The Columbian

Pets & Wildlife

Dia, a four-year-old Geoffroy’s cat, was rescued by zoo, state and federal wildlife officials after being smuggled through the Denver International Airport in April 2022.

Smuggled cat finds home at Denver Zoo

February 9, 2024, 6:02am Pets & Wildlife

The Denver Zoo’s latest feline resident has been waiting in the wings for more than a year — first smuggled through the Denver International Airport on a commercial flight, then held as evidence in a federal investigation. Read story

The white-naped crane Walnut and her keeper Chris Crowe walk in the grounds of her habitat at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in 2021. The crane, who fell for her keeper Crowe at the National Zoo, has died at age 42.

Internet celebrity crane dies at 42

February 9, 2024, 6:01am Life

One of the great interspecies love stories of our time has come to an end. Read story

This image released by Animal Planet shows participants in “Puppy Bowl XX,” simulcasting on Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, Discovery+, TBS, TRUTV, and MAX before the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 11.

‘Puppy Bowl’ celebrates big anniversary

February 9, 2024, 6:01am Latest News

The annual “Puppy Bowl” turns 20 this year, well over middle age in dog years. But does the sheer cuteness of it really ever get old? Read story

The chihuahua is the most popular pup among the nation’s 49 million households with dogs.

Chihuahua named Washington’s top dog breed

February 2, 2024, 6:04am Life

There’s a new top dog in town: The chihuahua is Washington’s most popular dog breed, according to U.S. News & World Report. Read story

A pig pauses at a Mipig Café on Jan. 24 in Tokyo. The animals, known as micro pigs, don’t get bigger than a corgi dog. The cafe’s pigs are toilet-trained.

Cafe serves up snuggly pigs

February 2, 2024, 6:00am Life

First there were cafés that allowed pets. Then came cat cafés, where lattes took second place to feline interaction. The latest craze in Japan: The pig café. Read story

Nomadic dog captures hearts in Spokane

February 2, 2024, 6:00am Life

The dog was skinny, scrounging for food and wandering aimlessly around the South Hill in late December. So Natasha Cleveland made it her mission to save her. Read story

Longview cat show is Saturday-Sunday

February 1, 2024, 7:49pm Life

An all-breed and household pet cat show is set to be held Saturday and Sunday in Longview. Read story

Although she was provided X-rays ahead of time, Vancouver veterinary dentist Dr. Alice Sievers took a fresh set before proceeding with root canal treatment for Sanjiv, a Sumatran tiger, at the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma.

Those are some big teeth you have: Vancouver dental specialists perform surgery on Sumatran tiger

February 1, 2024, 6:02am Clark County Life

With fewer than 500 individuals left in the wild today, plus a few hundred more in zoos, the Sumatran tiger is a rare and critically endangered species. Read story

Youngest J pod southern resident orca presumed dead

January 30, 2024, 7:41am Life

An orca born around Christmas Day, dubbed J60, who dazzled beachgoers on Bainbridge Island’s shores is now presumed dead, according to researchers. Read story

Bob Sallinger, executive director of Bird Conservation Oregon, touring the Astoria-Megler Bridge, issued warnings years ago about relocating cormorants from Sand Island. Photographed Dec. 13, 2023, on the waters of the Columbia River in Astoria, Oregon.

Fixing the cormorant disaster on the Columbia: ‘How could this have come out any worse?’

January 29, 2024, 6:02am Latest News

White streaks of bird waste paint the steel trusses beneath the Astoria-Megler Bridge over the Columbia River. Every flat surface and hidey-hole of this bridge is stuffed and stippled with nests. Black birds roost on the girders, evenly spaced as beads on a string, then take wing: double-crested cormorants. Read story