Jenny's birthday

This is Jenny. Jenny is recognized as the world's oldest gorilla in captivity

Gorillas in the wild normally would live to age 30 or 35, but health care and protection from predators has extended their lifespan in zoos. Of the roughly 360 gorillas in North American zoos, only four are over the age of 50. All of them are female. Jenny is the oldest of them all at 55.

Caretakers at the Dallas Zoo, where Jenny lives, celebrated her birthday with a four-layer frozen fruit cake and banana leaf wrapped treats.

Source: Live Science

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They're on the list

The Interior Department on Wednesday designated the polar bear as threatened with extinction - it has been added to the endangered species list.

Polar bears are the first species to be designated as threatened with extinction because of global warming.

The designation under the Endangered Species Act requires the agency to identify critical habitat to be protected and to form a strategy to assist the bear population's recovery.

Source: LA Times

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Are anteaters cool?

Life must be interesting with two anteaters as pets.

It certainly looks interesting on Tamandua Girl' blog, It's all about the animals. The anteaters like to dress up, explore the house, go for walks, and take baths.

Dark Roasted Blend has posted some of the best photos of Pua and Stewie, the anteaters.

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Zoo officials concerned about tiger cub

A tiger cub born on Mother's Day at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium is not getting much TLC from its mother.

Tiger-keepers are working around the clock to find out why the cub's mother, Toma, isn't being receptive to her newborn.

Zoo officials think Toma might be sick or possibly carrying another cub.

The two-pound cub is being kept at an animal hospital. If the cub does not receive attention from its mother, it can be raised successfully by tiger-keepers at the zoo.

Source: KDKA

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Rare white albino tadpoles

Rare albino tadpoles have been found in a garden pond in Wales.

The tadpoles have the distinctive pink eyes and off-white skin coloration associated with albinism. Although isolated single examples of albino frogs, toads and newts have been seen before this is the first time a whole group has been found.

The pond's owner, who first noticed the white-tinged tadpoles, said he did not see any albino frogs using the pond during the breeding season.

Source: Telegraph

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A lot of bull

Chilli is a black and white Friesian bullock who weighs well over a ton and at the same height as a small elephant, casts a shadow over his cattle companions who are about 5 ft.

Chilli is 6 feet tall, so his owners have contacted the Guinness Book of Records who are currently assessing his credentials and comparing them to other big bovines.

The heifer, who is almost as high as he is long, lives at the Ferne Animal Sanctuary in Chard, Somerset, after he was left on their doorstep aged just six-days-old.

Source: Daily Mail
via Neatorama

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But can he read now?

Dixie, a seven-year-old Mountain Cur from Runnells, Iowa, can now see to chase squirrels to her heart's content, thanks to the new plastic cornea she received in a novel surgery.

Dixie received the first veterinary corneal implant procedure in North America, and one of only a few ever performed. During the surgery, Sinisa Grozdanic, an assistant professor of Veterinary Clinical Sciences at Iowa State University, removed the dog's damaged cloudy cornea and replaced it with a permanent synthetic one.

Source: msnbc

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