From primatologist Frans de Waal’s public Facebook page, via reader Malcolm:
Bandits!
January 21, 2014 • 8:38 am
Category: squee
First steps of a polar bear cub
January 11, 2014 • 9:06 am
This video was online a week ago but took several more days to get to YouTube. Since then it’s garnered nearly two million views. This polar bear cub (Ursus maritimus) at the Toronto Zoo is two months old; here are some of the YouTube notes:
Born on November 9th 2013, our adorable cub is currently residing in the Wildlife Health Centre. During his stay, our newest polar bear family member will be under the intensive eyes of our dedicated veterinarians, veterinarian technicians and keeper staff.
It certainly makes strange sounds! Reader P, who contributed this item, notes that the cub ” is the only survivor of a litter of three. He was taken away from his mother Aurora, since she had a history of rejecting her young.”
The world’s cutest animal
December 11, 2013 • 3:08 pm
. . . or so thinks reader Barry, who sent me this photo:
I have to admit it’s pretty adorable.
First, identify it.
Then, give us your choice of the world’s cutest animal. Don’t forget to specify whether its supremacy is limited to either the adult or juvenile stages.
I suppose I’d choose a baby Giant Panda, but then there are baby manuls, baby tigers, and so on.
Pregnant Irish cat adopts ducklings, plus bonus cat/ferret bonding
November 29, 2013 • 3:03 pm
Time to end the week with a heartwarmer.
A cat about to give birth adopts a brood of ducklings, and almost immediately produces her kittens. One thing’s for sure: those ducklings ain’t suckling!
A bonus: go over to The Metapicture and see a series of cute photos of a new kitten befriending some resident ferrets. One shot:
h/t: Sara
The adventures of Kingsford the piglet
August 30, 2013 • 12:34 pm
How could I resist, especially on a holiday Friday (it’s Labor Day weekend in the U.S)?
The cat is not impressed. And Kingsford’s difficulties descending the stairs remind me of an episode of Hill Street Blues (remember that?) when the cops were trying to remove a cow that someone had in a third-floor apartment. One of the cops said they should lead it down the stairs, and the other replied, “Down? Cows ain’t got no down genes!”
Baby panda reunited with mom
August 16, 2013 • 1:29 pm
Ending the week on a mushy but happy note, here’s a video about Taiwan’s first zoo-born panda being reunited with its mom after a medically-mandated separation. This video has gone viral (I think it’s on HuffPo, too), and if you haven’t seen it already you’re leading a life that’s too free from the Internet.
Mashable gives the data:
Taiwan’s first newborn giant Panda was officially reunited with her mom on August 12 after a month of separation. In a YouTube video posted by the Taipei Zoo, tiny Yuan Zai’s mother cuddles her close for the first time. Their loving embrace is a sight that will weaken even the coldest of hearts.
Yuan Zai has been away from mother Yuan Yuan since her birth on July 6. After suffering an injury only a few days into her life, the little cub was moved to an incubator and required constant monitoring and care. Caretakers reintroduced Yuan Zai and her mother on August 11, but kept the two separate to gauge Yuan Yuan’s reaction. Take a look at footage of their first meeting below.
Friday feel-good: a rescued baby hedgehog
July 19, 2013 • 1:25 pm
One of the things I like most about the British is their overwhelming love of animals and wildlife. There are tons of animal protection societies, and, if you want to see how seriously they take this stuff, see the fantastic article in the latest New Yorker about the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. That piece, “Operation Easter”, by Julian Rubenstein, is an engrossing read about the lengths to which the RSPB goes to catch and prosecute egg-collectors, a small but fanatical band of marauders who, to supplement their collections, remove eggs from the nests of endangered birds. I was glad to see that this article, which kept me up past my bedtime last night, is free online.
But I digress. I like to end the work week on an up note, one preferably involving animals. And reader “Gravelinspector” from the UK just gave me the chance by sending an email and some pictures. Upshot: mother hedgehog accidentally drowned, but baby is save. His email:
I’m sure your UK readers will have mentioned that the whole country is suffering a bit of a heatwave at the moment. Flooring the loft (american:attic?) is not recommended ; severely un-fun!
But more seriously, Dad had an unpleasant find in the garden pond at the weekend – a dead hedgehog. It probably fell into the pond while trying to get a drink. Very sad; have to re-design the pond with a crawl-out zone. But when burying the unfortunate, Dad also noticed a baby hedgehog crawling around the area.
Consultation with the local animal rescue got the diagnosis “two days old; viable” and so it’s off to the world of eye droppers of milk followed by dishes of cat food. No others were found in the garden, so if there were multiple hedehoglets … well that’s evolution in action.
Our only action on finding the hedgehoglet was to put a large flower pot over it with a brick on top to protect it from birds or cats while we contacted the rescue people; in the event that its Mum was still around, we didn’t want to leave undue scents.
A bundle of soft-spined cuteness to counteract your squirrel’s fluffiness.
Time to check those ponds to see if small animals can actually get out if they fall in! And make sure there’s a drinking water supply too!
Gravelinspector notes that the person fostering this baby is taking care of nine other baby hedgehogs!
Who doesn’t love these creatures? They’re cute, relatively tame, and the gardener’s helper. Pity that they’re vanishing from the UK.