Baby Animals

Georgeanne Irvine, public relations manager at the San Diego Zoo, maintains there are few things in life she takes seriously. For one, she introduces herself by saying, "Hi! My name is George, I work for the Zoo, and I was born on Halloween!" Preservation of wildlife is another matter for the 34-year-old University Heights resident, though. Irvine writes children's books about baby animals in her spare time, thus doing her part, she says, to encourage preservation of endangered species.

Just before the gates opened at the Los Angeles Zoo, tourists and children's tour groups milled around outside the gates. But the "zoo freaks" dashed in. "You don't want to be late," said Bud Price, a short, bandylegged 86-year-old in a plaid cap. Price hurried off to walk the perimeter of the zoo grounds, which he does every day, while Hank Schappach, loaded down with camera equipment, headed for the aviary.

I am not sure I can write that there has never been a time when so many books about animals appear on a daily basis. But I think I can safely say that never before have there been so many books about animals where the theme is so uniform and so different from books that appeared just a few years ago.

Spring came early to the Los Angeles Zoo. Maybe it was the mild weather, not at all like winter. Five animal pairs decided that they would succumb to the soft murmur of the breezes through the trees and now there are baby animals in five enclosures. "Spring is the most glorious time of the year at the zoo because you can see the payoff of all the hard work when you go down and see a new life, a healthy baby," said Warren Thomas, the zoo director. Thomas makes Dr.

You peer out your kitchen window and see a baby bird hopping and fluttering in the back yard as though it can't get off the ground. You want to help, but what can you do? Sometimes the greatest kindness is to do nothing. "First make sure the baby needs help," says Martine Colette, founder and president of the Wildlife Waystation, a nonprofit animal rescue and rehabilitation facility. "At the end of the season, baby birds sometimes leave the nest and flutter and hop on the ground.

Like a proud parent, the Los Angeles Zoo is showing off its babies. The new arrivals include a golden lion tamarin, a white-cheeked gibbon, a mountain tapir, a sifaka and giant eland brothers. Most of the babies were bred and born on display. "It's a good educational tool for the public," said Michael Dee, the zoo's general curator. Except for watching closely for any signs of illness, curators don't interfere with the mothers' raising of their young.

What accounts for the consumption of 6,000 pounds of chicken in less than a month and produces 90 baby animals, including goat triplets and 14 potbellied pigs? Give up? It's the Los Angeles County Fair. After producing these and many other obscure statistics, the 84th annual fair came to a close on Sunday after an 18-day run at the Fairplex in Pomona. Attendance figures were still being tallied, but the fair has averaged about 1.3 million visitors over the last several years, officials said.

You're never too young to be mesmerized by a piece of music. You're never too young to be captivated by a storybook character. And in the eyes of the video industry, you're never too young to be a target market. Having captured the hearts and minds of school-age children and teen-agers, video suppliers are focusing their marketing efforts on preschoolers.

After more than 2 million farm animals were slaughtered to stop foot-and-mouth disease, one photogenic calf was credited last week with forcing the British government to change its policy. Agriculture Minister Nick Brown announced that officials would be given discretion on whether it was necessary to carry out the government "firebreak" policy of culling apparently healthy animals on farms surrounding infected properties.

I feel so much better knowing that the baby calves are butchered "by knife cutting, not sawing." What a difference that makes! Not only to me , but surely to the baby animals murdered for "people who want this kind of . . . flavor"! SHELLEY BUTLER West Los Angeles