Tag Archives: zoos

What’s Up with Zoos Considering Evicting Their Residents?

This week there’s been some disturbing stories in the news about zoos considering evicting some of their residents. In particular, the Los Angeles Zoo might evict it’s only elephant, Billy, and the Berlin Zoo is considering ousting what only two years ago was its superstar attraction, Knut the polar bear. Bye Bye Billy? Poor Billy is the center of one heck of a controversy and he doesn’t even know it. It all started when the Los Angeles Zoo started construction on a new enclosure for Billy. Nay, it was to be more than an “enclosure.” It was going to be … Continue reading →

Visiting The Zoo in Winter

A friend of ours told me last fall that she was trying to get in a visit to the zoo before the weather turned cold. It seems that this southern zoo puts the animals into winter housing during the cooler months of the year. I had to laugh. I’ve seen elephants and giraffes walking around in the snow at both the Denver and Colorado Springs zoos. Our family has speculated on what these African animals must think of the snow and freezing temperatures. They seem to do fine though. The Colorado Springs zoo even has a record number of giraffe … Continue reading →

A Terrible Month for Tigers

Photo By Marieke Kuijpers Two Siberian tigers killed in less than a week at two different zoos…what the heck’s going on here? There’s only like 400 in the world as it is. Like mountain gorillas, they’re on the severely endangered list. So why have two purposely been killed recently? Let’s take a look. The Slaughter in China Leads to Discoveries of Tiger Neglect On Thursday December 20th a female Siberian tiger was found beheaded and skinned at the Three Gorges Forest Wild Animal World in a province of Yichang City, China. They’re still not sure what happened, but investigators suspect … Continue reading →

18 Zoos and Aquariums Worthy of Your Donations

Rounding out the categories for animal-centered organizations worthy of your donations is zoos and aquariums. (Previously the top 79 animal rights, welfare, and service organizations and the top 24 wildlife conservation organizations were listed.) “Top” standings were derived by using ratings generated by Charity Navigator. Any zoo or aquarium that they gave four stars (their highest rating) to meant it passed mustard and made the list. The zoos and aquariums are listed in alphabetical order and are linked to their websites. In cases where the information was readily available, each zoos number of animals and acres is also listed. 1. … Continue reading →

More Places To Take Your Little Ghosts And Goblins For Some Safe Halloween Fun

Now I’ve done it. Yesterday I posted a blog with a picture of my daughter wearing her very first Halloween costume. She happened to catch sight of the photo featuring her in the spotted Dalmatian creation and insisted I get it out of the closet for her. She then spent the better part of the day trying to squeeze her 3-year-old body into the costume she wore when she was a year old. Never mind that we have her new costume for this year, which fits just fine. No, she wanted to be a pooch–the power of suggestion! If you … Continue reading →

Los Angeles Zoo’s Newest Resident

You now have one more reason to visit the Los Angeles Zoo. For those of you who have never made the trip, the L.A. Zoo is one of the only places in the world where you can see the rare and endangered Sumatran rhino and Arabian Oryx living within walking distance of each other. But these days it is a slightly less exotic animal that is drawing big crowds to the metropolitan zoo. His name is Reggie. He measures 7 1/2–feet-long, weighs about 115 pounds and… he’s an alligator. But, not just any alligator… Reggie, the alligator has a storied … Continue reading →

The Case of Knut, the Baby Polar Bear, and the Animal Rights Activist

Are you familiar with Knut, the baby polar bear born on December 5, 2006 at the Berlin Zoo in Germany? His mother rejected him and his twin brother at birth. (His twin died four days later.) Knut spent the first 44 days of his life in an incubator. During that time his life hung in the balance. It was similar to another famous polar bear abandonment scene. On November 6, 1994, Klondike and Snow were also abandoned at birth by their mother at the Denver Zoo. They were given only a 50/50 chance of surviving. But survive they did, and … Continue reading →

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

Have you ever heard the song “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” sung by Gayla Peevey? If not (or if you’d just like to hear it again), click here. John Rox wrote the song in 1950. It became a hit in 1953 when some savvy PR people had ten-year-old Gayla sing it as part of a money-raising campaign to get a hippo for the Oklahoma City Zoo. Kids were encouraged to send in their change and voila! Gayla got her hippo. (Matilda. Which of course Gayla immediately “donated” to the zoo.) Well, if you’ve ever wanted a hippopotamus of your … Continue reading →