Results tagged “wildlifeconservationsociety”

Last night we were informed by the Wildlife Conservation Society that there would be a major announcement made this evening at the New York Aquarium. While the official press conference isn't until 7:30 p.m. tonight (it will include Mayor Bloomberg, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, and Councilman Domenic M. Recchia, Jr.), the NY Times managed to loosen some lips and found out it has to do with their Sea Change (what the WCS has dubbed their renovation project).

Happy Halloween! Warning: These videos of various animals at the Wildlife Conservation Society's facilities may be too distractingly cute.

No, he's not blushing from all the attention. Mao Mi is a Red Panda and the newest addition to Prospect Park Zoo in Brooklyn. He arrived last week from Michigan's Binder Park Zoo as part of a Wildlife Conservation Society breeding project. Red Pandas are an endangered species with fewer than 2,500 adults thought to remain in the wild in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Nepal and Burma.

The city's last privately owned island was sold to the federal government for $2 million. South Brother Island, a 7-acre island (just west of Rikers Island), will be turned over to the city's Parks and Recreation Department and will remain, as amNew York reports, "significant nesting colony for several types of shore birds, including Egrets, Cormorant, and Night Herons." According to the NY Times, the deal, which was "brokered by the Trust for Public...

Historical ecologists and research cartographers are using historical pre-Revolution military maps produced by the British to create a 21st Century digital rendering of the topography of Manhattan in the 17th Century, before the arrival of European colonists. The New Yorker has a slideshow of a number of images that are attempts to show Manhattan as it was occupied solely by Lenape Indians. The basis for the topographical model was drawn from this 1782 map* drawn up by the British military to help defend the colony from George Washington and the Continental Army. The image above is a rendering of what a 17th Century Times Square looked like in comparison to West 42nd St. today.

The NY Sun reports that the New York Aquarium has selected a plan for its redesign. The Wallace Roberts & Todd and Cloud 9 design has a dramatic "wavy, cage-like enclosure." NY Times critic Nicholas Ouroussoff said it resembles a whale last October when the design, along with two others, were announced as finalists.

It is a day for rodents, that's for sure. To the excitement of Big Apple animal lovers, the NY Times reported the first beaver in 200 years has been spotted in the city. A 2- or 3-year-old beaver has been seen in the Bronx River, doing one of two very New York things: Looking for a mate or trying to make his home better (the Times says he was spotted "looking for more material to insulate its home").

Who doesn't love studies involving elephants and mirrors? A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that the Bronx Zoo elephants recognized themselves in a mirror - which suggests they are self aware. The study was conducted by researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society and Emory University. The NY Times explained the study and results:

They put an eight-foot-square mirror on a wall of the animals’ play area (out of view of zoo visitors) and recorded what happened with video cameras, including one embedded in the mirror.

Continue reading "Bronx Zoo Elephants Seem Self-Aware"

But not in someone's apartment - to the Bronx Zoo! An endangered snow leopard cub that was found in Pakistan will join the Bronx Zoo's snow leopard habitat this year. From the State Department:

Originally from the Naltar Valley high in the Karakorum Mountains of northern Pakistan, the snow leopard cub, now approximately 13 months old and 60 pounds, was turned over to Government of Pakistan authorities in July 2005 by the local goat herder who rescued it. The herder and his family had provided shelter for the cub in their home and later in their grain shed. As the cub grew, the herder approached World Wildlife Fund consultants working in the region for help and they temporarily took over the cub’s care. The cub was relocated south to Gilgit, where the Pakistani government assumed responsibility for its care.

Continue reading "In a Wave of Diplomacy, Orphaned Snow Leopard Heads to the Bronx"

It's been too long since our last panda post, so we must congratulate our DC-based blog, DCist, for managing to give baby panda Tai Shan his American nickname, Butterstick. The National Zoo's announcement about their "Black and White Night" benefit included mention of "Butterstick" in case people didn't know who Tai Shan was and the tagline, "Everything goes better with Butter." It sure does, especially when it's a mound of fuzz leaving scent markings near city sewer lines (we're not making this up!). And the Washington Post confirmed the National Zoo's move, with a quote from zoo spokesman Peper Long:

"It's not an official acknowledgment. We still call him Tai Shan. But we realize people all over the world love this little guy and probably have a variety of nicknames for him -- and this is a very popular one."

This serves as inspiration to Gothamist: If DCist can get the National Zoo to "unofficially acknowledge" Butterstick, then surely Gothamist can get the Wildlife Conservation Society to unofficially take up the causes of bringing a panda or three to New York City? We're sure many New Yorkers would help underwrite that project. And nicknames that we like are "Bacon Bottom," "Lard Pocket," and "Fuzzy Monster."

company) and only one elephant in the exhibit is "inhumane." The article goes onto to detail other American zoos that have ended its elephants exhibits (see Chicago and San Francisco, DC) and how elephants can be exclusive:

The Bronx Zoo, [Steven Sanderson, president and chief executive of the Wildlife Conservation Society] said, has a two-acre corral in which the elephants can move about, and its zookeepers monitor the stumpy feet of its elephants daily, but he would prefer to give them more company. Elephants may show their discomfort with a new arrival by the equivalent of a hunger strike.

Continue reading "Elephants' Last Stand in the Bronx"

Tupper Thomas, President of the Prospect Park Alliance

Charles Foley, a researcher for the Wildlife Conservation Society, has taken a picture of the rumored white giraffe. After searching for 12-years Foley found the mysterious animal in Tanzania's savannah. The giraffe is white and black on its torso and has a traditional giraffe's yellow/brown legs. The mis-coloration is probably due to a case off partial albinoism, but is still pretty cool. And how, you wonder, are we going to relate this to New York? Glad you asked. The WCS which Foley works for is an international society that is based in the Bronx and runs the Queens, Bronx, Prospect Park and Central Park Zoos.