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Wednesday May 15, 2024
Local Connection
With great sadness, the Louisville Zoo said goodbye to 22-year-old female lion Kariba on Wednesday, January 30.
Kariba had been on what the Zoo calls a quality-of-life watch due to her advanced age and declining health. The decision was made to humanely euthanize Kariba when she no longer responded to therapy.
“These decisions are never easy and are made after discussions between the veterinary staff and animal care staff,” said Zoo Veterinarian Dr. Zoli Gyimesi. “Kariba was geriatric and staff began to see a decline in her health in 2018. Examinations under anesthesia resulted in providing her with palliative care and close monitoring of her welfare.”
The median life expectancy of lions in a managed care system is 16.9 years. In the wild an adult female lion may live 10 – 15 years.
Kariba came to the Louisville Zoo in 2000 from the Wildlife Way Station in California. The Zoo currently has one 3-year-old male lion named Siyanda.
The Louisville Zoo invites students in preschool and grades pre-K – 12 to get involved with the seventh annual Trashformation: A Trash-to-Treasure Art Contest for Students. The annual contest is part of the Zoo’s Party for the Planet: A Month-Long Celebration of the Earth powered by the LG&E and KU Foundation. The event takes place in April.
Students are encouraged to communicate the importance of recycling and sustainability through art. Using only recyclable items, students’ art submissions should express or interpret “Reuse, Reduce and Recycle.”
Back by popular demand, the Zoo is partnering with the Louisville Orchestra’s MakingMUSIC Landfill Orchestra program and has a category encouraging students to create a playable musical instrument from recycled materials. Students submitting a musical instrument will be invited to participate in a jam session with their instruments led by Louisville Orchestra Music Director Teddy Abrams at the awards presentation press conference on March 23 at 11 a.m.
Trashformation is open to all public, private, parochial and homeschool students in preschool and grades K–12.
One winner from each category will be chosen by a panel of judges and announced at a press conference during the Earth Month kickoff celebration at the Zoo on March 23. Winners will receive a one-of-a-kind painting by one of the Zoo’s animals.
Nonmusical instrument submissions must be no larger than 12”x12”x12” if three-dimensional and weigh no more than 8 pounds with a rigid base or can be 18” x 18” if flat. All entries must be made from recyclable materials. Registration is appreciated for the contest by Feb. 11. Each student or group may enter only one project.
Visit www.louisvillezoo.org/trashformation for registration material and a full list of rules and categories.
Continue readingThe Louisville Zoo kicks off the new year with two very special animal birthdays on Saturday, Jan. 12. Zoo guests will be invited to sing “Happy Birthday” as both gorilla Helen and polar bear Qannik receive special birthday enrichment items. Helen is celebrating her 61st birthday in Gorilla Forest at 10:30 a.m. and Qannik will celebrate her 8th birthday in Glacier Run at 11:30 a.m. The birthdays are free with Zoo admission.
ABOUT HELEN| Helen is the third oldest known gorilla in the world and the second oldest in the North American population.
She is wild born, so her birth date is estimated. The median age for gorillas in managed systems is 38.3. Helen is in a gorilla group with 48-year-old Demba. Helen is also Kindi’s great-great-grandmother.
Western lowland gorillas are considered critically endangered with an estimated 100,000 left in the remnant wild.
ABOUT QANNIK Qannik made national headlines when she was found on Alaska’s North Slope in 2011 separated from her mother and sibling. After several days of monitoring her in hopes that she would reunite with the other bears, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) began a rescue operation.
Qannik was under weight and likely hadn’t learned vital skills to survive on her own. She has been at the Louisville Zoo’s award-winning Glacier Run exhibit since June 28, 2011. Because Qannik was born in the wild her exact birthdate is unknown. Officials from the USFWS assigned January 10 as her birthday.
Qannik is still in rotation with the three other bears at Glacier Run — a grizzly family including Inga and her cubs Otis and Rita (though Inga is exhibited separately).
A spin-off of the Clifton Roots, Jazz, and Heritage Festival held at the Clifton Center last year, Butchertown Roots continues the quest to bring the best in roots, jazz, and world music to Louisville audiences. Featuring five Grammy nominees, a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Award recipient, and a MacArthur Foundation genius grant award winner, Butchertown Roots welcomes internationally renowned performers, as well as several of Louisville’s most celebrated local artists. Both concerts will be held at Louisville’s most exciting new venue, Odeon, located at 1335 Story Avenue in Louisville’s Butchertown neighborhood.
Masters of the infectious Brazilian music known as “Choro”, Trio Brasileiro, will kick off the festival on Saturday, September 15th at 8:00 pm. Recipients of a 2017 Grammy nomination for Best World Music Album for their recording with clarinetist Anat Cohen, Rosa dos Ventos, the Trio includes world-renowned guitarist Douglas Lora, mandolin virtuoso Dudu Maia, and percussionist Alexandre Lora, and is regarded as one of the world’s leading exponents of Choro, a musical style that has been described by some as a Brazilian cross between bluegrass and ragtime. With heart-wrenching harmonies and blazing virtuosity, Trio Brasileiro has brought crowds to their feet in concert tours throughout the U.S., South America, and Europe.
Butchertown Roots continues Sunday, September 16 with True Blues, an inspiring evening of music and conversation with legendary blues artists Corey Harris and Phil Wiggins. Harris, the phenomenal blues guitarist and singer who was a featured artist and narrator of Martin Scorcese’s 2003 documentary, “Feel Like Going Home”, which traced the evolution of the blues from West Africa to the southern U.S., will be joined by legendary blues harmonica virtuoso Phil Wiggins. Wiggins was recently awarded a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts in honor of his many accomplishments, which included a 32-year stint as a member of one of the most famous duos in blues history, Cephas & Wiggins. Continue reading
September 20th Test Will Appear as an Actual Emergency Message
Many of us are used to the required weekly and monthly test alerts that periodically interrupt broadcast radio and television programming with those jarring tones. Do not be alarmed when a similar system test is conducted one week from today, although on a much larger scale, coordinated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in conjunction with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
On September 20, 2018, FEMA and FCC will conduct a nationwide test of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, known as IPAWS.
Although this test will interrupt radio and television programming like the regular Emergency Alert System (EAS) tests, the messages will be delivered to broadcasters through next-generation alerting infrastructure rather than over the airwaves. Because this exercise make use of that new alerting technology, the alert will also trigger notifications on Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) compatible cell phones.
The widespread national test is intended to help both alert providers as well as recipients ensure that the system functions normally from end to end so that important information can be received in a timely fashion in the event of an actual emergency.
The WEA portion of the test commences at 2:18 p.m. EDT, and the EAS portion follows at 2:20 p.m. EDT.
The WEA test message will be sent to cell phones that are connected to wireless providers participating in WEA. This is the fourth EAS nationwide test and the first national WEA test. Previous EAS national tests were conducted in September 2011, 2016 and 2017 in collaboration with the FCC, broadcasters, and emergency management officials in recognition of FEMA’s National Preparedness Month.
“The tests that you usually hear are typically a part of the over-the-air broadcast EAS and NOAA Weather Radio systems,” a representative of alerting equipment manufacturer, Gorman-Redlich, told Louisville Dispatch. “Those tests tend to be for a relatively small geographic area and affect only broadcast outlets. This time, the test targets a nationwide audience, with alerts being sent to all broadcasters at once by internet and satellite signals and to individual cell phones by their carriers.”
The message heard on radios and televisions during this nationwide test will be similar to regular monthly EAS test messages with which the public is familiar and will include a reference to the WEA test: Continue reading
Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon and miniMarathon 2017
Runners mark your calendars! Registration for the 2019 Kentucky Derby Festival miniMarathon and Marathon presented by Humana opens on Wednesday, September 12, at 9:00 a.m. EST. The Festival is kicking off registration at DerbyFestivalMarathon.com with 24 hours of deals which include: the lowest prices of the season, discounted VIP rates and deals on race gear. Plus, the Festival’s Race Referral Program returns, which could earn runners free registration for the 2019 event. Runners mark your calendars! Registration for the 2019 Kentucky Derby Festival miniMarathon and Marathon presented by Humana opens on Wednesday, September 12, at 9:00 a.m. EST. The Festival is kicking off registration at DerbyFestivalMarathon.com with 24 hours of deals which include: the lowest prices of the season, discounted VIP rates and deals on race gear. Plus, the Festival’s Race Referral Program returns, which could earn runners free registration for the 2019 event.
Said Shanna Ward, Race Director, “Runners looking for the best deals, will want to register during the first 24 hours. It will guarantee their spot in the 2019 race and get them the lowest rates for next year’s event.” Continue reading
Gov. Matt Bevin has directed that flags at all state office buildings be lowered to half-staff on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018, in honor of Chief Warrant Officer 3 Taylor J. Galvin, 34, a Fort Campbell soldier who died while supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.
Galvin was assigned to the 1st Battallion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Services for Chief Warrant Officer Galvin will be held at 12 noon on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018 at Cedar Key Cemetery, Cedar Key, Florida.
According to the Department of Defense, Chief Warrant Officer Galvin died on Aug. 20, 2018 in Baghdad, Iraq, as a result of injuries sustained when his helicopter crashed in Sinjar, Ninevah Province, Iraq. The incident is under investigation.
Gov. Bevin encourages individuals, businesses, organizations and government agencies to join in this tribute of lowering the flag in honor of Chief Warrant Officer Galvin.