At a national conference held in Rapid City, South Dakota, the Wildlife Conservation Society released a survey regarding how people view the American bison.  According to the results, most of the people surveyed value the herd animal as a national symbol.  However, less than 10% of those surveyed understood the status of the bison population in North America today.

Before European settlers came to the New World, the American bison numbered at around 30 million, and their range stretched all the way from Alaska to Mexico.  Today, only 16,000 bison freely roam in North America.

The Wildlife Conservation Society hopes to promote the restoration of bison populations by appealing to government agencies, conservation groups, and ranchers.  Ecological restoration of the American bison would mean that large herds could roam freely within their historic range and interact with other native species.

For more info: Environmental News Service – “Americans Love Bison, Don’t Know the Risks They Face”

For more information about the American bison, their conservation status, and what you can do to help the bison, view Animal Fact Guide’s American bison article.

Over the weekend, 64 pilot whales were stranded on the northern coast of Tasmania.  In general, it is rare to save any whales in a mass stranding such as this one, however, rescuers were able to release 11 of the whales back into the water.

Rescuers aren’t certain why the pilot whales got stranded, but scientist Rosemary Gales offered this theory:

“At Godfrey’s Beach where we are, it is very shallow and sloping. It has an extraordinary tide span and so the whales one minute can be in quite deep water and as soon as the tide changes, they get caught out and they are stranded essentially on sand bars and very shallow sloping beach.”

The scientists attached satellites to the ones who were released and have determined that the whales have regrouped into a small pod, thereby making the rescue a success.

For more info:
The Telegraph – “Australian rescuers save some of the stranded pilot whales”
The World Today – “Scientists monitor whales after beaching”

The Cincinnati Zoo has announced the arrival of three male cheetah cubs.  The cubs were bred at the zoo’s cheetah breeding facility, Mast Farm, in Clermont County, Ohio.  Two will be transferred to the Columbus Zoo, while the other, Tommy T, will remain at the Cincinnati Zoo in the Cat Ambassador Program.  You can follow Tommy T’s everyday activities in the blog, www.cheetahdays.com.

The success of the zoo’s breeding efforts is significant. Cincinnati Zoo has partnered with the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) in Namibia, Africa, the Columbus Zoo and the De Wildt Cheetah & Wildlife Trust in South Africa to preserve the species.  The IUCN currently characterizes cheetahs in the wild as vulnerable and in decline mainly due to loss of habitat and fragmentation.

The American Library Association has selected Animal Fact Guide to be included in their Internet guide of Great Web Sites for Kids.

Websites selected for the honor must meet several standards put forth by a committee of children’s librarians. They must show commendable quality and encourage young people’s interests. According to Karen Lemmons, co-chair of the Great Web Sites for Kids committee, “Great Web Sites for Kids are those considered the best web sites for ages birth to 14, outstanding in both content and conception.”

Animal Fact Guide will be posted to the ALA’s Great Web Sites for Kids site in December or January.

The Toronto Zoo is planning to convert the feces from the animals at the zoo into energy.  The feces can be used to create methane, which can then be used to produce electricity.

In order to convert the feces into usable energy, the zoo must build a facility which would cost $13 million. By using the electricity produced by the facility and selling the excess electricity, zoo officials believe they can make their money back in five years.

For more info: http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/11/15/zoo-poo.html

The National Zoo in Washington, DC has announced the birth of a female dama gazelle.  The female joins her mother and several others at the zoo. In the wild, the dama gazelle is critically endangered with only 500 left in the world.

For more info: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/17/AR2008111702307.html

A 2.5-mile-wide stretch of land between North and South Korea has become a valuable wildlife habitat.

The area was declared a demilitarized zone after the end of the Korean War in 1953, and residents were forced to leave. Since then, the animals of the region have thrived. The mountains, streams and wetlands have become home to 50 animal species and 12 plant species. Several of the species are found no where else, including the Korean wild cat and the red-crowned crane.

There are still threats to the animals even though human interaction is minimal. The area still has land mines, and the possibility of human development is still a threat.

To combat the potential of human encroachment the government of S. Korea is trying to turn some of the area into a park.

For more: http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1117-hance_dmz.html

The Taronga Western Plains Zoo, located in Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia (400 km northwest of Sydney), recently announced the birth of a bison calf.  Born to parents Shashone and Cherokee Bob, the yet-to-be-named calf is healthy and growing strong.

Newborn bison calves have a reddish, light brown coat and lack the distinctive hump of the adult bison. They begin turning brown and developing the hump after a few months.

For more information about bison, see Animal Fact Guide’s article: American Bison.

Monifa, a baby pygmy hippopotamus, was born 3 weeks ago at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo. Pygmy hippos are extremely rare in the wild, with only around 3000 living in Africa.

The birth, which was the first in 23 years for the zoo, was a difficult one. Monifa was born backwards, which may have been problematic in the wild, and she was also very weak.  However, zookeepers stepped in, and Monifa is now healthy.

For more information:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/07/2413245.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2008/11/07/2413405.htm

Popi, the orangutan who starred as Clint Eastwood’s pet in the movie Any Which Way You Can and who later headlined a slapstick comedy show in Las Vegas has recently moved to Iowa’s Great Ape Trust.  The 37-year-old ape is the oldest of six total orangutans at the research and conservation center.  Popi has already settled in and befriended two of the other orangutans.

Robert Shumaker, the trust’s orangutan research director, regards the arrival of Popi as a significant event. “I think as far as ape welfare, this is one of the most important things I’ve been involved with in my career.”

Shumaker has opposed apes working in the entertainment field because many trainers abuse animals.  Furthermore, when people see orangutans on screen, they assume the apes are abundant, when in fact, orangutans are endangered in the wild.

For more information about Popi:
DesMoinesRegister.com
Great Ape Trust

Read more about orangutans on Animal Fact Guide.