Animal Antics

Here's a look at some animals hitting the headlines recently:

The sheriff's office in Marion County, Oregon, U.S. was dealing with a missing female Indian peacock , known as a peahen, last week. The peahen, named Cynthia by the office’s deputies, showed up on the property next door to the sheriff's office last week. Since then, she has spent her days eating bugs, drinking water from a nearby well and generally keeping a watchful eye over the department.

The deputies figured the exotic bird was somebody’s pet and contacted several animal welfare agencies in the area to come and take Cynthia, but they actually refused to help.

Cynthia has become a local celebrity after appearing in the newspaper and on television newscasts, but nobody has claimed her yet. However, two people have inquired about adopting her.

 

Cynthia has now become a mascot for the police department and will remain so until her owner shows up to bail her out.

 

It’s Easter time and don’t forget to treat your gorilla!

 

I hope that's diet chocolate!Keepers at Howletts Wild Animal Park near Canterbury, Kent, in England gave Kifu the gorilla a giant papier-mache egg filled with seeds, nuts and fruit to celebrate. Kifu tore the egg apart and shared the goodies with the rest of his family, including his five mates. The 22-year-old gorilla has fathered eight babies since being born at the park in 1987.

 

Howletts, and its sister zoo, Port Lympne, are home to 74 gorillas, believed to be the largest captive colony in the world. The zoos intend to grow the group of gorillas and send captive-bred animals to Africa via rescue and rehabilitation programs in the Congo and Gabon.

It’s not a happy Easter for everybody in Coral Gables, Florida, though, as an American Crocodile has been feeding on pet dogs recently.

 

Chris Marin and family, who live along a canal just south of Miami, have seen three poodles disappear from their backyard recently, first Spotty, then Luna and Angel, and are packing their bags and moving. The main suspect is an 11-foot American crocodile. 

 

The crocodiles were listed as federally endangered species in 1975, as they were nearly wiped out by hunting and habitat loss. But the animal’s population has risen ever since and currently sits at about 2,000 in the southern tip of Florida, the crocs’ only U.S. habitat. The animals’ status has since been downgraded to threatened.

Just a little closer Fifi...However, as the crocodiles return home, they now share the area with millions of humans and their pets. They often live close to people’s backyards, especially close to the coast.

 

The suspect in the poodle-eating case is a crocodile known as Pancho, who lives in the canal down the street from Marin. Pancho has already been relocated twice, but keeps coming back, which is typical behavior for the species.

 

 

The sheriff's office in Marion County, Oregon, U.S. was dealing with a missing female Indian peacock , known as a peahen, last week. The peahen, named Cynthia by the office’s deputies, showed up on the property next door to the sheriff's office last week. Since then, she has spent her days eating bugs, drinking water from a nearby well and generally keeping a watchful eye over the department.

The deputies figured the exotic bird was somebody’s pet and contacted several animal welfare agencies in the area to come and take Cynthia, but they actually refused to help.

Cynthia has become a local celebrity after appearing in the newspaper and on television newscasts, but nobody has claimed her yet. However, two people have inquired about adopting her.

 

Cynthia has now become a mascot for the police department and will remain so until her owner shows up to bail her out.

 

It’s Easter time and don’t forget to treat your gorilla!

 

Keepers at Howletts Wild Animal Park near Canterbury, Kent, in England gave Kifu the gorilla a giant papier-mache egg filled with seeds, nuts and fruit to celebrate. Kifu tore the egg apart and shared the goodies with the rest of his family, including his five mates. The 22-year-old gorilla has fathered eight babies since being born at the park in 1987.

 

Howletts, and its sister zoo, Port Lympne, are home to 74 gorillas, believed to be the largest captive colony in the world. The zoos intend to grow the group of gorillas and send captive-bred animals to Africa via rescue and rehabilitation programs in the Congo and Gabon.

It’s not a happy Easter for everybody in Coral Gables, Florida, though, as an American Crocodile has been feeding on pet dogs recently.

 

Chris Marin and family, who live along a canal just south of Miami, have seen three poodles disappear from their backyard recently, first Spotty, then Luna and Angel, and are packing their bags and moving. The main suspect is an 11-foot American crocodile. 

 

The crocodiles were listed as federally endangered species in 1975, as they were nearly wiped out by hunting and habitat loss. But the animal’s population has risen ever since and currently sits at about 2,000 in the southern tip of Florida, the crocs’ only U.S. habitat. The animals’ status has since been downgraded to threatened.

However, as the crocodiles return home, they now share the area with millions of humans and their pets. They often live close to people’s backyards, especially close to the coast.

 

The suspect in the poodle-eating case is a crocodile known as Pancho, who lives in the canal down the street from Marin. Pancho has already been relocated twice, but keeps coming back, which is typical behavior for the species.

 

However, the next time Pancho is caught, he’ll end up in a zoo as bad crocodiles have to follow the two strikes and your out rule,  being placed in captivity after too many inappropriate snack choices!

Tune in next week for more animal antics!