Image of the Week: Curious Giraffe

This week's image comes from San Diego's Wild Animal park taken in 2006.

Zoo Tails Image of the Week: Playfull Polar Bears

The polar bears of Polar Frontier at the Columbus Zoo were in rare form during our latest visit in November 2011. The exhibit is one of the best due to the pools being stocked with live trout which the bears love to eat. The underwater viewing area is also a great touch, especially when one of the bears decides to sit on top of it.

Zoo Image of the Week: Lowland Gorilla

Checkout these hilarious facial expressions of the gorilla ad the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. Classic!

Map of the Minnesota Zoo 2009

Russia's Grizzly Coast is an exhibit complex at the Minnesota Zoological Garden in the United States of America where visitors can see various animal species from the Russian Far East. Above is a map of the Minnesota Zoo from 2009. Pictured below is the site plan diagram for Russia's Grizzly Coast exhibit.

Image of the Week: Wandering Wolverines

After a brief hiatus the image of the week feature is back! Today we bring you a few images of a species which has not been studied as intently as other North American predators: the Wolverine!

Pictures of Pixie the Manatee at the Columbus Zoo

We took a short trip to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium today and took some pictures of Pixie, one of the three new rescued manatees from Florida. A zoo staff member informed us that they believe Pixie is between one and two years old and weighs one hundred something pounds. She is certainly the smallest manatee I have ever seen! Did you know the manatee exhibit has a retractable roof- just like a football stadium. How cool is that!

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SeaWorld sued for slavery

According to an Associated Press report, PETA has just filed suit in federal court against SeaWorld stating that the Marine Park is in violation of the 13th Amendment for “enslaving its five performing whales,” by claiming that while the Amendment prohibits slavery and involuntary servitude, “it does not specify that only humans can be victims.”

While SeaWorld has denounced the move as baseless, PETA’s general counsel, Jeff Kerr contended that plaintiffs orcas, Tilikum and Katina based at SeaWorld in Orlando, Fla., and Corky, Kasatka and Ulises at SeaWorld San Diego “were kidnapped from their homes, kept confined, denied everything that's natural to them and forced to perform tricks for SeaWorld's profit,"  In addition Kerr stated that "the males have their sperm collected, the females are artificially inseminated and forced to bear young which are sometimes shipped away."

The lawsuit asks the court to order the orcas released to the custody of a legal guardian who would find a "suitable habitat" for them, and alleges “that captivity in the ‘barren tanks’ of a marine park suppresses the orcas' abilities and relationships, and subjects them to stress. This sometimes leads to instances where the orcas injure themselves, other orcas or humans that interact with them.”

Read the full article here.

I think this is ridiculous and way over the top. The animals live arguably live a better life at SeaWorld than they would in the wild. I like to think SeaWorld does more good than harm. Aren't there better business to sue? How about those sea food companies killing thousands of wild dolphins and whales?