The Columbian

Pets & Wildlife

Second Chance Companions pet rescue organization has at least 75 kittens in foster care right now.

Clark County animal groups have oodles of kittens

September 20, 2020, 6:30am Clark County Life

Clark County’s cats are not social distancing. They’ve gotten very close indeed over the past several months, and now local shelters are overrun with kittens. This is what’s known as “kitten season”—the year’s warmest months, when cats are at their most amorous — and it is continuing apace. Read story

This photo taken with panorama mode but the phone wasn't turned, and provided by Zackrydz Rodzi shows a monkey which took a selfie in Batu Pahat in the southern state of Johor, Malaysia on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020.

Monkey takes phone, selfies

September 18, 2020, 6:04am Life

A Malaysian student whose cellphone was stolen while he was sleeping has tracked down the culprit: a monkey who took photo and video selfies with the device before abandoning it. Read story

Tabitha, a 168-pound loggerhead turtle, crawls into the ocean in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J. Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, after being released by Sea Turtle Recovery, a volunteer group that rescues sick or injured turtles, nurses them back to health and returns them to the ocean. Tabitha was stranded in the surf in Cape May, on June 27, 2019, where she was near death weakened by pneumonia, severe anemia, and an intestinal blockage. The antenna on her back is a tracking device that should last for about 30 days.

Once near death, rescued sea turtles sent back to the ocean

September 15, 2020, 11:13am Life

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, N.J. — The last time she felt the ocean waves swirling around her, Tabitha was near death. Read story

Researchers puzzled by orcas attacking boats

September 14, 2020, 6:18pm Nation & World

Researchers are befuddled by a group of killer whales that are attacking boats off the coasts of Spain and Portugal. Read story

Oldest elephant in North America dies in zoo at age 56

September 11, 2020, 6:01am Life

The oldest African elephant in North America has died at the age of 56, officials at a Tennessee zoo said. Read story

In this photo provided by the Audubon Nature Institute, Tumani, a critically endangered western lowland gorilla holds her newborn at an enclosure at the Audubon Zoo, following its birth on Friday, Sept. 4, 2020, in New Orleans. It's Audubon's first gorilla birth in nearly 25 years and the first offspring for the 13-year-old gorilla.

Tiny critically endangered gorilla baby born in New Orleans

September 8, 2020, 11:50am Life

A tiny baby gorilla has been born at the zoo in New Orleans. Read story

FILE - This June 29, 2017, file remote camera image provided by the U.S. Forest Service shows a female gray wolf and two of the three pups born in 2017 in the wilds of Lassen National Forest in Northern California. The Trump administration plans to lift endangered species protections for gray wolves across most of the nation by the end of 2020, the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday, Aug. 31, 2020. (U.S.

Environmentalists say Washington’s wolf program is broken

September 7, 2020, 11:43am Latest News

Gov. Jay Inslee has directed the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission to draft new rules governing the killing of wolves involved in conflicts with livestock, a move winning praise from conservation groups. Read story

Southern Resident Orcas have new member

September 7, 2020, 9:56am Northwest

The Southern Resident killer whales have welcomed a new member to their family. Mother orca Tahlequah, J35, has given birth to a calf. Read story

Lionfish, lured by a sheet of plastic lattice, swim near a trap offshore near Destin, Fla., on July 6, 2018. Scientists are looking at traps as a better way to kill the beautiful but brutally destructive invaders with huge appetites than shooting them one by one with spearguns. Traps could also be used at depths spearfishers cannot reach.

Scientists work to build a better lionfish trap

September 4, 2020, 6:00am Pets & Wildlife

The quest is on for a better way to kill beautiful but brutally destructive lionfish than shooting them one by one with spearguns. Read story

Seattle ranked among most dog-friendly cities in U.S.

September 4, 2020, 5:37am Life

It’s no secret that Seattle is a dog-loving city. It’s hard to walk anywhere without seeing pups happily traipsing alongside their owners or running around a park. Plus, with pet adoptions surging thanks to the pandemic, you’ve likely seen even more four-legged friends than usual around. But where exactly does… Read story