Zoo QuestZoo QuestZoo Quest is dedicated to wildlife conservation issues from around the world. It deals with everything from elephants declining in India to black bears returning to Texas. Articles
Why Waterfowl?
2008-02-20 10:12:00 Note to readers: This articles marks the beginning of my "100 Stories for the Ducks" series detailing problems and solutions dealing with waterfowl conservation. I have pledged to write 100 articles over the course of the next five years appearing in publications ranging from Texas Fish & Game to the local newspapers (Port Arthur News and Orange Leader) that I write for.---Chester Moore"Conservation" by definition means, “the careful utilization of a natural resource in order to prevent depletion.” For that cause, hunters have been at the forefront, contributing billions toward habitat management, research and law enforcement. We have done so not only to ensure populations of the game we pursue are at levels high enough to justify hunting, but also for it to be at equilibrium with its habitat. Much of this funding comes from license fees, permits and excise taxes on sporting goods voluntarily accepted by the sport hunting community to give wild...
Back in Action
2008-02-20 10:07:00 Everyone,I would like to apologise for a lack of blogs since December. My outdoor writing career and several conservation projects have kept me on the road nonstop. In fact I am about to leave again. You will be seeing much more on this site beginning today and although the several times weekly updates will not begin until March you will start seeing content again. I do this out of a love for wildlife conservation with no $$ reward so other things have to take precedence. The good thing is those other things are aiming toward the same goal. A new day, a new level,Chester MooreGenesis 1:1 More About: Action , Back
E-Bay for Elephants
2007-11-28 15:33:00 Greetings everyone,Some of you may know, some of you may not but Project: Zoo Quest is more than a blog. It is also a nonprofit charity. I am in the process of setting up my first big fundraiser and I want to do something for Asiatic elephants.There are only around 30,000 left in the wild scattered over more than a dozen countries and their numbers are falling fast. In comparison there are more than 600,000 elephants left in Africa and the media acts like they are about to disappear. Asia's elephants need help.I have a goal of raising $5,000 over a 90-day period beginning Jan. 15 through a project I am calling "E-Bay for Elephants". I will do a three month auction of all kinds of items to raise those funds which will go to a couple of different projects directly for Asiatic elephants.So, I am soliciting donations of quality good (can be inexpensive to HUGE) to kick off the auctions. I will take anything from rare baseball cards to guided fishing trips. It doesn't matter! And ...
Good news on Siberian tigers
2007-11-09 10:26:00 This is good news from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It's little steps like this that end up making a big difference in the end. Check it out.... In a world where many animals are under siege, the Amur tiger, popularly known in the West as the Siberian tiger offers an encouraging message: the population of the huge cat is showing signs of recovery. During the past 100 years, the Amur tiger population of the Russian Far East was decimated by forest destruction and poaching for tiger body parts for use in traditional Chinese medicine. By the 1940s the number surviving had dwindled to an estimated 50. Thanks in part to $611,131 in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grants that, combined with partner donations and in-kind contributions, push the total to more than $1 million, the big, distinctive cats appear to be rebounding in Russia. Recent surveys indicate that between 331 and 370 adult tigers and 100 young, about 450 tigers in all, are living in the Russian Far East, home t... More About: News , Tigers , Good News , Good
Elephant Editorial up on the SOP
2007-11-08 16:57:00 I just wanted to send out a quick update that I posted an editorial about Asiatic elephant conservation for the Student Operated Press of which I am an editor. You can check it out by clicking here.The article tackles some of the daunting tasks involved with the conservation of elephants in Asia and offers some solutions to current problems. More About: Editorial , Elephant
Are stingrays THAT dangerous?
2007-11-07 16:56:00 When wildlife television pioneer Steve “Crocodile Hunter” Irwin died as a result of a stingray wound to the chest last year the world was shocked. Millions of people, including myself were taken aback due to genuine adoration of a man who single-handedly did more to raise awareness to the plight of wildlife and its habitat around the world than anyone since Jacques Eves Cousteau. The truly surprising element of this tragic story however was not that Irwin died on camera while filming an episode of his popular show but that a stingray killed him. On a daily basis he dealt with huge man-eating crocodiles, super-sized constrictors, savage shark species and the most poisonous snakes in existence, but it was a creature not known for its deadly actions that killed this (fatally) risk-taking legend. Once the story broke and the media frenzy hit, I was inundated with e-mails and phone calls from readers, friends and relatives wanting to know how dangerous stingrays were. One newspaper ... More About: Dangerous
Amazing wildlife news from Sudan
2007-11-04 11:55:00 I just came across an amazing story from the Associated Press regarding wildlife returning to the Sudan . "Sudan's 22-year north-south civil war — Africa's longest and bloodiest conflict, killed some two million people. It also drove out large numbers of animals." "Now after two years of relative peace, they're dramatically back. Wildlife services estimate 7,000 elephants have returned, along with some 1,500 giraffes and about 500 oryx antelopes, both thought to have left Sudan forever. Lions, leopards and a wide variety of gazelles, some of them unique to Sudan, are being spotted, too." "In a February aerial survey, the U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation Society estimated herds of antelope and gazelle numbered 1.3 million." "It could well be the largest mammal migration on Earth," said Paul Elkan, the society's south Sudan country director."What really amazed me was the following section of the story."The wardens insist that only the area's native herds have returned. They say ... More About: News , Amazing
There is no such species as "black panther"
2007-11-02 10:26:00 Over the years, hundreds of eyewitnesses hundreds of eyewitness have reported seeing large, black, long-tailed cats frequently called “black panthers” in the southern United States.I have personally been gathering big cat reports in the region (mainly Texas and Louisiana) since 1992 and roughly 30 percent of the reports fall into this category.There are a couple of problems associated with this phenomenon and one of them is there is no such species as a “black panther”.All of the black cats you see on television in circuses and zoos are either black leopards or jaguars. Both species frequently throw melanistic or black offspring. Of the two species, jaguars are native to Texas while leopards are a cat of the Old World.According to the World Wildlife Fund, the jaguar’s coat color ranges from pale yellow to reddish brown, with a much paler (often white) underbelly. “It has spots on the neck, body and limbs that form rosettes, which contain black mark... More About: Black , Panther
Audubon Zoo Photo Gallery
2007-10-30 11:38:00 ; &nbs p; These photos are a continuation of a story I wrote for the Student Operation Press. You can read it here. Please enjoy and feel free to e-mail me at cmoore@fishgame.com if you have any questions. & nbsp; ; &nbs p; &nb sp; &n bsp; & nbsp; ; &nbs p;Amur leopards are a critically endangered subspecies numbering at less than 50 in the wild. The Audubon Zoo has had several successful breedings of these beautiful cats. Photo by Chester Moore, Jr. &n bsp; & nbsp; ... More About: Gallery
A closeup look at Animal Kingdoms' gorillas
2007-10-27 01:06:00 ; &nbs p; &nb sp; &n bsp; & nbsp; ; Last week, I had a speaking engagement in Orlando and took the time beforehand to visit Disney's Animal Kingdom. I heard they had a great gorilla display (which they did) and found it to be an amazing photo opportunity. These shots are from my trip. Enjoy. ; &nbs p; &nb sp; &n bsp; & nbsp; ; &nbs p; &nb sp;... More About: Gorillas
Prairie destruction up by 40 percent
2007-10-25 01:58:00 The amount of native prairie destroyed in the Prairie Pothole Region has skyrocketed by at least 40 percent in the last year. Ducks Unlimited (DU) officals says this increase validates concerns that duck populations and the viability of ranching operations are threatened. New statistics from the United States Department of Agriculture show the amount of grassland being converted to cropland in North Dakota and Montana is 6,000 acres higher this year than it was in 2006 according to DU officials. Landowners in the two states plowed up 30,000 acres of native prairie in 2007. More than 20,000 of those acres were in the Prairie Pothole Region.Loss figures this high for these two states are not a good sign when we haven’t yet seen South Dakota’s data,” said Scott Stephens, DU’s director of conservation planning for the Great Plains Region. In recent years, South Dakota has shown the largest annual losses. The Prairie Pothole Region includes the eastern Dakotas as well... More About: Destruction
Beware of feral dogs!
2007-10-22 10:17:00 (NOTE: This was my column in the Orange Leader and Port Arthur News last week. I felt I needed to run it because it deals with a serious safety issue in the outdoors: feral dogs.) ; &nbs p; &nb sp; &n bsp; & nbsp; ; &nbs p; &nb sp; &n bsp; & nbsp; ; &nbs p; Photo Courtesy Glen Jones/DreamstimeLast Thursday I went out to my deer lease just north of Deweyville to do some scouting and move one of my bow stands within shooting distance of a fresh deer trail I found about 100 yards behind it.The pin oaks... More About: Dogs , Beware
South Chinese tiger spotted in the wild!
2007-10-15 09:51:00 ; &nbs p; &nb sp; &n bsp; & nbsp; ; &nbs p; &nb sp; &n bsp; & nbsp; ; &nbs p; &nb sp; Photo by Chester Moore, Jr. Here's some great news from China via the AFP news Service."A rare South China tiger has been spotted in the wild for the first time in decades, surprising researchers who feared the subspecies was extinct outside of captivity, state media said Friday." "Experts have confirmed a photograph taken on October 3 by a farmer in... More About: Chinese , Wild , Tiger
World's Scariest Animals (Part 2)
2007-10-12 16:24:00 A few days ago we looked at some of the world’s scariest animals and the response was great, so I thought it would be fun to look at some more creatures that inspire goosebumps. #Spotted hyena---Hyenas have a reputation of being sort of a “funny” animal with their strange, “laughing” vocalizations. In reality, however, hyenas are dangerous predators that will gather in packs and taken on animals as large as lions and will attack people. Hyenas have extremely powerful jaws that can snap bones in a single bite and will eat every single piece of an animal. When a pack of hyenas gets through with a carcass, there is only some blood left and most of the time they lap that up. Part s of Africa, particularly Somaliland, are seeing a huge increase in hyena attacks on people according to Softpedia news. “People have become so afraid of them, that families in Ainabo district, situated 300 kilometers away from the Somaliland capital, Hargesia, have been ... More About: Animals
Manatee should stay on "endangered" list
2007-10-11 10:02:00 Before we get to part two of "World's Scariest Animals", I thought I would touch on an issue that has been brewing over the last couple of months: manatee recovery.According to an article in the Associated Pres, the manatee may no longer be classified as an "endangered" animal."The US Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) says it's considering changing the classification to 'threatened'. An internal memo obtained by the Washington Post says Florida manatees are showing positive growth and adult survival rates, and no longer meet the definition of an endangered species.""The animals would still remain protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, making it illegal to harass, poach or kill them," they reported. &n bsp; & nbsp; ; &nbs p; ; ... More About: List , Stay , Manatee
World's Scariest Animals (Part 1)
2007-10-08 22:26:00 I'm a huge fan of Halloween, horror movie marathons, candy, haunted attractions and everything that has to do with the month of October. And being someone with an even greater passion for wildlife it shouldn't come as a surprise that I have always enjoyed the truly scary animals of the world. I'm talking about the ones that can eat, claw and stomp you into a mudhole.Since we're in the midst of the Halloween season, I thought it would be fun to check out some of the animals you would least want to encounter on a cool, autumn night when the wind is howling and the moonlight barely illuminates your surroundings.Polar Bear---Most bear species kill people out of territorial instincts or to protect their young but polar bears do so for dining purposes. Yes, polar bears are maneaters. There aren't many easy meals in their icy habitat so any human showing up is fair game. Arcticwebsite.com has a great article called "How to Survive a Bear Attack" and it does a great... More About: Animals , Part
Raptors featured at Renaissance Festival
2007-10-07 12:35:00 Plantersville, TX---The Texas Renaissance Festival is not just about period clothing, turkey legs and jousting. It offers a chance to have a up, close and personal look at some of the world’s most beautiful and mysterious birds of prey. Florida-based Wild Sky Productions headed by Robby and Shannon Sinkler is putting on a birds of prey show that I had the pleasure to see last Saturday at the festival’s falconry stage. Coming from someone who has seen wildlife shows all around the world, I can honestly say this one is top notch. “We want to give people a fun, educational experience about birds of prey showing them species they might see in their backyards as well as more exotic species from around the world,” Shannon Sinkler said. The show started off with a look at North America’s most common raptor, the red-tailed hawk, which is an active hunter with incredible eyesight. “These birds are very effective predators and help to control rodent populations,” Sinkler said. ... More About: Featured , Raptors
An elephant is not just an elephant
2007-10-04 10:24:00 An elephant is just an elephant. Well, at least that is what many visitors to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans think before they run into elephant handler Joey Ratliff."We have Asiatic elephants and most people without a real deep knowledge of wildlife do not realize there are African elephants and then there are Asian elephants," Ratliff said. "Actually, I like to say there are African elephants and then there are real elephants," he joked. Ratliff's passion for the Asiatic elephant shines through when he talks about the problems facing them. "There are serious habitat issues in Asia. One that has been happening is the explosion of tea plantations. All of these different kinds of teas are very popular and they clear the forest to make plantations and when an elephant comes tromping through it is often killed," Ratliff said. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) estimates wild populations which are scattered throughout India, Nepal, Indonesia, China and a few other countr... More About: Elephant
Orangutan mugs French tourist (Seriously)
2007-09-30 11:24:00 I had to post this one from the Guardian Unlimited. "An orangutan who objected to having its photograph taken by a French tourist snatched her backpack before ripping off her trousers." "The woman, known only as Odile, was taking photographs of a female orangutan named Delima in a Malaysian wildlife centre when the ape took offense." "The pair tussled over Odile's backpack before Delima decided to go for the tourist's clothes." "He (Delima) took my shoes and socks off, and then tried to take off my trousers," Odile told the Associated Press news agency." "As he couldn't with his hands only, he tried with his teeth and that's when I got bitten. As soon as he got my trousers he went away." She denied she had tried to touch or harass the animal. Wilfred Landong, the chief park warden at Malaysia's Semenggoh Wildlife Centre on Borneo island, said rangers gave Odile medical treatment after she suffered scratches and bruises on her knees and thighs. He sai... More About: Mugs , Tourist
PR problem leading to Asiatic elephant's demise in the wild
2007-09-28 11:35:00 The Asiatic elephant is in serious trouble.The World Wild life Fund (WWF) estimates wild populations which are scattered throughout India, Nepal, Indonesia, China and a few other countries is between 25,600 to 32,750 individuals. That represents a stark decline over the last few decades and the results of habitat loss due to increased agriculture and related shootings as well as some ivory poaching.Perhaps the single great obstacle facing Asiatic elephant recovery however is a lack of publicity.You're probably thinking, "I've seen tons of television programs and articles on the decline of elephants. They get all kinds of publicity." Well, you're partially right.African elephants are the darlings of the wildlife conservation world and dominate nearly all news coverage pachyderms receive. In preparation for this article, I did a google search for the words "endangered elephants". Skimming through the first 40 hits, I found only three that mentioned Asiatic elephants. Typi... More About: Problem , Leading |
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