Animals safe from humans
CULIACAN, Mexico (AP) – A pack of veterinarians clambered over hefty metal crates on Tuesday morning, loading them one by one onto a fleet of semi-trucks. Among the cargo: tigers, monkeys, jaguars, elephants and lions – all fleeing the latest wave of cartel violence eclipsing the northern Mexican city of Culiacan. For years, exotic pets of cartel members and circus animals have been living in a small refuge on the outskirts of Sinaloa’s capital. However, a bloody power struggle erupted last year between rival Sinaloa cartel factions, plunging the region into crippling levels of violence and leaving the leaders of the Ostok Sanctuary reeling from armed attacks, constant death threats and a cutoff from essential supplies needed to keep their 700 animals alive. “We’ve never seen violence this extreme,” said Ernesto Zazueta, president of the Ostok Sanctuary. “We’re worried for the animals that come here to have a better future.”
Violence in the city exploded eight months ago when two rival Sinaloa Cartel factions began warring for territory after the dramatic kidnapping of the leader of one of the groups by a son of notorious capo Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán who then delivered him to U.S. authorities via a private plane. Zazueta, the sanctuary director, said their flight from the city is another sign of just how far the warfare has seeped into daily life. This week, refuge staff loaded up roaring animals onto a convoy as some trainers attempted to sooth them. One murmured in a soft voice as he fed a bag of carrots to an elephant in a shipping container, “I’m going to be right here, no one will do anything to you.” The relocation came after months of planning and training the animals, a move made by the organization in an act of desperation. They said the sanctuary was caught in the crossfire of the warfare because of its proximity to the town of Jesús María, a stronghold of Los Chapitos, one of the warring factions. During intense periods of violence, staff at the sanctuary could hear gunshots echoing nearby, the roar of cars and helicopters overhead, something they say scares the animals.
Cartel fighting regularly blocked staff off from reaching the sanctuary, and some animals went days without eating. Many have started to lose fur and at least two have died due to the situation, Zazueta said. The breaking point for the Ostok Sanctuary came in March, when one of the two elephants in their care, Bireki, injured her foot. Veterinarians scrambled to find a specialist to treat her in Mexico, the United States and beyond. No one would brave the trip to Culiacan. The sanctuary made the move without any public announcement, worried that they might face repercussions from local officials or the same cartels forcing them to flee, but they hope the animals will find some relief in Mazatlan after years of conflict.
Zoological Humor
“I wonder what these tigers would say if they could talk,” she said to the man next to her.
He replied, “I’m pretty sure they’d say, “We are leopards.”
I went to a zoo and there was a bagel in ape’s cage.
The keeper said it was bread in captivity.
How did the Seattle zookeepers deal with reports of nudity in an enclosure?
They addressed the elephant in the room.
My favorite part of the zoo is the cage that says: ‘World’s most dangerous animal.’
There is just a mirror in it.
May 22nd Birthdays
1978 – Ginnnifer Goodwin, 1970 – Naomi Campbell, 1979 – Maggie Quigley, 1961 – Ann Cusak
1987 – Novak Djokovik, 1907 – Laurence Olivier, 1987 – Julian Edelman, 1966 José Mesa