Chiang Mai Safari: Rare Animals On The Menu At Zoo

[sriracha john]

Roger the Rhino

oh my... I completely missed that his name was Roger.....

[sriracha john]

CHIANG MAI NIGHT SAFARI

Jaruvan will be asked to investigate

A wildlife activist is going to ask Auditor-General Jaruvan Maintaka to investigate the unusually high cost of running Chiang Mai's Night Safari Park, a project opponents say is riddled with poor management that led to the deaths of over 100 animals.

Chaipant Prabhasavat, director of the Institute for Community Rights, said he would present all the evidence to Khunying Jaruvan next week and ask her to assess the damage caused by the deaths of the animals, as well as the investment in the project, said to be over a billion baht.

He also demanded the zoo's management accept responsibility and resign.

A report released by the Wildlife Fund Thailand earlier this month referred to a staff member at the zoo who said he ''could not stand seeing the poor conditions'' the animals were being kept in, and that the animals were being taken care of by inexperienced vets.

The report raised serious concerns over standards at the zoo among conservationists as up to 1.15 billion baht was said to have been invested in building a ''world-class'' night safari.

Plodprasop Suraswadi, director of the zoo, rejected the report, insisting only a few animals had died, such as a hyena, a female giraffe and her calf. Some exotic birds had died after their wings were clipped to prevent them escaping.

Mr Chaipant has also alleged that the 819-rai park site encroaches on the Doi Suthep-Pui national park in Chiang Mai's Muang district.

Mr Chaipant insists he has photographic evidence to support his claims.

There are currently 900 animals at the zoo, most of them obtained from other zoos in Thailand.

The zoo is also awaiting shipment of 175 animals from Kenya under a bilateral agreement.

Wildlife Fund Thailand campaigner Nikhom Phuttha said the high court in Kenya is set to rule in two months whether the shipment should go ahead, which would stall delivery of the animals.

He said there was fierce opposition to the shipment amid claims that many animals have died at the zoo park.

Wildlife Fund Thailand secretary-general Surapon Duangkhae said many Kenyans were unhappy with the planned shipment as they were worried about the fate of the animals if they were sent to Thailand.

- BP 23/03/06

[bina]

I would hope that an animal such as a rhino getting frustated in a very narrow holding cage would only come as a unanticipated shock to some zoo directors and to some veternarians and not to all them.

johpa

holding cages are known as 'crushes' as they are meant to be narrow to prevent movement by the animal for small treatments; it is very dangeraous to anesthisize a rhino as their weight causes heart problems by crushing themselves ....

many animals in ALL zoos die after transportation due to chronic stress syndrome (usually a month or so after transfer) (also known as 'capture myopathy') : some animals are more prone then others;

this doesnt mean the zoo is a good place (eating the safari animals?) but still, i know what goes on behind the scenes in at least five large zoos and manymany others... all zoos lose animals to transfer, stress, improper holding etc ...

the j*** zoo had a red panda brought over, 6 months before the exhibit area was ready (he needed to be airconditioned since arrived durng our hot season) and went into stress; he lived in a small holding area w/ac for a long long time until moved;

giraffes at r**g** safari died two in one year due to plastic bag syndrome (tourists feed bags to animals).... and were drugged once by extasy from a 'rave' that people held during the night; the head vet was attacked by enraged giraffe and hospitalized... this had been going on for months before it was discovered (guess the night guards made good money from this)...

i lost an emu during transfer due to heart attack/stress

dont understand why they are doing wing cuts on adult birds though and not clipping feathers instead? we dont do that anymore, only on young ones w/anesthesia if needed at all...

when moving animals to new exhibit, no matter how u try to trouble shoot the various scenarios, the animals always find a way to injure/knock down, fall in etc.... we are now moving axis deer to new exhibit and even after year of planning etc, i am expecting somehting to go wrong w/at least one of the males either during transit, release, or aclimation....

thailand is no better or worse than other places, just stupider since they get caught .... i am always surprised to hear about animal deaths in amazing zoos (it happens to all of us).

bina

petting zoo

[chuchok]

Roger the Rhino

oh my... I completely missed that his name was Roger.....

Welease Woger.....

[jdinasia]

hmmm did I miss something or did Bina say the giraffes were having a Rave?

[bina]

yuup

the whole summer is seems that people from tel aviv were climbing over the safari walls and having raves, and feeding the giraffes xtasy ... so one day the zoo keepers noticed htat one was getting more aggressive and wierd than usual, so yigal the vet went in to check; he came out on a stretcher due to the hard bumps giraffes have on there heads that they use to bash things with....

the guards knew (kickbacks i guess) but didnt report..... stranger things have happened

[jdinasia]

The giraffes never invited ME! I would have gone for that party! I bet the seals were cool!

[sriracha john]

Those dope-taking giraffes can't be trusted.... they're probably dealing that stuff to the other animals. If that happened here, they'd be blacklisted and deported. I bet you Roger the Rhino has always been clean and sober.

[jdinasia]

You MUST be kidding ... didn't you hear how Roger hurt his eye?

[Dustoff]

many animals in ALL zoos die after transportation due to chronic stress syndrome (usually a month or so after transfer) (also known as 'capture myopathy') : some animals are more prone then others..

An excellent and reasonable post, bina.

Most people (at least those who actually care) would be horrified at the percentage of loss of animals and birds through capture, transportation and introduction to their 'new environment' not only for the zoos worldwide but commercial interests (for the folks who think that owning an Amazon parrot or a little Grizzly would be fun)..

As to serving "safari animals" in the restaurant, who cares? I am reluctant to believe that anyone is stupid enough to serve an endangered species so the rest is merely about psychological reaction.

I recall as a kid seeing NY dock workers carrying clubs to kill the rats while at the same time rats were considered gods in religious sects in India. And what fervent Muslim or Jew does not shudder in revulsion whenever one of us heathens enjoys the occasional pork chop?

Zebra ain't all that bad and there is no shortage of them that I know of. My own opinion is that there are FAR too many monkeys in the world and, just from my own culinary experience, I believe it is because they taste like crap..

It is just like us, ya know? If we tasted as good as Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, we as a species would have been devoured long, LONG ago...

[sriracha john]

You MUST be kidding ... didn't you hear how Roger hurt his eye?

yes, I did. Some vet poked him in the eye with a stick...

[Johpa]

yuup

the whole summer is seems that people from tel aviv were climbing over the safari walls and having raves, and feeding the giraffes xtasy ... so one day the zoo keepers noticed htat one was getting more aggressive and wierd than usual, so yigal the vet went in to check; he came out on a stretcher due to the hard bumps giraffes have on there heads that they use to bash things with....

the guards knew (kickbacks i guess) but didnt report..... stranger things have happened

What ever happened to the good old days when you could buy a "finger" of homer nefesh, AKA hashish, just inside the Damascus Gate and then return for a nice weekend at the beach? Although I did note several years ago that the xtasy trade down on Samui was partially controlled by some young Israelis.

Then again, a stretcher march through your safari park might add a little spice to that always fun Israeli exercise drill.