Dutch & Danish seizures of illegally trafficked German horse meat do not mean revived demand WASHINGTON D.C., BRUSSELS––Yes, the Bureau of Land Management under Donald Trump appointee William Perry Pendley is desperately eager to dispose of as many as 45,000 wild horses in holding pens, plus about 68,000 of the estimated 95,000 wild horses […]
Pandas follow the Calgary Stampede out of town––and back to China
COVID-19 red ink left the Calgary Zoo with a black-and-white choice CALGARY, Alberta, Canada––Giving up hope that a rare giant panda exhibit will continue to pay for itself––and of managing to keep the pandas fed through the COVID-19 pandemic––the Calgary Zoological Society on May 12, 2020 disclosed to media that it has asked the Canadian […]
The price of defiance: COVID-19 vs. the Cottondale Mother’s Day Rodeo
Whoever that masked man was, he was not in the rodeo arena COTTONWOOD, California––There are sound epidemiological arguments against outdoor mask-wearing to fight the spread of COVID-19, and in favor of getting more people out into the spring sunshine, but those arguments were not much in evidence at the 58th annual Mother’s Day Rodeo […]
Animals for ransom: zoos & the COVID-19 cash flow crunch
Is COVID-19 really Armaggedon for zoos, or just another funding pitch? HONG KONG, LONDON––Seven thousand animals at Ocean Park in Hong Kong and as many as 20,000 animals at the London Zoo and subsidiary Whipsnade Zoo are only the most politically conspicuous of thousands of menageries now at risk––and perhaps being held for ransom […]
COVID-19 kills Roy Horn, 75, of Siegfried & Roy, role model for “Joe Exotic”
Manicured image as “positive reinforcement” trainer & conservationist was, like the Siegfried & Roy show, largely illusory LAS VEGAS––Entertainer Roy Horn, 75, whose illusion acts with longtime partner Siegfried Fischbacher famously featured white tigers, pythons, and elephants, died on May 8, 2020 in Las Vegas, his home for nearly 50 years, from complications of […]
Are Bronx Zoo tigers with COVID-19 sentinels for brown bats?
Team researches whether humans can transmit COVID-19 back to bats NEW YORK, N.Y.––A four-year-old Malayan tiger named Nadia, kept at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, and now four other times and three lions sharing the same facilities, may be evidence of asymptomatic human-to-animal transmission of COVID-19. Alternatively, the tiger and lion illnesses […]
Iconic animal use events fall to COVID-19: “Running of the bulls” is latest
“Social distancing” also shuts down SeaWorld, seal hunt, fur auctions, Kentucky Derby, & the carriage horses in Central Park PAMPLONA, Spain ––The 700-year-old Festival of San Fermin, featuring bullfights and the “running of the bulls” through the cobbled streets of the oldest part of Pamplona, Spain, was on April 21, 2020 indefinitely postponed due […]
Kathi Travers, 69, vehemently non-“animal rights” animal advocate
Legendary for deeds with ASPCA & WSPA, but worked nearly twice as long for the British Columbia SPCA in St. George PRINCE GEORGE, British Columbia, Canada––If Kathi Travers, 69, could still shout aloud, she might be shouting yet, more than six months later, about the first sentence of her Prince George Citizen obituary. Belatedly […]
Ancestors of the Tiger King: Peter Batten & Living Trophies
Living Trophies: A Shocking Look at the Conditions in America’s Zoos by Peter Batten Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., 1976. 246 pages, hardcover. Available from major online booksellers at prices ranging from $7.50 to $25.00. Reviewed by Merritt Clifton First aired on March 20, 2020, the six-part Netflix documentary series Tiger King, produced by Eric […]
How COVID-19 and pit bulls show we are in pain
by Roderick Balt Despite not being evidently more dangerous than a heavy flu, which can kill tens of thousands of the most vulnerable people without sparking panic, and did as recently as the 2018-2019 flu season, the COVID-19 virus has terrified much of the public worldwide, resulting in disproportionate measures being taken to manage the […]
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