Got old CDs? Looking for uses for them? Have you thought about them in the context of ostrich entertainment? See: ‘How To Enrich the Largest Living Bird ‘ in the 2015 issue of The Ratite Review : The AZA Struthioniformes Taxon Advisory Group’s Annual Newsletter [note: 10 MB download] “Captive Ostrich enjoy various forms of […]
Tag: zoo
How curious is the kangaroo (and other animals)
We’re rapidly approaching the semicentennial anniversary of the classic and yet-to-be-replicated study ‘Curiosity in Zoo Animals’ (Behaviour, Volume 26, Issue 1). Investigators Stephen E. Glickman and Richard W. Sroges* performed an extensive series of experiments with kangaroos and more than 100 other species of zoo animals, to see how curious they were. The team presented […]
The Chimpanzee Who Became a Gorilla
Humans who study animals sometimes quarrel about exactly what they are seeing. The ape Mafuka was the subject of one such quarrel: “Watching Exotic Animals Next Door: ‘Scientific’ Observations at the Zoo (ca. 1870–1910),” Oliver Hochadel, Science in Context, vol. 24, no. 2, 2011, pp. 183–214. The author, at Institucio Mila i Fontanals, CSIC, Barcelona, […]
Further adventures with plastic pink flamingos: lemurs
Io9 published a selection of photos of plastic pink flamingos used as mental stimulants for lemurs in the San Francisco Zoo: Lawn Ornaments Help Lemurs Stay Happy and Healthy The San Francisco Zoo recently introduced its lemurs to some pink plastic flamingos. The results were predictably adorable, but the flamingos weren’t just decoration. They’re an […]
The Creation of the World’s First Peanut Butter and Jellyfish
An experiment done partly in jest produces intriguing data: “The Creation of the World’s First Peanut Butter and Jellyfish,” P. Zelda Montoya and Barrett L. Christie, Drum and Croaker, vol. 45, January 2014, pp. 14-18. The authors, at the The Dallas Zoo and Children’s Aquarium at Fair Park, report: “The use of novel feed items […]
Sinnott’s scary masks / zoo animals experiment
Hast thou seen Sinnott’s experiment with scary masks and zoo animals? This study makes tell of it: “Perception of Scary Halloween Masks by Zoo Animals and Humans,” Joan M. Sinnott [pictured here], H. Anton Speaker, Laura A. Powell, and Kelly W. Mosteller, International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 25 (2012): 83-96. (Thanks to investigator Neil Martin […]
Animal Fighters Speculation (c.1901)
“Supposing all the animals in the ‘Zoo’ at Regent’s Park [London] were to begin a fight to the death, who would be the ultimate victor?” – asked a syndicated item in The Mercury (Hobart, Tasmania) on Wednesday the 16th of January 1901. The article ran through the various fighting attributes of elephants, lions, tigers, deer, […]
Involuntary Hippophagia (6): Horsemeat in the Pangolin
The diet of the pangolin normally revolves around ants, termites and other insects. But when panglolins are captured and kept in zoos, their keepers often try (with varying degrees of success) to tempt them with other foodstuffs. Across the world, zoos have tried such delicacies as : raw egg, porridge, boiled cockroaches, and apples. And […]
Observational research: Penguins, proposal, London Zoo
A filmed marriage proposal in the London Zoo, witnessed by penguins and filmy-eyed tele-observers: [HT Ian Sample]