23rd May 2009

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Do animals have morals?

A bold new book argues that animals can exhibit empathy and understand the moral codes of right and wrong.

In “Wild Justice” (out May 30), Marc Bekoff, an ecologist at the University of Colorado, Boulder, presents a case that species from mice to monkeys possess the tools to make moral judgments.

He presents examples in which animals from around the world appear to have displayed an innate sense of fairness, or have helped animals that are in distress. And, he says, the bonds of animal morality can extend across species.

“There are cases of dolphins helping humans escape from sharks,” he says, “and elephants that have helped antelope escape from enclosures.”

Bekoff’s ideas have met with skepticism from the scientific community, says the London Telegraph, but fellow researchers admit that animals share neurological characteristics that were once solely attributed to humans.

For instance, whales including humpbacks (above) have all been found to have spindle cells in their brains – large, specialized cells that play a role in human empathy and understanding the feelings of others. (See the Telegraph article for Bekoff’s examples involving wolves, coyotes, elephants, Diana monkeys, chimps, rats, mice and bats.)

Tags wolvescoyoteselephantschimpanzeesmonkeysratsmicebatspsychologyscientistsdiscoveries

12th May 2009

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Orangutan attempts escape, rethinks

May might as well be named “escape month.” Another attempt, this time a monkey in Australia, but despite extremely well-laid plans, the animal aborted her zoobreak at the last minute.

Karta (r.), one of the star orangutans of the Adelaide Zoo, short-circuited the electric fence surrounding her exhibit by jamming a stick into the wires. Then she made a ladder out of debris and climbed a concrete and glass wall. The view from the top: freedom.

Karta’s keepers sounded the alarm and readied tranquilizer guns, reports say, and the zoo was evacuated and closed for the day. But after sitting atop the fence for about half an hour, the 27-year-old primate returned to the confines of her habitat. Her exibit is now closed for safety modifications.

Zoo curator Peter Whitehead told reporters, “We’ve had issues with her before in normal day-to-day operations where she tries to outsmart the keepers. She’s an ingenious animal.”

Tags orangutansmonkeysescapes

24th April 2009

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This nocturnal beast will say good night

First the Skyfari trams were grounded, now the Bronx Zoo has announced that it will close another one of its best attractions: World of Darkness.

Apparently even after those porcupine PSA videos made the rounds and generated some cash for the zoo, the budget can no longer support World of Darkness, the Rare Animal Range and exhibits of two different kinds of antelope, the Arabian oryx and the blesbok.

Fans of the Zoo know that the dimly lit caves and pools of the World of Darkness pavilion are home to bats, caimains, procupines, lemurs, night monkeys (a.) and other nocturnal beasts. These will reportedly be shipped away to other zoos and aquariums.

City budget cuts will lower the Bronx Zoo’s funding by $1.7 million, and another $13.3 million will be lost because of reduced donations and cuts from other levels of government.

“We will have to reduce our collections in order to handle the cuts that we already know about,” Bob Cook of the Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs the zoo, told reporters yesterday. He noted that the closures will be permanent, but there’s no word yet as to when they will take place.

Tags Bronx Zooporcupinesantelopecaimanslemursmonkeysbatsbudgets

13th April 2009

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These orangutans long for privacy

Conservationists in Indonesia have discovered a colony of between 1,000 and 2,000 orangutans in a remote corner of mountainous jungle.

The discovery is a significant boost to the world orangutan population. The endangered species resides primarily in Indonesia and Malaysia and scientists estimate that between 50,000 and 60,000 are left in the wild.

The secret orangutan pod is squirreled away on the steep slopes of Indonesia’s rugged limestone mountains. When discovered, the apes were displeased. One adult male “angrily threw branches” at the research team as they tried to take photos.

Tags orangutansmonkeysdiscoveries

6th April 2009

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These monkeys got loose (for a bit)

For anyone who followed this weekend’s news about the Great Oregon Macaque Escape - the showdown is over.

Hillsboro police assisted caretakers from the Oregon National Primate Research Center in apprehending the nine (9!) primates that escaped when the door of their cage was left unlocked after a routine cleaning.

Most of the coverage helpfully notes that the animals were NOT being used for medical research. (No Outbreak sitch here.) For extra effort: says Primate Center director Nancy Haigwood, “We are also in the process of improving the perimeter fence.”

For appropriate theme music, check out Urban Barnyard’s song “Macaque Attack” - currently at the top of the playlist here.

Tags monkeysescapesMacaquesthe law