Keeping Killer whales in zoos and aquariums has become highly controversial.

Keeping Killer whales in zoos and aquariums has become highly controversial. In a new paper, experts outline several novel ideas for improving the lives of Killer whales in zoological institutions by enhancing the communication, feeding, environment, and health of the animals in order to elicit natural behaviours seen in the wild.

"The fact that these animals can be kept in captivity is amazing in itself from a zoological perspective. We are now moving into a time when animals that we could not conceive being kept in zoological institutions are becoming relatively common; however once the difficult initial stages of keeping them alive have been achieved, people want to know that their psychological and physical welfare is also being considered," said Prof. Graham Law, co-author of the International Zoo Yearbook article. "So a change in the way that animals have been kept in captivity has been slowly evolving using environmental enrichment. For many species the changes have been great, but for other less well-understood species change has been slow as the need for change has been poorly understood."

With this Killer whale article, Prof. Law and his colleagues hope to start a process whereby people become more critical and questioning of the husbandry systems in place for all species in captivity, with the goal of achieving a better balance between their physical and psychological wellbeing.

---

Story Source:

Materials provided by Wiley. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

---

Journal Reference:

G. Law, A. C. Kitchener. Environmental enrichment for Killer whales Orcinus orca at zoological institutions: untried and untested. International Zoo Yearbook, 2017; DOI: 10.1111/izy.12152

---

Cite This Page:

MLA

APA

Chicago

Wiley. "Efforts are needed to enrich the lives of killer whales in captivity." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 5 January 2017. .

Source

Georgia flood: Tbilisi residents warned over zoo animals

Heavy flooding in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, has killed at least 12 people, with officials warning people to stay indoors to avoid animals that have escaped from a zoo.

The missing animals include tigers, lions, bears and wolves. Three of the dead people were found within the zoo.

A hippopotamus was cornered in one of the city's main squares and subdued with a tranquiliser gun.

Rescue workers are searching submerged homes to check for trapped residents.

Dozens of people have been left homeless.

Continued ...

Thailand: Campaign to free gorilla from high-rise zoo

24 September 2014 Last updated at 13:42

News from Elsewhere.....media reports from around the world, found by BBC Monitoring

Officials in Bangkok have agreed to meet activists campaigning for the release of a female gorilla which has been on display in a department store's zoo since 1987, it's reported.

The campaign to re-house Bua Noi (Little Lotus) from the zoo on the top two floors of Bangkok's Pata department store has more than 35,000 signatures and has resulted in the director of the country's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) agreeing to speak to activists about the case, the Bangkok Post reports. Sinjira Apaitan, who organised the petition, told the paper: "I don't think animals should be locked up in such unnatural habitat. I hope to help all other animals being held captive in this high-rise zoo as well." Speaking to Bangkok's Nation newspaper Sinjira hopes that the zoo, which has been criticised for its cramped conditions in the world's media for several years, would lose its licence.

Continued ...

North Korea puts Yorkshire Terriers in zoo

A zoo in North Korea has reportedly welcomed its newest animal attraction - a pack of Yorkshire Terriers.

The miniature dogs have been introduced to Central Zoo in the capital Pyongyang, according to state media.

Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) said the dogs are now learning "several feats", although it did not elaborate on the type of tricks they might perform.

North Koreans not familiar with 'Yorkies', which were bred in Yorkshire to catch rats and mice by scuttling around clothing mills, were given a helpful guide to the pint-sized pet.

"Each one has long hair - tan on its head and legs and blue grey on its body," KCNA reported.

"It is 22-24cm tall and weighs 2.5-3.5kg. It lives about 14 years on an average."

A picture released by KCNA appeared to show three Yorkshire Terriers in seemingly good condition.

However, Central Zoo was previously condemned by travel publication Lonely Planet, whose website claims most of the animals kept there "look pretty forlorn".

Continued

Costa Rica announces plans to close its zoos and release animals from captivity

What the tropical nation of Costa Rica lacks in size, it more than makes up for in a wealth of biodiversity. Despite occupying just 0.03% of the planet’s surface, the region's lush forests are home to an incredible 500 thousand unique organisms -- representing over 4% of all the known species on Earth. For the hundreds of animals held captive in the country's zoos, however, that hotbed of life had been replaced by the cold bars of a cage.

But now, in a remarkable push to restore natural order for all its animal inhabitants, the Costa Rican government has announced plans to close its zoos, freeing creatures from their long captivity.

“We are getting rid of the cages and reinforcing the idea of interacting with biodiversity in botanical parks in a natural way,” said Environment Minister René Castro. “We don't want animals in captivity or enclosed in any way unless it is to rescue or save them.”

The closures will take effect in March 2014, when the government's contract with the organization that operates its two zoos is set to expire -- a move thatCastro says reflects "a change of environmental conscience among Costa Ricans." The facilities which now house captive animals, Simon Bolivar Zoo and the Santa Ana Conservation Center, will be then transformed into urban parks or gardens where wildlife can visit and live freely if they so choose.

Read on

Sumatran Tigers Finally Mate at National Zoo

Fewer than 400 Sumatran tigers are left in the wild, and as their numbers continue to dwindle, zoos are turning to captive breeding as a way to conserve the critically endangered species.

But captive cats don't always approach mating as if the survival of their species depends on it. That's why the Smithsonian's National Zoo excitedly announced this week that its two Sumatran tigers, Kavi and Damai, finally bred.

Zoo officials have documented the careful courtship process on their Tiger Diary blog. They said the tigers first met in the fall of 2012, and were initially only given visual access to each other, kept physically separated by a door. The two were finally brought together in December when Damai, the female, went into heat, and zoo officials prepared for a potentially volatile conjugal visit.

Continued:  http://www.livescience.com/25987-sumatran-tigers-captive-breeding.html

Zebra virus kills polar bear in German zoo

Zoos should be on the alert for viruses that can jump from one animal to another, threatening endangered species, say researchers.

The cause of an infection that killed a polar bear at a German zoo has been traced back to the zebra house, scientists report in Current Biology.

Viruses spreading to unexpected hosts may threaten the conservation mission of zoos, they warn.

Most pathogens are adapted to one host but some can leap the species barrier.

Flu, for example, is thought to have moved between pigs, birds and humans during its evolution.

Mystery illness

An international team of researchers carried out some DNA detective work after two polar bears at the Zoological Gardens in Wuppertal, Germany, were struck down by a mystery illness.

Two bears contracted the brain infection encephalitis, suffering seizures and frothing at the mouth.

One - a 20-year-old female, Jerka, died after little more than a week.

Continued:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19287697

Pretty flamingo

A Chinese zoo has managed to persuade its lonely flamingos to breed - by surrounding their cage in Shenzhen Wild Animal Zoo, with mirrors to make it seem as if they are in a colony.

Zoo spokesman Zhang Lu said: "In the wild they live in large flocks and when they are separated they become depressed and anxious, and they certainly don't feel confident enough to have chicks.

"But this year we had two new flamingo chicks, making 19 new flamingos born in the zoo since we started using mirrors.

"We got the birds in 1993 from Japan but they didn't breed it all and we were told by experts that we didn't have enough of them to make them feel as if they were a real flamingo colony.

"In total we fitted 45 feet of mirrors, each over 3 foot high, and it was amazing to see the change in the flamingos. They were much more animated and alive and ate more and the real proof was that we have chicks from 2003 when we installed the mirrors."

Flamingos live a similar lifespan to man with the oldest recorded flamingo being 77 years old and living at Adelaide zoo in Australia.

Showing little sign of the good looking bird it will become this pretty flamingo photographed this week is one of 17 chicks hatched out recently at Vienna's Schoenbrunn zoo - where with over 100 flamingos there is no need to resort to mirrors.

The stunted wings, stubby legs and grey down will be replaced eventually with the pink feathers of its parents by the time its three, but until then this chick is enjoying life with the other youngsters in the zoo.

As soon as flamingo chicks are old enough to leave the nest they gather together in nurseries with other chicks were the entire colony takes care to make sure they are fed and protected.

Zoo boss Dagmar Schratter said that amazingly no matter how large the colony the parents always manage to find their grey roly-poly youngster without any difficulty.

http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Pretty_flamingo

'Grandpa' fights for Bulgarian zoo's survival

"Come babe, come to grandpa. Don't be afraid," Behcet Ali coos as he handfeeds two eight-month-old lion cubs at his tiny zoo in the sleepy northeastern Bulgarian town of Razgrad.

At 82, Bai (Granddad) Behcet, as he is known locally, is Bulgaria's oldest zookeeper, famous for raising over 15 lion cubs during his 33 years of work and the only one to be in full contact with the predators.

Bai Behcet's unwavering devotion to saving the little 52-year-old zoo, spread over only 2,000 square metres (about 21,000 square feet), earned him the title of honorary citizen of Razgrad in 2007.

His prime concern now are the two cubs -- one male and the other female -- of six-year-old lioness Raya, who already weigh over 50 kilos (110 pounds).

"I haven't named them yet. I call them 'babies' and they understand," the zookeeper says, patting them on their backs and rubbing them behind the ears under the attentive look of their mother in the adjoining enclosure.

"To become friends with animals, as with people, you need to have a knack, to show them that you love them."

"And if people sometimes do not respond in kind when you do them good, an animal always understands and returns kindness," Bai Behcet explains.

The cubs love an iron ball he brought for them to play, tackling it with their oversized paws.

But it is quickly forgotten when he lets Raya back into the enclosure and the cubs rub against her sides, purring.

The father killed Raya's first litter but she is a very caring mother, Bai Behcet says.

"She is jealous that I love them so much but sees that I do not harm them and would not hurt me," he says, while ordering to the trio to stand still for a photo shoot.

Bai Behcet, who used to work at the local veterinary clinic before coming to the zoo in 1979, has been clawed by lions as well as bears, which he also used to raise here, but says he has never feared his charges.

Continued; http://news.yahoo.com/grandpa-fights-bulgarian-zoos-survival-070326951.html;_ylt=AnScgeJ_nziA7kNQMaGBPjR4hMgF;_ylu=X3oDMTRhbmRkZ2twBG1pdANUb3BTdG9yeSBTY2llbmNlU0YgQW5pbWFsUGV0c1NTRgRwa2cDYjRhZmQyZDUtMTJkZS0zYWMzLTk4NDItYjFhNjc2MjU4MWUwBHBvcwMyBHNlYwN0b3Bfc3RvcnkEdmVyA2MyMDYyMjIwLWEzZGMtMTFlMS1hZmJiLTI0ZDc0YjhkZmNjNg--;_ylg=X3oDMTFlamZvM2ZlBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdAMEcHQDc2VjdGlvbnM-;_ylv=3

Knut is dead: Beloved polar bear collapses and dies in front of 600 visitors

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 6:28 AM on 20th March 2011

Knut, the world-famous polar bear, collapsed and died in front of 600 visitors at Berlin Zoo this afternoon.

The bear rose to stardom when he was hand-raised by zoo keepers after being rejected by his mother at birth.

Bear keeper Heiner Kloes from the zoo said the four-year-old was alone in his compound. He says the cause is not yet clear.

'He was by himself in his compound, he was in the water, and then he was dead,' said Mr Kloes. ' He was not sick, we don't know why he died.'

A post mortem will be conducted on Monday to try pinpoint his cause of death, he said.

Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit called Knut's death 'awful'.

'We all held him so dearly,' he told daily newspaper B.Z. 'He was the star of the Berlin zoo.'

The polar bear rose to global fame after he was rejected by his mother when he was born in captivity on December 5, 2006. The fluffy cub was shown to the public 15 weeks later, and attendance at the zoo has roughly doubled since, officials said.

The resulting 'Knutmania' led to a 2007 Vanity Fair cover with actor Leonardo DiCaprio shot by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz.

Though the zoo has never released exact numbers, Knut merchandise including postcards, key chains, candy and stuffed Knuts have brought in hundreds of thousands of euros.

Although Knut was the first polar bear to be born and survive at Berlin Zoo in more than 30 years, his tragic young life was blighted by tragedy from the start.

Both he and his twin were rejected by their mother at birth and his unnamed brother died four days later.

But Knut amazed medical staff at the zoo by clinging to life. After spending his first 44 days in an incubator, he was put in the care of zoo keeper Thomas Dörflein, who began raising the infant with round-the clock care.

News of the cub's miraculous survival was picked up by the world's media and the young cub became the zoo's top attraction.

But tragedy struck again before Knut's second birthday in 2008, when Mr Dorflein died of a sudden heart attack at the age of 44.

Observers noted that the bear appeared to suffer from depression in the weeks after his beloved keeper and constant companion died.

Experts had earlier warned that the Knut was developing into a 'psychopath' who was too dependent on human contact.

In 2009 Knut was the subject of a bitter custody battle between two zoos. Neumuenster Zoo had loaned Berlin Zoo Knut’s father Lars in 1999 on the condition that the first-born cub from his union with mother Tosca would belong to Neumuenster.

And last year Knut's cousin died after a mystery virus spread through the zoo's bear enclosure.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1367921/Knut-dead-German-polar-bear-dies-600-visitors-Berlin-Zoo.html?ITO=1490