Happy Birthday Colo: US Gorilla Turns 60 the Nation’S Oldest Living Gorilla
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HEALTH SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2016 Happy birthday Colo: US gorilla turns 60 The nation’s oldest living gorilla COLUMBUS: She is a mother of three, crowd. “It’s all about connecting people years) by more than two decades. Other grandmother of 16, great-grandmother and wildlife,” he said. Colo is one of sev- age-defying zoo animals: of 12 and great-great-grandmother of eral elderly gorillas around the country. three. She recently had surgery to The oldest known living male gorilla, POLAR BEAR remove a malignant tumor, but doctors Ozzie, is 55 years old and lives at the Coldilocks, a 36-year-old polar bear at say she’s doing well. She’s Colo, the Atlanta Zoo, which has a geriatric gorilla the Philadelphia Zoo and considered KUCHKI: A picture taken on November 25, 2016 shows nation’s oldest living gorilla, and she specialty. At Seattle’s Woodland Park the oldest polar bear in the US The a policeman as he stands inside of an illicit vodka dis- turned 60 on Thursday at the Columbus Zoo, staff members use acupuncture, bears’ typical lifespan in captivity is 23 tillery. — AFP Zoo and Aquarium. Colo was the first massage, laser therapy, and heat and years. The zoo says treating her early for gorilla in the world born in a zoo and joint supplements to help Emma, a 13- kidney disease appears to have helped Russia works to abolish has surpassed the usual life expectancy year-old rabbit. At the National Zoo in prolong her life. of captive gorillas by two decades. Her Washington, Shanthi, a 42-year-old bootleg vodka hangover longevity is putting a spotlight on the Asian elephant with arthritis, receives RHINO medical care, nutrition and up-to-date osteoarthritis therapy and was recently Elly, an eastern black rhino at the San KUCHKI: In a snowy field outside Moscow, an abandoned therapeutic techniques that are helping fitted with specially crafted front foot Francisco Zoo estimated to be 46 years barn conceals an illicit vodka distillery that produces thou- sands of bottles of Russia’s national drink for the black market. lengthen zoo animals’ lives. boots to help her feet heal as medica- old, is the oldest of her species in North In a recent raid, police seized more than 100,000 half-liter vod- “Colo just epitomizes the advances tions are applied. America. She has had 14 calves, and her ka bottles with counterfeit labels and tax stamps from the that zoos have made, going all the way In Oakland, California, Tiki, a 27-year- offspring have produced 15 grandchil- barn in the village of Kuchki. back to her birth at Columbus,” said Dr old giraffe and one of the oldest in the dren, 6 great-grandchildren and 1 great- Surrogate alcohol, a cheaper alternative to store-bought Tom Meehan, vice president for veteri- nation, gets foot care, massage therapy, great-grandchild. spirits, accounts for many deaths in Russia every year and is nary services at Chicago’s Brookfield acupuncture and chiropractic care, coming under growing scrutiny in a country with one of the Zoo and veterinary adviser to a national along with traditional veterinary medi- ELEPHANT highest liquor consumption rates in the world. This week at gorilla species survival plan. The cine. Gao Gao, a 26-year-old male panda least 71 people died in the Siberian city of Irkutsk after drink- changes also mean more animals living at the San Diego Zoo with a heart condi- Packy, an Asian elephant at the ing bath essence containing toxic methanol in a bid to get with the normal aches and pains of tion, periodically undergoes cardiac Oregon Zoo, and at 54, the oldest male merry on the cheap. The bottles discovered in Kuchki cost growing older. Today, zoo veterinarians ultrasounds. of his species in North America. The zoo under $2 (two euros) each-three times less than vodka sold in regularly treat animals for heart and kid- “Geriatrics is probably one of our says Packy, born in 1962, became the shops. “We don’t know what they make this vodka with,” said ney disease, arthritis, dental problems most common medical challenges that first elephant to be born in the Western Alexander Kulikov, spokesman for Russia’s alcohol regulator. and cancer. we face in a zoo situation,” said Dr. Keith Hemisphere in 44 years. The equipment at the barn looked clean, but Kulikov recalls a Hinshaw, director of animal health at the case in which vodka-makers at another illegal facility were ‘Tribute to the zoo’ Philadelphia Zoo. “So pretty much any- MONKEY working “with mud up to their knees”. After banning the sale Hundreds of people gathered at the thing that you could imagine would Nikko, a 33-year-old snow monkey at of spirits at night and hiking alcohol taxes, authorities have zoo Thursday to see Colo, singing happen with an older person is going to the Minnesota Zoo, the oldest male started cracking down on bootleggers in a bid to curb the “Happy Birthday” moments before the happen eventually with any animal.” snow monkey in North America. damage wreaked by illegally-produced booze. Officials say gorilla ambled into an enclosure deco- That’s up to and including medication: they have dismantled more than 170 workshops, seizing over rated with multicolored construction JJ, a 45-year-old orangutan at the CHIMPANZEE 37 million liters since October 2015. paper chains and filled with cakes such Toledo Zoo, is on the human heart med- Little Mama, a chimpanzee living at as squash and beet and cornbread with icines carvedilol and Lisinopril, along Lion Country Safari in Loxahatchee, Shrinking black market mashed potato parsley frosting. with pain and orthopedic medications. Florida, with an estimated age in her Authorities are also hoping the crackdown will help Among the first in line was Pam He also takes Metamucil. late 70s. She takes allergy medicine, iron address the problem of unpaid taxes by illegal alcohol pro- Schlereth of Columbus, who at 63 was supplements and omega 3 multivita- ducers, as low oil prices have hit Russia’s coffers. A new law just a little girl when her father brought Age defying animals mins, and has been trained to accept a came into force in July requiring business owners who sell her to see the newborn Colo in a gorilla Colo, a western lowland gorilla, holds nebulizer treatment for coughing. alcohol to join an electronic registry that tracks each bottle incubator in 1956. “It’s a tribute to the several other records. On her 56th birth- from production to sale, an initiative meant to prevent surro- zoo that she’s alive at 60 years old,” day in 2012, she exceeded the record for TORTOISE gate booze from making its way onto the shelves. Schlereth said. longest-lived gorilla. On Thursday, she Emerson, a Galapagos tortoise at the This has seen legal vodka sales bounce back after years of Colo represents so much to the zoo, surpasses the median life expectancy for Toledo Zoo in Ohio, whose age is esti- stagnation, hinting that the black market is shrinking. Vadim Drobiz, a researcher who studies alcohol markets, says the Tom Stalf, president of the zoo, told the female gorillas in human care (37.5 mated at about 100. — AP black market share in hard liquor sales dropped to 50 percent this year after standing at 65 percent in 2015. But as Russia struggles to pull itself out of a recession that has battered the currency and significantly diminished people’s purchasing power, it seems unlikely the black market will disappear alto- gether. According to Drobiz, up to 25 million Russians do not earn enough to purchase liquor at official selling points. Hoping to save a few rubles, the poorest often turn to cosmet- ics and household products containing alcohol, a factor blamed for a large number of drink-related deaths. In late 2014, when the ruble lost half its value off the back of Western sanctions and low oil prices, authorities dropped the price of vodka after President Vladimir Putin expressed concern that soaring prices could boost consumption of ille- gal booze. Throughout history, Russian leaders have had to act with caution when it comes to regulating alcohol. On the eve of World War I, tsar Nicholas II ordered a crackdown that fuelled moonshine production and demoralized his troops. And in the 1980s, a sobriety campaign spearheaded by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev drove his popularity down. Hawthorn liqueur The number of alcohol-related deaths has fallen in recent years, according to the state statistics agency, with experts attributing this to measures implemented to curb the sale of illegal spirits. “Alcohol abuse is down,” said Yevgeny Bryun, who heads Moscow’s toxicology centre, stressing that the number of poisoning cases had dropped 30 percent in the past three COLUMBUS: Colo, the nation’s oldest living gorilla, sits inside of her enclosure during her 60th birthday party at the years. “But we need to go further,” he said, citing the need to Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. — AP stop Russians from drinking pharmaceutical products. — AFP HEALTH SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2016 Ebola vaccine may be ‘100% effective’: WHO Vaccine could become available in 2018 PARIS: A prototype vaccine for Ebola may be able to produce a million in very short be “up to 100 percent effective” in protect- period of time,” Kieny noted. ing against the deadly virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday. If Unanswered questions all goes well, the vaccine could become There are still questions to be resolved available in 2018 under a fast-track approval concerning the vaccine, including side process, it said.