Michael Jackson's Zoo

[Guest guest]

*Hello,*

* I had asked Jane Goodall what she thought of Michael Jackson

keeping a chimpanzee as a pet. She had replied she did not approve of the

practice and had requested Michael Jackson to relinquish Bubbles, who would

skate and emulate the famous 'Moon Walk.' Michael Jackson did not agree. I

am not sure what exactly happened to Bubbles and if he is still alive.

Nonetheless, Michael Jackson's 'Earth Song' had a massive impact on animal

protection and conservation worlwide.*

* Regards,*

* *

* *

**

*

http://news./s/afp/20090629/ts_afp/entertainmentusmusicjacksonanimal

*<http://news./s/afp/20090629/ts_afp/entertainmentusmusicjacksonanimal>

*Questions mount over Jackson animal kingdom

AFP/File – " Michael Jackson and Bubbles " , a sculpture of top-selling US

artist Jeff Koons exhibited in … *

*by Shaun Tandon Shaun Tandon – Sun Jun 28, 11:30 pm ET

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Besides leaving a musical legacy, Michael Jackson

orphaned an array of exotic pets with some of them unaccounted for and even

his beloved chimpanzee Bubbles depending on donations.

In what was once seen mostly as a harmless eccentricity, Jackson at the

height of stardom amassed a private zoo of giraffes, tigers and other

foreign animals at Neverland, his sprawling fantasy estate in California.

Nearly all of the animals have been moved to new homes in the past few years

as Jackson's personal and financial woes worsened, with animal rights

activists saying some have become roadside attractions in uncertain

conditions.

Bubbles, once the world's best known ape who slept in the superstar's

bedroom and mastered his Moonwalk dance, has lived since 2005 at the Center

for Great Apes in Florida, the head of the sanctuary said.

Jackson did not provide financial support for Bubbles and, despite his

stated desire, never visited him there, said Patti Ragan, director of the

Center for Great Apes.

" To this date, all donations for his care have come from the Center for

Great Ape?s supporters. We depend on donations in order to care for all our

animals in need, " she said.

An image of Bubbles on the center's website appeals to the public to make

donations to care for him and other residents of the sanctuary, designed to

provide a natural environment for apes who had been used as performers or

pets.

The website, which does not directly mention Bubbles' famous former

guardian, described the chimp as having a " broad, handsome face and a lot of

charima. "

Ragan estimated it cost 16,000 dollars a year to care for each ape, who

usually live to be at least 50 years old.

Jackson rescued Bubbles from a Texas medical laboratory where he was bought

by Bob Dunn, a Hollywood animal trainer. Jackson returned Bubbles to Dunn

after the singer had children, who risk being injured by a large chimp.

Dunn, contacted by AFP, declined comment, saying he was negotiating a deal

to speak publicly about Bubbles. The Florida center said Dunn handed to it

Bubbles and all his other apes in 2005 when he exited the business.

Dunn was quoted as telling Britain's News of the World tabloid that Jackson

thought of Bubbles as " his first child " and regularly visited while Bubbles

was in Dunn's California preserve.

While Bubbles remains high-profile, animal rights group People for the

Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said it was hard to track down most of

Jackson's former pets.

Lisa Wathne, PETA's specialist in captive exotic animals, voiced particular

concern about two of Jackson's orangutans sent to a private owner in

Connecticut and reptiles at a roadside zoo in Oklahoma.

She said Jackson's case showed why wild animals should not be kept as pets.

" All too often even people who start with good intentions, as Michael

Jackson certainly did, don't have the ability to properly care for these

animals, " she said.

" And unfortunately in Michael Jackson's case he did apparently run into

financial problems that ultimately led to his animals being disbursed to

places all over the world. We don't know, frankly, where most of them ended

up. "

PETA in January 2006 complained to US authorities that animals were being

mistreated in Neverland. The authorities inspected the estate's menagerie

but found no evidence of abuse or neglect.

Jackson's two tigers, Thriller and Sabu, were taken in at a sanctuary in

California run by former actress Tippi Hedren.

The Voices of the Wild Foundation, which runs an animal preserve in Arizona,

adopted Jackson's four giraffes along with reptiles and exotic birds. But

PETA says the conditions were too cramped for giraffes. Freddie Hancock appealed to Jackson fans to send donations in his

memory so that the preserve can adopt more animals.

Hancock had nothing but praise for Jackson, saying he maintained " beautiful

facilities " for the animals in Neverland.

" I think he just loved animals. And when you're an individual who loves

animals, the animals know that, " Hancock said.*