Tag: zoo

New Vaccine for West Nile Virus?

Researchers might soon have a vaccine to protect birds from the West Nile virus. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:

Transcript

Researchers might soon have a vaccine to protect birds from the West Nile virus. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports.


The centers for disease control and the U.S. Army are getting help to develop a vaccine for prevention of the mosquito borne West Nile virus. Here in the U.S. in the past couple of years, the virus has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of birds from more than seventy species. Michael Hutchins is with the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. He says research into a vaccine ahs been driven by the need to protect birds in zoos.


“The current studies are to develop an injectable vaccine, but the intention is to try to take that and develop an ingestible variety that could be spread on bird feed and would therefore have a hopefully-big impact on wild birds as well.”


Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo, the Walt Disney Foundation, the Wildlife Conservation Society and the American Bird Conservancy have all contributed to the project. Hutchins says a vaccine could be developed as soon as the next month or so. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.

Zoo’s Import Captive Breeding Technique (Part 1)

  • Ann van Dyk isthe director and owner of the De Wildt Cheetah Center in South Africa. Her efforts to breed cheetahs in captivity have been recognized as thechief reason the cheetah is no longer on the endangered species list.

Zoos in North America have been working with
a small farm in South Africa to save one of the
fastest animals on earth. In the first report of a
two-part series… the Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Lester Graham reports… the effort
has helped restore populations of cheetahs in the
wild and in zoos:

Questioning the Need for Captive Breeding (Part 2)

  • A pair of cheetahs in a gamepark in Swaziland are protected from hunters. However, there are few places left in the wild for the sleek cats.

Although the cheetah was removed from the endangered species
list more than a decade ago… zoos are still breeding the animal in
captivity. In the second report of a two part series… the Great Lakes
Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports… along with a cheetah center
in Africa… the zoos plan to keep producing cheetahs in case something
happens to the animal in the wild:

Livening Up Zoo Life

Animals in the wild have plenty to do to keep busy-like foraging for
food…or fighting off predators. But it’s a different story for animals in
captivity. So zookeepers and researchers are constantly looking for ways to
keep the animals occupied and improve their quality of life. And
increasingly, they’re becoming more scientific about it. The Great Lakes
Radio Consortium’s Wendy Nelson reports:

New Zoo Exhibit Honors Bugs

  • A $4-million dollar Insectarium is under construction at the St. Louis Zoo. It will be among the large such facilities in the nation. (Photo courtesy of St. Louis Zoo)

Going to the zoo means seeing lions and tigers and bears. But one group
of animals is rarely represented. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
Lester Graham reports on a new exhibit to house some of the planet’s
most populous animals insects:

Bald Eagle Birth for All to See

Most people surf the web for things like stock prices, chat rooms and
pornography. But a bird enthusiast in upstate New York is hoping to
catch their attention another way. He’s using a website to share the
birth of baby eagles with the rest of the world. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports.

Electric Cars Drive Into Zoos

Environmentally friendly electric trucks can be spotted driving
around in some Midwestern cities. On college campuses, including the
University of Michigan, electric pickup trucks are used in campus
courtyards, botanical gardens and other places where noise or exhaust
are
a problem. The next place you’re likely to see electric trucks will be
your local zoo. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tamar Charney has
the story: