Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium News 2017

They are from other zoos, but I do not know where

 

Apologies I have made a mistake. Hawk is down with the females at the sea lion exhibit, it turns out the sea lion with coolio is another male named Nav

 

Thank you very much, I did know the male was from Georgia but I did not know where the females were from

 

Aquarium experts at Pittsburgh Zoo help with rescue of manatees

 

The Mexican red kneed tarantula is back in exhibit

 

Pittsburgh Zoo: One million visitors and counting

 

Email from the zoo that may be of interest:

Pittsburgh Zoo Needs Your Help

 

From Facebook:

The Pittsburgh Zoo needs your help! Please help the Zoo oppose a City Council bill that would permit the city to regulate how we care for our animals. We strongly believe that our dedicated staff, keepers, and veterinarians are the subject-matter experts of animal care and welfare. In fact, the Pittsburgh Zoo and other wildlife exhibitors are already governed by the federal Animal Welfare Act, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Trained USDA employees routinely perform unannounced inspections to guarantee facilities are in compliance with numerous standards and to ensure that the animals are healthy and well cared for. Therefore, permitting the city to regulate the care of exotic animals is absolutely unnecessary.

We encourage you to contact Council President Bruce Kraus on Facebook @bruce.a.kraus, on Twitter @brucekraus, via email at [email protected] or by phone at 412-255-2130 to communicate your strong opposition to this bill before the council votes on the legislation this Tuesday, Dec. 19. Thank you for all of your support!

Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium

 

What You Need to Know | Pittsburgh Zoo

 

Bill Peduto signed the bill, making it official.

 

What exactly does this bill do, and what implications does it have for the zoo?

 

Basically it bans bull hooks and other tools thought of as cruel for animals. So basically it’s Pittsburgh’s way of forcing the zoo to change the way they run their elephant program

 

The zoo claims it does not use these tools. Why would it fight the bill then? It’s not making itself look good.

 

So there’s no chance then that this bill would force the Zoo to adop protected contact for its elephant program, which would in turn enable it to pursue accreditation?

 

What you will see if the group from the zoo switch with the farm.

 

And they will go back to AZA

 

So the main issue with the bill is that it bans the use of ANY tool used in training that can be perceived as negative by the animal. That means that potentially other tools used in training like target sticks or protective tools like shields could be banned if someone were to complain to the city. Even shovels could fall under the vague wording of the bill if an animal is scared of it.

 

Im not being rude but I have no idea what you are saying right here

 

Wow, that is an interesting development! I very much hope that the zoo will now change to protected contact. Does the zoo really claim not to use elephant hooks? Seriously? The elephant keepers at the zoo, especially their elephant manager Willie Theison, are huge on free contact and the use of the "elephant guide" as they call the ankus, I can´t believe that they are not using it.