Jenna: Greetings, Fanimals! Hannah and I are back with more animal news to report.
Hannah: That’s right, Jenna. This week I present to you Flerken, a savannah cat seized when illegally imported into the UK. Flerken is a cross breed between an African serval cat and domesticated species, making him too dangerous to be a household pet, but not wild enough to be in a zoo. Thankfully, the playful cat was taken in by the Ark Wildlife Park in Stickney, Lincolnshire where Flerken will take the role of their animal ambasador, educating people about why breeding like this is unnecessary.
Jenna: What a cute cat, and impactful message at that. Speaking of cute animals, Molly, a 2-year-old Labrador retriever, was trained to gather trash on the beach and drop it into a trash bag.
Hannah: Molly appears to be one happy dog. Great job Molly, thanks for pitching in!
Jenna: She has gathered hundreds of pounds of trash so far. Molly’s owner, Fliss Cater, hopes that Molly’s story will encourage others to pick up litter and also properly handle their own trash when on the beach.
Hannah: I wonder if I can encourage my pets to help the environment; for now, I’m just trying to stop them from venturing into our kitchen trash can. In the meantime, I want to draw your attention to an article you might have seen posted on Fanimal’s Facebook page. A magpie in Australia was caught on video imitating a fire engine after hearing so many sirens during the fires.
Jenna: That video left me speechless. Our last edition of Creature Feature highlighted ways you can help animals impacted by the wildfires in Australia. We encourage you to check out the link if you have not already.
Hannah: And related to Australia, we’ll end with a hopeful story about carrot “airdrops.” Check it out here; carrots are being dropped by helicopter for hungry wallabies impacted by the Australian wildfires. See you next week, Fanimals!
Animals in the news this week:
10 New Birds Discovered In Lost World from National Geographic
Farmers Return To Ancient Method: Fighting Pests By Planting Wildflowers Instead of Using Chemicals from Disclose.tv
Video shows koalas, other animals hurt in Australia’s fires getting treated from NBC News
Australian sheepdog credited with saving hundreds of animals from fire from NBC News
Deadly ‘ghost gear’ haunts seas and coastlines from BBC News
Too wild to be a pet, too domestic for a zoo from BBC News
Seven cats saved from Wellingborough house fire from BBC News
Wild Horse Advocates Urge Nevada BLM Not To Auction Off World-Famous Horse Families To The Highest Bidder After Cruel Capture from World Animal News
Breaking! $7,500 Reward Offered After Radio-Collared Wolf Was Illegally Shot & Killed In California from World Animal News
Victory! New Jersey’s Governor Phil Murphy Signs Legislation Prohibiting Possession, Sale, Trade, & Distribution Of Shark Fins from World Animal News
Labrador Retriever Has Been Helping Owner Collect Hundreds of Pounds of Trash From Beach Since She Was a Pup from Good News Network
Government to commit $50m for wildlife affected by bushfires as green groups call for action from The Guardian
Is overuse of antibiotics on farms worsening the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria? from 60 Minutes
Vegan Meatball Marinara Subs Now At Subway from LiveKindly
Boreden Becomes Second Big U.S. Milk Producer to File for Bankruptcy from Bloomberg
Audio: Ami Vitale on how meeting Sudan, the last male northern white rhino, changed her life from Mongabay
Retired Nurse Starts Dog Hospice To Shower Left Dogs With Love During The Last Days from All About Pets
It is not a leaf but a slug, and it is the only animal in the world to produce chlorophyll [translated] from Curioctopus
Meet the NFL team that went vegan – and is heading for the play-offs from Independent
‘To reverse deforestation in the 2020s we must rebuild trust between forest countries and brands’ from Ethical Corporation
What We Could Do With a $5 Carbon Charge on Your Flight from Yes! Magazine
Saving The California Condor from Faunalytics
Hate to Watch a Movie That Involves a Sad Dog Plot? This Website Can Warn You Ahead of Time from Mental Floss
Australian Bird Caught Copying Sounds of Fire Engines from The Dodo
Carrots falling from the sky: Australia drops 4,600 pounds of food, water from helicopters to feed hungry wallabies from USA Today
Thank you to Karen Dawn from DawnWatch for being a great source for news. Also, thank you to John Delconte for sending in articles.
Photo by Jordan Whitt on Unsplash
Creature Feature 