Bear cubs wrestling
One of my rules for this blog is that when I come across a video of bear cubs wrestling in the street in Yosemite National Park, I have to provide a link to that video. My goodness, this is cute.
Bring a honey badger to Oklahoma City
I”ve started a movement. I’ve never started a movement before, but anyone who knows me won’t be surprised I’m leading the way on a new effort to bring a honey badger to Oklahoma City. And I’m willing to tattoo myself for the cause.
A honey badger, also known as a ratel, is a species related to weasels that lives mostly in Africa and the Middle East. Adult males can reach 35 pounds, but what makes this creature special is it compensates for its small size with an unparalleled vicious demeanor. It has been named by the Guiness Book of World Records as The Most Fearless Animal on the Planet. It is known to fight off leopards, lions and other large predators despite its small size and often feeds on extremely venomous snakes like cobras and adders. As its name implies, it is also fond of honey. It feeds on honey and bee larvae despite having no immunity to bee stings. It merely takes whatever the bees can dish out while it raids their hives. 
I first saw a National Geographic documentary about the honey badger about 10 years ago when I was in college. It immediately became my favorite animal and the mascot of all of my fantasy sports teams. Recently, the honey badger has become a bit of an online craze because of a Youtube video using some clips of the National Geographic documentary with humorous and profane commentary by a guy named Randall. This video has more than 17 million views. As a long time fan of the honey badger, I could not be happier about its newfound fame.
I got to thinking the other day that it is time the Oklahoma City Zoo added a honey badger to its collection. So I started a Facebook page for the cause and began amassing supporters. I’m not totally sure what would need to be done to make this happen, but I figure building a groundswell of support is a good start. I’m willing to raise money for the cause, and I hope I can convince zoo officials that a honey badger would be a welcome addition in Oklahoma City.
To help promote the effort, I have pledged to get a honey badger tattoo on my upper left arm when my Facebook page amasses 500 likes. If you want to see a honey badger in Oklahoma City, or if you’d just like to see me tattoo a picture of a 35-pound weasel on my arm, join the movement now.
Viva Honey Badger!
- Staff Writer Bryan Dean
Oklahoma primate rescue worker condemns film director
Film director Cameron Crowe has a film coming out soon called, We Bought a Zoo, that features all kinds of wild animals. Well, that has at least one Oklahoman ticked off. Bob Ingersoll, the president of the Newcastle-based Mindy’s Memory Primate Sanctuary, sent this letter to Crowe.
September 20, 2011
Cameron Crowe, Director
We Bought a Zoo
Dear Mr. Crowe,
My name is Bob Ingersoll. You may have heard of the recent documentary Project Nim, by Academy Award winners James Marsh and Simon Chinn. In part, the film chronicles my relationship with Nim Chimpsky, a chimpanzee. I met Nim in September of 1977 and became a lifelong advocate for him and other captive primates and continue to do that work to this day. For almost 15 years now, I’ve served as president of Mindy’s Memory Primate Sanctuary in Newcastle, Oklahoma, where we provide a permanent home for almost 100 monkeys, many of whom come from situations similar to Crystal’s.
By now you’ve read the several other letters explaining why it is a bad idea to use live monkeys in movie projects. I don’t need to reiterate what my colleagues have written in their letters, except perhaps to point out that your use of Crystal perpetuates a problem that we have been trying to both bring to an end and provide a solution for, for many years. And I’ll add that in my opinion, computer-generated imaging has made using live animals entirely unnecessary and hopefully soon obsolete.
In my experience, monkeys that come to us from entertainment and pet situations are the most difficult to resocialize with members of their own species, since they’ve had little or no social experience with other monkeys. Being around humans may be fun and cute and entertaining for the humans, but it’s psycholo-gically devastating for the animal. The laughs for the brief moment in a movie or television show are not worth the suffering that animal generally will have to endure. Also, it is not unheard of for entertainment animals to end up in invasive medical research when their entertainment days are through, often in a few short years. The people that make a buck on the use of their animals for entertainment seldom have qualms about making a buck on them when they outlive their cute stage and enter the dangerous stage.
Another problem is that use of monkeys in movies stokes the public’s desire to own a monkey as a pet, thereby perpetuating more sales of captive primates. These monkeys are sold to people who are unequipped to provide for the magnitude of care needed for a primate’s physical and mental well-being over the decades of the monkey’s life. A capuchin can live to be 50 years of age. That’s a long time. Neeko spent eight years in a dog carrier, in a diaper, in an apartment. Abu ended up in a windowless tool shed in a backyard for a number of years before he was rescued by us. There are many more examples at our sanctuary alone, but you get the point. The bottom line is, using monkeys in entertainment ultimately just leads to many more monkeys in bad situations.
Capuchin monkeys are social animals, and they deserve the opportunity to live their lives as the monkeys they are, with members of their own species. They shouldn’t have to spend their lives being trained to do tricks for humans’ entertainment.
Thanks for taking the time to read this letter. Feel free to contact me directly if you would like. My number is (415) 609-4856; e-mail is newtrogs@hotmail.com.
Regards,
Bob Ingersoll, President
Mindy’s Memory Primate Sanctuary
Newcastle, Oklahoma
Baby elephant debutes in Houston
Pets in the paper – gorilla fans come to OKC
Holy smokes! We have some catching up to do! Check out these animal stories in The Oklahoman today -
- City zoo to play host for gorilla conference. (Oklahoma City)
- Pet tales: Everybody loves Sammy. (Yukon)
- Bill updates: Pet fund. (state capitol)
- Shark tales always come with teeth. (Jenks)
- Cuts urged on season, bag limit. (southeast Oklahoma)
- Wolf law could change. (Montana)
Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll
Pets in the paper – police shoot dog, injure owner
Check out these animal stories in The Oklahoman during the past few days -
- Dog, owner hurt in dispute. (Oklahoma City)
- Fish hatchery’s closure could be bad news. (Oklahoma City)
- Benefit walk was Saturday at the zoo. (Oklahoma City)
- Pet Tales: A big, friendly bunch. (Oklahoma City)
- Police seek dog dollars. (Stillwater)
- Center to host nature day Saturday. (Frederick)
- Bone marrow gives patients a new chance. (Sand Springs)
- Staycations, tourism on rise. (statewide)
- Derby set up for wild finish. (Kentucky)
- Super Saver wins as Borel bags another one. (Kentucky)
- Tech Tidbits: My Pet Speaker by Pet Acoustics. (Tuesday, page 3d)
- Rescue set up for animals. (Louisiana, Saturday, page 3a)
Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll
Be nice! It’s Be Kind to Animals Week!
As if you weren’t already super nice to your pets, there’s an extra incentive. This is Be Kind to Animals Week. Here’s some information from the American Humane Society:
Be Kind to Animals Week, May 2-8, 2010, is American Humane’s annual event celebrating the unique bond between people and animals, and encouraging the humane treatment of all animals. But why limit kindness to one special week? Here are five ways to be kind to animals every day:
- Adopt a pet from a shelter or breed-specific rescue. Shelter pets make loving lifetime companions, and many shelters offer pet-matching services and follow-up training and advice to help you and your new best friend form a beautiful bond.
- Report animal abuse. Violence against animals is terrible enough, but it could also be a sign that other violent behavior, like domestic abuse, is happening.
- Spay or neuter your pets. An estimated 3.7 million animals are euthanized in America’s shelters every year due to a lack of homes. Help stop pet overpopulation and euthanasia of adoptable animals by making sure your own pets are spayed or neutered.
- Live humanely with wildlife. Learn how to peacefully coexist with deer, bats, skunks, squirrels, raccoons and rabbits.
- Get active in local animal welfare policies and legislation. Sign up with us to receive action alerts about issues affecting animals.
As part of Be Kind to Animals Week, American Humane is sponsoring Lemonade for Shelter Aid, a contest that encourages children to set up lemonade stands to raise money for their local animal shelters. The contest runs until May 10, 2010, and is open to children and teens (ages 6-14). One grand-prize winner/team will be randomly selected to receive three Nintendo DS Lite game systems. Learn more and enter!
Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll
Pets in the paper – cocks on guard
Check out these animal stories in The Oklahoman today -
- Breeders’ bill advances. (state capitol)
- Police find dog, fowl on guard near drugs. (Lawton)
- Animal magnetism: Actor Brendan Fraser takes a beating in new family comedy “Furry Vengeance.” (nationwide)
- Critters, kid-safe plot fuel “Furry Vengeance.” (nationwide)
Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll
Pets in the paper – the BIG horse
Check out these animal stories in The Oklahoman today -
- Opinion: Animal protection moral and practical. (state capitol)
- Lookin At Lucky is early Derby favorite. (Kentucky)
- Orca’s trainer tried to free self. (Florida)
- Head and tail above the rest. (Wisconsin)
Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll
Pets in the paper – breeder bill goes to gov
Check out these animal stories in The Oklahoman today -
- Pet breeder licensing bill heads to Henry. (state capitol)
- Bill updates: Hunting and fishing. (state capitol)
- Kentucky Derby: Owner Jenny Craig seeks sweet treat. (Kentucky)
Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll
