Zoos

Petting animals at zoos, county fairs and farms could expose children to the dangerous E. coli bacteria, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned. The Atlanta-based CDC said E. coli outbreaks from farm visits last year in Washington and Pennsylvania sickened 56 people and led to 19 hospitalizations. The center said people became infected by touching animals and then putting their hands to their mouths. E. coli, most often contracted through contaminated food or water, can be fatal.

An endangered primate at the Sacramento Zoo died unexpectedly last month. Jimmy, a 13-year-old golden-bellied mangabey, collapsed Dec. 29; veterinarians were unable to revive him, zoo officials said Thursday. Little is known about mangabeys, but they are thought to live in a small area in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The primates are considered endangered because of poaching and habitat loss. There are 19 golden-bellied mangabeys in North American zoos.

Wanda has arthritis and Winky has foot problems after years of bitter winters and tight living conditions at the Detroit Zoo. So the zoo is granting them amnesty in a rare attempt to end their suffering. The Asian females will be sent to a wildlife refuge this summer or early fall, making the zoo the nation's first major animal facility to give away its elephants solely on ethical grounds, according to the Humane Society of the United States.

Conditions at the Los Angeles Zoo are so bad that animal health is often jeopardized and the facility may lose its accreditation, according to a report released Wednesday that mapped out a $50-million revitalization plan.

Government officials are wondering how to feed and dispose of hundreds of exotic animals--among them giraffes, zebras and elephants--found on a sprawling estate belonging to accused Medellin drug chieftain Pablo Escobar. It is costing thousands of dollars to feed them, and the government has been in contact with Colombian and foreign zoos to be ready offer the animals if no funds can be found to care for them properly, a senior government official said Thursday.

A miniature Betty White in a safari suit appears to sit in a notch of a rock to explain the habits of the very real spotted skunk running around below. The illusion of a vampire bat hangs near a visitor's shoulder as well as inside protective glass, and touching a blank glass wall produces surprise images of everything from a bear to--yechht!--a cockroach. Nearby, the Zooputer quizzes the visitor who has just pressed a button summoning a photo of a chuckwalla lizard: "What lunches on the chuckwalla?"

Re: "Monkeys Find Homes in San Diego, Other Zoos," May 8 Do San Diego Zoo officials really think that informed readers believe the "rescue" of 33 monkeys purchased from a South African pet dealer was solely altruistic? This wasn't a rescue; it was a kidnapping. The zoos that accepted these monkeys contributed to the illegal trafficking of wild animals in an effort to introduce "new blood" into their "inventories." Are we to believe that poachers will now ignore American zoos as a new source of customers?

A city zoning official has dealt a setback to the owner of a Northridge petting zoo who has been fighting to keep her business open despite the opposition of neighbors. "I really wrestled with this, it was close," John Parker, associate city zoning administrator, said Thursday of his decision to deny a permit application.

Keena the lion cub got her first visitors in months Saturday as Baghdad's zoo reopened to the public after bombs and looters took their toll during the U.S.-led war on Iraq. Growling and snarling, the 7-month-old cub glared at the few Iraqis who braved the sweltering July heat to visit the 2,000-acre park. "She's just a bit nervous, she's not used to so many people," the zoo's interim administrator, Lawrence Anthony, said as he stroked Keena's paws.

A private Chinese zoo has lost at least seven tigers due to starvation, sickness or fight wounds in the last four years, state media reported after two dead tiger cubs were found in a refrigerator in the ticket office. The discovery of the cubs at the zoo near Yichang at the foot of the Three Gorges Dam in Hubei province came after a rare Siberian tiger was found beheaded and skinned last week, prompting an investigation, the New China News Agency said.