Plea in Sales of Cadavers by U.C.L.A.

ghoulish

Boy, 7, goes on killing spree in zoo, feeding reptiles to crocodile

Sophie Tedmanson, Sydney

An “expressionless” seven-year-old boy broke into a zoo, bludgeoned to death giant lizards and fed them – and other live animals - to a crocodile named Terry in Outback Australia this week.

Zookeepers were horrified when they arrived at work on Wednesday morning to see Terry, an 11-foot long saltwater crocodile, feasting on his fellow showcase reptilians at the Alice Springs Reptile Centre in the Northern Territory.

At first they thought the animals, including the zoo’s favourite, metre-long, 20-year-old goanna, had escaped from their outdoor pens and accidentally become breakfast for Terry - the local zoo’s prize attraction.

But further investigation uncovered CCTV footage of the local boy’s horrific 35-minute killing spree which began when he scaled the fence of the zoo, located in the centre of Alice Springs, a popular tourist destination town in central Australia, just before 8am on Wednesday morning.

The blank-faced boy, who had evaded security cameras because of his slight size, then began his deadly rampage, smashing rocks on the heads of the reptiles and throwing them and other live animals into the crocodile enclosure, according to the zoo’s director Rex Neindorf.

The boy killed 13 animals in total, including a large turtle, bearded dragons, goannas and lizards including Thorny Devils and Western Blue tongues, which are hard to find in captivity.

“It’s absolutely devastating for us, we’re just horrified,” Mr Neindorf told Times Online today.

“The goanna was 20 years old, she was an absolute doll.”

The boy was so brazen he even climbed over an outer fence to get a closer look at the action.

“He was lucky because if he got in there with the goanna, she would have torn him to pieces,” Mr Neindorf said.

Police were called and questioned the boy, who comes from a family well known in the local area, but because of his age they are unable to do anything. According to Northern Territory law, children under 10 are not liable for criminal offences.

“I thought for the sheer consequences of what he did that there would have to be some severe punishment, but he’s only seven, they can’t do anything to kids under 10,” Mr Neindorf said.

“We’re going to see what we can do, maybe try and sue the family in the civil court, we’ll look down that avenue.”

According to Mr Neindorf, the “nasty” boy’s brother was part of a group who attacked Terry the crocodile about five years ago.

He said they often get kids trying to throw rocks at the animal enclosures from a nearby hill, but this incident is the worst that has happened in the history of the zoo.

“He will just get worse and worse and worse, by the time he’s 10 he will be a hardened criminal,” Mr Neindorf said of the boy.

The Alice Springs Reptile Centre is in central Australia, almost 300 miles from Uluru (Ayres Rock), and has 200 animals on display, including Perentie Goanna, Frill Neck Lizards, Thorny Devils, pythons, taipans and death adders, and, of course, Terry, the 440-pound salt-water crocodile.

Earlier this week Scottish-born Vietnam veteran Arthur Booker disappeared while camping in a remote part of north-eastern Queensland. A three-day search uncovered nothing but his sandals and wrist watch. He is thought to have been taken by a salt-water crocodile.

Tenants Say Dead Cats Used To Try To Evict Them

Landlord Lets Smell Of Dead Cats Out The Bag; Hoped Stench Would Make Tenants Flee
NEW YORK (CBS/AP) ― Tenants of a Brooklyn building say their landlord came up with a new idea for how to kick them out: Let the smell of the cats out of the bag. Dead cats, that is.

The stench from the carcasses did catch the tenants' attention -- but they stayed and sued.

One tenant, Daisy Terry, told a City Hall news conference on Sunday it was so bad she had to hold her nose coming down the stairs.

The building in Brooklyn's Bushwick neighborhood was purchased last year by a company listed in court papers as Heskel. A call to Heskel Properties in Manhattan was not immediately returned.

Terry says the landlord used the dead cats to try to push out rent-stabilized tenants.

Chef dies after eating 'superhot' chilli for bet

Cadbury recalls Chinese-made chocolate tainted with industrial chemical melamine

By MIN LEE, Associated Press Writer
2:22 PM PDT, September 29, 2008
HONG KONG (AP) _ British candy maker Cadbury announced a recall Monday of chocolate made in its Beijing factory after it was found to contain melamine, the industrial chemical that has sickened tens of thousands of Chinese children.

The 11 recalled items were sold in parts of Asia and the Pacific, the company said in a statement. Cadbury's chocolates sold in the United States were not affected, said a spokesman for Hershey's, Cadbury's sole U.S. distributor.

Meanwhile, Kraft Foods, the maker of Oreo cookies, and Mars, the maker of M

&

Ms and Snickers candy, questioned the findings of Indonesian tests that identified melamine in samples of their products made in China.

Both Kraft Foods and Mars said they would comply with an Indonesian recall but planned to conduct their own tests and look into the possibility the tainted products were counterfeits.

Melamine-laced baby formula and other dairy products in China have been blamed for sickening nearly 54,000 children and leading to four infant deaths. The industrial chemical, which is high in nitrogen, is believed to have been added to watered-down milk to mask the resulting protein deficiency and fool quality tests.

Preliminary tests showed melamine in Cadbury chocolates produced at the candy maker's Beijing factory, but it was too early to say how much of the chemical was in them, said a Cadbury spokesman who declined to be identified because of company policy.

Another official reached through the company's London office said there was no way the contaminated chocolate could find its way into other countries because the Chinese factory only supplies Australia, Taiwan, Nauru, Hong Kong and Christmas Island.

"That factory in Beijing only exports to those markets. It's only a small factory," said the official. He said Chinese production makes up only 0.5 percent of Cadbury's global sales, and the recalled items are "less than that because it's only chocolate."

The recalled products included Cadbury Dark Chocette, Cadbury Eclairs, Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate, Cadbury Dairy Milk Hazelnut Chocolate, Cadbury Dairy Milk Cookies Chocolate and Cadbury Hazelnut Praline Chocolate.

In the United States, Hershey's spokesman Kirk Saville said the Cadbury distributor "has never purchased milk, including powdered milk, from China," and that he was "positive" no Hershey's suppliers receive milk products from the country.

Indonesia's Food and Drug Monitoring Agency said tests last week found melamine in a dozen products distributed nationwide, including M

&

Ms, Snickers bars and Oreo wafers.

Manufacturers Kraft and Mars questioned the findings.

"We don't use any milk ingredients from China in any Oreo products, no matter where they are made or sold," said Kraft spokeswoman Claire Regan.

Tod Gimbel, Kraft's director of corporate affairs for the Asia Pacific, said the company "was trying to understand what methodology was used" in Indonesia's testing.

Mars, in a statement on its Web site, called the Indonesian results "completely inconsistent" with test findings from other government and independent labs in Asia and Europe.

"The vastly different results give Mars significant reason to question the validity of the Indonesian laboratory results," the company said.

So far, only a local agency has checked the products for melamine, but the levels found were considered very high.

No level of melamine deliberately added to a food product is legal in the United States, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

But the agency said it is conducting a health risk assessment to try to determine if there is a minimal amount that would be acceptable in cases where the chemical finds its way into a product through some other means. For example, melamine could be present in the meat or milk of an animal that was fed tainted feed or it could find its way into food processed in a factory.

Some experts in Asia say small amounts of melamine, which is used to make plastics, may be transferred during food processing.

Guidelines in Hong Kong and New Zealand say melamine in food products is considered safe at 2.5 parts per million or less, though Hong Kong has lowered the level for children under 3 and pregnant or lactating women to 1 part per million.

In China, the government continued its investigation into questionable milk sources.

Police raided dairy farms and milk purchasing stations in northern China, detaining 22 people accused of being involved in a network that manufactured, sold and added melamine to milk, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Monday. Police also seized more than 485 pounds of the chemical.

Chinese officials had previously arrested at least 18 people and detained more than two dozen suspects.

Asian countries continued to tighten controls on Chinese dairy products.

Myanmar's Commerce Ministry said all Chinese dairy imports had been barred since last week, according to the government affiliated weekly Myanmar Times — a significant move because China is the country's biggest trade partner. Chinese dairy products are widely sold in impoverished Myanmar, though there have been no reported cases of illnesses.

____

Associated Press writers Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar in Washington, Carley Petesch in New York and Raphael Satter in London contributed to this report.

Bees

Bus kills elephant near Mexico pyramids, man dead

Hilda died in pursuit of freedom.

Kidnapping in Egypt!

Egypt scours desert for kidnapped tourists

Darfur rebel groups deny involvement in Egypt kidnapping


Egypt kidnap tourists' location found: Sudan

Kidnap tourists in Egypt desert freed: Egyptian FM

Polar Bear Knut's Keeper Found Dead

Polar Bear Knut's Keeper Found Dead
By PATRICK McGROARTY, AP


BERLIN (Sept. 22) - The zookeeper who gained fame for hand-rearing the beloved polar bear Knut was found dead in his Berlin apartment Monday.

A spokeswoman for Berlin police said Thomas Doerflein was dead when authorities arrived at the apartment and that they had no information on the cause of death.
Doerflein was 44 years old.

He gained fame in Germany and beyond as the ever-present caretaker for Knut, a polar bear cub abandoned by his mother in late 2006.

Knut became a worldwide sensation when the Berlin Zoo decided to raise him by hand, and Doerflein was there for every stage of the bear's progress.

With his burly build, beard and ponytail, Doerflein was a distinctive figure at the side of the growing bear. He nursed young Knut in his arms behind closed doors and wrestled with him after the bear grew old enough to play. When Knut made his public debut in March 2007, Doerflein was at his side. They started a daily performance for the thousands of visitors who flocked to see the bear at his outdoor enclosure.
But the 'Knut show' ended in July of that year when the zoo's director ruled that the bear had grown too large for Doerflein to frolic with in safety.
The boisterous bear now weighs more than 265 pounds, has his own feature-length film, blog and TV show. He has graced the cover of German Vanity Fair and appeared on a set of stamps.

The Berlin Zoo credited Knut with a 27 percent increase in visitors in 2007 and profits of nearly $9.9 million. It has licensing agreements for all kinds of Knut products, including stuffed animals, T-shirts, mugs and DVDs.
Last November Doerflein was awarded Berlin's medal of merit for his service to the city — and to Knut.

Doerflein worked at the zoo for more than 25 years. According to the newspaper Die Welt, Doerflein was a Berlin native with two grown children. He lived with his girlfriend and her young son.

Babar Art & Literary Critique

Oceans are 'too noisy' for whales

Yoda the cat with FOUR ears

Christian the Lion *Reunion* !

Traumatized Elephant

August 15, 2008
What to Do With Traumatized Elephant Stirs Up Dallas
By JAMES C. McKINLEY JR

DALLAS — Jenny has had a hard life, even by elephant standards. She was orphaned at a tender age, stolen from Africa, shipped to America and sold to a circus, where a trainer notorious for his cruelty beat her to coerce her to perform.

When the Dallas Zoo took her in 22 years ago, she was a mess. For years, she suffered from depression and something like post-traumatic stress disorder, mutilating herself with her tusks, snapping steel cables, slamming her head into walls and requiring heavy medication.

Now, Jenny has become the focus of a boisterous debate about what to do with an aging elephant with a troubled mind. In May, after her latest companion died of heart failure, the zoo quietly made arrangements to send her to the Africam Safari Park in Puebla, Mexico, where she would be placed in a new five-acre exhibit with another female elephant.

But that decision sparked a firestorm in Dallas. Local protesters, world-renowned elephant experts and national animal rights groups are crusading to have her sent to a 2,700-acre sanctuary in Tennessee where 17 other traumatized elephants are kept in seclusion.

“Jenny is a special-needs elephant,” said Margaret Morin, a Dallas nurse who leads Concerned Citizens for Jenny. “She’s unique; she’s afflicted with crippling depression. The elephant sanctuary is the right choice.”

Beyond the debate about what to do with Jenny lies a national struggle between zoos and animal rights groups who, frankly, would rather see a world without elephant exhibits. The fight pits a loose coalition of elephant experts and animal rights advocates against the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, a powerful private group based in Maryland that accredits zoos in North America.

Animal rights advocates have long argued that elephants in most zoos lack enough space and, as a consequence, suffer from foot ailments, arthritis and psychological problems.

For its part, the zoo association has clung to its traditions, saying the size of an enclosure matters less than the care elephants receive from zookeepers. It has also tried to keep the 300 elephants in its network of more than 78 zoos from being sent to sanctuaries, where the zoos could no longer use them for breeding.

All of a sudden, Jenny is at the center of this conflict.

The citizens’ group that Ms. Morin leads was formed this summer to hold protests in Dallas against sending Jenny to Mexico. Elephant experts across the country and national animal rights groups have also weighed in, urging that she be sent to the sanctuary. The City Council and The Dallas Morning News have been inundated with letters.

The uproar has put the Dallas Zoo on the defensive. The director, Gregg Hudson, had said in June that sending Jenny to Mexico was a done deal, but now zoo officials are backpedaling.

Mayor Thomas C. Leppert, who could cancel the plan, has artfully ridden the fence. “There is really not a position to take yet,” Mr. Leppert said.

But a spokesman for the zoo, Sean Greene, said Africam Safari Park remained the zoo director’s top choice. Founded in 1972, the Mexican animal park uses the same hands-off, gentle handling techniques that the Dallas Zoo adopted in 1996, after one of Jenny’s worst periods. Indeed, keepers from Dallas helped train the Africam staff several years ago.

The Mexican zoo also plans to acquire another African elephant, to live with Jenny, as well as a bull elephant in the future.

But some Dallas residents say the zoo’s arguments do not hold up. The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tenn., has 300 acres just for African elephants, and Jenny, who is 32, would be the fourth to arrive, said the founder, Carol Buckley. No one except the staff visits the animals, who range freely.

“Why would we want her last years to be in a drive-through zoo in Mexico when she could have 300 acres in the lush Tennessee countryside?” said Councilwoman Angela Hunt, who has visited both destinations.

Experts in the field say zoo directors are cliquish and tend to move animals to other zoos in their association rather than considering the benefits of a sanctuary, which many zoo officials see as part of an anti-zoo movement. The association can also make or break a zoo director’s career

“If we stripped everything away and say what is in the best interest of Jenny, the sanctuary would win hands down,” said Les Schobert, a retired curator of animals at the Los Angeles Zoo. “But then you have to add in all the politics.”

Amy Camacho, general director of Africam, said the transfer seemed to make sense. Her park, which was recently accredited, was seeking African elephants to strengthen its collection, and the Dallas Zoo had a troubled elephant.

Mike Keele, a curator at the Oregon Zoo who is also chairman of the zoo association’s elephant “species survival program,” signed off on the deal. “I like keeping these elephants within the A.Z.A. where they meet our standards,” Mr. Keele said. “Space is just a catchphrase. It’s what you do with that space.”

Nonsense, say animal rights advocates. No zoo or drive-through safari park can match the peace of the Tennessee countryside.

On a recent sunny afternoon, Jenny stripped branches tossed to her by one of her keepers, Gavin Eastep, who said that Jenny’s mental health had improved in recent years.

“Most of the time she’s pretty calm, pretty relaxed,” Mr. Eastep said.

On a bench facing the steel-cable enclosure, David and Heidi McGuire sat with their two children and marveled at Jenny’s size and the graceful swing of her slow gate. “I would rather her stay in the United States,” Heidi McGuire said. “You just never know what’s going to happen to them down in Mexico.”

Mr. McGuire, a grocer, said, “I hope they are going to get someone to replace her.”


Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

Man gets 2 years in prison for killing cat

The Associated Press

Thu, Aug 14, 2008 (11:54 a.m.)

A Los Angeles man who killed his girlfriend's cat, telling her to "follow the blood trail to find Tweety," has been sentenced to two years in prison.

Blood was found in the girlfriend's apartment but Tweety was never found.

Scott Allen Atkinson pleaded no contest to two felony charges of animal cruelty and threatening the woman's life. He was sentenced Wednesday.

Prosecutors say the 46-year-old Atkinson killed the black-and-white cat after an argument in October, then he told the woman's daughter he was going to kill her mother.

Cat Psychology: What to Do If Your Cat is Angry at You

Huge boost to gorilla numbers

Bunnicula

Shame and harassment in Egypt

Eltahawy: Shame and harassment in Egypt

When I was 4 and still living in Cairo, a man exposed himself to me as I stood on a balcony at my family’s home, and gestured for me to come down.

At 15, I was groped as I was performing the rites of the Haj pilgrimage at Mecca, the holiest site for Muslims.

Every part of my body was covered except for my face and hands. I’d never been groped before and burst into tears, but I was too ashamed to explain to my family what had happened.

During my 20s, when I had returned to Cairo, I was groped so many times that whenever I passed a group of men I’d place my bag between me and them. Headphones helped block out the disgusting things men — and even boys barely in their teens hissed at me.

Imagine how much sharper that violation stung when I tried to complain to the police only to be shooed away — or when it was their hands which groped me.

So it was no surprise to learn that 98 percent of foreign women visiting Egypt and 83 percent of native Egyptian women who were recently surveyed said that they, too, had been sexually harassed, and they have recounted a catalog of horrors similar to mine.

When the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights reported that 62 percent of Egyptian men admitted to harassing women, I could only shudder at what sexist bullies so many of my countrymen are. That’s when I was taken back full circle to the time I was groped on the Haj.

Shame. This shame is fueled by religious and political messages that bombard Egyptian public life, turning women into sexual objects and giving men free reign to their bodies. There is no law criminalizing sexual harassment in Egypt, and police often refuse to report women’s complaints. The state itself taught Egyptians a most spectacular lesson in institutionalized patriarchy when security forces and government-hired thugs sexually assaulted demonstrators, especially women, during an anti-regime protest in 2005, giving a green light to harassers.

My sister Nora and I have swapped our sexual harassment stories like veterans comparing war wounds, and we unraveled a taboo which shelters the real criminals of sexual harassment and has kept us hiding in shame. And that is why I began here with my own stories — to free myself of the tentacles of that shame.

Mona Eltahawy is a commentator on Arab and Muslim issues and is a syndicated columnist for Agence Global.

how do you say no to a demanding bride?

salon.com

Detroit Zoo Struggling

The Detroit Zoo is struggling.

Based on what we read from other there, they don't deserve a Zoo.

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Ice on Mars!!!!!

This is significant.

Retriever Adopts Tiger Cubs at Zoo

Background on Cat Custody Cases

Cat 'custody' case shows court priorities are skewed

Landmark Cat Custody Case - Alaska

Pet Custody Mediation Services

Pet Custody Mediation Services

When Partners should consider Pet Mediation Services

Battle over the custody or ownership of your pets can be as heated and contentious as a custody battle for children except pet and animal right laws are not defined and clear cut. Your pet is a member of the family. If you are in a relationship that is ending and dogs / cats or other pets are involved, you may need help to reach a pet custody agreement or have pet mediator help resolve your issues. So what are the pet or animal right laws govern Pet custody and pet custody agreements? We can provide you with those resources. Let us help you.

If you are getting divorced, separated, a couple or roommates that are splitting or you are just moving on, a pet custody agreement is the only thing that will guarantee your access and visitation in the future.

Issues for a pet custody agreement / Mediation.

Joint / Sole custody / ownership of dog / cat / pet

Pet Visitation rights

% split of Pet Vet expenses

Ownership and licensing

Exposure to other pets / animals

What happens if an owner moves

Animal rights laws

Without a Pet Custody Agreement your partner can claim ownership and prevent you in the future from access to your dog, cat or other animal. Laws are not the same as child custody. Prevent a costly legal battle. Get your custody agreement in writing. We can help. As pet lovers, we want whats best for your pet and we offer affordable pet custody solutions. Pet mediation services is a low cost alternative. Let us help you reach a resolution.

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Sojourning Boston: Cabins

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Pets On a Pedestal - On Point

Aired: Monday, July 14, 2008 11-12PM ET


A chihuahua named Tequila the day before the Westminster dog show in New York, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2008. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
By host Tom Ashbrook:

Leona Helmsley was famously frosty toward human beings. Her nickname was "The Queen of Mean." Her infamous quote: "Only little people pay taxes."

Even so, it was a stunner when Helmsley's bequest left $12 million dollars to her favorite Maltese pooch, and up to $8 billion dollars to the dogs of New York. Eight billion. For dogs.

But in a time of Prozac for pets and big love for furry companions, Helmsley isn't the only American whose tie to her pet may have been her best relationship.

This hour On Point: people and their pets, and when pet love is pet crazy.

Guests

· Stephanie Strom, has been following the Leona Helmsley story for the New York Times

· Joel Gavriele Gold, psychologist and psychoanalyst who has been practicing in New York for more than 25 years. He is author of "When Pets Come Between Partners"

· Stephanie LaFarge, she is a psychologist and the senior director of Counseling Services for the ASPCA

· James Vlahos, his cover story in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine was titled "Pill-Popping Pets." He is contributing writer for National Geographic Adventure and Popular Science.

Chibi - 3 months

Somali pirates seize Japanese ship

KRAZY KAT GOT ME KOMMITTED

Drunken Swedish elk attacks toddler

by Anna Brones Jul 23rd 2008 @ 9:00PM
Having lived in Scandinavia, I love stories that involve moose or elk, and with so many running around the northern country, it's not hard to find them. The animals sometimes do weird things, like run amok on subways. But today's bit of Scandinavian news is even weirder; it involves a drunken elk.

Just outside of Gothenburg, a three year old was playing in her sandbox when a young elk walked up to her and bit her on the arm. The elk was apparently drunk after having consumed a few too many yeasted apples and after biting the young girl stumbled away from the backyard.

Elk roaming into residential areas isn't uncommon, but inebriated ones are. Something to keep in mind during your next trip to Scandinavia.

Pet rabbit credited with saving couple from fire

MELBOURNE, Australia—A pet rabbit is credited with saving a couple from a fire that swept through their home in the southern city of Melbourne.

Metropolitan Fire Brigade commander Mick Swift said the husband returned home from a night shift early Thursday and heard the family pet, named "Rabbit," scratching at the couple's bedroom door half an hour after he had gone to bed.

Swift said the husband, whose identity has not been released, discovered a fire in a back room and smoke spreading quickly through the house. He was able to escape the house with his wife unharmed.

Swift said the rabbit saved the couple from injury.

He said the blaze caused substantial damage to the house before it was extinguished by four crews of firefighters.

Bridgewater woman recounts fox attack

BRIDGEWATER - Shirley Doyle was down on her front lawn on Saturday, knocked over by an angry, and probably rabid, fox that had sprinted from the woods near her home while she was out for a walk. It had lunged at her ankle, and now it was growling and gnawing its sharp teeth into her lower left leg, even as the 71-year-old woman repeatedly hit it across the head with her shoe and screamed for help. Doyle thought she would faint from the excruciating pain, or even bleed to death.

Next door, Norman Millikan, a lanky 72-year-old who in recent years had undergone three heart surgeries and now has a pacemaker, was watching the movie "Dial M For Murder" with his wife. The film was reaching its climactic end, but something was bugging Millikan. He'd forgotten to lock his pickup truck. So he got up and walked outside.

Millikan at first thought the cries he heard were sounds of glee from one of Doyle's many grandchildren. Then he saw the fox, and he saw his Edgewood Drive neighbor writhing on her side, desperately trying to free herself from the growling animal.... continue



FOR THE RECORD: "Foxes can be petted, but not tamed" remember that!

Here's to you Chickipoo

Bon voyage

L.F.B & S.E.S & EB

Donkey Librarians

Rare white lion cubs are born in Germany

The trio were born last month at the zoo in the German town of Schloss Holte-Stukenbrock, after both the park's white lionesses gave birth simultaneously to seven cubs.

One cub died during birth, but the other three were being taken care of by their mother, named Kibo, out of the media spotlight.

The other three cubs, which are being looked after by keepers, attracted a lot of attention at the meet-and-greet, but they have a way to go before they match the celebrity of Germany's most famous zoo resident.

Knut the polar bear has attracted a worldwide following since his birth in 2006.

He was rejected by his mother, a former circus bear, which prompted an animal rights activist to suggest he should be left alone to his fate. The story, which first appeared in German newspaper Bild, spurred a public outcry and a mass-media interest that led to the production of books, toys and DVDs.

Knut was eventually raised by zookeepers and became the first polar bear cub to survive past infancy at Berlin Zoo in more than thirty years.

But his popularity has brought problems. Knut, who gets more than 200 visitors a day, has become "addicted to human beings," according to German animal rights activist Frank Albrecht.

Albrecht argues that animals born in zoos become so dependent on man they end up divorced from nature.

The German zoologist Peter Arras has even gone so far as to describe Knut as a "psychopath".

House Cat Adopts Red Panda Cub

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7498895.stm

Dutch cat suckles abandoned panda

The panda cub was rejected by its mother


A Dutch tabby cat has adopted a red panda cub, which was abandoned by its mother at a zoo in the Netherlands.

The adult panda, Gladys, rejected two cubs after they were born on 30 June. The Artis zoo in Amsterdam initially kept them both on an incubator.

But the zookeeper's cat had just given birth to four kittens, and allowed the pandas to join the litter. One of the cubs died last week.

Red pandas are a rare species only distantly related to giant pandas.

When fully grown, they are not much bigger than a domestic cat.

"The young panda is doing well in the circumstances," the zoo said in a statement.

"For it to survive, it is very important that it gets enough food and grows. We will see if this is the case over the next few weeks."

The cub does not have a name yet, but the zoo says that anyone willing to sponsor her will be allowed to name her.

The red panda is an endangered species that lives in Himalayan regions in China, Bhutan, Nepal, India, and Burma.

Penguins' Ills Signal Problems in Seas

Penguins' Ills Signal Problems in Seas
By SETH BORENSTEIN,
AP
Posted: 2008-07-01 15:24:16
Filed Under: Science News
WASHINGTON (July 1) - The dwindling march of the penguins is signaling that the world's oceans are in trouble, scientists now say. Penguins may be the tuxedo-clad version of a canary in the coal mine, with generally ailing populations from a combination of global warming, ocean oil pollution, depleted fisheries, and tourism and development, according to a new scientific review paper.

A University of Washington biologist detailed specific problems around the world with remote penguin populations, linking their decline to the overall health of southern oceans.

A Barometer of Environmental Health?
A Penguin colony in the Falkland Islands off ArgentinaPeter Macdiarmid, Getty Images

Many of the world's penguin populations are threatened, and their problems seem to reflect global environmental trends, a new report said. "Many penguins we thought would be safe because they are not that close to people. And that's not true," the report's author said.

"Now we're seeing effects (of human caused warming and pollution) in the most faraway places in the world," said conservation biologist P. Dee Boersma, author of the paper published in the July edition of the journal Bioscience. "Many penguins we thought would be safe because they are not that close to people. And that's not true."

Scientists figure there are between 16 to 19 species of penguins. About a dozen are in some form of trouble, Boersma wrote. A few, such as the king penguin found in islands north of Antarctica, are improving in numbers, she said.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature lists three penguin species as endangered, seven as vulnerable, which means they are "facing a high risk of extinction in the wild," and two more as "near threatened." About 15 years ago only five to seven penguin species were considered vulnerable, experts said.

And the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which has already listed one penguin species on its endangered list, is studying whether it needs to add 10 more.

The largest Patagonian penguin colony in the world is at Punta Tumbo, Argentina, but the number of breeding pairs there dropped in half from about 400,000 in the late 1960s to about 200,000 in October 2006, Boersma reported. Over a century, African penguins have decreased from 1.5 million breeding pairs to 63,000.

The decline overall isn't caused by one factor, but several.

For the ice-loving Adelie penguins, global warming in the western Antarctica peninsula is a problem, making it harder for them to find food, said Phil Trathan, head of conservation biology at the British Antarctic Survey, a top penguin scientist who had no role in the new report.

For penguins that live on the Galapagos island, El Nino weather patterns are a problem because the warmer water makes penguins travel farther for food, at times abandoning their chicks, Boersma said. At the end of the 1998 record El Nino, female penguins were only 80 percent of their normal body weight. Scientists have tied climate change to stronger El Ninos.

Oil spills regularly taint the water where penguins live off Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil and have contributed to the Punta Tumbo declines, Boersma said.

The problems may be different from place to place, but looking at the numbers for the species overall, "they do give you a clear message," Trathan said.

And this isn't just about the fate of penguins.

"What happens to penguins, a few years down the road can happen to a lot of other species and possibly humans," said longtime penguin expert Susie Ellis, now executive director of the International Rhino Foundation.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

Olympic nightmare: A red tide in the Yellow Sea

The Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman

Scene of the incident


Cayman Information

There is no fresh water on the island - no rivers - no springs -no wells. All water there is caught rain, desalinated seawater, or imported. Since there are no rivers dumping into the ocean, the sea around Grand Cayman is exceptionally clear. It is a scuba diver's dream.

CAT ACROBAT

George Carlin on Death - RIP

Oldest rabbit in world lives in Tewksbury

The champ inspects the carpet in front of his Guinness certificate.

By Kate Augusto, Globe Correspondent

Plenty of hopping? Just a nibble of the finest lettuce? Clean living? Whatever he's been doing, it's working. George, a rabbit living with a Tewksbury family, has been declared the oldest rabbit in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records.

George, who is 14, was awarded the “The Oldest Living Rabbit” honors by Guinness after several vets confirmed his age.

The life expectancy for rabbits is 6 to 8 years, making George nearly double the average, or about 160 years old in human terms.

Joe Breton, 33, got George while at the University of Maine in 1994, four months before he met his wife, Amy.

Amy credits the rabbit with bringing her and her husband together.

“When I first met my husband I had not much in common with him,” said Amy, 32, a veterinary technician. “But I thought, ‘He can’t be that bad because he has a rabbit’ … and eventually I fell in love with him.”

Amy said she and her husband, a civil engineer, had to fill out tons of paperwork and get witnesses to sign papers saying they knew the rabbit in order to get the distinction. A spokeswoman for Guinness in London, Amarilis Espinoza, confirmed that George is the champ.

Amy said she and her husband joke that the Pez and Doritos they fed George in college are part of the reason he’s still alive.

“I would never recommend for anyone to feed that to a rabbit but he was a college dorm room rabbit so maybe that helped with his longevity,” she said.

Squirrel problems in UK - Chemical warfare considered

Grey Squirrels transmitting squirrelpox to Red Squirrels in UK

Plans to chemically castrate invasive grey squirrels mulled


"The grey squirrel is basically the problem." BBC


L.F. reporting

Newsflash! Unicorns among us!

Here's the story

Scientists find monkeys who know how to fish

Jun 10, 7:27 AM (ET)

By MICHAEL CASEY


BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Long-tailed macaque monkeys have a reputation for knowing how to find food - whether it be grabbing fruit from jungle trees or snatching a banana from a startled tourist.

Now, researchers say they have discovered groups of the silver-haired monkeys in Indonesia that fish.

Groups of long-tailed macaques were observed four times over the past eight years scooping up small fish with their hands and eating them along rivers in East Kalimantan and North Sumatra provinces, according to researchers from The Nature Conservancy and the Great Ape Trust.

The species had been known to eat fruit and forage for crabs and insects, but never before fish from rivers.

"It's exciting that after such a long time you see new behavior," said Erik Meijaard, one of the authors of a study on fishing macaques that appeared in last month's International Journal of Primatology. "It's an indication of how little we know about the species."

Meijaard, a senior science adviser at The Nature Conservancy, said it was unclear what prompted the long-tailed macaques to go fishing. But he said it showed a side of the monkeys that is well-known to researchers - an ability to adapt to the changing environment and shifting food sources.

"They are a survivor species, which has the knowledge to cope with difficult conditions," Meijaard said Tuesday. "This behavior potentially symbolizes that ecological flexibility."

The other authors of the paper, which describes the fishing as "rare and isolated" behavior, are The Nature Conservancy volunteers Anne-Marie E. Stewart, Chris H. Gordon and Philippa Schroor, and Serge Wich of the Great Ape Trust.

Some other primates have exhibited fishing behavior, Meijaard wrote, including Japanese macaques, chacma baboons, olive baboons, chimpanzees and orangutans.

Agustin Fuentes, a University of Notre Dame anthropology professor who studies long-tailed macaques, or macaca fascicularis, on the Indonesian island of Bali and in Singapore, said he was "heartened" to see the finding published because such details can offer insight into the "complexity of these animals."

"It was not surprising to me because they are very adaptive," he said. "If you provide them with an opportunity to get something tasty, they will do their best to get it."

Fuentes, who is not connected with the published study, said he has seen similar behavior in Bali, where he has observed long-tailed macaques in flooded paddy fields foraging for frogs and crabs. He said it affirms his belief that their ability to thrive in urban and rural environments from Indonesia to northern Thailand could offer lessons for endangered species.

"We look at so many primate species not doing well. But at the same time, these macaques are doing very well," he said. "We should learn what they do successfully in relation to other species."

Still, Fuentes and Meijaard said further research was needed to understand the full significance of the behavior. Among the lingering questions are what prompted the monkeys to go fishing and how common it is among the species.

Long-tailed macaques were twice observed catching fish by The Nature Conservancy researchers in 2007, and Wich spotted them doing it two times in 1998 while studying orangutans.

China holds funeral for panda killed by earthquake

Indonesia

Java rhino makes first wild video appearance

Rare Rhino

Rarest rhinoceros wrecks camera

The world's rarest rhinoceros has been captured on film by a specially installed camera in the jungles of Java, Indonesia.

But the female rhino, which was accompanied by a calf, promptly charged the camera, sending it flying.

The animals are at severe risk of extinction, with only 60-70 animals left in the wild.

A spokesperson for WWF said the footage provided an unusual glimpse of the rare beasts in their natural habitat.

Rachmat Hariyadi, who leads WWF-Indonesia's project in Java's Ujung Kulon National Park, said the motion-triggered camera "traps" were a useful way to observe the ways in which animals used their habitats, aiding conservation efforts.

But Stephen Hogg, also from WWF, who designed the hidden cameras, said he was puzzled by the rhino's attack.

"The assault on the camera still has us baffled because we specifically use infrared lights as the source of illumination when we designed and built these units so as to not scare animals away when the camera activates," he said.

Javan rhinos are found only in two locations; Ujung Kulong National Park is home to 90% of the total population.

Efforts are underway to create additional Javan rhino breeding groups by translocating a few individuals from Ujung Kulon to another suitable site.

This could help prevent an extinction caused by disease or a natural disaster, conservationists say.

EB @ work

Texas seizure of polygamist-sect kids thrown out

Fault a big mouthed fool.

Israel Tolbert - Big Leg Woman (1970)

Korol and Kunali Moving to Alaska

2 Rosamond Gifford Zoo tigers going to Alaska

by Pedro Ramirez III
Wednesday May 21, 2008, 9:10 AM

Syracuse, NY - Two tigers born at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in 2004 will be leaving Syracuse for a new home at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage, zoo officials said today.

Korol and Kunali were born on June 7, 2004. The exact date they are leaving has not been determined, zoo officials said, adding that visitors will have a couple of weeks to say bye to the Amur tigers. Korol and Kunali leave behind father (Karana), mother (Tatiana), and sister (Naka), all of which remain on exhibit on the Wildlife Trail at Rosamond Gifford Zoo.

The move was recommended by the Species Survival Plan (SSP), a program administered by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Amur tigers, also called Siberian tigers, are an endangered species with less than 400 animals left in the wild.

"We are looking forward to having Korol and Kunali join our family," says Patrick Lampi, executive director of the Alaska Zoo.

Alaska Zoo keepers will come to Syracuse to travel with Korol and Kunali on a special Federal Express flight to Anchorage.

Lost parrot tells veterinarian his address

TOKYO - When Yosuke the parrot flew out of his cage and got lost, he did exactly what he had been taught — recite his name and address to a stranger willing to help.

Police rescued the African grey parrot two weeks ago from a neighbor's roof in the city of Nagareyama, near Tokyo. After spending a night at the station, he was transferred to a nearby veterinary hospital while police searched for clues, local policeman Shinjiro Uemura said.

He kept mum with the cops, but began chatting after a few days with the vet. continue...

High gas prices drive farmer to switch to mules

High gas prices drive farmer to switch to mules
May 21 02:53 PM US/Eastern


MCMINNVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - High gas prices have driven a Warren County farmer and his sons to hitch a tractor rake to a pair of mules to gather hay from their fields. T.R. Raymond bought Dolly and Molly at the Dixon mule sale last year. Son Danny Raymond trained them and also modified the tractor rake so the mules could pull it.

T.R. Raymond says the mules are slower than a petroleum-powered tractor, but there are benefits.

"This fuel's so high, you can't afford it," he said. "We can feed these mules cheaper than we can buy fuel. That's the truth."

And Danny Raymond says he just likes using the mules around the farm.

"We've been using them quite a bit," he said.

Brother Robert Raymond added, "It's the way of the future."

Something must be done

Above: First prize in the contemporary issues singles category was won by South African photographer Brent Stirton. While working for Newsweek he pictured the evacuation of dead Mountain Gorillas at Virunga National Park, Eastern Congo.

Encylopedia of Life

quite an idea

Donell Jones - Knocks me off my Feet

Kangaroo cull begins in Australia

"Extinct" Pygmy Elephants Found Living on Borneo

Big Yellow Taxi - Joni Mitchell

Dudley Do-Right

AJHS SHOW CHOIR

Lightening Bolt above Volcano

Oldest gorilla in captivity turns 55 at Dallas Zoo

By LINDA STEWART BALL –

DALLAS (AP) — A gorilla recognized as the world's oldest in captivity celebrated her 55th birthday by munching down a four-layer frozen fruit cake and banana leaf wrapped treats.

Jenny's caretakers at the Dallas Zoo say she's having a few joint issues and her eyesight isn't what it used to be but she still looks good for an old ape....

Bad news: bear had a record

Bad news: bear had a record
3-year-old male roamed too close to people, couldn't recover from tranquilizer.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
By Matt Michael
Staff writer
Syracuse Post Standard

The black bear that spent Thursday wandering around a Geddes neighborhood was put to sleep Friday because it never recovered from the tranquilizer shot that was used to sedate it, a state Department of Environmental Conservation official said.

Another key factor in the DEC's decision to euthanize the bear was that the animal had a history...


BACKSTORY

Half of Yellowstone Bison Herd Dies

EB

Dolphin Dies Performing Trick In Front Of Show Crowd

Egypt

change the world

Jail turned Hotel - Boston at Charles/MGH Station

Tommie Smith & John Carlos - Heroes

madTV - To Catch A Predator

Fractured Fairy Tales - Leaping Beauty

Galabeya

Men From Polygamy Sect Speak

Many of the men in the polygamist sect in Eldorado, Texas didn't know it is illegal to marry someone under 18, one of them tells Early Show co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez in an exclusive interview.

Rodriguez conducted the interview Sunday night with three men whose children were among more than 400 removed by authorities from the sect's compound in a raid earlier this month.

It was the first time since the raid that any male members of the sect spoke with a member of the media. More

Living Statue at Boston's Downtown Crossing

Logan's Cat Camp Report

Dear Chickeepoo,

Logan was a model guest.

He thrived and behaved himself like a perfect little lion in our care.

It was our good pleasure to provide a stable environment and wholesome social interaction in his time of need.

Logan is welcome to visit at any time, and stay as long as he wishes.

Sincerely,


Smoke

Camp Activities Director

The Missouri Incident

Redhead briefly blew through Boston.

She spent less than one earth rotation in town, and a skant 48 minutes with the ever-loyal cats who have watched over and mused her, lo, these many years.

Hueman called the Redhead in Missouri at approximately 9:00 am (eastern time) and found her groggy and in the company of another creature.

The ill-tempered, vicious creature let it's presence and displeasure be known by growling at the Hueman.

There will be a pride powwow at sundown today to forge a response to this affrontery.

Abandoned Zebra Being Treated at Auburn University

April 11, 2008

AUBURN, Ala. (WTVM) -- Auburn University's vet school is treating a young zebra who was found on Interstate 75, just south of Atlanta.

On Tuesday the Department of Natural Resources got a call saying a zebra was on the side of the Interstate.

Officials were photographing the two month old zebra and kept referring to him as "evidence"... And that's how he got his name.

"The Department of Natural Resources called us Tuesday morning and said they had a zebra fall out of the back of a truck, and from there he was struck by a car and he was standing there on the side of the highway eating grass," said Charlie Hedgecoth from Noah's Ark, the company that took in Evidence the zebra.

Noah's Ark -- an animal rescue center in Locust Grove, Georgia -- transported the zebra to Auburn University's Veterinarian School.... more....

Madeleine Peyroux - Don't Wait Too Long

British Rocker claims to have killed squirrels

Logan;

There is emnity between some humans and squirrels.

Once upon a time the squirrels of Mount Neponset declared war on the realm.

A human coalition formed to combat them bungled initially.

The squirrels got the upper hand and terrorized Chickeepoo.

She was a veritable damsel in distress.

After that, the gloves came off and they were vanquished.

The Great Squirrel war happened before we came into the realm.

We must, however, be ever vigilant because the squirrel community still has a vendetta against Chickeepoo.

'Moke