Pet Scoop: Twin Polar Bear Cubs Debut in Munich, Puppy Sells for $2 Million in China
Published on March 20, 2014
March 20, 2014: We've scoured the Web to find the best and most compelling animal stories, videos and photos. And it's all right here.
Polar Bear Cubs Meet the Press
It’s double the cuteness in Germany! The 14-week-old twin polar bear cubs who made headlines with the color video of their birth and a clip of them opening their eyes for the first time, had their media debut at the Hellabrunn Zoo in Munich on Wednesday. The brother and sister bears, who haven’t been named yet, romped around in their outdoor enclosure with their mom, 7-year-old Giovanna, as about 100 reporters watched. “She is a very young mother and everything is excellent," said the zoo’s Helmut Kern. The cubs squinted in the bright light, and put their paws into the cool water in their exhibit for the first time. — Read it and watch it at CBS News
Mastiff Reportedly Sold for $2 Million
A puppy in China may be the world’s most expensive dog. The Tibetan Mastiff was sold at a luxury pet fair on Tuesday for $1.95 million, according to Chinese newspaper Qianjiang Evening News. The breeder, Zhang Gengyun, claims his dogs “have lion's blood and are top-of-the-range mastiff studs.” The breed has become a status symbol among the wealthy in China, which has led to astronomical prices. The golden-haired dog is about 31 inches tall and almost 200 pounds. Gengyun said a second dog was sold for nearly $1 million. Until Tuesday, the most expensive dog sale ever recorded was a red Mastiff named Big Splash, who sold for $1.5 million in 2011. — Read it from AFP via Yahoo
Pythons Find Their Way Home From Record Distance
A new report finds that Burmese pythons have surprisingly accurate internal maps. The snakes are a problematic invasive species in South Florida, and especially in Everglades National Park. A team of researchers from Davidson College in North Carolina gathered six of the snakes from the Everglades, fitted them with radio transmitters, and placed them between 13 and 22 miles from where they were captured. All but one of the snakes were able to find their way back to within 3 miles of their original location. This is the longest distance a snake has ever been found to navigate back to a location. The scientists are hopeful that the findings, which were published in the journal Biology Letters, could help groups working to control the python population. — Read it at Live Science
Portland “Attack Cat” to Get Help
Lux, the 22-pound part-Himalayan cat whose family called 911 for help after he trapped them in their bedroom, will soon be getting a visit from Jackson Galaxy for an episode of Animal Planet’s My Cat From Hell. Galaxy, a cat behavior expert, says he’s concerned about the Internet uproar from sides blaming the cat and the family over Lux’s situation. Lux’s owner, Lee Palmer, says his 7-month-old pulled the cat’s tail, and that he kicked the cat after he scratched the baby. At that point, the cat "just went off over the edge," Palmer said on the 911 call earlier this month. The family planned to keep Lux but then decided to turn him in to Multnomah County Animal Services on Monday. Galaxy said he was going to Portland to act as Lux’s advocate and get to the bottom of what went wrong. — Read it from AP via ABC News
Hotel Cat Found and Returned
Oreo, the popular feline resident of the Armstrong Hotel in Fort Collins, Colo., who went missing over the weekend, was found on Tuesday, scared but safe. Surveillance video showed two men leaving the hotel with the cat, who’d lived in the hotel for 10 years. But two hotel guests found Oreo crying behind an art museum, about a block away. Their discovery ended a citywide search for the feline. Authorities are still searching for the cat-nappers. — Read it from AP via the Huffington Post
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