What's your HPI?

The United States may be #1 in GDP (that's gross domestic product for those of you who, like me, don't pay much attention to that stuff), we fell short in HPI -- Happy Planet Index. The HPI, thought up by the New Economics Foundation, is a way to measure something other than how many products and services a country has to offer. The index measures environmental sustainability relative to well-being. In other words, how many resources does a nation use to ensure the well-being of its citizens? While it may not be fool proof, it is interesting. Costa Rica, with its rich bio-diversity and environmental saavy, ranked #1 out of 143 countries. Zimbabwe ranked #143. And the US? Not so good. We only ranked 112. That's behind Russia and Cuba. Iceland, my favorite country and one I always considered to be particularly protective of their environment, only ranked #94.



Read more at //http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/center/articles/2009/new-york-times-07-06-2009.html

A Hot Read for Summer

This week the Woodbury Review News named Death Roll a "Hot Read for Summer."

We were thrilled to be one of the five books selected by the weekly newspaper. Woodbury is a suburb of St. Paul, MN.

"With the hottest days of summer now arriving, you might want to stay indoors and read a good book. The following works were penned by Minnesotans or surround the events of our great state." --Heather Edwards, the WRN.

Heather's personal comments to us were: "This book is excellent! I've read the entire book this weekend; I don't remember the last time I had the interest to read a book in such a short time period."

The five books selected were:

Death Roll by Marilyn Victor and Michael Allan Mallory
Garden of Darkness by Anne Frasier
The Great Starvation Experiment by To dd Tucker
Minnesota 150 by Kate Roberts
Stalking Susan by Julie Kramer

While writing our zoo mystery, Death Roll, we did a lot of research on animals escaping from zoo enclosures. Some are comical, but some end in tragedy, usually with the animal’s death.Yesterday an endangered Amur (Siberian) tiger escaped its enclosure at the San Francisco Zoo. The tiger killed a young man and injured two others before police shot and killed her. Our sympathies go out to everyone involved in this tragedy.

Sadly, the press finds it necessary to sensationalize these sad events, digging into their archives for similar stories, and digging up so-called experts who have no more knowledge of what happened than the reporters. When the truth becomes less interesting than the fiction, they'll quickly move on to the next story without correcting any of the misconceptions they've created.

If the news is not enough entertainment for you, read the comments posted to CNN.com. One reader suggested the tiger should have been put down last year after it bit an animal keeper. Once an animal tastes human blood, he warned, it becomes a maneater. Guess I should have paid more attention to those old Tarzan reruns. Others use this tragedy as proof that zoos are bad places. Animals deserve to live free in their natural environment. I couldn't agree more. In a perfect world, wouldn’t that be fantastic? The sad truth is the reason most animals are on the brink of extinction is loss of habitat. As we said in "Death Roll", zoos are often a species last chance for survial.

Fox 9 News reported there’s some evidence the tiger may have been teased and taunted before her escape. A couple of years ago at an accredited zoo in the Midwest, a young man thought it was funny to tease a tiger. He had been spotted doing this on previous visits and had been warned by staff. On this occasion the tiger had a warning of his own. In an unusual feat of agility and strength, the tiger scaled the fence to within a few feet of the barbed wire and electrically charged barrier at the top. Staff reacted immediately. The young man (or idiot, if you'd prefer)was marched off zoo grounds, never to be allowed inside the zoo again. The tiger was put in holding until another zoo could be found to house him. The zoo was taking no chances.

Animals will always escape from enclosures. AZA accredited zoos are consistently concerned for the safety of their animals, the employees that care for them and the millions of visitors who visit each year. Until this recent attack, no visitor to an AZA accredited zoo has died due to an animal escaping it’s enclosure.

Holidays at the Zoo

This year don’t forget the zoo when you’re planning your holidays. Zoos around the country are festive, fun and educational. There are light displays and special events throughout the month of December and on into the new year.

The Indianapolis Zoo has set up a landscape of Christmas towns and villages in the conservatory, where “O” and “G” sized model trains travel throughout the day. The Toledo Zoo in Ohio celebrates “The Lights Before Christmas” with over a million lights and an 85-foot Norway Spruce that’s been decorated with 32,0000 lights. Or how about the Holidoze at the Philadelphia Zoo? Spend an overnight with your family in the Children’s Treehouse and learn how animals play a part in our holiday traditions.

After the holidays, when those pine needles start to fall, before chucking the tree in the dumpster check to see if you’re local zoo or animal sanctuary would like to help you recycle that real tree. Christmas trees can provide valuable enrichment for zoo animals. They’re fun for the animals and fun for the zoo’s visitors to watch.

And if you’re still looking for the perfect gift for that hard to buy person, how about adopting an animal at their favorite zoo? Adoption programs usually come with a gift of a stuffed animal, information on the animal and updates on how they’re doing. You’ll be buying a gift that will ensure the continuance of the zoo's conservation programs and as there’s nothing to break or throw away, it’s gentle on the environment, too.