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Coffee shops around Japan have fully embraced the concept of the animal cafe. First came pet-friendly spots, then cat and dog cafes, then all manner of creature-themed stops, including the latest craze: the pig cafe.
A 55-year-old Asian elephant named Nidia had chronic foot problems: painful fissures on her foot pads, cracked and ingrown toenails, persistent abscesses. She had no appetite and was losing weight. “The veterinarian in charge of Nidia’s care at a wildlife park in Mexico, was desperate,” reports the New York Times.
Last week scientists in Berlin announced they had successfully transferred a northern white rhinoceros embryo into a surrogate mom, the first successful use of a method that they say could save the nearly extinct rhino subspecies.
When the temperature dropped to 18° F in Beaumont, Texas last week, a few alligators got caught in the big freeze, locked solid in the ice. They’ll be fine though, as long as their snouts stay above water.
After Buffalo Bills’ kicker Tyler Bass missed a game-tying field goal in last weekend’s playoff game, he was bombarded with so much hate from disgruntled fans he deactivated his social media accounts. But then a favorite charity of Bass’s – cat-adoption center Ten Lives Club in Blasdell, New York – came to his defense.
Researchers have been probing the thermal vents off the west coast of Costa Rica, using a remotely operated vehicle miles below the surface. Two expeditions by the Schmidt Ocean Institute team in 2023 have yielded a wondrous find: four new species of octopus.
This spring, Americans living in the Southeast and Midwest will be subject to a very loud, somewhat stinky, and possibly delicious phenomenon: the emergence of two ginormous cicada populations. The cicada groups, known as Brood XIX and Brood XIII (also called the Great Southern Brood and Northern Illinois Brood, respectively) are on schedule to appear at the same time in a “dual emergence” that happens only once every 221 years.
Last year we noted the longevity of Bobi, both at his incredible 31st birthday, and at his passing in October. Now the arbiter of such things, Guinness World Records, is investigating Bobi’s advanced age, which has been questioned by veterinarians.
What if we could synthesize rhinoceros horn, would that squeeze out the illegal trade of the real thing? Three companies have been working on such a scheme for over ten years, but nothing has come of it; all three are either out of business or about to be.
A zoo in the Czech Republic has announced the birth of an adorable pygmy hippopotamus, a wee male named Mikolas. The baby boy was born in December but unveiled to the public this week at the Dvur Kralove Zoo, about 75 miles east of Prague.
Last week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was heavy on artificial intelligence, including new thinking machines programmed to care for your pets when you cannot. Among the new products is the Oro Dog Companion Robot, an AI-powered droid from Ogmen Robotics.
On the second Sunday in February, while most of America watches the Super Bowl, there is another football contest called the Puppy Bowl, a mock game between dogs to raise awareness on pet adoption and rescue. This year Puppy Bowl turns 20, and will feature among the canine contestants a half dozen special-needs dogs.
According to a Humane Society of the United States investigation, a petting zoo in Hauppauge, Long Island has been abusing its sloths. Disturbing video footage taken at Sloth Encounters Long Island shows staff members hitting sloths, sloths kept in crowded conditions, sloths fighting each other, and other abuses.
South Korea’s parliament this week passed a bill to ban the trade in dog meat. The legislation banning the breeding, selling, and slaughtering of dogs for their meat will come into effect in 2027, ending the centuries-old practice of doggie dining.
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have found that great apes and chimpanzees can recognize mates they hadn't seen for years — in some cases for more than two decades — evidence of the longest-lasting nonhuman memory ever recorded.
A brave soul on Australia's NSW Central Coast recently captured a very large funnel-web spider, the world’s most venomous arachnid. The spider, the largest male of its kind ever seen, has been donated to the Australian Reptile Park, which will now put the ginormous creeper they’ve named Hercules to work saving lives.
A new breed of dog – the Lancashire heeler – has joined the 200 other official breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club. The new guy is a “sturdy little dog with a short, weather-resistant coat of black and tan or liver and tan, they are affectionate with their owners, always happy, talkative and always ready for a walk,” according to the AKC website.
Amateur ornithologist John Murillo happened upon one of the rarest sights in the birding world: a half female, half male green honeycreeper. The brilliant little bird was spotted at a bird-feeding station in a nature reserve near Manizales, Colombia.
It’s been a rough few years for the Florida manatee, which has suffered shocking population decline along the Sunshine State’s Atlantic coast, due mostly to i poor malnutrition. But 2023 showed a modest but encouraging improvement in both the mortality rate and the health of the seagrass on which these gentle creatures feed.
A pair of male black swans at the Melbourne Zoo have hooked up and appear to be ready to commit. After they built a nest together (with very tasteful decor), zoo caretakers deployed a 3D printer to create a clutch of faux eggs for the boys to bond over.
