animal

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'Extinction Crisis' Threatens 40% of Species

Watchdog group sees serious danger to one in four mammals

(Newser) - More than 16,000 species are in serious danger of extinction, including one in four mammals and one in three amphibians being monitored by a global conservation group. With 40% of 40,000 surveyed species facing the highest levels of threat, “We’re at code red,” a top...

Fido Knows What You're Thinking
Fido Knows What You're Thinking
Sep 8, 2007 4:03 PM CDT

Fido Knows What You're Thinking

Dogs can read humans like no other animal, researchers say

(Newser) - Man's best friend, traditionally viewed by scientists as the drooling, complacent descendant of the noble wolf, are being given a fresh look by behavioral researchers who say their reasoning and ability to read human communication is unprecedented among four-leggers. Studies have suggested that dogs come out of the womb with...

Vets Pioneer New Techniques for Limbs

Fusing metal with bone is helping cats and dogs walk again

(Newser) - Cutting-edge vets have developed new prosthetics for disabled animals that could bode well for human amputees, Time reports. The most exciting technique is called osseointegration—a procedure in which a porous prosthesis is inset into the bone, which then grows into the metallic holes, making a strong anchor onto which...

Puffin Love Flies High in Maine
Puffin Love Flies High in Maine
Aug 26, 2007 5:28 PM CDT

Puffin Love Flies High in Maine

Penguin lookalikes need 24-hour protection from swooping gulls

(Newser) - Puffin-love is flying high in Maine, where hundreds of these penguin look-a-likes are lured by wooden decoys and given 24-hour protection, the AP reports. Supervisors endure screeching gulls and pooping dive-bombers to protect these finned waddlers and their nests. So just what are puffins? Birds that look like penguins, but...

Keep Your Hot Dog Happy and Healthy
Keep Your
Hot Dog Happy
and Healthy
Aug 26, 2007 8:36 AM CDT

Keep Your Hot Dog Happy and Healthy

Fluffy and Fido need help to stay cool when the mercury climbs

(Newser) - They never complain, so it's easy to forget that the smallest members of the family may be suffering in the hot weather, too. Make sure your dog stays healthy with these tips from MSNBC:
  1. Coat ears and noses (or the whole body of a light-colored short-hair) with sunscreen.

Bullfighting Dustup Has France on Guard

Government bans violent protest ad but lets festivals continue

(Newser) - Animal activists and bullfighting fans in France are butting heads over an anti-bullfighting ad that shows bulls being speared and slaughtered. The French government banned the ad as too violent, prompting cries of hypocrisy from a well organized group of celebrities and dignitaries who have been protesting the gruesome "...

Snakes on a Plane! Almost!
Snakes on a Plane! Almost!
Aug 12, 2007 9:21 AM CDT

Snakes on a Plane! Almost!

Security nabs passenger in Cairo bearing bags of live vipers

(Newser) - Flyers could have found themselves reliving the scenario of cheesy horror classic "Snakes on a Plane" had security agents failed to nab a passenger with carry-on bags of live snakes headed for a jet leaving Cairo. Agents found a large number of reptiles, including at least one cobra, after...

'Male' Panda Gives Birth to Twins
'Male' Panda Gives Birth to Twins
Aug 9, 2007 3:18 PM CDT

'Male' Panda Gives Birth to Twins

Jinzhu turns out to be a 'normal girl' after all

(Newser) - A giant panda once thought to be male gave birth to twin cubs this week in China. Jinzhu was believed to be male at birth, but the panda showed zero sexual interest after being shipped to Japan in 2000 to breed with a female. When scientists attempted artificial insemination, they...

Stranded by War, Forest Yields Treasures

Remote, unspoiled region of Congo conceals 6 new species

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered six animal species in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, an area closed to scientists for nearly 50 years. The region is rich in biodiversity, Reuters reports, and beyond the bat, rodents, frogs, and shrews found on a brief trip this past winter, the...

River Dolphin Declared Extinct
River Dolphin Declared Extinct
Aug 8, 2007 5:54 AM CDT

River Dolphin Declared Extinct

Scientists failed to find species in expedition

(Newser) - Calling it a "shocking tragedy," a team of marine scientists have declared the Yangtze river dolphin "likely extinct" after their failure to find a single animal in a recent research expedition. The scientists blamed massive over fishing along the Yangtze as the primary cause of the species'...

Panda Attacks Zookeeper
Panda Attacks Zookeeper
Aug 7, 2007 8:06 AM CDT

Panda Attacks Zookeeper

This bamboo is tasty, but I prefer human flesh

(Newser) - A zookeeper in northwestern China needed more than a hundred stitches after being scratched and bitten by a panda. The keeper was feeding the 2-year-old from outside the cage when the lovable bear grabbed his arms and started biting. The panda—Lan Zai —had recently been transferred from another...

EU Bans UK Animal Exports
EU Bans UK Animal Exports
Aug 6, 2007 12:52 PM CDT

EU Bans UK Animal Exports

Probe of possible source widens to include summer flooding

(Newser) - The EU imposed an indefinite ban today on exports of live animals from Great Britain after an outbreak of foot and mouth disease on a farm in southeast England. The floods that have swamped the English countryside may have played a role in the outbreak, the Guardian reports, and PM...

Roly-Poly Polar Bear Goes on a Diet

Keepers cut off celebrity cub Knut's supply of croissants

(Newser) - Superstar polar bear Knut has been put on a diet after growing too fat to be weighed on the Berlin Zoo's scales. Knut's Brando-style transformation came about from eating too many croissants and second helpings of meat and fish, leaving him a visibly stuffed bear. "Knut has become noticeably...

Rent-a Dog Biz Lets You Be Master for a Day

Active urbanites invest in four-legged time shares

(Newser) - A California entrepreneur has taken the commitment out of dog ownership for all those lusting-for-a-lab types who have room in their hearts for a pooch, but not in their lives. Flex Petz customers can contract out one the company's 10 dogs by the day, choosing from Labrador retrievers, Afghan hounds...

Gator Goes to the Beach—on Long Island

Traveling pillowcase proves to contain 2½-foot male reptile

(Newser) - And you thought your Halloween costume was scary: A pillowcase found wriggling in a Long Island parking lot early yesterday turned out to contain a 2½-foot male alligator. An official from the town of Babylon found the creature near a beach, Newsday reports, with a message on the pillowcase:...

UN Eyes Congo After Gorilla Murders
UN Eyes Congo After Gorilla Murders
Jul 28, 2007 3:47 PM CDT

UN Eyes Congo After Gorilla Murders

Quadruple homicide, with 2 others missing, affects rare species

(Newser) - Four mountain gorillas were shot to death in a nature preserve in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and UNESCO is flying in to help with the unsolved crime, CNN reports. The massacre of an alpha male and three females follows the recent killing of three other mountain gorillas—only 700...

Giant Chimps Found in Congo
Giant Chimps Found in Congo
Jul 14, 2007 1:30 PM CDT

Giant Chimps Found in Congo

(Newser) - Scientists from the University of Amsterdam have discovered a population of giant, near ape-size chimpanzees in the Congo. Long rumored to exist, they are referred to by local hunters as lion-eating chimps. And while the scientists could not confirm the lion-eating, they did see a band of the chimps eating...

Iraqis Go on Alert as Mammoth Badgers Stalk City

Locals blame British troops for badger invasion

(Newser) - Badgers have invaded Basra, Iraq, spurring fears of a man-eating monster on the loose in the port city. Despite Iraqi scientists' assurances that the creatures are not dangerous to humans, locals demonize the oversized carnivores and blame British troops for for unleashing them. The badgers "don't stalk humans and...

Zebrula Kills at German Zoo
Zebrula Kills at German Zoo
Jul 5, 2007 2:36 PM CDT

Zebrula Kills at German Zoo

Offspring of horse and zebra is a crossover hit

(Newser) - Perplexed onlookers are flocking to a to a zoo in Germany to see a zebrula—the rare but not unprecedented offspring of a male zebra and a female horse, AFP reports. The animal, named Eclyse, has the head of a zebra, the body of a horse, and a coat split...

Flying Fish Crash Into Boaters
Flying Fish
Crash Into Boaters
Jul 4, 2007 5:37 AM CDT

Flying Fish Crash Into Boaters

Once-endangered sturgeon weigh up to 200 lbs, can't be killed

(Newser) - Boaters on Florida’s Suwannee River have been knocked unconscious by "sturgeon strikes" as the muscular fish rocket through the air, the New York Times reports. The  collisions  have caused a broken pelvis, shattered leg and a slashed throat. The fish, which can weigh up to 200 pounds, have...

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