Helping Malawi's Animals Back Into the Wild

The vervet monkey is on its back on a portable table when we first catch a glimpse of him. Amanda Salb, a veterinarian, holds the primate, as another vet carefully injects the animal's upper eyelid with tuberculin. The monkey doesn't flinch. It is fully sedated.  "We are conducting a quarterly check-up and checking for TB," Salb says after removing her mask.  The vervet is one of hundreds of animals at the Lilongwe Wildlife Trust in the Malawian capital.

http://tinyurl.com/jf9ksl3

First Proof That Wild Animals Really Can Communicate With Us

When humans speak up, the little African birds called honeyguides listen—and can understand, a new study confirms for the first time.  Honeyguides in northern Mozambique realize that when a man makes a special trilling sound, he wants to find a bees’ nest—and its delectable honey.  Birds that hear this trill often lead human hunters to a nest, receiving a reward of honeycomb.

http://tinyurl.com/jtp2wkk

Meet Cutest Little Hard-Drinking Party Animals You'll Ever See

You may not know what a slow loris is, but you'd probably have a good time partying with one. The big-eyed primates, natives to Southeast Asia, will choose the most alcoholic drink offered when given a choice -- just like your college buddies.

http://tinyurl.com/gn32l8a

Koala Crashes House, Tries Its Best to Climb Up a Dancing Pole

Koalas are great at eating eucalyptus and getting belly rubs. Dancing? Not so much.   Perhaps this little fella climbing up a pole is trying to challenge the lazy reputation of one of Australia's most well-known and beloved animals.It was captured in a video uploaded to Facebook on June 30 by Nikki Erickson, who explained in the description that she came home from work hoping to "dance the shitty day away" when the discovery of the creature "turned her day around."  "She sat there while I talked to her and took photos and did not growl once," Erickson wrote. Unfortunately for this koala, who may have mistook the pole for a tree, going for a climb didn't work out so well. 

http://tinyurl.com/z5ohs6h

Are Cloned Animals Born Old?

Scientists are studying Dolly the sheep's "siblings" in order to study the health of cloned animals - and resolve a puzzle over whether they age normally.  "I'm feeling the joints for any kind of heat or swelling."  Veterinary surgeon Dr Sandra Corr puts Daisy the sheep through a very hands-on physical examination.  "I'm looking for any signs of crepitus or lameness," she says, "Anything that might indicate the onset of disease or osteoarthritis."

http://tinyurl.com/zungubj

Rescue Agencies Unite To Get 723 Animals Adopted

Sampson flashed a little bit of attitude at first, but it didn’t faze Richard Stewart of Jacksonville, who quickly had the 8-year-old black and silver purebred Chihuahua snuggling against his chest Sunday.

http://tinyurl.com/jg3zg38

Putting Your Self(ie) And Animals At Risk

What’s a picture really worth? What’s the price for a moment of wonder, excitement, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be just... that... close to a wild animal?  I have written these words before about the concept of having an exotic animal as a pet—a chimpanzee, a macaque, a tiger, or any number of others. I understand it. I understand the profound and emotional yearning to be close to a wild animal. To touch a wild animal. To embrace the companionship of a wild animal. It’s got to be magical and exciting.

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Woman Spends 22 Years Helping Animals Help People With Mental Illness

Eileen Bower has a job that some dream of — taking care of adorable animals like friendly goats, a horse, cats, rabbits and more. Nature is her office.  Making her job even more rewarding is why Bower does what she does everyday. Taking care of animals helps her help others. Bower is team supervisor who manages the animal care program at Rose Hill Center in Holly, a residential rehabilitation facility for adults with serious mental illness.

http://tinyurl.com/jp4om8d

Dogtown: Helping Animals Heal

There are so many pieces that make up the web of dog and cat rescue in Humboldt County. Animal Control officers watch for animals that are running loose or ones that are neglected or abused; local spay and neuter groups trap cat colonies for alter and release; local trainers and veterinarians offer their services at low or no cost to help rehabilitate animals with behavioral or physical problems, and the list goes on and on.

http://tinyurl.com/jrhvcoh

TN Medical School Last To Stop Using Animals To Teach Surgery

Deep in Tennessee near the Georgia border, the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in Chattanooga sits in the shadows of the nation’s more prominent medical schools. But it holds the distinction of being the last in the United States to use live animals to teach surgical skills to students.  Recently, the college quietly marked the end of the controversial practice, and by extension its elimination in the United States and Canada. “Effective immediately, the University of Tennessee College of Medicine Chattanooga has ceased to provide surgical skills training for medical students using live animal models,” Robert Fore, its dean, wrote to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which has fought the practice for more than a decade.

http://tinyurl.com/jhwxh6o

Goats Form Intense Connections with Humans, Too

Goats have surprisingly just been added to the very short list of animals that are known to communicate in very direct and complex ways with humans.  The other two animals, dogs and horses, are often raised as companions to humans, so the goat findings -- reported in the journal Royal Society Biology Letters -- mark the first time that an animal raised primarily for food has evolved such an intense and meaningful connection with our species.

http://tinyurl.com/zposyvk

Dolly the Sheep Creator Calls for Biobank to Save Endangered Animals

A modern-day “ark” that holds tissues from endangered animals should be built as an insurance policy to save species from extinction, Sir Ian Wilmut, the creator of Dolly the Sheep, has said.  A biobank that preserves sperm, eggs and other material from at-risk animals would ensure that scientists had the biological tissues at hand to resurrect extinct creatures once the means to do so exists, the Edinburgh researcher said.

http://tinyurl.com/znn7sgw

8 Major Wins For Animals Since Cecil The Lion Was Killed One Year Ago

July 1, 2016 marks a year since Cecil the lion was killed by trophy-hunting American dentist Walter Palmer. Cecil had reportedly been lured out of the protected Hwange National Park before he was killed.  In the weeks following Cecil's death, Zimbabwe's beloved black-maned lion was mourned all over the world, sparking new debate about how people treat animals.  Luckily, the debate did not subside and go forgotten, but escalated, marking a new era in human concern for animal welfare — and wildlife, in particular.

http://tinyurl.com/he83klx