Monkey Island--Leipzig Zoo

Zoo Leipzig - ZooLex Exhibit

Zoo Leipzig - Pongoland - ZooLex Exhibit

Pongoland at Leipzig Zoo may be better suited for the inhabitants, but we can sure appreciate and respect the unique beauty of the old brick enclosures.

Bear Grotto's--Zoo Leipzig

1964

Leipzig Zoo has some of the most distinctive vintage brickwork of any zoo in the world, originally being made for clay excavated from the zoo grounds.

Gondwanaland--Zoo Leipzig

Gondwanaland, Zoo Leipzig Leipzig, Germany 2003 - 2012 ..



Disney under glass!!!

5th Moscow Circus Festival--The Zapasshny Brothers

Courtesy of Bjorn Krebbers

Bjorn writes:
looks like they added three new cats to their act, 2 white tigers and 1 champagne lion who now does the jump from ring to ring with one of the brothers.


"I don't think it is possible for a feline to move any slower and more grudgingly then these animals. I'm sorry, but I have yet to see anything from these brothers that impresses me, even giving the benefit of the doubt that they are new, inexperienced animals, which is often alibied as a reason for slow movement. Note at 16:11 a pedestal has been left in the arena to push into the lions face to get him off his place, as well as meat in front of him and two people pushing him. Three people to get one animal to move!!!! From 16:16 when he was first asked to leave his place to 20:16 when he completed the "behavior" 4 minutes had passed for one animal to do one thing. Look closely the "famed jump" is nothing more then the animal jumping and the person jumping from behind. Not riding the jump, as folks have been lead to believe. And it take's 4 minutes. Russian audiences are apparently more patient and tolerant then audience's around the world."

5th Moscow Circus Festival--Andrey Dementiev Kornilov Elephants

Courtesy of Bjorn Krebbers

Bjorn writes:
In the second clip of Andrey at 9:49 You will see that Andrey has a new elephant, Its a three year old female called Margot, she and 10 bengal tigers arrived on 30th july 2011 from a safaripark in Guangzhou China to Rosgoscirk, in exchange for 5 former circus polar bears.

"Which brings up the question, if the South America climate was deemed unhealthy for the former Ursula Bottcher polar bears, leading to confiscation and placement in zoo's, including America's Detroit Zoo, how was it decided that China's climate was healthy?"

Xiangjiang Animal Safari Park Photo Gallery by Jojie Alcantara at ..

Xiangjiang Safari Park

5th Moscow Circus Festival--Gia Eradze Exotic Animals

Courtesy of Bjorn Krebbers

For Thomas--New Tigers

These are the four newest tigers, which were delivered 2 day's ago. I went to look at them 3 weeks ago at a zoo near Acapulco and they were purchased. They are litter mate brothers and their names are Thor, Zeus, Apollo, and Conan. They were very nervous, shy, and skittish when they arrived as they had been raised in an isolated cage behind the zoo hospital, and didn't have much exposure to people other then zoo staff. Three have calmed down nicely and are chuffing up a storm. One, Conan is still not with the program but I expect he will be in a week. Right now he rubs against the bar's when I approach but snarls/chuffs at the same time. :)



Note the "special" Mexican hitch attachment. It is called a mecate'. :)

We are taking delivery of a second "beast wagon" next week for the new tigers.

Brookfield Zoo--1977

For lay people who may not understand what the new term "accident" means in regards to elephants, this photo illustrates what occurs seconds before an "accident." Does anybody recognize the back of the head on the right? No. Here is a hint, "white tigers."

For Radar--Gabriel Portland Zoo--1981

A while back you emailed looking for information about an elephant named Gabriel who had his name changed and was on Vargas at some point. Could this be that Gabriel?

Dr. Fisher and Staff Welcome Binti to Lincoln Park Zoo--1981

Note the "guide" the broad has in her hand. Folks would burn her at the stake today for that. At least she is skilled in using it backwards, which has become the trend in recent times.

Ziggy--Brookfied Zoo

1937 Ziggy showing Slim Lewis how to get out of the exhibit without using the keeper door by, to use a wikipedia quote from below, "poking a zookeeper with his trunk."

1941

Ziggy and Slim Lewis, to be politically correct, "had an accident," the exhibit floor actually being responsible, not Ziggy. Ziggy actually saved Slim's life because he had shown him how to get into the moat in 1937.

At Brookfield Zoo on April 26, 1941, Ziggy suddenly turned on his keeper, George "Slim" Lewis. The elephant first struck Lewis to the ground with his trunk and pulled him beneath his head. Ziggy then tried to gore Lewis, but the keeper dodged each attack by slipping between the elephant's tusks. Eventually, Ziggy lunged so hard that his tusks became lodged in the ground for several seconds. Sensing his chance to escape, Lewis pulled himself up by grabbing onto Ziggy's ear, then punched the elephant in the eye. With Ziggy momentarily stunned, Lewis jumped into the moat around the elephant's enclosure and climbed to the other side.


1972

1972

In March 1969, Michael Sneed of the Chicago Tribune called attention to Ziggy's confinement, writing, "Ziggy's six-foot tusks, which once grew so long they crossed each other, now are decayed and broken. The once frequent majestic blasts from his huge trunk wail very rarely.... Ziggy refuses to face his visitors and turns toward the back wall, swaying back and forth, occasionally picking up stray articles of food thrown at him." The article caused a sensation, and Brookfield Zoo was inundated with letters about Ziggy. Peter Crowcroft, who had recently become the zoo director, announced that he wanted to let Ziggy go outdoors again. However, he explained that the zoo would need to build a new $50,000 facility to accommodate the elephant, something they could not afford at the time.

In response, people throughout the Chicago area, particularly schoolchildren, began collecting money for the "Ziggy Fund". Many elementary schools and high schools organized fundraisers, and the Bellwood Boys' Club made a five-foot-tall paper mache statue of Ziggy, which they paraded through the streets while collecting quarters. A number of donations also arrived from overseas, including several from American soldiers who had been stationed in Vietnam. In August 1970, the zoo received a major boost when William Sitwell, president of the Chicagoland Buick-Opel Dealers Association, pledged to match the money raised from individual sources.

As the Brookfield Zoo came closer to its $50,000 target, zoo officials decided they should see how Ziggy would react to being outdoors before building a new facility for the elephant. On September 23, 1970, Ziggy saw the sun for the first time in nearly thirty years when he was allowed to walk through a barricaded portion of his old yard. Slim Lewis traveled from Seattle, Washington, to escort the elephant outside. Ziggy stood at the doorway for about thirty minutes, then slowly came out and starting eating a bale of hay. After exploring the yard for an hour and a half, Ziggy went back inside.

Ziggy's new outdoor facility was completed during the summer of 1971. Most of the $50,000 were spent on a remote control door, which would allow the elephant to go inside and outside without human intervention. Ziggy finally entered his new home on August 28, 1971, in front of more than one thousand cheering people. Over the next few months, the zoo added a wading pool to Ziggy's yard and refurbished his indoor stall.


1975

The next few years were generally quiet for Ziggy. In March 1975, however, Ziggy fell into the 8-foot (2.4 m) moat around his enclosure while trying to poke a zookeeper with his trunk. The elephant survived the fall, but broke a tusk and scraped his head. Workers poured 84,000 pounds (42 tons) of gravel into the moat to give Ziggy a ramp to climb. The elephant would not move for 31 hours, but when a zookeeper opened a nearby door to a female elephant's enclosure, Ziggy decided to pull himself out. Once free, however, he ignored the female elephant and simply went toward his food. A few months later, Ziggy lay down to rest in his indoor stall, rolled onto his side, and died. Zoo spokespeople said Ziggy had mainly died of old age, explaining that the animal's health had been declining long before he fell into the moat. Ziggy's remains were given to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.


Cleaning Ziggy's jawbone, 1983

London Zoo Staff Treating Elephant--1874

Jenny the elephant suffered from a paralyzed trunk and arthritis and died in 1875. In the past I have noted that a paralyzed trunk tends to run in pin/small headed elephants, with exceptions. Note Jenny's head structure. Although we should view any drawing/lithograph with suspicion, note also the condition of her toe nails. It might indicate she was a bit on the "tough " side.

Brookfied Zoo Staff Performing Cataract Surgery on Elephant--1978

Brookfield Zoo Staff Prepare an Elephant For Oral Surgery--1963

Ueno Zoo--1963

I guess this was Japan's attempt at exhibit enrichment? I wonder what "reaction" they thought they would get?

CFA Tent 122--Showfolks of Sarasota blog update

CFA Tent 122 Showfolks of Sarasota has updated its blog to include an extensive list of upcoming circus events.

Don't miss anything circus - http://tent122.blogspot.com - then click on the tab for circus events.

Some events change details after we post this, so it is always best to double check for yourselves.

For Anonymous who mentioned Flying Tigers. Thankfully, we didn't pull a "Jenson" on this day.

You will note the cage in the air, coming down out of the plane. When the reporter turned and in Japanese said, "watch as his favorite tiger comes out first," I just smiled. I arranged the cages that way in Los Angeles, so Tony would be the first American White Tiger, flown by Flying Tigers Airline, to "put boot's down" on Japanese soil.

Folk's who still question the need for animal regulations might find the answer at the Orana Zoo, Christchurch New Zealand "feeding station."

MGM Lion History--Continued from the "history channel."

Restoration of the Ryan Brougham underway

By Gail Hearne
Air & Space Magazine, March 01, 2006

Once upon a time, a lion went for a ride in an airplane

In 1927, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios staged a stunt flight carrying Leo, the MGM Lion, from San Diego to New York. (Moviegoers are still greeted by Leo’s roar at the beginning of MGM films.)

MGM contracted with the B.F. Mahoney Aircraft Corporation (formerly Ryan Airlines) to modify a Ryan B-1 Brougham, similar to the Spirit of St. Louis but with a shorter wing, extra fuel tanks, a cage for Leo, and tanks for milk and water. The pilot was Martin Jensen, who had recently won $10,000 in the Dole Derby, a race staged by the pineapple company for a flight from Oakland, California, to Honolulu. Jensen came in both second and last; only two aircraft made it to Honolulu.

With much fanfare and press coverage, Jensen took off from Camp Kearney, just outside San Diego, shortly after 10 a.m. on September 16. Less than five hours later, he was trapped in a box canyon in what is now known as the Hellsgate Wilderness, near Payson, Arizona. Realizing he could not clear the 6,300-foot-high rim ahead, Jensen landed the airplane in a clump of scrub oaks. The wings and landing gear were torn off before the fuselage tumbled to a stop on its side.

After giving the lion milk, water, and some of his sandwiches, Jensen set off for help. On day four, nearly done in by hunger and exhaustion, he encountered some cowboys, who took him to a telephone. Jensen joked later that, as had happened in the Dole Race, he again came in second: When he called MGM, their first question was “How’s the lion?” Leo was returned in good health by land routes to San Diego.

Scott Gifford, a pilot and owner of a restoration and maintenance company, NostalgAire, at Ernest A. Love Field in Prescott, Arizona, first heard about the MGM Special in 1982. From a book about aviation in Arizona, he learned about the flight and focused on one sentence: “The wreckage of the plane still lies in Hells Canyon near Payson.” Gifford contacted family members of the rescue team and Payson residents, but the project to find the remnants of the Ryan stalled until 1990. That year Gifford was flying a Beechcraft Baron over the Tonto National Forest for the U.S. Forest Service. Looking for Hells Canyon on the charts, he came across a spot called Leo Canyon, named in honor of the lion.

Gifford backpacked into the remote wilderness area several times to search for the remains of the wreckage before he finally found it. “I thought I calmly called everybody down, but I was later teased unmercifully for yelling my fool head off,” he recalls. In 1991, he obtained legal ownership of the wreckage and arranged to have it hoisted out by helicopter. He has since acquired another Ryan Brougham and hopes to eventually restore both to airworthiness.

Because so many years had passed before the wreckage was recovered, parts of the MGM Special are either missing or in poor condition. “Right now, it looks like parts of the landing gear and the shock struts can be restored to airworthy condition,” Gifford says. “Some of the wing attach fittings will be useable.” He uses parts from other Broughams if they are airworthy or can be made so. Otherwise, some components can be used as patterns for reproductions.

A few modifications will be necessary: brakes and a tailwheel, for starters. “You landed going into the wind, and you took off going into the wind,” he says. “The airplanes did not have brakes or a tailwheel, just a tailskid. That’s what helped keep the airplane going straight and also acted as a bit of a brake. On today’s asphalt strips, an airplane with a tailskid and no brakes is going to be uncontrollable.”

Gifford got his hands on an overhauled Wright J-5 Whirlwind, the same 220-horsepower engine used in the original aircraft, and a vintage propeller in stellar condition. At the moment he is working on reconstructing the fuselage, rudder, and vertical stabilizer.

He’s also searching for components of a Pioneer Earth inductor compass. “It was the unit to have,” he says. “It was absolute state of the art.” Gifford already has a control head and hopes to find an indicator instrument and a wind-driven generator, which will be mounted on the side of the fuselage.

Gifford has no time table for completion. “It will fly on the first—the first chance I get,” he says. Whenever that is, a reconstructed cage will house a huge stuffed lion made of plush golden fabric, and Gifford hopes to fly the MGM Special to airshows for at least a year.

Gifford recently met with octogenarian Columbus B. “Junior” Haught in Payson. Junior’s father, Columbus “Boy” Haught, was a member of the 1927 cowboy rescue team. Junior, who was just shy of four years old when Leo was brought by their ranch, says he still recalls one incident “like yesterday.” Two of his mother’s chickens were offered to Leo. “It didn’t take him but just a swallow to get rid of one of them chickens,” Haught recalls, adding that his mom was furious when she found out.

MGM Lion History--Continued from the "history channel."

What started out to be a "routine" day for pilot Martin Jenson quickly turned to shit. If you study early aviation history you soon come to the conclusion that the reason why some folks, notably Howard Hughes, were so wildly successful was because they were half insane!!!!

MGM Lion History--Continued from the "history channel."

The Ryan Brougham and Leo the lion preparing for take off, 1927

MGM Lion History--Continued from the "history channel."

Crash site of the Ryan Brougham and Leo the lion, 1927

MGM Lion History--Continued from the "history channel."

Leo rescued from the wreckage of the Ryan Brougham, 1927

Rich Boy's Toys--Hearst Ranch/San Simeon

San Simeon pictured at the top of the photo with surrounding real estate. It is difficult to conceive of one person possessing this kind of wealth, when children were/are starving around the world.

San Simeon

Rich Boy's Toys--Hearst Ranch/San Simeon

Some of the finest Arabian horse's in the United States at the time, were imported/bought by Hearst.

In 1912, William Robinson Brown established Maynesboro Stud in Berlin, New Hampshire with horses purchased from early breeders. Eventually he added farms in Iowa and Wyoming, and in a breeding career spanning more than 20 years, imported 33 horses, from Crabbet Park, France and Egypt. The Depression forced the stud's dispersal in 1933, and the Brown horses were sold to the Kellogg Ranch, Roger Selby, William Randolph Hearst, General Dickinson at Traveler's Rest and a few others.

Arieana Arabians ~ Articles: The Hearst Importation of 1947 (by Suzi ...

Another breeder was newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst who owned one of the largest herds of Arabians in the country at his San Simeon estate. Hearst's original Arabians were purchased from Maynesboro Stud in the mid-1930's. His most prominent stallions were Gulastra (purchased from Travelers Rest), Rahas, Ghazi and Rihal. In 1947 Hearst's stud manager (previously horse manager to General George Patton) explored the Syrian desert in search of fresh Arabian bloodlines to stimulate the stud, and 14 horses were imported. Unfortunately, Hearst died in 1951 before the effects of the infusion of new blood could be felt, and the horses were auctioned. William Randolph Hearst, Jr. purchased a few of them, and the San Simeon program carries on on a smaller scale today.