Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter

NEWS ABOUT: zookeeper

zookeeper stories: 18 news summaries

 Bald Bears Stump 
 German Zookeepers 

Mystery condition leaves bears hairless as winter sets in

Nov 5, 09 3:45 AM CST
(Newser) - Zookeepers in Leipzig are scrambling to figure out why three bears have lost their fur coats. The spectacled bears, South American natives who normally have dark rings around their eyes, have gone almost completely bald just when they should be growing even thicker coats for the onset of winter. The... More »

MORE ABOUT:
hair loss • zoo • zookeeper • bear

(Newser) - A rare white tiger mauled a New Zealand zookeeper to death today in front of stunned visitors as the man entered the animal's enclosure for cleaning, reports the Times of London. The victim just months ago fought off an attack by the same tiger at the wildlife park to save... More »

MORE ABOUT:
zookeeper • tiger

 Knut Needed Hug: 
 Zoo Intruder 

Unidentified man scales wall to get closer to polar bear in Berlin

Dec 22, 08 1:05 PM CST
(Newser) - A German man says he climbed over a Berlin Zoo barrier today because the polar bear needed a hug, Bloomberg reports. The unidentified man, 37, apparently believed the animal—which drew 3.2 million visitors last year—was lonely. “He wanted to keep Knut company,” police said. Knut,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
crime • Knut • Berlin Zoo • polar bear • arrest • zookeeper

 Panda Bites 
 Hand, Er, Leg, 
 That Feeds It 

Visitor to Hong Kong zoo captures attack on tape

Dec 9, 08 7:33 AM CST
(Newser) - A giant panda bit the left leg of a Hong Kong zookeeper while he was laying bamboo leaves in the animal's pen, reports the AP. The keeper was recovering well after the panda attack, which was partially captured and posted on YouTube by a zoo visitor. The panda—a male... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Hong Kong • zoo • panda • attack • animal attack • zookeeper • animal

 Heart Attack Killed Knut-Keeper 

Autopsy rules out foul play

Sep 23, 08 1:34 PM CDT
(AP) - Berlin prosecutors said an autopsy today showed that Thomas Doerflein, the zookeeper who gained fame for hand-rearing the polar bear cub Knut, died of a heart attack. The city's mayor paid tribute to him for writing Berlin history. "Other causes of death, in particular involvement by another party, are... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Germany • Berlin • Knut • autopsy • heart attack • zookeeper

 Knut's Surrogate Dad 
 Dead at 44 

Police doubt foul play in death of Dörflein, long ill

Sep 22, 08 3:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - Thomas Dörflein, the Berlin zookeeper who raised polar bear Knut after his mother rejected him, was found dead in his apartment today, Der Spiegel reports. He was 44. Authorities said there was no evidence of foul play; Dörflein had been very sick. The keeper’s contact with Knut... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Knut • Berlin Zoo • obituary • zookeeper • surrogates • Thomas Dorflein

 DC Zoo Evicting Hippo

'Happy' must move to make place for elephants

Aug 3, 08 2:18 PM CDT
(Newser) - The National Zoo is adding a new elephant sanctuary, reports the Washington Post, and the move is putting its sole Nile hippopotamus, Happy, out on the street in a year or so. The zoo will hold onto its pygmy hippos, but is more committed to Asian elephant programs. "... More »

MORE ABOUT:
zoo • zookeeper • Nile • pygmy hippos • hippopotamus • National Zoo

 Tabby Adopts Red Panda Cub 

Dutch zookeeper's cat lets abandoned panda join her litter

Jul 10, 08 9:39 AM CDT
(Newser) - A newborn red panda rejected by its mother has been adopted by a zookeeper's cat, the BBC reports. The panda and its sibling were first put on an incubator at the Dutch zoo but the tabby cat, who had recently given birth, proved willing to take the kitten-sized panda cubs... More »

MORE ABOUT:
endangered species • zoo • panda • zookeeper • cat • kitten • animal

 Quake-Rattled Pandas
 Get Hugs, Bamboo 

Bears recovering with help from keepers

Jun 3, 08 6:52 AM CDT
(Newser) - Zookeepers are helping pandas traumatized by the Sichuan earthquake get back to normal with hugs and games, the Guardian reports. Eight young pandas have been sent to Beijing Zoo and 47 more remain at the Wolong reserve, where the deputy chief said the animals' appetites are back to normal, but... More »

MORE ABOUT:
endangered species • panda • zookeeper • pandas • Sichuan province • Wolong Giant Panda Reserve Center • China earthquake • giant pandas

Knut 'Doesn't Know He's a Polar Bear'

Overexposed to humans, celebrity animal is miserable

Mar 25, 08 6:49 PM CDT
(Newser) - Poor Knut: The celebrity polar bear, no longer the ball of fluff who captivated animal lovers around the world, is miserable without human contact and doesn't realize he isn't a person. "Knut must go. As soon as possible," a keeper at the Berlin Zoo said of the 300-pound... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Knut • Berlin Zoo • zoo • Thomas Doerflein • polar bear • zookeeper • bear • anthropomorphizing

 Report Rips Zoo in Tiger Attack

Facility was understaffed and unprepared for emergency

Mar 19, 08 7:37 AM CDT
(Newser) - When a 243-pound tiger escaped its pen and began mauling Christmas Day visitors, the San Francisco Zoo was painfully understaffed and ill-equipped to respond to the emergency, according to a new report. "The zoo is too often chasing problems," concluded the independent Association of Zoos and Aquariums of... More »

MORE ABOUT:
911 call • animal attack • zookeeper • tigers • Tatiana • San Francisco Zoo • Paul Dhaliwal • Kulbir Dhaliwal • tiger attack • Christmas Day • visitors • Carlos Sousa Jr • tiger grotto

 Taming Gorilla Heart 
 Disease a Beastly Task 

With great apes dying at alarming rates, zoos try to train some difficult patients

Mar 14, 08 2:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - With heart disease nearly epidemic among America’s captive gorilla population, zookeepers are trying to train the great apes to submit to the human medical procedures that could save their lives. But getting a gorilla to sit still for a blood test is a taxing problem, one the National Zoo... More »

MORE ABOUT:
heart disease • gorilla • zookeeper • Western Lowland Gorilla • National Zoo • pandas • Metroparks Zoo • fibrosing cardiomyopathy

Zoos Leap Into Year of Frog

Activists bring attention to decline of amphibians

Feb 29, 08 9:23 AM CST
(Newser) - How could any zoo resist? Leap Day, in the Year of the Frog, is being celebrated by zoos and conservationists everywhere as the perfect time to draw attention to the plight of amphibians. "We want to get people talking about frogs and thinking about them," said one zookeeper.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
endangered species • environment • zoo • zookeeper • frogs • leap year • Year of the Frog • amnphibians

Med Student's Kiss of Life Saves Tiger Cub

Cub passes out, med student mom leaps into cage

Feb 3, 08 12:16 PM CST
(Newser) - A medical student sprang into action when she spotted a tiger cub choking on a piece of meat at a German zoo—and gave the animal mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, or as Der Speigel reports, "mouth-to-muzzle" CPR. "The little baby tiger was gnawing meat off a bone. All of a... More »

MORE ABOUT:
zoo • zookeeper • tiger • CPR • tiger cub • Halle zoo • mouth-to-mouth resuscitation

Killer Tiger's Escape a Mystery

Deadly San Francisco Zoo attack being treated as crime scene

Dec 27, 07 6:19 AM CST
(Newser) - The San Francisco Zoo remained shuttered today as investigators and grieving family alike struggled to understand how a Siberian tiger was able to escape her cage and maul 17-year-old Carlos Souza to death. "This is very rough on us," said an uncle. "He was a great kid.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
zookeeper • Tatiana • San Francisco Zoo • Siberian tiger • Police Sgt. Neville Gittens • Lt. Leroy Lindo • Manuel Mollinedo • Carlos Sousa Jr

SF Zoo
Probes Deadly Tiger Attack

Investigation focuses on animal's escape route over wall, moat

Dec 26, 07 11:35 AM CST
(Newser) - Investigators are attempting to figure out how a 350-pound Siberian tiger escaped her enclosure at the San Francisco Zoo yesterday, crossing a 15-foot moat and scaling a 20-foot wall. The tiger, Tatiana, killed a man and severely mauled two others before being shot and killed by police. The surviving victims... More »

MORE ABOUT:
San Francisco • animal attack • zookeeper • tigers • Tatiana • San Francisco Zoo

Panda Attacks Zookeeper

This bamboo is tasty, but I prefer human flesh

Aug 7, 07 8:06 AM CDT
(Newser) - A zookeeper in northwestern China needed more than a hundred stitches after being scratched and bitten by a panda. The keeper was feeding the 2-year-old from outside the cage when the lovable bear grabbed his arms and started biting. The panda—Lan Zai —had recently been transferred from another... More »

MORE ABOUT:
zoo • panda • attack • animal attack • zookeeper • Lan Zai • animal

'Knut' No Longer Equals 'Cute'

As camera-ready polar bear grows more fearsome, the 'aww' factor diminishes

Jun 1, 07 2:59 PM CDT
(Newser) - Anyone who's ever had a nightmare about stuffed animals coming to life can relate to what Thomas Doerflein is going through. The zookeeper who's been celebrity polar bear cub Knut 's surrogate mother since the little camera hog was an adorable ball of fluff finds himself on the business end... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Germany • Knut • Berlin Zoo • zoo • Thomas Doerflein • polar bear • zookeeper • animal

18 Stories


from our news partners