By TROY ROBERTS, troberts@lakecityreporter.com
Saturday, January 20, 2007 10:41 PM EST
Several adult tigers live in a state-approved, non-profit animal sanctuary in southern Columbia County and the presence of the big cats has sparked concern among neighbors and county officials who want to know more about the facility.
Jungle Paradise Zoo, Inc., operated by James Garretson as a non-profit organization in Columbia County, is located on Southwest Churchill Way. The zoo has been in this location for 21/2 years.
Neighbors have reported complaints, which include improper drainage, excessive animal odor and expressed concerns it could represent a safety hazard for any children playing nearby.
Marge Hickey, who lives next door to Jungle Paradise, said she is concerned that the animals aren't being fed well and believes the animals represent a safety hazard for the area.
"We're concerned with the safety situation," she said. "It's possible kids can climb over or under the fence."
Inspections by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission haven't turned up any problems at the facility.
Garretson said that the trouble between he and Hickey stems from a "personal vendetta."
"Our facility is clean," Garretson said Saturday. "There is nothing that can be said. It's not a safety issue, no issue other than a personal attack. Why have I been here this many years and they're just now saying something?"
Garretson said there is very little odor from the facility, as he said he uses 10 gallons of bleach daily to clean the area where the tigers stay. He also said the animals are considered overweight, a claim confirmed by FWC Investigator Kenneth Holmes.
Garretson said he owns nine tigers at the facility, including a couple of tiger cubs and one full-size white tiger.
According to a 2005 inspection report by the United States Department of Agriculture, obtained from the Jungle Paradise Zoo, Inc., Web site, the facility housed, at that time, approximately 10 tigers and one coatimundi, a member of the racoon family.
The zoo's Web site states its mission is to provide "lifelong homes for animals retired from the entertainment industry."
The tigers are contained in steel pens with three-inch square tubing bars, inside an 8-foot high chain link fence surrounding Garretson's property. Garretson's Web site for Jungle Paradise Zoo, Inc., indicates the tigers are able to exercise in a 22,000 square-foot pen.
Garretson said he is regulated by the state and has frequently been visited by FWC and other state officials regarding the sanctuary.
The FWC has been called to the site several times for various accusations, but most are unfounded, Holmes said.
"I can't tell you I haven't found some things wrong, such as a dirty water bowl," Holmes said. "Minor problems, but nothing I would say would be out of the ordinary."
Hickey complained that the animals at times go without food, but Holmes said his inspections found that, if anything, the animals are overweight.
"There are some unfounded accusations," Holmes said. "It's a sprinkling of truth in a plate of exaggeration."
Columbia County Dist. 4 County Commissioner Stephen Bailey said to keep animals on the land, Garretson would have to apply for a special exception under the land development regulations of Columbia County because he is in an agricultural district.
County Manager Dale Williams said Garretson has applied for that permit.
"I do know there is an individual who apparently obtained appropriate Fish and Wildlife permits to house at least three tigers," Williams said. "I do know the individual who has those is in the process of filing for a special exception, which is what would be required through the zoning law. I know there was an issue with that application and the issue had to do with the legal entity he was applying under."
According to the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations, the registered agent for Jungle Paradise Zoo Inc. was Nicole H. Demers, who resigned that position on Oct. 27, 2006.
The division of corporations Web site also states that a revocation of voluntary dissolution was filed on Sept. 25, 2006.
Garretson, who once traveled the country with animal exhibits, said he opened the sanctuary almost three years ago after he became attached to the animals.
"I saw it was wrong having them locked up and traveling all over the country," he said. "So we built facilities where they can just live their lives out."
http://lakecityreporter.com
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Photos of tigers nursings pigs, dogs are Thai zoo gimmick
Once again, photos are circulating in the media of tigers from Sri Racha zoo in Thailand, no doubt used to evoke the “how cute” response. As usual, it shows a tiger with piglets dressed in tiger skin jackets. In the Daily Telegraph the bizarre claim is made in the caption that the tiger was raised on sow’s milk to “calm her ferocious nature”.
It is the hand-rearing which is making the tigers more manageable, but only to a certain degree, as one of their members of staff sadly found to her cost. She was attacked by six tigers in the zoo, trying to make them pose for tourist photos. She died of her wounds.
The zoo regularly uses the gimmick of displaying of pigs, dogs and tigers seemingly raising each other’s offspring. It is stressful for the mothers of the young animals concerned to have their offspring removed and it appears they do not usually suckle these strange replacements, instead the zoo staff bottle rear the infants. The female pigs are kept in farrowing crates, a cruel device which prevents the pig from turning round, and banned in this country in 1999; it appears at least some of the tiger cubs which go on to be used in photo opportunities with visitors have their claws removed, and those tigers not kept on show are housed behind the scenes in tiny, barren, concrete cages. If anyone would like more information on Sri Racha, please contact our Zoo Check colleagues zoocheck@bornfree.org.uk
see http://www.bornfree.org.uk/zoocheck/zcnews040504.shtml
From: http://www.bornfree.org.uk/zoocheck/zcnews070131.shtml
It is the hand-rearing which is making the tigers more manageable, but only to a certain degree, as one of their members of staff sadly found to her cost. She was attacked by six tigers in the zoo, trying to make them pose for tourist photos. She died of her wounds.
The zoo regularly uses the gimmick of displaying of pigs, dogs and tigers seemingly raising each other’s offspring. It is stressful for the mothers of the young animals concerned to have their offspring removed and it appears they do not usually suckle these strange replacements, instead the zoo staff bottle rear the infants. The female pigs are kept in farrowing crates, a cruel device which prevents the pig from turning round, and banned in this country in 1999; it appears at least some of the tiger cubs which go on to be used in photo opportunities with visitors have their claws removed, and those tigers not kept on show are housed behind the scenes in tiny, barren, concrete cages. If anyone would like more information on Sri Racha, please contact our Zoo Check colleagues zoocheck@bornfree.org.uk
see http://www.bornfree.org.uk/zoocheck/zcnews040504.shtml
From: http://www.bornfree.org.uk/zoocheck/zcnews070131.shtml
Montreal zoo gets two new lynxes from breeder
MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(CCNMatthews - Jan. 30, 2007) - The two Canadian lynx cubs recently adopted by the Montreal Biodome, one male and one female, were introduced into the Laurentian Forest this morning at about 10 a.m. They are very cute and full of energy.
They were born at a breeder's farm in Goose Bay, Labrador, eight months ago, and have now reached about 3/4 of their adult size. Canadian lynxes are not considered an endangered species according to Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), but could well become one if trade in these felines is not controlled. They live mainly in Canada, Alaska and the northern United States, in conifer forests with dense underbrush, in the same habitat as Arctic hares, which account for 75% of their diet. A lynx's territory ranges from 15 to 40 km2, and can even be as large as 20 km2.
An adult lynx can eat 200 hares a year, leaping up to seven metres to seize its prey. Lynxes are also very good climbers and excellent swimmers. They are usually solitary animals, but may hunt in packs when food is scarce to improve their chances of catching a meal. Lynxes rarely venture out in daytime, except in winter. They hunt at night, roaming from 4 to 20 km. They are active all winter long. Lynxes are spotted very rarely in the wild. Their main predators are wolves, cougars and humans.
Mating occurs in March and April. After a gestation period of 63 days, the female bears a litter of one to five cubs, in May or June. The young leave their mother the following spring.
You can watch them playing and exploring their new habitat at the Biodome. But please keep your voice down - like all felines, our Canadian lynx cubs have very keen hearing and don't like loud noises.
http://www.ccnmatthews.com/news/releases/show.jsp?action= showRelease&searchText=false&showText=all&actionFor=633064
They were born at a breeder's farm in Goose Bay, Labrador, eight months ago, and have now reached about 3/4 of their adult size. Canadian lynxes are not considered an endangered species according to Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), but could well become one if trade in these felines is not controlled. They live mainly in Canada, Alaska and the northern United States, in conifer forests with dense underbrush, in the same habitat as Arctic hares, which account for 75% of their diet. A lynx's territory ranges from 15 to 40 km2, and can even be as large as 20 km2.
An adult lynx can eat 200 hares a year, leaping up to seven metres to seize its prey. Lynxes are also very good climbers and excellent swimmers. They are usually solitary animals, but may hunt in packs when food is scarce to improve their chances of catching a meal. Lynxes rarely venture out in daytime, except in winter. They hunt at night, roaming from 4 to 20 km. They are active all winter long. Lynxes are spotted very rarely in the wild. Their main predators are wolves, cougars and humans.
Mating occurs in March and April. After a gestation period of 63 days, the female bears a litter of one to five cubs, in May or June. The young leave their mother the following spring.
You can watch them playing and exploring their new habitat at the Biodome. But please keep your voice down - like all felines, our Canadian lynx cubs have very keen hearing and don't like loud noises.
http://www.ccnmatthews.com/news/releases/show.jsp?action= showRelease&searchText=false&showText=all&actionFor=633064
Jaguar babies born in German zoo
Rostock Zoo on Germany's Baltic Sea coast is celebrating its first jaguar offspring in six years. The cute triplets, which were born on the evening of Dec. 16 and the following morning, are six weeks old and are now on show to the public, according to the zoo's Web site.
Erwin Sellering, social minister of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, christened the tiny trio last Friday. The black male cub was given the name Keme, which means "secret," while the black female cub is called Kaya, meaning, appropriately "older sister." Their speckled sister, who was born on the morning of Dec. 17, several hours after the other two, is called Kachina ("spirit of the invisible life force"). Zoo keepers Ellen Hinz and Andrea Marx chose the names, which come from the Native American languages Algonquin and Hopi.
The three cubs each now weigh around 8.4 pounds (3.8 kilograms), almost three times what they weighed at birth. An adult jaguar can weigh from 100 to 250 pounds (45 to 113 kilograms) and can live 12 to 15 years in the wild.
It is the second time the zoo's jaguar pair, Blanco und Ayana, have produced offspring. They last had cubs in 2001. Female jaguars normally have litters of one to four cubs
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,463161,00.html
Erwin Sellering, social minister of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, christened the tiny trio last Friday. The black male cub was given the name Keme, which means "secret," while the black female cub is called Kaya, meaning, appropriately "older sister." Their speckled sister, who was born on the morning of Dec. 17, several hours after the other two, is called Kachina ("spirit of the invisible life force"). Zoo keepers Ellen Hinz and Andrea Marx chose the names, which come from the Native American languages Algonquin and Hopi.
The three cubs each now weigh around 8.4 pounds (3.8 kilograms), almost three times what they weighed at birth. An adult jaguar can weigh from 100 to 250 pounds (45 to 113 kilograms) and can live 12 to 15 years in the wild.
It is the second time the zoo's jaguar pair, Blanco und Ayana, have produced offspring. They last had cubs in 2001. Female jaguars normally have litters of one to four cubs
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,463161,00.html
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Missing cougar may never be found, say Indiana officials
UPDATED: 10:02 am EST January 29, 2007
CENTER POINT, Ind. -- The search for a cougar that got away from a rescue center three weeks ago continues, but officials say it is becoming more likely that the animal will never be found.
Donner, a 75-pound female cougar, scaled a 14-foot fence to escape from the Exotic Feline Rescue Center in Center Point, about 50 miles west of Indianapolis.
The center's director, Joe Taft, was initially certain that the animal would be found. Crews left food and traps in the area of the center in hopes that Donner would be snared.
Crews found new tracks in the snow last week, but the most recent attempts to find the animal have been unsuccessful, and food put out recently has gone uneaten.
Taft said he planned to go out again on Monday to check for tracks and put out fresh food. He said the animal likely has the ability to hunt on its own and would eat things like rodents, squirrels and turkeys.
Taft said that despite rumors, no other animals have escaped from the center.
http://www.theindychannel.com/news/10869376/detail.html
CENTER POINT, Ind. -- The search for a cougar that got away from a rescue center three weeks ago continues, but officials say it is becoming more likely that the animal will never be found.
Donner, a 75-pound female cougar, scaled a 14-foot fence to escape from the Exotic Feline Rescue Center in Center Point, about 50 miles west of Indianapolis.
The center's director, Joe Taft, was initially certain that the animal would be found. Crews left food and traps in the area of the center in hopes that Donner would be snared.
Crews found new tracks in the snow last week, but the most recent attempts to find the animal have been unsuccessful, and food put out recently has gone uneaten.
Taft said he planned to go out again on Monday to check for tracks and put out fresh food. He said the animal likely has the ability to hunt on its own and would eat things like rodents, squirrels and turkeys.
Taft said that despite rumors, no other animals have escaped from the center.
http://www.theindychannel.com/news/10869376/detail.html
Expert panel recommends exotic animal ban in NC
Jan 29, 2007 12:54 PM EST
WILMINGTON - Lions and tigers and bears are just a few of the exotic animals living at the Tregembo Animal Park on Carolina Beach Road.
But once those animals die, you may not see their species in this area again.
A panel of experts meeting at the request of state lawmakers recommends banning certain exotic animals.
They say they're too dangerous for private zoos like Tregembo, or for use as pets. Animals already owned by private zoos or owners would be exempt.
The issue goes to the legislature in the next two weeks.
If the recommendation is made law, monkeys and other animals would have to be fixed so they could not breed.
"They would have to be spayed or neutered, whichever, and micro-chipped also, so they can make sure you're not changing out animals for younger animals," said Robert Tregembo, owner of Tregembo Animal Park. "And when the animals pass away from old age, you cannot replace them. No more monkeys, no more lions, tigers, bears."
But at least one zoo is exempt: the state zoo in Asheboro.
"The state zoo is running this board and so they exempted their own self and said we're not exempted," said Pat Faircloth, owner of a zoo in Chadbourn.
But Faircloth's zoo and Tregembo follow the same regulations as the state zoo, Faircloth said.
"The USDA regulates us. We follow the exact same guidelines," he said. "We are inspected by the same woman with the USDA that inspects the North Carolina zoo, so they follow the same guidelines as we do or are following the same as they do, but ours, they claim, are not up to par."
Reported by Kacey Gaumer
http://www.wect.com/Global/story.asp?S=5996468&nav=2gQc
WILMINGTON - Lions and tigers and bears are just a few of the exotic animals living at the Tregembo Animal Park on Carolina Beach Road.
But once those animals die, you may not see their species in this area again.
A panel of experts meeting at the request of state lawmakers recommends banning certain exotic animals.
They say they're too dangerous for private zoos like Tregembo, or for use as pets. Animals already owned by private zoos or owners would be exempt.
The issue goes to the legislature in the next two weeks.
If the recommendation is made law, monkeys and other animals would have to be fixed so they could not breed.
"They would have to be spayed or neutered, whichever, and micro-chipped also, so they can make sure you're not changing out animals for younger animals," said Robert Tregembo, owner of Tregembo Animal Park. "And when the animals pass away from old age, you cannot replace them. No more monkeys, no more lions, tigers, bears."
But at least one zoo is exempt: the state zoo in Asheboro.
"The state zoo is running this board and so they exempted their own self and said we're not exempted," said Pat Faircloth, owner of a zoo in Chadbourn.
But Faircloth's zoo and Tregembo follow the same regulations as the state zoo, Faircloth said.
"The USDA regulates us. We follow the exact same guidelines," he said. "We are inspected by the same woman with the USDA that inspects the North Carolina zoo, so they follow the same guidelines as we do or are following the same as they do, but ours, they claim, are not up to par."
Reported by Kacey Gaumer
http://www.wect.com/Global/story.asp?S=5996468&nav=2gQc
City staff recommend exotic animal ban in Vancouver, B.C.
Nicholas Read, Vancouver Sun
Published: Tuesday, January 23, 2007
VANCOUVER - City staff are recommending the city ban the keeping and sale of lions, tigers, wild dogs, crocodiles and some lizards and snakes for reasons of safety and animal welfare.
And in an effort to get similar bylaws enacted throughout B.C., the report, written by the office of the chief licence inspector, suggests Mayor Sam Sullivan send a letter to the Union of B.C. Municipalities urging the adoption of a provincewide list of banned exotic animals.
If council approves the recommendation Feb. 1, Vancouver will join Langley, Richmond, Surrey, Abbotsford, New Westminster, the City and District of North Vancouver and 12 communities outside the Lower Mainland in what has become a growing campaign by local jurisdictions to curb the trade in exotic pets.
"Vancouver has an opportunity to get on board, so let's get to it," said Coun. Kim Capri who, with help from the Vancouver Humane Society, asked staff to prepare the report last year.
Capri said she was "thrilled" with the outcome, except she thinks the list of restricted species also should include amphibians.
"My guess is when this comes to committee, we will likely hear from animal lovers who say there are other things we could be adding on," she said.
Capri said an "overwhelming majority" of the public support the initiative, and "the only people who are opposed are people who profit from the sale of [exotics]."
The report, issued last week, says only three independent pet stores sell exotic animals in the city, but notes they are also available through private sale, and that many national and regional pet store chains "promote the keeping of exotic/wild animals as pets."
Last June, a 1.5-metre crocodile fell out of a third-storey apartment on West Fourth Avenue. The report said that incident "reaffirmed the need to take a closer look at the issue."
Vancouver Humane Society representative Peter Fricker said: "It's clear the city has recognized that exotic animals suffer in captivity and that they pose a threat to public health and safety.
"We think the proposed list of banned animals could be longer [it should include primates, iguanas, monitor lizards and wolf-dog hybrids, he said] but this is a great step forward for animal welfare in Vancouver."
Cam McOuat, a co-owner of Aquariums West pet store on Burrard, said while he supports a ban on the sale of large and dangerous animals, such as pythons and crocodiles, the new law will do nothing to prevent the underground sale of exotic animals and is another example of the city interfering in something that doesn't need addressing.
"A lot of these things are rhetoric," he said, "and when the rubber meets the road, you'll find there ain't too much rubber on the road."
He also said it won't affect his ability to sell such reptiles and amphibians as geckos, skinks, frogs, anoles and chameleons.
Paul Springate, curator of the Rainforest Reptile Refuge in Surrey, said 99 per cent of the more than 300 animals at the refuge -- which include large and dangerous snakes and lizards -- are discarded pets.
The bylaw also would ban the use of wild and/or exotic animals in public performances, events and exhibitions. The city has prohibited the use of such animals in circuses since 1992, but there are no restrictions on using them in other kinds of performances.
In 2005, a Las Vegas magic act sought to include tigers in a show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. The show's star, Rick Thomas, changed his mind after protests from animal-welfare groups.
nread@png.canwest.com
###
Bylaw to Ban Some Animals From Vancouver
If enacted, a proposed bylaw would prohibit the keeping of the following animals within city limits:
- Snakes: green anaconda, yellow anaconda, reticulated python, African rock python, Burmese python, Indian python, amethyst python
- Hyenas
- Crocodilians, including alligators and crocodiles
- All venomous reptiles
- Canids such as wolves, jackals, coyotes and foxes
- Felids such as lions and tigers
- Bears
It also would prohibit the following species from being sold:
- Canids
- Cetaceans, including whales, dolphins, porpoises
- Crocodilians
- Edentates, including anteaters, sloths, armadillos
- Elephants
- Felids, including lions and tigers
- Green iguanas
- Hyenas
- Insectivores, except African pygmy hedgehogs
- Marsupials, except sugar gliders
- Mutelids (skunks, weasels, otters), except domesticated ferrets
- Non-human primates
- Pinnipeds (seals, walruses)
- Raccoons
- Birds of prey
- Ostriches
- Rodents, except domestic hamsters, guinea pigs, chinchillas, rats and mice
- Pythons and anacondas
- Turtles and turtle eggs
- Ungulates, except goats, sheep, pigs, cattle, horses, mules, donkeys, llamas and alpacas
- Bears
- Venomous spiders and insects
- Venomous reptiles
- Mongooses, civets, genets
Source: City of Vancouver
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html? id=d6548355-37ff-4149-ba11-5a9c583ee188
Published: Tuesday, January 23, 2007
VANCOUVER - City staff are recommending the city ban the keeping and sale of lions, tigers, wild dogs, crocodiles and some lizards and snakes for reasons of safety and animal welfare.
And in an effort to get similar bylaws enacted throughout B.C., the report, written by the office of the chief licence inspector, suggests Mayor Sam Sullivan send a letter to the Union of B.C. Municipalities urging the adoption of a provincewide list of banned exotic animals.
If council approves the recommendation Feb. 1, Vancouver will join Langley, Richmond, Surrey, Abbotsford, New Westminster, the City and District of North Vancouver and 12 communities outside the Lower Mainland in what has become a growing campaign by local jurisdictions to curb the trade in exotic pets.
"Vancouver has an opportunity to get on board, so let's get to it," said Coun. Kim Capri who, with help from the Vancouver Humane Society, asked staff to prepare the report last year.
Capri said she was "thrilled" with the outcome, except she thinks the list of restricted species also should include amphibians.
"My guess is when this comes to committee, we will likely hear from animal lovers who say there are other things we could be adding on," she said.
Capri said an "overwhelming majority" of the public support the initiative, and "the only people who are opposed are people who profit from the sale of [exotics]."
The report, issued last week, says only three independent pet stores sell exotic animals in the city, but notes they are also available through private sale, and that many national and regional pet store chains "promote the keeping of exotic/wild animals as pets."
Last June, a 1.5-metre crocodile fell out of a third-storey apartment on West Fourth Avenue. The report said that incident "reaffirmed the need to take a closer look at the issue."
Vancouver Humane Society representative Peter Fricker said: "It's clear the city has recognized that exotic animals suffer in captivity and that they pose a threat to public health and safety.
"We think the proposed list of banned animals could be longer [it should include primates, iguanas, monitor lizards and wolf-dog hybrids, he said] but this is a great step forward for animal welfare in Vancouver."
Cam McOuat, a co-owner of Aquariums West pet store on Burrard, said while he supports a ban on the sale of large and dangerous animals, such as pythons and crocodiles, the new law will do nothing to prevent the underground sale of exotic animals and is another example of the city interfering in something that doesn't need addressing.
"A lot of these things are rhetoric," he said, "and when the rubber meets the road, you'll find there ain't too much rubber on the road."
He also said it won't affect his ability to sell such reptiles and amphibians as geckos, skinks, frogs, anoles and chameleons.
Paul Springate, curator of the Rainforest Reptile Refuge in Surrey, said 99 per cent of the more than 300 animals at the refuge -- which include large and dangerous snakes and lizards -- are discarded pets.
The bylaw also would ban the use of wild and/or exotic animals in public performances, events and exhibitions. The city has prohibited the use of such animals in circuses since 1992, but there are no restrictions on using them in other kinds of performances.
In 2005, a Las Vegas magic act sought to include tigers in a show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. The show's star, Rick Thomas, changed his mind after protests from animal-welfare groups.
nread@png.canwest.com
###
Bylaw to Ban Some Animals From Vancouver
If enacted, a proposed bylaw would prohibit the keeping of the following animals within city limits:
- Snakes: green anaconda, yellow anaconda, reticulated python, African rock python, Burmese python, Indian python, amethyst python
- Hyenas
- Crocodilians, including alligators and crocodiles
- All venomous reptiles
- Canids such as wolves, jackals, coyotes and foxes
- Felids such as lions and tigers
- Bears
It also would prohibit the following species from being sold:
- Canids
- Cetaceans, including whales, dolphins, porpoises
- Crocodilians
- Edentates, including anteaters, sloths, armadillos
- Elephants
- Felids, including lions and tigers
- Green iguanas
- Hyenas
- Insectivores, except African pygmy hedgehogs
- Marsupials, except sugar gliders
- Mutelids (skunks, weasels, otters), except domesticated ferrets
- Non-human primates
- Pinnipeds (seals, walruses)
- Raccoons
- Birds of prey
- Ostriches
- Rodents, except domestic hamsters, guinea pigs, chinchillas, rats and mice
- Pythons and anacondas
- Turtles and turtle eggs
- Ungulates, except goats, sheep, pigs, cattle, horses, mules, donkeys, llamas and alpacas
- Bears
- Venomous spiders and insects
- Venomous reptiles
- Mongooses, civets, genets
Source: City of Vancouver
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html? id=d6548355-37ff-4149-ba11-5a9c583ee188
Dog nurses abandoned white (albino?) tiger cubs in circus
UPDATED: 6:44 am PST January 29, 2007
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Two abandoned tiger cubs have found an unlikely new mother at a Brazilian circus.
The two Bengal tiger cubs were rejected by their mother when they were born albinos.
Lili the dog, also a new mother, was offered by her owner as an alternative source of nutrition for the cubs.
It took a couple of tries, but now Lili lets the cubs nurse like they're her own.
So Lili has joined the circus and now travels with the cubs on the road.
Their diet is supplemented with goat milk to keep up with their insatiable hunger.
The cubs are growing almost 3 ounces a day.
http://www.nbc4.tv/news/10869304/detail.html
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Two abandoned tiger cubs have found an unlikely new mother at a Brazilian circus.
The two Bengal tiger cubs were rejected by their mother when they were born albinos.
Lili the dog, also a new mother, was offered by her owner as an alternative source of nutrition for the cubs.
It took a couple of tries, but now Lili lets the cubs nurse like they're her own.
So Lili has joined the circus and now travels with the cubs on the road.
Their diet is supplemented with goat milk to keep up with their insatiable hunger.
The cubs are growing almost 3 ounces a day.
http://www.nbc4.tv/news/10869304/detail.html
Owner of tiger that clawed NY boy faces forgery charge
By CHARLES FIEGL, cfiegl@poststar.com
Sunday, January 28, 2007
The owner of the Ashville Game Farm was in court last week to answer a felony forgery charge in connection with providing a forged insurance certificate to the Saratoga County Fair last summer, officials said.
Jeffrey W. Ash operates the game farm in Greenwich and is the owner of a white Bengal tiger that clawed 4-year-old Riley Willard at the county fair in July. The Willard family, of Ballston Spa, is seeking to recover damages from Ash and the fair because of the incident.
After receiving a notice of claim from the family, the fair's insurance carrier reviewed a proof-of-insurance document sent to the fair by Ash, said Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy III. The insurance company alleged it was fake, he said.
Ash, 53, was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument after an investigation by the Saratoga County Sheriff's Office, Murphy said. He pleaded not guilty to the charge in Ballston Spa Village Court Monday.
An investigation into whether Ash provided the fair with other false information is continuing, Murphy said. The case could later go before a grand jury, he said.
Ash's lawyer, Kurt Mausert, said he would not comment on the alleged forged instrument.
Mausert said what happened last July was an unforeseen accident. Ash has experience setting up similar exhibits, Mausert said, and the attorney is unaware of any similar accidents involving Ash's animals.
Mausert said he has since taken a tour of Ash's game farm and noted that he takes good care of the animals.
"I was impressed with the cleanliness and how nice the facility was," Mausert said. "All of the animals are healthy and well cared for. He's taken extra cautionary measures to raise the height of the cages, double-layer the fences and double-lock the cage doors."
Accounts of the July 18 fair incident differ between the Willards and representatives for the game farm.
Jennifer Willard, Riley's mother, said her son was in awe of the exotic animals on display when they came across the Ashville Game Farm exhibit. Willard agreed to have her son sit on a bench and have his picture taken with a baby kangaroo. Willard sat with her son until the kangaroo was in place and the photographer was ready.
Calcutta, the white Bengal tiger, was in a cage behind the bench.
"I stood up to get out of the picture, then I glanced away for 10 seconds and the tiger's claw was in his head," Willard said.
Riley was pulled back toward the tiger cage, Willard said. A game farm employee needed to pull the tiger's paw from Riley's head, she said.
The boy suffered a gash about an inch long on his forehead that required 14 stitches, she said. A scar and bump remain on Riley's head, she added.
Workers for the game farm said at the time that the tiger was curious after smelling the kangaroo within its reach and tried to play with it.
They said the incident was not an attack and Calcutta is one of the "sweetest animals in the world."
The Willard's lawyer, Dan Dagostino, of Martin, Harding and Mazzotti, said the family is looking to recoup medical expenses and other damages. Doctors are still trying to determine the emotional impact this has had on the family, he said.
Ash and the fair are responsible for not providing a safe environment for Riley, Dagostino said.
Rowland disagreed.
"We had no control over the placement of the cage or the bench in the booth," Rowland said. "We did not create the situation or put the child in that situation. What we did was rent him the land."
Rowland said Ash and his animals will not be welcomed back, but the fair will still allow exotic animals to be on display.
Ash was charged with a misdemeanor in connection with failing to exercise due care to safeguard the public from a wild animal attack that caused bodily harm under the state agriculture and markets law in July.
He was then cited in August by the state Department of Environmental Conservation with several permit violations.
The misdemeanor charge will be part of the felony case, Murphy said.
In 2005, a full-grown female tiger escaped from Ash's game farm and zoo. It remained at large for more than three hours and was captured without incident.
http://www.poststar.com/articles/2007/01/28/news/ doc45bd500fa1007144144770.txt
Sunday, January 28, 2007
The owner of the Ashville Game Farm was in court last week to answer a felony forgery charge in connection with providing a forged insurance certificate to the Saratoga County Fair last summer, officials said.
Jeffrey W. Ash operates the game farm in Greenwich and is the owner of a white Bengal tiger that clawed 4-year-old Riley Willard at the county fair in July. The Willard family, of Ballston Spa, is seeking to recover damages from Ash and the fair because of the incident.
After receiving a notice of claim from the family, the fair's insurance carrier reviewed a proof-of-insurance document sent to the fair by Ash, said Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy III. The insurance company alleged it was fake, he said.
Ash, 53, was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument after an investigation by the Saratoga County Sheriff's Office, Murphy said. He pleaded not guilty to the charge in Ballston Spa Village Court Monday.
An investigation into whether Ash provided the fair with other false information is continuing, Murphy said. The case could later go before a grand jury, he said.
Ash's lawyer, Kurt Mausert, said he would not comment on the alleged forged instrument.
Mausert said what happened last July was an unforeseen accident. Ash has experience setting up similar exhibits, Mausert said, and the attorney is unaware of any similar accidents involving Ash's animals.
Mausert said he has since taken a tour of Ash's game farm and noted that he takes good care of the animals.
"I was impressed with the cleanliness and how nice the facility was," Mausert said. "All of the animals are healthy and well cared for. He's taken extra cautionary measures to raise the height of the cages, double-layer the fences and double-lock the cage doors."
Accounts of the July 18 fair incident differ between the Willards and representatives for the game farm.
Jennifer Willard, Riley's mother, said her son was in awe of the exotic animals on display when they came across the Ashville Game Farm exhibit. Willard agreed to have her son sit on a bench and have his picture taken with a baby kangaroo. Willard sat with her son until the kangaroo was in place and the photographer was ready.
Calcutta, the white Bengal tiger, was in a cage behind the bench.
"I stood up to get out of the picture, then I glanced away for 10 seconds and the tiger's claw was in his head," Willard said.
Riley was pulled back toward the tiger cage, Willard said. A game farm employee needed to pull the tiger's paw from Riley's head, she said.
The boy suffered a gash about an inch long on his forehead that required 14 stitches, she said. A scar and bump remain on Riley's head, she added.
Workers for the game farm said at the time that the tiger was curious after smelling the kangaroo within its reach and tried to play with it.
They said the incident was not an attack and Calcutta is one of the "sweetest animals in the world."
The Willard's lawyer, Dan Dagostino, of Martin, Harding and Mazzotti, said the family is looking to recoup medical expenses and other damages. Doctors are still trying to determine the emotional impact this has had on the family, he said.
Ash and the fair are responsible for not providing a safe environment for Riley, Dagostino said.
Rowland disagreed.
"We had no control over the placement of the cage or the bench in the booth," Rowland said. "We did not create the situation or put the child in that situation. What we did was rent him the land."
Rowland said Ash and his animals will not be welcomed back, but the fair will still allow exotic animals to be on display.
Ash was charged with a misdemeanor in connection with failing to exercise due care to safeguard the public from a wild animal attack that caused bodily harm under the state agriculture and markets law in July.
He was then cited in August by the state Department of Environmental Conservation with several permit violations.
The misdemeanor charge will be part of the felony case, Murphy said.
In 2005, a full-grown female tiger escaped from Ash's game farm and zoo. It remained at large for more than three hours and was captured without incident.
http://www.poststar.com/articles/2007/01/28/news/ doc45bd500fa1007144144770.txt
Florida: As Silver Springs park changes, are animals the big losers?
BY KEITH CORNELIUS
SPECIAL TO THE STAR-BANNER
I am really disturbed to see one of Marion County's best natural resources being exploited for nothing more than the almighty dollar.
I was an animal handler at Silver Springs from 1999 to 2003. When I had a chance to go to work for the attraction I was so excited, because when I was younger every time you heard the name Silver Springs you associated it a place that takes care of nature and you knew they were doing the right thing.
If you took an injured animal like a bird, opossum or any wild animal, you knew they would take it and take care of it. I used to get so excited about going to work and entertaining the guests and teaching them about Florida's wildlife. We would have a blast with the visitors from all over the world.
Then after about eight months we were bought out and the spiral downward started to happen.
There were cutbacks, so the budgets started to dry up and the prices in the park started to go up. They started to close attractions or cut them back and it was painfully apparent that the company was only interested in the water park and the almighty dollar.
My wife and I both worked there and thought it couldn't get any worse. Oh, were we wrong!
One day we came into work and were told the park was only going to be open four days a week and everyone would be at part-time status and lose all our benefits. After that, the whole park went downhill.
Boardwalks were in gruesome shape. Boards around the alligator enclosures were rotting away, and instead of fixing them, they would just close off that portion of the boardwalk. I can go on and on, but I won't.
I bring this all up because the new company that just bought Silver Springs is doing the same thing.
They don't want to invest any money in the park. They just take it for all the cash they can, then just leave it for someone else to fix.
There are no animals at the jungle cruise, just movie sets. The animal shows on the island are nothing compared with what they used to be. I know when I watched the shows last year for about 10 minutes, because that's all I could take. There were several mistruths in the show and they were about as exciting as watching paint dry.
They are planning on raising the prices to the park and for parking. What for? The money isn't going back into the park; I believe it's going to go straight into the pockets of the people who own the company.
I believe they should make a profit, but as my father used to say, "Before you can make money, you have to spend it."
This company, in my eyes, is not doing this. But it will continue to take advantage of the land, the people and, worst of all, the animals.
I have a solution to the problem: Every resident of Marion County and the state of Florida should tell these people enough is enough by boycotting all Silver Springs events, including concerts, special events and the Wild Waters water park.
If we hit them where it hurts - and that's their wallet - we will send them a clear message. And that is, take care of our resources or we won't support your company and get out.
Keith Cornelius, a former animal handler at Silver Springs, is retired from the U.S. Navy. He lives in Ocala.
http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070128/OPINION/201280333/1183/OPINION01
SPECIAL TO THE STAR-BANNER
I am really disturbed to see one of Marion County's best natural resources being exploited for nothing more than the almighty dollar.
I was an animal handler at Silver Springs from 1999 to 2003. When I had a chance to go to work for the attraction I was so excited, because when I was younger every time you heard the name Silver Springs you associated it a place that takes care of nature and you knew they were doing the right thing.
If you took an injured animal like a bird, opossum or any wild animal, you knew they would take it and take care of it. I used to get so excited about going to work and entertaining the guests and teaching them about Florida's wildlife. We would have a blast with the visitors from all over the world.
Then after about eight months we were bought out and the spiral downward started to happen.
There were cutbacks, so the budgets started to dry up and the prices in the park started to go up. They started to close attractions or cut them back and it was painfully apparent that the company was only interested in the water park and the almighty dollar.
My wife and I both worked there and thought it couldn't get any worse. Oh, were we wrong!
One day we came into work and were told the park was only going to be open four days a week and everyone would be at part-time status and lose all our benefits. After that, the whole park went downhill.
Boardwalks were in gruesome shape. Boards around the alligator enclosures were rotting away, and instead of fixing them, they would just close off that portion of the boardwalk. I can go on and on, but I won't.
I bring this all up because the new company that just bought Silver Springs is doing the same thing.
They don't want to invest any money in the park. They just take it for all the cash they can, then just leave it for someone else to fix.
There are no animals at the jungle cruise, just movie sets. The animal shows on the island are nothing compared with what they used to be. I know when I watched the shows last year for about 10 minutes, because that's all I could take. There were several mistruths in the show and they were about as exciting as watching paint dry.
They are planning on raising the prices to the park and for parking. What for? The money isn't going back into the park; I believe it's going to go straight into the pockets of the people who own the company.
I believe they should make a profit, but as my father used to say, "Before you can make money, you have to spend it."
This company, in my eyes, is not doing this. But it will continue to take advantage of the land, the people and, worst of all, the animals.
I have a solution to the problem: Every resident of Marion County and the state of Florida should tell these people enough is enough by boycotting all Silver Springs events, including concerts, special events and the Wild Waters water park.
If we hit them where it hurts - and that's their wallet - we will send them a clear message. And that is, take care of our resources or we won't support your company and get out.
Keith Cornelius, a former animal handler at Silver Springs, is retired from the U.S. Navy. He lives in Ocala.
http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070128/OPINION/201280333/1183/OPINION01
Monday, January 29, 2007
Careless cat keepers in Nevada
Careless cat keepers
Nye County
By Abigail Goldman
Gert "Abby" Hedengran got the hell out of
Facing federal litigation, the Hedengrans and their menagerie - 21 exotic cats in all, including two more tigers and three lions - ran right to Pahrump.
But the
Hedengran got death threats. All around him, Pahrump residents debate the practicalities of keeping big cats - or dogs with wolf blood, pythons or any exotic animals - as pets.
This argument over exotics captures something of Pahrump's future. The small town, set in one of the country's most desolate counties, shoulders explosive growth. The result is a mounting tension between longtime residents, who sought freedom in the remote, and new-to-town retirees and discount-rent snipers, who inadvertently import a cosmopolitan sensibility.
It's a sign that times are changing in
Hedengran, whose attorney insists he's mum to the press, may unwittingly advance the cause against exotic animal owners.
Zuzana Kukol, who lives on the outskirts of Pahrump with a tiger named Pepper, a lion named Bam-Bam, a bobcat named Jasmine and an ocelot named Isis, puts it simply: "They wanted to do all these regulations before Abby came to town. Abby just gave them a reason to bring it up again.
"But how are regulations going to keep idiots from doing stupid things?"
According to the criminal complaint filed against him, Hedengran was relocating his Temecula,
The lynx was quickly tranquilized and captured on someone's front porch. Hedengran told
Soon, the tiger sightings started.
By Feb. 4 of that year, a game warden confirmed from a paw-print trail that an exotic cat was on the loose. Hedengran still said nothing.
By Feb. 11, wardens were asking Hedengran whether all his animals were accounted for. Hedengran said they were.
By Feb. 16, Hedengran was summoned to an area ranch to examine some large paw prints. He was spotted intentionally dragging his boot through the tracks. The following day, Hedengran was seen pacing the ranch with a tranquilizer gun.
On Feb. 23, Tuffy was shot by a federal trapper near a school and park. Experts identified the animal by its stripes - fur fingerprinting. "The tiger appeared to have not eaten for several days," the complaint reads, "perhaps not since its escape."
Hedengran pleaded guilty in
In the meantime, Hedengran and his wife are caring for their pets in Pahrump, where animal control officials report the couple is abiding by exotic animal regulations. Of course,
At least not yet. With the backing of county brass, Pemberton began drafting an animal control ordinance last year. The ordinance sought the establishment of several regulations, though none so controversial as those addressing exotic animals.
Of particular irritation was the proposal that exotic pet owners should carry a minimum of $1 million in liability insurance and that anyone living within a one-mile radius of such animals should be formally informed. There would be annual fees and twice-annual inspections.
Outrage from animal owners prompted
"Twenty years ago, anybody who wanted to do anything could probably go to Pahrump. Almost anything. If you wanted to hide, you could go to Pahrump," Kimball said. "As the town gets larger and larger, you are going to need, in my judgment, reasonable guidelines for reasonable activity.
"It's just not reasonable anymore to assume you can do what you want to do."
After last year's exotic ordinance outcry, Kimball started an ad hoc animal advisory board that now meets regularly. By spring, the board plans to propose a new set of animal regulations.
For exotic owners like Kukol, a lanky Czech tiger trainer, Pemberton's ordinance set an unsavory precedent.
To Kukol, the $1 million insurance requirement is a tacit attempt to force exotic owners into relinquishing their animals. No one could afford the premiums, she says.
And informing everybody within a one-mile radius? That's the stuff of pedophiles, she says, not pet owners.
Kukol is allergic to cats, and can't keep tabbies in the house. Outside, her allergies aren't irritated by her tigers.
"Tigers are better than dogs," she says. "They don't bark."
There were 17 attacks by big cats in the
The coalition estimates that there are 10,000 to 20,000 privately owned big cats in the
"I mean, you just cannot live your life on what if. You cannot ban something because something might happen," Kukol says. "Punish for deeds, not for breeds and species."
For Pahrump officials, however, might is more than enough.
An exotic feline at large in
"Because we are very rural, you get a cat that gets out, you have some kid on his motorcycle riding in the desert, what the cat does, we don't know," she said. "But if that cat gets ahold of him, we do know that it's not going to be anything we want to experience."
There are four known big-cat owners in Pahrump, and possibly a fifth, a recluse whose feline husbandry can't be confirmed.
Brian Turner owns a leopard and two cougars. His Runnin' Wild nature center is licensed to serve as a temporary holding facility for rescued exotic animals, typically wolves. Turner is against the proposed exotic animal ordinance.
More bluntly, he's against Pahrump.
"There is this Draconian idea burgeoning within the planning commission to create these restrictions and regulations," he said. "I'm not looking forward to anything that's coming out of this, and frankly, I wish I could just leave Pahrump altogether."
Turner can't leave because he has sunk his savings into the nature center, which doesn't turn much of a profit.
"Out here the only business is European tourists who might come by in the winter, on their way to somewhere else," he said.
The cost of keeping exotic animals could skyrocket if
Rick J. Lindsay, president of Evolution Insurance Brokers, one of the country's only exotic animal insurers, estimates that a $1 million animal liability package would cost at least $5,000 to $7,000 annually. Roughly 30 percent of the approximately 2,000 exotic animal owners Lindsay insures keep big cats, though for cost reasons, most private owners go without insurance.
"It's all manageable risk if you do it right," he said. "The problem is when their wealth goes south. That is where the risk really skyrockets."
Money was certainly a problem for Hedengran. An
Richard Maier, a
"He discovered the foundation was a good way to get money from people," Maier said. "Abby's a very intelligent, very manipulative con artist. There is no other way to put it."
Two years ago, rumors started that tigers at Hedengran's Pahrump property had gotten loose and were running amok. The
Fiascoes like these solidify Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo's support of the proposed animal regulations, and his disdain for people who want to keep their pets private.
"A lot of the people that are bucking the system are people that for a long time have been getting a free ride," he said. "They're not taking these animals seriously, and they're not taking their responsibility seriously."
Kukol counters that extinction - both of exotic animals and Pahrump freedoms - is a threat worth fighting against. In a letter to the editor of Pahrump's daily paper, Kukol levied a battle cry: "I am sick and tired of the people who, like me, move here from urbanized areas but then, unlike me, try to change it to be like the old 'home,' " she wrote. "I have a bit of advice for these folks: If you are against freedom, guns, exotic animals, prostitution and gambling, do not move here. Leave and go home. Please, leave us alone so we can enjoy one of the few islands of freedom and peace in an otherwise overregulated world."
Abigail Goldman can be reached at 259-8806 or at abigail.goldman@lasvegassun.com.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/lv-other/2007/jan/28/566617317.html
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
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Sunday, January 28, 2007
Did foresters see released "black panther" on GA-SC border?
By SAMMY FRETWELL
sfretwell@thestate.com
Posted on Sat, Jan. 27, 2007
A federal forester says he was chased into the Chattooga River by a 7-foot-long panther with “jet black” fur.
Terrance Fletcher, a technician with the U.S. Forest Service, dove into the frigid water and crawled up the bank in South Carolina to escape.
“The animal started running ... so I decided to run and get away and jump in the river to get across to the other side,” Fletcher said this week. “It was a life-changing event for me.”
The incident occurred the second week in January along the mountain river separating Georgia and South Carolina.
Black panthers are not native to the southeastern United States, meaning Fletcher might have seen a river otter or a bobcat, state wildlife officials in Georgia and South Carolina said.
Still, Fletcher and Forest Service District Ranger Dave Jensen said they think he saw some sort of large cat on the Georgia side of the river.
“It was a little too big to be a bobcat,” Fletcher said. “My first impression was a panther.”
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources found no evidence of large cat tracks in the area where Fletcher said he saw the animal, but the Georgia DNR’s Kevin Lowrey said it’s possible a black panther was lurking in the woods.
If so, it was probably an exotic pet that escaped, he said. His agency regularly receives reports of people seeing cougars, large tawny cats that were once native to Georgia and South Carolina. Officials say the creatures are likely escaped pet cougars or other animals, rather than wild cougars.
“We don’t have a native black cat in the United States,” Lowrey said. “That just tells me it was something released.”
Lowrey, a wildlife biologist with the Georgia agency, said people hiking or fishing along the Chattooga River should not be overly concerned. The river is the only federally designated wild and scenic river in South Carolina, and it is popular with recreational enthusiasts.
Lowrey said folks should always be aware of their surroundings when in the forest.
Fletcher, a 24-year-old Alabama native, said he and another Forest Service technician were surveying trails on the Georgia side of the river south of the Burrells Ford bridge when they separated.
While taking a break near the river bank, Fletcher heard rustling in the woods and looked in that direction. Staring back at him was what appeared to be a black panther, crouched on the forest floor like a house cat stalking a bird, he said.
When he stood up, the cat started running, prompting him to take the icy dip in the Chattooga. Soaked to the skin and freezing, he met up with his partner and walked through the woods to their Forest Service truck.
“We just got on out of there,” Fletcher said, adding he remains a bit spooked by the incident. “I don’t know how long (the feeling) will last.”
Reach Fretwell at (803) 771-8537.
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/16556404.htm
sfretwell@thestate.com
Posted on Sat, Jan. 27, 2007
A federal forester says he was chased into the Chattooga River by a 7-foot-long panther with “jet black” fur.
Terrance Fletcher, a technician with the U.S. Forest Service, dove into the frigid water and crawled up the bank in South Carolina to escape.
“The animal started running ... so I decided to run and get away and jump in the river to get across to the other side,” Fletcher said this week. “It was a life-changing event for me.”
The incident occurred the second week in January along the mountain river separating Georgia and South Carolina.
Black panthers are not native to the southeastern United States, meaning Fletcher might have seen a river otter or a bobcat, state wildlife officials in Georgia and South Carolina said.
Still, Fletcher and Forest Service District Ranger Dave Jensen said they think he saw some sort of large cat on the Georgia side of the river.
“It was a little too big to be a bobcat,” Fletcher said. “My first impression was a panther.”
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources found no evidence of large cat tracks in the area where Fletcher said he saw the animal, but the Georgia DNR’s Kevin Lowrey said it’s possible a black panther was lurking in the woods.
If so, it was probably an exotic pet that escaped, he said. His agency regularly receives reports of people seeing cougars, large tawny cats that were once native to Georgia and South Carolina. Officials say the creatures are likely escaped pet cougars or other animals, rather than wild cougars.
“We don’t have a native black cat in the United States,” Lowrey said. “That just tells me it was something released.”
Lowrey, a wildlife biologist with the Georgia agency, said people hiking or fishing along the Chattooga River should not be overly concerned. The river is the only federally designated wild and scenic river in South Carolina, and it is popular with recreational enthusiasts.
Lowrey said folks should always be aware of their surroundings when in the forest.
Fletcher, a 24-year-old Alabama native, said he and another Forest Service technician were surveying trails on the Georgia side of the river south of the Burrells Ford bridge when they separated.
While taking a break near the river bank, Fletcher heard rustling in the woods and looked in that direction. Staring back at him was what appeared to be a black panther, crouched on the forest floor like a house cat stalking a bird, he said.
When he stood up, the cat started running, prompting him to take the icy dip in the Chattooga. Soaked to the skin and freezing, he met up with his partner and walked through the woods to their Forest Service truck.
“We just got on out of there,” Fletcher said, adding he remains a bit spooked by the incident. “I don’t know how long (the feeling) will last.”
Reach Fretwell at (803) 771-8537.
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/16556404.htm
What will South Florida zoos do to survive?
By Kathleen Kernicky
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
January 28, 2007
It is home to more than 1,300 animals, 80 exhibits and a renowned aviary. Coming soon, perhaps, a state-of-the-art water park and an entertainment center with skating rink and putt-putt golf.
Faced with disappointing attendance and shorter visitor attention spans, Miami Metrozoo and others nationwide are struggling to reinvent themselves, mixing their core mission of conservation education with interactive exhibits, close-up encounters with animals, and in some cases, theme-park entertainment.
"We're living in an instant-gratification society," said Metrozoo spokesman Ron Magill. "People don't have the patience or the will anymore to research things in depth. It's blip, and on to the next subject."
Metrozoo draws most of its estimated half-million annual visitors from South Florida. Destroyed by Hurricane Andrew in 1992, the zoo in southern Miami-Dade County was rebuilt from splinters. Although attendance has slowly climbed back, it falls far short of the peak 800,000 people who passed through the gates in 1987.
Hoping to change that, Metrozoo is seeking proposals from private developers to build an "entertainment district" on county land adjacent to the zoo, starting with a 22-acre water park, a 200-room hotel and family center with skating rink and putt-putt golf course. Long-range plans call for an adventure theme park with thrill rides. Robyn Harper, of Hollywood, likes the idea of an entertainment district, especially a water park. "When you have kids, you need more to do," Harper said during a recent trip to the zoo with her husband and three kids. Now, "you're lucky to see the animals up and walking around," she said.
While conservation remains the core message, zoos around the country are looking for ways to integrate education and entertainment, says Steve Feldman, spokesman at the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in Silver Spring, Md.
"If zoos are not entertaining, they will go away," says Tim Tetzlaff, director of conservation at the family-owned Naples Zoo. "I can't educate anybody if they don't show up. There are plenty of great books and conservation information out there that are collecting dust on shelves. You've got to have that entertainment factor ... The question becomes, does that dilute the message? Do animals become just a sideshow?"
Despite concerns from some environmentalists, Miami-Dade voters in November approved Metrozoo's plans to consider private development on the adjacent county land, which borders a pine rockland reserve. The zoo would benefit by receiving a portion of the proceeds from the entertainment district, Magill said.
"I believe we are dumbing it down in some ways," Magill said. "We're Disneyizing the zoo. Our hope is that we'll be able to reach a happy medium ... that those kids who do want to become conservationists will do so. We'll make the introduction here at the zoo and hopefully inspire them to go home, click on the Web and learn more."
Metrozoo spent about $1 million on graphics and text at its new aviary, but about 80 percent of its patrons don't bother to read it, Magill said. Its new "immersion exhibit," titled "Amazon and Beyond," is set to open next year. It will rely heavily on interactive computer touch screens to inform visitors and depart from the expansive barriers between animals and people in other areas of the zoo. Visitors will see the new jaguars through a pane of glass and not across a moat.
"That's the future if we are to survive," Magill said.
Smaller zoos, such as the Palm Beach Zoo in West Palm Beach, emphasize a personal touch, like live animal shows and informal talks between visitors and zookeepers.
"The public wants more from their zoo today," says Terry Maple, the zoo's president. "Are zoos struggling? Some of them are. All of us are trying to figure out how to pay for the advancing standards."
Maple thinks technology should be used selectively, and not intrusively, to enhance what zoos do best.
"I don't think technology is a substitute for a living animal or a human," he said. "I'd rather have a friendly person who comes up and tells me more about that tiger than look at a computer screen. Humans are better interpreters of nature. And technology breaks down."
His zoo, formerly known as the Dreher Park Zoo, closed for two months after Hurricane Wilma in 2005. It hopes to attract about 300,000 visitors this year, about the same as 2004. The zoo has added two rare Malayan tigers and is building a stage for more live shows, including birds in flight.
Here, "the kids don't see the fences so much. They see the animals. They feel like they're part of this," said Laura Youngwerth of Boca Raton, as her son, Zachary, 7, gleefully watched the river otters do back flips in the water.
Zoos know that such encounters are their crown jewel, that animals trump technology in capturing a child's imagination and interest in nature.
"The best thing that zoos can do is to be inspiring and teach in a fun way," Maple says. "We don't want to be boring. At the same time, we're a place of restorative contemplation. That's one of our strengths. I don't want to give that up."
Kathleen Kernicky can be reached at 954-385-7907 or kkernicky@sun-sentinel.com.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl- szoosjan28,0,4021022.story?track=rss
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
January 28, 2007
It is home to more than 1,300 animals, 80 exhibits and a renowned aviary. Coming soon, perhaps, a state-of-the-art water park and an entertainment center with skating rink and putt-putt golf.
Faced with disappointing attendance and shorter visitor attention spans, Miami Metrozoo and others nationwide are struggling to reinvent themselves, mixing their core mission of conservation education with interactive exhibits, close-up encounters with animals, and in some cases, theme-park entertainment.
"We're living in an instant-gratification society," said Metrozoo spokesman Ron Magill. "People don't have the patience or the will anymore to research things in depth. It's blip, and on to the next subject."
Metrozoo draws most of its estimated half-million annual visitors from South Florida. Destroyed by Hurricane Andrew in 1992, the zoo in southern Miami-Dade County was rebuilt from splinters. Although attendance has slowly climbed back, it falls far short of the peak 800,000 people who passed through the gates in 1987.
Hoping to change that, Metrozoo is seeking proposals from private developers to build an "entertainment district" on county land adjacent to the zoo, starting with a 22-acre water park, a 200-room hotel and family center with skating rink and putt-putt golf course. Long-range plans call for an adventure theme park with thrill rides. Robyn Harper, of Hollywood, likes the idea of an entertainment district, especially a water park. "When you have kids, you need more to do," Harper said during a recent trip to the zoo with her husband and three kids. Now, "you're lucky to see the animals up and walking around," she said.
While conservation remains the core message, zoos around the country are looking for ways to integrate education and entertainment, says Steve Feldman, spokesman at the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in Silver Spring, Md.
"If zoos are not entertaining, they will go away," says Tim Tetzlaff, director of conservation at the family-owned Naples Zoo. "I can't educate anybody if they don't show up. There are plenty of great books and conservation information out there that are collecting dust on shelves. You've got to have that entertainment factor ... The question becomes, does that dilute the message? Do animals become just a sideshow?"
Despite concerns from some environmentalists, Miami-Dade voters in November approved Metrozoo's plans to consider private development on the adjacent county land, which borders a pine rockland reserve. The zoo would benefit by receiving a portion of the proceeds from the entertainment district, Magill said.
"I believe we are dumbing it down in some ways," Magill said. "We're Disneyizing the zoo. Our hope is that we'll be able to reach a happy medium ... that those kids who do want to become conservationists will do so. We'll make the introduction here at the zoo and hopefully inspire them to go home, click on the Web and learn more."
Metrozoo spent about $1 million on graphics and text at its new aviary, but about 80 percent of its patrons don't bother to read it, Magill said. Its new "immersion exhibit," titled "Amazon and Beyond," is set to open next year. It will rely heavily on interactive computer touch screens to inform visitors and depart from the expansive barriers between animals and people in other areas of the zoo. Visitors will see the new jaguars through a pane of glass and not across a moat.
"That's the future if we are to survive," Magill said.
Smaller zoos, such as the Palm Beach Zoo in West Palm Beach, emphasize a personal touch, like live animal shows and informal talks between visitors and zookeepers.
"The public wants more from their zoo today," says Terry Maple, the zoo's president. "Are zoos struggling? Some of them are. All of us are trying to figure out how to pay for the advancing standards."
Maple thinks technology should be used selectively, and not intrusively, to enhance what zoos do best.
"I don't think technology is a substitute for a living animal or a human," he said. "I'd rather have a friendly person who comes up and tells me more about that tiger than look at a computer screen. Humans are better interpreters of nature. And technology breaks down."
His zoo, formerly known as the Dreher Park Zoo, closed for two months after Hurricane Wilma in 2005. It hopes to attract about 300,000 visitors this year, about the same as 2004. The zoo has added two rare Malayan tigers and is building a stage for more live shows, including birds in flight.
Here, "the kids don't see the fences so much. They see the animals. They feel like they're part of this," said Laura Youngwerth of Boca Raton, as her son, Zachary, 7, gleefully watched the river otters do back flips in the water.
Zoos know that such encounters are their crown jewel, that animals trump technology in capturing a child's imagination and interest in nature.
"The best thing that zoos can do is to be inspiring and teach in a fun way," Maple says. "We don't want to be boring. At the same time, we're a place of restorative contemplation. That's one of our strengths. I don't want to give that up."
Kathleen Kernicky can be reached at 954-385-7907 or kkernicky@sun-sentinel.com.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl- szoosjan28,0,4021022.story?track=rss
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Colorado big cat facility wants to add big reptiles
By ANDREA BROWN
The (Colorado Springs) Gazette
CALHAN, Colo. -- Think you have a lot of shoveling? Talk to Nick Sculac. He has 17 acres and 147 mouths to feed at Big Cats of Serenity Springs.
His collection of lions, tigers, leopards and other big cats needs daily room service.
"You have to do it whether it is really crappy out or nice out," said Sculac, 57.
Snowdrifts clogged the maze of chain-link cat pens encircling his home in rural northeastern El Paso County near Calhan.
"The money to remove the snow was $9,800 and the last one cost us another $5,000," he said. "We're breaking ice three times a day to give them water because it freezes."
The state-licensed wildlife refuge has faced rough times.
Sculac's wife, Karen, 47, founder and backbone of the 15-year-old sanctuary, died of pneumonia last summer.
"That day she died I didn't want it anymore," he said. "All the volunteers came to me and said, 'You have to keep it."'
The nonprofit ranch, which has one full-time worker and about 20 ardent volunteers, recently had another setback: Bookkeeper Collette Colvin was among the Castle West Apartment residents who lost everything in the Jan. 16 fire -- including the laptop computer with the refuge's mailing lists and donation records.
Colvin, a volunteer, does most of the Web work for the sanctuary.
"It will be awhile to get things back to normal," she said. "It's a matter of rebuilding our mailing list; that is the big thing on there."
She hopes to be able to answer e-mails soon. Many contributions are made through the Web site.
Tours, gift shop sales and fundraisers help cover the $15,000-a-month food bill for 40,000 pounds of frozen-meat blocks and chicken parts.
The brood includes Hollywood has-beens, over-the-hill photography models and refugees from closed zoos.
Many were pets until they started eating their owners out of house and home.
"A lot buy them when they are cubs," Sculac said. "The cubs are cute ... then they grow up."
The frigid weather is a minor threat for the cats.
"They get colds," Sculac said.
On a recent morning, most cats weren't snoozing by the heaters in their concrete dens.
One tiger sprawled on the frozen tank that serves as its summer swimming pool.
Others did normal cat stuff -- pacing, growling, nosing the fence.
Two lions scrimmaged in a chase game.
"It makes some frisky," Sculac said. "They roll over and play. They're like housecats, just a lot bigger. With 10 claws and big teeth. Those claws really go in hard."
He speaks from experience.
"I have some holes here and there. I've got two big canine teeth holes in my arm. I've been bit on my side," he said. "But I still have all my parts."
In July 2003, a caretaker cleaning a cage was attacked by two tigers and hospitalized for cuts, but later returned to work.
Sculac said the worker invited harm by wearing shorts, improper dress around big cats.
"They get set off by bare legs," he said.
You play by their rules.
"If you spend too much time in the cage, they'll let you know," he said. "You kind of get eyes in the back of your head."
Sculac wants to add big reptiles to the sanctuary. His new business partner is a 22-year-old alligator wrestler from Florida.
"We need more variety to get more people out," he said.
For now, he's fighting snow to keep the cats cozy and the place open for tours, by appointment.
"We'd love to have our own snow equipment," he said. "Like a Bobcat."
http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2007/01/26/news/regional/ 6966541bc92c2fbb8725726e006a6ecc.txt
The (Colorado Springs) Gazette
CALHAN, Colo. -- Think you have a lot of shoveling? Talk to Nick Sculac. He has 17 acres and 147 mouths to feed at Big Cats of Serenity Springs.
His collection of lions, tigers, leopards and other big cats needs daily room service.
"You have to do it whether it is really crappy out or nice out," said Sculac, 57.
Snowdrifts clogged the maze of chain-link cat pens encircling his home in rural northeastern El Paso County near Calhan.
"The money to remove the snow was $9,800 and the last one cost us another $5,000," he said. "We're breaking ice three times a day to give them water because it freezes."
The state-licensed wildlife refuge has faced rough times.
Sculac's wife, Karen, 47, founder and backbone of the 15-year-old sanctuary, died of pneumonia last summer.
"That day she died I didn't want it anymore," he said. "All the volunteers came to me and said, 'You have to keep it."'
The nonprofit ranch, which has one full-time worker and about 20 ardent volunteers, recently had another setback: Bookkeeper Collette Colvin was among the Castle West Apartment residents who lost everything in the Jan. 16 fire -- including the laptop computer with the refuge's mailing lists and donation records.
Colvin, a volunteer, does most of the Web work for the sanctuary.
"It will be awhile to get things back to normal," she said. "It's a matter of rebuilding our mailing list; that is the big thing on there."
She hopes to be able to answer e-mails soon. Many contributions are made through the Web site.
Tours, gift shop sales and fundraisers help cover the $15,000-a-month food bill for 40,000 pounds of frozen-meat blocks and chicken parts.
The brood includes Hollywood has-beens, over-the-hill photography models and refugees from closed zoos.
Many were pets until they started eating their owners out of house and home.
"A lot buy them when they are cubs," Sculac said. "The cubs are cute ... then they grow up."
The frigid weather is a minor threat for the cats.
"They get colds," Sculac said.
On a recent morning, most cats weren't snoozing by the heaters in their concrete dens.
One tiger sprawled on the frozen tank that serves as its summer swimming pool.
Others did normal cat stuff -- pacing, growling, nosing the fence.
Two lions scrimmaged in a chase game.
"It makes some frisky," Sculac said. "They roll over and play. They're like housecats, just a lot bigger. With 10 claws and big teeth. Those claws really go in hard."
He speaks from experience.
"I have some holes here and there. I've got two big canine teeth holes in my arm. I've been bit on my side," he said. "But I still have all my parts."
In July 2003, a caretaker cleaning a cage was attacked by two tigers and hospitalized for cuts, but later returned to work.
Sculac said the worker invited harm by wearing shorts, improper dress around big cats.
"They get set off by bare legs," he said.
You play by their rules.
"If you spend too much time in the cage, they'll let you know," he said. "You kind of get eyes in the back of your head."
Sculac wants to add big reptiles to the sanctuary. His new business partner is a 22-year-old alligator wrestler from Florida.
"We need more variety to get more people out," he said.
For now, he's fighting snow to keep the cats cozy and the place open for tours, by appointment.
"We'd love to have our own snow equipment," he said. "Like a Bobcat."
http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2007/01/26/news/regional/ 6966541bc92c2fbb8725726e006a6ecc.txt
Jack Hanna brings cheetah to NC for schoolkid program
By Chick Jacobs
Staff writer
Published on Saturday, January 27, 2007
Jack Hanna gets some help from students Skylar Devenport, center, and Jazmin Brown while showing off a python Friday at the Crown Arena. At right is Dan Breeding.
Breanna Voelker wished aloud that she’d get to see a cheetah.
On the other side of a whisper-thin curtain, her wish was curled up, taking a cat nap under an Ohio State stadium blanket.
Kago the cheetah, Monty the python and a host of other critters that normally would be their lunch traveled in relative harmony to Fayetteville on Friday.
Under the watchful eye of the king of their mobile jungle, Jack Hanna, they thrilled more than 2,200 Cape Fear area students at the Crown Arena.
“You know, today you’ve seen more wild animals than 99 percent of the children in Africa will ever see,” Hanna said to the students. “We brought them here today so you could appreciate them and develop an understanding for these wonderful animals.”
About half of the hour-long show consisted of Hanna and his helpers giving the audience an animal’s-eye view of the traveling menagerie. The kids responded, oohing at a great horned owl and giggling when Leza the Gibbon (“That joke is for the teachers,” Hanna quipped) dangled from helper Dan Breeding’s arm.
“I wanted to see a monkey,” said Kiana Robles of Ben Martin Elementary School. “My daddy calls me a monkey sometimes, so that’s my favorite animal.”
Hanna fulfilled her request a few moments later, showing off a squirrel monkey that, somehow, had lost all but a nub of its tail.
“Some of the animals that come to us haven’t had a very happy life,” he said. “We don’t know what happened to his tail.”
The animals waited in traveling cages just off stage. As the trainers prepared each group, Hanna showed video clips of his adventures around the world. He’d often pause to tell students pertinent facts.
Sometimes the visiting animals would ham it up for their audience. A pair of gibbons, decked out in their disposable diapers, nonchalantly groomed their handlers while Hanna talked. Meggie the dingo wagged her tail and sniffed the crotch of anyone who got close to her.
A vulture flapped for cameras, doing what birds are prone to do without warning. A Burmese python flicked its tongue and nonchalantly looked at two students who helped hold it.
Later, a 6-foot-long alligator was a good sport, opening its mouth for inspection.
“My good friend Steve Irwin taught us all a lot about crocodiles and alligators,” said Hanna, keeping a respectful distance. “He’d get right up there and show you things. He knew what he was doing around them. I don’t, so I won’t.”
“He was real good at handling snakes, too. I don’t do that anymore. I’m getting too slow.”
The star was Kago the cheetah, who woke up in time to end the show. Hanna cautioned the audience not to move or clap, that the sleek speedster could outrace a car on Interstate 95 and was attracted to motion.
She strutted on stage, long-legged and sleek, as Hanna talked about the trouble cheetahs have holding onto a meal.
“They can catch it, but lions and hyenas will come take it away. They’re very fast, but not very strong. They’ll starve to death in the wild because other animals chase them off their dinner.”
Hanna spent a half-hour before the show chatting with students and signing autographed pictures for the teachers. “I just don’t have enough for all the kids,” he sighed. “I wish I did.”
But he did pose with anyone who wanted a personal picture with “Jungle Jack,” and kids squealed his name like a rock star as Hanna strolled around the arena.
He responded with a wave, a hug and a challenge — respect nature, but don’t fear it.
“Every creature, be it a black widow spider or a shark or a snake — the good Lord put all of them here for a purpose,” he said.
Some kids weren’t entirely happy. Several hoped to see a lion or tiger, and Decote Monroe of J.S. Seabrook Elementary wondered aloud where the elephants and bears were.
For most of the kids, though, it was an opportunity to escape the classroom — at least for a while.
“What they don’t know,” said Glendale Acres Elementary teacher Amanda Young, “is that we’ll have some classroom work based on this.”
Staff writer Chick Jacobs can be reached at jacobsc@fayobserver.com or 486-3515.
http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=253004
Staff writer
Published on Saturday, January 27, 2007
Jack Hanna gets some help from students Skylar Devenport, center, and Jazmin Brown while showing off a python Friday at the Crown Arena. At right is Dan Breeding.
Breanna Voelker wished aloud that she’d get to see a cheetah.
On the other side of a whisper-thin curtain, her wish was curled up, taking a cat nap under an Ohio State stadium blanket.
Kago the cheetah, Monty the python and a host of other critters that normally would be their lunch traveled in relative harmony to Fayetteville on Friday.
Under the watchful eye of the king of their mobile jungle, Jack Hanna, they thrilled more than 2,200 Cape Fear area students at the Crown Arena.
“You know, today you’ve seen more wild animals than 99 percent of the children in Africa will ever see,” Hanna said to the students. “We brought them here today so you could appreciate them and develop an understanding for these wonderful animals.”
About half of the hour-long show consisted of Hanna and his helpers giving the audience an animal’s-eye view of the traveling menagerie. The kids responded, oohing at a great horned owl and giggling when Leza the Gibbon (“That joke is for the teachers,” Hanna quipped) dangled from helper Dan Breeding’s arm.
“I wanted to see a monkey,” said Kiana Robles of Ben Martin Elementary School. “My daddy calls me a monkey sometimes, so that’s my favorite animal.”
Hanna fulfilled her request a few moments later, showing off a squirrel monkey that, somehow, had lost all but a nub of its tail.
“Some of the animals that come to us haven’t had a very happy life,” he said. “We don’t know what happened to his tail.”
The animals waited in traveling cages just off stage. As the trainers prepared each group, Hanna showed video clips of his adventures around the world. He’d often pause to tell students pertinent facts.
Sometimes the visiting animals would ham it up for their audience. A pair of gibbons, decked out in their disposable diapers, nonchalantly groomed their handlers while Hanna talked. Meggie the dingo wagged her tail and sniffed the crotch of anyone who got close to her.
A vulture flapped for cameras, doing what birds are prone to do without warning. A Burmese python flicked its tongue and nonchalantly looked at two students who helped hold it.
Later, a 6-foot-long alligator was a good sport, opening its mouth for inspection.
“My good friend Steve Irwin taught us all a lot about crocodiles and alligators,” said Hanna, keeping a respectful distance. “He’d get right up there and show you things. He knew what he was doing around them. I don’t, so I won’t.”
“He was real good at handling snakes, too. I don’t do that anymore. I’m getting too slow.”
The star was Kago the cheetah, who woke up in time to end the show. Hanna cautioned the audience not to move or clap, that the sleek speedster could outrace a car on Interstate 95 and was attracted to motion.
She strutted on stage, long-legged and sleek, as Hanna talked about the trouble cheetahs have holding onto a meal.
“They can catch it, but lions and hyenas will come take it away. They’re very fast, but not very strong. They’ll starve to death in the wild because other animals chase them off their dinner.”
Hanna spent a half-hour before the show chatting with students and signing autographed pictures for the teachers. “I just don’t have enough for all the kids,” he sighed. “I wish I did.”
But he did pose with anyone who wanted a personal picture with “Jungle Jack,” and kids squealed his name like a rock star as Hanna strolled around the arena.
He responded with a wave, a hug and a challenge — respect nature, but don’t fear it.
“Every creature, be it a black widow spider or a shark or a snake — the good Lord put all of them here for a purpose,” he said.
Some kids weren’t entirely happy. Several hoped to see a lion or tiger, and Decote Monroe of J.S. Seabrook Elementary wondered aloud where the elephants and bears were.
For most of the kids, though, it was an opportunity to escape the classroom — at least for a while.
“What they don’t know,” said Glendale Acres Elementary teacher Amanda Young, “is that we’ll have some classroom work based on this.”
Staff writer Chick Jacobs can be reached at jacobsc@fayobserver.com or 486-3515.
http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=253004
Friday, January 26, 2007
Vernon Yates on TV shows big cats in tiny concrete cells
http://www.myfoxtam
This is a great opportunity to see inside Vernon Yates compound. He almost never allows the press inside and people would be appalled to see these magnificent cats living in concrete cells and such tiny areas. His crocodile tears over using these prisoners to make him feel better at the end of the day, just focuses on how selfish one has to be to cage a big cat for their own pleasure.
I will be attending the meeting on Feb. 7th and 8th to support Bill Armstrong’s position that these animals do not belong in private hands. He is the past President of the Florida Animal Control Association and has also encouraged the Florida Association of Counties to take a stand against these kinds of back yard menageries. He has served on the Captive Wild Animal Technical Assistance Group as well, but is one of only two people on that 11 person committee who doesn’t make a living from the exotic animal industry.
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
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L.A. Zoo introduces snow leopard cubs to public
Officials with the Los Angeles Zoo are celebrating the rare birth of two very cute cubs.
Terry and Tom, two snow leopard cubs born on May 25, 2006, are finally making their public debut at the zoo.
Snow leopards are an endangered species found in the mountains of central Asia. They are very difficult to observe in the wild. Wildlife experts believe there are 5,000 to 7,000 leopards remaining in the wild.
The big cats are killed by poachers for their gorgeous fur and their bones, which are used in traditional medicines in some Asian countries.
Terry and Tom are the first snow leopards born at the zoo in 22 years.
http://www.kare11.com/news/national/national_article.aspx? storyid=148862
Terry and Tom, two snow leopard cubs born on May 25, 2006, are finally making their public debut at the zoo.
Snow leopards are an endangered species found in the mountains of central Asia. They are very difficult to observe in the wild. Wildlife experts believe there are 5,000 to 7,000 leopards remaining in the wild.
The big cats are killed by poachers for their gorgeous fur and their bones, which are used in traditional medicines in some Asian countries.
Terry and Tom are the first snow leopards born at the zoo in 22 years.
http://www.kare11.com/news/national/national_article.aspx? storyid=148862
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Exotic animal farm owner accused of molesting teenage boy
Jennifer Phillips
Jan 23, 2007 08:50 AM EST
GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C.- A small exotic animal farm is part of a backyard on E. Old Mill Road in Travelers Rest. We're told there are lions, tigers and monkeys in cages housed in some sheds, and some birds too.
It is where some young people go to feed animals, but now the owner, Walter Gresham, is accused of molesting a 15 year-old boy. "I'm totally shocked and I have no reason to be questioning anything about him," said David Meeks, Gresham's friend.
David Meeks first met Gresham more than 15 years ago. He's also the Executive Director of Hollywild Animal Park where they once worked together. "Never ever would've given me any indication that he was nothing more than a good person," said Meeks.
During Christmas, Gresham helped organize the Enchanted Deer Forest. He worked there with other employees of all ages. "As far as his work, I had no problems whatsoever with the work he did," said Meeks.
However, a 15 year-old boy says one night at Gresham's house back in 2005, Gresham forced him to watch porn and performed oral sex on him. The boy's family spent a lot of time at the Gresham house during pool parties and other events.
Last year, the boy told his mother he didn't want to go on camping trip with Gresham because he said he made him feel weird. "I never ever suspected or never saw anything that would've bothered me in anyway," said Meeks.
The 15 year-old's mother says her son blames himself. In an incident report she states, her son said his grandfather was sick because the victim was being punished because of what happened to him.
Cops arrested Gresham and now he faces serious charges, but his long-time friend says everyone is innocent until proven guilty. "I'm hoping for the best for everybody," said Meeks.
We also checked with code enforcement about those exotic animals. A Greenville County ordinance states it is legal for someone to own certain exotic animals if they have a proper permit or licenses and if those animals are housed properly.
http://www.fox21.com/Global/story.asp?S=5974929&nav=menu149_2
Jan 23, 2007 08:50 AM EST
GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C.- A small exotic animal farm is part of a backyard on E. Old Mill Road in Travelers Rest. We're told there are lions, tigers and monkeys in cages housed in some sheds, and some birds too.
It is where some young people go to feed animals, but now the owner, Walter Gresham, is accused of molesting a 15 year-old boy. "I'm totally shocked and I have no reason to be questioning anything about him," said David Meeks, Gresham's friend.
David Meeks first met Gresham more than 15 years ago. He's also the Executive Director of Hollywild Animal Park where they once worked together. "Never ever would've given me any indication that he was nothing more than a good person," said Meeks.
During Christmas, Gresham helped organize the Enchanted Deer Forest. He worked there with other employees of all ages. "As far as his work, I had no problems whatsoever with the work he did," said Meeks.
However, a 15 year-old boy says one night at Gresham's house back in 2005, Gresham forced him to watch porn and performed oral sex on him. The boy's family spent a lot of time at the Gresham house during pool parties and other events.
Last year, the boy told his mother he didn't want to go on camping trip with Gresham because he said he made him feel weird. "I never ever suspected or never saw anything that would've bothered me in anyway," said Meeks.
The 15 year-old's mother says her son blames himself. In an incident report she states, her son said his grandfather was sick because the victim was being punished because of what happened to him.
Cops arrested Gresham and now he faces serious charges, but his long-time friend says everyone is innocent until proven guilty. "I'm hoping for the best for everybody," said Meeks.
We also checked with code enforcement about those exotic animals. A Greenville County ordinance states it is legal for someone to own certain exotic animals if they have a proper permit or licenses and if those animals are housed properly.
http://www.fox21.com/Global/story.asp?S=5974929&nav=menu149_2
Bengal cat attracts a visit from VT game warden
[The article describes the cat as a house cat that's 10 generations removed from an Asian leopard. The author probably meant "Asian leopard cat" -- esp. since the breeder mentioned in the article breeds bengals (http://www.zarinabengalcats.com/).]
By Brent Curtis Herald Staff
January 24, 2007
When a pair of state game wardens arrived at his apartment Tuesday morning to seize his house cat, Phillip Matte wasn't as surprised as you might think.
"For the past two to three weeks, I've seen the game warden parked outside my house," said Matte, who lives on Plain Street in Rutland. "I was in bed when they knocked on the door this morning. When they said who they were, I said 'Uh-oh, I know what this is about.'"
What it was all about was Matte's cat Chico — yes, as in the man — a spotted brown tabby that looks very much like the Asian leopard from which Chico is 10 generations removed.
Like his distant grandfather, Chico has lush fur, tawny colorations and the telltale spots of a leopard. At just 7 pounds, he lacks the bearing of his ancestors, but the 6-month-old feline has a lot of growing to do. Matte said he expects Chico to top off at around 20 pounds.
Matte said the game wardens who showed up at his door thought h
By Brent Curtis Herald Staff
January 24, 2007
When a pair of state game wardens arrived at his apartment Tuesday morning to seize his house cat, Phillip Matte wasn't as surprised as you might think.
"For the past two to three weeks, I've seen the game warden parked outside my house," said Matte, who lives on Plain Street in Rutland. "I was in bed when they knocked on the door this morning. When they said who they were, I said 'Uh-oh, I know what this is about.'"
What it was all about was Matte's cat Chico — yes, as in the man — a spotted brown tabby that looks very much like the Asian leopard from which Chico is 10 generations removed.
Like his distant grandfather, Chico has lush fur, tawny colorations and the telltale spots of a leopard. At just 7 pounds, he lacks the bearing of his ancestors, but the 6-month-old feline has a lot of growing to do. Matte said he expects Chico to top off at around 20 pounds.
Matte said the game wardens who showed up at his door thought h