Dead New Orleans/Gulfport Zoo + Aquarium Animals

[reebokandlace]

The HUMAN suffering is horrible in all the states that have been affected by this tragedy. That being said......

Call me a tree hugger if you must, but I feel just as bad for all the gorillas, giraffes, wild cats, sea lions, birds (the list goes on and on) who did not make it out alive. Can you imagine the terror they went through?? They probably "sensed" it was coming and couldn't do anything about it. Many of them are lying dead in their cages and on the streets (I saw pictures, not pretty). So many lost souls. http://www.websmileys.com/sm/sad/1346.gif The zoo staff did the best they could to try to save many of them before the hurricane hit (many were shipped to other zoos in the US -the zoo community is a very tight knit community), but the majority did not make it out.

Probably sounds weird -- but I lit a candle for all their souls last night because it seems they have been forgotten in this tragedy.

[johndoe]

Tree Hugger.

But really, that is terrible.

[dissention]

I feel the same way. The horror that these animals must have gone through when they were trapped in cages and drowning is too much for me to think about. I don't cry easily, but thinking about the people and animals who suffered and continue to suffer makes me sob.

[GypsySorcerer]

It is incredibly heartbreaking to think of their suffering. More ammunition for the argument that zoos are not the place for animals.

[reebokandlace]

It is incredibly heartbreaking to think of their suffering. More ammunition for the argument that zoos are not the place for animals.


There was a time when I agreed with that statement. But now I don't. Zoo quality has gone up a lot in the last 2 decades. There are very few "bad" zoos in the US anymore.

I took a private tour of the Gorilla Exhibit with Jane Goodall at Busch Gardens several years ago. I asked her how she felt about them being "caged" and she told me that "programs like this are necessary for the protection of the species". She said "it was obvious that these animals are very happy, well cared for and loved. These programs are extremely helpful in education and the breeding of rare/endangered animals".

I was not going to argue with Jane Goodall. Instead, I listened to what she said and walked away from the experience with a different perpspective and attitude.

[BombaySapphire3]

I was just wondering what happened to these animals last night.Just another heartbreaking thing to add to all of this.

[skcin]

Heartbreaking. :distress:

[GateandGarden]

I've been heartbroken about the animals ever since I realized Katrina was going to affect the New Orleans and Biloxi areas. Obviously, there's a zoo and an aquarium in New Orleans and Biloxi also has the Marine Education Center (an aquarium) and Marine Life, which has dolphins, sea lions, and birds. The dolphins at Marine Life are the ones that were put in some pools in hotels. I'm hoping those hotels are okay. :shrug:

I'm thinking about this one old channel catfish I know well who used to live (I guess that would be past tense now) at the Marine Education Center in Biloxi. He was SO very old and very majestic to me. I wonder about him and all the others.

So, I definitely relate to your tree hugger stance.

[SuzeQuze]

There was a time when I agreed with that statement. But now I don't. Zoo quality has gone up a lot in the last 2 decades. There are very few "bad" zoos in the US anymore.

I took a private tour of the Gorilla Exhibit with Jane Goodall at Busch Gardens several years ago. I asked her how she felt about them being "caged" and she told me that "programs like this are necessary for the protection of the species". She said "it was obvious that these animals are very happy, well cared for and loved. These programs are extremely helpful in education and the breeding of rare/endangered animals".

I was not going to argue with Jane Goodall. Instead, I listened to what she said and walked away from the experience with a different perpspective and attitude.

Thank you for sharing that, the animals down at Busch Gardens do seem very happy, especially those tigers! I'm so sad for the animals at that zoo and the suffering they went through.

[estranged4life]

I don't cry easily, but thinking about the people and animals who suffered and continue to suffer makes me sob.

it doesnt take me much to cry nowadays (2005 is officially the worse year ever I have lived through, And it is only Sept.)...

I know, I'm pathetic.

[wondergirl9847]

It's one of my worst years too. :( I hope and pray 2006 is better for EVERYONE in the world.

[WELSH WITCH]

I saw a picture of a deep sea aquarium (I believe it was in Biloxi) and there was just nothing left.
It's not just people affected by disasters like this.

[reebokandlace]

it doesnt take me much to cry nowadays (2005 is officially the worse year ever I have lived through, And it is only Sept.)...

I know, I'm pathetic.

Not pathetic at all... :xoxo:

....I think so many people are feeling the same way you do. We have never seen such devastation on US soil in our lifetimes.

2 states coastal regions wiped out in under 12 hours. Unreal. :shocked:

[amber]

I've been trying not to think about it because that's what makes me saddest of all. The fact that they were trapped b/c they were in cages makes me sick. As an "animal hugger" - I really can't think about it. It's too much.

[GateandGarden]

I know, I'm pathetic.Not at all.

[GateandGarden]

I saw a picture of a deep sea aquarium (I believe it was in Biloxi) and there was just nothing left.
It's not just people affected by disasters like this.Do you remember where you saw it? Was it online? I'm thinking it may be the Marine Education Center. :distress:

[BTFLCHLD]

earlier on i heard that the police killed three sea lions in the water as they had gotten loose from the zoo...im just wondering why they felt the need to do that to "ease their suffering"...if they couldnt capture them for rescue, wouldnt it have been better to just leave them adrift in the water...or would that have been a human health hazard? i dont understand.

[GypsySorcerer]

earlier on i heard that the police killed three sea lions in the water as they had gotten loose from the zoo...im just wondering why they felt the need to do that to "ease their suffering"...if they couldnt capture them for rescue, wouldnt it have been better to just leave them adrift in the water...or would that have been a human health hazard? i dont understand.
:shocked: OMG.

I'm also wondering what happened to the dolphins they moved to pools.

[DavidMn]

It is incredibly heartbreaking to think of their suffering. More ammunition for the argument that zoos are not the place for animals.
I've never really enjoyed zoos. It has always kinda bugged me too.

[WELSH WITCH]

Do you remember where you saw it? Was it online? I'm thinking it may be the Marine Education Center. :distress:


I think it was on CNN a few days ago.

[GateandGarden]

I think it was on CNN a few days ago.Thanks. I'll go there and see if I can find it.

[amber]

earlier on i heard that the police killed three sea lions in the water as they had gotten loose from the zoo...im just wondering why they felt the need to do that to "ease their suffering"...if they couldnt capture them for rescue, wouldnt it have been better to just leave them adrift in the water...or would that have been a human health hazard? i dont understand.
:shocked: :mad: :eek:
Sea Lions live in the water....They should've just been able to go out to sea...(although I am unsure that they can live in the warm gulf waters. :confused: ) Everytime I watch sea lion shows, they are somewhere cold...

[GateandGarden]

:shocked: :mad: :eek:
Sea Lions live in the water....They should've just been able to go out to sea...(although I am unsure that they can live in the warm gulf waters. :confused: ) Everytime I watch sea lion shows, they are somewhere cold...I could be wrong, but I don't think they could live in the Gulf.

[amber]

I could be wrong, but I don't think they could live in the Gulf.
If so, that makes me sick. They must have had a reason for doing that, though. What I'm thinking, is that the waters there are so disgustingly polluted that they thought they should put them out of their misery?? Look at this, though - They help us, we don't help them. yeah.


"Dolphins and sea lions are currently serving in the Persian Gulf where they help protect coalition forces. Theirs is the longest combat mission in the history of this special unit.

As The Early Show resident veterinarian Dr. Debbye Turner explains, about 100 marine mammals work as underwater allies.

In the early days of the Iraq War, Navy dolphins were deployed to clear mines from the port of Umm Qasr.

"Dolphins, with their echo-location capability to be able to look long-distance under water, and sea lions, with their great eyesight — five times better than yours and mine — so they can see in dark, turbulent waters," Marine Mammal Program director Michael Rothe says.

Half a world away in San Diego, Calif., new recruits are training for future missions.

"We start working with the dolphins born in our program in their first few weeks of life," animal behaviorist Mark Xitco says. "

[reebokandlace]

Here is a sea lion photo I found...PLEASE DO NOT CLICK THIS LINK if you are very sensitive....it is very disturbing...not sure what happened to this poor creature yesterday.

www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=D0&Dato=20050831&Kategori=NEWS0110&Lopenr=508310838&Ref=PH

[Mad4stevie]

:shocked: OMG.

I'm also wondering what happened to the dolphins they moved to pools.

I saw a picture of two dolphins that survived by being moved to a pool. They were fine.

[LongBlackScarf]

What people have to remember is that this area is the natural habitat of aligators and poisonous snakes...both of which are floating around in all the waters in New Orleans now. So not only do we have people wading through this murky water with gawd knows what at their ankles, animals (pets, zoo animals) are doing likewise. It probably was kinder to remove the seals in this manner than have them eaten by aligators and have any remains further polluting the waters. And I am unsure also just how "people friendly" sea lions are. And dolphins aren't all "Flippers." Some are nasty. So humans had to win over here.

[amber]

What people have to remember is that this area is the natural habitat of aligators and poisonous snakes...both of which are floating around in all the waters in New Orleans now. So not only do we have people wading through this murky water with gawd knows what at their ankles, animals (pets, zoo animals) are doing likewise. It probably was kinder to remove the seals in this manner than have them eaten by aligators and have any remains further polluting the waters. And I am unsure also just how "people friendly" sea lions are. And dolphins aren't all "Flippers." Some are nasty. So humans had to win over here.
um, if alligators got them, there would be no remains. I'd much prefer the alligators got them. However, I would not prefer they died because of toxic water sludge. Clubbing them with nothing eating them adds to the toxicity of the water.

[SapphireSister]

I honestly can't even read this post. The thought is too upsetting. I can read about the people but not the animals...they are too helpless and it breaks my heart. I had to stop where it said dead animals in cages.

[LongBlackScarf]

um, if alligators got them, there would be no remains.


Of course there would: BLOOD. Not to mention residual tissue. Aligators tear their prey apart!

[GateandGarden]

http://news.mongabay.com/2005/0830-new_orleans_aquarium.html

from the article:

"update: six bottlenose dolphins moved to a hotel swimming pool survived the storm and were taken this week to Walton Beach, Florida while nine sea lions from the Mississippi park were sent to Sea World in Orlando, Florida). The Gulfport Marine Life Oceanarium aquarium was totally destroyed."

So, the whole facility is gone ( :distress: ) but it says that the animals are okay.

[GypsySorcerer]

http://news.mongabay.com/2005/0830-new_orleans_aquarium.html

from the article:

"update: six bottlenose dolphins moved to a hotel swimming pool survived the storm and were taken this week to Walton Beach, Florida while nine sea lions from the Mississippi park were sent to Sea World in Orlando, Florida). The Gulfport Marine Life Oceanarium aquarium was totally destroyed."

So, the whole facility is gone ( :distress: ) but it says that the animals are okay.

That's sad news. But I am glad the animals survived.

[amber]

Of course there would: BLOOD. Not to mention residual tissue. Aligators tear their prey apart!


"DIET
Alligators are nocturnal and feed primarily at night. Younger alligators eat insects, shrimps, snails, small fish, tadpoles and frogs. Adult gators eat fish, birds, turtles, reptiles, and mammals. They swallow their prey whole. Their conical teeth are used for catching the prey, not tearing it apart. Alligators have about 80 teeth; when they are lost they regrow."


http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/Alligator.shtml

[michelle2677]

I am so sad by this too. I am such an animal lover and to think these animals did not even stand a chance because they were in cages and so forth. I also think about people's pets that they could not bring with them. What do you do?? let them go, leave them in your house and pray for the best. I don't know what I would do if someone told me I couldn't take my dogs with me. I know I'm gonna get a lot of flack for this, but I would probably stay with them. If they are going down, I"m going down with them. That is how much I love them...

[LongBlackScarf]

"DIET
Alligators are nocturnal and feed primarily at night. Younger alligators eat insects, shrimps, snails, small fish, tadpoles and frogs. Adult gators eat fish, birds, turtles, reptiles, and mammals. They swallow their prey whole. Their conical teeth are used for catching the prey, not tearing it apart. Alligators have about 80 teeth; when they are lost they regrow."


http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/Alligator.shtml

I got my crocodiles and my aligators mixed up. :sorry: It's crocs that spin and tear their victims apart. Regardless, there would still be blood in the water from the initial bite. And blood would still be "remains". ;)

[amber]

I got my crocodiles and my aligators mixed up. :sorry: It's crocs that spin and tear their victims apart. Regardless, there would still be blood in the water from the initial bite. And blood would still be "remains". ;)
Meh, drop in the bucket. And surely better than a rotting Lion corpse in the water. Ha, I had to check the website, too, because I forgot which one "clamps and vigorously twirls" it's prey.... :p

[Moony]

I've been trying not to think about it because that's what makes me saddest of all. The fact that they were trapped b/c they were in cages makes me sick. As an "animal hugger" - I really can't think about it. It's too much.
I feel you on that. :(

[amber]

I feel you on that. :(
:xoxo:
yeah. they suffer, because of us.
"if people could put rainbows in jars, they would" - Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes...

[Janet]

:( there are no words. It's just horrible of the suffering, people or animals. I feel so incredibly helpless.

[lbelle1214]

I've been heartbroken about the animals ever since I realized Katrina was going to affect the New Orleans and Biloxi areas. Obviously, there's a zoo and an aquarium in New Orleans and Biloxi also has the Marine Education Center (an aquarium) and Marine Life, which has dolphins, sea lions, and birds. The dolphins at Marine Life are the ones that were put in some pools in hotels. I'm hoping those hotels are okay. :shrug:

I'm thinking about this one old channel catfish I know well who used to live (I guess that would be past tense now) at the Marine Education Center in Biloxi. He was SO very old and very majestic to me. I wonder about him and all the others.

So, I definitely relate to your tree hugger stance.

Me, too!! I don't know if you remember the movie Andre (true story about a sea lion), but he lived at the Marine World in Gulfport....I've thought about him all week after I saw the rescued dolphins....I'm an animal lover. They didn't have the luxury of "deciding" whether to evaculate or not...

[lbelle1214]

:shocked: :mad: :eek:
Sea Lions live in the water....They should've just been able to go out to sea...(although I am unsure that they can live in the warm gulf waters. :confused: ) Everytime I watch sea lion shows, they are somewhere cold...

It better have not been Andre... :eek:

[lbelle1214]

:( there are no words. It's just horrible of the suffering, people or animals. I feel so incredibly helpless.

Don't feel helpless....we'll welcome you in Texas where we've managed to set up an unbelieveable refuge for these people. Come if you can...there's so much to do. Sure, they need money. But they need everything else too. We'll put you to work....The Dome has been outstanding organized (they had time), two radio stations here raised over $100,000. in 24 hours. Our hospitals formula reps and sending baby formula, I'm going to deliver these babies....you can help me!!!! I'm also a lay midwife.....it's productive and very rewarding. Ya want me to come get ya??? :angel:

[GateandGarden]

Me, too!! I don't know if you remember the movie Andre (true story about a sea lion), but he lived at the Marine World in Gulfport....I've thought about him all week after I saw the rescued dolphins....I'm an animal lover. They didn't have the luxury of "deciding" whether to evaculate or not...I didn't see that movie. I didn't even know about it. I just looked it up on IMDB...cool! It would have been cooler if they'd filmed it in MS, too.

I'm finding that I get to be more and more of an animal lover the older I get. (Not that I'm old by any stretch of the imagination).

[reebokandlace]

The Audubon Zoo, the Aquarium of the Americas, the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species in New Orleans survived Hurricane Katrina relatively unscathed according to reports from operators of the facilities. However, in neighboring Mississippi, the Gulport Marine Life Oceanarium aquarium was totally destroyed......During the storm, loss of animal life was reportedly limited to four flamingos at the zoo and a whooping crane at the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species (ACRES). Animal keepers have been flown in by helicopter and supplies will soon be arriving by boat from Baton Rouge Zoo.

[WELSH WITCH]

Thanks. I'll go there and see if I can find it.

It was on TV so I'm not sure if it will be on the website.

[gldstwmn]

link for those who want to help the animals:

http://www.uan.org/ears/action_report.html

[Songbird4]

I am a zookeeper down in Miami and one of my co-workers spoke with a keeper in New Orleans, not sure where exactly. I can tell you that there were keepers that stayed at the zoo during the hurricane and were instructed to not let any of the animals suffer the pain of drowning.

~Kim

[LongBlackScarf]

there were keepers who stayed at the zoo during the hurricane and were instructed not to let any of the animals suffer the pain of drowning.

~Kim

Not sure what you mean here. How would zookeepers accomplish this? And why would they risk their own lives during mandatory evacuation?

[reebokandlace]

I posted this in another thread but I thought I would post it here too...

There are many homeless pets who were abandoned by their owners before and during Hurricane Katrina. The Humane Society (they are the ones who do not euthanize animals!) are trying to set up shelters for these stray victims. They currently have a staff of 30 trained people from 12 different states who are going in to the affected areas and attempting to rescue every pet who needs help.......lots of relief money will begin to flow in for the HUMAN victims, but the animals need help too.

Please consider helping these folks out...they need money to buy medical supplies, food and other necessities to try to help out all these pets.....even $1.00 would make a difference.

https://secure.hsus.org/01/disaster_relief_fund_2005?


http://www.bestfriends.org/images/HRF_donatebutton.GIF

[Songbird4]

There were keepers who offered to stay. They were housed in the Reptile building with food, a raft, and guns.

~Kim

[LongBlackScarf]

There were keepers who offered to stay. They were housed in the Reptile building with food, a raft, and guns.

~Kim

I still don't understand what their plans were for protecting the animals. It was a major hurricane. I didn't buy the Noah's Ark story the first time...so a raft would seem rather futile in moving animals to safer ground after the fact, eh? Especially since everyone knew there was going to BE no safer ground. ;)

[GateandGarden]

I still don't understand what their plans were for protecting the animals. It was a major hurricane. I didn't buy the Noah's Ark story the first time...so a raft would seem rather futile in moving animals to safer ground after the fact, eh? Especially since everyone knew there was going to BE no safer ground. ;)I read that the reptile building was built to withstand the worst of hurricanes.

[Songbird4]

The raft was for the keepers, not the animals. They were going to need it if there was flooding, which there was. There wasn't much they could do to protect some of the animals. They were instructed not to let them suffer. Drowning is probably one of the worst ways to go. As a keeper, I don't know if I could shoot any of my animals, but at the same time, I don't know if I could watch any of them drown. I could not imagine being one of those keepers.

~Kim

[gldstwmn]

<img src="http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/afp/20050904/capt.sge.erx43.040905225410.photo00.photo.default-384x347.jpg">
The Audubon Zoo General Curator Dan Maloney feeds the zoo's giraffes in New Orleans, Louisiana in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. Other than an alligator on the loose, a couple of dead otters and a host of shell-shocked animals, denizens of the New Orleans zoo came through deadly Hurricane Katrina relatively unscathed.

[gldstwmn]

<img src="http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/afp/20050904/capt.sge.ery69.040905232336.photo00.photo.default-380x266.jpg">

Small survivor : US Airforce Lt. Nathan Brosheal holds a kitten rescued and airlifted to New Orleans International Airport in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana

[GateandGarden]

:) Thanks for posting those, Chris.

[gldstwmn]

:) Thanks for posting those, Chris.

I thought we could use a lift. :)

[Livia]

I'm crying tears of joy. Thanks for posting this! :xoxo: