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magazine / dec08
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December 2008 issue |
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FEATURE
Top 10s: Animal stories (Page 1 of 3)
A year in review: Canadian
Geographic highlights the most dramatic and strangest wildlife stories of 2008.
By Sheri Gagnon
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Just a little bit closer …
There’s something about animals — maybe it’s that they’re mysterious, or charming, or even dangerous. Whatever it is, humans are drawn to them. Many stories emerged in the news over the past year that illustrates a theme of people getting closer to wildlife. In some cases, this human-animal interaction is beneficial, as scientists and conservationists help animals or save them from sickness and death. Other stories don’t have such happy endings, and are reminders that wildlife is indeed wild and should be treated with respect. Here
are our 10 favourite “getting closer” stories of the year.
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| The largest cat in the world, the Siberian tiger, is an endangered species.
Photo: Fotolia.com/Joseph Gareri
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TIGER ATTACK
Tatania, the 160-kilogram Siberian tiger made worldwide headlines in January for killing a
17-year-old boy and mauling two others after escaping her enclosure at the San Francisco Zoo.
Witnesses claimed to have seen the boys taunting a lion in the zoo, just before the tiger attacked.
Zoo officials were slow to respond to the attack — they failed to believe the boys, who
were acting erratically and appeared to be intoxicated. When the officials finally responded,
their trained marksman did not have easy access to the zoo’s stored guns and there was
insufficient staff present to handle the emergency. Two calls to 911 brought police to the
scene. The Siberian tiger was shot and killed by police.
Visit: www.ctv.ca
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| A blog about Boomer is posted on the Granby zoo website, updating his progress in his new home.
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PREDATOR ON THE LOOSE NEAR OTTAWA
Schools and daycares were closed, security perimeters were set up, public warnings were issued
and a helicopter with a heat-seeking device was sent to scan the area between Maniwaki, Que.,
and the Kitigan Zibi Algonquin First Nation Reserve on April 29. The predator on the loose:
a 70-kilogram, seven-month-old pet lion named Boomer. Like an episode of COPS, a phone call
tip two days later led police to Highway 105, where they found the lion hiding in a ditch.
It took three police officers to tackle the lion, tie it up and get it into the back of the
cruiser. Boomer spent the night in the slammer, waiting for wildlife officials to take control
of him. Stanley Dumont Whiteduck was charged for having an exotic animal without a permit.
Whiteduck was babysitting the beast for friend Dennis Day, who was trying to get rid of Boomer
so as to keep custody of his children. Boomer, raised by Day since a cub, was accustomed to
humans and was non aggressive. He is now in the Granby Zoo southeast of Montréal.
Visit: www.cbc.ca/canada
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| Coyotes naturally fear humans, but they will attack if they food or den is threatened.
Photo: Fotolia.com/Michael Ireland |
SUBURBAN COYOTES GROW BOLD
Coyote attacks in southern California are on the rise. In May, three toddlers were attacked
within five days. One mother scared off a coyote attempting to drag her daughter out of the
yard, a nanny pried a two-year-old from a coyote’s mouth, and a father kicked and chased
a coyote that stalked his child in a park. Traps were set and three scruffy creatures were
caught and killed, one believed to be the attacker. Wildlife specialists say coyotes are emboldened
when they become habitualized to humans and grow accustomed to suburban areas. Small pets and
wild animals such as rabbits and squirrels initially attract coyotes to such areas. Neighbourhoods
with garbage, pet food and food scraps left outside provide coyotes with a constant food source.
With decreasing coyote-management programs, these animals may be losing their fear of humans.
Full the full report, go to: abcnews.go.com
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| Black footed ferrets are one of the rarest mammals in North America.
Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Tami S. Black |
AVOID THE PLAGUE — VACCINATE THE FERRETS
In May, Sylvatic plague — a contagious bacterial disease — broke out
in Conata Basin, South Dakota, where the biggest reintroduced population of black-footed ferrets
exists. These ferrets are already an endangered species, so scientists, conservationists and
federal agencies combined their efforts to save the mini mammals via vaccination. The injected
protein, initially developed for humans by the U.S. military, was later adapted for animals.
Vaccinations will also be administered to prairie dogs, the ferret’s number one prey.
The plague is spread by fleas biting prairie dogs, and ferrets contract it by eating infected
prairie dogs. Researchers use pesticide dust to eliminate fleas from prairie dog burrows and
are looking into the effectiveness of vaccine-injected bait. They are also looking for more
efficient and inexpensive ways to administer the vaccines.
For more, visit: www.sciencedaily.com
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Knut the polar bear, born in December 2006, was hand-raised by a zookeeper at Zoo Berlin.
Photo:
istockphoto.com/Markus Winkel |
POLAR BEAR STARVED FOR ATTENTION
Knut the polar bear is going through an identity crisis — he thinks he’s human.
It’s not his fault; after all, he was raised by one. Zookeeper Thomas Dörflein of
the Berlin Zoo became the bear’s surrogate mother after his real mother rejected him.
Dörflein attended to the cub for 18 months, comforting it with songs and daily bottle-feedings.
Knut’s popularity grew, taking him to the cover of Vanity Fair, until animal
specialists noticed that Knut was becoming too fond of the attention and too dependent on Dörflein.
They asked Dörflein to stop seeing the bear in July 2007, but he continued visiting until
February, when he finally let go. Time transformed Knut from a cuddly cub to an awkward adult — not
star attraction material. Abandoned by his surrogate mother and his fans, Knut would howl and
cry until zookeepers came to his enclosure. He no longer has a real shot at a normal bear life.
He cannot be released into the wild as he lacks survival skills and is too dependant on humans.
Officials are considering sending Knut to another animal park where he’ll receive less
attention.
For more, visit: www.dailymail.co.uk
“BEST WORKING BEAR IN THE BUSINESS” BITES HANDLER
Rocky the grizzly bear achieved recent fame for appearing in Will Ferrell’s movie “Semi-Pro.” The
2.2-metre-tall, 317-kilogram bear had a reputation for being one of the best-trained and obedient
animal actors. On April 22, Rocky was on set at Predators in Action, a facility owned by exotic
animal trainer Randy Miller. Miller’s cousin Stephan, who raised the bear, was one of
three experienced handlers on set while Rocky was filming an advertisement. The grizzly started
licking Stephan’s face and suddenly bit him once in the neck. Despite quick efforts
of the staff to lock up the bear and provide medical attention to Stephan, the man died. Miller
says he doesn’t understand why it happened and that his cousin was bitten in a very
vulnerable place — had it been an arm, the bite would not have been fatal.
For the full story and video news report, visit: abcnews.go.com
BAROTRAUMA RESPONSIBLE FOR BAT DEATHS
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Hoary bats are one of the largest bats in North America.
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When hundreds of bats were found dead at the base of energy-producing wind turbines across
Europe and North America, researchers initially believed the bats had collided with the turbine
blades. In a report published in August, researchers from the University of Calgary have suggested
another answer — the bat’s lungs were exploding. The condition is called barotrauma:
when the air pressure inside the lungs drastically exceeds the air pressure of the outside
environment, the lungs swell and burst. The same phenomenon occurs when a scuba diver resurfaces
too quickly. Bats generally avoid the spinning blades using sonar detection. However, a brief
drop in atmospheric pressure occurs as the blades turn, enough to cause the bats’ lungs
to enlarge and rupture the surrounding capillaries. Researchers noted most bat fatalities
occurred on low-wind nights, as turbines continue to rotate at their maximum power. The temporary
solution is to switch off the windmills during low-wind periods to avoid such drastic drops
in atmospheric pressure.
For more visit: www.current-biology.com
TASMANIAN TIGER MOUSE
The Tasmanian tiger has been extinct for more than 70 years — but this May, Australian and American scientists may have found a way to bring it back. By injecting DNA from 100-year-old preserved tissue samples into a mouse embryo, the scientists witnessed the extinct tiger’s genes function inside a living organism. The injected genome controls cartilage and bone development. The gene will not function fully in the mouse because it lacks the triggering cofactors of the tiger, but the experiment shows that non-coding genetic information from an extinct species can be resurrected in vivo (within a living organism). “We have restored to life the genetic potential of a fragment of this extinct mammalian genome,” the scientists write in their report. The experiment brings the idea of cloning extinct species one step close to reality.
To read the whole report, visit: www.plosone.org
EAGLE EYE RESTORED
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| Electra is no completely blind — the cataract on her right eye was removed.
Photo: George Peplinski |
Cataract surgery for humans is not considered a ground-breaking procedure, but, cataract surgery
on a blind golden eagle certainly is. A six-kilogram bird named Electra was operated on by
ophthalmologist George Peplinski in Scotland in February. The eagle had flown into electric
wires and the shock left cataracts — a cloudy patch that develops on the lens— on
each of her eyes. Found by members of the Wings Over Mull Bird Sanctuary, Electra was brought
to an animal hospital at the University of Glasgow. Peplinski decided to operate on one eye
only to minimize the risk to the eagle from the anesthetic. While Electra is no longer completely
blind, she is unable to survive in the wild, so her home is now at the Wings Over Mull sanctuary.
Visit: www.gla.ac.uk
PENGUINS FLY FROM BRAZIL, CLOSER TO HOME.
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| Magellanic penguins are the largest of all the warm-weather penguins.
Photo: Fotolia.com/Kerry Wilkinson |
It’s true, penguins can’t fly. However, some 370 Magellanic penguins flew from
Salvador, Brazil south to Pelotas — in a C-130 Turboprop. The birds were released at
Cassino Beach, where they waddled into the cold waters and began the swim back home to the
tip of South America. Thousands of penguins turn up on Brazilian beaches every year, although
few are still alive. It’s a natural occurrence for these penguins to migrate from their
homes in southern Argentina and Chile, but experts believe that overfishing is forcing them
to swim beyond their normal range to find food. Environmentalists also suggest that warming
waters encourage juveniles to swim farther north than usual. The lucky ones end up on the
beach, starved and debilitated, and are rescued by animal welfare specialists who nurse them
back to health. The Brazilian navy also contributed to this year’s rescue, sailing a
flock of rehabilitated penguins southward to the colder waters of southern Brazil.
For more photos of the penguins' release visit: www.cnn.com
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