10:06 AM, September 26, 2008
The famous six-toed cats at Ernest Hemingway's island home aren't going anywhere, the Associated Press reports: The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum announced Thursday that it had reached an agreement with the federal government that allows the 50 or so cats to continue to roam the grounds, ending a five-year battle that could have resulted in the felines being removed or caged.
Most of the cats descend from Snowball, a cat given to the novelist in 1935. Since then, the felines have freely wandered the grounds of the Spanish colonial house. All the cats carry the gene for six toes, but not all show the trait.
The home is where the Nobel Prize-winning author wrote "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "To Have and Have Not" and is one of the most popular visitor attractions in the Florida Keys.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed the agreement. It had threatened to fine the museum $200 per day per cat -- about $10,000 a day -- saying the museum didn't have the proper animal exhibition license and couldn't qualify for one, primarily because the animals weren't enclosed.
The museum has installed a fence to keep the animals on the one-acre property.
From 2003 until October, a series of meetings between the USDA and museum officials proved fruitless, Michael Morawski, president and chief executive of the museum, told the Associated Press. He said the museum has spent more than $250,000 on lawyers and the fence and continues to question the need for the permit.
"The cats have been living on the grounds for years, and we're not a zoo, carnival or amusement park," Morawski said.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Rob O'Neal / Associated Press
4:20 PM, August 24, 2008
Animal lovers who love to travel the West will like this: L.A. Times' readers nominated the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in southwest Utah as one of the best "Secret Spots of the West" in this week's Travel section.
Times' staff writer Hugo Martín paints us a picture of the place: Angel Canyon, a postcard-perfect, rust-colored sandstone canyon outside of Kanab, Utah, is home to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, said to be the country's largest no-kill animal shelter.
Amid these 33,000 acres of sand, juniper and sagebrush, volunteers and sanctuary workers have built air-conditioned shelters, offices, banquet halls and outdoor enclosures to house and care for up to 2,000 abandoned animals, including horses, goats, pigs, birds, dogs, cats and rabbits. The rescued animals include 22 dogs confiscated from NFL quarterback Michael Vick's kennels in the Virginia dog-fighting case.
The sanctuary is a short drive from Zion National Park, the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, an easy side trip for vacationers enjoying some of the Southwest's best national parks.
Martin also muses to himself with a raw question: As I drove across the Utah desert from Las Vegas, I wondered why people would spend their precious few vacation days caring for abandoned animals under the hot summer sun. You'd have to be a bit nutty to trade in a day of hiking through Zion's sweet clover and Indian paintbrushes to scoop up horse manure or refill dog bowls at an animal sanctuary, right?
Find out his answer.
--Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Best Friends.Org
2:30 PM, August 21, 2008
How long has it been since you’ve gone to any of the animal-themed attractions in the San Diego area, such as the San Diego Zoo, San Diego Wild Animal Park, or SeaWorld?
Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel blogger, offers us some suggestions with a online-only discount offer: The Second-Day Free deal is an online-only special, and each theme park has its own rules as to how many days you have to use the second-day pass, or if there are any blackout dates. Note that the deal is not offered on the parks’ websites, but on various travel websites. I’ve linked below to San Diego Attractions, one of the sites I like best.
San Diego Zoo: Regular adult admission (ages 12+) is $34 per day and children (3 to 11) are $24 per day. By booking online your price becomes $31 for adults and $22 for kids and includes the second day free, good for zoo admission and unlimited use of the Guided Bus Tour, Express Bus, and Skyfari Aerial Tram. The second day must be used within five days of the first visit. The offer is good through Sept. 1, 2008.
San Diego Wild Animal Park: Regular adult admission (ages 12+) is $34 per day and children (3 to 11) are $24 per day. By booking online your price becomes $31 for adults and $22 for kids and includes the second day free, good for Zoo admission and the Journey Into Africa tour, Conservation Carousel ride, all shows and exhibits and Park at Dark activities. The second day must be used within five days of the first visit. The offer is good through Sept. 1, 2008.
SeaWorld San Diego: Regular adult admission (ages 10+) is $66 per day and children (3 to 9) are $56 per day. By booking online your price becomes $54 for adults and kids. The second day must be used within seven days of the first visit. Book by Sept. 30 for tickets that are valid until Dec. 31, 2008. Blackout dates are Aug. 9, Aug. 16 and Dec. 27-30, 2008.
Contact for the deal: San Diego Attractions
–- Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Ho/AFP/Getty Images
6:32 PM, August 10, 2008
This weekend in The Times, animal news abounds:
Margot Roosevelt reports: The California condor, a beloved but beleaguered bird, will be unable to survive on its own without a ban on lead ammunition across its vast western habitat, a scientific study has concluded.
Richard C. Paddock reports: Two firebomb attacks last week on UC Santa Cruz scientists who conduct animal research have angered and worried academics throughout the UC system, but the scientists say they will not be intimidated.
*Associated Press reports: Police don't apologize for shooting the two dogs of the mayor of Berwyn Heights in Maryland, described as an innocent victim in a marijuana smuggling scheme.*
On The Times' Outposts blog, Pete Thomas tells the fascinating tale of a woman who was attacked by a grizzly as she jogged on a trail Friday evening in Far North Bicentennial Park in Anchorage, Alaska.
Washington Post reports: Whole Foods Market has pulled fresh ground beef from all of its stores in the second E. coli outbreak linked to Nebraska Beef in as many months.
Home decor retailers face legal risks with animal artifacts such as feathers and bones from endangered species. Jeff Spurrier offers some tips on avoiding legal woes, including keeping proper documentation and being careful about online purchases.
*the first version of this post omitted the word "don't"
2:49 PM, August 8, 2008
On this, the opening day of the Olympic Games, Petside.com reminds us that China is home to a number of ancient dog and cat breeds, among them:
Chinese Crested
Chow Chow
Pekingese
Pug
Chinese Shar-Pei
Shih Tzu
Cat lovers, Petside.com also features a section where you can see Asian cat breeds and Olympians with their pets .
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
Photos (in order): Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times; Yuri Cortez / AFP/Getty Images; Petside.com; Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times; Peter Hujar; and a family photo.
3:15 PM, July 7, 2008
MGM Mirage officials are investigating the death of a dolphin at an aquatic habitat at The Mirage (pictured above) on the Las Vegas Strip. The Associated Press reports: Company spokesman Gordon Absher said Monday that animal care officials were still trying to determine why the dolphin, named Sage, died Saturday morning.
The dolphin was born at the habitat in May 1997.
Correcting earlier reports, Absher says 13 dolphins have died at Siegfried & Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat since the attraction opened with five dolphins in 1990. He says that number included five that were stillborn or died shortly after birth.
The dolphin habitat offers tours to the paying public, birthday parties, “trainer for a day” and group tours in addition to being rented as a setting for private events.
--Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Jae C. Hong / Associated Press
12:35 PM, July 3, 2008
Catching a glimpse of a majestic humpback whale in the Santa Barbara Channel may be priceless for marine life enthusiasts, but The Times' Pete Thomas reports that for under $100, you can get a front-row seat: It's a bizarre yet wondrous sight: a 40-foot humpback whale holding position only a few feet beside a 75-foot catamaran.
The whale's radiant white pectoral fins are spread like wings. Its massive body rolls gently as this great leviathan casts a curious glance toward its gawking admirers.
It's one of two "friendlies" providing passengers aboard the Condor Express with encounters so close they can hardly believe their eyes.
These are lively times in the Santa Barbara Channel. Vast blooms of krill and nutrient-rich waters teeming with bait fish have attracted dozens of mammalian species, including humpback and blue whales.
The high-speed Condor Express -- the only vessel making daily forays deep into the channel -- can reach the feeding grounds in less than an hour.
Several minutes pass before a large splash in the distance. Soon the vessel is alongside two humpbacks. Passengers crowd the rails and camera shutters click.
"I finally have proof!" shouts a gleeful Jeffrey Mummey, 11, from Heath, Ohio, explaining that his cousin Nick, who is not aboard, "never believes me when I tell him stuff."
Globally, humpbacks number 35,000 to 40,000. The ones Thomas and his boat mates saw measure 40 to 50 feet and weigh about 40 tons and are among the perhaps 1,300 that migrate between Costa Rica and California.
--Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Eric Zimmerman
3:35 PM, June 26, 2008
Big names in Las Vegas this summer you may already know: Cher, Bette, Elton, and the Pussycat Dolls.
But not to be missed is a new set of divas in the Vegas mix: the 38 lions at the free Lion Habitat at the MGM Grand. They don't really have to show up for work, get to eat steaks whenever they want and even have their own 401(k) plans, writes Terry Gardner in in The Times' Travel section: Unlike a zoo, where lions seem captive behind bars, the soundproof glass walls and floors of the habitat allow us to see lions hanging out, interacting with one another and their human handlers -- holding us captive.
"The hardest part was to teach them to walk on the glass floors in the habitat," says Keith Evans, their owner.
In the last nine years, three to five lions have been on view daily at the habitat. Some lions work once a week; others appear more often. Like rock stars, these cats have fans. Evans has received e-mails from visitors who want to find out when certain lions will appear, hoping their children will get to watch lion cubs mature.
The day starts at 7 a.m. for the lions that are going to be displayed at the habitat that morning. If a lion doesn't want to go, Evans sends an alternate: "We will not force a cat."
The lions appear from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily in two shifts. For each shift, two lions are loaded in transport cages, taken into the building, then showered, shampooed and blown dry.
And we humans have it so easy at the top of the food chain.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: MGM
11:43 AM, June 25, 2008
One enterprising butcher in southern Germany has found a unique way to draw attention not only to Euro 2008 but to his shop by installing a display of soccer-playing pigs outside the store.
The life-sized swine are made of plastic, so movement on and off the ball is understandably slow, but the pigs have produced a smile or two from passersby, even from those who do not follow the world's game.
Germany plays Turkey today in the tournament semifinals in Basel, Switzerland. On Thursday, Spain plays Russia in the other semifinal in Vienna.
--Grahame L. Jones
Photo: Felix Kaestle/Associated Press
3:46 PM, June 16, 2008
Although she has more than a half-century under her belt, renowned primatologist Jane Goodall doesn't show any signs of slowing down anytime soon. The 74-year-old is still traveling the world doing acts of environmental good and is working on a new book.
Over the last 22 years, Goodall has traveled tirelessly, staying no more than three weeks in one place as she tries to educate Earth's top primates about environmentalism, inspire hope and get them to save their planet, The Times' Tami Abdollah writes in a Q&A in today's Calendar section: Abdollah: Is your work still centered around or focused on chimpanzees?
Goodall: Not really. It's very, very important to me that we continue to study, that we do it in the right way, that there's enough money for it, that we try to protect those chimpanzees into the future by working with all the people living in poverty around the park and then hoping more and more of them will enable part of the land to regenerate so the chimps are no longer trapped as they are now; they're surrounded by cultivated fields. In five years, you get a 30-foot tree. So they're coming back, but you know, the villagers if they wanted could cut them down, there's nothing to stop them, except goodwill.
In the photo above, Goodall helps students plant a tree at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice at the University of San Diego.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Don Bartletti/Los Angeles Times
1:30 PM, June 12, 2008
Californians can proudly claim a champion in the Great Turtle Race, an international event we told you about earlier this month that tracked the journey of 11 radio-tagged leatherbacks in the Pacific Ocean toward the International Date Line.
The first to reach the finish line was a turtle named Saphira II, sponsored by the Bullis Charter School of Los Altos, Calif. Turtle enthusiasts can relive the adventure by visiting the race's website and watching an interactive recreation using a rainbow of colors to differentiate the turtles.
But Saphira II and her competitors aren't the only leatherbacks making strides on the world's shores. The New York Times is also reporting that the creatures showed up for the first time in decades on Texas tan-tinged beaches near Corpus Christi: For the first time since the 1930s, federal biologists confirmed that a leatherback sea turtle has nested on a Texas beach, at the Padre Island National Seashore near Corpus Christi.
Last Friday, staff conducting a beach patrol found turtle tracks and a few exposed eggs. They were thought at first to be those of a green turtle. But the eggs and the width of the tracks, more than 6 feet across, were later determined by a park biologist, Cynthia Rubio, to be from a leatherback. The giant turtles, endangered around the world, have until now only been known to nest in four spots in the United States –- with about three dozen females a year laying eggs on beaches along the east coast of Florida and slightly larger nesting populations in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. There is evidence of nesting in North Carolina as well.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Scott Benson/U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service
2:30 PM, June 9, 2008
Scuba divers swept 20 miles by currents survived 12 hours in shark-infested waters and then scrambled onto a remote Indonesian island -- where they fought off a Komodo dragon, a port official said.
According to Times wire reports, the divers, three from Britain, one from France and one from Sweden, pelted the giant carnivorous lizard on Rinca island with rocks and pieces of wood.
Searchers found the divers the day after their encounter with the lizard, similar to the one above.
--Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Richard Paddock/Los Angeles Times
3:43 PM, June 2, 2008
Watching turtles race across the ocean doesn't sound like the most dynamic contest, but a group of environmentalists and scientists begs to differ -- creating ahighly interactive site chronicling an international Pacific Ocean jaunt for leatherback turtles.
The 11 turtles racing have been equipped with satellite tags and are headed toward the International Dateline (or the middle of the Pacific Ocean) from nesting beaches in Indonesia and feeding areas along the U.S. West Coast. The race, which begins today and runs until June 16, covers more than 3,000 miles.
The leatherback is a sea turtle that's been around for 100 million years -- they have outlived the dinosaurs but now are dangerously close to extinction, said Mike Milne, Leatherback Campaign Coordinator for the Sea Turtle Restoration Project, one of the race's sponsors.
Numbers in the Pacific Ocean have decreased from about 115,000 two decades ago to fewer than 5,000 today. The Web site chronicling the race aims to raise funds for protecting leatherback turtle-nesting areas in Indonesia, organizers said.
"The decline of leatherbacks in the Pacific is an international problem that calls for an international solution, so our Great Turtle Race efforts to raise the international profile of this species are an important step," Milne said.
Dubbed the Great Turtle Race II, organizers include The Leatherback Trust, NOAA, Global Cause, Tagging of Pacific Pelagics, Sea Turtle Restoration Project, and Drexel University. Eleven institutions and sponsors from America, China and Indonesia are sponsoring the turtles.
As the leatherbacks surface to breath every several minutes, satellite tags transmit data such as location and water temperature to satellites in space, which then transmit the data back down to computer servers in the U.S.
"This data is combined with remotely sensed information about sea surface temperature, sea surface height, and more to build a comprehensive understanding of leatherbacks’ epic, trans-Pacific migrations," Milne said. "Scientists and managers will be able to use this information on oceanography, animal behaviors and human pressures to develop innovative ways to conserve leatherbacks and other sea turtles."
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Scott Benson/U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service
10:17 AM, June 2, 2008
Anyone who's wandered the charming Piazza San Marco in Venice knows that the only staple of the square isn't just the breathtaking architecture and lovely surrounding canals, but a familiar site to Americans: pigeons. People pay a few euros for a small bag of feed at many squares in Italy -- and most of Europe -- encouraging the birds to land on their arms or hands.
But not all are fans, as evidenced in today's Column One by Times foreign correspondent Tracy Wilkinson, in which we learn of a battle between pigeon lovers and haters: A band of animal lovers armed with skull-and-crossbones flags zips over the choppy Venice lagoon in speedboats. They dock at the palace-lined piazza, lug out 20-pound sacks of birdseed and scatter the food for all to eat. Or peck.
The pirate pigeon-saviors have made three lightning raids into St. Mark's, the first two at the crack of dawn and now, at midday, to deliberately confront the police and their ban on feeding the birds.
So goes Venice's battle over its ever-multiplying pigeons. "Flying rats," in the view of the mayor -- airborne menaces that poop all over precious, centuries-old marble statues. "Cool," in the view of many tourists -- can you imagine a picture of St. Mark's without them?
Part One of the city's anti-pigeon plan, launched May 1, was to force the 19 licensed bird feed vendors to close their kiosks. Eventually, people trying to feed the birds will be fined, city officials say.
"The problem is the number," says Pierantonio Belcaro, Venice's chief environmental officer. By City Hall's calculation, Venice should accommodate, ideally, about 2,400 pigeons. Instead, he says, there are 60,000.
But Venice lawmakers aren't the only ones frustrated with the birds. Last year Hollywood became the first area in the nation to employ birth control -- in the form of kibble on rooftops -- to shrink the pigeon population pooping on the cars and buildings they adore.
-- Francisco Vara-Orta
Photo: Tracy Wilkinson/Los Angeles Times
4:39 PM, May 28, 2008
When people remember the Alamo, they usually think Davy Crockett or, maybe for less than heroic reasons, Ozzy Osbourne.
But the centuries-old former church -- turned battleground of Texas independence -- turned tourist attraction -- has a new celebrity pawing its grounds: C.C. the cat.
The cat has entered media-mogul status. After news articles ran in Texas newspapers and online on pet websites last year, visitors from throughout the U.S. and Europe have come to see the cat and take photos. One visitor made a quilt in her honor; it's on display in a shrine to the cat at the gift shop (pictured below) and C.C. has a popular line of calendars, bookmarks, ornaments and stuffed animals in her likeness that’s nearly sold out.
Like a true diva, she has gone through drama.
The 12-pound, black-and-white cat with vibrant golden eyes was feral and unkempt when she first pawed her way into the Alamo and hissed at anyone who came near her, said Pattie Sandoval, one of C.C.’s caretakers and the complex’s benefits coordinator. Then she lost her first litter of kittens, which all died shortly after she started frequenting the grounds.
"She was kind of a wild child," Sandoval said. "But she’s reinvented herself –- maybe that was one of her nine lives."
Read more The Alamo’s latest defender has four legs »
11:03 AM, April 16, 2008
Lawmakers have taken aim at many driving distractions lately, talking on your cellphone and texting to name a few.
But driving with your dog? That's a new one.
A bill introduced by state Assemblyman Bill Maze (R-Visalia) would ban pets from sharing the driver's seat with their owners and fine drivers $35 if they were caught with a pet in their lap, the Palm Springs Desert Desert Sun reports.
The bill, reviewed by a committee Monday, was prompted by data showing pets were among the worst in-car driving distractions, Maze told the newspaper.
If the bill passes, all of those head-out-the-window, lap-loving dogs might have to learn a new command: Sit (on the passenger seat).
--Tony Barboza
Photo: Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times
6:40 PM, April 3, 2008
Could this lead to another West Coast-East Coast cultural feud? A national pet magazine has named the Big Apple as the most "pet-friendly" destination of 2008.
Animal Fair, a lifestyle magazine for pet owners, recently announced the winners of the fourth annual "Cesar Five Dog Bone Awards," as voted on by readers. Other categories included best airline, best hotel, best animal shelter, and best resort for pets; the Associated Press compiled a list of winners here.
Animal Fair editorial director Wendy Diamond says she created the awards after traveling across the United States and to Russia, Greece and Mexico with her Maltese, Lucky. She says that New York was chosen because of the more than two-dozen off-leash dog parks, including Central Park, and hundreds of hotels that accommodate animals, mainly canines.
Some New Yorkers, concentrated in the voice of the N.Y. Times, are skeptical of the designation, as outlined in this humorous blog post. In the meantime, Angelenos, known for spending millions on their pampered pets annually, will have to wait until next year to see if they make the grade
-Francisco Vara-Orta
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