Which Animals Use Tools?

Flash back to 1960. At that point in time the best definition of a human was a being with the ability to make tools. Man the tool-maker was considered to be different from animals in this regard. Dr. Jane Goodall was observing chimpanzees at Gombe National Park in Tanzania and saw two chimps strip the leaves off of small twigs and use them as tools to “fish” termites out of the ground to eat. This was the first time a non-human had ever been seen to create a tool and use it to accomplish a task.

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We Have to Stop Loving Animals to Death

Ten of the highest-grossing box-office releases are about animals, including “Finding Dory,” “The Jungle Book,” “Zootopia,” “The Secret Life of Pets” and “Kung Fu Panda.” Nearly half of our households include a dog and nearly 40 percent have a cat. Two-thirds of us view them as family members and cherish them accordingly. We love our animals to death.  Literally.

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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."

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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.

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Inside the Minds of Zoo Animals

Among the many reactions to this month's killing of Harambe, the gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo, is a question: Can animals, especially smart ones like gorillas, ever be truly happy in zoos?

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We Love These Animals In The News

Animals are all over the news right now, with science discoveries and feel-good stories.  A Florida woman found two manatees swimming around her backyard and munching on grass after Tropical Storm Colin hit the area, causing the tide to rise over a seawall. "Another awesome experience," Nancy Smith posted on Instagram with a video of her second manatee sighting.

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Secret Life of Animals, Captured on Camera

Scientists trying to learn about the lifestyles of elusive critters (tigers and cougars come to mind) have their work cut out for them.  Many animals will smell or hear a researcher long before the researcher sees them. As for observing nocturnal animals? Forget it. But in the last few years, many wildlife researchers studying animals in their natural habitat have had a technological assist from camera traps. These devices lie in wait until a passing animal triggers their motion sensor.

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Should Animals Be Kept in Zoos?

This post is part of KQED’s Do Now U project. Do Now U is a weekly activity for students and the public to engage and respond to current issues using social media. Do Now U aims to build civic engagement and digital literacy for learners of all ages.  Hear opposing thoughts from a field biologist at the University of York and the president of the Born Free Foundation about keeping animals in zoos for conservation purposes.

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At JFK, Animals Get Their Own Bathrooms

Despite being routinely ranked as one of the worst airports in the U.S. by travelers, New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport has made notable gains in the past few years, opening a much-beloved Shake Shack in Terminal 4, an outdoor rooftop lounge on top of Terminal 5, and gleaming new club quarters throughout the airport. But it's not just humans who are getting more comfortable: The airport just debuted "pet relief facilities"—yes, pet bathrooms.

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How Animals Think

For 2,000 years there was an intuitive, elegant, compelling picture of how the world worked. It was called “the ladder of nature.” In the canonical version, God was at the top, followed by angels, who were followed by humans. Then came the animals, starting with noble wild beasts and descending to domestic animals and insects. Human animals followed the scheme, too. Women ranked lower than men, and children were beneath them. The ladder of nature was a scientific picture, but it was also a moral and political one. It was only natural that creatures higher up would have dominion over those lower down.

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Like Us, Animals Suffer

Re “What I Learned Tickling Apes” (Sunday Review, April 10):  As Frans de Waal beautifully describes, what looks like intelligence in animals is intelligence.  The other critical similarity between species is suffering. The misery animals endure at the hands of human animals is nearly unimaginable; “experts” since Descartes have tried to persuade us that the behaviors of suffering animals — seen in pain, depression, loneliness and heartbreak — represent anything but the feelings we ourselves feel.

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How Do Animals Know When To Come Out Of Hibernation?

We will soon begin to see some of Minnesota’s most-beloved creatures come out of hibernation.  Different species of bats, bears, turtles and snakes all hibernate here, and many rely on more than warm weather to wake up.  So how do animals know when it’s time to come out of hibernation?  Garter snakes hibernate in the hundreds, and in some cases thousands. And when they wake up, it is like a squirmy ball of green spaghetti.

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More Protections Needed for Majestic Animals

When I was first contacted by reporter James West from Mother Jones magazine in November 2015, I was thrilled. After trying to bring attention to the deficits, violations, and rampant breeding at DEW Haven for over a year, I was hopeful there was a source now that could bring this issue to a higher audience than I could never reach. Thankfully an investigative article came to fruition.

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Do Animals Get the Monikers They Deserve?

Over the past several days, a massive wave of online support propelled the unlikely name "Boaty McBoatface" to the top of a poll proposing monikers for a British polar research vessel.  And because just enough of a good thing is never quite enough for the Internet, Twitter users followed up by asking the perfectly reasonable question: What if the Boaty McBoatface naming aesthetic were applied to animals?

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When Animals Think They're Human

Trick and Treat will be 5 years old soon, so I've dusted off the Dr. Spock book to find out what we can expect from them now.  True, the twins are not your run-of-the-mill Milwaukee youngsters. They're orangutans, but in many ways, they seem so much like the kids next door that baby doctors' advice must apply to them, too.  One of Dr. Spock's comments jumped right out at me like a black cat on Halloween. He said kids about 5 or so often become afraid of animals, even though they have had no bad experiences with them.

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12 Genetically Engineered Animals That Changed Modern Science

In recent decades, scientists have gone to Frankenstein-like lengths to find solutions to some of the most pressing issues facing today’s society, particularly the spread of disease.  By modifying existing animal DNA, researchers have been able to engineer anything from glow-in-the-dark sheep to goats that spin spiders’ silk.And though it seems more like weird science fiction than fact, these altered animal species are very real and could potentially lead to greater developments in the way of medicine and environmental health, according to the Food and Drug Administration.   Here are some of the most notable examples of genetically engineered animals to come out of labs in the past 20 years. 

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14 Stories That Prove Animals Have Souls

Animals are capable of so much more compassion, love, bravery, and ingenuity than most people realize. Here are 14 incredible stories that reveal their hidden depths.

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Why Don't More Animals Show Off Like Peacocks?

When you marvel at the brilliant colors of a peacock's tail or enjoy the trill of a songbird, you might pause to consider that those creatures' ancestors probably didn't have a lot of friends.Many animals display visual or auditory cues that contain messages like, "I would be a desirable mate" or "I am very strong; don't come into my territory." Species that lack such "quality signals" – including humans, crows and dolphins – probably evolved in smaller social groups where everyone already knows what everyone else is like, according to Michael Sheehan, assistant professor of neurobiology and behavior.

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How Do Animals Communicate?

There’s little doubt that animals communicate very well both between themselves and with humans. But how exactly do they do this? A closer look reveals an amazing and sometimes hidden side to our fellow animals that we don’t always see.

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Online Animals of 2015: Cute Faces and a Rat’s Resolve

Animals can melt the human heart, tickle the funny bone or bring us to tears. And thanks to Instagram, YouTube and other online options, you can enjoy their antics simply by following, liking or pinning them.  Dr. Bonnie Beaver, executive director of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists and a professor at Texas A&M University's College of Veterinary Medicine, says two things make animal photos and videos so popular.

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