Video: Golden Retriever Enjoys Tennis Match

Some Golden Retrievers can't resist a fluorescent tennis ball, even if it's through the tube.  The Australian Open is currently underway, which means George the Golden Retriever is having the best week ever. "While he does love all sports, tennis is his favorite," his owner writes in the video's description. Consider him Maria Sharapova's number-one fan.  However, it seems George's buddy isn't much of a sports fan.

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Video: It's Time For Budweiser's Puppy Super Bowl Ad

When it comes to Super Bowl successes, there are few surer bets than Budweiser's puppy ads.  This year's spot, "Lost Dog," is likely to make it to the top of USA Today's Ad Track rating of the top ads of the game — that is, unless viewers feel that the spot is too emotionally manipulative or PETA discerns some sort of canine-related controversy.  A rancher type gets the cutest puppy in the world, but then the pup somehow escapes. Cue the strains of the Proclaimers' "500 Miles," a rousing tune that is rendered melancholy here in an acoustic rendition by Sleeping at Last. We follow the pup's pitiful adventures until he meets up with a wolf, and — well, watch for yourself.

http://tinyurl.com/nudak3j

After 44 Years, Lolita The Orca Closer To Freedom

Lolita, a killer whale that has lived in a tank at Miami's Seaquarium for 44 years, could move a step closer to freedom this week.  After decades of campaigning, animal rights activists hope U.S. officials will include the orca on a list of endangered whales that frequent the waters where she was captured, off Washington state. That decision could trigger a lawsuit by activists who want to fly 7,000-pound (3.2-tonne) Lolita across the country and prepare her for release into the wild.

http://tinyurl.com/lkpodjc

India's Tigers Are Doing Well

After watching tiger numbers decline for nearly a century, India has reason to celebrate: The country’s population of wild big cats has jumped 30 percent over the past four years. That’s according to the latest numbers out of the country’s tiger conservation survey, which counted 2,226 tigers in 2014, as compared with 1,706 in 2011, environment minister Prakash Javadekar announced Tuesday.  “While the tiger population is falling in the world, it is rising in India,” Javadekar said in a statement. “That is a huge success story.”
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Video: Dog Makes Friends With a Seal

While a woman was walking her dog along a beach in La Cap Ferret, France, they happened upon what has got to be the single friendliest seal.  When the dog and seal began to snuggle, it had to be a real once in a lifetime moment for everyone there.  If one didn’t know any better, you’d almost think the seal has had regular contact with humans and their dogs to think it almost tame.  Remember dear readers, these are still wild animals.  They may display some almost “domesticated” behaviors, but you never know exactly what that animal will do if spooked or feels threatened by something.  It’s always best admire wildlife from a bit of a distance. It’s best for the safety of the wildlife, your pet’s safety, and of course yours as well.

http://tinyurl.com/q6ejnqk

Dying Dog Goes on a Bucket List Adventure

When my 160-pound English Mastiff was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer, I was crushed. Together Gizelle and I had been through college, boyfriends, our early 20s, and a move from simple Tennessee to big and scary New York City. This dog wasn’t just my best friend — she was my roommate and confidant. What does the vet mean she only has a few months left?


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GIFs That Show What Animals Are Really Thinking

Since the beginning of time, humans have speculated on what animals are truly thinking.  The human-animal language barrier really puts a damper on things — if only we could get into the minds of our animal friends, and figure out what they really mean with all of those barks and meows.Until we figure that out, however, the new subreddit r/AnimalTextGIFs is giving our furry friends the voice they deserve by providing subtitles that accurately convey their emotions.  Yes, your cat hates you. Sorry.

http://tinyurl.com/q62uqjp

Tiny Tank Where Whale Has Been Confined for 45 Years

She looks like a goldfish in a bowl, but she’s actually a blackfish in a tank.  A very small tank.  A new video has been posted on YouTube, apparently taken by a drone, showing Lolita, a 22-foot-long killer whale, swimming in furious circles in her diminutive pool at the Miami Seaquarium. For decades, opponents of orca captivity have decried the size of Lolita’s tank. But the overhead perspective of the one-minute video puts her living conditions into stark relief.

http://tinyurl.com/m6n37re

How to Get Your Pet Walking Again After an injury

When Sarah Conroy’s 7-year-old “morkie” (a Maltese Yorkie mix), Penny, refused to put weight on her left hind leg, the Williamsburg resident knew something was wrong. Turns out, the lively pup had torn her cranial cruciate ligament (CrCL) while chasing a squirrel in McCarren Park and required immediate surgery.  Eight weeks of rehab later, Penny celebrated her clean bill of health with her first day back at the park — only to tear her opposite CrCL and start the entire rehab process over again.

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Abused Rescue Dog Treated To The Best Day Ever

Susie had survived unspeakable animal abuse when she was rescued by her new owner Donna, who was also in recovery.  Five years and one key piece of legislation later, BarkPost treated the two to a day in New York City in honor of their efforts to combat animal abuse.  In 2009, Susie, a young mixed breed dog, was set on fire and left for dead by her abusive previous owner in Greensboro, North Carolina. She suffered third-degree burns on 60% of her body and was left with a broken jaw and missing teeth. Ten days later, she was rescued and taken to Guilford County Animal Shelter, where veterinarians nursed her back to health.

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Video: Watch This Orangutan Talk Like a Human

Humans don't like smart ape."  Those fateful words, signed by an orangutan in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, kicked off what would become a revolution.  In the real world, a different kind of revolution may just have been set in motion by an orangutan named Tilda. She's not looking to overthrow humanity though. No, she's just looking for food.  Tilda is a nearly 50-year-old orangutan who lives at the Cologne Zoo in Germany. Captured on the island of Borneo in 1967, she spent her teenage years in the possession of Swiss endocrinologist Hugo Steiner and then the next 30-odd years in a zoo owned by the Steiner family.

http://tinyurl.com/m6n37re

Dog Rides Solo To Park On a Bus

Today in news that will undoubtedly convince you canines were meant to rule the world: A black lab ride the bus, solo, to the dog park.  No, Eclipse isn't some neglected pup forced into a commuter lifestyle as a means to escape her evil owner — she's just a 2-year-old dog who legitimately enjoys public transportation (that makes one of us).

http://tinyurl.com/po99v4w

Brain Scans Reveal What Dogs Really Think of Us

We love our dogs.  In the 30,000 years humans and dogs have lived together, man's best friend has only become a more popular and beloved pet. Today, dogs are a fixture in almost 50% of American households.  From the way dogs thump their tails, invade our laps and steal our pillows, it certainly seems like they love us back. But since dogs can't tell us what's going on inside their furry heads, can we ever be sure?

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Smart Collar for Dogs Beams Video to Phone

The International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas went to the dogs with the unveiling of a “smart collar” outfitted with a GPS tracker and a video camera.  Motorola unveiled the Scout 5000 smart collar at the trade show and demonstrated how the canine-mounted device includes a GPS tracker, WiFi connectivity and a 720p camera that beams video to the pet owner’s smartphone.  The wearable for pets also includes a feature to track exercise and a speaker to allow owners to talk to their pooches through their phones.

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People Urged To Donate Mittens To Help Koalas With Burned Paws

This is a koala named Jeremy. He’s been receiving medical treatment from four Australian wildlife agencies. Jeremy was the first victim of a series of brushfires spreading across the states of South Australia and Victoria.  Jeremy received second-degree burns on his paws, but according to the Australian Marine Wildlife Research and Rescue Organization, he was in good spirits.

http://tinyurl.com/mamzrx3

200 Year Old Whale Offers Clues to Living Longer

Scientists are hoping the fountain of youth might be hidden inside a whale species that can live up to 200 years.  Joao Pedro de Magalhaes and his team at the University of Liverpool sequenced the genome of the bowhead whale, the longest living mammal on earth. The team wanted to understand why they live so long and don't succumb to some of the same illnesses as humans do earlier in life.  "One of the big mysteries of biology is understanding species differences including species differences in aging," Magalhaes told CBS News.

http://tinyurl.com/ncjo3z3

Video: Your Christmas Tree Could Become a Lion's Favorite New Toy

Fed up with waiting for the garbage collector to grab the undecorated fire hazard of a Christmas tree sitting in front of your house?  If you lived near one zoo in the United Kingdom, your tree could have been a New Year’s treat for a family of African lions.  Real Christmas trees are like “catnip” to lions, Kim Simmons, director of the Linton Zoological Gardens, told the BBC on Sunday.

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Nine Animals That Vanished During Our Lifetime

From a Maine man delivering a baby porcupine on the road to Indian villagers pulling up a 400-pound lion that had stumbled down a well, many humans came through for wildlife in 2014. (Bless the Internet for making these heroic actions available for our viewing pleasure.) But besides the awe-inspiring videos also came dire reports about the state of animals.  Bees continued to die by the millions, thanks to decades of pesticide use. The number of poachers targeting giraffes—not just elephants—climbed. The World Wildlife Fund reported in September that the planet has lost 53 percent of its mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians, and fish since 1970.

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Video: Start the Day Having Breakfast with a Giraffe

It’s a rare feeling in life when something not only lives up to your expectations but also wildly exceeds them.  Walking on the grounds of Giraffe Manor on the outskirts of Nairobi, in Kenya, you are immediately transported to a more genteel time — a time of lords and ladies and of tea and crumpets. You’re right alongside Karen Blixen, or rather Meryl Streep, in the film Out of Africa. It’s hard to believe that only five minutes away cars horns are blaring in the rush-hour traffic jam that takes over the city by 4 p.m.
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