Monkey Business Backfires As Animals Take Over Chinese Village

Ambitious plans by a poor Chinese village to kickstart a tourism boom by attracting a few dozen monkeys from nearby hills appears to have backfired as locals now complain of hundreds of the animals terrorising their community.

http://tinyurl.com/zck6dcz

Best Movies Where Animals Destroy Humans

Humanity getting on your nerves? We hear you. Sometimes the best thing to do is to just hit the couch and watch a movie about nature taking its revenge on homo sapiens. But which film to watch? This list has you covered, broken down by what animal you’d most like to see dominating the dominant species on the planet.

http://tinyurl.com/hwz7uxr

Exotic Animals From Italy's Underworld Get Second Chance

In ancient Rome, they would have been pitted against gladiators or served up at banquets.Now a caiman, a python and a troop of monkeys that have been confiscated from mobsters, drug dealers or collectors find safe haven at a rescue centre in the Eternal City.  Inside the majestic Appia Antica park near the historic city centre, a veterinary clinic called "Our Animal Kingdom" is now home to exotic turtles, deer, boars, parrots, vultures, eagles and even a group of excitable lemurs.  Every year, Italy's police and forest guard rescue around 400 exotic animals, according to Raffaele Manicone, head of the local branch of CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

http://tinyurl.com/jgpwxpe

Baby Koala Greets The World

A baby koala is experiencing life outside of its mother's pouch for the first time.  The joey was actually born back in November, but didn't emerge from her mother, Cambee, until recently. They both live at the San Diego Zoo, which is home to largest Queensland koala breeding program outside of Australia.  "It is always fun when we get to work with koala joeys and watch their personalities develop," said San Diego Zoo keeper Lacy Pearson in a statement. “At this age, she has not shown us her personality yet, but she is doing great, and has already started to eat eucalyptus leaves."

http://tinyurl.com/z6duohn

Lincoln Park Zoo's New Camel Is Named Alexander Camelton

The Lincoln Park Zoo welcomed a new camel last month, and if its name is any indication, the animal is destined for greatness.  Born to Bactrian camels Nasan and Scooter on May 9, "Alexander Camelton" entered the world a healthy 81 pounds, already standing four feet tall.Alexander was named in honor of the founding father, who's going through a pop-culture rebirth thanks to Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical, which debuts in Chicago later this year.  Zookeepers even cited the record-shattering hip-hopera "Hamilton" in their naming decision, which they announced in a Saturday Facebook post.

http://tinyurl.com/h4nhfup

If We Value Animals So Much, What’s With All the Cages?

The sad story of Harambe, a 1-year-old silverback gorilla killed at the Cincinnati Zoo on May 28 brings into focus the value—and morality—of zoos. After a three-year old boy wandered into Harambe’s enclosure, the gorilla was shot dead to “rescue” the boy. Heartbreakingly, a bystander’s video revealed that Harambe was actually being protective of his young visitor, even holding hands with the child for a few moments until the uproar from a panicked crowd resulting in him assuming a dominating stance.

http://tinyurl.com/jmq2zft

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.

http://tinyurl.com/j6xqgo8

Gorilla World to Reopen at Cincinnati Zoo With 'Modified' Barrier

The Gorilla World exhibit at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden will reopen Tuesday, with a taller barrier around the gorilla enclosure, the zoo announced today.  "It takes hard work and a sustained commitment to excellence to meet AZA accreditation standards," Thane Maynard, the director of the Cincinnati Zoo, said in a statement, referring to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

http://tinyurl.com/zgpwewq

Video: Elephant Falls Asleep After Lullaby

Even though Faamai is a big elephant, every time she hears the lullaby from Lek she still falls asleep at Elephant Nature Park.

http://tinyurl.com/zahq9d6

Rescuing Baby Animals in the Wild Will Probably Kill Them

A South Dakota wildlife official is trying to combat a scene she sees several times every summer: A mom and her children show up carrying a box with holes poked in the top and a baby wild animal inside.  The family thinks they've rescued it from apparent abandonment, but that's far from the truth, Thea Miller Ryan says, because the rescue can be harmful, even deadly. So, with the backdrop of the bison calf in Yellowstone that had to be euthanized this month after tourists put it in their car, Ryan is taking to social media to teach people to let nature take its course.

http://tinyurl.com/jsmbflf