Wednesday, May 25, 2011
San Antonio Zoo Rhino Complex
This truly amazing complex could best be described as a "habitrail" with it extensive interconnecting paddocks, loafing sheds, moats, gates, fences, and chutes. Down side is given the substrate and the years of use the smell was incredible, and if the wind was right identifiable from far away. The first white rhino born and bred outside of Africa was born at San Antonio, and the first black rhino was born in 1981.
For Radar
Radar, above is Alport in 2007 shortly before she died. The "disease" being listed as: ligament injury. Is an injury a disease? All pictures I have seen of Alport she always seems to be standing "straddled" with her weight rocked back on her back legs and off of her front legs. Delhi also stood this way, towards the end in an effort to keep weight off of her front end. Alport's spine has always been a mystery to me, as has Sabu's, whom we have discussed. She was wild caught and came from Algeria via Baumberge. Who is "Baumberge?"
Lucky above. Radar the data base lists 3 Asian present at San Antonio. They have two, Lucky and Boo. They also list two elephants as coming from the Steele/Tata Ranch in 1962. I don't think it was called the Steele/Tata Ranch in 1962, and would have probably been the Steele/Engesser Ranch in 1962, if anything.
Radar commented the other day on a photo posted showing the moat around the elephant exhibit and asked what the platforms were for in the moat, and I replied that they were for the keepers to stand on to elevate themselves out of the deep moat. I think the elephant pictured here is "Boo" Queenie the new elephant acquired via confiscation. I also suggest "Boo" did this exact same behavior via bull hook that they are now demonstrating via target before moving to San Antonio. One of the most important elements to a successful protected contact program is the illusion of actually accomplishing something not only useful, but "totally amazing" as well. Given the knowledge of the folks you are demonstrating your skills to, it is a very easy bluff to pull off, as a rule assuring job security.
San Antonio Zoo
This is the mixed African species exhibit adjacent to the elephant exhibit(elephant building in the background in photo below) Oddly out of place, now that San Antonio exhibit's two Asian elephants instead of the one Asian one African that they had a few years ago.
San Antonio Zoo Lion and Tiger Grotto's
It's amazing to me that an institution will spend money to put gunnite root's on a door(below) or air brush elaborate graphics in an effort to hide/disguise it, or the Yellowstone Fountain Paint Pot water hole seen in the first picture, in an effort at "natural" yet place what appears to be a wood palate smack dab in the middle of the exhibit on a couple of posts which appears to have had some cross poles removed, given the "natural" chain saw cuts that are seen. You just have to try to guess sometimes at what direction an institution is attempting to go. You might as well use plastic bottles, bags and 6 pack rings which are free, if that is the "natural" direction you are going.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19766279/?GT1=10150
San Antonio Zoo Aquarium
San Antonio Zoo now bill's it's self at Zoo and Aquarium, after the renovation of the building above. That is really taking liberties with the word "Aquarium" but they have some very nice exhibit's inside, although given the size of the structure, not very many. The black light jellyfish exhibit was very nice. An amazingly unique building sitting adjacent to the monkey house pictured below. I had never considered "tramp art" as a zoological architectural style, like Techton, but I guess I was wrong.
The "renovation" appears to be the addition of the sea horse sculpture to the facade as well as the eliminating of some bushes and shrubs.
San Antonio Zoo
2011
San Antonio is world famous for it's bird collection/breeding's. I suspect climate has a lot to do with that success. As I stated in a comment the other day to Radar, the San Antonio Zoo appears to be in a "transition". Just a miss mash of exhibits here and there often with not a lot of rhyme or reason. Many exhibits looked like they were being "utilized" for particular species temporarily, as the animals currently exhibited didn't look like they were the ones the exhibit's were originally designed for. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think the exhibit above was originally the Orangutan exhibit?(Note the small door at the left of the exhibit. Not to practical for psittacines) At one time, San Antonio was ranked third on the list of the most species exhibited followed only by the Bronx Zoo and San Diego Zoo. To their credit it appears they are attempting to exhibit a few properly instead of numbers.
2011
1958
San Antonio Zoo--Monkey House
The Monkey House was "closed for renovation" the day I visited, and these photo's are from 2006. The outdoor cages look barren in the photo below, but not today. If you want a clinic on "habitat enrichment" you need to see these small outdoor cages today stuffed from ceiling to floor, wall to wall with enrichment. I have never seen exhibits so filled with "stuff" and that includes any of Brookfields best efforts. Ropes, balls, jugs, colored plastic containers and rings of all sorts and sizes, as well as baby bassinets for swinging and lounging.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Kenyan police seize 1 ton of ivory at airport, again
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Authorities have seized the tusks of 58 elephants — totaling one ton of ivory — after sniffer dogs led investigators to containers at the country's main airport that were bound for Nigeria, officials said Friday. Joseph Ngisa, the officer in charge of criminal investigation in the country's airports, said no arrests had been made. It was not immediately clear why the ivory was being transported to the West African nation; the most common destination for smuggled ivory is Asia. "We are suspecting they could be from here or neighboring countries and we are on their toes. We must get them. They have killed many, many elephants and we cannot allow this," said Eunice Kiheko, the deputy police chief in charge of all airports. Patrick Omondi, an expert on elephants at the Kenya Wildlife Service, says illegal ivory smuggling in Africa increased after the 2007 temporary lifting of a ban by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. It allowed a one-off sale by countries that had stockpiles of ivory from elephants that had died naturally or problem elephants killed by wildlife officials. In 2007, Kenya lost only 47 elephants to poaching, Omondi said. In 2008 — the year the sale took place— Kenya lost 145 elephants. In 2009, 271 elephants were killed and 187 were killed in 2010. Omondi said Kenya has already lost 87 elephants this year. In a separate incident on Friday, a Vietnamese customs official said 661 pounds (300 kilograms) of smuggled African elephant tusks had been intercepted at a northern port city. Vu Hoang Duong, head of the customs division at Hai Phong's port, said the tusks from Tanzania were discovered in a container that had been declared as a rubber shipment. The tusks were sealed in iron boxes and hidden beneath scrap metal. The shipment arrived in April, but Duong said officials discovered the tusks on Thursday. It was addressed to a company in northern Quang Ninh province. The company denied knowing the tusks were included in the shipment. Vietnam is a common destination for illegal animal products, including African elephant tusks and rhino horns, which fetch large amounts for their perceived medicinal benefits. Last month, Thailand confiscated two tons of ivory valued at $3.3 million that had been shipped from Kenya. "I am not trying to tell another country what to do, but just offering this idea. Instead of piling the ivory up and burning it, or storing it for 'eternity' they might want to consider this option:" HIDE FANCIERS ENJOY ALASKA'S BEAR MARKET LA TIMES 2003
Bill Slavin wanted something out of the ordinary to hang inside his new cabin in Alabama. An Alaska grizzly bear would be ideal, he decided; it would exude the mystique of the wild far north.
Grizzly hides are virtually impossible to buy in the Lower 48, where threatened species are aggressively protected. They're generally not for sale in Alaska either, Slavin was disappointed to learn during a business trip to Anchorage last year.
Then he heard about Alaska's annual hide, horn and antler auction--one of only two exceptions to a state law that prohibits the sale of bear hides. The Anchorage event was held outdoors last month under a steady snowfall. The auction is a highlight of the city's yearly Fur Rendezvous, a 10-day winter celebration.
Slavin successfully bid $775 for a six-foot grizzly with the head and paws attached, and $250 for a black bear hide. For another $1,500, a taxidermist will tan the skins, stuff the heads and turn the hides into bear rugs for Slavin's walls.
"I'm kicking myself for not buying another grizzly," he said. "It's a real Alaska bear, and that's a major attraction. We sure don't see anything like this in Alabama."
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game sponsors the sale, as well as a smaller auction in Fairbanks in March, under a law that allows the state to sell skins and trophies as surplus goods. The bears were killed in self-defense, by natural causes, by poachers, by vehicles and by wildlife officials responding to nuisance-bear calls.
"These animals died needlessly in some cases," said Michael McDonald, Fish and Game's assistant wildlife-management coordinator. "The biggest good that comes out of this is that the hides can be used. They don't have to be destroyed."
Alaska law allows the killing of brown bears--as grizzlies are known in parts of Alaska--and black bears by people who are properly licensed to hunt during specific seasons. In Montana, Wyoming and Idaho, hunting of grizzlies is prohibited because those populations are designated as threatened. Wyoming and Idaho allow hunters to sell hides of the more plentiful black bears, if they are legally taken.
British Columbia allows hunters to sell hides of grizzlies lawfully killed, according to Alex Dabrowski, spokesman for the provincial Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection. The agency also sells surplus grizzly and other wildlife hides at public auctions.
Wild Camel Herd in the Negev Desert, Israel--1964
Note the third camel on the right. It appears to have a pack/saddle harness on it's back. I have to wonder if there was a Bedouin on foot in 1964 cursing to Alla the day this no good, rotten animal went off the reservation and decided to strike out with his brethren?
For Radar--Hippo tusks
The other day Radar asked a question about an elongated, twisted hippo tusk at the Dublin Zoo. I think we should direct that question to Glenn Sullivan at Werribee Open Range Zoo because I have noted that their hippo's, photo above, don't seem to have that problem.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Abandoned Zoo Exhibit--San Francisco Zoo
A blog reader sent the above photo a couple of months ago, asking if I knew it's location. Initially, I didn't and filed it in my "unknown zoo" file. I looked around a bit in my other files, and I believe it is the hippo enclosure at the San Francisco Zoo, see below.
1950's
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
