Tourists To Blame For Tori The Orangutan’s Smoking Habit

by Jessica Festa on




For those who haven’t heard of Tori, she is Satwa Taru Jurug Zoo‘s famous smoking orangutan. While many people may believe the primate’s habit stemmed from workers in this Indonesian animal park becoming bored or looking for publicity, the truth is it’s the tourists that are the enablers.

Fifteen-year-old Tori has been smoking for over 10 years. She learned the habit by watching visitors who would smoke, then toss lit cigarettes into her cage. It also doesn’t help that everyone cheers Tori on as she puffs away. To help Tori kick her smoking habit, workers are moving her to a different zoo, away from cigarettes and those who may give them to her.

This isn’t the first time Indonesian zoos have had trouble with misbehaving visitors. In March, for example, a giraffe died at Surabaya Zoo after ingesting 40 pounds worth of plastic that had been throw into its enclosure. Moreover, Indonesia is one of the only countries in the world where there are few limits on tobacco selling and marketing. It’s no surprise one-third of the country’s population are smokers. This still, however, doesn’t excuse the act of pushing bad habits onto animals.

To see the smoking primate in action, check out the video above. Hopefully, she will be able to quit completely.

Where To Get The United States’ Best Whiskey

by Jessica Festa on

For those who love whiskey and live in the United States or are planning to visit, you’ll love this new infographic. The good people over at Sloshspot have kindly and ingeniously created a map detailing some of the best whiskey distilleries around the country.

If you’ve ever needed some inspiration to plan a U.S. road trip, or just can’t decide which route to take, let this map be your guide. The infographic not only tells you where to go to sample great whiskey, but also what to expect at each distillery in terms of fermentation and style. For example, you can see that in San Francisco, California, there is Anchor Brewing Company, which makes non-Kentucky bourbon, and that in Chicago, Illinois, there is Koval Distillery, where you can try American rye whiskey. A very large chunk of the graphic is dedicated to Kentucky and Tennessee, where you’ll find majority of the country’s whiskey distilleries.



If you’re having trouble viewing the infographic, click here.

[Infographic via Bourbon & Banter; top image via libraryrachel]

Is Wisconsin’s Nudist Beach In Jeopardy?

by Jessica Festa on

Apparently, gourmet cheese, good beer and the Green Bay Packers aren’t the only things attracting visitors to Wisconsin. In fact, the state boasts one of the country’s largest non-coastal nudist beaches, Mazo Beach, which brings in about 70,000 naturists per year. Unfortunately, the hot spot is currently facing opposition from protesters, politicians and conservative locals.

Recently, numerous arrests have been made in the surrounding forests, as officers have caught people having sex outdoors. Additionally, problems with sex and drugs on the beach are also causing outrage. Well-behaved frequenters of Mazo Beach now fear the end of their clothing-optional haven, despite years of cooperating with the state.

Although it is illegal in Wisconsin to “publicly and indecently” expose one’s genitals, many state and county officials have argued simply being nude at Mazo Beach is not enough to write a citation. That is, unless there is some kind of lewd contact. Despite pastor-led protests and Republican lawmakers attempting to ban the beach, it has remained.

To help get Mazo Beach out of its current position, the area has added extra security to patrol the beach. Losing the nudist-friendly site would be devastating to many who think of it as a second home.

For Claudette Richards, 58, a lifetime visitor to Mazo Beach, it is the place where she was able to come to accept her body, even after her mastectomy. She says, “It’s a place to be who I am.”

[Image via Big Stock]

Google Maps Inside Of Smithsonian Musueums

by McLean Robbins on

We all know that Google Maps technology is invaluable for finding out how to get from point A to point B – or from point A to point D, with B and C in between. But what happens once you arrive at your destination?

Most maps stop being useful the minute you cross the threshold of a building, but, thanks to a new partnership with Google, the Smithsonian’s more than 2.7 million square feet of space are now mapped, both inside and out, using the search engine’s proprietary mapping technology.

The project encompasses 17 museums and the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and allows visitors with Google Maps for Android to navigate building interiors floor by floor, as well as pinpoint themselves within the building.

You can search for exhibits, stairs, restrooms, food courts and more, as well as find step-by-step walking directions between, say, the Hope Diamond and Dorothy’s Red Slippers (which are located in two different museums).

“An increasing number of our visitors now turn to their mobile devices and familiar applications to help them find their way and get information about the Smithsonian,” said Nancy Proctor, head of mobile strategy and initiatives at the Smithsonian. “Indoor Google Maps helps us achieve our goal of putting the Smithsonian in their hands, both literally and figuratively.”

In addition to museums in D.C., the mapping technology also catalogs the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, and the George Gustav Heye Center in New York City.

The Smithsonian and Google will continue to increase the level of exhibit detail and the number of features in the maps in coming months. Indoor Maps is available on Google Maps for Android (Android 2.2 or above and Google Maps for Android 6.0 or above).

Want to learn more? Check out this great article about what happened when the Gadling team went inside the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History for a private tour!

Thanks to ArtDaily for the tip!

People Of Mali Fight Back Against Fundamentalists Destroying Their Heritage

by Sean McLachlan on


We’ve been covering the turmoil in Mali for some time now. Three months ago, rebels in the north of the country took advantage of a coup in the capital to break away and set up the nation of Azawad. This new nation, as yet unrecognized by any other, was supposed to be a homeland for the Tuaregs, a people who complain of poor treatment from the central government.

All did not go as planned. The radical Islamist group Ansar Dine (Defenders of Faith) took over part of the area and put it under harsh Sharia law. Their area of control includes Timbuktu, where they have been destroying the medieval shrines of Muslim saints they say are contrary to Islam. There are also fears they may burn the hundreds of thousands of early manuscripts in Timbuktu. Fundamentalists tend not to like reading much.

Now moderate Muslims are fighting back. Sufi Muslims, who are the majority in Mali and who honor the shrines, have created an armed band to defend them. They’re guarding the holy tombs at Araouane and Gasser-Cheick, close to Timbuktu.

This is the latest step towards conflict between the supposedly allied Ansar Dine and the other rebel groups. Ansar Dine has overstepped its bounds and insulted local religious feeling. They may soon pay the price.

With the world community doing nothing but wringing their hands and making sympathetic noises, it appears the only hope to save the ancient treasures of Mali is in the hands of the locals.

[Photo courtesy Emilio Labrador]