The Columbian

Pets & Wildlife

Giant panda Yang Guang sits as visitors have one final opportunity to say goodbye before zoo keepers get him ready to make his way back to China, at Edinburgh Zoo, in Edinburgh, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. Yang Guang and Tian Tian have lived at Edinburgh Zoo since 2011 as part of a 10-year agreement between the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) and the China Wildlife Conservation Association.

Scotland bids farewell to its giant pandas, who are returning to China after a 12-year stay

December 1, 2023, 8:11am Life

Visitors to the Edinburgh Zoo had their final chance to see and bid farewell Thursday to a pair of popular giant pandas who are returning home to China after more than a decade in Scotland. Read story

Naillah Benjell of Los Angeles greets Maximus Mighty-Dog Mueller III, otherwise known as Mayor Max III, the mayor of Idyllwild, during a public appearance.

Tale of how dog became town’s mayor

December 1, 2023, 6:04am Life

Most politicians caught with their tail between their legs are voted out of office or run out of town, but not the mayor of Idyllwild, Calif., a small mountain community about 25 miles south of Banning. Read story

Owners bring their dogs to a park in Los Angeles. Veterinary laboratories in several states are investigating an unusual respiratory illness in dogs that causes lasting illness and doesn’t respond to antibiotics.

Symptoms of respiratory disease to look for in dogs

December 1, 2023, 6:04am Life

An unknown respiratory disease is affecting hundreds of dogs in several states across the country, but very little is known about the disease. Read story

The city of Tacoma is considering banning the practice of declawing cats.

‘Choose cats, not couches.’ Tacoma considers regulations on the declawing of felines

December 1, 2023, 6:03am Life

The city of Tacoma is considering banning declawing cats, as well as changing penalties for noise complaints against neighbors with loud animals. Read story

In this image taken from a video, a humpback whale breaches from the waters off Seattle on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. The whale has been spotted swimming in Elliott Bay for three days. Humpback whales visit the waters of the Seattle area as they migrate up and down the West Coast.

Young humpback whale leaps out of Seattle bay, dazzling onlookers

November 30, 2023, 6:46pm Life

A humpback whale visiting the waters off Seattle dazzled onlookers Thursday morning with several breaches in they bay just beyond the city’s downtown area. Read story

Pet Peace of Mind is a national nonprofit that also operates out of Vancouver. The programs assist hospice patients with pet upkeep and in some cases re-homing after a patient has died.

Hospice patients, pets focus of Pet Peace of Mind, which has Vancouver branch

November 30, 2023, 6:07am Clark County Health

Belinda Walker’s mother had her two Havanese and Pomeranian dogs on her lap 24/7. Read story

FILE - This photo provided by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife from a remote camera set by biologist Chris Stermer, shows a wolverine in the Tahoe National Forest near Truckee, Calif., on Feb. 27, 2016, a rare sighting of the elusive species in the state. Scientists estimate that only about 300 wolverines survive in the contiguous U.S.

US moves to protect wolverines as climate change melts their mountain refuges, threatens extinction

November 29, 2023, 2:15pm Latest News

The North American wolverine will receive long-delayed threatened species protections under a Biden administration proposal released Wednesday in response to scientists warning that climate change will likely melt away the rare species’ snowy mountain refuges and push them toward extinction. Read story