US pigeons to get contraceptives

The pigeon population has risen to 5,000 in Hollywood

Birth control is to be used on pigeons in California in an effort to combat the "unmanageable" mess their increasing numbers are causing.

Animal rights groups support using the contraceptive in preference to other methods such as gates which give electric shocks and poisoning.

OvoControl P, which interferes with egg development, will be put in bird food in new rooftop feeders in Hollywood.

The pilot program is expected to show results within a year.

Laura Dodson, president of the Argyle Civic Association, the group leading the effort to try the new contraceptive, said: "We think we've got a good solution to a bad situation.

"Cleaning up after the pigeons has become unmanageable and this could be the answer."

Estimates suggest that about 5,000 pigeons live in the Hollywood area.

Their rising numbers have been partially blamed on people feeding the birds.

Hollywood area's pigeon population is expected to shrink by at least half by 2012, Ms Dodson said.

Concern over gorilla 'executions'

Some readers may find the enlarged image upsetting Enlarge Image

Conservationists have expressed concern over the "senseless and tragic" killing of four mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The bodies of three females and one male were discovered by rangers earlier this week in the Virunga National Park.

Officials said the "executions" were not the work of poachers because they would have taken the bodies.

Since January, seven of the large apes in the region have been shot dead.

"This is a senseless and tragic loss of some of the world's most endangered and beloved animals," said Deo Kujirakwinja of the Wildlife Conservation Society's (WCS) Congo programme.

"This area must be immediately secured or we stand to lose an entire population of these animals," he added.

'Scare tactics'

The four animals belonged to a group of 12 gorillas, known to researchers as the Rugendo family, which was often visited by tourists.

Because poachers would have sold the bodies as food or trophies, conservationists think the apes were killed by a group that was trying to scare wardens out of the park.

The IWC said the protected area was coming under increasing pressure from "outside exploitation", including the charcoal trade.

"Whatever the motive underlying this tragedy, the gorillas are helpless pawns in a feud between individuals," said Mark Rose, chief executive of Fauna and Flora International.

"We are deeply concerned about this incident, which follows more than 20 years of successful collaboration for mountain gorilla conservation."

A census carried out in 2004 estimated that 380 gorillas, more than half of the world's population, lived in the national park and surrounding Virunga volcanoes region.

The latest killings take the number of shootings in the area to seven. Earlier this year, two silverback male gorillas were shot dead in the same area of the park, while a female was killed in May.

US cat 'predicts patient deaths'

Oscar meows in protest if removed from the room of a dying patient

A US cat that is reportedly able to sense when a nursing home's residents are about to die is baffling doctors.

Oscar has a habit of curling up next to patients at the home in Providence, Rhode Island, in their final hours.

According to the author of a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, the two-year-old cat has been observed to be correct in 25 cases so far.

Staff now alert the families of residents when he sits down next to their ailing loved one.

"He doesn't make many mistakes. He seems to understand when patients are about to die," David Dosa, a professor at Brown University who carried out the research, told the Associated Press news agency.

'Premonitions'

Oscar was adopted as a kitten at Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Centre.

Cats often can sense when their owners are sick or when another animal is sick Thomas Graves, feline expert

The cat is said to do his own rounds, just like the doctors and nurses at the home, but is not generally friendly to patients.

Although most families are grateful for the warning Oscar seems to provide, some relatives ask that the pet be taken away while they say their last goodbyes to their loved ones.

When put outside the room, Oscar is said to pace up and down meowing in protest.

Thomas Graves, a feline expert from the University of Illinois, told the BBC: "Cats often can sense when their owners are sick or when another animal is sick.

"They can sense when the weather will change, they're famous for being sensitive to premonitions of earthquakes."

A doctor who treats patients at the home said she believed there was probably a biochemical explanation, rather than the cat being psychic.

Seagull becomes crisp shoplifter

The seagull has ben nicknamed Sam by locals Shoplifting seagull

A seagull has turned shoplifter by wandering into a shop and helping itself to crisps.

The bird walks into the RS McColl newsagents in Aberdeen when the door is open and makes off with cheese Doritos.

The seagull, nicknamed Sam, has now become so popular that locals have started paying for his crisps.

Shop assistant Sriaram Nagarajan said: "Everyone is amazed by the seagull. For some reason he only takes that one particular kind of crisps."

The bird first swooped in Aberdeen's Castlegate earlier this month and made off with the 55p crisps, and is now a regular.

Once outside, the crisps are ripped open and the seagull is joined by other birds.

'Fine art'

Mr Nagarajan said: "He's got it down to a fine art. He waits until there are no customers around and I'm standing behind the till, then he raids the place.

"At first I didn't believe a seagull was capable of stealing crisps. But I saw it with my own eyes and I was surprised. He's very good at it.

The seagull takes the crisps outside and eats them

"He's becoming a bit of a celebrity. Seagulls are usually not that popular but Sam is a star because he's so funny."

A spokesman for RSPB Scotland said: "I've never heard of anything like this before.

"Perhaps it tried some crisps in a shiny packet in the street, and was just opportunistic one day at the shop when it saw what was inside.

"As everyone knows, gulls can be very quick and fearless, and clearly this one is no exception."

He added: "We'd discourage people from feeding gulls though, as gulls in towns generate lots of complaints every year, and the availability of food is the only reason they live in urban settings."

SA wine farm tackles climate change

SA wine farm tackles climate change

By Tim Mansel BBC News, Western Cape, South Africa

Backsberg is South Africa's first carbon neutral wine estate

It is lunchtime on the Backsberg wine estate, a few kilometres from Stellenbosch in South Africa's Western Cape, and all is quiet in the bottling plant.

Michael Back, the owner, sighs in frustration. "This just shows you the reality of trying to address climate change. Everybody is on lunch, but the lights are still on," he says.

Michael Back has made headlines and history in South Africa by becoming the first wine farmer there - and only the third in the world - to be recognised as carbon neutral.

"We are rather pleased with ourselves at having managed to do that," he says.

"When you see all the issues of the environment all over the newspapers, you start to look at your own place.

"As landowners we are custodians of that land for a very short period of time. We need to leave the land and environment in a better place than in which we found it."

Prized trees

In order to obtain the precious "Carbon Neutral Approved" sticker that now adorns all Backsberg bottles, Michael had to submit to a carbon audit - carried out in January this year - which measured the farm's carbon footprint and recommended ways to offset his emissions.

If we want to maintain our position on the shelves in the next five to 10 years, we're all going to have to monitor our activities in the environment Michael Back Backsberg wine estate Quick guide Carbon footprints

The result was a "village greening" project in nearby Klapmuts, a poor community with high unemployment, which provides seasonal labour for the surrounding vineyards.

In some of the small gardens in front of the one-storey breezeblock houses, slender saplings of acacia and willow droop in the winter rain.

Trees are much prized in a region with scorching summers for the shade they provide - and more than 900 have been planted in Klapmuts as part of Mr Back's offset programme.

The project has been overseen by the environmental organisation, Trees For Africa, which also provides his certification.

"People took the trees on a voluntary basis," he explains.

"So hopefully the people who took them are going to look after them. We ourselves go round the village regularly making sure that all the trees are still alive, because if we lose too many then our offset won't be in balance."

Mounting pressure

For all his environmental awareness Michael Back is a businessman, and his carbon neutrality programme is designed to keep his business in good shape.

We have to find ways in which environmental care can be commercialised so that it actually creates employment Michael Back

Some 40% of the wine bottled on the farm goes for export, as does all the fruit he grows - citrus, blueberries, figs and pomegranates.

He is aware that carbon emissions have become a big issue in those European markets on which he relies.

"I think that we are on top of the curve, but it's absolutely crucial that we can demonstrate that we are carbon neutral," he says.

"More and more the retailers are going to be pressurised by their customers, and as this pressure mounts, the pressure is going to be sent back down the line to suppliers.

"If we want to maintain our position on the shelves in the next five to 10 years, we're all going to have to monitor our activities in the environment."

He says every single operation on the farm is now up for review to see if they can save energy.

As we tour the winery Mr Back points up at two square holes that have been sawn in the ceiling. "We used to have neon tubes up there - now we just have natural light."

Other new projects depend on technology from a previous era. Michael describes with enthusiasm a method of washing barrels using a "hot water donkey".

"Basically you use waste wood to make hot water, instead of electricity. We're going back to something we had probably 50 or 75 years ago."

Huge issue

Projects in development include a methane digester which will use as fuel the litter from Michael's poultry sheds.

"We're planning to build a small pilot plant in October or November," he says.

South Africa's wine industry is following Mr Back's lead

"We'll burn the litter, which gives off methane gas, which we can then burn to make heat, for example. We see this is a very important component of our energy replacement."

On top of the 10% of the farm that has already been set aside for non-cultivation - to allow indigenous species of shrub to be preserved - Michael is planning to reserve another 10% for growing eucalyptus trees, as renewable forms of energy.

In terms of carbon neutrality Michael Back might be even further ahead of the curve than he realises.

In a recent survey conducted among British wine drinkers by Wine Intelligence, people were more interested in whether wine was organic or Fair Trade. No-one expressed a strong view about carbon neutrality and wine.

Still, it seems that the rest of South Africa's wine industry is gearing up to follow Michael Back's pioneering lead.

Su Birch, CEO of Wines of South Africa, which markets South African wine overseas, says the question now is how to move the whole industry towards being carbon neutral.

"At the end of the day you've got to do what your customers want and that's something the customers are asking of us," she says.

'Better for all'

But Su Birch also sounds a note of caution. Unemployment in South Africa is high and jobs are precious.

One way of reducing carbon emissions would be to export wine in bulk and have it bottled overseas.

"That would be creating jobs over there and losing them in South Africa, where they are desperately needed," she says.

"This shouldn't be a one-dimensional issue, because there are other issues here around the welfare of people who work in the wine industry. The societal implications, I think, should be as important as the environmental ones."

Michael Back agrees: "We have to find ways in which environmental care can be commercialised so that it actually creates employment, and shows that living in a cleaner environment is better for all."

Experts seek to save rare turtle

Experts seek to save rare turtle

By Jonathan Kent BBC News, Kuala Lumpur

Leatherback turtle numbers are falling in Terengganu

Conservationists and scientists are meeting in Malaysia to hatch a plan to save one of the world's most critically endangered sea creatures.

Experts say there are fewer than 5,000 leatherback turtles left, but with swift action they believe that their decline can be reversed.

The meeting's organisers say there is a certain irony in their choice of venue.

Terengganu on Malaysia's east coast was once home to one of the world's largest leatherback turtle nesting sites.

Tens of thousands would come ashore each year to lay their eggs.

But no more. Numbers are so low that the state has dropped the turtle as its symbol.

The creatures have fallen prey to humans who either raid their nests for eggs or who catch them in fishing nets at sea.

Funding needed

Peter Dutton, the head of a US government marine turtle research programme, says it is a critical time for the leatherback.

He wants to see more action to protect their nests.

Scientists have already identified the most critical nesting sites and hope that this meeting will decide how best to put into action a plan to save them.

There is broad agreement that the leatherbacks' decline can yet be stemmed.

However, campaigners say that without reliable funding for conservation programmes, the task of ensuring the survival of the largest of the world's turtle species will be that much more difficult.

Ibiza marine park 'safe from oil'

Some Ibiza beaches have been polluted by the oilspill

Spanish authorities say they have prevented oil from a freighter that ran aground off the holiday island of Ibiza from reaching a nature reserve.

Absorbent barriers are now in place to protect the Ses Salines reserve, a sanctuary for migratory birds.

A clean-up operation is continuing on three Ibiza beaches which were closed last week after oil came ashore.

The freighter Don Pedro hit rocks and sank last Wednesday, with 150 tons of fuel oil and diesel on board.

Spain's El Pais reports on its website that volunteers have removed about 100 tons of polluted sand from the affected beaches.

The three closed beaches are Talamanca, Figueretes and En Bossa.

A private firm is working to extract the remaining oil from the ship.

Ibiza is renowned for its buzzing night life and beaches, attracting thousands of holidaymakers - many of them British - every year.

Spanish Public Works Minister Magdalena Alvarez played down the pollution threat at the weekend, saying "there is practically no slick" and predicting that the beaches would be cleaned up "within days".

Major hominid fossil finding in Ethiopia

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (Reuters) -- Ethiopian scientists said on Tuesday they have discovered hominid fossil fragments dating from between 3.5 million and 3.8 million years ago in what could fill a crucial gap in the understanding of human evolution.

Ethiopian archaeologist Yohannes Haile Selassie said the find included several complete jaws and one partial skeleton and were unearthed in the Afar desert at Woranso-Mille, near where the famous fossil skeleton known as Lucy was found in 1974.

"This is a major finding that could fill a gap in human evolution," he told a news conference in Addis Ababa.

"The fossil hominids from the Woranso-Mille area sample a time period that is poorly known in human evolutionary study."

Researchers say the area, about 140 miles northeast of Addis, boasts the most continuous record of human evolution.

Last year, an international team of scientists unveiled the discovery of 4.1 million-year-old fossils in the region.

Lucy, the most famous find, lived between 3.3 million and 3.6 million years ago. But Yohannes said Afar had yielded early hominid fossil remains spanning the last 6 million years.

"This has placed Ethiopia in the forefront of paleoanthropology," he told reporters.

"Ethiopia is known to the world as the cradle of humankind."

Baby mammoth discovery unveiled

Baby mammoth discovery unveiled

By Paul Rincon Science reporter, BBC News

The mammoth's trunk and eyes are still intact Enlarge Image

A baby mammoth unearthed in the permafrost of north-west Siberia could be the best preserved specimen of its type, scientists have said.

The frozen carcass is to be sent to Japan for detailed study.

The six-month-old female calf was discovered on the Yamal peninsula of Russia and is thought to have died 10,000 years ago.

The animal's trunk and eyes are still intact and some of its fur remains on the body.

In terms of its state of preservation, this is the world's most valuable discovery Alexei Tikhonov, Russian Academy of Sciences

Mammoths are an extinct member of the elephant family. Adults often possessed long, curved tusks and a coat of long hair.

The 130cm (4ft 3ins) tall, 50kg Siberian specimen dates to the end of the last Ice Age, when the great beasts were vanishing from the planet.

It was discovered by a reindeer herder in May this year. Yuri Khudi stumbled across the carcass near the Yuribei River, in Russia's Yamal-Nenets autonomous district.

Missing tail

Last week, an international delegation of experts convened in the town of Salekhard, near the discovery site, to carry out a preliminary examination of the animal.

"The mammoth has no defects except that its tail was bit off," said Alexei Tikhonov, vice director of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a member of the delegation.

"In terms of its state of preservation, this is the world's most valuable discovery," he said.

Larry Agenbroad, director of the Mammoth Site of Hot Springs research centre in South Dakota, US, said: "To find a juvenile mammoth in any condition is extremely rare." Dr Agenbroad added that he knew of only three other examples.

Some scientists hold out hope that well preserved sperm or other cells containing viable DNA could be used to resurrect the mammoth.

Despite the inherent difficulties, Dr Agenbroad remains optimistic about the potential for cloning.

"When we got the Jarkov mammoth [found frozen in Taimyr, Siberia, in 1997], the geneticists told me: 'if you can get us good DNA, we'll have a baby mammoth for you in 22 months'," he told BBC News.

Lucrative trade

That specimen failed to yield DNA of sufficient quality, but some researchers believe it may only be a matter of time until the right find emerges from Siberia.

Bringing mammoths back from the dead could take the form of injecting sperm into the egg of a relative, such as the Asian elephant, to try to create a hybrid.

Alternatively, scientists could attempt to clone a pure mammoth by fusing the nucleus of a mammoth cell with an elephant egg cell stripped of its DNA.

But Dr Agenbroad warned that scientifically valuable Siberian mammoth specimens were being lost to a lucrative trade in ivory, skin, hair and other body parts.

The city of Yakutsk in Russia's far east forms the hub for this trade.

Local people are scouring the Siberian permafrost for remains to sell on, and, according to Dr Agenbroad, more carcasses could be falling into the hands of dealers than are finding their way to scientists.

Japan transfer

"These products are primarily for collectors and it is usually illicit," he explained.

"Originally it was for ivory, now it is everything. You can now go on almost any fossil marketing website and find mammoth hair for $50 an inch. It has grown beyond anyone's imagination."

Dr Agenbroad added: "Russia says that any mammoth remains are the property of the Russian government, but nobody really pays attention to that."

The Yamal mammoth is expected to be transferred to Jikei University in Tokyo, Japan, later this year.

A team led by Professor Naoki Suzuki will carry out an extensive study of the carcass, including CT scans of its internal organs.

Mammoths first appeared in the Pliocene Epoch, 4.8 million years ago.

What caused their widespread disappearance at the end of the last Ice Age remains unclear; but climate change, overkill by human hunters, or a combination of both could have been to blame.

One population of mammoths lived on in isolation on Russia's remote Wrangel Island until about 5,000 years ago.

Berlin zoo ends Knut-keeper romps

Berlin zoo ends bear-keeper romps

In pictures: Knut's story

A polar bear cub who became the star attraction at a Berlin zoo is to stop appearing in shows with his keeper because he has grown too big.

The zoo said Knut the polar bear would no longer frolic with keeper Thomas Doerflein in twice-daily shows that have drawn more than a million people.

The seven-month-old bear, now weighing 50kg (110 lbs), will reportedly have his enclosure entirely to himself.

He was adopted by Mr Doerflein after his mother rejected him at birth.

Media interest in Knut's story soared after an animal rights activist was quoted as saying the bear ought to have been killed - rather than being reared by humans.

The activist later complained he had been misquoted, AFP news agency says.

Safety concerns

Knut and his keeper began putting on twice-daily shows for the public in March.

I am always there for him. Knut is still a child. He needs me Thomas Doerflein Knut's keeper

The diminutive, white bear and his pony-tailed, muscular handler rapidly became international stars, delighting visitors with their playful tussling.

The zoo produced a range of merchandise featuring Knut and trademarked his name.

Mr Doerflein slept in the same room as Knut and bottle-fed him to compensate for the absence of his mother.

On Monday, a zoo spokesman said Knut's growing bulk meant he was now capable of injuring his keeper.

"Mr Doerflein's safety counts first of all, of course," zoo spokeswoman Regine Damm said.

She said the zoo also wanted to train Knut to associate "with other bears and not with other people".

Mr Doerflein was quoted as saying the zoo's decision would not prevent him playing with the bear.

"This doesn't mean that I will never play with Knut again, it just means there are no fixed times anymore," German daily BZ quoted him as saying.

"I am always there for him. Knut is still a child. He needs me."

The keeper also said he felt "burnt out" after months of frolicking with Knut and did not entirely enjoy his new-found fame.

"People want autographs, to touch me," he told the paper.

"When I am with my girlfriend, they invite me [for a drink]. When I say 'no', they get aggressive."

China trade threatens tropical trees

By Michael Bristow
BBC News, Beijing


Merbau trees used to be common across parts of Asia and Africa
China is at the heart of a trade that is pushing some tropical trees towards extinction, environmental groups say.One such is the tropical merbau tree, says Greenpeace.

Merbau trees that are mostly felled illegally are being shipped to China, where import rules are lax, the group claims.

This timber is then turned into finished products before being exported to Europe, North America and Australia.

Environmental campaigners want Chinese manufacturers and Western retailers to help end the illegal logging.

Merbau trees, which have reddish-brown wood, were once common in countries from East Africa to Tahiti.But they now exist in large numbers only on the island of New Guinea, half of which is governed by Indonesia, half by Papua New Guinea.Species like merbau are being pushed to the brink, and eventually we're going to run out.Greenpeace says China has become the world's largest importer of merbau timber from these two countries, mostly from illegal sources.

Using undercover investigators, the group found Chinese firms are using several methods to smuggle merbau timber.One route involves logs being imported directly from Indonesia, despite a ban on such exports by Jakarta.

Another method of getting round the ban is to transport Indonesian logs through Malaysia in order to claim they are from the transit country.

Figures from Chinese Customs show the Indonesian ban, which was enforced in 2005, has reduced the amount of merbau shipped to China.

Merbau logs at Guangzhou Province's Yuzhu wharf.The price of merbau logs has been rising in China.One indication of this comes from the price in China of merbau, which rose from $280 (£140) per cubic metre in 2004 to $660 last year.

But Greenpeace says the trade still threatens remaining merbau forests.

"Species like merbau are being pushed to the brink, and eventually we're going to run out," said Liu Bing of Greenpeace China.China denies Greenpeace's allegations, but it stops short of saying no illegally logged timber finds its way into the country.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang recently said government departments carried out joint attacks on "illegal behaviour".But the campaign to save the merbau tree is not just targeted at China.

Once it arrives here, the timber is turned into hardwood flooring, furniture and instruments such as drum frames. It is then exported across the world.Greenpeace is targeting Western retailers who sell merbau products as well as Chinese manufacturers.

And there is evidence the campaign is working.Retailer Floors-2-Go, which has 140 stores across the UK, stopped selling merbau flooring last year because of concerns over the source of the wood.But Allied Carpets is still selling merbau flooring without being able to guarantee the wood is from legitimate sources.

Company Chief Executive Clive Hutchings, who oversees 220 stores in the UK, told the BBC that the firm aims to change this policy.But that will not be easy.Steve Gilman, hardware store B&Q's Asia chief executive, said recently: "[Merbau] is one of the most endangered of all hardwood species. There's very little from certified sources."And even if retailers change their habits, the battle to save the merbau is not certain to succeed, not least because of how the tree grows.

It is a slow-growing species that takes up to 80 years to mature.

There are as few as one tree per hectare of forest, and an average of 45 other trees, many of which are just dumped, have to be chopped down to get the merbau."If the current rates of logging of merbau continue, the species will be virtually wiped out in the next 35 years," warns Greenpeace.

Zimbabwe, once one of Africa's has suffered severe wildlife losses

JOHANNESBURG – on private game ranches and conservancies due to forced farm seizures and the country's economic crisis.

Animal welfare group the Zimbabwe Conservation Taskforce (ZCT) said the farm seizures ordered by President Robert Mugabe's government in 2000 triggered an estimated 83 percent slump in wildlife on private farms and conservancies.


Zimbabwe is home to some of Africa's largest game reserves but experts say several animal species such as impala, warthog, kudu and wildebeest are at risk from rampant poaching by people struggling with hunger and rising poverty and from cross-border trophy hunters.

The welfare group said it studied 62 farms, 59 of which reported wildlife losses totalling 42,236 animals including the lion, elephant, python and blue duiker that were already on the list of endangered animals.

Zimbabwe's state National Parks and Wildlife Authority says animals in its larger game reserves have not been affected by massive poaching and remain safe.

The ZCT says the story on private land is different. It chose 17 of the 62 farms that kept proper records and supplied the task force with up-to-date statistics in order to estimate the total percentage of wildlife lost on the private ranches.

It estimates that at least 15,704 animals were killed on the 17 farms between 2000 and 2007, an average of 923 animals per farm, largely to be sold as meat.

'Because of the land reform and the way that it was done it was just free for all on the farms and the animals were the first to go,' ZCT chairman Johnny Rodrigues told Reuters.

'We are talking about the low rainfall areas where you can't grow crops,' he added.

Rodrigues said a lot of the animals were poached by the war veterans who seized the farms for food and cash amid meat shortages caused by the farm takeovers.

The group said wildlife was still 'fairly abundant' in Hwange National Park and Mana Pools but that in other parks visitors were reporting far fewer sightings.

Local wildlife officials say the country's elephant population has soared to more than 100,000 – twice as much as the 45,000 it can sustain.

The farm seizures are partly credited with setting off the country's economic meltdown, which has resulted in widespread food shortages and massive commodity price hikes that have pushed inflation over 3,700 percent

Global Wildlife Center’s population of exotic animals keeps growing!

FOLSOM — The caller from his daughter’s school suggested Ken Matherne have a talk with Maci about her making up stories.
Maci had told her grammar school teacher there were giraffes in her back yard.

Matherne, 49, founder of the Global Wildlife Center east of Hammond, had a bus pick up his daughter’s classmates and teacher so they could see for themselves.

Today, Maci, 16, prepares lunch for visitors who eat overlooking a corner of the 900-acre property her dad has been developing since she was a toddler. The refuge takes up 640 acres of the original 900, leaving 260 acres for development.

Matherne and wife Christina Cooper, the center’s education and development director, often dine with zebra and giraffe in view just beyond their swimming pool and a tall wire fence.

Kameel the giraffe is expecting again. Kameel, which means giraffe in Swahili, was the first giraffe born at Global Wildlife. She’s given birth six times.

A giraffe’s arrival in the world begins with a 6-foot drop.

“They come out so limp and limber,” Cooper said. “By the time their big old head and neck come out, it’s not that far a drop, but it’s not pretty to watch.”

Three years ago, Kameel went into labor while cadging food from a wagonload of tourists.

“You never know what you’re going to see here,” Cooper said. As Kameel’s baby began its drop, a child asked the tour guide, “What are those legs sticking out?”

Kameel is due in late August or early September.

Meanwhile, late spring and early summer have seen the arrival of some of the 350 animals born on the place each year. The refuge’s population of 4,000 exotic animals includes oryx, blackbuck, cape eland and Nilgai antelope, axis deer, bison, camel, fallow deer, llama, Sicilian donkeys, sika deer, Watusi cattle, kangaroo, European red deer, zebra, giraffe and Father David deer.

Birds include rhea, peacocks, East African crowned cranes, a hyacinth macaw named Edgar who hangs out in the gift shop and Peaches, an orange-winged Amazon parrot who sees tourists off on their wagon ride through the refuge.

Wildlife scientists were skeptical of Matherne’s experiment of keeping free range animals of so many different species inside a fenced compound.

“We said, ‘Thank you.’ And 17 years later, here we are,” Matherne said.

On the other hand, when Matherne first proposed a wildlife park for children, his idea was to collect native wildlife. Scientists at LSU, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers suggested exotics.

Matherne’s father, Lee, bought the land in 1974. He died a year later at the age of 41.

Ken and his brother, Lee Matherne Jr., expanded the family’s oilfield service company. Ken started Global Resources Inc., with offices in Lafayette and the Middle East. Matherne retired in 1989 in his early 30s to become “chief baby sitter” of Global Wildlife. As president of Global’s advisory board, Matherne receives no salary.