Animal News
Dolphin Dies After Getting Stranded in Brooklyn's Heavily Polluted Gowanus Canal
A dolphin has died after it got stranded in the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn Friday (Jan. 25). The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation said the dolphin died before the high tide at 7:10 p.m. Marine experts had hoped the tide would help carry the animal back to sea.
Link: NBCNewYork.com
Squirrel Appreciation Wildlife Benefit Set
At its north Corvallis refuge, Chintimini Wildlife Center has for the past 23 years provided rehabilitation services to more than 17,000 injured and orphaned animals. Many such animals are returned to the wild upon recovery, but some remain at the center and become ambassadors as part of Chintimini’s community education program. And that includes injured squirrels.
Link: Gazette-Times
Dolphins Create Paintings at Vegas Resort
A Las Vegas resort is offering visitors the chance to participate in the creation of artwork painted exclusively by dolphins. The "Painting With the Dolphins" program at Siegfried & Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat in The Mirage allows guests to pick and canvas and the three paint colors the dolphins will use to create a masterpiece, the Las Vegas Sun reported Wednesday (Jan. 23).
Link: UPI.com
'Blackfish' Asks Why Killer Whales Kill
Opening with a heart-stopping 2010 video of SeaWorld Orlando senior trainer Dawn Brancheau being dragged to her death by Tilikum, an orca known for killing before, Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s documentary "Blackfish" is enough to make anybody think twice about the wisdom of turning whales into performers. "Blackfish," which had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, relies on often-disturbing video shot by various park guests and trainers that shows orcas turning on staff in what experts in the film explain are not acts of aggression, but rather frustration at being held in, as one describes it, “a concrete bathtub.”
Link: TheStar.com
Booboo The Grizzly Bear Cub Escapes From His Florida Home, Later Found
Booboo the bear has been found. On Friday afternoon, "A Grizzly Experience," the business run by Booboo's owners, posted this message on their Facebook page: "Booboo is home safe and sound!" According to ABC News, the 125-pound cub escaped on Tuesday (Jan. 15) afternoon from his home in Naples, Fla. As authorities scoured the area for the bear, residents were "urged to use caution" until the animal was found.
Link: Huffington Post
Thailand May Face Heat Over Ivory Trade Business at Endangered Species Conference
It was a professional hit, the quick and ruthless slaying of a family of 12. Poachers with machetes hacked off the tusks of 11 African elephants on Jan. 5 in a Kenyan reserve, passing over a baby that was crushed by its mother after a gunshot felled her. The same day, customs officials in Hong Kong seized more than 770 tusks, weighing more than a ton and valued at more than $1 million, according to Born Free USA, a group that tracks poaching and government seizures.
Link: WashingtonPost.com
Ikea Monkey 'Stars' in Online Video Game
Darwin the Ikea monkey is the star of an online video game put together by a group of Ontario animators and programmers led by Barnabas Wornoff. Wornoff, reached at his Toronto home Friday (Jan. 11) night, explained that when the story of the primate found in the Ikea parking lot went viral before Christmas, he thought it would be a perfect opportunity to do something fun and current.
Link: TorontoSun.com
'Stand Closer to the Rhino' Results in Grave Wound
When do you not listen to the African wildlife expert? When he tells you to stand closer to the rhino. That suggestion by a South African game park owner resulted in serious injuries to a 24-year-old woman from Johannesburg.
Link: Yahoo! News
