I seem to get home about 8:30 or so at night no matter what I do during the day

Today is no exception. I picked a friend up from work and took him to get his bus pass and on a couple of errands, then took him to where he's staying. Then I went to another friend's and washed dishes, taught him how to forward an e-mail (apparently I've never covered this in all these years), and set his default font in Office to Times New Roman rather than Calibri because he prefers that. Then I headed home, parallel parking for the first time in a long time, and nailing it. Now I'm back in air conditioning, with a big glass of ice water, and eating a strange dinner of burritos, cheese, and fruit (a banana and berries).

There was a general notice on my door this evening from the leasing office about how someone really made a mess of the fitness room and laundry, even destroying a trash can in the ladies' room, over the weekend. That's a shame--I thought our tenants were more mature than that. If it continues, they'll just keep it open during office hours, which means I can never use it, as those hours are when I work, except on weekends, maybe. So here's hoping people straighten up. The apartment complex has been doing a lot of upgrading and without more than a tiny increase in rent--$5 this year--and they deserve better respect for their efforts. I think maybe they need to put in cameras. There probably should be some, anyway, as they're open from 5 am-midnight, and even with the fobs, they can't tell who all's been there, I'm sure, if someone lets others in, so it would make it more secure for those of us in there.

Work went really well today; my pace was very steady and I got everything accomplished I wanted to, even the monthly audit. It will be a slow clinic week, so I may catch up on some things that have been on the back burner like processing and cataloguing books and creating a new order to take advantage of our vendor's spring promotion (22% off). I wound up finishing everything up about 15 minutes before it was time to leave. I love days like that, when I feel my time has really been used well and I've had progress in meeting my goals for the day.

I've felt energised these last couple of days. One of my co-workers insisted that it might be the steroids they prescribed for my crud, as she always gets revved up and cleans house when she's on them. I don't know if that's true, but I have had a burst of energy. I thought it was just getting over being sick, but maybe she's right. I'm down to four pills a day and go down to two soon, so that'll be gone in a bit. But at least it was productive while it lasted. :)

My face is still pretty red, but the arms have darkened a bit into what I'd almost call at tan where I burned the other day. My neck got red, but not splotchy, for a change. So I look like I got sun, but no one's come up to me and said, 'Oh, God, don't you know what sunscreen is???'

I talked with one of my co-workers who was at the Cincinnati Zoo this weekend during the incident where a three- or four-year-old boy [accounts differ] climbed a barrier and fell into the moat of a gorilla enclosure, and then was picked up by a male gorilla, who was then shot to death to save the boy. They never made it to the gorilla enclosure, and didn't know what had happened until later. But her daughter is three, so I think she had a good perspective on things. It's caused quite a controversy, and I've avoided comment. I admit, my first response was, 'where on earth were the parents?', but I also know that as someone who has not had children, it's not very fair for me to comment when I've never tried to keep up with a quick, wily four-year-old. Even the best of parents let their guard down, sometimes for enough moments for a child to get away, and usually it doesn't have such terrible consequences--but it could. My understanding is that in this case the mother--who works in a care facility for small children--told him he couldn't go in the water when he said he would and then was distracted by other children in her care. My co-worker said it disturbed her and her husband that people have been posting the personal phone numbers and information of the family online for harassment, after having such a terrible scare. I have to agree. That's wrong. It's horrible that the gorilla, Harambe, was killed. Most of the experts are saying tranquilising the gorilla could have meant the boy was more likely to get hurt. I don't know if I completely buy that, but unlike apparently most people out there, I do know tranquilisers don't work as fast as what you see on TV and in movies, either, so they may be right. My friend did say the enclosure had a small barrier, a brushy area, and then the moat the boy fell into that the gorilla retrieved him from. Maybe the zoo needs to consider another system of barriers.

But the fact of the matter is that the great majority of the people calling for blood over the death of that magnificent creature weren't there, don't have all the facts, and probably should not be making comments. Do I wish they'd done something else in response? Yes, of course, if at all feasible. But if the boy had died, the same people would have been blaming the parents and the zoo for a terrible tragedy, too. There really is no winning in this situation. It does, however, bring up a dialogue on keeping wild animals in captivity to be gawked at by clueless humans, all in the name of preserving the species and conservation. Don't get me wrong, my grandmother instilled in me a love of that zoo (I've been to only three, but the Cincinnati one is the one I've been to the most). I think it can be very educational. But there are issues that the animal rights people (many of whom I think are a bit too far in left field, no matter how much I love animals) have some very good points about. Anyway, the authorities are now investigating, and I'm sure there will be lawsuits and reports on what could have been done differently, that sort of thing. I am very saddened by the death of the gorilla. I'm very glad the boy is alive. Enough said.

What I've been following more than that, however, is the story out of Japan where the parents put their child out of the car for misbehaving (he'd been throwing rocks at cars and the like, definitely spoilt brat behaviour) in an effort to discipline him and left him, supposedly for a few minutes, out on the side of the road. When they returned, he was gone, vanished into a remote forest full of bears. Now hundreds of people have been looking through the area for FOUR DAYS trying to find him. Initially the parents gave a story of him wandering away while they were looking for wild vegetables, but then confessed that it had been a time out gone wrong. They are, of course, now very regretful about what they did.

Regretful? I know lots of people threaten to put their kids out of the car (and I know at least one who did, briefly, but not in a bear-infested woods), but this, I think, was not thought out well. I'm sure the kid said fine, I'll show them, and hid in the woods, figuring he'd make them look for him, and then got lost or hurt. He's seven, it would be natural. I hope they find him safe, for his sake, and that of his parents.

What do both of these stories tell us? In just a few short minutes, everything can change, especially when dealing with small children who don't really know much about life, but think they know everything there is to know. It's all our responsibility to keep kids safe, and we have to be vigilant--not just parents, any of us, of when they are in danger. But a parent must, especially, because ultimately, not only did you create this little human, he or she is yours to protect for life, and any day that you put them to bed safe and sound is a good day. Hold their hands, hell, put leashes on them if need be, but keep them close, because in a moment, everything can change, and what is done cannot be undone.

Oh, so cute!

3-week-old baby pygmy hippo plays in the pool with mom.

A good opinion piece on the real reason for Marius the Giraffe's death: profitablilty

Opinion: Killing of Marius the Giraffe Exposes Myths About Zoos: For the Copenhagen Zoo, it seems Marius was worth more dead than alive

All of which raises some questions: Why is the zoo breeding reticulated giraffes, when they are not endangered in the wild? And why did they let Marius's parents mate?

For answers, you need look no further than the Copenhagen Zoo's Facebook page, where it celebrates the birth of a baby giraffe (possibly Marius) in 2012. Humans, science has shown, are drawn to babies of all kinds; we love the big eyes, the floppy limbs, the fluff and fuzz of infants. Baby leopards, baby pandas, baby elephants ... baby giraffes. They all draw huge, paying crowds to zoos.

And while the Copenhagen Zoo, and other European Union zoos, may celebrate themselves as conservation sanctuaries protecting animals on the threshold of extinction, a 2011 report from the Born Free Foundation tells a different story: "An average of only 13% of species kept in European zoos were classified as Globally Threatened" and on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species.

So, if these zoos aren't really engaged in conserving species as they claim, what is their purpose?

Okay, I just don't see where it is defensible to even be breeding an animal

If your concern is inbreeding of the captive species, and if you determine that none of the other organisations that offered to take your surplus male giraffe because they might have 'lesser standards of welfare', even though several other zoos offered, and if sterilisation just means he would 'take up space for more genetically valuable giraffes', then why on earth breed animals in the first place, only to kill them with a bolt gun and feed them to the zoo's lions in front of children?

I agree with Jack Hanna, director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo in Ohio, who said, the zoo's decision was 'the most abominable, insensitive, ridiculous thing I've ever heard of.'

I'm not saying that the death threats are warranted that they're now receiving, but gee whiz, what genius thought this was a great idea? It's at the very least a public relations disaster. And while yes, feeding the meat to the lions is less 'wasteful', the whole thing stinks to high heaven. Zoos are centres of conservation and education. If they can't treat animals humanely and breed responsibly, then they shouldn't be putting themselves into that arena. And yes, I know, they insist they were acting responsibly. They just don't get it, and that's more the pity. And here I thought the Danes had some advantages over Americans in terms of forward-thinking mentality.

Marius the giraffe: Copenhagen Zoo staff get death threats

I cry at the drop of a hat; this made me, not surprisingly

Thousands of toy trucks sent to honor mauled Pa. boy

Toy construction trucks are pouring into the funeral home handling arrangements for a 2-year-old boy who was fatally mauled when he fell into a wild dog exhibit at the Pittsburgh zoo. The parents of Maddox Derkosh requested the toys instead of flowers because their son liked to play with trucks and share them with friends. More than 3,000 have been donated, and the William Slater II funeral home says it will continue accepting the trucks even after the boy's funeral Friday morning. The family intends to donate the trucks to a charity that will distribute them to needy children on Christmas.

Kudos to the parents who, in their grief, are choosing to do something good to remember their son.

Poor things

Some zoo animals drown, people flee flooding in northeast Minnesota

Jeb, the black and brown dwarfed goat at Lake Superior Zoo, sought out Brad Jago every day for a little love, attention and a gentle scratch on the forehead where his horns once stood.

On Wednesday it was Jago seeking Jeb, as the groundskeeper and the rest of the zoo staff scrambled to find and recapture animals that escaped during torrential overnight flooding that forced the evacuation of some homes in a low-lying neighborhood in the port city of Duluth.

Zoo workers safely recovered two seals and a polar bear that had managed to escape their enclosures but Jeb and a dozen or so other animals from the zoo’s barnyard exhibit — including other goats, sheep and a miniature donkey — drowned.

10 inches of rain, and a near miss when a boy was swept into a culvert, but miraculously was rescued, so no major injuries or deaths among people. But it is sad that the animals died. Most were of the barnyard exhibit, although another report I read said there were exhibits underwater so more may have drowned. The seals were particularly resourceful. One was found in a street some distance from the zoo. :)

Struggling to find the balance between entertainment and conservation

To Save Some Species, Zoos Must Let Others Die

As the number of species at risk of extinction soars, zoos are increasingly being called upon to rescue and sustain animals, and not just for marquee breeds like pandas and rhinos but also for all manner of mammals, frogs, birds and insects whose populations are suddenly crashing.

To conserve animals effectively, however, zoo officials have concluded that they must winnow species in their care and devote more resources to a chosen few. The result is that zookeepers, usually animal lovers to the core, are increasingly being pressed into making cold calculations about which animals are the most crucial to save. Some days, the burden feels less like Noah building an ark and more like Schindler making a list.

Okay, I resisted, but I will post an incredibly cute animal video

It is up to you to decide whether you want to play it.

Ah, youth. When chimpanzees and tiger cubs are both adorable, before they grow up to maul you. [Most people see adult tigers and expect them to be dangerous, but we see chimpanzees on television almost always in their babyhood/youth because they're easier to manage. Until the one lady was mauled so terribly by one, many folks didn't realise what a full-grown chimpanzee was capable of, or that they could be dangerous, which I don't get, because they share 98% of our genes and we're dangerous, and they're stronger when grown.]

Well, the cobra's back where she should be

Not that she ever left the Bronx Zoo Reptile House. Or did she? @BronxZoosCobra has garnered over 200,000 followers in a week or so--amazing by Twitter standards, many celebrities would kill for that--and now has a location of 'I'm at the Bronx Zoo. For now.' Whoever has been tweeting has a wicked sense of humour. One of the post-capture ones: 'The secret to surviving on inside is to find the biggest snake in here and take him down. That earns you respect in the yard.'

My favourite tweet he/she did:

Dear @CharlieSheen, know what’s better than tiger’s blood? Cobra venom. #winning #snakeonthetown Also I’m 20 inches long. Just sayin’.

:)

Oh, yes, indeed, it was bound to happen

Gavon Laessig is right: the cobra needs and agent. Look what sorts of things are showing up on CafePress--

There are also panties, a thong, specifically. You read that right.

Earlier the snake tweeted: 'Indiana Jones. Why did it have to be Indiana Jones?' :)

Via Joe.My.God.

Okay, the itching is now bearable. Here's to trying to sleep for 4 hours. Good night.

It was inevitable--someone's having a bit of fun :)

Bronx Zoo's missing cobra 'speaks out' on Twitter

A tongue-in-cheek Twitter user giving "updates" on a missing deadly Egyptian cobra now has some 35,000 followers.

The 20in (50cm) venomous snake escaped from New York City's Bronx Zoo on Friday, and is yet to be found.

In one tweet, BronxZoosCobra says: "On top of the Empire State Building! All the people look like little mice down there. Delicious little mice."

In its Twitter account, The Bronx Zoo - which has some 6,000 followers - admits it is currently "the snake's game".

Incidentally, the snake now has over 101,000 followers, but on the upside, the Bronx Zoo gained about 1,000. :) The zoo is confident that the snake is still in the reptile house, hiding in a non-public area.

Preliminary results say

Berlin zoo: Brain problems led to Knut's death

Brain problems apparently caused the shockingly early death of Knut, Germany's four-year-old celebrity polar bear, the Berlin Zoo said Tuesday.

Initial findings from a necropsy performed Monday by an institute in the German capital showed "significant changes to the brain, which can be viewed as a reason for the polar bear's sudden death," the zoo said in a statement.

The zoo didn't elaborate on the changes to the animal's brain, and officials could not immediately be reached for further comment.

Pathologists found no changes to any other organs, the zoo said, adding that it will take several days to produce a final result. Further planned tests include bacteriological and histological, or tissue, examinations.

So cute!

Check out the lion cam at the National Zoo

They had four cubs born a few days ago and while they're inside with their mum over the next few weeks, there's a camera so you can watch them. Right now, for example, the cubs are nursing, not surprisingly.

I found out about the webcam from Baby Lion Cub Live Webcam Launched from Wired magazine.

I haven't figured out how to view it in Firefox (the plugin for Windows Media Player doesn't seem to exist for WMP 12, which I'm running on a Windows 7 x64 version sytem, so that's an issue), but I could view it in IE8. Let me know if you have Firefox on a Windows 7 machine and know where there's a plugin I could download. Thanks!

PS There are a lot of webcams at the National Zoo, so if you're interested in watching other animals there, be sure to follow this link: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/webcams/.

This is absolutely adorable

I shared it on Facebook yesterday, but I decided to it would be fun to post it here as well. Otter pups have to be taught to swim, and this video from the Columbus Zoo shows the process. I particularly like the baby otter trying to escape after mom carries it to the water and dumps it in, and she grabs it by the back leg and pulls it back despite its best efforts to escape. :)



Enjoy.

Quote of the day

'The lesson is that it's not a good idea to drink, it's not a good idea to be high on dope, and it's not a good idea to taunt a man-eating tiger.'
--Sam Singer, spokesman for the San Francisco Zoo

Apparently the victims of the Christmas Day tiger attack in San Francisco did all three.

Experts: Taunting One Factor in Attack

This may shed some light on what happened

Report: S.F. Tiger May Have Been Taunted

Questions raised about victims' role in tiger attack

PS Later reports refuted the belief that there was a shoe in the tiger enclosure, but there was a shoeprint on the fence, which is being compared to the victims. Also, the wall is only 12 feet 5 inches rather than the substantially higher mark originally quoted. It does seem that Tatiana leapt or climbed the wall rather than any other egress, such as through the back. One article I read questioned whether water in the moat would help. My understanding is that tigers are good swimmers, much better at that than climbing.

By the way, I came across an interesting group of statistics when looking at the Wikipedia article for tigers.

The American Zoo and Aquarium Association estimates that up to 12,000 tigers are being kept as private pets in the USA, which is significantly more than the world's entire wild population. 4000 are believed to be in captivity in Texas alone...The SPCA estimate there are now 500 lions, tigers and other big cats in private ownership just in the Houston area.

Much of this has to do with legislation in various states, many of which have no regualations on owning big cats and several require only a licence.

Also, white tigers (a popular exhibit at the Cincinnati Zoo (the second oldest in the country and one of the top zoos, especially in breeding)--we go to both that one and the Louisville Zoo (which is actually larger--I didn't know that)) are controversial because you get them through inbreeding, which can lead to birth defects.

Scary and sad--captivity doesn't take the wild out of animals per se

Escaped tiger kills man at S.F. Zoo

Tatiana, a Siberian tiger, somehow got out of her enclosure, mauled a man to death and injured two others before being shot as she charged police officers. The same tiger injured a zookeeper last year. This time those mauled were not zoo employees, although details of their identities were withheld at the time of the story.

We sometimes like to think we tame nature, but that's not really true, is it?

PS I read one of the follow-up stories and the comments were, well, just plain stupid for the most part. They were very anti-zoo. They go on about how this animal should be out running free. Well, yes, in an ideal world, it should. But people don't get that tigers in the wild are quickly becoming extinct. There are more tigers in captivity--many of them bred there--than in the wild, by a factor of 2:1 by some reports. In the wild their environment is shrinking and they are being poached. To properly educate people about this crisis, zoos help people see the beauty and majesty of these creatures. Animals are housed in very different conditions than they once were, providing for better mental and physical health. One woman (I presume it was a woman from the screen name and frankly, the sentimentality) wrote that the animal was obviously unhappy with 'his' living conditions (a lot of the commentators totally missed that Tatiana was a female) and that's why the man was killed and the others mauled. No, Tatiana was a wild animal who saw an opportunity to range further than the confines of her traditional environment. She was already both desensitised to humans (having been around them so much) yet aggressive with them (the mauling last year proves that). Every tiger, like other animals, has his or her own personality. History is full of regular tigers and mankillers, even in their native habitat. Some turn on humans rather than other prey (and those in the wild are usually hunted down and killed, as there is a belief--rather true or not--that once a tiger kills, he or she will continue to do so.)

I love animals, but if I found a tiger mauling a person to death, you better believe I'd shoot it dead, if I had no tranquilizer gun--and I'm not sure a tranq gun would work during a mauling anyway, as it takes some time to have an effect on a 350-lb beast--a lot can happen in even a few seconds. The police acted as they did to save a life, but they're coming under fire by these people who are like 'why did you have to kill it?' Because she was charging them, for one.

I absolutely agree with the comments that Jack Hanna made in the article/video that I linked to in this post-script. Zoos are some of the safest places in the world; he said he'd worry about getting in a car long before worrying about something like this happening in a zoo. He also pointed out that a wild animal is like a loaded gun--it's dangerous and could just go off.

There will be an investigation to see what failures happened in this case, and hopefully improvements can be made. I'm sorry Tatiana is dead, but I think it is for the best. My thoughts are also with the victims in this, who were enjoying a holiday outing at the zoo. But this story also tells me that there are people out there who are out of touch with reality, preferring to think of tigers as some cute cuddly thing than the dangerous, powerful animals they are. Maybe zoos do tend to make us think that captive animals are docile, and these sorts of things help underscore the stupidity in that thought. Any wild animal is dangerous (I learnt that when I tried to help an injured squirrel--can't imagine that incident magnified by several hundred pounds). People need to respect them as well as work for their continued existence.