The Huffington Post recently reported that the animal rights group, PETA, has been criticizing Donald Trump's sons over newly released photos of the pair going big game hunting in Africa last year. The report says that they killed an entire slew of animals including an Elephant, Waterbuck, and a Crocodile among others. The recently released pictures show both Donald Jr. and Eric Trump posing with the big game trophies.
You can read at rest of the article here at this link.
I have not seen these photos myself but there is a chance that some of them might be a bit disturbing so I am going to go ahead and warn everyone anyway.
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Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
The One and Only Ivan
One of the zoo's most notable residents is now the star of his own book! The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate is the story of Ivan, an easy going Gorilla who lives at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade. Over the years he has grown accustomed to visitors coming to stare at him from the other side of the glass. He does not think of his previous life in the jungle, instead thinking of televisions shows that he has seen and his best friends Stella the Elephant and a stray dog named Bob. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of the leaves with a bit of color and a well placed line.
Then one day he meets Ruby, a baby Elephant that has been taken from her family and it forces him to see his home, as well as his art, through brand new eyes. When Ruby arrives change comes with her and it is up to Ivan to make sure that those changes are for the better.
THE REAL IVAN....
After being captured as an infant in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the real Ivan spent almost thirty years confined to a small enclosure at the B&I which was a place much like the Exit 8 Big Top Mall for nearly thirty years. He first started out as a family pet but when he became unmanagable he was moved to the mall where he was the star attraction. His sister Burma, who was brought over at the same time, died somewhere along the way (either shortly after arriving or before). Ivan became the subject of a National Geographic documentary called The Urban Gorilla and shortly afterwards a huge public outcry for his release followed. When the B&I went bankrupt in 1992 Ivan was placed on permanent loan to Zoo Atlanta and he has been living with us since 1994.
FROM THE AUTHOR....
"Ivan and Kinyani are real gorillas — and so, by the way, is Jambo, whose story is recounted in the book. But all other characters and situations in the novel are entirely the product of my imagination. When I started to write about the grim facts of Ivan's solitary existence, a new tale slowly began to take shape. At least on the page, where anything is possible, I wanted to give Ivan (even while captive behind the walls of his tiny cage) a voice of his own and a story to tell.
I wanted to give him someone to protect, and the chance to be the mighty silverback he was always meant to be."
Want to come and see the real One and Only Ivan? Stop by and say hello to him at Zoo Atlanta! You can also find more information on Katherine Applegate as well as her book, The One and Only Ivan (along with her other books) at http://www.katherineapplegate.com and http://www.theoneandonlyivan.com
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Career Builder to Use Chimps in Their Super Bowl Advertisement (AGAIN!)
It came to my attention recently that the company, CareerBuilder has decided to show an ad featuring trained Chimpanzees during this year's Super Bowl. We must find a way to get CareerBuilder to stop this inhumane practice!
Here are the ugly facts:
Chimpanzees and Orangutans who are forced to work in the entertainment industry are forcibly taken away from their mothers as infants. Like Jane Goodall says, this is truly tragic because in the wild Chimpanzees stay with their mothers approx. 6-8 years of age, and the Orangutans can sometimes stay with their mothers on up until their early teens (especially if they are female because they often stay to watch their mother raise the next baby in order to learn how to take care of their own potential offspring later on). Only infants are used in advertising because they become older they become too big and strong to manage. Unfortunately by that point they are completely ruined pyschologically. They have no idea what it is like to behave like a proper Orangutan or Chimpanzee should. 99% of the time accredited zoos will not take them because they have a hard time integrating into already established social groups because of this treatment (in captivity a Chimpanzee can live as long as 60 years and Orangutans up to at least 50). If they are lucky, they will end up in one of the few sanctuaries here in the United States that are willing to take in "retired" Chimpanzees and/or Orangutans, however most of them end up in roadside zoos, laboratories, or are quietly euthanized when they are no longer "usable".
The use of Chimpanzees and Orangutans in entertainment is entirely at odds with the efforts to help protect them in the wild. Because only infants are used, the people watching tend to get an entirely different picture of the animal then what they should, making them think that Chimps and Orangutans are "cute and cuddly". They have no idea of the majesty of the fully grown animal. It is this unrealistic picture that causes so many Orangutans and Chimpanzees to die or be sold as part of the booming black market pet trade that is going on all the time around the world.
Many people do not realize that both Chimpanzees and Orangutans are critically endangered in the wild and using them in the entertainment industry only gives the people watching this unrealistic idea that the populations are stable and healthy and not to the point of disappearing the way they actually are. When Dr. Jane Goodall began her research on Chimpanzees over 50 years ago, there were roughly 1-2 million and now there are only roughly 300,000. As for the Orangutans, experts are predicting that the Orangutan may only be around for as little as 20-30 years before going extinct in the wild (there are approximately 30,0000 left in the wild according to some experts).
Recently, Dr. Jane Goodall herself posted an open ended letter that will be sent to:
Matt Ferguson, CEO, CareerBuilder.com
Brent Rasmussen, President, North America, CareerBuilder.com
She is asking that everyone please sign their names on it along with her so that we can all let these people know about the cruel and inhumane treatment of the Chimpanzees that they are using in their advertisements and urge them to discontinue using them.
Here is the link. I urge everyone to sign it and I also urge you to write your own letters as well to try and urge the company to find another avenue for their ads instead.
And here is something else you can do! http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/263827960353445/
Here is a really informative article that I found as well should anyone like to read it. http://dukechronicle.com/article/chimpanzees-public-profile-belies-endangered-status
Please help stop this inhumane practice!
Here are the ugly facts:
Chimpanzees and Orangutans who are forced to work in the entertainment industry are forcibly taken away from their mothers as infants. Like Jane Goodall says, this is truly tragic because in the wild Chimpanzees stay with their mothers approx. 6-8 years of age, and the Orangutans can sometimes stay with their mothers on up until their early teens (especially if they are female because they often stay to watch their mother raise the next baby in order to learn how to take care of their own potential offspring later on). Only infants are used in advertising because they become older they become too big and strong to manage. Unfortunately by that point they are completely ruined pyschologically. They have no idea what it is like to behave like a proper Orangutan or Chimpanzee should. 99% of the time accredited zoos will not take them because they have a hard time integrating into already established social groups because of this treatment (in captivity a Chimpanzee can live as long as 60 years and Orangutans up to at least 50). If they are lucky, they will end up in one of the few sanctuaries here in the United States that are willing to take in "retired" Chimpanzees and/or Orangutans, however most of them end up in roadside zoos, laboratories, or are quietly euthanized when they are no longer "usable".
The use of Chimpanzees and Orangutans in entertainment is entirely at odds with the efforts to help protect them in the wild. Because only infants are used, the people watching tend to get an entirely different picture of the animal then what they should, making them think that Chimps and Orangutans are "cute and cuddly". They have no idea of the majesty of the fully grown animal. It is this unrealistic picture that causes so many Orangutans and Chimpanzees to die or be sold as part of the booming black market pet trade that is going on all the time around the world.
Many people do not realize that both Chimpanzees and Orangutans are critically endangered in the wild and using them in the entertainment industry only gives the people watching this unrealistic idea that the populations are stable and healthy and not to the point of disappearing the way they actually are. When Dr. Jane Goodall began her research on Chimpanzees over 50 years ago, there were roughly 1-2 million and now there are only roughly 300,000. As for the Orangutans, experts are predicting that the Orangutan may only be around for as little as 20-30 years before going extinct in the wild (there are approximately 30,0000 left in the wild according to some experts).
Recently, Dr. Jane Goodall herself posted an open ended letter that will be sent to:
Matt Ferguson, CEO, CareerBuilder.com
Brent Rasmussen, President, North America, CareerBuilder.com
She is asking that everyone please sign their names on it along with her so that we can all let these people know about the cruel and inhumane treatment of the Chimpanzees that they are using in their advertisements and urge them to discontinue using them.
Here is the link. I urge everyone to sign it and I also urge you to write your own letters as well to try and urge the company to find another avenue for their ads instead.
And here is something else you can do! http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/263827960353445/
Here is a really informative article that I found as well should anyone like to read it. http://dukechronicle.com/article/chimpanzees-public-profile-belies-endangered-status
Please help stop this inhumane practice!
Friday, January 13, 2012
Baby Bongo Born at Zoo Atlanta
I am proud to post that 3 year old female Bongo, Matilda, gave birth to her first calf a month ago and that the baby can now be seen on exhibit in the Bongo exhibit with his mother and father, Tambo. For the past few days they have been putting the little one out on exhibit from about 1:30 to 5:30 in order to try to help him get used to being out on exhibit. Also, the baby boy was introduced to his father for the first time a few days ago and they are getting along. I will be sure and try to post pics as soon as I can. :)
Friday, December 23, 2011
Chelsea: Sumatran Tiger
This is Chelsea, one of Zoo Atlanta's Sumatran tigers. The Sumatran tiger is the smallest species of tiger and they are also critically endangered with only about 400 believed to be left out in the wild. Chelsea is the mother to two adorable cubs named Sohni (female) and Sanjiv (male). Both were born on July 5th of this year.
Monday, November 28, 2011
girlzilla09's photostream
girlzilla09's photostream on Flickr.
I wanted everyone to see the new photos that I managed to get of Kudzoo and little Merry Leigh. She is such a cutie!
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