Bear receives extensive dental work
TACOMA, Wash. ““ It was checkup day for Boris the polar
bear, as the 1,018-pound carnivore underwent two root canals and
other medical checks while under anesthesia at the Point Defiance
Zoo and Aquarium over the weekend.
“Everything went really smoothly,” said Tukwila
dentist Edmund Kwan. “It’s like working on a person,
but even better! He’s asleep!”
The 19-year-old bear was one of six that U.S. Fish and Wildlife
officers rescued last Nov. 19 from a Mexican circus performing in
Puerto Rico.
Two of the bears, Boris and Kenneth, now reside at the Tacoma
zoo.
While with the circus, the bears acquired a nervous habit of
rubbing their teeth against their cages’ hard, metal bars,
said University Place dentist Rhonda Savage, who assisted in
Saturday’s cleaning.
This practice wore down and broke the bears’ teeth. Their
unnatural diet of white bread, lettuce, fruit, dog chow and, once a
week, fish, contributed to an abnormal build-up of plaque on their
teeth, as well as weakened physical condition.
During his time Saturday with a team of dentists, veterinarians
and support staff, Boris got his teeth and ears cleaned, two elbow
cysts flushed, his blood and urine tested, vaccinations and an
ultrasound of his internal organs.
“Physically, he checks out well. He’s in much better
shape than when he came,” said Dr. Holly Reed, the
zoo’s chief veterinarian.
In contrast to the cramped, hot conditions with the circus,
Point Defiance is a bear Club Med.
These polar bears swim in a saltwater pool and roam through
their outdoor exhibit and bear den. Their diet now includes fish,
beef and a high-fat, high-protein polar bear chow packed with
vitamins and minerals.
Frisky ram causes transmission interference
LONDON ““ A mysterious transmission that baffled British
intelligence analysts for days was actually a ram rubbing up
against an aerial mast, a government agency said Tuesday.
Scientists at Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) in
Cheltenham, western England, an intelligence-gathering station,
were baffled by strange high-frequency noises coming from a
Scarborough signal station in Yorkshire, northeastern England.
GCHQ’s in-house paper, the Daily Observer, said the noises
were unlike anything staff had encountered before, and an
investigating team initially thought they were coming from spies or
aliens.
Their investigation found the signal only happened in the
daytime, went across all the high-frequency bands, and only
Scarborough aerials could pick it up.
Eventually, investigators discovered that a ram was rubbing its
horns against the aerial masts “in between servicing some
local ewes,” the paper said.
“It’s possible the ram was attracted to the mast,
which may have given off some kind of tingling sensation, but it
was probably just a post to rub against,” said GCHQ spokesman
Bob McNally.
Toy commercial construed as drug promotion
WASHINGTON ““ A Toys “˜R’ Us television
commercial that featured the company’s mascot, Geoffrey the
Giraffe, inhaling helium from a balloon has drawn the ire of
anti-drug advocates, who say the ad sends a dangerous message to
children.
“Any portrayal of inhalant use is bad, especially when
we’re reaching out to younger children who are at most risk
of abusing inhalants,” Charles Curie, administrator for the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, said
Friday.
According to a 2002 Monitoring the Future Study, 15.2 percent of
eighth-graders have used inhalants in their lifetime.
The ad campaign has finished its rotation and will not be
reintroduced, Toys “˜R’ Us spokesperson Susan McLaughlin
said.
“Toys “˜R’ Us takes the safety of our guests
very seriously,” McLaughlin said. “We would never
encourage any behavior that would be dangerous in any
way.”
Inhaling helium has the effect of distorting the human
voice.
It also can displace oxygen in the blood and lead to
unconsciousness and, in rare occasions, death.
Advocates are also concerned about the portrayal of
“huffing” helium in other commercials, television shows
and movies.
“The ingestion of helium is dangerous,” and has
resulted in deaths, said Harvey Weiss, executive director of the
National Inhalant Prevention Coalition, a federally funded
organization.
Weiss said he was inundated with complaints about the Toys
“˜R’ Us ad from parents, teachers, school nurses and
substance abuse treatment workers, who also complained to the toy
company.
“Maybe they heard what we had to say,” Weiss
said.
Reports from Daily Bruin wire services.