Wild and Woolly Weather Day 44

Forecast for rest of today and tomorrow:

FORECAST:
Showery this evening, easing overnight then clearing by noon tomorrow. Strong and gusty W'ly winds shifting cold, squally SW'ly this evening. Winds moderating overnight and shifting S/SE tomorrow.

TEMPERATURES: Minimum: 7 Maximum: 15
UV INDEX: 5 [MODERATE]

I went to my first Butler rehearsal on Tuesday – very, very funny stuff. Confronting too, despite being 40 years old. It’s a great farce, which means lots of running in and out of doors, half-clothed.

Went to the SAGE trivia night and nosh up last night. We did really well and then crashed and burned to be joint second-last. Ah well. A good time was had by all and much dosh was raised for the Thornlie Anglican Church which distributes food and school supplies to needy families. The auctions alone raised $1,900.

Latest on zoos in the wake of Hurricane Katrina:

From the American Zoos Association:

The Audubon Nature Institute staff is aware that the AZA community has responded — and continues to respond — to this crisis in an overwhelming way and is extremely thankful. AZA is maintaining a list of offers of assistance by category. This will be a long-term effort and our colleagues at the Audubon Nature Institute appreciate all that has been offered.

Audubon Aquarium of the Americas
A small team of staff is working around the clock to care for the collection and is preparing to move some animals out of the facility. Unfortunately, without a fully functioning life support system, most of the fish in the collection were lost. But the good news is that the sea otters, penguins, leafy and weedy seadragons, macaws, raptors, an electric eel, and the white alligator are fine.

Midas, the infamous 250 lb. sea turtle, survived and has been coaxed into the holding area in the Gulf of Mexico Exhibit.

Please keep the Aquarium staff in your thoughts and prayers. This is a heartbreaking time for all of them.
Audubon ZooThe staff at the Zoo is supporting the efforts of their colleagues at the Aquarium of the Americas. They have received needed supplies and are continuing to clean up the Zoo and providing care for their animals.
Audubon Center for Reproduction of Endangered SpeciesThe staff at ACRES is doing well and they are in clean–up mode as well. There is a plan in place for them to receive needed supplies very soon.

BREC's Baton Rouge Zoo
Baton Rouge, LABREC's Baton Rouge Zoo re-opened on September 1. Most of clean-up has been completed and power is back on. A baby zebra was just born!

Alexandria Zoo
Alexandria, LAThe Alexandria Zoo has resumed normal operations. No loss of animals.

Jackson Zoo
Jackson, MSThe Jackson Zoo has resumed normal operation. There was no loss in the animal collection and no major damage to any of the exhibit areas.

Birmingham Zoo
Birmingham, AlThe Birmingham Zoo has resumed normal operations. No loss of animals.

Miami Metrozoo
Miami, FLMiami Metrozoo reopened as planned on Saturday, September 3rd. They are continuing clean-up in the non-public area and are doing very well. No animal loss reported.

Montgomery Zoo
Montgomery, ALThe Montgomery Zoo has resumed normal operations. No loss of animals.
The ZOOGulf Breeze, FLThe ZOO reports only minor damage and no loss of animals.

More news articles:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4223288.stm
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/zoo-orleans-fares-well-naturally/2005/09/07/1125772586347.html?oneclick=true
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/09/05/katrina.zoos/