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 […]