Environment

Last Saturday, the Cincinnati Zoo's Dangerous Animal Response Team was forced to shoot and kill a critically-endangered gorilla after it began dragging a 4-year old boy who had fallen into the exhibit.

After the boy climbed through a public barrier and fell into a moat, 17-year old Harambe, a male gorilla, grabbed the child and began violently dragging and throwing him around.

 The Cincinnati Nature Center (CNC) held a groundbreaking ceremony yesterday for its new Center for Conservation & Stewardship. The Center, located in the historic Groesbeck Lodge on the CNC's Rowe Woods property in Union Township, will serve as a living laboratory of diverse native habitats and provide conservation research and education.

Dr. George Uetz is a professor of biology at the University of Cincinnati and Alex Sweger is a graduate student and together they have discovered a new species of wolf spider with audible mating songs that sound a lot like a cat purr. Last summer they presented their findings to the Acoustical Society of America. They sat down with Cincinnati Zoo Director Thane Maynard to talk about wolf spiders and their mating songs.

Electronic waste, or E-waste (monitors, computers, cell phones and other electronic devices)– represents 2-percent of America's trash in landfills, but it equals 70-percent of overall toxic waste. And worldwide, 20 to 50 million metric tons of electronic devices are disposed of each year.

Most crops grown for their fruits, nuts, seeds and fiber require pollination by insects, such as bees and butterflies. These pollinators are responsible for much of the food we eat and play a critical role in ensuring the production of seeds in most flowering plants.

The first Earth Day in the U.S. was 46 years ago on April 22, 1970. It's considered the birth date of the modern environmental movement. Today, Earth Day is a worldwide event to celebrate the earth and raise awareness of environmental issues.

Dr. John Kricher is longtime professor of biology at Wheaton College who teaches courses in ecology, ornithology, and vertebrate evolution.

Flowers are in bloom, lawns are turning a deep green and spring is in the air. But there is still a chance we could experience hard frosts and even snow before the warm weather finally settles in.

The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden kicks-off its annual Barrows Conservation Lecture Series this month. Over the years, the series has brought dozens of internationally acclaimed scientists, explorers and naturalists into town to address wildlife issues and global conservation efforts.

As we have all seen with the recent problems uncovered in Flint, Michigan, it’s easy for most of us to take clean water for granted. Until we can’t easily get it. In many parts of the world, such as Nairobi, it’s a rare commodity. “The Intimate Realities of Water,” a documentary by University of Cincinnati professors, follows the lives of the people in two of Nairobi’'s slums, Kibera —- the largest urban slum in the city and all of Africa -— and Dagoretti.

With the recent arctic air and snow, spring seems a long way off, but now is the time to start planning your garden and deciding how to get the best use of your landscape this year.

The third annual Great Tree Summit will take place Saturday, February 13, at the Cincinnati Zoo. The summit is presented by Taking Root, the campaign to restore our region’s tree canopy with a goal of planting two million trees by 2020. 

This interview originally aired April 16, 2015.

  Jon Cohen is a correspondent with Science magazine and author of several books, including Almost Chimpanzee: Searching for What Makes Us Human, In Rainforests, Labs, Sanctuaries, and Zoos. He spoke recently with Thane Maynard from the Cincinnati Zoo about his interest in wildlife and his recent article called Zoo Futures.

Noel Rowe grew up in Cincinnati, worked at the Cincinnati Zoo as a young man, and his family has a long history of supporting the local environment – in fact, Rowe Woods at the Cincinnati Nature Center is named after his grandfather. 

Permaculture is a system of agricultural and social design principles centered around working with nature, instead of against it, to foster sustainable systems and lifestyles.

The film Trees in Trouble tells the story of America's urban and community forests,their history, their growing importance to our health, economy and environment - and the serious threats they now face. The film shows how community-wide efforts can save and protect our urban forests for future generations.

  After the strange weather we had this summer, it has been a beautiful fall, so far, prompting even people who don’t like yard work to get outside, rake leaves or work in their gardens. But there is plenty to do now to make the most of the nice weather we have left before the temperatures drop, and prepare our yards and gardens for winter. 

We are accustomed to odd weather in the Tri-state, but this summer has been particularly unusual: heavy rains and unseasonably low temperatures followed by days of intense, dry heat, followed by more rain and cooler days. One morning it’'s August, the next October, then we'’re back to August again. It’'s posed a real challenge to farmers and anyone trying to keep their lawns and gardens healthy.

Three Valley Conservation Trust in Oxford, Ohio is a non-profit land trust designed to protect and monitor about 160 properties, covering more than 18,000 acres and 70 miles of stream corridors, under permanent conservation and agricultural easement agreements.

Green roofs, also known as eco-roofs or nature roofs, have become increasingly more popular as people and organizations realize their benefits, from better storm-water management and reduced CO2 impact to cutting down summer air conditioning costs. You may not realize it, but Washington Park is a green roof. And a 2,400 square foot green roof grows on top of Giraffe Ridge Barn at the Cincinnati Zoo.