The Columbian

Pets & Wildlife

A giraffe is among hundreds of animals living at the Ostok Sanctuary near Culiacan.

Lions, tigers and monkey in bulletproof vest

January 27, 2024, 6:02am Life

Emilia is a 2-year-old spider monkey who wears jeans, crop tops and Armani perfume. Read story

Noemie Leibov, 8, pauses reading aloud to pet Strummer during Tails and Tales at the Mukilteo Library on Jan. 17 in Mukilteo.

Tales and Tails: Therapy dogs help kids conquer reading fear at Mukilteo Library

January 26, 2024, 6:04am Life

On a snowy Wednesday afternoon, Nichole Leibov and her 8-year-old daughter Noemie headed to the Mukilteo Library for their biweekly tradition. Read story

Study: Washington home to ‘most responsible dog parents’

January 26, 2024, 6:04am Life

There once was a time in which it was completely outrageous and even controversial to refer to our dogs as our children, but in this post-pandemic world that we live in, it is the new norm. Read story

In this image taken from video provided by Michigan State Police, officers work to extricate a man from the waters of frozen Arbutus Lake in Grand Traverse County, Mich., Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. The man was rescued after a quick-thinking state police officer used the stranded man’s dog to get rescue equipment to him and pull the man to safety in a rescue captured on video.

Officer enlists Michigan man’s dog to help rescue him from icy lake

January 26, 2024, 6:04am Life

A man who fell through the ice on a frozen Michigan lake was rescued after a quick-thinking state police officer used the stranded man’s dog to get rescue equipment to him and pull the man to safety. Read story

Ariel, a black spaniel, after surgery, in Bristol, England, on Jan.

6-legged spaniel undergoes surgery to remove extra limbs and adjusts to life on 4 paws

January 26, 2024, 6:04am Life

A spaniel born with six legs that was found abandoned in a supermarket parking lot is now like other dogs after having her extra limbs surgically removed. Read story

CAPTION CORRECTS INFO FILE - Keeper Zachariah Mutai attends to Fatu, one of only two northern white rhinos left in the world, in the pen at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia county in Kenya. Fatu is incapable of natural reproduction. The last male white rhino, Sudan, was 45 when he was euthanized in 2018 due to age-related complications. In testing with another subspecies, researchers created a southern white rhino embryo in a lab from an egg and sperm that had been previously collected from other rhinos and transferred it into a southern white rhino surrogate mother at the Ol-Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. The team only learned of the pregnancy after the surrogate mother died of a bacterial infection in November 2023.

A rhino got pregnant from embryo transfer, in a success that may help nearly extinct subspecies

January 25, 2024, 8:00am Life

A rhinoceros was impregnated through embryo transfer in the first successful use of a method that conservationists said might later make it possible to save the nearly extinct northern white rhino subspecies. Read story

Vancouver native Mark Bittner and his many parrot friends one day in the early 2000s on Telegraph Hill in San Francisco.

Birder of Telegraph Hill: Kiggins screens parrot documentary starring Vancouver native

January 25, 2024, 6:02am Clark County Life

It was big Bay Area news last summer when sea lions, the tourism darlings of San Francisco’s Pier 39 Marina, took a dive in a contest to name that city’s “unofficial-official” animal. Read story

FILE - A bald eagle flies at Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge, Dec. 24, 2021, in Mound City, Mo. Harvey Hugs, a Montana felon previously convicted of killing eagles to sell their parts on the black market, was sentenced to three years in federal prison Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, for related gun violations.

Montana man convicted of killing eagles is sentenced to 3 years in prison for related gun violations

January 24, 2024, 6:47pm Life

A Montana felon previously convicted of killing eagles to sell their parts on the black market was sentenced to three years in federal prison on Wednesday for related gun violations. Read story

FILE - A Louisiana black bear, sub-species of the black bear that was protected under the Endangered Species Act, is seen in a water oak tree, May 17, 2015, in Marksville, La. A move is underway that wildlife advocates hope will persuade the state to end plans to overturn a nearly 40-year-old hunting ban on Louisiana black bears. The petition had just over 7,500 signatures as of Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024.

Federal officials consider adding 10 more species — including a big bumble bee — to endangered list

January 24, 2024, 3:57pm Life

Federal wildlife officials announced Wednesday they will consider adding 10 new species to the Endangered Species Act, including a big bumble bee that serves as a key pollinator across the United States. Read story

Blast of cold lets alligators show off special skill

January 23, 2024, 5:37pm Life

The recent blast of cold weather has given alligators a chance to show off their way of coping with freezing temperatures. Read story