Kevin, world’s tallest male dog, dies at age three: ‘He was the best giant boy’ - Animals news - NewsLocker (2024)

Great dane, named after protagonist of Home Alone film series, died after falling ill and undergoing surgeryThe world’s tallest male dog – a great dane from Iowa named Kevin who was comically skittish despite his imposing frame – has died unexpectedly, leaving his owners to mourn that humans “never [have] enough time” with such majestic pets.Kevin, age three, died after falling ill and undergoing an unplanned surgery, according to a statement on Monday from Guinness

Digested week: A sadly corrupted deer and the coming cyborg apocalypse

We start with evidence of humanity’s unfathomable stupidity, before moving to exhibit B: GlastonburyA Highlands red deer known as Callum the Stag has had to be put down. His teeth had rotted, leaving him unable to forage for his natural diet, and his overall health had deteriorated largely, it is posited – though the National Trust for Scotland did not make the connection directly – because tourists kept feeding him their snacks whenever he approached them as they took his pict

China says farewell to two giant pandas traveling to San Diego zoo

Xi Jinping suggested sending pandas to California as ‘envoys of friendship’ between China and the USTwo giant pandas are on their way to the US, where they will end up at San Diego zoo – the first such import of the huge bears from China in more than two decades.The loan was finalized in February after Chinese leader Xi Jinping suggested sending pandas to the San Diego Zoo as “envoys of friendship” between China and the US. Continue reading...

‘Male’ Brazilian rainbow boa produces 14 baby snakes in ‘miracle birth’

Misidentified reptile Ronaldo had not been in contact with any other snakes for at least nine yearsThe appearance of 14 baby snakes in a vivarium occupied by a Brazilian rainbow boa snake called Ronaldo was surprising on two counts.Firstly, staff at the City of Portsmouth College had thought Ronaldo was a male; secondly the 1.8m (6ft) long reptile had not been in contact with any other snakes for at least nine years. Continue reading...

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Protecting just 1.2% of Earth’s land could save most-threatened species, says study

Study identifies 16,825 sites around the world where prioritising conservation would prevent extinction of thousands of unique speciesProtecting just 1.2% of the Earth’s surface for nature would be enough to prevent the extinction of the world’s most threatened species, according to a new study.Analysis published in the journal Frontiers in Science has found that the targeted expansion of protected areas on land would be enough to prevent the loss of thousands of the mammals, birds,

George Monbiot’s outrage about the RSPCA is misplaced | Letters

Sushila Dhall says the Guardian writer’s criticism of the RSPCA Assured scheme is unfair. However, Molly Sendall says Chris Packham should resign as the charity’s presidentGeorge Monbiot, whom I generally greatly respect, sounds more outraged by the RSPCA than by the factory farms, or the supermarkets that support them, or the legislation that allows people to torture birds and animals on a mass scale (How Britain’s oldest animal welfare charity became a byword for cruelty on a

Pirates of the Caribbean actor Tamayo Perry dies in shark attack

The actor, who also appeared in Blue Crush and Hawaii Five-0, was a lifeguard and professional surfer, described as a ‘legendary waterman’Pirates of the Caribbean actor Tamayo Perry has died following a shark attack in Hawaii.Perry, who also appeared in Blue Crush and Hawaii Five-0, was surfing at Malaekahana beach on the Hawaiian island of Oahu when he died on Sunday afternoon. Continue reading...

The pet I’ll never forget: We saved Nelson the kitten from certain death – and he taught me the best way to live

He grew to the size of a terrier, always looked like he was winking and conducted himself entirely on his own terms. He showed just how important it can be to not give a tossThe farmer was going to drown the kitten because he had an abscess in one eye and was feral, biting everything. But some vets were there to help with lambing, and the farmer agreed Nelson could be taken in and rehomed.It was 2005; I was 16 and my sister, five years older than me, was on a work placement at a vet surgery in P

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Famous Highlands stag fed by tourists put down over health concerns

Callum the red deer was reportedly in poor condition with rotted teeth from being given wrong types of foodA Highlands red deer known to approach tourists for their snacks has been put down over health concerns.Callum the stag was a familiar sight at Torridon’s Beinn Eighe car park, in the north-west Highlands, due to his willingness to walk up to tourists and accept food from human hands. Continue reading...

Fishing trio rescues 38 dogs from drowning in Mississippi lake

Fishers take to shore three boatloads of hound dogs who had plunged in while chasing a deer during a fox huntInsurance agents Bob Gist and Brad Carlisle headed out to a Mississippi lake with fishing guide Jordan Chrestman hoping to catch some crappies.They came back with nearly 40 dogs whom they saved from drowning, according to the men, who took photos of the dramatic 8 June rescue and have since been feted as heroes on the local and national media circuits. Continue reading...

A new start after 60: I was worried about empty-nest syndrome – so I began rescuing injured hedgehogs

Kitty Johnson’s son was due to go to university and she knew she needed to keep herself occupied. So she started hunting for abandoned baby hedgehogs in compost bins, cemeteries and alleyways …In May 2023, Kitty Johnson made her first hedgehog rescue. The writer and creative writing teacher took a call from a family who had found one of the tiny mammals unresponsive in the middle of the park that borders her Norwich home. She rushed out of the door with a pair of latex gloves and a

Wildcat kittens born outside captivity in Cairngorms a ‘major milestone’

Adult cats were released into national park last year after British population had come close to extinctionThe birth of wildcat kittens in the Cairngorms national park has been hailed as a “major milestone” in efforts to rescue the secretive mammals from extinction in the UK.In footage exclusively shared with the Guardian by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), two of the kittens can be seen playing in grassland with their mother and leaping on to a fallen tree branch. Co

World’s Ugliest Dog contest 2024 – in pictures

The World’s Ugliest Dog contest has been going strong for more than 30 years and is evidence that pedigree does not define the pet. This world-renowned annual event celebrates the imperfections that make all dogs special Continue reading...

Nelson’s HMS Victory gives scientists vital DNA for battle against deathwatch beetle

Insects from the famous Royal Navy flagship are helping experts plot the genome of the notorious timber pestThe oak timbers of HMS Victory have played an unexpected role in ensuring a scientific research triumph for Great Britain. A deathwatch beetle – taken from an infected beam on Nelson’s great warship – has been used to create the first fully sequenced genome of the species.The project, carried out by scientists at the Sanger Institute and Oxford University and by National

Eight-year-old pekingese Wild Thang wins World’s Ugliest Dog contest

Eight dogs vied for the title in the Sonoma-Marine Fair’s disagreeable-looking dog competitionThe World’s Ugliest Dog contest may not render the most flattering title to its victor, but don’t tell that to Wild Thang.The eight-year-old pekingese won this year’s World’s Ugliest Dog competition on Friday. Continue reading...

Diesel the escaped pet donkey found living with elk after five years

California family lets Diesel ‘live his best life’ with his new herd after he got loose on a camping tripA donkey spotted apparently living with a herd of wild elk in a video that went viral on the internet has been identified as Diesel, a once beloved pet who had apparently run away five years ago.The video was taken earlier this year, when Max Fennell, a hunter in northern California, filmed a group of wild elk apparently hanging out with a donkey who appeared to be a member of the

‘We all get on well’: the town in England where cattle roam free

Living among cows is about common sense, say people in Minchinhampton, after a Surrey police car rammed an escaped calf on a residential streetA bright afternoon on Minchinhampton common in Gloucestershire. Ramblers, golfers, fliers of kites and model aircraft were enjoying the midsummer sun – and the sight of the Highland cattle roaming freely.“They’re wonderful, aren’t they?” said Mary Griffiths, who was searching for bee orchids in the knee-high grass, careful to

Week in wildlife – in pictures: bears’ dinner party, a Kentish wildcat kitten and racing marmots

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...

Millions of mosquitoes released in Hawaii to save rare birds from extinction

Conservationists hope insects carrying ‘birth control’ bacteria can save honeycreeper being wiped out by malariaMillions of mosquitoes are being released from helicopters in Hawaii in a last-ditch attempt to save rare birds slipping into extinction.The archipelago’s endemic, brightly coloured honeycreeper birds are dying of malaria carried by mosquitoes first introduced by European and American ships in the 1800s. Having evolved with no immunity to the disease, the birds can di

Millions of mosquitoes released in Hawaii to save rare bird from extinction

Conservationists hope insects carrying ‘birth control’ bacteria can save honeycreeper being wiped out by malariaMillions of mosquitoes are being released from helicopters in Hawaii in a last-ditch attempt to save rare birds slipping into extinction.The archipelago’s endemic, brightly coloured honeycreeper birds are dying of malaria carried by mosquitoes first introduced by European and American ships in the 1800s. Having evolved with no immunity to the disease, the birds can di

Animal hom*osexual behaviour under-reported by scientists, survey shows

Study finds same-sex sexual behaviour in primates and other mammals widely observed but seldom publishedGeorge Murray Levick, an explorer with the Scott Antarctic expedition, spent the summer of 1911-12 taking detailed notes on the breeding cycle of Adélie penguins. Male penguins, he was surprised to discover, frequently had sex with other males, but this fact was deemed too shocking for inclusion in the official expedition report and it was another 50 years before it was noted in the sci

Dinosaur with ‘blade-like nasal horns’ dug up in Montana may be new species

Lokiceratops, named after Norse god Loki and possibly fifth species of the Ceratops, roamed Earth nearly 78m years agoScientists may have dug up a new dinosaur species in the badlands of Montana.The Lokiceratops is possibly the fifth species of a large, horned family of dinosaurs found in the Kennedy Coulee, a dry gorge of fossil-bearing rocks along the border of Montana and Alberta, Canada. Continue reading...

My neurotic dog Tully doesn’t like change. So imagine my astonishment when he lets me start brushing him | Jessie Cole

I run the brush along his body and he arches with pleasure. My heart fills with lightnessSign up for a weekly email featuring our best readsMy dog, Tully, is neurotic. Sensitive, jumpy. He’s a working dog, a koolie cross kelpie, but in our forest homeplace in northern New South Wales he’s underemployed. My teenage son brought Tully home, unannounced, nine years ago. I didn’t research his breed before acquiring him as a scrappy pup, and we’d never had a working dog, so I w

Iberian lynx no longer endangered after numbers improve in Spain and Portugal

The animal, which is still categorised as ‘vulnerable’, has been the subject of a 20-year conservation programmeLess than a quarter of a century after the Iberian lynx was feared to be only a whisker away from extinction, populations of the animal have recovered enough across Spain and Portugal for it to be moved from “endangered” to “vulnerable” on the global red list of threatened species.The change in status, announced on Thursday by the International Union

Fewer swallows grace summer skies in Britain amid changing climate

Unpredictable weather affecting bird’s lifecycle, with breeding populations down by almost a quarterThe proverb “one swallow doesn’t make a summer”, first attributed to Aristotle, sums up our love of this elegant bird. Swallows visit us for roughly half the year, between April and September, before travelling almost 6,000 miles (10,000 km) to South Africa, where they enjoy a second spring and summer.But unpredictable weather patterns are now affecting swallows throughout

Baby moose saved from ‘sure demise’ in Alaska lake as mother looks on

Calf was stuck in lake between floatplane and dock, unable to gain its footing as mother worriedly watchedAn Alaska man and two police officers rescued a baby moose from what police described as “a sure demise” after it fell into a lake and got stuck in a narrow space between a floatplane and a dock.Spencer Warren, who works for the outdoor tourism company Destination Alaska Adventure Co, had arrived at work about 6.30am on Friday to prepare a floatplane for the day’s trip when

Bird flu pandemic risk high as cow cases appear and officials warn of humans’ role

USDA report finds transmission likely happening when workers, cows, vehicles and equipment go to multiple farmsBird flu cases among animals continue to rise as US officials warn about the role of humans in spreading the virus.There are now 102 herds in the US with H5N1 cases, though given the prevalence of inactivated virus in commercially available pasteurized milk, experts believe the true number may be even higher. Continue reading...

From showing animals for profit to protecting them: the reinvention of Buenos Aires zoo

An ecopark that treats injured wild animals from all over Argentina and the largest biobank in South America has the support of the public and conservationistsA mara, stretched out under the shade of a huge ombu tree, greets you at the entrance to the Buenos Aires Eco-park. It’s just one of dozens of the hare-like rodents that roam the grounds of the former city zoo.Today, only a few “legacy animals” remain in Buenos Aires, those hard to relocate due to their age. These include

Something in the Water review – Bridezilla vs Jaws as shark stalks seagoing wedding party

A group of women on their way to a marital celebration are plunged into a nightmare in this tense survival thrillerOne memorable moment in Jaws, the granddaddy of shark movies, has Robert Shaw’s grizzled Ahab-esque salty seadog tell the story of his gnarliest ever shark encounter, when he and the shipwrecked crew of the USS Indianapolis spent days and nights in the ocean, being picked off one by one. It’s a terrifying scenario that, incidentally, avoids the perennial problem with sha

California survivor of shark attack recounts fight with animal

Caleb Adams tells NBC emotional tale of swimming through his own blood to get help for bites to his torso, arm and handA man who survived being bitten several times by a shark while taking a dip off the coast of California says he fought so hard that he may have hit the animal inside its mouth before he then swam through his own blood to reach safety.“I’m very thankful,” 46-year-old Caleb Adams said in an emotional interview with NBC News that aired Tuesday on the network&rsquo