Basel Zoo's new red titi monkey
BASEL, SWITZERLAND – The Basel Zoo has announced the birth of its latest monkey, a little red or coppery titi, born 27 December to mother Chica, age 9 and father Gunther, age 6.
The pair already have two offspring, unusual for red titis, not often born in captivity.
But as exciting as the news is, equally exciting is the zoo’s observation that the newborn’s two older brothers are carrying him on their backs.
The father traditionally carries his offspring on his back, but Hijo, age 2 and Hermoso, age 1, have been seen sporting their little sibling on their backs. It’s not yet known if the little one is female or male.
The zoo supports a research programme to study the animals in their natural habitat, in Peru.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A rare cross has created a charming little creature, a donkra, also known as a zonkey, at a wildlife park in Xiamen Haicang, in China, where crowds are pressing against the fences to see the little fellow. He (sex is not yet known) has the striped legs of his mother, a zebra, but the brown top of his father, a donkey. The parents mated of their own accord in the park where the animals roam freely.
The new donkra was born 4 July.
Raw footage from AP:
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A young lion dashing through the snow at the zoo in Zurich was frozen by photographer Tambako on flickr. Children will be doing a lot of this in the coming week, with school holidays at their peak in Switzerland. Happily for skiing families, some fresh snow is expected, mainly in western Switzerland, starting Sunday.
Related stories, weekend winter sports report 18-20 February and Swiss mountain roads: time to know the rules
Tambako’s big cats photo collection, mainly from Basel and Zurich zoos, includes several hundred of the zoos’ lions.
photo, ©2011 Tambako, flickr.com/photos/tambako/
Your guide to a holiday-season weekend in Zurich, an easy train ride from Lake Geneva
Click on images to view larger
Zurich, December, view over the Limmat, universities above the Niederdorf
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The charm of Zurich is at its brightest in the lead-up to Christmas. Daytime offers plenty of activities for children and adults alike, but the real fun starts in the evening. The entire city appears to spill out of offices and shops to socialize in the snowy streets, tucking into cozy cafes and restaurants when the weather turns too brisk. It’s an easy two hours and 50 minute by train from Geneva, 30 minutes less from Lausanne, making it the perfect mini-vacation for people in the Lake Geneva area who want to leave home without the cost and fatigue of going abroad.
Swarovski crystals cover Zurich main station giant tree
The week before Christmas sees Zurich shoppers filling the stores and boutiques, as they do in any big city. Shops are open Sunday 19 December throughout the city and they are open later than usual in the evenings up to Christmas. The Bahnhof, or main train station, has what is arguably the best Christmas market in Switzerland, with a great selection of gifts, but there are also scores of small Christmas stands sprinkled around the city and small markets that are good fun.
Be sure to go back to the Bahnhof in the evening, when the locals invade it, sipping hot gluwein, the spicy scent of which fills the air. The giant Swarovski Christmas tree is an astonishing site, with over 5,000 crystal decorations. Given that these start at CHF130 in the Swarovski shop on the Bahnhofstrasse, the cost of the tree as well as its beauty are enough to make you pause. The tree itself is a 35-year-old Zurich pine from the forest above the city.
Your best starting point is at the main train station’s tourism office, where you can get excellent maps, brochures and the Zurich City Card (see below). The Bahnhof station can be confusing at the best of times, and renovations don’t make it easier to get your bearings. Do what the locals do and look up: the huge, colourful Guardian Angel (Schutzengel) by artist Niki de St Phalle serves as a good meeting point and reference.
Zurich Bahnhof, travellers' nana, "Guardian Angel"
The popular Nana figure weighs 1.2 tons and is 11 metres high. It was offered to the station in 1997 by Securitas to celebrate the 150th birthday of Swiss railways. The tourism office’s “i” is a few metres away.
Three very special treats during the holidays: extraordinary Picasso retrospective, ice skating, the Singing Tree
Image March 2010 ©Rando, Bern Bear Park
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Bern Zoo’s first baby bears in nearly 20 years have been spotted outdoors in recent days.
The bears, Urs and Berna, are putting on 70 gr a day, reports the zoo, while the world speculates on whether they are male or female.
The zoo’s webcams normally allow a relatively good view of the bears’ activities, but mother Bjoerk’s den has a dirty window, making the images unclear
The zoo says it isn’t yet possible to go in and clean the window. Webcam viewers will have to be patient. Meanwhile the video on Berner Zeitung’s site, showing mother bear trying to line up her cubs to face the photographers, is a good substitute.
Image March 2010 ©Rando, Bern Bear Park
Image March 2010 ©Rando, Bern Bear Park
Background, GenevaLunch
Links to other sites: Bern tourism office, Bear Park
Video, 7 min: Berner Zeitung newspaper, with mother Bjoerk and cubs by Christian Lierchti.
Click on images to view larger
New bear park in Bern, Switzerland
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - A 25-year-old man who was injured when he climbed the wall of the new bear park in Bern, then slipped, is in stable condition after he was attacked by one of the bears. Finn, the nearly 4-year-old male who injured him, was wounded by gunfire from a policeman who was trying to save the young man, and the bear is in serious condition, according to Bernd Schildger, the head of Dählhölzli, the animal park of which the bear pit is a part. If Finn survives, which is not yet clear, he will not be put down, says Schildger.
Police have not been able to determine why the man, who is mentally handicapped, decided to climb the wall, where he crouched for a moment before falling four metres into the bears’ den.
Reuters Oddly Enough News features two animals Friday 8 May: Afghanistan’s only pig, normally on display at Kabel’s zoo, has been quarantined since Sunday to calm visitor fears that it might spread swine flu. And a cow headed for the slaughterhouse in Queens, New York, USA, escaped and ran through the streets until it was captured. It will now be taken care of by an animal shelter.
Zoo dedicated to European indigenous species and endangered species. Website is in French.
