Zoos

[paul m]

This is fairly small and the main aquarium is a separate institution. There has been a lot of work done here and much still underway. There are a few quite large birds in cages which is something I don't like to see. The elephant and lion enclosures look rather small and boring (for the animals, that is!). Some of the newer enclosures - for the orangs and gibbons in particular - looked very well-designed and interesting.

There's clearly a fair amount of breeding going on - I recall young elephants, giraffes, tapirs, various grazing animals and a lynx. My favourites, perhaps, were the okapi:


and the Asian rhinoceros - which was very active despite the heat:

[paul m]

Here's an intriguing tale: hippo losing its appetite but getting better when fed by a puppet - Hand puppet helps hippo to feed | Metro.co.uk

[paul m]

This suggests that elephants don't live as long in zoos as in the wild:
BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Elephants 'die earlier in zoos'
Interesting to know what zoos they were talking about. You can see the problems (overweightness and boredom) in a confined small zoo but does the same apply to a lerge open park zoo?

[frostfire]

Not about zoos as such, but a story from a zoo that made me smile!

In Harbin Zoo (China) there is a gay penguin couple. In november they had been split from the rest of the group because they kept pinching other penguin couples eggs and replacing them with stones.
This started a equal rights protest by visitors and in the end the two in love males were given an egg to care for and raise. Apparently they are the best parents of the colony.

~*~Frostfire~*~

[paul m]

There's a book based on it:
And Tango Makes Three - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Very popular in UK but much 'challenged' in schools and libraries in USA, apparently .....

Originally Posted by frostfire

Not about zoos as such, but a story from a zoo that made me smile!

In Harbin Zoo (China) there is a gay penguin couple. In november they had been split from the rest of the group because they kept pinching other penguin couples eggs and replacing them with stones.
This started a equal rights protest by visitors and in the end the two in love males were given an egg to care for and raise. Apparently they are the best parents of the colony.

~*~Frostfire~*~

[paul m]

Animals commonly suffer from wars - especially if they're confined in zoos. Some luckily survived in Gaza:
Zoo’s pride as lions that dodged missiles prepare for parenthood - Times Online

[paul m]

This is the sort of thing that gets zoos a bad name:
Chunky monkeys put on diet at Japanese park - Telegraph
... but how stupid are the people that do it? It's not just at this Japanese zoo - I've seen it in all sorts of places despite large numbers of signs saying 'Do not feed the animals' and explaining why!

[paul m]

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Dye-job donkeys wow Gaza children

[Beverly Stayart]

Animals should be left in their native habitats as much as possible. However, native habitats are being destroyed around the world and many animals are facing extinction. In some cases, zoos and animal reserves are helping to save threatened animals from extinction.

[paul m]

My useless fact of the day:
An okapi can wash its own ears inside and out with its tongue.

which qi accompanied by: "It is all very well to be able to write books, but can you waggle your ears?" JM BARRIE (1860 -1937)

Originally Posted by paul m

........... My favourites, perhaps, were the okapi:
..............

[paul m]

Here's a hippo pleased for a few days out of the zoo!

CBBC - Newsround - Floods help hippo escape from zoo

Took advantage of a flood in Montenegro to escape - seems to be surviving okay!