All creatures great and small…by Sheila Claydon

 Some of my books have wild animals in the story but experiencing the real thing is something different!

Am having such an amazing week. My eldest granddaughter has almost completed a year’s internship at Shaldon Wildlife Trust as part of her biology and veterinary training. The zoo, which is set in beautiful semi tropical woodland, is home to some of the rarest and most endangered species known to man. It is regarded as one of the best zoos in the UK for the conservation of critically endangered primates.

 Only yesterday, a year old margay (a small South American wild cat with spectacular light brown and dark brown markings) was transferred to a zoo in France as part of the European breeding program. The margay is on what is known as the IUCN red list for threatened species. Its numbers have declined dramatically due to loss of habitat caused by deforestation as well as the illegal wildlife pet trade!

The zoo has golden lion tamarins, cotton-top tamarins, red ruffed lemurs, red titi monkeys, venomous slow loris, yellow-breasted capuchins, the list goes on. There are also various poisonous dart frogs, one of whose poison can kill 10 men just by touching a small cut in their skin. This poison is still used by hunters on the tips of their arrows. 

There are many more primates, reptiles and birds in the zoo, all in small groups and all mainly kept for breeding, education, and sharing with other similar zoos worldwide in an attempt to maintain viable numbers. In some cases this is more a question of faith than certainty but the work goes on thanks to dedicated conservationists, zookeepers and veterinarians amidst a continual plea for funding. 

One of the ways they raise money is to offer the public ‘experiences’ in strictly limited numbers and this is why I’m having such a good time. I’ve not only fed the lemurs, meerkats and cotton-top tamarins, I’ve been able to watch some of the positive reinforcement training necessary to encourage animals to voluntarily enter crates for veterinary visits, as well as less stressful transports to other zoos.

All the animals have immaculately kept and generous inside and outside accommodation, at least 3 nutritionally balanced meals a day and, where appropriate, enrichment activities to encourage their natural wild behaviours. This is especially important for the cleverer animals as well as the larger groups to make sure that everyone is always occupied!

I can’t begin to explain how it felt when a tiny (0.4kg), critically endangered cotton-top tamarin took a peanut from my hand or a meerkat sat on my lap while I held its food bowl other than to say it was a great privilege to get so close to wild creatures and have them look me in the eye as if sizing me up! All approaches are made by the animals. Visitors are not allowed to pet them or touch them in any way and have to respect their habitat, so for one to decide to climb on you and trust you in such a way is a privilege indeed.

That such zoos are necessary is the sadness. The illegal pet trade, deforestation, the development of agricultural mono crops and, in the past, overhunting, have led to the need for safety-net populations and breeding programs to ensure the continued survival of so many species. Mankind is driving so many wild creatures to near extinction that it is heartbreaking.

I just don't get some people by Michelle Lee

I have been encouraged by many of the BWL authors to share a little bit about myself - rather than just my thoughts on covers and images.  So here is another of those posts  ...

As I am sure you have figured out already, based on past posts of mine, I am a nature lover.  What you might not know is that, although I have issues with how some zoos operate, I support the zoo concept.

There is a quote that I strongly believe in.  It goes ...

"In the end we will conserve only what we love; 

we will love only what we understand; 

and we will understand only what we are taught." 

(Baba Dioum, 1968)

For many people, zoos are the only way they will ever have exposure to some animals, and to the need for conservation.  Zoos also provide a repository of genetic material for animals that are quickly going extinct in the wild.

So it was with a heavy heart that I read an article where a wolf at the Menominee Park Zoo was put down because of the actions of people - any of which had they stopped and actually thought about things along the way, could have prevented the situation.

What do I mean by that?

A gate to a restricted area was left open.  Had the employee made sure to do what they were supposed to, the area would have been secured.  It might seem a small oversight, but when you have wild animals under your care - animals that depend on your for their safety and health, as well as depend on you to keep unauthorized people away, then that small oversight is a big deal.

A parent, who wanted a picture of the wolves in the exhibit CHOSE to go into a clearly marked restricted area.  Not only that, the parent CHOSE to take their young child with them.  Now as a parent myself, I remember when my daughter was young and constantly into things. Some place like, oh gee, a zoo meant I needed to keep an eye on her to make sure she didn't wander off, attempt to pull a feather from a peacock, climb up the rail and lean into the elephant exhibit, etc.  So the parent made a bad error in judgement and placed the desire to get a picture, from an area they knew they were not allowed in to, to override their duty to their child.

As a result - while the parent was getting their picture of a beautiful wolf - their child was attempting to have its own encounter.  Now many small children don't view dogs as a threat - and in fact view them as playful and a friend.  This is natural. As we all know, wolves are the ancestral line for the modern dog - so to a small child, they can appear to be one and the same.  So it should come as no surprise that the child attempted to pet and/or play with the wolf through the less rigorously controlled fencing.  Zoo enclosures are regulated strictly by AZA to protect patrons.  Zoo keeper areas are a little more relaxed because they are behind gates, and the relationship necessitates some access to the animals by the keepers.  So in this situation, the child was able to get close enough to the WILD WOLF that it, feeling threatened, nipped at the child.

As a result - there was a potential for rabies.

Now here is where things get a little rocky.  Rabies vaccines have not been "proven" completely effective for wolves - because to prove the effectiveness you have to kill the animal and dissect the brain after first giving the vaccine and then introducing the rabies virus.  For a species we are trying to increase numbers of - killing off the required amount to prove the effectiveness of the vaccine is unnecessary.  Those in the zoo who are in danger of being bitten have all had the necessary vaccine themselves.

So with potential exposure, even thought the wolf had had the vaccine, without the 'proven effectiveness' of the vaccine - there were only three possibilities.

1.  Wait and see - which is not a good option, since there is no cure for rabies- just a preventative.  So had the wolf had rabies, and infected the child, the child would have died.

2. Kill the wolf, dissect the brain - and then if it showed positive, give the child the rabies vaccine series of shots.  If this is done quick enough, the child survives.

3. Just go ahead and give the child the series of shots.

The parents were given the choice of what they wanted done.

What did they chose?  Option 2.

Now I understand the rabies vaccines are not comfortable.  In fact, they hurt.  And we are not talking just one injection, but a series of them.  Having worked in animal rehab myself, I have enough friends who have had the vaccines to know they are not pleasant.

That said - because of the zoo employee messing up, because of the parent choosing to go into a restricted area and then further compounding the situation by NOT WATCHING THEIR CHILD, the wolf was put down.  The wolf did not attack viciously.  It didn't charge or aggressively come after the child.  A stranger was in its 'safe place' attempting to touch it, and the animal simply reacted.

I know, had it been me, and I was the parent who acted foolishly, I would have opted for my child to have the vaccine and more than likely, would have gotten my own set - not because of any fear of the disease, but to suffer as my child was.  I know that I would not have opted to kill an innocent creature for my own stupidity.

So what about you?  Any thoughts on this situation?

~ Michelle

If you are interested in a more lighthearted post about animals ... check out

BLACK AND WHITE AND SHIFTERS ALL OVER