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All in Animals
The giant pandas Qing Bao and Bao Li arrived in Washington, DC on October 15 after their long journey from Sichuan, China. Now the National Zoo is preparing the pandas and their habitat for the big public debut on January 24, 2025.
Humans have been kissing each other – for one reason or another – for thousands of years. Evolutionary psychologist Adriano Lameira wants to know why, so he’s been spying on our kissing cousins (other apes) to see if they offer any clues that might reveal the purpose, if any, of a good smooch.
Scientists have identified seven new frog species in Madagascar. The herpetologists who found them happen to be Star Trek fans, so each of the new species are named after characters from the sci-fi show.
The world’s largest lizard, the Komodo dragon, is known as a voracious hunter with razor-sharp teeth. Now we know what makes those choppers so sharp: they’re laced with iron.
New York City is about to try a new approach to tackle its persistent rat problem: using birth control on the prolific rodents instead of poison. Last week the City Council passed a bill to dole out birth-control pills to rats in a pilot program covering 10 city blocks in two neighborhoods.
And the winner is … the hoiho, also known as the yellow-eyed penguin. The plucky (and somewhat smelly) bird is the world’s rarest penguin, according to Forest & Bird, the group behind New Zealand’s Bird of the Year competition.
Sphen the gentoo penguin has died in Australia, aged 11. He is mourned by his partner, Magic, along with much of the rest of the world, which had celebrated the unusual union since 2018, when the pair met and fell in love at the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium.
Spider-gazing researchers in China say that the orb-weaving spider (Araneus ventricosus) entices male fireflies into its web, then it gets freaky. Somehow the spider manipulates its prey into mimicking a female firefly’s flashing light, which lures more amorous males into the deathtrap.
Dolce & Gabbana has just rolled out a new product called Fefé, a perfume for dogs. According to their website, Fefé is “an olfactory masterpiece featuring the cocooning and warm notes of Ylang, the clean and enveloping touch of Musk, and the woody creamy undertones of Sandalwood.”
The New York Times just dropped a new 6-part podcast called “Animal,” featuring writer Sam Anderson. Backed by the resources of the Times, the production goes out into the world – Iceland, Mexico, Japan – to teach us about animals and our relationship to them.
Last month we noted the birth of two groundhogs, offspring of the Punxsutawney prognosticator Phil and his wife Phyllis. Now we know the kits’ genders – boy and girl – and now they have names: Shadow and Sunny, respectively.
There is something about ginger cats. They tend to be more confident, more outgoing, and generally more cheeky – especially the toms. BBC News asked biologist and cat behavior expert Roger Tabor if there was a reason for ginger adventurousness.
The Australian animated series Bluey has pre-school fans all over the world. Plenty of adults love the show too, and so do their dogs for some reason. People magazine consulted with Amanda Farah, the National Training & Behavior Coordinator for Best Friends Animal Society, to break down why the show has become known as “dog entertainment.”
Almost all of the giant pandas on loan from China have been returned to their homeland as the loan agreements expire, with the last US facility, Zoo Atlanta, scheduled to return their gentle giants by year’s end. But this week the San Diego Zoo has announced it will soon welcome a new pair of pandas, Yun Chuan and Xin Bao.
The Tennoji Zoo in Osaka, Japan has housed a resident hippopotamus named Gen-chan since 2017. Gen-chan, acquired from Mexico, was believed to be a male specimen all this time. However …
Prognosticating rodent Punxsutawney Phil may not have seen this one coming: last week he and wife, Phyllis, became new parents, to at least two baby groundhogs. The births surprised a member of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, who discovered the arrivals only when he came to feed the parents fruit and vegetables.
Researchers at the Einstein Center for Neuroscience in Berlin noticed a strange clicking sound coming from the aquariums where they kept tiny fish from Myanmar, Danionella cerebrum. Their investigation revealed a very loud noise coming from a very small fish.
What next for Ko Muang Phet, a ginormous albino water buffalo that has soared to celebrity status in Thailand? His burgeoning bulk and fame earned him a recent meet-and-greet with Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, who must be hoping some of that bovine popularity rubs off.
In August 2017, a total solar eclipse dazzled and baffled animals across much of the country. Even the US president at the time lost his head (momentarily?), and stared directly at the sun without using ocular protection.
