http://cache.jezebel.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/jezebel.com.png http://jezebel.com/tag/animals http://jezebel.com/tag/animals

A red panda, that is. And the presidency she's seeking is that of Boston's Franklin Park Zoo. In honor of Presidents' Day, the Zoo has been holding a "PreZOOdential Election" since 2006 (when a gorilla named Kiki won). This year, Stella Luna the red panda faces off against another gorilla, a lion, an ocelot, an anteater, and a condor. It's going to be tough not to vote for Stella, though. Look at that face! More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5885807&view=rss&microfeed=true

If there's one thing Americans are good at it, it's finding new and interesting ways to embarrass ourselves, and one category in which we completely excel is the spoiling of our pets. Enter the gourmet pet food retailers, who so expertly play on canine and feline devotion and our snobbish tendencies that it would be frightening if it weren't so hilarious. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5885589&view=rss&microfeed=true

This tolerant bulldog's name is Baby, and she has adopted six orphaned wild boar piglets at an animal sanctuary in Germany. And there are lots of photos! If you like cuteness, it is your lucky day. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5885378&view=rss&microfeed=true

Three months or so ago, reports began to surface that a sheep and a deer were carrying on a love affair at a Chinese zoo. Well, yesterday, they "decided" to make it official, and got married in a Valentine's Day wedding ceremony at the zoo. The male sheep, who's called Long Hair, and the female deer, Pure Child, received a wedding bath and a feast of carrots and grass, which they shared with their guests (i.e., other animals from the park). There was apparently one small scare when Pure Child got nervous and left her "groom" at the altar, but the two managed eventually to find their way through the "I Do Gate" that the zoo staff had built. Oh, and if you thought this is one of those innocent animal friendships that won't be consummated, you'd be wrong. These two reportedly get it on, cross-species style. Here's hoping Pure Child and Long Hair live out their days in wedded bliss. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5885259&view=rss&microfeed=true

Josh Siegel brings you animal art every Monday. Add your own requests in the comments, and maybe Josh will draw an animal for you. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5884735&view=rss&microfeed=true

NEW YORK — FEBRUARY 10: Phyllis Ludwig, holds Dixie Belle, a nursing home volunteer dog, at the pre-Westminster Fashion Show at Hotel Pennsylvania ahead of next week's Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on February 10, 2012 in New York City. The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show first held in 1877, is the second-longest continuously held sporting event in the U.S., second to the Kentucky Derby. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Getty Images) More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5884322&view=rss&microfeed=true

Residents of the Hannah Duston Rehabilitation Center, a nursing home in Massachusetts, are soon going to be getting a visit from a very special tuxedoed gentleman, Roast Beef the African penguin. He lives at the New England Aquarium, but he is specially trained to visit schools and community events. The five-pound penguin even travels in his own air-conditioned crate. This will be Roast Beef's first time at a nursing home, but aquarium officials aren't worried because, they say, "Penguins are clearly loved by all ages." Clearly. It's bound to be a magical visit, since Roast Beef's nickname is "The Ladies Man." More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5883276&view=rss&microfeed=true

You knew PETA was going to be involved in this somehow, didn't you? Yup — they're suing Sea World, claiming that the parks' orcas are actually slaves. And a judge has agreed to hear the case. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5883140&view=rss&microfeed=true

Josh Siegel brings you animal art every Monday (except today it's Tuesday). Add your own requests in the comments, and maybe Josh will draw an animal for you. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5883131&view=rss&microfeed=true

More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5882896&view=rss&microfeed=true

Look, I love dogs and cats as much as the next guy — probably more, unless he also spends a good chunk of his day watching videos of Corgis on YouTube. But I have to marvel at the inflammatory tone of CNN's report on the U.S. pet obesity epidemic. (Be advised: this story contains sad references to pets dying young and adorable photos of Garfield-sized kitties.) The lede alone is journalistic perfection. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5882306&view=rss&microfeed=true

To get the full effect of these adorable coatis, you really have to scroll down the page and watch them multiply before your eyes. Enjoy! More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5882094&view=rss&microfeed=true

Does this bread look like a tiger? No, it looks like a giraffe! And Lily Robinson, age 3, wasn't going to stand for it anymore. With the help of her mom, she wrote a letter British chain Sainsbury's, which sold the bread. This touched off a mass Facebook campaign, and this week, the store caved: "In response to overwhelming customer feedback that our Tiger Bread has more resemblance to a giraffe, from today we will be changing our Tiger Bread to Giraffe Bread and seeing how that goes." More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5881734&view=rss&microfeed=true

A service dog named Danny went above and beyond the call of duty on Friday when his owner Bethe Bennett fell down and broke her leg. Unable to move, Bennett asked Danny to bring her the phone — "He ran back and forth a couple of times barking and finally jumped up and knocked the phone over and pushed it with his nose toward me." And that's not all. Bennett still needed to get her neighbors to unlock her house for the paramedics, so she asked Danny for "paper" — and he brought back the sheet with the neighbors' number on it (along with, to be fair, some other papers). Look, you can see the pride on his little face. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5881269&view=rss&microfeed=true

Josh Siegel brings you animal art every Monday (except today it's Tuesday). Add your own requests in the comments, and maybe Josh will draw an animal for you. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5881019&view=rss&microfeed=true

More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5880543&view=rss&microfeed=true

A female orangutan at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo has become the first non-human primate in the US to be implanted with a human birth control device. I hope she doesn't think it's okay to just whore around all over the place now. Just because she can't get pregnant doesn't mean that Orangu-God hasn't stopped damning lady apes to Orangu-Hell for having extramarital sex. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5879376&view=rss&microfeed=true

The Supreme Court has struck down a California law that would have kept slaughterhouses from killing "sick or wobbly pigs." Before you get too grossed out, their rationale was that the federal government already has rules for dealing with sick pigs: said Justice Elena Kagan, "The federal law establishes rules for handling and slaughtering non-ambulatory pigs brought to a slaughterhouse, rather than ordering them returned to sender." These federal restrictions are apparently less stringent, though, because the straightforwardly-named National Meat Association is psyched about the Supreme Court decision. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5878566&view=rss&microfeed=true

Photographer Richard Phibbs has once again leant his talents to the Humane Society of New York, taking snapshots adoptable animals so potential "forever homes" can see their possible "fur buddies" in the best possible light. Doesn't that phrase "forever home" just make you want to lose your shit? Anyway, here are a bunch of cute dogs and cats in scarves and necklaces. I'll be hovering over the Kleenex box. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5878583&view=rss&microfeed=true

Josh Siegel brings you animal art every Monday. Add your own requests in the comments, and maybe Josh will draw an animal for you. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5878556&view=rss&microfeed=true

More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5877085&view=rss&microfeed=true

Everything about this is amazing: a Massachusetts man visited a local animal shelter on Friday "to report that his hamster population was out of control." According to the Boston Globe, he had started out with just two hamsters, but since hamsters breed like, uh, hamsters, that number increased exponentially, until he found himself with eighty. He apparently tried to separate them by sex to stop the population explosion, but that was difficult because it's hard to tell what sex a hamster is until it pops out baby hamsters. The hamsters soon outgrew the fish tanks he'd been keeping them in, and he had to use Tupperware containers, buckets, and an empty litter box. Finally — and this is the sad part of the story — the man couldn't afford to feed himself anymore due to the insatiable demands of his hamsters. He offered to take the hamsters to the shelter in a cab, since he didn't have a car, but shelter employees picked them up, thus sparing an innocent cab driver the shock of driving across town with eighty little animals in Tupperware containers. The hamsters are now up for adoption, except for twelve of them, who have already found homes. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5876931&view=rss&microfeed=true

Last summer, a Kansas City woman's life was saved when her brave Great Dane threw himself over the woman's body as she was beaten by her boyfriend. After the incident, the woman fled to a domestic violence shelter. But what would happen to the animal that saved her life? More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5876871&view=rss&microfeed=true

If you need proof that the Academy Awards are meaningless, here you go: There's a dog generating Oscar buzz this year. Uggie, an adorable nine-year-old Jack Russell terrier, steals the show in The Artist and now there's an online campaign to nominate him for an Oscar. Uggie's owner insists he's acting, but that seems doubtful since he can't grasp the concept of pretending to be someone else. According to Hollywood legend, in 1929 Rin Tin Tin was actually voted best actor, but the award was given to a human instead. So keep in mind that whoever wins the award this year might have been secretly beaten by a dog. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5875421&view=rss&microfeed=true

More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5875173&view=rss&microfeed=true

Josh Siegel brings you animal art every Monday (except that today it's Tuesday because of the holiday). Add your own requests in the comments, and maybe Josh will draw an animal for you. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5874497&view=rss&microfeed=true

More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5873413&view=rss&microfeed=true

Today in crocodilian news, a five-foot alligator was stolen from an English pet store Monday night, along with an anaconda and some pythons. Store owner Paul Williamson makes this theft sound like the worst idea ever — he says the alligator (technically a Cuvier's dwarf caiman) is "aggressive," adding, "They're very powerful, very strong and they've obviously got huge teeth, so if they bite, the next place for you go to is hospital." Maybe local hospitals should be on the lookout for shifty types with large bite wounds? More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5872948&view=rss&microfeed=true

Josh Siegel brings you animal art every Monday (except that today it's Tuesday because of the holiday). Add your own requests in the comments, and maybe Josh will draw an animal for you. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5872762&view=rss&microfeed=true

In a nice turn of events (for once!), last night an adorable squirrel monkey who'd been stolen from the San Francisco Zoo was returned to his owners unharmed after missing for two days. The monkey, whose name is Banana Sam (which might be the perfect monkey name) was "hungry, trembling and thirsty" when he was returned to the zoo but otherwise in good health. Oh, the heart strings, they are being tugged with an alarming force! More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5872336&view=rss&microfeed=true

If you grew up without a cat but have become convinced by numerous YouTube video that they're adorable and delightful creatures, you still may want to think twice before adopting one. As there is absolutely no facet of life that can't be turned into a health scare, experts are now warning that even adults with no known cat allergies may have a horrible reaction when they bring the pet into their home. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5871792&view=rss&microfeed=true

Cheetah, a chimp who is believed to have played Tarzan's sidekick in the 1930s movies, died on Christmas Eve at the age of 80. In response to his death, Mia Farrow, daughter of actress Maureen O'Sullivan, tweeted, "My mom, Tarzan's Jane, referred to Cheetah-the-chimp as 'that bastard' –- saying he bit her at every opportunity." In the clip above he looks affectionate — but we bet a bite was just around the corner. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5871702&view=rss&microfeed=true

Elvis is a 16-foot saltwater crocodile who lives at the Australian Reptile Park outside Sydney. He apparently does not like lawnmowers. Above, we see what happens when one gets too close. Park operations manager Tim Faulkner tells the BBC that after Elvis "drowned" the offending machine, he guarded it for over an hour: ''It was his prize, his trophy. If it moved, then he would attack it again.'' Luckily, Faulkner and others were able to distract Elvis with meat and fish out the lawnmower (and the teeth Elvis lost in the battle). However, it will never mow lawns again. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5871613&view=rss&microfeed=true

Larry the cat was brought to 10 Downing Street to deal with a rodent problem, but Prime Minister David Cameron doesn't seem to appreciate his contributions. Though Cameron's children like the cat, he isn't allowed in the family's newly-refurbished residence. A spokesman says Larry has more freedom living in the office because the residence is locked during the day, but Labour MP Kerry McCarthy complained, "Poor Larry is being treated like some servant from Downton Abbey." However, unlike a servant, Larry won't suffer any consequences when he leaves a revenge barf in the middle of the carpet. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5871236&view=rss&microfeed=true

Josh Siegel brings you animal art every Monday. Add your own requests in the comments, and maybe Josh will draw an animal for you. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5871152&view=rss&microfeed=true

More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5870884&view=rss&microfeed=true

Kind of. Scientists have discovered that the shiny wings of the diamond weevil are full of crystals made of chitin in a structure much like actual diamonds. Unfortunately, bug engagement rings may be a ways off — says biophysicist Bodo Wilts, "Materials scientists could look to these scales to inspire new materials, but we don't yet know how they are made. We've got some catching up to do." More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5870107&view=rss&microfeed=true

Josh Siegel brings you animal art every Monday. Add your own requests in the comments, and maybe Josh will draw an animal for you. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5869491&view=rss&microfeed=true

When I was a baby, my father's possessive kitty hated having a baby in the house so much it would attack me and leave me with little scratches all over my body. Apparently, some felines don't mind babies quite as much — although this feels a lot like a cat just trying to get a crying baby to shut up. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5869418&view=rss&microfeed=true

After a year at the Dunn County Humane Society, a dog named L.L. Bean is being adopted by an employee of the company that supplies Americans with sensible outdoorsy fashions. Recently a Wisconsin TV station ran a story about the three-year-old, 80-pound coonhound and it wound up being circulated within the company. The shelter received four adoption applications from employees and now L.L. Bean has been matched with customer service representative Pam Burt. Employees also raised money to cover the dog's $800 transportation fees. We expect this heartwarming tale will lead to more shelter animals being named "Target," "Sears," and "Cheesecake Factory." More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5869176&view=rss&microfeed=true