Four little Asiatic Lion cubs (Panthera leo persica) were born on 15 May after a gestation of about 3.5 months to mother Indu and father Mwamba at the UK’s Paignton Zoo Environmental Park. This is the parent first success after several failed attempts — via ZooBorns
Two baby black panther cubs were introduced to the public at Tierpark Zoo in Berlin, Germany, over the weekend. Buzzfeed has a collection of photographs taken at the event. I’m sure you’ll agree that they are two armfuls of adorable — via Neatorama
Soft watercolour painting of a little orange cuttlefish. Painted on 7″x5″ (17.8×12.7 cm) cold press watercolour paper. Signed by the artist — via Etsy
Bioengineers have made an artificial jellyfish using silicone and muscle cells from a rat’s heart. The synthetic creature, dubbed a medusoid, looks like a flower with eight petals. When placed in an electric field, it pulses and swims exactly like its living counterpart.
Morphologically, we’ve built a jellyfish. Functionally, we’ve built a jellyfish. Genetically, this thing is a rat,
says Kit Parker, a biophysicist at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who led the work. The project is described today in Nature Biotechnology1 — via redwolf.newsvine.com
— via supersonicelectronic
If you ever wondered about the post-coital habits of squid, today is your lucky day.
It turns out that squid are a lot like humans, except for a few minor details like their customary three-hour athletic sexual abilities.
Scientists of the University of Melbourne collected dumpling squid from the wild and forced the squid — both males and females — to swim to exhaustion in a flume.
According to this article in the Los Angeles Times, the researchers then allowed the squid to mate, and performed the same swimming experiment.
This is what happened: after sex, both males and females could swim only half as long as normal. If they were allowed 30 minutes of recovery time after sex, however, they could swim normally.
So far, this is hardly shocking information, considering squid mating sessions last up to three hours and are apparently extremely vigorous — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Singapore Zoo recently celebrated the birth of its thirteenth White Rhino — an adorable and curious youngster. Aptly named Jumaane (which means born on Tuesday), he arrived on Tuesday, 10 April, weighing approximately 70kg at birth — undoubtedly one of the biggest babies the Zoo has welcomed to date. He can be seen running or rolling around in the mud in his spacious exhibit at the Wild Africa region. Mum Shova is always close by, keeping a watchful eye — via ZooBorns
Five furry European Grey Wolf pups made their debut last week at Scotland’s Highland Wildlife Park. Born on 25 May to mum Elara and dad Puika, the still-shy six-week-old pups are starting to explore their forested habitat, aptly named Wolf Wood. It’s been 12 years since Wolves were born at the park — via ZooBorns
On 27 May this little Lynx kitten was born at the Montreal Biodome. The baby is growing very quickly — just this week it opened its eyes and as of today it weighs 1.135 kg. Having recently started to pad around with it’s relatively big paws, the kitten is showing great curiosity about its surroundings. Its mother is very protective and keeps a careful watch over her little one. In the wild, young stay with their mothers for about nine months before they go out on their own — via ZooBorns
Tigers at a zoo in Denmark have killed a man after he climbed a fence and crossed a moat to enter their enclosure.
Keepers at Copenhagen Zoo found his body early on Wednesday morning, surrounded by three tigers, a police spokesman said.
The man appeared to be in his early 20s and may have entered the enclosure in order to commit suicide, police said — via redwolf.newsvine.com
A dog could be a baby’s best friend, according to a study in the medical journal Pediatrics.
Infants living in households with dogs were healthier and had fewer ear infections than those without a dog, the study found. Researchers also found that cats appeared to offer some protection, but the link wasn’t as strong.
The study, posted online Monday and based on 397 children who lived in rural and suburban parts of Finland, examined whether contact with dogs and cats during a baby’s first year offers any protection from respiratory tract infections, such as colds and resulting common ear infections. The children having dogs at home were healthier, they had less ear infections and they needed less antibiotics,
said Eija Bergroth, the study’s lead author and a paediatrician affiliated with Kuopio University Hospital in Kuopio, Finland — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Scientists say they have discovered why dogs love to eat meat and bones.
Ancient canines adopted pack-living about eight million years ago, to hunt larger prey, according to researchers.
The resulting evolution of their jaws gradually turned the ancestors of modern wolves, and ultimately our own pets, into hypercarnivores
.
Dr Joao Munoz-Doran presented the findings at the First Joint Congress for Evolutionary Biology in Ottawa, Canada. — via BBC News
A wily parasite well known for influencing the behaviour of its animal hosts appears to play a troubling role in humans, increasing the risk of suicide among women who are infected, new research shows.
Chances are you or someone you know has been infiltrated by the parasite, called Toxoplasma gondii. Researchers estimate that T gondii is carried by 10% to 20% of Americans, who can get it by changing litter used by infected cats or eating undercooked meat from an animal carrying the bug.
Despite its prevalence in humans, the protozoan is most famous for the strange effect it has on the brains of rats and mice — via redwolf.newsvine.com
On 14 May, for the first time in its history, Snow Leopard cubs were born at the Akron Zoo in Ohio. The two males are healthy and thriving indoors in a cubbing area with their mother Shanti. Born weighing about 2 pounds, at six weeks old the cubs weigh all of six pounds and their eyes have opened. They are able to walk and are starting to climb too — via ZooBorns
Studies suggest that infants who grow up with dogs in their home are less likely to develop asthma. Researchers may now have found one reason why. Pets, dogs in particular, may protect infants from the effects of a common virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Infants with severe RSV infections have an increased likelihood of developing childhood asthma.
The researchers think that exposure to certain microbes in early infancy changes the early composition of an infant’s intestinal flora and this sets the tone for how the developing immune system will respond later in childhood — via redwolf.newsvine.com
The (IRF) and the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden are pleased to announce the birth of a bouncing baby boy Sumatran rhino! The calf was born to mother, “Ratu”, a 12-year-old Sumatran rhino living at the in Indonesia’s Way Kambas National Park and father, “Andalas,” born at the Cincinnati Zoo in 2001 and the first Sumatran Rhino calf born in captivity in 112 years. In 2007 he was sent to the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary with hopes that he would eventually sire calves with one or more of the females at the Sanctuary.
The baby was born on 23 June and weighs 60-70 pounds. He was attended by Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary veterinarians, Ratu’s keepers and advisors from the Cincinnati Zoo and Taronga Conservation Society Australia. Ratu gave birth after two hours of second-stage labor and several days of restlessness. The calf stood about an hour after birth and began nursing almost immediately. Ratu is a very good mother and the baby is healthy and active — via ZooBorns
This birdhouse is inspired by the Shasta campers of the 1950’s. The colour scheme is red over black with a cream stripe. The aluminium door is both a design accent and a deterrent to squirrels, while the curved awning is just pure style. Features a slide out bottom for easy cleaning, durable and stable marine grade plywood construction, brass fasteners and one and one half inch entry hole — via Etsy
The Minnesota Zoo is hand raising a brand new bundle of joy. On 17 June, two endangered Amur Tiger cubs were born to first-time mother Angara and father Molniy after a 105 day gestation period. After observing the mother with her cubs overnight, Zoo officials decided to pull the babies for hand-rearing. Angara wasn’t displaying the quality of maternal care required to successfully raise the cubs. During the critical first days under round the clock human care, the smaller of the two cubs passed away. About two thirds of Amur Tiger cubs survive the first 30 days of life — via ZooBorns
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