ZOO

Nearly every day in Maryland, people drag themselves to dental specialists to undergo the necessary ordeal of root canal surgery. But only one was performed yesterday at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. And the 500-pound patient was a first, even for veterinary dental surgeon Dr. Ira R. Luskin, who already counts lions and antelopes among his patients. Anoki, the zoo's 11-year-old female polar bear, slept through the entire two-hour procedure, splayed on her back with a dozen humans poking, prodding and watching her vital signs.

Critiquing American culture is tricky for people in the family newspaper business, especially this week as two controversial movies open at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. I shall try to be discreet. One film, Hounddog, starring 12-year-old Dakota Fanning, involves the rape of a child. The other, Zoo, concerns - how to put it - an "equine brothel" wherein certain activities lead to a curious death. Zoo is based on a real-life incident in Enumclaw, Wash., in 2005, and stars - oh, who cares?

Paris, j'etaime, an intriguing little film in which 21 directors offer romantic cinematic snippets set in the city on the Seine, opens today at the Charles Theatre. What a great idea for a film, giving people who love a city the chance to commit that passion to film. Which led me to wonder, why shouldn't Baltimore be afforded the same sort of treatment? A bunch of creative people love this city very, very much. What if a dozen of the city's biggest boosters were offered the chance to direct 10-minute cinematic snapshots of Baltimore as they see it?

Parents and children settled on blankets and towels and waited for the show to begin. It was an evening at the zoo. Only this time, the animals from Frederick County's Catoctin Wildlife Preserve and Zoo were coming to them. The adventure was all part of the Judy Center's parent involvement night at Robert Moton Elementary School. "We try to do at least one thing fun and different," said Tammie Polk, parent involvement night coordinator for the center, which holds monthly sessions with a focus on children up to age 5. Besides enjoying the sensation of super-soft fur, the roughness of reptile ridges and the powerful pipes of a parrot, the young viewers were treated to a nature lesson.

WILD ANIMALS lurk through the fourth-grade language arts curriculum of teacher Erica Guenther at Spring Garden Elementary in Hampstead.Intrigued by what they learn about protecting endangered animal species, the pupils typically chooses to fund venues of animal research and conservation. This year, they decided to aid the Siberian tiger and Florida manatee.They sold $220 worth of homemade cupcakes and brownies during a school function. The highlight to the year occurred recently when about 20 pupils visited Dr. Ben Beck, associate director of the National Zoo in Washington, to present a check for $100.

Clad in the shorts and tank tops that are staples in their summer wardrobes, small groups of young children could be seen at various stations scattered about the grounds of the Baltimore Zoo yesterday.They were 10- and 11-year-olds, all headed for sixth grade this fall. The students -- part of the zoo's summer ingenuity camp -- have all been observed to be gifted in math and science. The day-long camp was designed to tap into and challenge their intellects, getting their brains warmed up for the school year ahead.

In Baltimore CityLieutenant governor, congressman to speak on handgun violenceLt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and Baltimore Democratic Rep. Elijah E. Cummings will speak today on the theme: "Handgun Violence -- Stop the Violence: Your Brother's Blood Cries from the Earth" at the 39th annual Interfaith Day at the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation.Three panelists will respond to the keynote remarks: Joshua Horwitz, executive director of the Educational Fund to End Handgun Violence, Dr. Paramjit I. Joshi, founding director of the Johns Hopkins Children's Center for Violence, and the Rev. Victoria Sirota, vicar of the Church of the Holy Nativity in lower Park Heights.

In MarylandBaltimore pupils win reading contest kickoffBALTIMORE -- A fourth-grade class at Thomas G. Hayes Elementary School in Baltimore won Maryland's Read Across America kickoff contest last week by reading 429 books in a month.The contest -- sponsored by the Maryland State Teachers Association, Saturn and the United Auto Workers -- sought the elementary school class that could read the most books in a month. It was a prelude to the National Education Association's Read Across America Day on March 2, which marks the birth of Dr. Seuss.

WASHINGTON -- Scientists have solved the mystery of what killed at least nine zoo elephants across North American in recent years, a discovery that could help protect captive herds of an animal that is threatened in the wild.In a triumph of medical detective work, scientists from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the National Zoo identified the killer as a herpes virus that preys primarily upon young Asian elephants raised in captivity.The diagnosis has also led to a cure: an anti-viral drug that is ordinarily used to combat herpes infections in humans.

Editor's note: Jerdine Nolen today explores creative thinking and how to nurture it in children. Her column appears biweekly.You could say that almost any kind of thinking is thinking creatively. After all, someone had to create it or think it up. Thinking is a creative activity when one is allowed to be inventive. And when we allow thinking to flow over and elaborate on it, I call that creative thinking. One familiar use of constructive creative thinking, which teachers use a lot, is called brainstorming, brain teasers or brain stretching.

The price of a weekday adult admission to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore will rise by $2, a move administrators say will help compensate for a drop in revenues received from the state, county and city governments. The new entry tab will rise from $11 to $13 for adults. The senior ticket price will rise from $10 to $11. Children's admissions will remain unchanged, and weekend and online admission rates are not affected. Zoo officials said they had been notified of a drop in contributions by Baltimore City, Harford and Howard counties, as well as the state's Department of Education.

As Gov. Martin O'Malley prepares to announce $470 million in budget cuts this week, he has rejected proposals to severely slash funding for the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore and the Baltimore City Department of Social Services. The Democratic governor and former Baltimore mayor has been weighing recommendations for closing a projected shortfall in the fiscal year that began last month. In recent days, he and administration officials have been poring over options for line-item reductions to balance the $13 billion state operating budget.

Man found fatally shot in Aberdeen 2 A man was found shot dead in an apartment in Aberdeen early Saturday morning, city police said. Detective David Swain said the unidentified man was found in the kitchen area of an apartment on Pritchard Avenue on the city's east side about 3 a.m. The man had been shot once, but Swain could provide no further details. He said witnesses reported seeing two men leaving the scene in a black Audi with New York license plate number ERV 5831. - Arthur Hirsch Baltimore Co. to add license plate reader 3 A $23,075 state grant will add another mobile license plate reader to the fleet of Baltimore County police vehicles.

It took just 10 minutes for a dozen prairie dogs to outwit the creators of the Maryland Zoo's new $500,000 habitat. Aircraft wire, poured concrete and slick plastic walls proved no match for the fast-footed rodents, the stars of a new exhibit that opens today. As officials were promoting the return of the zoo's 28 prairie dogs - their former digs had been out of sight in a closed section of the animal preserve for more than four years - some of the critters found ways to jump, climb and get over the walls of their prairie paradise, a centerpiece exhibit just inside the zoo's main entrance.

She swung her legs from the rear compartment of the black limo, strode to the runway and posed for the cameras. At 5 feet tall and weighing 7 pounds, Candy Crane has the svelte build a supermodel might envy. But at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore yesterday, it was her endangered species status that made her a star. Candy, a West African crowned crane, shook her wings and ambled through the gate, officially becoming the zoo's first admission for 2009, its 133rd year of operation. "She walks a little like Groucho Marx," quipped interim zoo president and CEO Donald P. Hutchinson, as about 50 onlookers cheered.

Nearly every day in Maryland, people drag themselves to dental specialists to undergo the necessary ordeal of root canal surgery. But only one was performed yesterday at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. And the 500-pound patient was a first, even for veterinary dental surgeon Dr. Ira R. Luskin, who already counts lions and antelopes among his patients. Anoki, the zoo's 11-year-old female polar bear, slept through the entire two-hour procedure, splayed on her back with a dozen humans poking, prodding and watching her vital signs.

A 28-year-old chimpanzee named Charley died at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore over the weekend. Zoo spokeswoman Jane Ballentine said an initial necropsy provided no obvious explanation. The animal's remains have been sent to the Department of Comparative Medicine at Johns Hopkins University for closer examination and tests. Charley is the third adult chimp to die at the zoo in the past two years. The others were Joe, a male about 35, of peritonitis; and Rusty, 23, a female, of anesthesia complications after severe tonsillitis, said Dr. Ellen Bronson, senior veterinarian.

A commotion occurred about noon yesterday at the Great Ape House at the National Zoo. A collective shriek arose. A stroller jam ensued. Cameras clicked and whirred. Mandara, one of the female gorillas, had just appeared, cradling the zoo's latest addition. Mandara, 26, had given birth to an infant, sex and name undetermined, about 1:45 p.m. Saturday, without fanfare or any evident histrionics on the other side of a large plate glass window in full view of staff employees and a few lucky onlookers.

After years of financial woes, the Maryland Zoo reported finishing with "some money in the bank" this fiscal year, which ended June 30. Zoo officials say they finished with a $200,000 surplus by cutting costs, eliminating several jobs and revising contracts. The zoo also received help from the Abell Foundation, which provided a $1.2 million bank credit in April, allowing the zoo to get through May and June without the significant layoffs some had feared. It was the first time the zoo did not run a deficit since 2004, when officials reduced the animal inventory and work force by about 10 percent.

There is a children's book that sits on a table in my office - a gift from a colleague - and I smile each time I see it. The book is Dr. Seuss' If I Ran the Zoo, and the smile comes because, well, now I do run the zoo. It's as challenging as anything I have ever done in my career. This year, I have been tested by learning the ins and outs of a new business - one that includes a complex administrative structure, 55 buildings on 135 acres, 200,000 square feet of exhibit space, 225 employees and, of course, 1,500 live animals.