....Female Elephant Arrives at The Toledo Zoo....

February 11, 2010


Toledo, Ohio—The Toledo Zoo has received a 25-year-old female African elephant. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) confiscated the elephant from a private facility and chose The Toledo Zoo to house this elephant, who arrived late in the afternoon on Thursday, February 11. The Zoo’s animal care staff will closely monitor the elephant in her first few days to ensure that she adjusts to her new home. She will then remain in quarantine until she is introduced to The Toledo Zoo’s elephants, 29-year-old Renee and 6-year-old Louie. The elephant is not currently on exhibit, and she will not be until she has been successfully introduced to Louie and Renee.

The private facility that formerly housed the elephant is not accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). While she is in quarantine, she will not be accessible to the media. During this period she will be given a physical exam and the elephant and the staff will become acquainted with one another. The Toledo Zoo will provide updates, including the possibility of media opportunities, as events warrant. The welfare of the elephant is the Zoo’s first priority and her attitude and behavior will determine how quickly events progress.

....USDA confiscates circus animals....

Owner says he didn't have warning
Updated: Thursday, 11 Feb 2010, 8:08 PM EST
Published : Thursday, 11 Feb 2010, 7:24 PM EST

Thursday morning the U. S. Department of Agriculture took an African elephant from a home in Miami County, Indiana . The USDA took tigers and lions from the same residence a few days ago. The USDA claims the animals' living conditions weren't following the law, but the animals' owner, Julius von Uhl, 72, said he wasn't given proper notice of the violations.

von Uhl grew up with the circus in Hungary. When he was 12, von Uhl started learning how to work with circus animals, and by age 15, he was a trainer.

In 1956, von Uhl moved to the United States. After several years of working as a horse trainer and serving in the Vietnam War, he moved to Indiana.

"I bought my own animals and had my own circus. We went from town to town like a gypsy," von Uhl said.

von Uhl owned an African elephant named Twiggy, six tigers and four lions. Melisa Culbertson's been to one of von Uhl's circus performances.

"There were mostly Amish children there. They loved it. They smiled and clapped," she said.

After years of taking his circus on the road, von Uhl decided to retire this year. He made arrangements to sell Twiggy to the Pittsburgh Zoo for breeding. Now, von Uhl said the government robbed him of the money he would have been paid for selling the elephant.

"Not anybody should come to my door and say I have half an hour to do the impossible and take my animals worth money," von Uhl said.

At random over the years, inspectors from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service would check on the animals at von Uhl's Miami County home.

"For 15 years they've been inspecting this barn and they never said I have to change this. Then all of a sudden, one elephant expert, one opinion, without a hearing or my vet backing me up [they take my elephant]," von Uhl said.

von Uhl said his veterinarian, Dr. H. F. Terrill DVM of the Manchester Veterinary Clinic, just examined Twiggy on February 9, two days before the USDA took her. Terrill's report said of Twiggy, "she's eating, normal stool and urination, appears healthy and happy." Dr. Terrill told NewsChannel 15 he did not think Twiggy shows signs of being in a space too small for her size.

A letter to von Uhl that same day from the USDA stated he was in violation of space requirements stated in the Animal Welfare Act and that Twiggy was suffering as a result.

An inspection report from January 2009 showed von Uhl was told the cages for his big cats weren't big enough and needed to be fixed. von Uhl admits to this violation and said he already bought material to build larger cages. Another inspection report from November 2009 showed those cages and conditions for the cats had not changed.

None of the reports NewsChannel 15 was able to obtain on Thursday showed any notice of a violation with the barn for Twiggy. Just a letter from February 9 stated Twiggy would be confiscated on February 11 if her conditions were not changed to "alleviate the animal's suffering."

However, USDA spokesman Nolan Lemon told NewsChannel 15 that von Uhl was "given ample time to improve his facility and health of his animals. Those weren't adhered to as of our last inspection." Lemon called the conditions deplorable.

"The USDA does not confiscate animals haphazardly. When it gets to the point of confiscation, the licensee had to have had repeat violations and not adhered to the rules and the required changes or improvements," Lemon said.

Culbertson said she called the USDA, asking them to not take Twiggy because she was going to be moved to the Pittsburgh Zoo in a few weeks. She was told no.

"If the elephant wasn't in any immediate health danger, it would be better to take her in a manner in which she is used to traveling and with the person with whom she is used to traveling," Culbertson said.

von Uhl trains Culbertson's horses, and she said she's never seen him harm an animal in any way.

"I feel sorry and sad for him. At one time he was a revered lion tamer who everyone loved and children applauded. Now he's being scorned and called an abuser," she said.

von Uhl said the zoo was going to pay him $150,000 for Twiggy. The zoo couldn't be reached for comment because it's closed due to the recent snow storm.

....BO....

....GGW....

....Roger Falck....

....George Barrada....

....RBBB....

....1911 Lewiston Maine, Sixteen Camels. Twelve Bactrian Camels and four Dromedary camels pulling the Ringling Bros. Egyptan Wagon, with zebras and other animals pulling wagons in the background....

....Mastodons of the Midway: A short history of Chicago zoo elephants....

Chicago Tribune: Mark Jacob

With the death of Affie the elephant at Brookfield Zoo on May 15, Chicago is left with only one zoo elephant. Here’s a look at the pachyderms of the past:

1888: Barnum and Bailey Circus visits Chicago, and local officials ask the circus to donate an elephant to the Lincoln Park Zoo. Circus owners respond that if they gave Chicago an elephant, every town would ask for one. But they’re perfectly willing to negotiate a sale. The zoo buys an elephant named The Dutch and other animals for $3,000. The Dutch is renamed Duchess.

1891: Duchess escapes the zoo and wreaks havoc along North Avenue, entering a saloon and wrecking its fixtures and glassware. Police scramble to corral the pachyderm, and a horse is killed in the chaos. Damage is put at $1,500.

1900: Duchess, who is described as calm among children, works with four camels to give rides to zoo visitors for 5 cents apiece. The rides are discontinued a few years later.

1904: A story in the Tribune begins with an imaginary dialogue between Duchess and zoo director Cy DeVry in which Duchess complains about being kept in chains since the North Avenue rampage and adds: “My supply of peanuts would be scorned by any self-respecting circus elephant.” DeVry allegedly reminds her that “you ran away…and cannot be trusted.”

1906: Ald. “Bathhouse John” Coughlin, one of Chicago’s most corrupt and colorful politicians, pays a reported $3,000 for a Lincoln Park Zoo elephant named Princess Alice and sends the elephant to his private zoo near Colorado Springs, Colo. The Chicago zoo is willing to give up the animal because its trunk was damaged when it got stuck in a door jamb.

1908: Lincoln Park Zoo builds a new elephant yard, and Duchess is finally unchained.

1924: Duchess dies at an advanced age, estimated at 85-90 years by zoo director Alfred Parker. The zoo buys another elephant from the Philadelphia zoo. Parker writes to an aide: “I am having quite a bit of trouble getting transportation for the elephant. The express company talks of chartering a car and I cannot see the joke.” The pachyderm arrives via train and is called Deed-a-Day, a reference to a Boy Scout campaign to pay for the elephant.

1936: The Chicago area’s new zoo, Brookfield, adopts Ziggy, an elephant with a checkered past. Ziggy was entertainer Florenz Ziegfeld’s gift to his 6-year-old daughter, but he smashed up the family’s greenhouse and was sent away. He eventually joined a vaudeville act called Singer’s Midgets, featuring little people. During his show business career, Ziggy reportedly attacked a trombone player and threw him 30 feet. At Brookfield, Ziggy’s troubles continue, and in 1941 he attempts to gore his handler, Slim Lewis, who escapes between his tusks. Henceforth, Ziggy is chained up.

1940: Brookfield officials announce that Ziggy and his companion, Nancy, are expecting a baby. The zoo throws a baby shower attended by 40,000 people, and the National Dairy Council donates a 400-gallon bottle. But zoo officials later make the embarrassing announcement that Nancy was never pregnant — she had just gained some weight.

1942: Deed-a-Day dies at Lincoln Park. An autopsy finds that she swallowed glass from broken whisky bottles that callous zoo patrons threw into her enclosure.

1943: Lincoln Park Zoo acquires Judy from Brookfield Zoo. But the 35-year-old elephant refuses to ride in a flatbed truck, so she walks the 18 miles to her new home. The trek is wisely scheduled in the evening, after rush hour.

1965: An elephant shipped from Bangkok en route to a zoo in Michigan City, Ind., is dead on arrival at O’Hare International Airport.

1969: Michael Sneed — then a Tribune reporter, now Sun-Times columnist — reports that Brookfield has kept Ziggy chained to a wall for decades. The article inspires a fund-raising drive that pays for outdoor facilities for Ziggy, who dies in 1975 in his mid-50s.

1971: Judy, the much-beloved Lincoln Park resident who is known for her “shimmy dance” and might be the oldest elephant in captivity in the U.S., dies at Lincoln Park Zoo.

1990: Shanti becomes the first elephant born at Lincoln Park Zoo.

2005: After the deaths of three elephants in less than two years, Lincoln Park Zoo suspends further exhibition of the animals, pending study.

2009: At Brookfield, 39-year-old Affie dies, leaving her younger pal, Christy, as the only elephant in a Chicago zoo.

– Mark Jacob

Sources: “The Ark in the Park” by Mark Rosenthal, Carol Tauber and Edward Uhlir; “Let the Lions Roar” by Andrea Friederici Ross; “Lords of the Levee” by Lloyd Wendt and Herman Kogan; and Tribune archives

....Circus priest gets taste of the big time singing on TV show ....

By Yadira Betances
ybetances@eagletribune.com

NORTH ANDOVER — The Rev. Jerry Hogan knows a thing or two about show business. As a chaplain for circus performers, the priest is usually under the tent watching as acrobats and clowns bow to the crowd's applause.

Hogan is now getting his own taste of the spotlight. He will appear center ring next week as the guest of the CatholicTV show "Going My Way" - a modern day version of "The Merv Griffin Show," featuring clergy as the musical talent.

"You feel like you're on the set of Conan O'Brien or Jay Leno," said Hogan, who also serves at St. Michael Parish.

For his musical number, Hogan appropriately sang "Send in the Clowns" accompanied by the Rev. Chris Hickey on vocals and the Rev. Paul Rouse on the grand piano.

"(The song) is about sadness and where you are in life," he said. "It's also a code for when someone falls to bring in an act to keep the audience distracted."

During the interview, Hogan talked about his work with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus, Big Apple circus, Cirque de Soleil and other traveling shows, as well as his ministry at St. Michael's.

"I'm glad I did it, but I don't know if I'll watch it," Hogan said.

Hogan, 63, is chaplain to an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 Catholics who work in the circus in the United States. He said 65 percent of the circus workers are Catholic because most of them come predominantly Catholic countries in Latin America and Europe.

"They have a great sense of faith and belief in God," he said.

In addition to bringing the church to clowns, acrobats and human cannonballs, he blesses everything from trapezes and tigers to train cars and tents.

Hogan fell in love with the circus when his father took him to one in 1954. In 1990, he joined the Circus Fans Association, and began writing to then-circus chaplain Jack Toner. Hogan often pitched in for him when he was not available, and when Toner retired in 1993 due to heart problems, Hogan became his replacement.

"It's been a blessing to be working with them. This is an outreach as my call as a priest and an affirmation of my vocation either here (at St. Michael) or in the circus," Hogan said.

There are also sad moments.

He was called to provide support when aerial acrobat Dessi Espana, died in 2004 after falling 30 feet onto a concrete floor during a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus show in St. Paul, Minn.

He also presided over the funeral of Gunther Gebel-Williams, the famed animal trainer for Ringling Bros. who died of cancer in 1991, as well as the funeral of another animal trainer who was mauled by a tiger in 1998. He was there when a Ringling Bros. circus trained derailed in Florida in 1994, killing a clown and an animal trainer.

When not traveling with the circus from Florida to New York, he is in constant contact with circus performers through e-mail.

At St. Michael, he is part of the ministry with the Rev. Paul Keyes and the Rev. John Delaney, team moderator.

In addition to celebrating Mass, Hogan also teaches religious education and leads a men's group at the church.

When not preaching or teaching, Hogan enjoys going to the theater, the symphony and the museum. He is an avid sports fan and has been a 39 year season ticket holder to the New England Patriots and enjoys watching the Red Sox and the Celtics.

....Sad News from Showfolks of Sarasota....

Irene Tasso, wife of comedy juggler Dieter Tasso, died suddently this week in Sarasota.
Cards of condolences can be sent to:
Dieter Tasso
4874 Hamlets Grove Drive
Sarasota, Florida 34235


DieterTasso@aol.com


In lieu of flowers, Dieter suggests that you make a donation to your favorite charity in Irene's memory.


Thank you.
Mike Naughton
Vice-President
Showfolks of Sarasota