Chesney the kangaroo jumped an eight-foot fence to escape his petting zoo in Wisconsin, spending three days on the lam. The young marsupial was spooked by stray dogs and went on the run last week. Sleepless nights followed for his keeper, Debbie Marland, before Chesney quietly approached a group of searchers Saturday and was back home. Chesney and his kangaroo mate Kenny are among 25 animals — including alpacas, highland cows and a camel — at Sunshine Farm, a petting zoo in Necedah, Wisconsin, that's open in the warmer months. Chesney was tired and hungry but appeared healthy when recaptured. Marland says she'll install a mesh top on his enclosure to prevent more high-jumping hijinks.
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A stranded humpback whale in Germany’s Baltic Sea looks weaker, and experts fear it won't be able to find its way back to the Atlantic. On Sunday, officials set up a 500-meter restricted zone so the whale could rest and try to free itself. Mecklenburg-Pomerania environment minister Till Backhaus says the whale seems sick and may have injuries from a fishing net. Rescuers have already freed it several times this week with boats and even an excavator, but it kept getting stranded. Scientists now report low activity and slower breathing.
A humpback whale has become stranded again in the Baltic Sea after rescuers in Germany help it escape earlier in the week. Greenpeace on Saturday said the whale is stuck on a sandbank near Wismar, according to dpa. Earlier in the week, crews try several tactics near Timmendorfer Strand. Boats were used to create waves in an attempt to push it toward deeper water. An excavator later dug a channel, and the whale swam free overnight. But it then headed east instead of toward the North Sea. Experts say humpbacks do not belong in the Baltic Sea and that it won't be able to survive there long-term.
A Florida sea turtle hospital is getting help from space to monitor animals they've rehabilitated. The scientists are particularly interested in amputees. Using satellite tracking devices in collaboration with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, the Loggerhead Marinelife Center released Amelie on Wednesday. The Kemp’s ridley turtle lost her right forelimb, probably to a shark bite. The center's staff glued a tracking tag to her shell before returning her to the Atlantic Ocean. They also used ultrasound to see that she's developing eggs. The center is now tracking four amputee turtles. Another one released in January has traveled nearly 700 miles.
Scientists are tracing back the history of dogs using the oldest genes from the species ever studied. Scientists think dogs descended from an ancient population of gray wolves somewhere in Europe or Asia. But exactly when and where this happened remain a mystery. Researchers examined ancient genes from the remains of over 200 dogs and wolves and found that the oldest dated back to about 15,800 years ago. Ancient dogs' lives were closely tied to the movements of the humans they lived with. Scientists can’t paint a picture of exactly what the first dogs looked like, but think they resembled smaller wolves. The new studies were published Wednesday in the journal Nature.
Rescue teams in northern Germany are working to refloat a humpback whale stranded in shallow water in the Baltic Sea. Experts gathered at Timmendorfer Strand beach on Tuesday after a midnight high tide failed to lift the animal free. German news agency dpa reports crews were trying to find ways to pull the whale back into deeper water. Rescuers had already tried on Monday afternoon with police boats and inflatable boats. Firefighters also use drones to help guide the effort. Sea Shepherd’s Carsten Mannheimer says the whale is alive and keeps breathing and making sounds. Experts think it is a young male.
Ugandan wildlife authorities reintroduced rhinos into a remote protected area where the large mammals once were poached into extinction. On Tuesday, two southern white rhinos from a private ranch were reintroduced into Kidepo Valley Conservation Area in the country’s northeast. Two more rhinos arrived on Thursday, wildlife authorities said. There have been no rhinos in Kidepo since 1983, the result of poaching. But a private ranch in central Uganda – the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary – has been breeding individuals since 2005. That program has succeeded over the years.
KIDEPO VALLY NATIONAL PARK, Uganda (AP) — Rhinos have been reintroduced to Uganda's Kidepo Valley National Park after populations there were w…
A Thai zoo said police has arrested a man after he entered the enclosure of Moo Deng, the viral pygmy hippo. The zoo director said the man entered on Tuesday evening while a keeper is away and no visitors were nearby. Security video shows him walking up with a tablet to film or take photos. Police initially pressed a trespassing charge and the investigation is ongoing. The zoo said Moo Deng and her mother were both safe.
Researchers say the discovery of the oldest known recordings of whale sounds could open up a new understanding of how the huge animals communicate. The recording captured the song of a humpback whale, a marine giant beloved by whale watchers for its docile nature and spectacular leaps from the water. Researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Falmouth, Massachusetts, say it was recorded in March 1949 in Bermuda. The recording predates the discovery of whale song by nearly 20 years. Scientists say the recording is important because it documents whale song during a time when the ocean was quieter.