Resorts World Sentosa's Marine Life Park opens

Resorts World Sentosa's new Marine Life Park, which has drawn over 12,000 people since its opening on 22 Nov 2012.

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The new attraction comprises the Adventure Cove Waterpark and an 8ha oceanarium called S.E.A Aquarium, which currently has 40,000 animals from 500 species.

19-Year-Old Tiger Dies at the National Zoo

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The National Zoo put down 19-year-old Sumatran tiger Soyono this morning, after the tiger fought a month-long battle with spinal degeneration. While much of the zoo's announcement is a nice remembrance of the tiger, one part, about Soyono's contribution to her struggling species, stands out:

Because her mother was wild-caught, Soy’s genes were not well-represented in the North American population, making her a valuable breeder...Soy birthed three litters of cubs and with her mate, Rokan, produced seven offspring altogether.

Left unspoken: Soyono's record stands in sharp contrast to certain other "clueless breeders" the zoo could mention.

The zoo still has two Sumatran tigers on display.

Worst than animals

Police have arrested one of two men who they believe broke into an Idaho zoo the night a monkey there died from blunt-force trauma, but questions remain about how and why the animal was killed.

Michael J. Watkins, 22, of Weiser was arrested Monday in Washington County on felony burglary and grand theft charges. Idaho law allows prosecutors to bring a grand theft charge against someone accused of killing livestock or other animals valued at more than $150 dollars.

A tip from a citizen led police to Watkins after identifying a hat found in the monkey's enclosure as similar to one Watkins was wearing the night two intruders were spotted at Zoo Boise. A security guard frightened away the intruders, then discovered the gravely injured patas monkey, which died a short time later.

Masterson said at a news conference Monday evening that Watkins sought care at a hospital for injuries to his upper torso sometime after the early Saturday incident. The story he gave to hospital staff "did not seem to mesh up with the injuries," Masterson said.

The monkey's death has left zoo workers shocked and devastated, zoo director Steve Burns said. The Crime Stoppers organization offered an award of up to $1,000 for information leading to the culprits' arrest.

Investigators had not had a chance to question Watkins extensively and have not revealed whether they think the zoo break-in was a prank that turned violent or something done with more sinister intent. But the police department and community are "angered and outraged over this senseless crime," Masterson said.

"The loss of this patas monkey has touched many lives, including our officers and investigators," he said.

The zoo doesn't have surveillance video. Instead, security guards patrol the grounds when the zoo is closed.

Burns said the guard who discovered the crime spotted one intruder inside the zoo and one outside the perimeter fence near the primate exhibit. Both men fled, with one running into the interior of the zoo.

Investigators believe Watkins is the man who was seen inside the fence.

Burns and police were searching the grounds when Burns heard a groan and found the injured monkey outside its exhibit, near the fence surrounding the zoo. They were able to get the animal into a crate and to the zoo's animal hospital, but the monkey died of blunt-force trauma to its head and neck just a few minutes later.

An inventory showed none of the other animals was missing or harmed.

Police say Watkins was visiting Boise with friends over the weekend from his home in Weiser, an agricultural town about 60 miles away near the Oregon-Idaho border.

Court records show Watkins has been in trouble with the law before, including drug arrests. Police said they do not know whether Watkins may have been under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the break-in.

Officers have spoken with the other man spotted outside the zoo but do not expect charges to be filed against him, Masterson said.

Crimes at the zoo are rare, Burns said.

"I've been here for 15 years, and I don't remember any cases where we've had a visitor intentionally or even accidentally injure an animal," Burns said. "People in Boise are usually pretty respectful. We were just saying the other day that we can't even remember the last time that someone was found inside the zoo after hours. The security guards do a really good job."

Burns said it will take a few weeks before he can decide if the remaining patas monkey will be sent to another zoo or if another patas monkey will be brought in as a companion. The animals are social and need to be around members of their own species.

The crime may have raised interest in the patas monkeys. A donation for the remaining patas monkey under the zoo's adopt-an-animal program came in over the weekend, Burns said.

The monkey exhibit remains open to the public, although zoo workers were keeping some of the larger garage-sized doors to the exhibit closed to keep down noise, and keepers were giving the remaining patas monkey a little more attention, Burns said. The zoo kicked off a fundraiser to build a new exhibit house for the primates in September.

"That primate house was built back in the 1960s and it's just time to update it and provide the animals with more space and things like that," he said.

For now, he said, zoo workers are just focusing on caring for the remaining 300 animals at the zoo.

"We're going to grieve for the animal and make sure the community's OK. But we're going to move on with the plans that we have and continue to take care of the animals. Boise's a really nice place to live, and usually this kind of stuff doesn't happen in Boise," he said.

Rest in Peace Sheba

Sheba, the polar bear that has been a key attraction at the Singapore Zoo for over 30 years, has died.

Wildlife Reserves Singapore, the parent company of the zoo, said it is extremely saddened by the death of its beloved polar bear, adding that Sheba lived to a ripe old age of 35 years, far exceeding the normal life span of 25 years for polar bears that are not in the wild.

She was under treatment since September for loss of strength in her hind limbs, but her condition worsened in the past week, and she had to be put down after a close evaluation showed that her prognosis was poor.

Sheba arrived at the Singapore Zoo on April 14, 1978, from Cologne Zoo, Germany, when she was just 14 months old, and she was the first polar bear to have successfully raise a cub in the tropics.

Her son Inuka continues to be in the Singapore Zoo, and is now 21 years old.

Once there were four polar bears in Singapore Zoo  — Nanook (Inuka's father), Sheba, Inuka and another female, Anana.

What will be the fate of Inuka? Lonely and Bored.

Efforts to save the Devil

A group of Tasmanian devils will be transferred to a small Australian island to start what is hoped will be a self-sustaining population.

Tasmania's Environment Minister Brian Wightman said 14 of the marsupials, carefully selected from captive breeding programmes across Australia, would be released Thursday on Maria Island, a nature sanctuary off the state's east coast.

He said it was a "major step forward" in the race against extinction of the devil due to an extremely contagious facial tumour that has decimated the once-rampant rat-like marsupial.

Their plight is so dire authorities have started breeding a so-called "insurance population" in captivity to ensure they do not die out.

"The Maria Island translocation is designed to establish a self-sustaining population of healthy wild devils in a safe haven where they are protected from interaction with the deadly facial tumour disease," Wightman said.

"It will strengthen the insurance population of disease-free Tasmanian devils, help preserve wild traits in the insurance population and provide genetic stock for future reintroductions."

Tasmania is the only place where the devil is found in the wild and since the facial tumour was first discovered in 1996 numbers have plunged by 91 percent to the low tens of thousands.

There are few disease-free pockets remaining on the island state.

The cancer, which typically causes death within three to six months, is spread during fighting over food and territory, when a healthy devil will bite an infected devil's face and pick up cancer cells.

Maria Island, a rugged national park that can only be reached by boat or plane and is vehicle and shop-free, has never before been a devil habitat so Wightman said there was "no known risk of the facial tumour disease".

National Environment Minister Tony Burke said the transfer was a method of "last resort and it has to be done carefully with good scientific oversight", with all animals to be carefully screened before release.

Experts had deemed the devils unlikely to impact other native species on the island and the ecosystem would be monitored carefully, he added.

If successful authorities plan to increase the overall population on Maria Island over the next two years to about 50 animals.

Strays to stay HDB

A pilot programme initiated by the Action for Singapore Dogs (ASD) and Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) had helped 10 stray dogs find homes in Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats by mid October.

The programme, which started in April, requires dog owners to adhere to a strict set of guidelines drawn up by the Ministry of National Development and animal welfare groups. This is to prevent friction between residents that could arise from disturbances caused by household pets.

Some guidelines include:

    * Proper screening and counseling for potential adopters
    * Compliance with dog ownership regulations
    * Maintenance of a proper list of all adopters
    * Only stray dogs of up to medium size can be re-homed
    * Signing of a declaration to adhere to codes of conduct
    * Imposition of adoption fees

Medium sized strays of 15kg and below which are deemed to have an appropriate temperament for apartment living are accepted in this pilot scheme. This is a move away from current HDB regulations, which stipulate that only small or toy breeds not exceeding 40cm in height can be owned by flat-dwellers.

Non-compliance with the guidelines will result in the dog being returned to the animal welfare groups.

The proposal to rehouse stray dogs was submitted to an inter-agency task force formed in July last year. ASD and SPCA ensure that all 'Singapore Specials' - referring to local breeds - would be properly vaccinated, sterilized and micro-chipped before adoption.

Apart from the re-homing of stray dogs, then Minister of State for National Development Tan Chuan-Jin announced in November last year that stray cats will also be allowed in HDB flats to reduce the issue of strays on the streets.

Pandas' Bamboo Food May Be Lost to Climate Change

Though they are one of the most beloved animal species on Earth, pandas aren't safe from the devastating effects of climate change.

According to a new study, projected temperature increases in China over the next century will likely seriously hinder bamboo, almost the sole source of food for endangered pandas. Only if bamboo can move to new habitats at higher elevations will pandas stand a chance, the researchers said.

However, if conservation programs wait too long, human inhabitants and activities could claim all of the new habitats capable of supporting bamboo in a warming world.

"It is tough, but I think there's still hope, if we take action now," said research team member Jianguo Liu, a sustainability scientist at Michigan State University. "If we wait, then we could be too late."

The researchers used various climate-change models to project the future for three bamboo species relied on by pandas in the Qinling Mountain region of China, which represents about a quarter of the total remaining panda habitat. These models varied in their specific predictions, but each forecasted some level of temperature rise within the coming century.

The results suggest that if the bamboo is restricted to its current distribution area, between 80 and 100 percent of it will disappear by the end of the 21st century, because it won't be able to grow under the increased temperatures.

If, however, bamboo can move into new, cooler areas (which will reach the same temperatures as current bamboo habitats due to warming), then there is hope. However, that all still depends on the extent to which humans can curtail climate change by limiting greenhouse-gas emissions in the future.

"All the models are quite consistent — the general trend is the same," Liu told LiveScience. "The difference is the degree of the changes. Even with very hopeful scenarios, where we allow bamboo to go anywhere it wants, there are still very severe consequences. Of course, if the bamboo has nowhere to go, then the panda habitat will be lost more quickly."

Many pandas in the wild currently live in nature reserves protected from human encroachment. However, almost all of the land encompassed by those reserves will be unsuitable for the bamboo if the temperatures rise as predicted.

But if conservationists plan ahead now to move those reserves in line with changing bamboo habitats, then it may be possible to preserve the land the pandas will need.

And climate change is not the only challenge facing giant pandas, one of the most endangered species in the world, researchers say. Human activities have already severely limited the animals' habitats, and their dependence on a single source of food, one that's not that nutrient- or energy-rich, doesn't help.

In addition to their native habitats in China, pandas live around the world in zoos and breeding centers. But Liu doesn't predict a bright future for the bears if they lose their wild habitats.

"To really protect pandas, you cannot just stick [them] into a breeding center or a zoo," he said, noting that the animals' genetic diversity would suffer, among other issues. "That's not a long-term solution."

Baby elephant’s sticky situation

A rescue crew lends a helping hand to free a baby elephant who stumbled into a pool of mud near Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

A baby elephant was rescued with just minutes to spare after spending over 12 hours stuck in a mudpool.

The young bull was spotted with mud up to its neck by a group of tourists on safari along the Zambezi River in Africa.

When the rescue team arrived it became apparent that they needed to act quickly as the baby pachyderm struggled to free its trunk and was close to drowning.

Mr White said it was likely the elephant had become trapped the evening before and after surviving for more than 12 hours wouldn't have lasted much longer.

He said: 'Elephants are particularly drawn to these areas and when moving towards the luscious vegetation they become stuck and sink deep into the mud, causing them to dehydrate and loose blood circulation to their legs.'

'The only safe place to put the rope is around his neck. Elephants have a very strong neck that can take a lot of strain. If we had tried to pull him out by any part of his legs which eventually become exposed, we risked breaking them.

'When he was finally free and lay on the solid ground we had to act fast and get him to his feet, to allow the blood to circulate.

'Towing straps were placed under his belly and with our team off staff we heaved him to his feet manually.

'So far the baby is doing well and although he is very young he is able to look after himself.

'We are keeping an eye on him though to make sure he doesn't get into any more sticky situations.'

Wild Dogs killed boy in Zoo

Toddler Killed by Wild Dogs At Pittsburgh Zoo Exhibit Should Make Us Question Zoos

A toddler boy visiting the Pittsburgh zoo somehow managed to fall into the wild dog exhibit and be ripped to shreds while his helpless mother watched from above. The horrific tragedy happened on Sunday and within minutes the story was everywhere with many questioning exactly how the little boy fell into the exhibit in the first place.

It's a good question. Wild "painted" African dogs are about the size of Labrador retrievers, weight about 37 to 80 pounds and are most dangerous in a pack. In this case, 11 dogs attacked the boy, though it is unclear whether he died from the fall or from the attack as yet.

One thing is clear: None of this should have been possible. A woman trying to "give her child a better view" should not have been able to drop him into the exhibit.

Of course, there are questions. Why did the mother not jump in after him? Understandably it happened in a matter of a seconds and the dogs were on him immediately. But imagining myself in that scenario, I can't imagine I would not make the (probably stupid) choice to jump right in and beat off the dogs.

Or maybe not.

Obviously, I can't judge the mom. I don't have any understanding of what that must have been like for her. What I can judge, though, is the zoo. For many reasons.

First of all, zoos are generally just controversial. The last dog -- a species considered endangered -- was shot because of this incident. It's not really the dog's fault. He was not a domesticated dog. He was a wild African beast who should probably be roaming in his native land, not on display for a toddler to be eaten.

Even more to the point, why was a mother able to drop her child into the exhibit? I have been to a thousand zoos from San Diego to Cincinnati and around the world and never once do I remember seeing an exhibit where it was possible to "accidentally" fall into a cage. Sure, someone who WANTED to scale a fence could do so. Stupid people do that regularly. But on "accident"? That just seems wrong.

Maybe we was wiggling. Maybe the mom was holding him in a bad way. Maybe she should not have been holding him in the way she was at all. But really, he should not have been able to fall into the exhibit. Until it is clear how this happened, I will place blame on the zoo.

The poor grieving mom, who screamed for help so loudly she was heard all over the park, is not the first person I would blame. This story is everything that is wrong with zoos.

Painted dogs are not an "exhibit." They are wild animals capable of great destruction. As parents, we trust the zoos to know that and keep us safe. How did this happen? It is unimaginable and my heart breaks for that poor mom.