Zoo

The Maryland Zoo's 4-year-old elephant Samson's serious illness with herpes is one example of how zoo breeding programs put elephants at risk ("Young elephant recovering from virus," March 14). This frightening disease causes massive internal hemorrhaging, typically affects elephants under 10 years of age, and has an 85 percent mortality rate. It's responsible for more than half of all juvenile elephant deaths in North American facilities. Death from the herpes virus usually occurs within seven days after an acute onset of symptoms, which include lethargy, swelling of the head and limbs, and a blue discoloration of the tongue.

A 19-year-old woman was injured in a lightning strike at the Plumpton Park Zoo in Rising Sun as severe weather moved through the area Thursday morning, according to Cecil County Emergency Services Director Richard Brooks. Emergency personnel were called to the zoo in the 1400 block of Telegraph Road about 9:08 a.m. and found a group of bystanders caring for the woman, Brooks said. The bystanders told the medics that the woman had been standing near a large tree when the lightning struck.

The budget woes of the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore come down to this: The gap between the cost of admission and the quality of the product has grown too great. Too much of the Druid Hill Park facility has been allowed to deteriorate in order to cut costs in the short term. It's not as accessible as it should be, and too many displays haven't kept up with the times. That's a difficult problem to solve. Difficult, but not impossible - with the proper planning and investment. At one time, Maryland taxpayers financed more than half of the zoo's operating costs.

A popular 20-year-old female leopard that had lived at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore since 1995 was euthanized on Thursday morning after a battle with mammary cancer, according to zoo officials. The leopard, Amari, came to Baltimore with a male leopard named Hobbes when both were 2-years-old, after their parents were killed by poachers. Amari quickly became a favorite of visitors to the zoo, officials said. She and Hobbes, not siblings, lived in an enclosure with a 200-year-old white oak tree, and produced two female offspring together in 1997.

Pretty python These animals are native to Australia and New Guinea. "Native" means local to a certain area. Their name refers to the snakes' beautiful and colorful markings which resemble an oriental carpet pattern. Pythons eat warm-blooded animals like birds and small marsupials. Wild facts 1. Carpet pythons have small spurs on the outside of their body which used to be legs. 2. Adults can reach 6 1 / 2 - 12 feet in length. 3. Up to 18 eggs can hatch after about 40 days of incubation (where the eggs develop)

May 29 has been dubbed 529 College Savings Day -- get it 5/29 and 529, as in the part of the tax code that allows the savings plan? -- and the College Savings Plans of Maryland (CSPM) is teaming up with the Maryland Zoo to promote awareness of the plans.  Here's what they say they have in store:  "First, on Wednesday, May 29, CSPM will be hosting a free, interactive webinar at 12:00 p.m. for anyone who is interested in learning more about Maryland's two tax-advantaged 529 plans - the Maryland Prepaid College Trust and the Maryland College Investment Plan.

Two Arabian camels who spend their summers in Baltimore are taking on passengers for short daytime trips past their penguin and elephant neighbors at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore for the next few months. The one-humped animals, also known as dromedaries, arrived at the zoo last week from another facility in Missouri, where they spent the winter, the zoo said. Rides on "Pam" and "Mocha" for zoo visitors began Saturday. The rides, available daily between 10:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. through Labor Day, cost $7, the zoo said.

An endangered lemur species native only to the island of Madagascar has grown its global population by one with the birth last month of Maximilian - the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore 's newest Coquerel's sifaka. The species (pronounced CAHK-ker-rells she-FAHK) produce babies that resemble "tiny gremlins" before their white hair begins to grow in, the zoo said. Images of "Max," as he's known, show his hair has come in - he was born March 30, though his birth was announced Wednesday - and he can now be seen on some days with his parents inside the zoo's sifaka exhibit at the Chimpanzee Forest, zoo officials said.

Samson, the young male elephant who was diagnosed with a deadly virus at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore late last month, has continued to recover in recent days and has "turned a very positive corner" in his treatment, according to zoo officials. "His energy levels are very close to normal again, he's much brighter and a lot of his symptoms have either gone away or are nearly gone," Michael McClure, general curator for the zoo's animal department, said Thursday. McClure said he and his staff have been nursing Samson back to health around the clock for nearly four weeks and are encouraged by his recovery from the virus, known as elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus.

The Maryland Zoo's 4-year-old elephant Samson's serious illness with herpes is one example of how zoo breeding programs put elephants at risk ("Young elephant recovering from virus," March 14). This frightening disease causes massive internal hemorrhaging, typically affects elephants under 10 years of age, and has an 85 percent mortality rate. It's responsible for more than half of all juvenile elephant deaths in North American facilities. Death from the herpes virus usually occurs within seven days after an acute onset of symptoms, which include lethargy, swelling of the head and limbs, and a blue discoloration of the tongue.

A deadly virus has stricken Samson, the only elephant born at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore in its 137-year history, but zoologists are hopeful that he will recover because the strain is thought to be less serious in his species. Samson also has survived longer than others with the virus. Caretakers first noticed the soon-to-be-5-year-old male looking lethargic Feb. 26, and feared it was a sign of what is known as elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus. They began treating him for the disease, which can kill within days, and tests confirmed the virus.

Schools and government offices aren't the only things closing down in anticipation of today's snowstorm. Here is a partial list, continually being updated, of cultural and commercial institutions shutting down for the day. The American Visionary Art Museum is closed. Tonight's Hesperus Cine-Concert at An Die Musik Live has been postponed. The Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum and Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards are closed. The Baltimore Museum of Art is closed.

When it comes to Super Bowl XLVII, it seems everyone is willing to put some skin in the game. Or at least a little ego. (Yes, we're talking about you, Mayor Hancock.) The bets for - and against - the Baltimore Ravens are piling up. And it's not just in Vegas parlors. The Maryland Zoo is placing a bet with the San Francisco Zoological Society that would rename the exhibit of the team's official raven mascots. If the 49ers win, the birds Rise and Conquer- often seen during home games - will suddenly find themselves living in the "San Francisco 49ers exhibit.