Category Archives: Animals

The El Chapo of Orangutans

Possessing a fine mind for strategy, mechanically inclined, with true and loyal friends, and a fair amount of luck, the greatest zoo jailbreak artist of all time, Ken Allen, was the El Chapo of orangutans. Born at the San Diego zoo in 1971, Ken’s early life was marked by sadness when he had to be removed from his mother’s care, […]

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Renting Pandas

Jonathon M. asks: Is it true that the Chinese government owns every panda in the world? Whether in D.C., London, Adelaide or Madrid, nearly all giant pandas in today’s zoos are technically there on a 5 or 10-year loan from China, and at a substantial price. It hasn’t always been this way, though. Beginning in the late 1950s and through […]

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Does the U.S. President’s Dog Get Its Own Secret Service Agents?

Ryan asks: If the president has a pet dog, do their bodyguards also watch over his dog like they do his family? Even before the U.S. president is elected such, if they’re considered a “major candidate” for the job, they get offered Secret Service protection. Whether they accept that protection or not, once elected until the day they die (unless […]

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The Law of the Tongue: The Deal Between the Orcas and Whalers of Eden, Australia

Sporting the third deepest natural harbor in the southern hemisphere and a rich habitat, the waters around Eden, Australia attract a variety of wildlife, including baleen whales and, at least in the fall and winter, orcas. At some point in the history of the indigenous Yuin people, they and the killer whales seemingly entered into a tacit sort of unspoken […]

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What are Sea-Monkeys?

Karen C. asks: What exactly were sea monkey creatures and how did they survive in their packaging for so long? The product of a collaboration between a marketer and inventor and a marine biologist, Sea-Monkeys are a hybrid of several species of brine shrimp (Artemia), bred to have a particularly long dormant period, as well as to foster a large […]

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The Life of Larry the Cat- Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom

A while ago we shared the story of F.D.C. Willard, an ordinary housecat who through a confluence of mistakes and errors, ended up being listed as the co-author of a widely cited science paper on low temperature physics. Today we’re telling a similar story about an equally impressive Tabby called Larry who is, believe it or not, an official employee […]

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