A female pygmy hippopotamus calf was born at the Metro Richmond Zoo in early December, marking the third calf of the endangered species to be born at the zoo in the last five years, officials said.

The mother hippo Iris gave birth to the yet-to-be-named calf on Dec. 9 and the zoo is currently holding a contest to name the new calf. //

The new baby had a neonatal exam and weighed in at 15 pounds, a mere fraction of the 600 pounds officials say fully grown pygmy hippos can boast. //

When the hippo was declared endangered in 2015, there were only about 2,500 mature ones left, and even then officials were pulling that from a 1993 population estimate, according to the Zoological Society of London.

Now, in a revelation that's eggz-traordinary, we learn that the world's oldest known wild bird - yes, a 74-year-old Gooney bird named "Wisdom" - has laid what observers think is its 60th egg, which has to be some kind of a record. //

Wisdom is a veritable Methuselah among birds, but reports are that she is healthy, and therefore not a birden on her new mate, who has clearly fowlen in love with the elderly gooney. And this sp-egg-tacular feat or reproduction will surely land Wisdom and her new tweet-heart in the record books.

Albatrosses are known as a good-luck sign among seafarers, although woe be to any nautical type who harms one. They are impressive fliers, wielding a wingspan that can approach eight feet. They can sleep on the wing, which allows them to stay at sea for extended periods, and they roam the North Pacific from America to Asia, from Hawaii to the Aleutians, seeking the squid, fish, and crustaceans that make up their diet. They are reported to live up to 60 years in the wild, although Wisdom has surpassed not only the typical gooney lifespan but also the traditional human threescore and ten. She seems determined to hang around, and it's good to set gulls for oneself. //

7againstthebes
an hour ago
Here is something for you to think about. An Laysan Albatross flies about 50,000 miles per year. So this particular bird has flown nearly four million miles in her lifetime.

“There have been no squirrel to human rabies transmission ever documented in this country,” said Rensimer, a Texas infectious disease specialist who has been studying rabies for decades.

“I can’t imagine, frankly, what their thinking was, if they knew anything about this area,” he added.

The social-media famous pet squirrel and Fred — a young raccoon kit being nursed back to strength — were euthanized by the Department of Environmental Conservation in October just hours after they were seized from the upstate home of caretaker Mark Longo, who runs an animal sanctuary on his property. //

“Some animals almost never get rabies,” the New York Department of Health states on its rabies fact sheet — specifically naming “small rodents such as squirrels” as only ever catching it under “rare circumstances.”

And while raccoons are generally agreed to be more prevalent carriers, the actual number of confirmed cases appears to be extremely low, according to data collected by New York state. There were just 35 lab-confirmed cases of rabies in raccoons in the 17 years since records were first kept in 2007, the data show. //

While the exact timeline for rabies infections in raccoons and squirrels is not entirely known, Rensimer said similarly sized animals like cats, dogs, and ferrets will almost always show symptoms within 10 days.

As Fred had been in Longo’s care for well more than 10 days, and P’Nut had been living with him for seven years — facts readily available due to Longo’s widely viewed social media — there was ample evidence to suggest the animals were rabies-free. //

And even if the DEC agent was especially worried about rabies — which is typically fatal in humans once it reaches the brain — Rensimer said a bite to the hand from an infected animal would take about 45 days or longer to transmit to the brain. //

Test results later showed that neither P’Nut nor Fred had rabies.

The DEC did not respond to request for comment on the agency’s employee immunization practices, and have still not provided any documentation that P’Nut bit anyone during the raid.

But all of the DEC’s explanations about squirrel bites and rabies fears were cast into doubt after The Post reported officials were plotting to euthanize P’Nut and Fred at least seven days before the supposed bite — and P’Nut’s caretaker has now filed claim to sue the state to find some answers.

A younger rival may have learned how to sabotage those showers by disrupting water flow.

"Ants are able to diagnose a wound, see if it's infected... and treat it accordingly." //

“When we're talking about amputation behavior, this is literally the only case in which a sophisticated and systematic amputation of an individual by another member of its species occurs in the animal kingdom,” said co-author Erik Frank, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Würzburg in Germany. “The fact that the ants are able to diagnose a wound, see if it's infected or sterile, and treat it accordingly over long periods of time by other individuals—the only medical system that can rival that would be the human one."

The animals seem to respond more actively to calls that include their "name." //

On Monday, researchers reported what may be the first instance of a human-like language ability in another species. They have evidence that suggests that elephants refer to each other by individual names, and the elephant being referred to recognizes when it's being mentioned. The work could benefit from replication with a larger population and number of calls, but the finding is consistent with what we know about the sophisticated social interactions of these creatures.

Some hippos are a little smaller — and lighter — than others, including the endangered West African Pygmy Hippopotamus, which is found mostly in Liberia. The status of that animal makes it all the more interesting that the Attica Zoological Park in Athens, Greece, has recently had a pygmy hippo born in captivity.

Animal crossing for Utah wildlife is 'working'
Animal crossing for Utah wildlife is 'working'

An overpass built especially for wildlife in Utah is proving to be a success, according to officials.

The bridge was constructed to help animals cross between two mountains, while avoiding potentially dangerous traffic on the highway below.

Deer, bears and moose are among the "long list" of creatures that have been spotted using the connection since it opened two years ago.