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Lawrence Anthony was a conservationist and author known as "The Elephant Whisperer". In 1999, he rescued and rehabilitated a group of wild South African elephants who were deemed dangerous. And the animals appear to remember what he did for them: when Anthony passed away March 2nd, a group of elephants visited his house in the South African KwaZulu for a two-day vigil, according to his family.

A baby squirrel is finding a home of sorts alongside a cat and her kittens in Michigan. Eight-year-old Bailee Schultz heard the squirrel whimpering a few weeks ago in a wooded area of his grandparents' property in Bay County's Bangor Township. Stephanie Box tells MLive.com (http://bit.ly/IX2Oqj ) Bailee brought her to the squirrel, which was under a nest. Box says she placed the squirrel they call Bushytail with her cat, Oreo, who recently gave birth to five kittens. The next day, Box says the squirrel was nursing side-by-side with the kittens. They've also seen Oreo lick Bushytail.

May 7, 2012 9:23:00 AMOn May 4, 2012, Diamond Pet Foods expanded a pet food recall due to possible salmonella contamination.  More than a dozen people in several states may have been infected due to contact with contaminated pet food.   Affected foods include specific lots of dry dog and cat food branded as:Diamond Pet Food Kirkland Signature (Costco brand) Natural Balance Wellness (WelPet LLC)Canidae Apex Pet Foods These foods were widely distributed in the U.S. and Canada. You can check your pet food to see if it has been recalled.  Affected bags of food have best-before dates between December...

10 Weapons That Animals Use We've come a long way from thinking that what separates us from the animals is, say, using a rock to bash in the skull of our competitors. It turns out that there are a lot of creatures out that that re-purpose tools to make their personal world better and someone else's world a lot worse. Take a look at the world's craziest and most intimidating weapons wielded by animals. 10. The Herring Gull's Bread This bird has learned how to use bread to construct a trap. Herring gulls live in large colonies in the urban...

Local breaking news; no linkable sources yet. The Battle Mountain Humane Society animal shelter in Hot Springs, South Dakota burned to the ground this afternoon. No human injuries involved; one known animal death . At last word, a full accounting of the animals was on-going.

Herpetologists from the California Academy of Sciences and University of Texas at El Paso discovered a single specimen of the Bururi long-fingered frog (Cardioglossa cyaneospila) during a research expedition to Burundi in December 2011. The frog was last seen by scientists in 1949 and was feared to be extinct after decades of turmoil in the tiny East African nation. For biologists studying the evolution and distribution of life in Africa, Burundi sits at an intriguing geographic crossroads since it borders the vast Congo River Basin, the Great Rift Valley, and the world's second largest freshwater lake, Lake Tanganyika. Many of...

It's not the usual thing you'd expect to find in a kitchen - but these orphaned baby owls seemed right at home as they nestled in two cups. The feathered pair were clearly having a hoot after moving into the home of their wildlife park keeper, Jimmy Robinson. The six-week-old burrowing owlets, nicknamed Linford and Christie, were hatched in an incubator, and are now being hand-reared by Jimmy - who works at Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire - and are given 24-hour care.

Could it be the LYNX effect? The age old feud between cats and dogs seems to have been put to one side as Lilica the German Shepherd becomes inseparable from her feline friends Liza, Viki and male Muro. But what makes this friendship even more unusual is as well as being cats, the cubs are also wild lynxes. Lilica is helping to teach the little cubs how to fend for themselves in the wild as part of a conservation project in the National Park Velka Fatra, Slovakia. The animals met through a scheme in the country called ‘Return of Lynxes’...

Sexually deprived male fruit flies exhibit a pattern of behavior that seems ripped from the pages of a sad-sack Raymond Carver story: when female fruit flies reject their sexual advances, the males are driven to excessive alcohol consumption, drinking far more than comparable, sexually satisfied male flies. Now a group of scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has discovered that a tiny molecule in the fly's brain called neuropeptide F governs this behavior—as the levels of the molecule change in their brains, the flies' behavior changes as well. The new work may help shed light on the...

It's official. Death is no longer a possible fate for three of four defendants in the January 20007 torture slayings of a Knox County couple. Assistant District Attorney General Leland Price has filed notice of an intention to seek the death penalty as punishment in the deaths of Channon Christian, 21, and boyfriend Christopher Newsom, 23, only against alleged ringleader Lemaricus Davidson. Price this month notified attorneys for Davidson's brother, Letalvis Cobbins, and Cobbins' friend, George Thomas, that he will push for a fate in their cases no more than life without possibility of parole. Because Cobbins' girlfriend, Vanessa Coleman,...

Zenyatta foaled a Bernardini colt Thursday evening about 10.10! Mother and son are doing fine. Photos at the link above.

SPOKANE-- A couple weeks ago Spokane County Animal Protection Officers seized nearly 100 large animals from a property in Elk during an animal cruelty investigation.      During the seizure SCRAPS told us officers found dead animals on the property.  According to a search warrant, in addition to numerous horses i found extremely thin, officers also discovered several dead goats and a llama (edit)  Stiner said, "I’ve done the best that I could to take care of them and unlike a lot of owners that are just opening their gates and letting them go, at least I was making the attempt...

Nearly a dozen horses were found emaciated and starving in a rural area in southwest Miami-Dade. By the time the horses were found, several more had already died. Of the 11 horses found, the South Florida Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals confirmed that one of them was a race horse. From a tattoo on the horse's lip, the SPCA was able to identify it as "Moon's Treasure." The horse's last race was at Calder Race Course in Miami Gardens on Jul. 8, 2011. Moon's Treasure had to be taken by van off the track, which the SPCA...

Imagine a planet where jellyfish rule the seas, giant rodents roam the mountains and swarms of insects blur everything in sight. It may sound far-fetched, but enough global warming is likely to change the distribution of wildlife on Earth. While species that are under threat, such as the polar bear, seem to get all the attention, others are beginning to thrive like never before. In the past three months, new studies have been published about killer whales, wandering albatross and trumpeter swans—all of which appear to be benefiting from climate change. Melting ice is turning the Arctic Sea into a...

Whitmore Publishing Company has agreed to publish “Color the Green Movement Blue: A Remedy for Environmental Health.” The book tells of how a few anglers and hunters united fellow outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen to throw two animal rights politicians out of office for creating legislation that would have banned freshwater fishing and hunting in New Jersey. It is a David and Goliath like chronicle, a couple of guileless sportsmen relying on a seat-of-the-pants undertaking, and only three months’ time, to come up with the strategy, finances, and wherewithal to unseat two savvy, well-financed, animal rights legislators. The author, and cofounder of...

FRESNO, Calif. — It was the sound of a wailing cat that first caught the neighbor’s attention. When she looked toward the sound she told authorities that she saw her next-door neighbor cutting off the crying feline’s head with a knife. The call she subsequently made to deputies started a bizarre animal cruelty investigation that has focused attention from around the country on a working-class neighborhood in a Bakersfield suburb where a man allegedly was fileting cats and cooking them on his backyard barbecue. “I’ve been getting calls on this from around the country,” Kern County Sheriff’s spokesman Ray Pruitt...

One of the world's tiniest lizards has been discovered by keen-eyed researchers in Madagascar. The miniature chameleon, Brookesia micra, reaches a maximum length of just 29mm. German scientists also found a further three new species in the north of the island. The lizards were limited to very small ranges and scientists are concerned they could be at risk from habitat disturbance.

His species is renowned for its ability to blend in, but this tiny critter is even better than most as the world's smallest chameleon. Balanced on the tip of a scientist's fingernail in Madagascar, the-three centimetre reptile is no bigger than the flies that form his average-sized cousin's lunch. Scientists discovered four new species - called Brookesia micra - on a small islet just off the main island.

A federal judge for the first time in U.S. history heard arguments Monday in a case that could determine whether animals enjoy the same constitutional protection against slavery as human beings. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Miller called the hearing in San Diego after Sea World asked the court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals that names five orcas as plaintiffs in the case. PETA claims the captured killer whales are treated like slaves for being forced to live in tanks and perform daily at its parks in San Diego and Orlando, Fla. "This...

As bounty hunters with bush knives entrapped them in a circle and moved in for the kill, the only thing this mother orang-utan could think to do was to wrap a giant protective arm around her daughter. The pair seemed to be facing a certain death as a gang of hunters surrounded them in Borneo, keen to cash in on the palm oil plantations' bid to be rid of the animals.

Before she became Nafanya, beloved pinniped of the Russian people and star of her own live webcam broadcast, the blue-eyed, rust-colored creature was known only as the Loneliest Seal in the World. The Daily Mail reports that only two months ago, “ginger”-colored Nafanya was shunned by her all-black seal colony on the Russian island of Tyuleniy. Photographer Anatoly Strakhov snapped heartbreaking photos of the forlorn seal cowering under a pile of logs, unable to survive without the support and guidance of flippered breathren.

As 2012 begins, it's important to take note of groups that are working against your opportunities to hunt, trap, fish and enjoy the outdoors. To that effect, here is what we call The Dirty Dozen: 1) Humane Society of the United States or HSUS—needs no commentary or introduction to hunters and trappers everywhere, but has been in the news and advertisements recently for sharing only one percent with animal shelters of the $187,515,301.00 the group raked in during 2010. Details are at http://www.ussportsmen.org/page.aspx?pid=2954. 2) People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals or PETA—outrageous, radical and out of touch with mainstream...

Sometimes there is nothing you can do to protect one of nature's gentlest creatures from the cruelties of Mother Nature. At one time, the main danger to sea cows bobbing in Florida's waters was inattentive speed boaters who plowed through manatee-rich areas, bows crunching shoulders, propellers gouging backs. That could be dealt with, if not eliminated. Strict laws were enacted, manatee sanctuaries have been established and educational programs are available to teach boaters about when and where manatees gather along Florida's coastline. Fatal vessel encounters dipped. Over the past few years, though, boating-related deaths of Florida's officially adopted marine mammal...

We all know and love Oskar, but it’s been a real treat getting to know his BFF, Klaus, in this video clip! What a pair!

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Cheeta the chimpanzee, who starred in Tarzan movies alongside Olympic swimmer-turned-actor Johnny Weissmuller in the 1930s and ranked #1 on EW.com’s list of the 10 Best Monkeys at the Movies, died of kidney failure Saturday. According to the Suncoast Primary Sanctuary’s outrach director, Cheeta was “roughly 80 years old, loved fingerpainting and football and was soothed by nondenominational Christian music.” Roughly 80?! Way to live, chimp! That’s amazing! (Cheeta was an anomaly; the average zoo chimp dies around age 35-45.) I sure hope my favorite chimp lives that long.

Ten people have been arrested after 200 young people rampaged through Minnesota's packed Mall of America on the busiest shopping day of the year. The mob sent frightened shoppers scrambling for safety as 10 fights broke out at the same time, forcing some stores to shut. Brawls started after rumours swept the mall in Bloomington that rappers Lil’ Wayne and Drake were visiting. A group of 50 youngsters were filmed on cell phone cameras throwing dining chairs at each other in the food court. Video captured police officers walking with their guns drawn, but they later said this was in...

Representative Rob Andrews (D-NJ), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, defended Congressional repeal of the military ban on bestiality, calling it a “humanitarian measure.” “Look, if we don’t want our troops to rape enemy women we’ve got to let them have the barnyard animals,” Andrews reasoned. Andrews hastened to add that he personally was not advocating or condoning bestiality, “but, then again, I’ve never been a soldier and wouldn’t want to presume I could judge his needs, especially on a battlefield far from home. If cozying up to a sheep or goat helps take the edge off, who...

A jealous husband is facing life in prison after chopping off his wife's fingers because she began studying for a degree without his permission. Rafiqul Islam, 30, blindfolded his wife Hawa Akhter, 21, and taped her mouth, telling her he was going to give her a surprise present. Instead he made her hold out her hand and cut off all five fingers. One of his relatives then threw Ms Akhter's fingers in the dustbin to ensure doctors could not reattach them. Mr Islam, who is a migrant worker in the United Arab Emirates, had warned his wife there would 'severe...

Animals may sense chemical changes in groundwater that occur when an earthquake is about to strike. This, scientists say, could be the cause of bizarre earthquake-associated animal behaviour. Researchers began to investigate these chemical effects after seeing a colony of toads abandon its pond in L'Aquila, Italy in 2009 - days before a quake. They suggest that animal behaviour could be incorporated into earthquake forecasting. Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote When you think of all of the many things that are happening to these rocks, it would be weird if the animals weren't affected in some way”...

An illegal slaughterhouse in Hialeah was raided today, according to a report from the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office. The Hialeah Police Department arrested Rudesindo "Rudy" Acosta, the prime operator of the slaughterhouse. He is charged with three counts of animal cruelty, one count of using a firearm during the commission of a felony, 40 counts of animal confinement, and three counts of conspiracy to commit these felonies.

MENOMONEE FALLS- A word of caution for hunters from the Department of Natural Resources. They say there's a cougar on the loose. And they want everyone to keep their eyes open. This is the latest trail snapshot of a cougar roaming around Rusk-Taylor County line - east of Hawkins. Evidence deer hunters aren't alone this hunting season. "Cougars you know are stalkers. They would size me up if they're interested in taking me down," Jim Fetters, a longtime hunter says. DNR officials say there are only 13 documented cougar attacks on humans in the last 100 years. But, they are...

A gigantic python snake in Florida ate a 76-pound adult deer. The 16 foot long Burmese python was one of the largest pythons discovered to date in the sunshine state. According to Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission’s exotic species coordinator Scott Hardin, if these huge snakes aren’t killed, they could migrate northward. A government sanctioned shotgun blast stopped this snake from its potential journey to Atlanta or the Carolinas. And just how any inches around did the beast’s belly have to measure in order to covert a 76 pound Bambi into breakfast? 44 inches. Oh, and what is the average...

Residents in the foothills of the US city of Albuquerque have claimed that giant owls have moved into the area and are snacking on their small cats and dogs.

November 2, 2011 - - The baseless legislation introduced today by Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA) discriminatorily targets traveling circuses, including Representative Moran’s own constituent Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the largest traveling circus in the United States. The bill is designed to censor entertainment and remove the right to let the American public choose for itself whether Ringling Bros. Circus, a 141-year old American institution, can continue to operate. In this day and age, when businesses are failing, the economy is struggling and families are worried, Congressman Moran is busying himself with legislation that immediately threatens to end...

SUNRISE— Disturbed by the prospect of lambs and goats being slaughtered in her city, Sunrise Commissioner Sheila Alu single-handedly blocked a Muslim religious ceremony set to take place on Sunday. "Yes, I was trying to stop it," Alu said on Wednesday. "It's shut down. I'm trying to protect innocent animals. This is not an appropriate setting for the slaughtering of animals in an open field in a city that's as populated as Sunrise. Usually these religious ceremonies take place in a rural area."

The Southern hairy-nosed wombat was found close to death, dehydrated and exhausted, by shearers working on a remote property. He was named Polar by the wildlife volunteer who nursed him back to health. "I've been looking after wombats for nearly 40 years, and he's the third white one that's come into my care. And, yes, he's very rare," said wildlife rescuer, Val Salmon. Ms Salmon also looks after another wombat and a baby kangaroo.

Marine biologist Jo Wiszniewski has observed a fascinating approach to mating among the Port Stephens Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins. According to a recent research paper published by the Journal of Animal Ecology, groups of male dolphins who put aside their sexual competitiveness and form alliances with each other to seek out and reproduce with females have better reproductive success than males who go it alone. “These results are fascinating because it demonstrates that male bottlenose dolphins need to cooperate with each other to maximise their reproductive success,” says Wiszniewski. The alliances are usually made up of two to four males and...

ZANESVILLE, Ohio (AP) — Amid expressions of horror and revulsion at the killing of dozens of wild animals in Ohio — and photographs of their bloody carcasses — animal rights advocates agreed there was little local authorities could have done to save the dangerous creatures once they began roaming the countryside after their owner released them before taking his own life. Sheriff's deputies shot 48 animals — including 18 rare Bengal tigers and 17 lions — after Terry Thompson, owner of the private Muskingum County Animal Farm near Zanesville, threw their cages open Tuesday and then committed suicide.

These stunning images reveal a remarkable glimpse of life at the ends of the earth. Our melting polar worlds have been captured in breathtaking pictures by the BBC for this autumn's landmark natural history series Frozen Planet. It is the last chance to see the world's greatest wildernesses before they change forever, according to narrator Sir David Attenborough. 'The pictures captured behaviour and phenomena that had never before been recorded,' said Sir David, 85. 'Those pictures will become increasingly valuable as time passes. 'For this may well prove to be our last chance to record, in their full splendour, these...

Besotted beetles are dying while trying to get it on with discarded brown beer bottles, according to research conducted by Darryl Gwynne, a University of Toronto Mississauga professor. It's a case of mistaken attraction, because the beer bottles happen to possess all of the features that drive male Australian jewel beetles wild. They're big and orangey brown in color, with a slightly dimpled surface near the bottom (designed to prevent the bottle from slipping out of one's grasp) that reflects light in much the same way as female wing covers. As a result, the beer bottles are irresistible to the...

They are a picture of cute that would make anyone say 'aah'. But these Giant Panda cubs, napping peacefully in their nursery, have a far more important role to play. They have been born and raised in the research base of the Giant Panda Breeding Centre in Chengdu, China, which is attempting to preserve the notoriously sex-shy species.

The Bureau of Land Management says a fossil found by employees on federal land represents the earliest record of living beavers in North America. The pair of teeth was found on BLM land in northeast Oregon. The Albany Democrat-Herald reports the teeth come from the Rattlesnake Formation and are 7 to 7.3 million years old. The BLM says the earliest beavers were found in Germany 10 to 12 million years ago and the animals spread across Asia, eventually crossing the Bering Land Bridge to North America. The previous earliest known records of living beavers in North America, from about 5...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - A pet rabbit is being credited for saving its owners from a house fire in southeastern Alaska before it died of smoke inhalation, fire officials said on Friday. The rabbit woke up the homeowner early on Tuesday morning by scratching on her chest, the Ketchikan Fire Department said in a statement. The homeowner realized that the house was full of smoke, woke up her daughter and fled the house. > While there were no injuries to the mother or daughter, the rabbit was not so lucky. The animal succumbed to smoke inhalation and did not survive,...

HAPPY Feet may miss New Zealand after all, according to a tracking device showing the wayward emperor penguin is swimming north. The penguin was liberated in sub-Antarctic waters south of Stewart Island yesterday more than two months after coming ashore on Pekapeka Beach near Wellington.

Penguins may not be used to sand - after all, the icy conditions of the Antarctic are very far from sunny beaches. But this group is feeling right at home now that they have been given company in the form of sand-sculptures of their fellow penguins. The sculptures were created by an artist in order to console the birds after the departure of another group to whom they had become attached.

The animal rights group PETA is upset over the City of Glendale's Rose Parade float that features an elephant.The city of Glendale will enter into the Tournament of Roses Parade this year for the 99th time. This year, their float features a circus elephant pulling a calliope. But, this year’s float is almost the float that wasn’t. Glendale was faced with tough financial choices earlier this year and decided a luxury like a parade float just wasn’t going to fly. The city told residents that if they wanted to continue their annual participation, they would have to pay. Hefty corporations...

SALT LAKE CITY— Investigators say a raccoon caused a 10-acre grass fire in a Salt Lake City industrial area Friday morning. The fire started at about 4:40 a.m. Friday near 1700 South and Frontage Road, which runs along State Route 201. Crews say the raccoon climbed up a power pole, touched the power line and caught fire. The raccoon then fell to the ground, catching the grass on fire. Crews say the fire was burning fast and threatened several businesses in the area. Salt Lake City Fire Capt. Mark Bednarik says the fire burned about 10 acres. He also says...

Scientists on an expedition backed by WWF-Brazil to one of the last unexplored areas in the Brazilian Mid-west have discovered a new species of monkey. The monkey belonging to the Callicebus genus was found in the northwest of Mato Grosso State and is one of the great results from the studies undertaken during an expedition in December 2010 to the Guariba-Roosevelt Extractive Reserve. In May, WWF-Brazil and the scientist who made the discovery, Julio Dalponte, officially handed over the specimen to the Emílio Goeldi Museum in Belem, Para. “By integrating this animal to a reputable collection such as that of...

I'm ready for my claws-up: Photographer's incredible portraits of models who bear all Jill Greenberg, like every other professional photographer, knows that models can be hard to handle - with their diva-like demands and hissy fits. And, with the models she works with especially, getting them at the wrong time of day is literally like dealing with a bear with a sore head. Greenberg's studio portraits feature animal celebrities, including many who have appeared in Hollywood films and commercials, at their most cute - and frightening.