Animals

Treatment of circus elephants worse than you ever imagined

Mother Jones has a long investigation into the treatment of elephants at Ringling Brothers. In short, the conditions they live in are beyond horrible. According to records and testimony turned up in court, trainers: beat elephants with hooks and other tools, while maintaining the animals are trained using only verbal cues and tenderly cared for […]

World’s only white kiwi pulls through surgery

Manukura, the world's only known white kiwi (not an albino!), had endoscopic surgery Friday to break up a large stone she'd swallowed. Kiwis normally eat small stones to help with digestion, but Manukura's eyes were bigger than her stomach, and the stone got stuck in her gizzard. Doctors operated using a laser that's usually used […]

New ‘fish-friendly’ turbine means way more hydro power

Every year, the U.S. forgoes 8,500 megawatts of electricity because operating our hydro power facilities at full capacity would turn an unacceptable number of migratory fish into Li'l Lisa Slurry. (That's the equivalent of almost nine nuclear reactors' worth of lost baseload power.) So scientists and utilities are understandably pumped about the Alden Fish-Friendly Turbine, […]

No more Javan rhinos in Vietnam

The Javan rhinoceros, an endangered species, no longer exists in Vietnam: poachers killed the last one and took its horn, according to the World Wildlife Fund. That rhinoceros was killed last April and since then there have been no signs (viewings, scat, etc.) of any others remaining in the Cat Tien National Park where they […]

It is shockingly easy to own exotic animals in the U.S.

The depressing news from Ohio -- where the owner of a large and mismanaged personal exotic animal park let the animals loose to be shot by police, then killed himself -- has led a number of people, such as me, to wonder, "where do you even get 18 endangered Bengal tigers in this day and age?" Turns out it's easier than you might think.

New Scientist has rounded up info on U.S. exotic animal laws, from their comfortable position outside the U.S. where they can freely be appalled.

This exotic animals story just keeps getting more depressing

We noted yesterday that 48 exotic animals had escaped from an Ohio farm, and that authorities were handling the problem by shooting them. That's enough of a downer, but the more details we hear the worse it gets.

There ended up being more than 50 animals running amok, and 49 of them were killed, including 18 endangered Bengal tigers and 17 lions. Local police say they did try to sedate the animals instead of killing them, but they didn't really have tranquilizers suited to 300-pound wildcats. And, as if that's not enough, the reason they were loose in the first place is that owner Terry Thompson released them before committing suicide. Maybe because he heard a story about 18 Bengal tigers getting shot to death.

Good menhaden are hard to find

The Atlantic population of these tiny but important fish is under dire threat -- and the repercussions for entire ecosystems are vast. Will the commission tasked with protecting them bump up conservation efforts in time?

Critical List: Exotic animals escape in Ohio; Nebraskans ‘stand with Randy’

Forty-eight escapees from an exotic animal farm were running amok in eastern Ohio; about 25 of the lions, tigers, and bears have been shot.

If the U.S. wants to oversee Cuba's offshore drilling, it'll have to lift the embargo.

Glad is selling an eco-friendly trash bag, made with less plastic.

You know you want to knit a sweater for a penguin

Now is the time for all good knitters to come to the aid of some penguins. The New Zealand oil spill has left the little guys in need of some warmth and protection, and a Kiwi yarn store has posted patterns for how to knit "penguin jumpers" and instructions on where to send them.