the zoo. It was captured without incident.
On Dec. 12, Ash pleaded guilty in Greenwich Town Court to failing to prevent an escape, a violation, and paid a $125 fine. Ash had also been cited for failing to report the escape of an animal, but that violation was dismissed in court.
In 2004, a bear cub from the game farm bit a person on the face while it was being shown at the AAA office in Queensbury, according to a DEC report. No charges were reported from that incident. In 2004, a bear cub from the game farm bit a person on the face while it was being shown at the AAA office in Queensbury, according to a DEC report. No charges were reported from that incident.
http://www.poststar.com/articles/2006/09/14/ news/doc4508b7a3eba22963943587.txt
Thursday, September 14, 2006 6:15 AM EDT
GREENWICH -- A recent investigation by the state Department of Environmental Conservation found the Ashville Game Farm and Exotic Zoo had more animals than its permits allowed.
The Department of Environmental Conservation inspected the game farm and zoo last month after a white tiger owned by the zoo scratched a 4-year-old Milton boy at the Saratoga County Fair on July 18. The boy suffered a gash about an inch long and needed 14 stitches to close the wound.
The game farm's owner, Jeffrey W. Ash, of Lick Springs Road, was charged with a misdemeanor and was cited for a violation after the incident, according to the DEC.
The department later launched its investigation and discovered the game farm was not in compliance with some of its permits to keep animals, according to information obtained by The Post-Star through the state's Freedom of Information Law. Department officials ticketed Ash for 15 license or permit violations on Aug. 7 and 9.
Similar game farms exist in Washington County and have previously been cited for exotic animal permit violations. In New York, owners of large, wild mammals must obtain a license from the federal government in addition to state permits. The owner must be trained to monitor the animals or find a veterinarian for the job, and he or she must prove the animals are being kept for breeding, exhibition or research.
Owners must also agree to adhere to standards of the Animal Welfare Act and must allow periodic inspections of their facilities.
Municipalities may have their own regulations for keeping exotic animals as pets, but most rural areas do not.
Ash said the department's investigation and the incident at the fair are not related. He also said some of the tickets issued by the department were "bogus."
He said during a telephone interview that the department issued multiple tickets for one violation. According to the Department of Environmental Conservation, Ash has two dangerous wildlife licenses allowing him to possess one African lion; a dangerous wildlife license to possess four American black bears and two bobcats; and an endangered or threatened species license to have 20 American alligators, seven tigers, two cotton-top tamarin, three leopards, two lynx, three mountain lions, two ringtail lemurs, one spotted hyena and one arctic wolf. The farm has several other animals that do not require permits.
The game farm had a tiger, a mountain lion and a leopard that were not covered by permits or licenses, according to the DEC. Ash also obtained a "replacement tiger" without a license amendment, the department said.
The matters have yet to be heard in court, Ash said.
"I can't get into it without speaking to my lawyer," Ash said.
After the fair incident, Environmental Conservation Police charged Ash with failing to exercise due care in safeguarding the public from attack by a wild animal that caused bodily harm, a misdemeanor under the state agriculture and markets law, according to a police report. The charge carries a punishment of up to one year in jail and a $500 fine. Ash was also ticketed for violating a condition of a DEC permit that states he must maintain the tiger in a cage that is not in contact with humans. The violation is punishable by up to 15 days in jail and a fine of $250.
Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy III said the misdemeanor charge is still in court.
On Nov. 16, a full-grown female tiger escaped from Ash's game farm and zoo. It remained at large for more than three hours before it was found about a mile away from the zoo. It was captured without incident.
On Dec. 12, Ash pleaded guilty in Greenwich Town Court to failing to prevent an escape, a violation, and paid a $125 fine. Ash had also been cited for failing to report the escape of an animal, but that violation was dismissed in court.
In 2004, a bear cub from the game farm bit a person on the face while it was being shown at the AAA office in Queensbury, according to a DEC report. No charges were reported from that incident. In 2004, a bear cub from the game farm bit a person on the face while it was being shown at the AAA office in Queensbury, according to a DEC report. No charges were reported from that incident.
http://www.poststar.com/articles/2006/09/14/ news/doc4508b7a3eba22963943587.txt
Update: Rescue of 3 French circus lions proceeding
Update Sept '06
Good news! Fund-raising is going very well and so far we have received over £75,000. At the moment we do not have the final figure for what the rescue costs will be. Several airlines have offered us discounts on the costs of transport of the lions, but we cannot confirm details until we have the necessary import and export permits, and know the timing of the move (which will affect the costs of various elements of the rescue).
The relevant officials we needed to deal with in the French government were away for much of July and August. The CITES export permits are now being attended to but this could be a long, slow process so we are trying to be patient! Rest assured the Born Free Foundation and our colleagues in France, One Voice, are doing all we can get this rescue underway. In the meantime, the lions remain in their trailer.
A One Voice representative visited the circus at the end of July and was told that, up until two years ago the lions did have access to an exercise cage, until it got broken. This conflicted with the information we were given on our first visit but hopefully it is true as it means the older lions have been confined in the trailer for 'only' two years, not seven. However, as these exercise cages are only about six metres in diameter and the amount of time the lions get access to them is extremely limited, they have, in effect, been confined in their trailer for those seven years. One Voice was also told that Djunka, the male, had been trained to appear in the ring, but apparently the hoop of fire fell on him on one occasion and he refused to jump through it again, and so that was the end of his performances.
We are making spot checks on the lions and they were seen last week. They appear in good health, but it is very frustrating seeing them in their barren compartments, knowing nearly five acres of African bush await their arrival.
As soon as we have any news on the progress of the permits we will report back.
OTHER ANIMALS IN FRENCH CIRCUSES
While all the necessary steps are being taken to rehome these three lions, One Voice calculate there to be 490 big cats and around 500 other wild animals currently languishing in an estimated 200 French Circuses, with no happy ending in sight.
The French government has discussed the issue of either regulating or banning performing wild animals on several occasions in the last few years but to date the words have not turned into action. Please write to the French Ministry of Ecology (details below) urging them to bring in legislation to ban wild animals from circuses. Austria, Costa Rica, Israel and Singapore have already taken this enlightened step and the details on legislation covering circuses in England, Wales and Scotland is soon to be announced. The movement away from performing wildlife is spreading as it becomes widely recognised that travelling circuses, by their very nature, cannot cater for the behavioural needs of wild animals. We will pass on any responses to our colleagues at One Voice www.onevoice-ear.org. We hope to help their on-going campaign against circuses in France with any additional funds raised from this rescue. It is vital that the rescue of Djunka, Nalla and Shada will not only offer these three lions a new future, but will enable action to be taken on behalf of the remaining lions, tigers, elephants and other animals incarcerated in French circuses. Many thanks.
Mme Nelly Olin
Ministerie de l'Ecologie
20 Avenue de Segur
75302 Paris 07 SP
Tel. 01 42 19 20 21
Email: ministere@ecologie.gouv.fr
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/threelions/latest.shtml
Good news! Fund-raising is going very well and so far we have received over £75,000. At the moment we do not have the final figure for what the rescue costs will be. Several airlines have offered us discounts on the costs of transport of the lions, but we cannot confirm details until we have the necessary import and export permits, and know the timing of the move (which will affect the costs of various elements of the rescue).
The relevant officials we needed to deal with in the French government were away for much of July and August. The CITES export permits are now being attended to but this could be a long, slow process so we are trying to be patient! Rest assured the Born Free Foundation and our colleagues in France, One Voice, are doing all we can get this rescue underway. In the meantime, the lions remain in their trailer.
A One Voice representative visited the circus at the end of July and was told that, up until two years ago the lions did have access to an exercise cage, until it got broken. This conflicted with the information we were given on our first visit but hopefully it is true as it means the older lions have been confined in the trailer for 'only' two years, not seven. However, as these exercise cages are only about six metres in diameter and the amount of time the lions get access to them is extremely limited, they have, in effect, been confined in their trailer for those seven years. One Voice was also told that Djunka, the male, had been trained to appear in the ring, but apparently the hoop of fire fell on him on one occasion and he refused to jump through it again, and so that was the end of his performances.
We are making spot checks on the lions and they were seen last week. They appear in good health, but it is very frustrating seeing them in their barren compartments, knowing nearly five acres of African bush await their arrival.
As soon as we have any news on the progress of the permits we will report back.
OTHER ANIMALS IN FRENCH CIRCUSES
While all the necessary steps are being taken to rehome these three lions, One Voice calculate there to be 490 big cats and around 500 other wild animals currently languishing in an estimated 200 French Circuses, with no happy ending in sight.
The French government has discussed the issue of either regulating or banning performing wild animals on several occasions in the last few years but to date the words have not turned into action. Please write to the French Ministry of Ecology (details below) urging them to bring in legislation to ban wild animals from circuses. Austria, Costa Rica, Israel and Singapore have already taken this enlightened step and the details on legislation covering circuses in England, Wales and Scotland is soon to be announced. The movement away from performing wildlife is spreading as it becomes widely recognised that travelling circuses, by their very nature, cannot cater for the behavioural needs of wild animals. We will pass on any responses to our colleagues at One Voice www.onevoice-ear.org. We hope to help their on-going campaign against circuses in France with any additional funds raised from this rescue. It is vital that the rescue of Djunka, Nalla and Shada will not only offer these three lions a new future, but will enable action to be taken on behalf of the remaining lions, tigers, elephants and other animals incarcerated in French circuses. Many thanks.
Mme Nelly Olin
Ministerie de l'Ecologie
20 Avenue de Segur
75302 Paris 07 SP
Tel. 01 42 19 20 21
Email: ministere@ecologie.gouv.fr
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/threelions/latest.shtml
New Zealand zoo gets Sumatran tiger from Israel
14/09/2006 16:28:02
Oz the Tiger is settling in at Auckland Zoo.
The 20-month-old Sumatran tiger arrived in the country from Israel this morning.
He gets a month at his new bachelor pad before female Sumatran Molek will be brought up from Hamilton Zoo to breed with him.
Auckland Zoo vet Dr Richard Jakob-Hoff has given Oz the once over and got a look at his teeth. He says the tiger is settling down in his new area and is a very laid back animal.
Dr Jakob-Hoff says Oz will be ready to meet zoo visitors next week.
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=103713
Oz the Tiger is settling in at Auckland Zoo.
The 20-month-old Sumatran tiger arrived in the country from Israel this morning.
He gets a month at his new bachelor pad before female Sumatran Molek will be brought up from Hamilton Zoo to breed with him.
Auckland Zoo vet Dr Richard Jakob-Hoff has given Oz the once over and got a look at his teeth. He says the tiger is settling down in his new area and is a very laid back animal.
Dr Jakob-Hoff says Oz will be ready to meet zoo visitors next week.
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=103713
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Owner says tiger cubs declawed for use by Make-A-Wish Foundation
Declawed cubs one day will grant kids' wishes
By LIZA MARTIN
Advocate Reporter
HEATH, Ohio -- Dr. James Underwood's most recent cat declawing procedure was a little out of the ordinary.
Actually, it was downright wild.
The veteran veterinarian declawed three Siberian tiger cubs Monday at his Underwood Animal Hospital in Heath, where the tigers' owners, Terry and Marian Thompson, of Zanesville, take their tigers, lions and leopards for care. Other exotic animals go elsewhere, Terry Thompson said.
"(Declawing) is pretty much the same for a large cat as for a regular feline," Underwood said.
The 23-pound cubs, named Sophia, Sovia and Samson, were up and walking the morning after their surgery, cuddling with Underwood and rubbing against the legs of reporters.
"They're pretty darn lovey," Underwood said while cradling one of the 2-month old cubs.
Thompson said he owns 21 tigers, including seven that have been born in the past year.
"They're a passion of mine, and I like the animals," he said.
Thompson said the three tigers were declawed Monday so they could be handled by children who have their wish granted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions.
He has sent two other declawed tigers to an Akron hospital in the past three months to be part of the wish-granting.
"It's pretty gratifying," he said.
Siberian tigers are an endangered species, indigenous to eastern Russia, northeast China and parts of North Korea. The largest of all living cats, the males can grow to weigh an average of 650 pounds, while females tip the scales at about 350 pounds, according to www.tigerhomes.org.
It's estimated only about 350 to 410 Siberian tigers are living in the wild, with another 490 managed in conservation programs.
There are no laws in Ohio regulating the private ownership of any exotic animals, unless they are used as part of a business. State law requires only a permit to possess native endangered species, such as the bobcat, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
However, an Ohio House bill introduced in August would require people who possess dangerous wild animals or exotic animals to obtain a personal possession permit. The bill also would establish requirements regarding the possession and care of dangerous wild animals and exotic animals.
Liza Martin can be reached at (740) 328-8544 or lmmartin@newarkadvocate.com.
http://www.newarkadvocate.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article? AID=/20060913/NEWS01/609130305/1002
By LIZA MARTIN
Advocate Reporter
HEATH, Ohio -- Dr. James Underwood's most recent cat declawing procedure was a little out of the ordinary.
Actually, it was downright wild.
The veteran veterinarian declawed three Siberian tiger cubs Monday at his Underwood Animal Hospital in Heath, where the tigers' owners, Terry and Marian Thompson, of Zanesville, take their tigers, lions and leopards for care. Other exotic animals go elsewhere, Terry Thompson said.
"(Declawing) is pretty much the same for a large cat as for a regular feline," Underwood said.
The 23-pound cubs, named Sophia, Sovia and Samson, were up and walking the morning after their surgery, cuddling with Underwood and rubbing against the legs of reporters.
"They're pretty darn lovey," Underwood said while cradling one of the 2-month old cubs.
Thompson said he owns 21 tigers, including seven that have been born in the past year.
"They're a passion of mine, and I like the animals," he said.
Thompson said the three tigers were declawed Monday so they could be handled by children who have their wish granted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions.
He has sent two other declawed tigers to an Akron hospital in the past three months to be part of the wish-granting.
"It's pretty gratifying," he said.
Siberian tigers are an endangered species, indigenous to eastern Russia, northeast China and parts of North Korea. The largest of all living cats, the males can grow to weigh an average of 650 pounds, while females tip the scales at about 350 pounds, according to www.tigerhomes.org.
It's estimated only about 350 to 410 Siberian tigers are living in the wild, with another 490 managed in conservation programs.
There are no laws in Ohio regulating the private ownership of any exotic animals, unless they are used as part of a business. State law requires only a permit to possess native endangered species, such as the bobcat, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
However, an Ohio House bill introduced in August would require people who possess dangerous wild animals or exotic animals to obtain a personal possession permit. The bill also would establish requirements regarding the possession and care of dangerous wild animals and exotic animals.
Liza Martin can be reached at (740) 328-8544 or lmmartin@newarkadvocate.com.
http://www.newarkadvocate.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article? AID=/20060913/NEWS01/609130305/1002
Tiger swats its owner inside cage
The owner, from a circus family, says his injury "comes with the territory." He was hurt while cleaning the cage.
By BEN MONTGOMERY
Published September 13, 2006
BALM - Lancelot Kollmann stumbled Tuesday, inside a cage with a jittery 250-pound tiger named Rula. He paid in blood.
The last in a long line of lion tamers escaped the cage with cuts on his left shoulder and a gash on his lip that took stitches to close.
"It comes with the territory," a weary-looking Kollmann said at his rural eastern Hillsborough County compound, where lions and tigers roam in a row of cages and a sign bears a number to call "In case of emergency."
Kollmann's family has been in traveling circuses for more than 200 years. His grandfather was a lion tamer. His father and uncles owned big cats. Other kin were jugglers, high-wire artists, acrobats.
Kollmann started at age 10, feeding and washing the beasts. Tuesday was the first time he has been injured, he said.
It happened like this: He was cleaning Rula's cage late Tuesday morning when he stumbled. He braced his fall with his arm, but he startled the 1½-year-old female he bought a few days ago.
Then she swiped him with a claw.
A neighbor took Kollmann to South Bay Hospital in Sun City Center, where doctors treated his wounds and released him by afternoon.
"She was just scared," said Kollmann, 37, a barrel-chested man who performed in arenas dressed as a gladiator. "It wasn't a bite, just a claw."
He's recovering from his wounds, which weren't serious, but the beat-up lion tamer isn't in the clear yet.
State officials say Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Lt. Steve De Lacure, who recently wrapped up an investigation into the high-profile tiger attack at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo, will investigate the Kollmann incident.
Kollmann owns an animal business in Balm called Sir Lance A Lot, deputies say.
He is licensed by the state to exhibit exotic animals, including two leopards, four jaguars, one elephant, five lions and 14 tigers, wildlife commission spokesman Willie Puz said. His license is valid through October.
The U.S. Agriculture Department gave him permission to exhibit the animals in January 2005, and he's had a valid license since, department spokesman Darby Holladay said. Kollmann hasn't had any problems with the license, Holladay said.
But his family is well known to both agencies.
In 2000, Kollmann's father, Manuel Ramos, was forced to give up his license to avoid prosecution for violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act and sentenced to probation for improperly handling an elephant.
The African elephant, Kenya, broke loose from a tether at the family's compound in Riverview, stomping Kollmann's aunt, acrobat Teresa Ramos-Caballero, to death.
Ramos, who owned the Oscarian Brothers Circus, agreed to serve one year of probation, perform community service and pay investigative costs in the case.
Ramos faced misdemeanor charges of keeping animals in cages that were too small for them, and mishandling the elephant. The Agriculture Department also accused him of failing to screen the elephant handlers, including Kollmann, for tuberculosis, which is required.
His license was revoked in July 2000, records show.
Ramos turned over the family's livelihood to his son, Kollmann, who built a $35,000 compound in Balm.
At first, the Agriculture Department refused to give Kollmann a license to exhibit the animals, which meant they could not travel with the family's circus. But federal officials and the family eventually reached a settlement.
The attack marks the second time in recent weeks that tigers have made headlines in Hillsborough County.
On Aug. 22, Lowry Park Zoo officials shot and killed a 14-year-old Sumatran tiger, Enshala, after the animal slipped out of her enclosure through an unlocked door.
The zoo's director shot Enshala after she lunged at a veterinarian who was trying to tranquilize her.
The state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Agriculture Department investigated the incident. Wildlife commission officials completed their investigation Monday of the Lowry Park Zoo case.
The case is now in the hands of prosecutors, who will decide whether to file criminal charges against a zookeeper who left a door unlocked, allowing the tiger to escape.
Prosecutors expect that the decision will take a few weeks, Assistant State Attorney Jennifer Gabbard said.
Ben Montgomery can be reached at bmontgomery@sptimes.com or 813 661-2443.
OWNING A TIGER
To own a tiger in Florida, a resident is required to:
* Own or lease at least 5 contiguous acres of land.
* Build cages that are surrounded by a fence that is at least 8 feet high.
* Specify what commercial purpose the animal will be used for, such as a pet shop, wildlife lectures or a traveling circus act.
* Document at least one year of substantial practical experience caring for, feeding, handling and husbandry of tigers or similar animals.
* Secure a permit from the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
For information, go to "Wildlife Dealers, Owners and Exhibitors" at http://myfwc.com/license_permit/index.aspx.
Source: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
[Last modified September 13, 2006, 05:38:32]
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/13/ Hillsborough/Tiger_swats_its_owner.shtml
By BEN MONTGOMERY
Published September 13, 2006
BALM - Lancelot Kollmann stumbled Tuesday, inside a cage with a jittery 250-pound tiger named Rula. He paid in blood.
The last in a long line of lion tamers escaped the cage with cuts on his left shoulder and a gash on his lip that took stitches to close.
"It comes with the territory," a weary-looking Kollmann said at his rural eastern Hillsborough County compound, where lions and tigers roam in a row of cages and a sign bears a number to call "In case of emergency."
Kollmann's family has been in traveling circuses for more than 200 years. His grandfather was a lion tamer. His father and uncles owned big cats. Other kin were jugglers, high-wire artists, acrobats.
Kollmann started at age 10, feeding and washing the beasts. Tuesday was the first time he has been injured, he said.
It happened like this: He was cleaning Rula's cage late Tuesday morning when he stumbled. He braced his fall with his arm, but he startled the 1½-year-old female he bought a few days ago.
Then she swiped him with a claw.
A neighbor took Kollmann to South Bay Hospital in Sun City Center, where doctors treated his wounds and released him by afternoon.
"She was just scared," said Kollmann, 37, a barrel-chested man who performed in arenas dressed as a gladiator. "It wasn't a bite, just a claw."
He's recovering from his wounds, which weren't serious, but the beat-up lion tamer isn't in the clear yet.
State officials say Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Lt. Steve De Lacure, who recently wrapped up an investigation into the high-profile tiger attack at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo, will investigate the Kollmann incident.
Kollmann owns an animal business in Balm called Sir Lance A Lot, deputies say.
He is licensed by the state to exhibit exotic animals, including two leopards, four jaguars, one elephant, five lions and 14 tigers, wildlife commission spokesman Willie Puz said. His license is valid through October.
The U.S. Agriculture Department gave him permission to exhibit the animals in January 2005, and he's had a valid license since, department spokesman Darby Holladay said. Kollmann hasn't had any problems with the license, Holladay said.
But his family is well known to both agencies.
In 2000, Kollmann's father, Manuel Ramos, was forced to give up his license to avoid prosecution for violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act and sentenced to probation for improperly handling an elephant.
The African elephant, Kenya, broke loose from a tether at the family's compound in Riverview, stomping Kollmann's aunt, acrobat Teresa Ramos-Caballero, to death.
Ramos, who owned the Oscarian Brothers Circus, agreed to serve one year of probation, perform community service and pay investigative costs in the case.
Ramos faced misdemeanor charges of keeping animals in cages that were too small for them, and mishandling the elephant. The Agriculture Department also accused him of failing to screen the elephant handlers, including Kollmann, for tuberculosis, which is required.
His license was revoked in July 2000, records show.
Ramos turned over the family's livelihood to his son, Kollmann, who built a $35,000 compound in Balm.
At first, the Agriculture Department refused to give Kollmann a license to exhibit the animals, which meant they could not travel with the family's circus. But federal officials and the family eventually reached a settlement.
The attack marks the second time in recent weeks that tigers have made headlines in Hillsborough County.
On Aug. 22, Lowry Park Zoo officials shot and killed a 14-year-old Sumatran tiger, Enshala, after the animal slipped out of her enclosure through an unlocked door.
The zoo's director shot Enshala after she lunged at a veterinarian who was trying to tranquilize her.
The state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Agriculture Department investigated the incident. Wildlife commission officials completed their investigation Monday of the Lowry Park Zoo case.
The case is now in the hands of prosecutors, who will decide whether to file criminal charges against a zookeeper who left a door unlocked, allowing the tiger to escape.
Prosecutors expect that the decision will take a few weeks, Assistant State Attorney Jennifer Gabbard said.
Ben Montgomery can be reached at bmontgomery@sptimes.com or 813 661-2443.
OWNING A TIGER
To own a tiger in Florida, a resident is required to:
* Own or lease at least 5 contiguous acres of land.
* Build cages that are surrounded by a fence that is at least 8 feet high.
* Specify what commercial purpose the animal will be used for, such as a pet shop, wildlife lectures or a traveling circus act.
* Document at least one year of substantial practical experience caring for, feeding, handling and husbandry of tigers or similar animals.
* Secure a permit from the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
For information, go to "Wildlife Dealers, Owners and Exhibitors" at http://myfwc.com/license_permit/index.aspx.
Source: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
[Last modified September 13, 2006, 05:38:32]
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/13/ Hillsborough/Tiger_swats_its_owner.shtml
Oregon Zoo plans day of fundraising for cheetahs
8:28 am PT, Tuesday, Sep 12, 2006
PORTLAND, Oregon - Although the cheetah can outrun all other land animals, its most important race right now is the race for survival. On Sunday, Oct. 15, Oregonians can help these spotted cats by participating in three events at the Oregon Zoo that support the Cheetah Conservation Fund: Run for the Cheetah, Cheetah Camp, and "Big Cat. Big Party."
Run for the Cheetah
Think you can run as fast as a cheetah? Prove your speed during the second annual Run for the Cheetah on Sunday, Oct. 15. An 8K run/walk begins at 8:30 a.m. and a 5K run/walk follows at 8:45 a.m. The newest addition to Run for the Cheetah -- the kids half-mile dash - begins at 8 a.m. All run/walks begin at the Oregon Zoo's parking lot and take participants through Washington Park. Former Gov. John Kitzhaber, a running enthusiast and the honorary Run for the Cheetah chairperson, will be on hand for the event.
The run is sponsored by Azumano Travel, the Oregon Zoo, Comcast, Java Jacket, REI, Wild Oats Natural Marketplace, KINK-FM, Partners on Demand printing, the Lake Oswego Review, NW Natural and Marriott hotels and resorts.
Register for Run for the Cheetah at www.runforthecheetah.org or call 503-644-6822. Children must be pre-registered by Oct. 12.
Cheetah Camp
Children ages 4-11 are invited to Cheetah Camp at the Oregon Zoo from 9 a.m. to noon on Sunday, Oct. 15. Parents can sign their campers in starting at 8:15 a.m. Campers are divided into age groups and get to visit with world-renowned cheetah expert Laurie Marker and her two education cheetahs, Kamau (a rare King cheetah) and Kgosi (a spotted cheetah). Marker, who began her 30 years of work with cheetahs at Oregon's Wildlife Safari, has been named one of Time magazine's "Heroes for the Planet" and is CCF's founder and executive director.
Tours of the cougar, leopard, tiger and ocelot exhibits are also planned for the children's zoo adventure. Parents must pre-register their children for the $30 camp by calling 503-226-1561. Space is limited, so reserve a spot early.
Big Cat. Big Party.
For those cool cats who like to party, the CCF's fourth annual Zoo Cheetah Benefit Dinner and Auction is not to be missed. The event takes place from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 15, at the Oregon Zoo Banquet Center, and features Marker and the cheetahs Kamau and Kgosi for a fun and informative dining experience.
Marker discusses her work in Namibia and other countries to save the wild cheetah, while guests are invited to enjoy a buffet dinner prepared by the zoo's Executive Chef Paul Warner and bid on many auction items. Tickets are $75 ($60 before Oct. 1). By purchasing $150 tickets ($120 before Oct. 1), partiers may also gain admission to a special patron reception from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
For tickets, call 503-690-3532 or e-mail ccforegon@cheetah.org. Tickets must be purchased by Monday, Oct. 9.
The Cheetah Conservation Fund's mission is "to ensure the long-term survival of the cheetah and its ecosystem through multi-disciplined and integrated conservation program of research, management and education."
http://www.medfordnews.com/articles/index.cfm? artOID=332483&cp=10997
PORTLAND, Oregon - Although the cheetah can outrun all other land animals, its most important race right now is the race for survival. On Sunday, Oct. 15, Oregonians can help these spotted cats by participating in three events at the Oregon Zoo that support the Cheetah Conservation Fund: Run for the Cheetah, Cheetah Camp, and "Big Cat. Big Party."
Run for the Cheetah
Think you can run as fast as a cheetah? Prove your speed during the second annual Run for the Cheetah on Sunday, Oct. 15. An 8K run/walk begins at 8:30 a.m. and a 5K run/walk follows at 8:45 a.m. The newest addition to Run for the Cheetah -- the kids half-mile dash - begins at 8 a.m. All run/walks begin at the Oregon Zoo's parking lot and take participants through Washington Park. Former Gov. John Kitzhaber, a running enthusiast and the honorary Run for the Cheetah chairperson, will be on hand for the event.
The run is sponsored by Azumano Travel, the Oregon Zoo, Comcast, Java Jacket, REI, Wild Oats Natural Marketplace, KINK-FM, Partners on Demand printing, the Lake Oswego Review, NW Natural and Marriott hotels and resorts.
Register for Run for the Cheetah at www.runforthecheetah.org or call 503-644-6822. Children must be pre-registered by Oct. 12.
Cheetah Camp
Children ages 4-11 are invited to Cheetah Camp at the Oregon Zoo from 9 a.m. to noon on Sunday, Oct. 15. Parents can sign their campers in starting at 8:15 a.m. Campers are divided into age groups and get to visit with world-renowned cheetah expert Laurie Marker and her two education cheetahs, Kamau (a rare King cheetah) and Kgosi (a spotted cheetah). Marker, who began her 30 years of work with cheetahs at Oregon's Wildlife Safari, has been named one of Time magazine's "Heroes for the Planet" and is CCF's founder and executive director.
Tours of the cougar, leopard, tiger and ocelot exhibits are also planned for the children's zoo adventure. Parents must pre-register their children for the $30 camp by calling 503-226-1561. Space is limited, so reserve a spot early.
Big Cat. Big Party.
For those cool cats who like to party, the CCF's fourth annual Zoo Cheetah Benefit Dinner and Auction is not to be missed. The event takes place from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 15, at the Oregon Zoo Banquet Center, and features Marker and the cheetahs Kamau and Kgosi for a fun and informative dining experience.
Marker discusses her work in Namibia and other countries to save the wild cheetah, while guests are invited to enjoy a buffet dinner prepared by the zoo's Executive Chef Paul Warner and bid on many auction items. Tickets are $75 ($60 before Oct. 1). By purchasing $150 tickets ($120 before Oct. 1), partiers may also gain admission to a special patron reception from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
For tickets, call 503-690-3532 or e-mail ccforegon@cheetah.org. Tickets must be purchased by Monday, Oct. 9.
The Cheetah Conservation Fund's mission is "to ensure the long-term survival of the cheetah and its ecosystem through multi-disciplined and integrated conservation program of research, management and education."
http://www.medfordnews.com/articles/index.cfm? artOID=332483&cp=10997
Nevada lures big-cat shelter from Chicago area
September 11, 2006
BY ABDON M. PALLASCH
Staff Reporter
The massive, 2,000-square-foot cages that hold four cougars and a bobcat at the Safe Haven Wildlife Center near Marengo just aren't big enough anymore.
The center is one of just a handful of places around the country equipped to handle the big cats and nurse them back to health, and it has had to turn down 50 cats from across the nation in the last year.
So, center founder and director Linda Sugasa and her husband, David, are moving it to Nevada, where land is cheaper and they will have 160 acres instead of just five.
In just the last year, the Cook County Forest Preserves and the Village of Itasca have closed their publicly funded wildlife rehabilitation centers, which means Safe Haven's closing will be all that much more painful to the remaining privately funded centers, said Dawn Keller of the Flint Creek Wildlife Refuge in Barrington.
"Safe Haven is a wonderful facility, and so it is a loss," said Keller, who has often referred people to Sugasa's center when hers was full.
One of the center's charges, Monty the Montana cougar, limps from a gunshot wound to his rear leg. But he growled and charged pretty quickly from one end of his cage to the other Sunday when volunteer Shannon Ruckoldt dropped a plate of raw meat for him into his cage. He snatched a chicken leg and thigh piece and carried it in his mouth back to his hideout.
Monty was flown to Safe Haven from Montana by that state's fish and wildlife office when other facilities were too full to take him. Veterinarians who work with the center decided surgery was not an option and have medicated him, Sugasa said.
Starts with injured raccoon
But apart from the care of the big cats, the loss of Safe Haven will be more noted for the foxes, squirrels, opossums and other small local animals that go to the facility to be nursed back to health after a traffic accident or other injury.
Sugasa came up with the idea for the center nearly 10 years ago when she found an injured raccoon and learned there was nowhere to take it to get treatment. A New Jersey native, Sugasa and her husband came here 10 years ago and bought the property before she had any idea of opening a wildlife rehabilitation center and sanctuary.
With no background in veterinary medicine, she trained at facilities such as Tampa's Big Cat Rescue and got federal and state certification. She built the cages in the wooded area behind her garage, which became the office. She invited neighbors over to see the 6-gauge galvanized steel cages that hold the cats and assure them there would be no wildlife running free. With no government funding, Sugasa -- who takes no salary -- relies on private donations and volunteers to run the facility.
Safe Haven's move to northwestern Nevada outside Reno -- when her home here is sold -- will allow her to shelter about 40 cats instead of four, she said.
"This is an invaluable place -- it will leave a large void in the county," said Ann Alderson. She and her husband, Richard, retired Northwestern University music professors, have been volunteering here for years. They are moving to Montana and hope to visit the new center.
apallasch@suntimes.com
---------
WHAT'S LEFT
With the closure of the Cook County Forest Preserves' Trailside facility in River Forest and Itasca's Springbrook Nature Center rehab facility and the impending move of Safe Haven (www.safehaven wildlife.com) to Nevada, here are the three major wildlife rehab centers left in the Chicago area:
•Flint Creek Wildlife Refuge in Barrington, (847) 602-0628 www. flintcreekwildlife.org.
•Fox Valley Wildlife Center, Elburn, (630) 365-3800 www.fox valleywildlife.org
•DuPage County Forest Preserve's Willowbrook Wildlife Center. (630) 933-7200, www.dupageforest.com/EDUCATION/willow brook.html
----------
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-bigcats11.html
BY ABDON M. PALLASCH
Staff Reporter
The massive, 2,000-square-foot cages that hold four cougars and a bobcat at the Safe Haven Wildlife Center near Marengo just aren't big enough anymore.
The center is one of just a handful of places around the country equipped to handle the big cats and nurse them back to health, and it has had to turn down 50 cats from across the nation in the last year.
So, center founder and director Linda Sugasa and her husband, David, are moving it to Nevada, where land is cheaper and they will have 160 acres instead of just five.
In just the last year, the Cook County Forest Preserves and the Village of Itasca have closed their publicly funded wildlife rehabilitation centers, which means Safe Haven's closing will be all that much more painful to the remaining privately funded centers, said Dawn Keller of the Flint Creek Wildlife Refuge in Barrington.
"Safe Haven is a wonderful facility, and so it is a loss," said Keller, who has often referred people to Sugasa's center when hers was full.
One of the center's charges, Monty the Montana cougar, limps from a gunshot wound to his rear leg. But he growled and charged pretty quickly from one end of his cage to the other Sunday when volunteer Shannon Ruckoldt dropped a plate of raw meat for him into his cage. He snatched a chicken leg and thigh piece and carried it in his mouth back to his hideout.
Monty was flown to Safe Haven from Montana by that state's fish and wildlife office when other facilities were too full to take him. Veterinarians who work with the center decided surgery was not an option and have medicated him, Sugasa said.
Starts with injured raccoon
But apart from the care of the big cats, the loss of Safe Haven will be more noted for the foxes, squirrels, opossums and other small local animals that go to the facility to be nursed back to health after a traffic accident or other injury.
Sugasa came up with the idea for the center nearly 10 years ago when she found an injured raccoon and learned there was nowhere to take it to get treatment. A New Jersey native, Sugasa and her husband came here 10 years ago and bought the property before she had any idea of opening a wildlife rehabilitation center and sanctuary.
With no background in veterinary medicine, she trained at facilities such as Tampa's Big Cat Rescue and got federal and state certification. She built the cages in the wooded area behind her garage, which became the office. She invited neighbors over to see the 6-gauge galvanized steel cages that hold the cats and assure them there would be no wildlife running free. With no government funding, Sugasa -- who takes no salary -- relies on private donations and volunteers to run the facility.
Safe Haven's move to northwestern Nevada outside Reno -- when her home here is sold -- will allow her to shelter about 40 cats instead of four, she said.
"This is an invaluable place -- it will leave a large void in the county," said Ann Alderson. She and her husband, Richard, retired Northwestern University music professors, have been volunteering here for years. They are moving to Montana and hope to visit the new center.
apallasch@suntimes.com
---------
WHAT'S LEFT
With the closure of the Cook County Forest Preserves' Trailside facility in River Forest and Itasca's Springbrook Nature Center rehab facility and the impending move of Safe Haven (www.safehaven wildlife.com) to Nevada, here are the three major wildlife rehab centers left in the Chicago area:
•Flint Creek Wildlife Refuge in Barrington, (847) 602-0628 www. flintcreekwildlife.org.
•Fox Valley Wildlife Center, Elburn, (630) 365-3800 www.fox valleywildlife.org
•DuPage County Forest Preserve's Willowbrook Wildlife Center. (630) 933-7200, www.dupageforest.com/EDUCATION/willow brook.html
----------
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-bigcats11.html
Florida man hospitalized for injury from tiger
St Petersburg Times, September 12, 2006
BALM — A Balm man was hospitalized Tuesday after his 250-pound tiger swatted him in the mouth and cut his left arm, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
Lance Kollmann, 37, was cleaning the cage of a 1 1/2-year-old female tiger, when Kollmann stumbled, deputies say. Kollmann caught himself with his arm, but he startled the tiger, and the animal hit him.
A neighbor took him to South Bay Hospital in Sun City Center, where he was being treated Tuesday afternoon for non-life-threatening injuries, deputies say.
Kollmann, whose business name is Sir Lancelot, owns two leopards, four jaguars, one elephant, five lions and 14 tigers, according to state animal licensing records.
BALM — A Balm man was hospitalized Tuesday after his 250-pound tiger swatted him in the mouth and cut his left arm, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
Lance Kollmann, 37, was cleaning the cage of a 1 1/2-year-old female tiger, when Kollmann stumbled, deputies say. Kollmann caught himself with his arm, but he startled the tiger, and the animal hit him.
A neighbor took him to South Bay Hospital in Sun City Center, where he was being treated Tuesday afternoon for non-life-threatening injuries, deputies say.
Kollmann, whose business name is Sir Lancelot, owns two leopards, four jaguars, one elephant, five lions and 14 tigers, according to state animal licensing records.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Zoos targets for exotic animal thieves
European Thieves Are Stealing Exotic Animals Like Marmosets and Penguins for Rich Collectors
By SUE LEEMAN
The Associated Press
LONDON - Missing marmosets, abducted alligators, purloined penguins: Thieves are targeting Europe's zoos and safari parks to supply animal collectors who want to own ever more exotic species.
Conservationists say the practice is harming animals, threatening vital breeding programs, and adding to an already flourishing illegal trade in exotic birds and animals.
"We live in a designer world and people are not satisfied any more with a budgie or a canary they want something more exotic," said John Hayward, a former police officer who runs Britain's National Theft Register, the only national database of animal thefts in Europe.
He says on average Britain's zoos have suffered a major theft every week for the past few years, involving dozens of animals worth thousands of dollars.
Conservationists fear the demand for exotic animals will put further pressure on wild populations, which thieves have already targeted for years.
Experts say, for example, that the trade in exotic birds both legal and illegal has decimated populations of African gray parrots, prized for their ability to mimic human speech.
Britain's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds says 360,000 African grays were legally traded between 1994 and 2003 most of them into Europe while many thousands more were illegally traded.
Zoo thefts made headlines last December when Toga the baby jackass penguin was stolen from Amazon World Zoo Park on the Isle of Wight off southern Britain. He was never found.
On June 18, thieves made off with five rare marmosets worth several hundred dollars each from Drusilla's Zoo at East Grinstead, south of London. Police later arrested two men and recovered four of the creatures, along with 14 other monkeys stolen from zoos in Devon and Cambridgeshire.
Hayward said primary targets are smaller monkeys including South American marmosets, Tamarins from South and Central America and spider monkeys from Mexico and Brazil as well as large exotic birds like macaws and flamingos and reptiles such as turtles and tortoises.
In the last three years, some 80 mostly small monkeys have disappeared from some of Britain's more than 350 zoos, including several dozen large zoos and safari parks, Hayward said. Only a few have been recovered.
Hayward said some animals are stolen to order by professionals. "These animals are not tame and you need to know how to handle and care for them," he said.
The more exotic or endangered the animal, the higher the price. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds says a single rare hyacinth macaw can fetch up to $45,000.
There are casual thefts, too: In the late 1990s, a man abducted an alligator from a zoo in central England. "He took him to a party to impress his friends, then left him on the doorstep of a pet shop," Hayward said.
Harry Schram, director of the 300-member European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, says some 40 percent of European zoos have suffered thefts.
"This problem is growing. With more species being declared endangered and more regulation, people are going underground," Schram said in a telephone interview from his office in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Schram said police in the Netherlands and Belgium are trying to coordinate on the problem, "but this is really exceptional."
"We have no idea of the extent of thefts in Germany, Switzerland and eastern Europe and virtually no information on southern Europe," he said.
The zoo association says animals stolen in Europe likely go to European collectors, since other potential markets like the United States and Japan tightly restrict animal imports and Middle Eastern countries are following suit.
Traffic International at Cambridge, in eastern England, which monitors trade in endangered animals across Europe, says that from 1996 to 2000, British customs officials annually seized around 450 illegally imported consignments. Around 17 percent of those were live animals, mostly reptiles, parrots and macaws.
U.S. zoos also suffer thefts. In 2000, two golden eagles and a bald eagle were stolen from Santa Barbara Zoo in California, apparently for their feathers. Also that year, teenagers stole two koalas from San Francisco Zoo.
In 2000, thieves took 16 lion cubs from a zoo in Jakarta, Indonesia. In the Middle East, four masked thieves grabbed a lion cub from a zoo in the Gaza Strip last November.
Many zoos are now increasing security and some are tagging or implanting computer ships in their animals.
Kath Bright, manager of Amazon World Zoo Park, said penguin parents Kyala and Oscar mourned the loss of 3-month-old Toga for several weeks.
"We think Toga may have been stolen to order, because this was not an opportunistic theft," she said.
There has been a happy ending: On Feb. 14, Kyala and Oscar hatched another chick, dubbed Temba, meaning hope.
On the Net:
National Theft Register: http://www.nationaltheftregister.com
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=2416475
By SUE LEEMAN
The Associated Press
LONDON - Missing marmosets, abducted alligators, purloined penguins: Thieves are targeting Europe's zoos and safari parks to supply animal collectors who want to own ever more exotic species.
Conservationists say the practice is harming animals, threatening vital breeding programs, and adding to an already flourishing illegal trade in exotic birds and animals.
"We live in a designer world and people are not satisfied any more with a budgie or a canary they want something more exotic," said John Hayward, a former police officer who runs Britain's National Theft Register, the only national database of animal thefts in Europe.
He says on average Britain's zoos have suffered a major theft every week for the past few years, involving dozens of animals worth thousands of dollars.
Conservationists fear the demand for exotic animals will put further pressure on wild populations, which thieves have already targeted for years.
Experts say, for example, that the trade in exotic birds both legal and illegal has decimated populations of African gray parrots, prized for their ability to mimic human speech.
Britain's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds says 360,000 African grays were legally traded between 1994 and 2003 most of them into Europe while many thousands more were illegally traded.
Zoo thefts made headlines last December when Toga the baby jackass penguin was stolen from Amazon World Zoo Park on the Isle of Wight off southern Britain. He was never found.
On June 18, thieves made off with five rare marmosets worth several hundred dollars each from Drusilla's Zoo at East Grinstead, south of London. Police later arrested two men and recovered four of the creatures, along with 14 other monkeys stolen from zoos in Devon and Cambridgeshire.
Hayward said primary targets are smaller monkeys including South American marmosets, Tamarins from South and Central America and spider monkeys from Mexico and Brazil as well as large exotic birds like macaws and flamingos and reptiles such as turtles and tortoises.
In the last three years, some 80 mostly small monkeys have disappeared from some of Britain's more than 350 zoos, including several dozen large zoos and safari parks, Hayward said. Only a few have been recovered.
Hayward said some animals are stolen to order by professionals. "These animals are not tame and you need to know how to handle and care for them," he said.
The more exotic or endangered the animal, the higher the price. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds says a single rare hyacinth macaw can fetch up to $45,000.
There are casual thefts, too: In the late 1990s, a man abducted an alligator from a zoo in central England. "He took him to a party to impress his friends, then left him on the doorstep of a pet shop," Hayward said.
Harry Schram, director of the 300-member European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, says some 40 percent of European zoos have suffered thefts.
"This problem is growing. With more species being declared endangered and more regulation, people are going underground," Schram said in a telephone interview from his office in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Schram said police in the Netherlands and Belgium are trying to coordinate on the problem, "but this is really exceptional."
"We have no idea of the extent of thefts in Germany, Switzerland and eastern Europe and virtually no information on southern Europe," he said.
The zoo association says animals stolen in Europe likely go to European collectors, since other potential markets like the United States and Japan tightly restrict animal imports and Middle Eastern countries are following suit.
Traffic International at Cambridge, in eastern England, which monitors trade in endangered animals across Europe, says that from 1996 to 2000, British customs officials annually seized around 450 illegally imported consignments. Around 17 percent of those were live animals, mostly reptiles, parrots and macaws.
U.S. zoos also suffer thefts. In 2000, two golden eagles and a bald eagle were stolen from Santa Barbara Zoo in California, apparently for their feathers. Also that year, teenagers stole two koalas from San Francisco Zoo.
In 2000, thieves took 16 lion cubs from a zoo in Jakarta, Indonesia. In the Middle East, four masked thieves grabbed a lion cub from a zoo in the Gaza Strip last November.
Many zoos are now increasing security and some are tagging or implanting computer ships in their animals.
Kath Bright, manager of Amazon World Zoo Park, said penguin parents Kyala and Oscar mourned the loss of 3-month-old Toga for several weeks.
"We think Toga may have been stolen to order, because this was not an opportunistic theft," she said.
There has been a happy ending: On Feb. 14, Kyala and Oscar hatched another chick, dubbed Temba, meaning hope.
On the Net:
National Theft Register: http://www.nationaltheftregister.com
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=2416475
Exhibit featuring baby tigers, lion draws criticism
Saturday, September 9, 2006
By ELAINE HOPKINS
of the Journal Star
PEORIA - While spectators watched cute, young tigers roll and play in temporary cages at The Shoppes at Grand Prairie on Friday, their owner, Jamie Palazzo, explained that the exhibit educates people about the creatures.
Displaying the 14 tigers and one baby lion, ranging in age from four weeks to 11 months, does not send a mixed message to onlookers, she said.
"This is the main point of our show, why they don't make good pets," Palazzo said.
Palazzo's exhibit, Great Cat Adventures, opened on Wednesday at the shopping center and closes Sunday. Spectators are asked for donations to "feed the tigers," and can buy a souvenir or pay a fee to have their photo taken near the animals.
A Peoria ordinance prohibits them from touching the little cats.
Kitty Yanko, education director of the Peoria Humane Society, on Friday sent a letter to The Shoppes opposing the exhibit.
This type of display "teaches our children that it is acceptable to exploit wild animals for personal gain and that meeting (their) needs is secondary to profiting from them," she wrote.
"The cute, cuddly cubs on display today will in a short time be large, hard to control adult(s). Where will they go at that point?" There are not enough accredited sanctuaries to house the "large numbers of cubs touring the country," she continued.
Palazzo said the young tigers are not bred to be in an exhibit, and instead are rescued from abusive homes. The seven 4-week-old tigers came from adults rescued in Indiana that turned out to be pregnant, she said.
But Lisa Wathne, captive exotic animal specialist for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said whether Palazzo is breeding the animals is irrelevant.
"As long as someone exploits them, someone will produce them," she said.
Cathy Asbury, marketing manager for the Shoppes, said Great Cat Adventures contacted the mall and asked for space. "When I heard it was for the preservation of these animals through education and entertainment, I thought it would be great," she said.
Palazzo said the mall space is free. Her refuge is in Amarillo, Texas, she said, where there are "30 (big cats) back home."
But a brochure states the refuge, with "more than 65 big cats" is in Halton City, Texas, near Fort Worth, three hours away from Amarillo.
Tammy Hawley of the Humane Society of North Texas said she had never heard of any refuge in Halton City.
Palazzo said she travels the country with the tigers in a 48-foot trailer and will next appear in Oklahoma City.
Her organization is not a not-for-profit, she said. "It's too hard to beg and plead when we knew we could make money doing this," she said.
Tammi Happach, 19, of Peoria paid $10 to have her photo taken near a young tiger. "They're so cute. I want one," she said. The animals are not being exploited if they've been rescued, she added.
"I'm suspicious of it," a spectator, Dorothy McKinley of East Peoria, said of the exhibit.
Elaine Hopkins can be reached at 686-3247 or ehopkins@pjstar.com
http://www.pjstar.com/stories/090906/TRI_BATIVNHP.012.shtml
By ELAINE HOPKINS
of the Journal Star
PEORIA - While spectators watched cute, young tigers roll and play in temporary cages at The Shoppes at Grand Prairie on Friday, their owner, Jamie Palazzo, explained that the exhibit educates people about the creatures.
Displaying the 14 tigers and one baby lion, ranging in age from four weeks to 11 months, does not send a mixed message to onlookers, she said.
"This is the main point of our show, why they don't make good pets," Palazzo said.
Palazzo's exhibit, Great Cat Adventures, opened on Wednesday at the shopping center and closes Sunday. Spectators are asked for donations to "feed the tigers," and can buy a souvenir or pay a fee to have their photo taken near the animals.
A Peoria ordinance prohibits them from touching the little cats.
Kitty Yanko, education director of the Peoria Humane Society, on Friday sent a letter to The Shoppes opposing the exhibit.
This type of display "teaches our children that it is acceptable to exploit wild animals for personal gain and that meeting (their) needs is secondary to profiting from them," she wrote.
"The cute, cuddly cubs on display today will in a short time be large, hard to control adult(s). Where will they go at that point?" There are not enough accredited sanctuaries to house the "large numbers of cubs touring the country," she continued.
Palazzo said the young tigers are not bred to be in an exhibit, and instead are rescued from abusive homes. The seven 4-week-old tigers came from adults rescued in Indiana that turned out to be pregnant, she said.
But Lisa Wathne, captive exotic animal specialist for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said whether Palazzo is breeding the animals is irrelevant.
"As long as someone exploits them, someone will produce them," she said.
Cathy Asbury, marketing manager for the Shoppes, said Great Cat Adventures contacted the mall and asked for space. "When I heard it was for the preservation of these animals through education and entertainment, I thought it would be great," she said.
Palazzo said the mall space is free. Her refuge is in Amarillo, Texas, she said, where there are "30 (big cats) back home."
But a brochure states the refuge, with "more than 65 big cats" is in Halton City, Texas, near Fort Worth, three hours away from Amarillo.
Tammy Hawley of the Humane Society of North Texas said she had never heard of any refuge in Halton City.
Palazzo said she travels the country with the tigers in a 48-foot trailer and will next appear in Oklahoma City.
Her organization is not a not-for-profit, she said. "It's too hard to beg and plead when we knew we could make money doing this," she said.
Tammi Happach, 19, of Peoria paid $10 to have her photo taken near a young tiger. "They're so cute. I want one," she said. The animals are not being exploited if they've been rescued, she added.
"I'm suspicious of it," a spectator, Dorothy McKinley of East Peoria, said of the exhibit.
Elaine Hopkins can be reached at 686-3247 or ehopkins@pjstar.com
http://www.pjstar.com/stories/090906/TRI_BATIVNHP.012.shtml
State Attorney to decide tiger keeper's fate
Posted September 12, 2006 at 02:43 AM
TAMPA - Whether a former zookeeper should be charged for accidentally allowing a tiger to escape an enclosure at Lowry Park zoo is in the hands of the state attorney’s office.
The office on Monday received a report and recommendation that a misdemeanor charge be filed against the former handler, who apparently left a gate unlocked, enabling a rare Sumatran tiger named Enshalla to escape.
The tiger, which was born at the zoo, was killed Aug. 22 by several shotgun blasts when it tried to scale a fence and get into a public area.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission filed the documents recommending the charge, and it could take two weeks or more before a determination is made, courts spokeswoman Pam Bondi said.
If charged, the zookeeper, who was fired by the zoo, could face a charge of unsafe handling of captive wildlife resulting in an escape or injury. The charge is punishable by a $500 fine or 60 days in jail.
http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/newswire/ comments/state_attorney_to_decide_tiger_keepers_fate/
TAMPA - Whether a former zookeeper should be charged for accidentally allowing a tiger to escape an enclosure at Lowry Park zoo is in the hands of the state attorney’s office.
The office on Monday received a report and recommendation that a misdemeanor charge be filed against the former handler, who apparently left a gate unlocked, enabling a rare Sumatran tiger named Enshalla to escape.
The tiger, which was born at the zoo, was killed Aug. 22 by several shotgun blasts when it tried to scale a fence and get into a public area.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission filed the documents recommending the charge, and it could take two weeks or more before a determination is made, courts spokeswoman Pam Bondi said.
If charged, the zookeeper, who was fired by the zoo, could face a charge of unsafe handling of captive wildlife resulting in an escape or injury. The charge is punishable by a $500 fine or 60 days in jail.
http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/newswire/ comments/state_attorney_to_decide_tiger_keepers_fate/
City of Tampa's risk small if zoo animal escapes
Published: Sep 8, 2006
TAMPA - If an exotic animal were to escape from Lowry Park Zoo, the city would have limited liability, the city attorney told Tampa City Council on Thursday.
The council requested the opinion of City Attorney David Smith after a 200-pound Sumatran tiger, Enshalla, escaped from her night enclosure Aug. 22 and was fatally shot by the zoo's staff.
The zookeeper who left the enclosure unlatched has been fired and is facing a misdemeanor criminal charge, officials said. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has not yet submitted a completed report of its investigation.
Smith said the zoo has a $1 million general liability policy, plus a $10 million umbrella policy to handle "extraordinary" claims. The city owns the zoo's property at 1101 W. Sligh Ave. and a city official sits on the zoo's board of directors, but the city does not control the zoo's operations, hiring or training, Smith said.
"Because we have very little control, we have very little risk," Smith said.
Valerie Kalfrin
http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGB271K0URE.html
TAMPA - If an exotic animal were to escape from Lowry Park Zoo, the city would have limited liability, the city attorney told Tampa City Council on Thursday.
The council requested the opinion of City Attorney David Smith after a 200-pound Sumatran tiger, Enshalla, escaped from her night enclosure Aug. 22 and was fatally shot by the zoo's staff.
The zookeeper who left the enclosure unlatched has been fired and is facing a misdemeanor criminal charge, officials said. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has not yet submitted a completed report of its investigation.
Smith said the zoo has a $1 million general liability policy, plus a $10 million umbrella policy to handle "extraordinary" claims. The city owns the zoo's property at 1101 W. Sligh Ave. and a city official sits on the zoo's board of directors, but the city does not control the zoo's operations, hiring or training, Smith said.
"Because we have very little control, we have very little risk," Smith said.
Valerie Kalfrin
http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGB271K0URE.html
Monday, September 11, 2006
Thirteen Indochina tiger cubs survive in captivity
Last Updated: Saturday, September 9, 2006 13:22:07 Vietnam (GMT+07)
Of 23 tiger cubs born in captivity at a facility owned by Vietnam’s Thai Binh Duong beer company 13 have survived and are doing well, the company announced.
After acquiring three male and two female Indochina tigers in 2000, the company successfully bred two more female tigers. Since 2004 the females delivered four litters comprising the 23 cubs.
These cubs are set to be issued birth certificates by the Binh Duong Forest Department.
The company said it planned to seek permission to work with zoos to increase the tiger number to 100.
The Indochina tiger (Panthera tigris corbettiis) is endangered with Vietnam having less than 150 living both in the wild and in captivity.
Source: Sai Gon Giai Phong – Translated by Tuong Nhi
http://www.thanhniennews.com/entertaiments/?catid=6&newsid=19856
Of 23 tiger cubs born in captivity at a facility owned by Vietnam’s Thai Binh Duong beer company 13 have survived and are doing well, the company announced.
After acquiring three male and two female Indochina tigers in 2000, the company successfully bred two more female tigers. Since 2004 the females delivered four litters comprising the 23 cubs.
These cubs are set to be issued birth certificates by the Binh Duong Forest Department.
The company said it planned to seek permission to work with zoos to increase the tiger number to 100.
The Indochina tiger (Panthera tigris corbettiis) is endangered with Vietnam having less than 150 living both in the wild and in captivity.
Source: Sai Gon Giai Phong – Translated by Tuong Nhi
http://www.thanhniennews.com/entertaiments/?catid=6&newsid=19856
Tiger cubs bringing smiles to visitors at Hattiesburg, MS, Zoo
September 9, 2006
Hattiesburg Zoo officials are hoping some special, four-legged guests will generate new interest in future big-cat exhibits in the Hub City.
Two 4-month-old white, Bengal tiger cubs can be seen by the public this weekend at the Hattiesburg Zoo.
They're on loan from a zoo in Alexandria, Louisiana, where they were born.
It's hoped the cubs will increase public support for new Asian and lion exhibits, which will be constructed soon.
"That's what this weekend is all about, to start spreading the word and bringing awareness to the community, the citizens and see if we can get some donors to offer some extra money to build this exhibit for us," said Lori Banchero, Zoo Administrator for the Hattiesburg Zoo.
"One of the things that we felt we could do is do our part as a good neighbor and bring the animals over and let people see what they are and hopefully, if y'all can go ahead and get together and build a new exhibit, then we'll give y'all a pair of white tigers," said Leslie Witt, Director of the Alexandria Zoo.
You can only see the cubs for one more day, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. tomorrow.
Admission for the zoo is $2 for adults and $1 for senior citizens and children ages 4 to 12.
Children under four get in for free.
http://www.wdam.com/Global/story.asp?S=5386893
Hattiesburg Zoo officials are hoping some special, four-legged guests will generate new interest in future big-cat exhibits in the Hub City.
Two 4-month-old white, Bengal tiger cubs can be seen by the public this weekend at the Hattiesburg Zoo.
They're on loan from a zoo in Alexandria, Louisiana, where they were born.
It's hoped the cubs will increase public support for new Asian and lion exhibits, which will be constructed soon.
"That's what this weekend is all about, to start spreading the word and bringing awareness to the community, the citizens and see if we can get some donors to offer some extra money to build this exhibit for us," said Lori Banchero, Zoo Administrator for the Hattiesburg Zoo.
"One of the things that we felt we could do is do our part as a good neighbor and bring the animals over and let people see what they are and hopefully, if y'all can go ahead and get together and build a new exhibit, then we'll give y'all a pair of white tigers," said Leslie Witt, Director of the Alexandria Zoo.
You can only see the cubs for one more day, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. tomorrow.
Admission for the zoo is $2 for adults and $1 for senior citizens and children ages 4 to 12.
Children under four get in for free.
http://www.wdam.com/Global/story.asp?S=5386893
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Australia: Handler takes on escaped lion
By Brendan O'Malley
September 08, 2006 12:00
A WILDLIFE handler has told how he confronted a 130kg lion after it escaped from its enclosure at a north Queensland zoo and coaxed it back.
Tim Husband locked 30 staff into a lodge on the Out of Africa Lion and Animal Reserve for an hour yesterday morning while he took on two-year-old lion Goldie.
Mr Husband, armed with a rifle, threw rocks at Goldie and shouted at him until the big cat eventually crawled back through a hole in his enclosure at the zoo, midway between Cairns and Mareeba, which is closed for upgrading.
The incident happened at 10.30am when a worker accidentally slashed a 50cm hole in the lion enclosure with a grass cutter.
"I had my rifle but I didn't want to use it. It's all about knowing your animals," Mr Husband said.
"I've been handling animals for 28 years, ever since I left school.
"I also know Goldie very well. I had to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation after he was born, and I nursed him through a snakebite."
Mr Husband said that as soon as the lion was noticed outside its enclosure he put in place "standard procedures", which included locking the wife of the zoo owner in her office and other staff into an accommodation lodge. Zoo animals were also locked in their enclosures.
Out of Africa was supposed to open in a few weeks, when new owner Udo Jattke finished replacing kilometres of fencing and cleaning up the run-down grounds.
However he said yesterday the zoo would not reopen until it was "110 per cent ready".
"We're well on schedule. The new fencing they have put in is great," he said. "We regard this as a minor incident, and we will of course be inspected before we're allowed to open."
The zoo, formerly known as the Mareeba Wild Animal Park, went into liquidation in 2004 and its owner David Gill fled the country.
He had been pursued by the Department of Natural Resources for several breaches of the Land Protection Act, including the escape of a cheetah.
DNR land protection director Dr Bruce Wilson said it appeared that the zoo had complied with the department's conditions, including reporting the incident and having an appropriate action plan, so it was unlikely to be fined.
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/ 0,22049,20374653-5005941,00.html
September 08, 2006 12:00
A WILDLIFE handler has told how he confronted a 130kg lion after it escaped from its enclosure at a north Queensland zoo and coaxed it back.
Tim Husband locked 30 staff into a lodge on the Out of Africa Lion and Animal Reserve for an hour yesterday morning while he took on two-year-old lion Goldie.
Mr Husband, armed with a rifle, threw rocks at Goldie and shouted at him until the big cat eventually crawled back through a hole in his enclosure at the zoo, midway between Cairns and Mareeba, which is closed for upgrading.
The incident happened at 10.30am when a worker accidentally slashed a 50cm hole in the lion enclosure with a grass cutter.
"I had my rifle but I didn't want to use it. It's all about knowing your animals," Mr Husband said.
"I've been handling animals for 28 years, ever since I left school.
"I also know Goldie very well. I had to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation after he was born, and I nursed him through a snakebite."
Mr Husband said that as soon as the lion was noticed outside its enclosure he put in place "standard procedures", which included locking the wife of the zoo owner in her office and other staff into an accommodation lodge. Zoo animals were also locked in their enclosures.
Out of Africa was supposed to open in a few weeks, when new owner Udo Jattke finished replacing kilometres of fencing and cleaning up the run-down grounds.
However he said yesterday the zoo would not reopen until it was "110 per cent ready".
"We're well on schedule. The new fencing they have put in is great," he said. "We regard this as a minor incident, and we will of course be inspected before we're allowed to open."
The zoo, formerly known as the Mareeba Wild Animal Park, went into liquidation in 2004 and its owner David Gill fled the country.
He had been pursued by the Department of Natural Resources for several breaches of the Land Protection Act, including the escape of a cheetah.
DNR land protection director Dr Bruce Wilson said it appeared that the zoo had complied with the department's conditions, including reporting the incident and having an appropriate action plan, so it was unlikely to be fined.
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/ 0,22049,20374653-5005941,00.html
Wild cats take over senior citizens' dining room
By Connie Wolfman, SPECIAL TO THE STAR
Thursday, September 7, 2006 1:13 AM PDT
St. Helena, CA
Lions and leopards and lynx -- Oh my! Five wild cats made an appearance at Silverado Orchards Retirement Community in St. Helena recently, and 100 senior citizens residing there lived to tell the "tale."
In fact, five distinctly different cat "tails" emerged, flicking and curling in an impressive array of spots and stripes. One tail even stuck straight up in a short, comical-looking spike on the rump of Oksana the Siberian Lynx.
Wildlife educator Barbara Dicely narrated as each of the five felines made a separate, dramatic entrance into the Silverado Orchards dining room escorted by her husband, Rob Dicely.
The Dicelys are former school teachers who established nonprofit Leopards, Etc. over 16 years ago. It is a traveling classroom with a mission "to increase public awareness of the plight of vanishing wildlife species. . ."
Their 23 wild cats tour with them in shifts as they visit approximately 100 Bay Area schools and numerous private events annually."
Our cats have raised well over $2 million for various wildlife conservation organizations," said Rob. "We're a very small organization, but we pack a hell of a wallop."
Leopards, Etc. appeared to be packing quite a punch at Silverado Orchards as a crowd of 300 joined the retirement home residents, "oohing and aahing" like it was the Fourth of July.
A King Cheetah named Kgosi is unofficially the biggest star working the Dicely's catwalk since he served as an model for the movie, The Chronicles of Narnia.
As Kgosi showed off his aerodynamic physique, the Dicelys educated the audience by rattling off a few facts. Cheetahs are the fastest land mammals on earth, able to sprint across six football fields in 30 seconds."
Try to picture a 90-pound animal coming at you at 70 mph, knowing you have to get it back on the leash," said Rob as he explained how they exercise their three cheetahs in an open field twice a week.
The crowd laughed, but sobered up quickly when Barbara informed them that cheetahs are an endangered species, numbering only 12,000 worldwide and currently disappearing at the rate of 1,000 per year.
Nakuru the African serval, Shoshone the American mountain lion and Ashakiran the Asian snow leopard completed the one-hour presentation."
Not exactly something for a spelling bee," quipped Kerry Baldwin although he has been a longtime supporter of the Dicely's educational outreach.
His parents, Alan and Sharon Baldwin, have owned Silverado Orchards since 1978. They connected with the Dicelys 15 years ago hoping to provide a little afternoon entertainment for the residents.
After the first successful show, the Baldwins decided to open it up to the community. They now offer two back-to-back performances by Leopards, Etc. every couple of years to accommodate the overflow of ticket requests for the 200 seats in their dining room.
Janet Harrington, 97-year-old resident of the retirement home, invited her grandson to the first wild cat show in 1991."
He pulled himself under the chairs (of the other guests) up to the front of the room" to get a better look, Harrington laughed. "He's married now."
Both senior citizens and kids eagerly scooped up souvenirs after the show which helps the Dicelys to defray their $65,000 yearly cat costs.
"It was cool," said 11-year-old Katie Sandin leaving with her grandmother Shirley Blomquist and two stuffed leopards perched on her shoulders."
I was wishing I could pet (one of the wild cats)," said Frances Elliott of Calistoga as she bought three toy cats for her daughters and a leopard print T-shirt for herself.
Resident Judith Laturno smiled as she balanced a tiny plush lion on top of her walker and picked up a boxed supper. On Wild Cat Days at Silverado Orchards, dinner is not served in the dining room.
http://www.sthelenastar.com/articles/2006/09/07/ features/community/iq_3588812.txt
Thursday, September 7, 2006 1:13 AM PDT
St. Helena, CA
Lions and leopards and lynx -- Oh my! Five wild cats made an appearance at Silverado Orchards Retirement Community in St. Helena recently, and 100 senior citizens residing there lived to tell the "tale."
In fact, five distinctly different cat "tails" emerged, flicking and curling in an impressive array of spots and stripes. One tail even stuck straight up in a short, comical-looking spike on the rump of Oksana the Siberian Lynx.
Wildlife educator Barbara Dicely narrated as each of the five felines made a separate, dramatic entrance into the Silverado Orchards dining room escorted by her husband, Rob Dicely.
The Dicelys are former school teachers who established nonprofit Leopards, Etc. over 16 years ago. It is a traveling classroom with a mission "to increase public awareness of the plight of vanishing wildlife species. . ."
Their 23 wild cats tour with them in shifts as they visit approximately 100 Bay Area schools and numerous private events annually."
Our cats have raised well over $2 million for various wildlife conservation organizations," said Rob. "We're a very small organization, but we pack a hell of a wallop."
Leopards, Etc. appeared to be packing quite a punch at Silverado Orchards as a crowd of 300 joined the retirement home residents, "oohing and aahing" like it was the Fourth of July.
A King Cheetah named Kgosi is unofficially the biggest star working the Dicely's catwalk since he served as an model for the movie, The Chronicles of Narnia.
As Kgosi showed off his aerodynamic physique, the Dicelys educated the audience by rattling off a few facts. Cheetahs are the fastest land mammals on earth, able to sprint across six football fields in 30 seconds."
Try to picture a 90-pound animal coming at you at 70 mph, knowing you have to get it back on the leash," said Rob as he explained how they exercise their three cheetahs in an open field twice a week.
The crowd laughed, but sobered up quickly when Barbara informed them that cheetahs are an endangered species, numbering only 12,000 worldwide and currently disappearing at the rate of 1,000 per year.
Nakuru the African serval, Shoshone the American mountain lion and Ashakiran the Asian snow leopard completed the one-hour presentation."
Not exactly something for a spelling bee," quipped Kerry Baldwin although he has been a longtime supporter of the Dicely's educational outreach.
His parents, Alan and Sharon Baldwin, have owned Silverado Orchards since 1978. They connected with the Dicelys 15 years ago hoping to provide a little afternoon entertainment for the residents.
After the first successful show, the Baldwins decided to open it up to the community. They now offer two back-to-back performances by Leopards, Etc. every couple of years to accommodate the overflow of ticket requests for the 200 seats in their dining room.
Janet Harrington, 97-year-old resident of the retirement home, invited her grandson to the first wild cat show in 1991."
He pulled himself under the chairs (of the other guests) up to the front of the room" to get a better look, Harrington laughed. "He's married now."
Both senior citizens and kids eagerly scooped up souvenirs after the show which helps the Dicelys to defray their $65,000 yearly cat costs.
"It was cool," said 11-year-old Katie Sandin leaving with her grandmother Shirley Blomquist and two stuffed leopards perched on her shoulders."
I was wishing I could pet (one of the wild cats)," said Frances Elliott of Calistoga as she bought three toy cats for her daughters and a leopard print T-shirt for herself.
Resident Judith Laturno smiled as she balanced a tiny plush lion on top of her walker and picked up a boxed supper. On Wild Cat Days at Silverado Orchards, dinner is not served in the dining room.
http://www.sthelenastar.com/articles/2006/09/07/ features/community/iq_3588812.txt
Friday, September 08, 2006
White tiger cubs to visit Mississippi zoo
Special to the American
Article published Sep 6, 2006
Visitors to the Hattiesburg Zoo this weekend can see two 4-month-old white tiger cubs courtesy of the Alexandria, La., Zoo.
The zoo will mark the two-day exhibit with extended hours from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
The event is intended to raise awareness and create interest in the zoo’s future big cat exhibits, according to a prepared statement.
Admission fees are $2 for adults and $1 for seniors and children, age 4 to 12. Children under 4 years get in free.
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article? AID=/20060906/NEWS01/60906011
Article published Sep 6, 2006
Visitors to the Hattiesburg Zoo this weekend can see two 4-month-old white tiger cubs courtesy of the Alexandria, La., Zoo.
The zoo will mark the two-day exhibit with extended hours from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
The event is intended to raise awareness and create interest in the zoo’s future big cat exhibits, according to a prepared statement.
Admission fees are $2 for adults and $1 for seniors and children, age 4 to 12. Children under 4 years get in free.
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article? AID=/20060906/NEWS01/60906011
Snow leopard cubs to make debut at LA Zoo
Sep 6, 2006 10:50 pm US/Pacific
(CBS) LOS ANGELES The first snow leopard cubs to be born at the Los Angeles Zoo in 22 years will make their debut at the Griffith Park facility.
The two cubs, both male, were born May 25. They are the offspring of the zoo's leopards - 12-year-old T'ung Ling and 8-year-old Gail.
The cubs have already been named, courtesy of Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association donors Gail and Jerry Oppenheimer. The couple "paid in advance for the right to name the first litter of snow leopards.
The cubs are named Jerry - after Oppenheimer - and Tom, in honor of GLAZA board chairman Tom Mankiewicz.
Snow leopards are an endangered species, with an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 remaining in the wild. They are considered extremely rare and difficult to observe because of the remoteness of their habitat in the mountains of Asia. Snow leopards are solitary animals that come together only to mate.
According to zoo officials, there are 170 snow leopards living in 61 zoos that participate in the Snow Leopard Species Survival Program, which makes husbandry and breeding recommendations.
http://cbs2.com/topstories/local_story_250015108.html
(CBS) LOS ANGELES The first snow leopard cubs to be born at the Los Angeles Zoo in 22 years will make their debut at the Griffith Park facility.
The two cubs, both male, were born May 25. They are the offspring of the zoo's leopards - 12-year-old T'ung Ling and 8-year-old Gail.
The cubs have already been named, courtesy of Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association donors Gail and Jerry Oppenheimer. The couple "paid in advance for the right to name the first litter of snow leopards.
The cubs are named Jerry - after Oppenheimer - and Tom, in honor of GLAZA board chairman Tom Mankiewicz.
Snow leopards are an endangered species, with an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 remaining in the wild. They are considered extremely rare and difficult to observe because of the remoteness of their habitat in the mountains of Asia. Snow leopards are solitary animals that come together only to mate.
According to zoo officials, there are 170 snow leopards living in 61 zoos that participate in the Snow Leopard Species Survival Program, which makes husbandry and breeding recommendations.
http://cbs2.com/topstories/local_story_250015108.html
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Write the Dept. of Interior: Circus Acts Don't Enhance Species
FYI from the Federal Register. Note the request from Ziccolone and Carrasco Productions,
[Federal Register: September 7, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 173)]
[Notices]
[Page 52816]
>From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr07se06-83]
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