. . . Speaking of Photobombs
After posting about the lion who photobombed a visitor to Lion Park, I was reminded of a few other famous photobombs: The ray who bombed a…
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Ringling Caves!
The elephants are packing their trunks. By any standard, today’s decision by the Ringling Circus to phase out its elephant acts represents a seismic shift in the use of…
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Collapse of Antarctic Ice Sheet Irreversible
One of the six major glaciers being eroded from below by warm water What does it mean when two major studies this week tell us that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is…
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2013 Game Changers
Two events share top prize as game changers for the year just ending: The Nonhuman Rights Project's lawsuits have started a whole new conversation about how we relate to other…
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Mother Carries Shot Pit Bull to Safety
It started out as the same hike that Andi Davis does every day to the top of one of the mountains near where she lives in Phoenix, Arizona. But this time, close to the top,…
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Liberators or Terrorists?
When 100 people, mostly women from various rescue groups, rescued 178 beagles from a research lab in Brazil last week, nobody called them terrorists. The five security officers…
The Right Music for Cats
Greyhound Shock Angers Australians
Holiday Gift for Elephant Music Lovers
The Yeti Bear
Lion Photobombs Park Visitor
Lina Jek simply wanted her husband, Chris, to take a photo of her with the African savannah in the background. But Chris, a wildlife photographer, got…
Of Chickens, Gays and the Arizona Legislature
We were a motley crew, to say the least. And we were laughed right out of the Arizona State Legislature. It was 1978, and we weren’t…
Does Religion Trump Animal Protection?
Denmark has been much in the news over the killing of Marius the giraffe in a Danish zoo. But not much has been said about the…
Latest Royal Hunting Stats
Prince Harry in 2004 in South America with the water buffalo he’d just shot How many animals does the British Royal Family kill every year? The revelation…
Meet the (Brain-Dead) Press
Various blogs, including this one, have noted that the Sunday morning network news shows have been devoting no more than a few minutes each year to…
How to Have a Humorous Discussion about Mass Extinction
How do you talk about the end of the world on a comedy show? That was the challenge for Jon Stewart when he invited Elizabeth Kolbert…
The Dogs of Sochi
At least if you’re a human visiting the Sochi Olympics (and despite what we’ve heard about toothpaste bombs, toxic yellow water, and homophobia), you’ll probably make…
Cat or Catalepsy?
Is this a) an animatronic head on a stick being used to place people in a cataleptic trance? Or … [readon] b) a real cat? And…
The Pope’s Doves of Peace Release
Prophecy buffs are all a-twitter over Pope Francis’s somewhat bungled doves-of-peace release this week. Was it, they wonder, a sign of apocalyptic times?
2013 Game Changers
Two events share top prize as game changers for the year just ending:
The Nonhuman Rights Project’s lawsuits have started a whole new conversation about how we relate to other animals.
And Blackfish, the movie that explores why killer whales go berserk and kill their trainers, has upended how millions of people think of animals being used as entertainment at SeaWorld and other circuses.
Holiday Gift for Elephant Music Lovers
Meet the Thai Elephant Orchestra. They’re all retired elephants who spent their lives serving the timber industry of Thailand until logging was brought to an end…
Mother Carries Shot Pit Bull to Safety
It started out as the same hike that Andi Davis does every day to the top of one of the mountains near where she lives in…
Why a Chicken Isn’t an Animal
A chicken enjoying her life at the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary When is a chicken not an animal? Answer: When she’s in a factory farm. If…
Teddy Bear’s Halloween Special
The chatty porcupine is back with his latest tell-all on pumpkins. (From Zooniversity.)
NYC Carriage Horses – from the Frying Pan into the Fire?
Good news: The carriage horses of New York City may soon all be retired. New York’s top two mayoral candidates, Democrat Bill de Blasio and Republican…
What’s in a Chicken Nugget?
“I was floored,” the doctor said when he looked at the sample under a microscope. “I was astounded.”
Ridiculously Cute Sloth Photos
These latest great photos were taken by graduate student Rebecca Cliffe, who used them to raise funds to help reintroduce orphan sloths into the wild in…
Seattle Zoo Investigates Itself
It’s a dark tale of rape, incest, torture and cover-up: A female elephant artificially inseminated at least 112 times; a male elephant forced to breed with…
Condor Cam
If you tune in at the right time, you might catch up to 25 California condors in front of this new live-streaming camera. [readon] It’s the…