#gorilla husbandry

[tawked]

Super Friends S03 DVD Extras - Grodd

[gorillaheritageposts]

Since someone recently asked for reading recommendations:

EAZA Best Practice Guidelines for Gorillas (2017)

AZA Gorilla Species Survival Plan Gorilla Care Manual (2017)

Husbandry manuals cover every aspect of captive animal care: nutrition, enrichment, exhibit design, the keeper-animal relationship, the lives of gorillas in the wild, and more.

Each one is also loaded with over 200 references. If you're looking for gorilla literature, here's a good place to start! 🦍

[despazito]

exactly! his early long form essays were obviously more thoroughly researched and really good!! his captive gorilla vid really made me reassess my perspective, but it feels like now there's less time put into his stuff and he just ends up parroting front page google results from PETA and voicing tiktok's and his personal opinions as facts.

he could really benefit from actually interviewing people with husbandry experience on the given species instead of just going off vibes from footage he finds

I wish cid dwyer's videos were like 30% less ARA rhetoric. His scripts constantly alternate between sentences i think are interesting and ones that make my eyes roll back into my skull

[is-the-primate-vid-cute]

Was wondering what your thoughts were on Koko the gorilla? Especially in regards to her husbandry? I’ve done enough research to pretty confidently say the answer is NOT CUTE, but I’m also not a specialist and there is a lot of conflicting information about her. I’d also be interested in hearing your thoughts on the sign language controversy if you wanted to discuss it? (I definitely have my own suspicions but again, have no actual experience with primates.) Absolutely no pressure though!

Regardless, thank you for what you are doing and have a nice day!

Very little is researchable in regards to the husbandry because the Gorilla Foundation she was housed in for most of her life had employees sign NDAs; this is pretty standard in big-name facilities so it's not a red flag.

Here is a source on the lesser-known sexual harassment controversy due to Koko's interest in nipples.

Here is an episode about Koko on a podcast I personally love, You're Wrong About- highly recommend!

I've yet to see an unedited video of her signing a complete complex phrase. She undoubtedly knew an impressive vocabulary, but lacked syntax and grammar and was most likely prompted or otherwise encouraged (even unintentionally Clever-Hans-style). Penny Patterson raised Koko and took her, with permission, from the San Francisco Zoo to be taught how to communicate. Patterson had some troubling views about their relationship. She referred to Koko as her daughter and when the San Francisco Zoo wanted to integrate Koko back into the troupe and get her into the breeding program, Patterson refused and enlisted social media to speak out and the zoo stepped down. I believe as someone who cared about Western Lowland Gorillas (currently critically endangered), she would see the value Koko could bring to the Species Survival Plan. But she is not a zoologist or a biologist. She's a psychologist.

There's something really special about Koko though because before her fame, gorillas were seen as primitive, smelly, small brained, less impressive apes. When we were finding out chimps and orangutans used tools in the 60s scientists at the time quickly dismissed gorillas as too dumb to even attempt experimenting on. Koko's fame in the 70s sparked public imagination and curiosity about apes and gorillas and people saw animals as capable of feeling and expressing emotion. Even after death her name is a household name in America and I think that's so special that she's remembered for enjoying rhymes and cats and being scared of ice cube trays and being able to communicate that she felt grief during a time when it was highly contested if animals had emotions.

Rest in peace, Koko and may her memory be a blessing.

[romanianwilkinson]

DISCORD SERVER SENTENCE STARTERS

A collection of quotes from my Discord server with friends. Feel free to change pronouns/wording as desired. CONTENT WARNING(S) FOR: Suggestive, crude, absolutely cursed.

“ Is this my wife? ”

“ It's important that I marry the all seeing eldritch abomination that's gonna destroy the universe. I love you but not right now. ”

“ YOUR MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSED WORDS AND TREACHERY HISSED BETWEEN YOUR HORRIBLE NEEDLE TEETH. ”

“ You do not get to directly, purposely help with ending the world. ”

“ You know what I change my mind fuck you. ”

“ He's had ~intercourse~ but he hasn't fucked. ”

“ You don't wanna kill your parasite book friend do you? ”

“ So basically anytime anyone shares that one poem about a two faced calf! Remember! That calf will die because of too much Sonic the Hedgehog! ”

“ I hate One (1) Green Fuck with a PASSION. ”

“ Help I got 4k hd-ed to death. ”

“ You’re horrible. You’re terrible. You’re absolute fucking garbage and I fucking love it. ”

“ [NAME], your jesterhood fills me with dread emotions that I cannot describe. ”

“ SHE’S LIKE A MILF WHO HATES KIDS! ”

“ And I will casually dunk on [NAME]. ”

“ I THOUGHT YOU WERE APPLYING THAT TROPE TO SHREK AND NOW I HAVE TO THINK ABOUT THE FACT THAT SHREK HAS HAD SEX. CURSED. ”

“ YOU ATE MY DAD. AND EVEN IF IT TAKES ALL WEEK, IM GONNA EAT YOU TOO, BITCH. ”

“ Isn't putting cocaine into somebody's food too mild of a prank? ”

" Would you like to see bones, child? "

“ Once again you have asked me a question about gender, and once again I must say... Probably? ”

“ My children multiply and I support them. ”

“ I’M A JEANIUS! ”

“ He doesnt have a dick as far as I’m concerned. ”

“ [NAME], you absolutely stupid toddler. ”

“ But if I ended the universe how would I touch [NAME]'s hot super soldier body? ”

“ Fuck Grammarly, all my homies hate Grammarly. ”

" I'm so sorry this fanfic parody got out of hand. I'm not even actively writing it anymore it's somehow gained sentience PLEASE kill it. "

“ THIS IS THE DARKEST TIMELINE, ACTUALLY! ”

" Actually decomposing into a skeleton rapidly because of an elder god is fine in comparison to this fucking drivel you've forced me to read with mine own eyes WHY would you DO THIS- "

“ Y’ALL MY M&MS ARE MELTING THIS SHIT CURSED TOO. ”

“ NO I HATE IT WHY’D I OFFER THAT? ”

“ I got summoned here and now I’m scared. ”

“ The cross feels less cursed because it raises less questions to me. ”

“ We're getting robbed. ”

" We say the funny fuck word and that is the peak of our humor. "

“ [NAME] Gets Eaten Alive By His Classmates. ”

" We are the transgenders.... "

" Hey kids, just here to say that please do not fucking vore me... Thanks! "

" Guess they don't call her the chosen one for nothin', huh? "

“ The evil has vanished. ”

“ We love them but just, sometimes awful things are piled at our door. ”

“ Y'all remember Spicy [NAME]? I remember Spicy [NAME]. ”

“ Okay just for the record I am totally a GILF. "

“ Very fair, MILFHunter. ”

“ [NAME] is a specialist in clown husbandry and their care. ”

“ You are very welcome, my fellow clown enthusiasts! ”

“ The clownverse consumes me now. ”

“ There could be a jester here, as we speak. ”

"I AM [NAME], MOTHER OF CLOWNS. "

“ I have to call myself for a rules lawyering hold on. "

“ This just says Ms. Steal Your Girl? ”

“ Guess I’ll date! ”

“ Sorry [NAME], no dinner. They were going to make it but they looked into each others’ eyes and now the stove is on fire while they’re kissing against the counter. ”

" [NAME], where are the post actual relationship starting walkthroughs? I need the Elite Strats. "

“ THE GUSHERS BOX HAS BECOME TOO POWERFUL TO BE CONTAINED. ”

“ Are you straight or are you normal? ”

" Those traitorous scum from Limp Biskut will be next! "

“ I DON'T KIN VEGETA! ”

“ AND GORILLAS ARE NOT EASY TO MOUNT! ”

“ Here’s how we fix next year: I need 8 trillion tons of dirt and some duck tape. ”

“ Step one: we eat the dirt. ”

“ Oh fuck - IM ALREADY A CONTAINMENT PROCEDURE! ”

“ You will be responsible for murdering a cat. Are you willing to have that blood on your hands? ”

“ If all I got out of murdering you was the knowledge that you were too much of a bottom to face me, then I would happily murder you ten thousand times over. ”

“ Since when have I ever obeyed the law? ”

“ NO MISTAKES FOR BABY, ONLY SLEEP. ”

“ I DO NOT NEED BED, I WANT TO SLEEP ON THE CURB!!! ”

“ Don’t summon demons. You’re better than that. ”

“ Why is no one talking about the Weed Tree? ”

“ Either way - someone fucked a mermaid. ”

[thecreaturecodex]

Desmodu

Image © Wizards of the Coast, by David Roach. Accessed at the Monster Manual II Art Gallery here

[So at the time I’m enqueuing this post, Furtober has been going for a while, and I’m afraid it has not been terribly successful. My thought was to post a bunch of furry monsters, because people seemed to like them and October is traditionally a theme month for internet creative types. But my average notes count is actually lower than it has been! Maybe I’m over-saturating the market. Maybe it’s because I haven’t tagged them with “furry”, instead using “furtober”, which is a tag people don’t search for or follow (I’ve since rectified this). Maybe I was mis-estimating my audience in general, but whatever the reason, Furtober feels like a bit of a failure.

You know what else feels like a bit of a failure? The desmodu! These batsquatches were Skip Williams’ baby, having appeared first in Deep Horizon, a module he wrote all about them, and then reappearing in Monster Manual II and Savage Species. Basically, they showed up in one book per year of the entire 3.0 product line, and nobody ever seemed to like them. Maybe it was because they had a lot of special abilities and gimmicks (sonic attacks! wounding! alchemy! double weapons!). Maybe because the creature misses out on what people want from an anthro bat monster--flight. Maybe because that illustration isn’t great. (Incidentally, two images by the same artist appear in Deep Horizon, and are much better. I didn’t use either of them because I only have access to very low-res versions). My version streamlines their abilities a bit and removes the double weapon gimmick.]

Desmodu CR 9 NG Monstrous Humanoid This hulking creature resembles a cross between a bat and a gorilla, with reddish fur and a wrinkled face. It does not have full wings, but a membrane connects its oversized arms to its somewhat stumpy legs. It wears a harness and leather armor, and carries an oversized hook.

The desmodus are intelligent, bat-like giant humanoids. They were once common throughout the Darklands, but warfare with the drow pushed them into the deepest, most remote corners. Desmodus have relatively poor vision, but compensate for this by an incredibly keen echolocation sense. Their language, Desmon, extends into frequencies above and below that which humans can hear, and their voices tend to jump in frequency dramatically when speaking more common languages. They are omnivores, feeding primarily on fungi and giant insects, but they require the blood of vertebrates regularly in order to stay healthy. Most desmodu obtain this blood by feeding non-lethally on giant bats and lizards kept as livestock.

Desmodus favor the use of weapons in warfare, such as crossbows and their signature hooked staves. They also craft alchemical items, and use these intelligently to disrupt enemy tactics—charging into enemy formations with a lit smokestick in their belt is a common desmodu gambit. Their sonic abilities can be honed into weapons, firing bolts of stunning sound or filling enemies with despair-causing vibrations. As most desmodu are good, most of them will accept surrender, and most would prefer to flee or surrender themselves instead of fight to the death.

Most desmodus live in small enclaves, and community is dearly important to them. Desmodus wear “kinship badges”, which are metallic bell-like structures that resonate when struck with echolocation, the pitch revealing the family and enclave of the wearer. They trade with other enclaves or with other Darklands species, but material goods are not considered valuable for their own sake. Many desmodus are proud of their animal husbandry, breeding new strains of livestock suitable for food, as pack animals, or even as mounts. Desmodus worship a small pantheon of gods and empyreal lords devoted to darkness, earth and kinship. Some clans have fallen to evil, however, serving powers of war and blood.

A desmodu stands between eight and nine feet tall. They walk bipedally with a rolling gait, but when they need speed drop down on all fours. They favor leather as material for armor and clothing.

Desmodu        CR 9 XP 6,400 NG Large monstrous humanoid Init +3; Senses blindsight 120 ft., darkvision 30 ft., Perception +17 Defense AC 21, touch 12, flat-footed 18 (-1 size, +3 Dex, +6 natural, +3 armor) hp 114 (12d10+48) Fort +10, Ref +11, Will +10; +4 vs. sonic Defensive Abilities soundproof Offense Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft. (40 ft. when galloping) Melee ogre hook +16/+11/+6 (2d8+7/x3), bite +11 (1d8+2 plus bleed) or 2 claws +16 (1d6+5), bite +16 (1d8+5 plus bleed) Ranged screech bolt +14 touch (5d6 sonic and stun) or light crossbow +14 (2d6/19-20) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Special Attacks bleed (1d4), subsonic hum (12 rounds/day) Statistics Str 20, Dex 16, Con 18, Int 15, Wis 15, Cha 11 Base Atk +12; CMB +18 (+20 vs. trip); CMD 31 (33 vs. trip) Feats Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Great Fortitude, Improved Trip, Quick Draw, Vital Strike Skills Acrobatics +19 (+14 jumping, +23 jumping w/ gallop), Climb +20, Craft (alchemy) +17, Handle Animal +12, Heal +10, Perception +21, Stealth +14; Racial Modifiers +4 Acrobatics, +4 Perception Languages Desmon, Terran, Undercommon Ecology Environment underground Organization solitary, pair, company (3-7) or troop (8-20) Treasure standard (Large masterwork studded leather armor, Large ogre hook, Large light crossbow with 20 bolts, other treasure) Special Abilities Blindsight (Ex) A desmodu’s blindsight is hearing based. They cannot use this ability if deafened or in the area of a silence spell. Gallop (Ex) A desmodu can move at a speed of 40 feet if it travels on all four limbs. It cannot hold an item in hand or draw an item when it gallops. Screech Bolt (Su) As a standard action once every 1d4 rounds, a desmodu can fire a ray at a range of 60 feet. A creature struck by this ray takes 5d6 points of sonic damage and must succeed a DC 22 Fortitude save or be stunned for 1 round. The save DC is Constitution based. Soundproof (Ex) A desmodu gains a +4 racial bonus on all saving throws against sonic effects. Subsonic Hum (Su) A desmodu can create an area of sonic vibrations in a 30 foot radius around itself. It can use this ability as a standard action, and maintain it on later rounds as a swift action. A desmodu can use this ability for a number of rounds per day equal to its Hit Dice + Charisma modifier. It gains access to the following two abilities: Despair All enemies in the area must succeed a DC 16 Will save or be struck with despair, suffering a -2 penalty to attack rolls, saving throws, skill and ability checks and weapon damage rolls for as long as they remain in the area of the hum. Hope All allies in the area gain a +2 morale bonus to attack rolls, saving throws, skill and ability checks and weapon damage rolls as long as they remain in the area of the hum. A desmodu can switch between effects as a standard action. This is a mind-influencing emotion effect, and the save DC is Charisma based.

[walkingshcdow-a]

((Dad and I went to the zoo today and you guys need to know how much my dad loves primates. We watched the simangs for twenty full minutes and for most of those, he spent time calling to them by imitating their hooting. We watched the Patas monkey troop for a while and he called them “beautiful”. He took a bunch of pictures of the chimpanzees.

And then he saw the gorillas. 

I thought my father was going to cry. He took pictures and stared in awe and then, very quietly, took my hand and said, “Thank you for bringing me here. I’ve never seen a gorilla in person and I always wanted to.” and we watched the silverback make his rounds in the playground enclosure. 

I never realized he liked monkeys and apes so much. It was really cool to see him little-kid levels of excited about something. 

We also watched them do husbandry training with the male lion today and I forgot I know more about zoo animals than the average tour guide until Dad started asking me questions about them and I actually knew the answers. In another life, I suppose I’m a wildlife specialist of some kind. In this one, I was just glad I could answer his questions before he interrupted a seven year old to ask the keeper.))

[gettingvetted]

Things I Learned on My Exotics Rotation

1. We really don’t know that much about exotic species. We like to think we do, but a lot of what we know is taken from similar, more well-studied animals or a veeeeeery small number of the animals in question (i.e. we don’t have any bloodwork reference values for foxes but they’re pretty similar to dogs so we can either use 3 sets of bloodwork results from this species in which one was a lactating female, one was a healthy male, and one was a baby, or we can use the dog reference ranges and hope they’re close enough).

2. Reptiles always die really slowly, unless they don’t.

3. Most zoos do not take blood during their yearly physical exams even if it is an animal that is safe to anesthetize yearly. Like I’m not asking you to take blood from your elephants, gorillas, etc every year because often their physicals are done without sedation if possible, but if you’re putting a tufted deer under for a yearly physical and vaccines, you really should be drawing blood. If not for submission to a worldwide database for zoo vets to use, then at least to get consistent records on the animal so you will know if something is off from previous results (see #1). Apparently the zoo we worked with on this rotation was an anomaly in that regard.

4. Like 95% of problems that occur with exotic species is husbandry related. If I have to tell you to not let your cockatiel roam the house unsupervised and to not let him interact with the dog and to not let him eat the dog’s food and to not let him chew on drywall then there is something wrong. I wish it didn’t take death of their animal (or in this case, 7 days of hospitalization for treatment of zinc toxicity) for people to learn this.

5. A lot of exotic owners think they know better than vets. Now it’s one thing for an experienced exotics owner to come to me, a vet that is not an exotics specialist, and think they know more than I do, because that’s probably true. (although I am the one with access to the medications and to advice from said boarded specialists because their numbers are all in my phone now.) But if you’re coming to a vet school with three boarded exotics specialists and two interns with years of exotics experience and you still ignore the advice you’re given, then you’re just willfully ignorant.

6. Rabbits and GI stasis. Yep.

7. Because they are so good at hiding problems as a whole, you can take an apparently “mostly” healthy animal and start working with it to treat whatever is going on, and it will just... die. Instantly. For no apparent reason.

8. I’ve not seen CPR on an animal before this rotation. And honestly... I understand why people want to give it a fighting chance, but I also know the statistics on survival of the animal even if, against all odds, you do get it back (they’re abysmal). My personal opinion is that if 15-20 minutes of CPR is not doing anything, then it’s time to let the animal go. (both instances that I helped with, went on for over an hour).

9. You could not pay me to own a bird and IMO, keeping more highly intelligent birds in captivity is nearly unethical.

10. For whatever reason, reptile owners think it’s normal when their animals haven’t eaten in 8 months?? We had more than one client come in with a reptile that had fasted for an extended period and were clearly starving. One had West Nile Virus and the other had a gastric neuroadenocarcinoma. Obviously neither could’ve been cured even if they brought it in earlier, but like... why would you wait 8 months?

[sincerepositivethings]

Issue Fifty-Nine

I feel like everybody is allowed one, and only one, old person "things were better in my day" hot take. Maybe two if they're really interesting and well-founded. "What's my hot take?" you ask? Oh, of course I'll share. I think kids today are missing out on a broad swath of cultural references because most of them aren't growing up watching the classic Looney Tunes like I did. There are a million things to watch now, so I completely get it: "why would I put on a cartoon from 75 years ago when I can watch something far more relevant to my own time?" That's is a perfectly fair counterpoint. Another one might be, do kids today really need to know the song "Someone's Rocking My Dream Boat" or know who Peter Lorre is or know what a Victory Garden is or the phrase "Whydontcha come up and SEE me SOMEtime?" The answer, obviously, is yes. Of course they do. But beyond that, these cartoons are just fun. They're zany in a way that's different from pretty much everything else, they were made for adults as much as they were for kids so they're often pretty sophisticated, and they're just stuffed with jokes. I just rewatched one of my favorites, Baseball Bugs, and I've seen it probably a hundred times between reruns on TNT and Cartoon Network, but there were at least five jokes that I still laughed out loud at and surprised me. (The meek umpire emerging from the ground to declare that the runner from the Gashouse Gorillas was safe after being driven into the ground by a punch was the first.) So many of these 8 minute cartoons are just perfect diamonds of compressed hilarity that deserve to live on. Happily, I can report that many of them have made the jump over the HBOMax platform where you can stream hundreds of the classic shorts as well as some newly made cartoons that do a good job of capturing the spirit of those originals. Sadly, that means it's a lot harder for me to give you a link to "Baseball Bugs" right now. I can very easily send you to a link that features the Gashouse Gorillas' conga line of runs, looped for two hours, which is good to know. Instead, I can only provide you with three minutes of the short for those of you without HBOMax, but the good news is: it's still a very funny three minutes.

This is the final Sincere, Positive Things before Labor Day 2020, so I've got a real hot tip if you'd like to make a playlist for your barbecue that is aggressively on point. Brain Dewan is an artist and musician who has only put out a few albums, but they're all fantastic and unlike those of anyone else out there. Along with his work in the art world, he has built an electric zither, is an accomplished accordionist, and put out an album in 2016 to benefit The Greenhorns, an organization set up to help out farmers who are new to the field. For Grange Future, Dewan covered many classic songs from The Patrons of Husbandry, a fraternal organization formed after the Civil War to help farmers band together and advocate for laws that helped rural farmers, such as lowering rates charged by railroads, and bringing rural free mail delivery by the Post Office. For those who aren't into the hottest tunes of the 1800s, there's also a cover of an 11 year old YouTube video entitled "Milk the Cows Rap." Dewan's cover doesn't seem to have any authentic moo-ing underneath, but it does have significantly more accordion. This might not be the album to spin from beginning to end, but pepper a few tracks in there for a grand ole time. ("'Plow Deep''s the Motto" is great, and you can hear some solid zitherin' on "Tis Better to Stay on the Farm.") Happy Labor Day!

[idiotxwizard]

me making unwise purchases of animals and their husbandries is just my way of adding enrichment to my enclosure

i’m just a little zoo animal. the gorilla they gave a pet kitten. snake. rats. cats. fish. my enclosure is so enriched. maybe perhaps i think i could have another friend.

[sexydeathparty]

Charity Employing Boris Johnson's Wife Advertised For An Unpaid Intern

Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie Johnson 

An animal charity which employs Boris Johnson’s wife has been criticised after it advertised for an unpaid internship.

The ad on the Aspinall Foundation’s website said they were “looking for a passionate, hardworking individual” to work in the gorilla section at Howletts Wild Animal Park near Canterbury in Kent.

However, it added that they were “unable to offer any wages or salary for the placement”, which could last for up to a year.

Carrie Johnson is director of communications at the Aspinall Foundation.

According to the government, the law makes clear “that any individual performing work, including an intern, is entitled to receive the minimum wage”.

The prime minister has also previously said he supports calls for unpaid internships to be banned.

The job advert - which was taken down after HuffPost UK approached the charity - said “Howletts works in conjunction with The Aspinall Foundation; a charity committed to the conservation of rare and endangered animals through breeding and reintroduction programmes”.

It said the internship is “an excellent opportunity to shadow our keepers and to learn all aspects of animal husbandry”.

The successful candidate “will need to have a good level of physical fitness, be happy working at height and comfortable with heavy lifting”, the ad says.

Anyone interested in applying must be able to commit to work 3-5 days a week for between 6 and 12 months.

The advert said that because the animal park is funded by visitor fees and donations “we regret we are unable to offer any wages or salary for the placement”.

Apart from a uniform and a discount at the park’s food outlets “no other financial benefits are offered”. 

The ad said: “Candidates will need to have the ability to financially support themselves for the entire length of the internship.”

The ad on the Aspinall Foundation website which has now been taken down.

Conservative MP Alec Shelbrooke, who has campaigned to end unpaid internships, told HuffPost UK: “There’s no such thing as ‘an excellent opportunity’ if you have to be financially independent to be able to take up the role.

“This is simply rich people giving jobs to other rich people who can afford to work for free. The whole issue of unpaid internships is a stain on the employment laws in this country.” 

Responding to Shelbrooke shortly after becoming prime minister in 2019, the PM said he “absolutely endorsed” his campaign to outlaw unpaid internships.

He said: “We should be a meritocracy and people should be able to access jobs not according to who they know, but according to their talents.”

Shelbrooke added: “I hope and pray the prime minister finds a mechanism to outlaw this practice. He committed to doing so at the dispatch box when he first became prime minister and I still hope it’s something that can be addressed.”

A spokesperson for the department for business, energy and industrial strategy said: “The law already states that any individual performing work, including an intern, is entitled to receive the minimum wage and the government is committed to ensuring this happens at all times.

“HMRC has contacted over 2,000 employers found to be advertising unpaid internships online to ensure they comply with the law and regularly reminds businesses employing interns of their responsibilities.”

A spokesperson for the animal park said: “This internship offers a unique opportunity to train with some of the most knowledgeable conservation professionals in the world. It is offered by the Howletts Wild Animal Trust. Carrie Johnson is employed by the Aspinall Foundation, a separate organisation.”

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from HuffPost UK - Athena2 - All Entries (Public) https://ift.tt/Dxs2W9V via IFTTT

[is-the-primate-vid-cute]

Hi! Just wanted to say thanks for answering my question about Koko, and for recommending “You’re Wrong About” too, I really enjoyed the Koko episode and listened to some other great ones as well!

I also did a little more digging myself and I found this article that goes more into the husbandry of Koko and Ndume, citing whistleblower reports (some anonymous) from former gorilla foundation employees. I don’t know how trustworthy it is but it does mention some concerning things. The podcast touched on Koko’s diet and these reports also agree that Koko appears to have been given a lot of inappropriate foods as well as being treated with homeopathic supplements and pills. It’s also noted that Ndume was neglected and isolated, including not receiving proper veterinary testing.

Not sure how tumblr will handle the link so to look it up it is a National Post article titled “The troubling world of Koko the gorilla and the decline of ape language research” if you want to check it out.

Anyway, thanks again, and I do see what you mean about the change in public perception in regards to gorilla intelligence being a very important thing. I just wish it didn’t come at the cost of many of the apes who were in these studies, but hopefully we can do better in the future.

Oh, thank you! I haven't had a moment to read the article but I'll post it so others can instead of holding onto this ask until I have time to read it.

Agreed about studies including primates it's my opinion that no information is worth gathering if it comes at the hands of suffering.The way we conduct studies of animals has changed leaps and bounds but I honestly couldn't care less about if chimps or capuchins or whatever species can or can't use ASL or lexicons if we can't find these things humanely. It's not worth it.

[doggiedrawings]

New Wildlife Animal Pins!

I cannot tell you how excited I am about this new series of black and gold cloisonne pins.They look even more wonderful in real life than in these photos.

Motivation and inspiration came to me from a trip to Franklin Park Zoo last month, where I was invited behind-the-scenes to visit two gorillas getting their daily husbandry training. (Thank you, Jef and Alexis!) I will be donating some of these new enamel pins to Zoo New England’s end-of-year fundraiser for the American Association of Zookeepers. 

These Wildlife pins are now available from my etsy shop (retail and wholesale). 

UPDATE: New designs coming soon in 2018: Elephant, Sea Lion, African Painted Wolf.

- Lili xox

[supremekalmllc]

New Post has been published on https://supremekalm.com/hemp-trademark-litigation-update-national-grange-suesoregon-based-hemp-grange/

Hemp Trademark Litigation Update: National Grange Sues Oregon-Based Hemp Grange

In our ongoing coverage of trademark litigation in the cannabis space, we now have a lawsuit filed by National Grange against the Oregon-based Hemp Grange.

The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry (or the National Grange) is the nation’s oldest agricultural fraternal organization. The National Grange is a “family, community organization with its roots in agriculture,” and was founded in 1867. The National Grange also owns a number of active U.S. federal trademark registrations, including registrations for GRANGE covering the following range of goods and services:

Dress shirts, Hats, Jackets, Short-sleeved or long-sleeved t-shirts, Sweat shirts and Ties, all sold or distributed in connection with a national fraternal organization, and specifically excluding footwear;

Jewelry; Ornamental pins;

Cookbooks;

Farmers’ markets;

Catering services; providing community centers for social gatherings and meetings, at which meals are served; providing social meeting, banquet and social function facilities; provision of fair and exhibition facilities;

Restaurant services;

Credit cards, posters, and publications; namely, newsletters, brochures, and pamphlets about family life in farm, rural and suburban communities, national legislative affairs; and

Association and charitable services; namely, advancing the quality of family life in farm, rural and suburban communities.

The scope of trademark protection granted to the National Grange for the GRANGE mark is quite broad, which leads us to their latest dispute. National Grange filed a lawsuit for trademark infringement against Hemp Grange last month, arguing that Hemp Grange, which is a hemp and CBD marketing and retail business in Oregon, is unfairly benefiting from the National Grange’s reputation and is harming National Grange’s reputation by suggesting a connection between the two businesses. According to the complaint:

“Defendants’ use of the name and mark ‘The Hemp Grange’ with goods and services related to those offered by the Grange is therefore likely to cause confusion, mistake, or deception as to the affiliation, connection, or association of the ‘The Hemp Grange’ with the Grange, or as to the origin, sponsorship, or approval of Defendants’ goods and services by the Grange.”

The complaint was filed in Medford, Oregon, and seeks to enjoin Hemp Grange from using the word “Grange” in its name, and demands that Hemp Grange destroy its business cards and advertisements and cancel its domain registration for thehempgrange.com. According to lawyers for the National Grange, they sought to reach a settlement with Hemp Grange earlier this year, but were “invited” by the proprietors to bring a lawsuit.

Unfortunately, Hemp Grange’s position may not be as strong as they thought, and inviting a lawsuit may not have been the best strategy to pursue–especially given the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on damages in these cases–but only time will tell. The question here will be whether the goods and services provided by defendant Hemp Grange are confusingly similar to the goods and services provided and protected by trademark by the National Grange. The agricultural nature of the goods could certainly support an argument for likelihood of confusion.

The National Grange is no stranger to litigation, having successfully asserted its federal trademark rights against the California Guild (formerly the California State Grange) in the Eastern District of California several years ago. This new lawsuit should be interesting. We wouldn’t be surprised if it settles, given the clout of the National Grange, but we’ll be following along closely to find out.

For background on some of the other notable trademark disputes brought upon cannabis companies, see below:

What NOT to do with your Cannabis Brand: The Gorilla Glue Trademark Infringement Dispute

Girl Scouts Allege Misappropriation by Cannabis Edibles Company

New Trademark Litigation Against “Stoney Patch” Cannabis Products Calls Out an Industry Trend of Copycats

UPS Sues Multiple Cannabis Delivery Companies for Trademark Infringement

Yet ANOTHER Cannabis Trademark Infringement Case: Tapatio Foods Files Suit

Another Cannabis Trademark Dispute, Another Settlement

The post Hemp Trademark Litigation Update: National Grange Sues Oregon-Based Hemp Grange appeared first on Harris Bricken.

[speciesofleastconcern]

Questions from young person and my answers

A friend’s son interviewed me for an assignment. Here are the Qs and As if you want em. 1) Are the animals at your zoo happy that they are being held captive? 2) How well do you know the animals at your zoo? 3) How well do you treat the animals at your zoo? 4) Are there more animals at your zoo that are there to be saved , and not just for entertainment? If so, how many more animals are there to be saved? 5) Does your zoo take care of Panamanian Golden Frogs? Dear C------, Thanks for your thoughtful questions! I answered them in between tasks while I was working, so I hope the answers make sense. You chose a couple subjects that I am passionate about, so I was very excited to talk about them. If there are things in my answers that need clarification, please let me know, or feel free to ask follow up questions. Best of luck with the assignment! Sincerely 1) It’s not clear that animals can understand the idea of “captivity.” Humans feel very strongly about the concepts of freedom and captivity, to the point that we punish lawbreakers by putting them in captivity. But animals don’t seem to have much ability to think about the future, or to imagine things other than what they are experiencing. What we do at a zoo is to give the animals as many choices as possible—places to go and experiences to have—within the space that we can safely give them. We also have a hard time telling if animals are “happy” or not, since that is also human concept. We try to provide an environment that has everything the animal physically needs in order to be comfortable and healthy, with enough choices so they can demonstrate whether they are suffering stress or not. 2) Some animals I know very well, some not as much. As a quarantine keeper, I take care of almost every animal in the zoo eventually, but only for a limited time, usually 30 days. Other keepers work with a limited group of animals and may work with those animals for many years. Almost every animal at the zoo has a training program, with a keeper whose job it is to work with that animal, understand its behavior, and use positive reinforcement training techniques to get the animal to do certain things willingly. Most of the animals, for example, are trained to go to a specific place and wait there—when an animal can do this willingly, we can weigh it on a regular basis, visually examine its body for injuries or other changes that might indicate a change in its health, and so on. We even have several gorillas who are trained to offer their shoulder so that we can give them a flu vaccine. The zookeepers who train their animals know them very well. 3) We like to think that we treat the animals very well, and that as we learn more about animal husbandry and veterinary medicine, that we are treating them better now than we were just a few years ago. We have access to the latest science about animal nutrition so that the animals can get the best possible types of food available for their health. We have three veterinarians on staff and four veterinary technicians so that if any of the animals gets sick or hurt they can be taken care of right away. The animals all get regular vaccinations and physical examinations. The keepers are very protective of the animals—if they think there is something a little “off” about an animal they will let the vet staff know immediately. We provide “enrichment” for all the animals, which is our way of saying we give them toys and games, but also expose them to interesting smells (the big cats love the smell of sheep’s wool, for example) and sounds. We have an enrichment committee whose job it is to make sure that all of the animals are receiving enrichment which is safe, species-appropriate, and effective. (Enrichment is considered effective if the animal interacts with it in a way that displays normal behavior—playing outside is good enrichment for human children because it causes the children to climb and play and throw and dig and all the other normal human child behaviors). 4) When I think of animals at the zoo being there for “entertainment,” it makes me wonder if people think that the exhibits in a science museum are entertaining, or if visitors to an arboretum think the trees are entertaining. Zoos are science museums that exhibit animals and animal behavior—and it’s true, animals and animal behavior can be entertaining. Everyone finds monkeys and tigers entertaining, but what about the frogs, or songbirds, or insects? We want all of the exhibits to be interesting, we want people to want to experience the zoo in a positive way. Back in the bad old days zoos would allow guests to throw things at the animals, or feed them unhealthy things. We do not allow any kind of “entertainment” that is detrimental to the animals. We allow guests to interact with some animals, like petting the goats or feeding the parakeets or walking among the butterflies—each of these activities is carefully monitored so that the guests can have a good time without doing anything that could harm the animals. Many of the animals at the zoo belong to species that are endangered, some very endangered. Gorillas, pygmy hippos, and mandrills are all animals from parts of Africa where habitat is disappearing and it wouldn’t be safe to release more animals into the habitat. All of the zoos in North America work carefully with one another to exchange animals when necessary to make sure that the zoo population is stable and that no more endangered animals will be taken from the wild to replace them. You probably know that zoos are responsible for rescuing certain species of animals from extinction, like the black-footed ferret, the California condor, the golden lion tamarin, and recently the Lord Howe stick insect. The zoo I work for has brought Siberian crane eggs (laid by our birds) to be raised in Russia, preserved vital DNA and gametes (reproductive cells) from Mexican gray wolves, we helped save Bali mynahs (a kind of bird) from disappearing completely into the pet trade, and we help out with Blanding’s turtle recovery efforts here in Massachusetts. None of the animals we keep are there just so they can be released to the wild, but it’s something that could happen in the future. Because zoos hire and train people who are experts at caring for, training, breeding, and providing health care for animals, zoos are the logical places for these recovery efforts to be located. There are thousands of species of animals that are in need of protection and recovery. Zoos are one piece of it, along with protecting habitat, conserving resources (recycling!), and changing the way that we treat animals and their environments around the world. 5) At the moment we don’t have any Panamanian golden frogs, but we have cared for them here. I’m super glad you brought them up because they are part of one of the most amazing projects I’ve been involved with at the zoo. My boss, the head veterinarian here, was on a team of researchers who joined scientists in Panama to study the impact of the fungal disease that is killing so many species of frogs. They determined that the problem was severe, even worse than they expected, and if no one did anything the Panamanian golden frog and dozens of other frog species would be wiped out. They created a project called the Amphibian ARK, like Noah’s Ark, to rescue the frogs. They are keeping the frogs in disease-free quarantine spaces, in Panama but also in zoos all around the world. If they hadn’t acted fast these frogs would just be gone. The frogs are being bred and protected, at the same time that the disease is being studied. It’s pretty complicated stuff that I don’t fully understand, but I think some of the effort will be to breed and release many thousands of tadpoles—there will likely be some that are more resistant to the disease, and they will pass their genes on to the next generation. A few years ago I was privileged to take care of 15 Panamanian golden frogs in the zoo hospital where I worked. It was amazing to think that I was working with an animal species that had completely disappeared from the wild, and that I was one of a handful of people who had ever seen one. Of course, once they were put on exhibit, then hundreds of people could see them, and learn the story. Someone will be inspired by the experience to figure out what we need to do to keep the frogs from going extinct, and then they will be wild, and we will have prevented extinction.