Pet Scoop: Olympian’s Sochi Strays Arrive in U.S., Chimps Outperform Humans in Game
Published on March 14, 2014
March 14, 2014: We've scoured the Web to find the best and most compelling animal stories, videos and photos. And it's all right here.

Gus Kenworthy Welcomes Puppies
The U.S. skier’s biggest prize from last month’s Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, arrived in New York on Wednesday with Kenworthy’s friend, Robin Macdonald. The silver medalist fell in love with a litter of four puppies who he found on Sochi’s streets, and vowed to bring them and their mom home to Colorado. He made headlines when he posted photos of them on Twitter just before his freestyle skiing events. Sadly, one of the four puppies passed away earlier this week after getting sick in a shelter in Sochi. Macdonald brought the other three puppies, their mom and one additional stray home to the U.S. “We are all ok, and made it to America! A big thanks to the best 5 travel companions one could ask for,” Macdonald Tweeted on Wednesday. Kenworthy met the group in New York, and the pups will travel with him to his home in Colorado after making an appearance on the Today show this morning. — Read it at Today
Chimp Keeps Up With Young Video Gamers
Researchers say Panzee, a 22-year-old female chimpanzee, significantly outperformed 12 kids and four adults on a complex maze in a virtual reality computer game. The scientists had four adult chimps play against human kids ranging in age from 3 to 12 and four human adults. The chimps, who were all from the Language Research Center at Georgia State University, could do about as well as the kids who were 3 to 6 years old, but Panzee beat both the kids and adults on the most difficult maze. The study was published in the American Journal of Primatology. — Read it at Live Science
Nepal Sees Success in Fight Against Poaching
While reports of poaching increase in other countries, earlier this month, Nepal celebrated its second year with zero poaching of rhinos, tigers or elephants. The country has had a zero-tolerance policy on wildlife crime, and Nepal’s success has come from "strong and committed leadership, excellent national collaboration among enforcement entities and with parks agencies, very effective engagement with local communities, and targeted intelligence-led enforcement actions leading to arrests of key players at the top of the criminal chain," according to John Scanlon of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. As a result, the country has seen an increase in its populations of tigers and one-horned rhinos. — Read it at National Geographic

Tree Kangaroo Joey Peeks Out
Six months after her birth, keepers at the Taronga Zoo in Australia are getting their first look at an endangered Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo joey as she starts to poke her tiny head out of her mom’s pouch. She’s been emerging from first-time mom Kwikila’s pouch each morning at feeding time. Kwikila “loves hanging out high in the trees and is not shy about showing off her little one to the public,” said keeper Sam Bennett. It’s the first successful birth of the species at the Taronga Zoo in more than 20 years. — Read it from the Taronga Zoo
Popularity of Internet Cats Surprises WWW Founder
In a discussion on Reddit marking the 25th anniversary of the World Wide Web on March 12, its inventor, Tim Berners-Lee, said the thing that surprises him most about Web use today is its obsession with cats. Berners-Lee has never actually posted a cat photo online — but he admits that he’s more of a dog person. And he has shared pictures of his pup! — Read it at the Huffington Post