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On a day when the rest of America is drunk on puppy, we should remind ourselves that the wide world is full of genuine cuddle monsters and that scientists have finally answered the baffling mystery that you probably think about on an average of 4.6 times a day without even realizing it: Do big cats purr? Maybe? Zoologists are giving a collective shrug on this one because there's still some disagreement as to what constitutes a purr and why, exactly, cats purr (and something about an important-sounding hyoid bone that I didn't pay attention to because the happy kitties distracted me). Purring is an involuntary reflex and, in addition to pleasure purrs, cats purr for such macabre reasons as traumatic injury or approaching death. Think about that the next time your tabby is curled up on your lap, purring softly, and you have the urge to congratulate yourself on your deep, abiding kinship with the animal kingdom. So purring remains a mystery, which means two things: science needs to take some risks by sending zoo interns into the big cat enclosures with over-sized cat toys, and until we have definitive proof that tigers don't purr, there's still hope that we can all have pet Rajahs. More »
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Do big cats like catnip? Judging from this video of tigers, panthers, and lions attacking bags of kitty pot, then rolling on the ground in a euphoric haze, the answer is yes. More »
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Don't wear Calvin Klein's Obsession for Men if you're heading into the jungle. A Bronx Zoo wildlife expert discovered cheetahs love the scent, and now researchers around the world use it to lure big cats closer to their cameras. [WSJ] More »
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And in the next few paragraphs, you will read a reference to, and I quote, "glamorous French cougars dans les rues." More »
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Sony Pictures is currently in the process of securing the life-story rights of John Rendall and Anthony Bourke (stars of the Christian: The Lion YouTube video) to make a feature film about their feline friend. • Britain has started a nationwide HPV vaccine program that will target 600,000 girls, beginning at the age of 12. • A new charter school in Philadelphia called Boys' Latin has sparked a local debate about the effectiveness of same-sex schooling and if same-sex schooling should be allowed in the public school system. • The total weight of all of the fashion magazine's September issues this year? 21 pounds (about 18 pounds down from last year). • More »
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A golden retriever named Isabella at Safari Zoological Park in southeast Kansas has adopted three white tiger cubs who were abandoned by their mother. After the birth mother ignored the cubs the zoo owner, Tom Harvey, found a nursing dog to help the cubs survive. White tigers are not as "genetically stable" as their orange brethren because they are the result of inbreeding, but we sure hope these cuties make it. [AP] More »
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