2005 in review - Animals

Octopussy

A report in the journal Science claimed that octopuses have been observed walking away from predators on two arms, which researchers described as looking like "a clump of algae tiptoeing away".

The lions in winter

In the science journal Nature, ecologist Josh Donlan of Cornell University proposed that large African and Asian animals like lions and elephants could be saved by relocating then to fenced-in wildlife preserves located on North American prairies and grasslands in places like Texas, Nebraska, and Saskatchewan.

It's like high school, with hay

At a Compassion in World Farming conference held in London, England, the emotional life of cattle was discussed by several scholars, revealing that cows form small friendship groups within a herd, consisting of two to four animals, and also may dislike other cows, bearing grudges for months or years.

The bill for cooing

New Scientist reported that great grey shrikes mate for life but that the male birds also cheat with other females, giving food gifts to both partners. However, the gifts to the cheating partners averaged four times the food value of those given to long-term mates. "It is like a saying in Polish: artificial jewellery to the wife and real diamonds for the mistress," commented researcher Piotr Tryjanowski.

Funky monkey

The London Zoo announced it would renovate its displays to do away with bars and cages. According to David Field, head of animal care at the society that runs the zoo, "It's about getting the public up close and personal. A male gorilla has the most wonderful pungent smell."

Featherweights

Oklahoma state senator Frank Shurden suggested that fitting roosters with boxing gloves and letting them fight was a good alternative to cockfighting, which voters banned in 2002. "Who's going to object to chickens fighting like humans do? Everybody wins," he commented.

View 'n' chew

Wildlife groups expressed outrage when the Chang Mai Night Safari zoo in Thailand announced it would start serving meals of exotic animals beginning on New Year's Day. According to project director Plodprasop Suraswadi, "The zoo will be outstanding, with several restaurants offering visitors the chance to experience exotic foods such as imported horse, kangaroo, giraffe, snake, elephant, tiger, and lion meat."

Porn free

"When showing two animals mating, show no more than three thrusts. Three! Now they are censoring the animals! And in the last year we noticed the thrusts have been reduced to one."-Photographer Lena Herzog at the Sundance Film Festival, discussing an agreement between National Geographic and the Discovery Channel to downplay animal sexuality. "It's appalling. No wonder American women are frustrated."

Bonobohemians

The Great Ape Trust in Iowa launched a project that would house and videotape a community of eight bonobo primates who already understand some human speech. According to lead researcher Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, the hopes are that the apes will develop skills like art, language, and music in an enriched, specially designed environment.

Building a better moose trap

In order to catch poachers, wildlife officials in Nova Scotia began using remote-controlled fake moose as decoys and have arrested several people hunting illegally. Built by a Quebec man, the moose can move their heads and fall down realistically when shot.

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