“the first zoo-born male orangutan to be released”

Semeru, a Sumatran orangutan born at Australia's Perth Zoo, will be released into Bukit Tigapuluh National Park in Sumatra.

Updated: Oh yeah, a link, now I remember how to blog!

“he needs some consistency in care”

Democratic Republic of Congo gorilla-nappers lured with $40,000, caught, baby gorilla rescued.

“which the yeti marks his territory”

Siberians send yeti to Occupy Wall Street, sanitary conditions improve.

“managed to breach the perimeter in seconds”

The new gorilla enclosure at Australia's Werribee Zoo found wanting in test by "professional abseilers".

“unlikely friends”

Here, ducky, ducky, ducky!

Well, I've got this blog and...

So, at 56, what is it that I've accomplished?

“an uncomplicated birth”

UK's Bristol Zoo and Gardens welcomes new baby lowland gorilla.

Apparently Little Squinty got cold feet

"Iran postpones monkey's ride into space"

Looking, not so much seeing

One of the things that the stroke took was my pleasure in reading. I
used to never be without a book on the train, one of the major
benefits of commuting by rail: no need to keep an eye on the road.

It's more difficult now: I'm less able to maintain concentration
across a full line of text (which always was difficult due to my weak
close vision in the right eye). Martina's sensible suggestion of
looking into correction, which I sort of dismissed earlier (I very
clearly remember the sick headaches from poorly cleaned glasses in my
childhood and abhor the 'thing in my eye' aspect of contact lenses,
regardless of construction), is looking more and more sensible as I
consider it. One thing at a time, bariatric surgery thing first, see
about glasses or worse second. (The other way around I'd be first
treated to a better view of what I don't really want to contemplate.)

I've run a Kindle emulator on my desktop system at home, and a real
one is an intriguing idea, but I'm no more a fan of current major
releases in the literary world than in the cinematic one. I'll be
needing to walk a lot in the coming months/years and doing that with
eyes fixed on a screen isn't a healthy option. Earbuds jammed in
place is probably second-rate too, but that's more likely that reading
while walking.

Zombie apocalypse postponed

Texas the site of monkey apocalypse Waller, Grimes counties overrun! Connection to wildfires unproven!

Next it'll be 'musings', I knew it'd come to this some day!

Well, I see again I've fallen out of the habit, and hardly have the inclination to start again, but let's try personal anecdotes, see if that helps:

Two or three years ago I had a problem after a small aneurysm in the
fovea of one eye which did no lasting harm, but was scary. It might
not have been noticed except in such an important part of the retina,
the very spot where the sharpest vision occurs. It produced a visual
effect that looked like an uneven blob-shaped flashbulb after-image
that didn't fade for months, and introduced me to the confusing world
of eye-docs. They specialize like nobody else!

My primary care doctor referred me to an eye-doc generalist who
examined my vision and referred me to a retina specialist because only
that specialist could refer me to the retina super-specialist, part of
a group practice where each doc every week works a day in each of four
different offices, so the whole state gets coverage. Fancy goldfish
tank; help-yourself bagels and coffee and sandwiches since so many of
the patients are diabetic. Very workman-like, sit in the waiting room,
get called to read an eye chart and have the results recorded, back to
wait a while, get called by the eye-dilation tech, back to wait a bit
for the eyes to dilate, be called to have retinas photographed (that'd
be an interesting series of photos if presented in time-lapse: the
clot left by the aneurysm smaller at each visit, always the shape of
the "after-image" it produced) , quite a production, eventually see
the doctor. When he's done with each visit, there are one-shot
sunglasses for anyone who forgot to bring better ones. He offered
laser surgery to remove the clot but advised watchful waiting instead
(if anything goes wrong in the surgery, it goes wrong for life), so he
essentially did nothing, but expertly. Took a couple of months, but
the clot was absorbed over that time by just waiting, so I don't
complain, just remark.

Goodbye, Timbo!

A 49-year-old female gorilla failed to awake from anesthesia after dental and eye surgery at Dallas Zoo Tuesday.

“Marjorie Partch just wants the right to bring her mother home”

Primacy of freely-signed contracts between individuals empowered to do so and crony capitalism.

“Mental Floss ”

Capuchin monkeys 'cautious, observant shoppers,' reports Yale University Department of Psychology. Remarkably, monkeys not yet said to act just like members of any socio-political group. Later today when bloggers take note, I bet.

“A possible new species of monkey has been discovered”

A new species of Callicebus monkey may have been discovered, with remarkable features at head and tail, this MSNBC article fails to explain, doing for internet journalism what their common-law parents did for the community's daily newspaper.

Goodbye, Hondo

36-year-old male chimpanzee dies at North Carolina Zoo of the effects of amyloidosis.

“before the rest of us felt the shaking”

Always one of my favorite logical fallacies: confirmation bias.

“readier to use sex”

Chimpanzee sore losers complain that bonobo victor slept her way to the top.

“scenes of the mammalian pastoral”

Britain's decline continues apace.

“the orangutan refused to share the wet towel”

Orangutan at Japan's Tama Zoological Park observed wetting a cloth to cool itself.

Happy Birthday, Kiki!

Western lowland gorilla at Boston's Franklin Park Zoo celebrated her 30th birthday with special treats Sunday, with her daughters Kira, 12, Kimani, 6, and Kambiri, 9 months.

“people who buy monkeys from breeders will come to regret the purchase”

Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary, in Texas, takes stand against the breeding and sale of pet monkeys.

“Mandrills are the largest monkey”

Curious behavior of an understimulated infant mandrill in Yageer Zoo in Ningbo, China. Everybody laughing now, please.

“Great Ape Heart Healthy program”

Dara, orangutan at Rochester NY's Seneca Park Zoo, gets a clean bill of health.

Goodbye, Harvey

Last surviving chimpanzee at the Toledo Zoo succumbs.

“Just a scratch”

8 year old girl in Springfield, MO victimized by macaque at Walmart.

Rolo, Twix, Flake, Rocky, Snickers, Minstrel, Malteser, Yorkie, Wisper, Kit Kat and Twirl

Bolivian squirrel monkey Bounty, at London Zoo, fathered his 11th offspring Rolo, last month.

A note from my friend, Marjorie Partch:

We have been reluctant to intrude with this tragic story, but also hoping that this community would rally around one of its longtime members in her time of dire need. Mrs. Dorothy Partch taught English at Brien McMahon High School for 20 years, retiring in 1994. In 2003, she suffered a mild stroke, and her daughter Marjorie (Class of 1975) moved back home to take care of her. Last year, Mrs. Partch had a more severe stroke, and Marjorie, her POA, Health Care Representative, etc. etc., brought her to a nursing home for rehab. She was due to come home last Summer. But when the nursing home learned that the house was still in Mrs. Partch's name, they decided instead to bypass her daughter's legal authority and keep Mrs. Partch against their wishes. They had a real estate attorney appointed as Mrs. Partch's Conservator (guardian), seized all their joint accounts, and are trying to take all their belongings and property to keep Mrs. Partch isolated, neglected and abused (according to the Dept. of Public Health), rather than letting her come home, where she would be treated by her own neurologist, therapists and her loving daughter.

To learn more, and to help, click here.

“£465,000 in royalties”

Celebrity-primatologist Dame Jane Goodall sues baby food firm Sprout Foods in dispute over payments for Janey Baby brand.

“in northwestern Wyoming”

Oldest fingernails in modern primates discovered in Teilhardina brandti.

“he puts the baboons first ”

"Wild About Monkeys" at MontanaFair, Billings.

“from a retirement facility in New Mexico to an active research laboratory”

Transfer of old sick chimpanzees to Texas research lab.

Also Ted Nugent and free lunch!

LemurLand representing at Sioux Empire Fair up close and personal

“a walk-through lemur encounter”

Lemurs recently brought to the Welsh Mountain Zoo reportedly baffled by Welsh signage.

Or so the Grauniad says:

Bonobos share stuff and enjoy the odd orgy while Pan troglodytes is too busy fighting over every little thing.

“estimated at about 8-months-old”

Baby Mountain Gorilla confiscated from poachers by Rwandan police on the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“monkeys are capable of functioning as armies”

New Delhi's monkeys learn to fight back against langurs.

“named Monkey”

Illicit baboon seized in Madison, WI.

“and will blow-dart them with tranquilizer”

Chaos erupts as police and monkeys openly battle at Shelbyville, TN

“extraordinary monkeys”

Milly the mandrill at UK's Colchester Zoo plays peekaboo.

Goodbye, Timmy!

Timmy, a 52-year-old Silverback gorilla, was euthanized Tuesday at Louisville Zoo due to declining heart health and other quality of life issues.

“the cotton top shares its hairstyle”

Huh, who knew, otherwise socially conscious Canada a hot-bed of speciesism!

"huge"

20 million year old ape skull found in Uganda.

Bad idea, this is how trouble starts

Thai zoo uses captive chimpanzee labor to raise valuable tiger cub.

Ooh-la-la!

Badongo the gorilla, newly arrived from La Vallee des Singes casts a speculative eye at the local talent at Jersey's Durrell wildlife park, where gorilla Jambo stood guard in 1968, protecting a boy who'd fallen into his enclosure.

“but it is still a challenge”

Six orphaned gorillas come home to the DRC.

“increased by 54 percent”

What's that noise behind us? Was it an increasingly numerous Chimpanzee?

Happy Birthday, Stumpy!

Europe's oldest ring tailed lemur celebrates 25th birthday at Five Sisters Zoo in Polbeth Scotland.

“only a monkey without hair”

Mangy monkey serially mistaken for a bunny and a alien visitor.

“titi monkey adenovirus”

In case there aren't enough diseases to kill you yet, monkeys invent more.

“Never touch a gorilla!”

Going out of your way to see the gorillas.

Chinese monkey menace, it seems

China needs more monkeys, if this isn't satire. Me, I got my doubts.

“and dresses them up in tiny outfits”

Foreigners are mocking us because of you, dern old monkey lady!

Happy Birthday, Maggie!

Orangutan at Chicago's Brookfield Zoo marks a milestone with carrot-and-sweet-potato cake.

“we can’t do anything but wait for the monkeys to leave”

As if monkey menace weren't enough before, now add rabies.

One paragraph for the story, one for the mission statement

One-week-old silver leaf monkey Thai removed from care of first-time mother who was doing it wrong, say San Diego Zoo animal care staff.

“Red Ruffed Lemurs will have a large toy”

Animal Enrichment Day at Bloomington, IL's Miller Park Zoo.

“she was attacked from behind”

In Bangalore, monkey menace yields to monkey terror.

Even on radio, kids and animals

Bubba the Monkey: 0, Gorilla Glass: 1.

I got your Ebsen sauce hangin, boy!

Bangor ME parolee banged up for getting high on monkey dust, as the kids call it.

Dick the Red to Primates:

Drop dead. Or 'take your stinking paws off of me, you damned dirty ape'. I can't decide between the Ed Koch reference or the Planet of the Apes one.

The bloggers lot is not a happy one. (You see what I did there? A gratuitous Gilbert and Sullivan hat tip!)

S/W slash FTW

I keep two copies of Elements of Style, third edition, on my desk at work in case one gets borrowed.

“lovely gentle animals”

New home for two rescued lemurs in Northern Ireland.

“staked to the ground”

Kalispell Police Department reports a large, inflatable gorilla was stolen Friday.

“import permits, health certificates and laboratory reports”

Insufficiently amused by the glittering, if delayed, world of Formula One motor racing, Richard Branson to populate his private island with dozens of ring-tailed lemurs.

“the first zoo to help an orangutan use a breast pump”

Two orangutan babies meet their public for the first time at Fresno's Chaffee Zoo.

Goodbye, Haloko

44-year-old female Western Lowland gorilla Haloko, the only wild-born gorilla at the National Zoo, euthanized yesterday, suffering effects of congestive heart failure.

“which means 'precious one' in Swahili”

Australians charmed by mother-daughter gorilla bonding by Kriba and Kipenzi at Taronga Zoo.

“Monkeys do need food to survive”

Plan to cull vervet monkeys around South Africa's Hartbeespoort Dam meets opposition.

Goodbye, Misha

One-year-old gorilla dies at Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.

“get the monkeys down”

Manitowoc County's Two Rivers Opera House, remembered as a place where performing monkeys would get loose and need caught.

“I have the right not to have a goat in the seat next to me”

Americans with Disabilities Act rules change, service monkeys hardest hit.

“a Canadian goose versus a monkey”

Spider monkeys fail in escape attempt from Utah's Hogle Zoo.

“They’ve both been pretty chill”

Dallas Zoo welcomes two new adolescent male lowland gorillas: B’wenzi and Juba.

“Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme”

Expert from Jersey's Durrell Wildlife Trust plans visit to Indonesia's Batu Mbelin orangutan quarantine centre to see twins born to two blind orangutans.

Insert your own disparaging comment

UK student to be caged, live like a gorilla, for 24 hours at Paignton Zoo.

“Carefully and with a sedative”

Gorillas given thorough physicals by jumpy vets at Brookfield Zoo.

“they're not monkeys”

Ever-hungry alligators at St. Augustine Alligator Farm and Zoological Park watch new lemur neighbors with interest.

“It was sore but it was worth it”

Outgoing 18-year-old UK girl bounces more than six miles on a "space hopper" balloon while thinking of gorillas.

Compare & contrast

Titi monkey vs. Amherst County Courthouse monkey

“worth an estimated $100”

Abilene TX theft of "fuzzy, brown gorilla suit" unrelated to Jane Goodall's imminent arrival, authorities say.

“primates can suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome and Stockholm syndrome”

Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary, Canada's only primate sanctuary.

“police have identified three juvenile suspects”

A small monkey was found dead at Frank Buck Zoo in Texas, following a break-in by vandals this weekend.

“scientists seek to treat all species humanely”

Without research chimpanzees, new cures don't get discovered.

“other monkeys in the troop have started to serve as baby sitters”

Illinois's Niabi Zoo celebrates February birth of a black and white Colobus monkey, Hank.

“adventure is in her blood”

National Geographic pauses from non-stop AGW for the swimsuit issue.

Costly kebabs

Chimpanzee meat, at over 20 pounds a kilogram, seized from market stalls in Britain.

"cardiac tamponade"

Necropsy findings released in January death of Hank the chimpanzee at Tennessee's Chattanooga Zoo.

Goodbye, Maki

16-year-old chimpanzee at North Carolina Zoo, mother of the first chimp born there, dies after anesthesia as part of treatment for an abscessed tooth.

“Kambiri”

Four-month-old gorilla at the Boston's Franklin Park Zoo is named. Kambiri means “allow me to join the family.”

“inflammation of the brain, fluid in the lungs and fibrosis in the heart”

Necropsy fails to find definitive reason for death, but gorilla Kimba of South Carolina's Riverbanks Zoo and Garden stubbornly remains dead.

“he had died on the spot”

Man in India's Galta Gate dies after third floor rooftop fall while fighting marauding monkeys.

“Actually, he's Brisbane's stolen monkey”

The wrong stolen tamarin monkey turned in to Australia's Simbio Wildlife Park.

“more than two to three days to catch a monkey”

Municipal Corporation of Delhi wises up: if you want more monkey catchers, pay more for monkey catchers!

“proportionately largest brain of all primates”

Squirrel monkeys born at Virginia Zoo.

“seven in the past month”

Complaint filed, federal inspection planned, in death of Hank, 42-year-old chimpanzee at Chattanooga Zoo.

Goodbye, Lulu

46-year-old gorilla, first gorilla to give birth at New York's Central Park Zoo, dies Monday at Columbus Zoo and Aquarium after suffering seizures.

“the reincarnation of their ancestors”

Wild chimpanzees solve Gordian Knot.

“It was named Kipenzi”

Australia gains a gorilla!

Goodbye, Hank

42-year-old chimpanzee at Chattanooga Zoo dies in his sleep. Zoo plans to have life celebration, probably with religion-neutral dances.

“known to damage crops and steal food”

Japan's champion bitey monkey breaks jail.

“illegal ape parts”

Getting ahead in the bushmeat trade.

Yikes!

The always thought-provoking TJIC blog is down after Travis made a nekulturny joke. (h/t)

More

Still more.


OK, I hate joining things, but really!

“the first time the zoo’s chimps had attacked”

Friday, chimpanzees at Riverside Discovery Center in Scottsbluff, Nebraska bite two fingers off of keeper's hand. It's unclear if they were successfully reattached.

“We take a ‘hands-off’ approach with all primates”

Patas money born at Rosamond Gifford Zoo, in Syracuse NY.

“so she will have a tubal ligation”

Little Rock Zoo announced Wednesday that Judy the chimpanzee has lost two offspring: one stillborn, the other a few days after birth.

“langurs were brought in to keep the monkeys at bay”

At the Sanjay Gandhi Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow, India, they'll set a monkey to catch a monkey.

“injuries mainly on the face”

Student injured in monkey attack at India's Jakhu temple (dedicated to Lord Hanuman, the monkey god.)

“fruit and other treats inside piñatas”

A party will be held this weekend at El Paso Zoo to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the birth of Henry the Sumatran orangutan.

“Penguins are exempt from the count this year”

Annual nearly-comprehensive animal count underway at London Zoo.

“hurting people”

Tennessee minister/photographer recounts his many adventures and his catholic diet while globe-trotting.

Not much meat on one, I bet

Madagascar police capture a poacher with 32 grilled lemurs.

More.

“tamarin monkeys are not allowed out to play in the snow”

Only animals with warm fur frolic in the cold of the UK's Linton Zoo.