The Lives They Lived

The year 2005 saw the death of some truly great animals. In the first part of our series "The Lives They Lived," we remember two who were just recently taken from our midst.

We remember Beau, the guide dog who helped Moira Shea, a nuclear policy aide to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR). Shea and Beau helped change the rules of the Senate, which passed a resolution on their behalf to allow service dogs onto the Senate floor. The 13-year-old yellow lab was euthanized on December 9.


We also pause to reflect on the life of Rapunzel, the Sumatran rhinoceros at the Bronx Zoo, who died on December 22. She was in her 30s and had lived at the Bronx Zoo for 15 years, after she was rescued from a Sumatran rain forest about to be cut down. Sumatran rhinos are extremely endangered; fewer than 300 still exist. The humans who knew her remember her fondly: "Just a real sweet girl," commented one; "She liked a warm hose," said another. Rapunzel was so named because of her luxurious coat of hair. "The keepers would groom her, brush her hair," said Pat Thomas, the Bronx Zoo's curator of mammals.

Update on Finnegan the Orphaned Squirrel

Remember Finnegan, the week-old squirrel who was adopted by a papillon dog with a new litter of puppies?

Right, that one. Well, USA Today provides us with a happy update on our young hero.

Dodos: Still dead as a . . .

Scientists announced the discovery of a mass grave of dodos in Mauritius. They estimate the bones to between 2,000 and 3,000 years old. The cache includes about 700 bones and likely includes complete skeletons. The friendly, non-flying bird went extinct in the 17th century.

Is Snuppy a clone? Or just a regular ol' puppy?

Now that South Korea's famed scientist Hwang Woo-suk has admitted to fabricating stem-cell research, the origins of his breakthrough cloned dog are being questioned. Whatever Snuppy (named for Seoul National University Puppy) is, though, he's amazingly adorable.

What's cuter than a baby panda?

SIXTEEN baby pandas!



You must watch the video (via Pandafix).

Friday's photos

Sorry for the delay in new posts. While you wait-- we've got some big breaking news coming soon (well, maybe over the weekend)-- here are pictures of interspecies animal care:


Puppies and baby squirrel


Remember Owen and Mzee?

The following two come from Salon.

Bull mastiff and white hamster


Rhodesian ridgeback and fawn

And check out the video on The Antic Muse.

Black bear found hibernating under a porch in PA

Don't you hate it when you're trying to sleep and loud children and camera crews keep waking you up?

CNN has an adorable video. The latest update is that wildlife officials will tranquilize the 700-pound black bear and move him to a safer location.

A dog walks into a bar . . .

A Washington state animal-behavior specialist has discovered dog laughter. She "isolated" the laugh four years ago, so I'm not sure why we're only learning about it now. She made a CD of dog laughter, and a Spokane kennel has found that the CD has a calming effect on the dogs, quieting their barking. Perhaps the dogs are quiet because they're pissed off 'cause they don't know what's so damn funny.

New mammal found in Borneo jungle!!

The World Wildlife Fund is reporting that a new species of mammal may have been discovered in Borneo. It's described as looking like a cross between a cat and a fox, with red fur, and carnivorous. It also appears to have headlights for eyes.



Hopefully this won't turn out to be another mythic creature like the Monkey Man.