The New South Wales Government is dropping thousands of pounds of carrots and sweet potato from helicopters to feed the endangered Brush-tailed Rock-wallabies that are starving as a result of the massive bushfires across Australia. From the NSW Government:

(According to Environment Minister Matt Kean,) "Initial fire assessments indicate the habitat of several important Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby populations was burnt in the recent bushfires. The wallabies typically survive the fire itself, but are then left stranded with limited natural food as the fire takes out the vegetation around their rocky habitat.

"The wallabies were already under stress from the ongoing drought, making survival challenging for the wallabies without assistance."

In the last week almost 1000 kilograms of sweet potato and carrot have been sent to 6 different colonies in the Capertee and Wolgan valleys; 1000 kilograms across 5 sites in Yengo National Park; almost 100 kilograms of food and water in the Kangaroo Valley, with similar drops having also taken place in Jenolan, Oxley Wild Rivers and Curracubundi national parks.

Mr Kean said this is the most widespread food drop we have ever done for Brush-tailed Rock-wallabies and will help maintain these colonies and allow them to recover.

"At this stage, we expect to continue providing supplementary food to rock-wallaby populations until sufficient natural food resources and water become available again in the landscape, during post-fire recovery."

image: "Brush-tailed rock-wallabies (Petrogale penicillata)"/NPWS/DPIE

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In Atlanta, a couple say they returned from their holidays to find their home had been completely wrecked by a squirrel. Their insurance company, Mercury, says nope-- squirrel damage is not covered. The couple has launched a GoFundMe. No word on the squirrel. Read the rest

At UC San Diego, a group of experts came together to try and preserve the eyesight of 3-year-old gorilla who lives at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Read the rest

Millions of animals have been hurt or killed in Australia's devastating months-long fire season, but firefighter Sam Mcglone is able to save at least one of them – a baby kangaroo hiding under a log. Read the rest

In Sultanpur, India, a wild boar caused chaos at a gas station. Employees were no match for the animal's piggish behavior and later it apparently attacked a girl nearby.

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Arizona Game and Fish Department killed three mountain lions after at least one of them ate human remains near the Pima Canyon hiking trail near Tucson. The mountain lions did not kill the person and their identity and cause-of-death is still under investigation. Many people were displeased that the mountain lions were killed. From KOLD:

...Arizona Game and Fish consulted with national experts on mountain lions before making the final decision.

“I can tell you that the lions tore the clothes off the victim,” (Arizona Game and Fish Department spokesman Mark) Hart said. “That is an indication that they had figured out that a human being clothed is food.”

Game and fish successfully relocated a mountain lion in 2004 but in this case, the situation was different.

The lions had eaten human flesh, which is unusual, so relocating them may not make difference.

Lions can easily travel a hundred miles or more.

“If we found the best place we could put them, there’s always a risk that type of behavior would remain,” Hart said. And if they wandered back into a community “that would be catastrophic.”

image: "North American cougar (Puma concolor couguar) in Glacier National Park in the U.S. state of Montana" by National Park Service (Public Domain) Read the rest

Two big sea lions kicked back aboard a small, empty anchored boat in Eld Inlet at the southern end of Washington's Puget Sound. Josh Phillips of Spawn Fly Fish captured this delightful moment two weeks ago. “It looked a little off and we got closer and closer and realized there were two massive animals on board,” Phillips told The Olympian.

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I'm like, eighty percent certain that this kitty's going to kill whoever it is holding the camera, just as soon as it figures out that it can survive crossing a hallway filled with aluminum foil. Read the rest

Writing for the Washington Post, Danielle Paquette tells the story of Monkey Island in Liberia. Beginning in 1974, American scientists hoping to develop vaccines experimented on chimpanzees in Liberia, infecting them with hepatitis and river blindness. Eventually, due to the dangers posed by the ongoing civil war and ebola outbreak, scientists fled the country, abandoning the chimpanzees.

The chimpanzees could not be released into the wild because they were infectious, and in any event, were presumed unable to care for themselves in the wild due to their captivity. So, they were deposited on a group of small islands collectively known as Monkey Island. As the article recounts, one man was brave and caring enough to take on the responsibility to make sure the chimpanzees continue to be fed.

You can read all about it here, and donate here. Although the infected chimpanzees receive vasectomies and birth control hidden in their food, they continue to breed. Read the rest

Fish farmers on Canada's Vancouver Island spotted an eagle in the clutches of a giant Pacific octopus. Realizing the eagle would soon drown, the men freed the raptor from the cephalopod's tentacles and set it free.

“He deprived the poor octopus of a good meal,” University of Lethbridge octopus expert Jennifer Mather joked to The Guardian. “They’re quite wide in their prey choice. If something is on the surface of the water, and the octopus is close to the surface of the water, it’s food.”

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A man in Maine realized one of his female ducks was heartbroken after a bobcat “snatched her two fellow ducks from owner Chris Morris’ yard on Dry Moon Lane about two weeks ago.” Read the rest

In Prescott Valley, Arizona, David Keller was annoyed by the number of people he believes are falsely registering their pets as service animals so they can take them anywhere they want. So he visited a site called USAServiceDogRegistration.com and registered a hive of bees as his service animals. Of course, as service dog trainer Jaymie Cardin told AZFamily, these sites "don't mean anything. You can go pay for a registry on one of those web sites, and basically, you're just paying for a piece of paper and to put a name on a list."

From ADA.gov:

There are individuals and organizations that sell service animal certification or registration documents online. These documents do not convey any rights under the ADA and the Department of Justice does not recognize them as proof...

Also, Federal Law states that only dogs and miniature horses can be officially recognized as service animals.

In any case, Keller called his prank a success due to the, er, buzz it generated. "(These sites) are making people believe all animals are service animals when they're not," Keller said. "And there's a clear difference."

image: "Western honey bee" by Andreas Trepte (CC BY-SA 2.5) Read the rest

In the Las Vegas Valley, some pigeons are wearing cowboy hats. While the chapeaus may seem cute on first glance, and pigeons are annoying anyway, it's unlikely they are purposely making a fashion statement. A "pigeon positive" animal rescue group called Lofty Hopes is now trying to catch the pigeons and safely remove their hats.

"Did they glue them? And what does that mean for them?” (Lofty Hopes head Mariah) Hillman told KVVU-TV. "Is it something that's going to impede their flight or attract predators?"

“We drove up and down here yesterday for a good two hours just handing out business cards to any location where I saw pigeons and people," Hillman said. "If you see these birds, just feed them until I get here. I'm only 3 miles away and I'll come trap them." Read the rest

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (OBJ) is a supporter of the Berea Animal Rescue Friends shelter in Berea, Ohio. As part of the NFL's My Cause My Cleats program in which players wear custom shoes at big games to spotlight their favorite charities, Nike tricked out OBJ's cleats as a tribute to the animal shelter. From Hypebeast:

In line with the canine inspirations, ear flaps have been placed on two sides of each foot, hanging from the upper collars. On the medial side, “OBJ” is embroidered in gold, complemented by round tonal laces at the center. The lateral side features the Swoosh logo as well as the number “13,” while the black toe cap references a dog’s nose.

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The above GIF was created from new 3D scans of the bullets that killed president John F. Kennedy. The GIF shows two bits of the bullets that killed the president along with another mostly complete bullet plucked from Texas Governor John Connally's hospital stretcher. The National Archives temporarily removed the historic projectiles from the vault so that the National Institute of Standards and Technology could create digital replicas of them at microscopic resolution. Next year, the digital replicas will become part of the National Archive's JFK Assassination Records publicly available online. From Smithsonian:

These bullets now enter the National Archives’ digital collection alongside three others thought to hail from the same firearm: two discharged as test shots, and another from an earlier failed assassination attempt on Army Major General Edwin Walker. All were imaged with a specialized microscope that scanned their surfaces, charting their features much like a satellite recording the topography of a mountain range. The pictures were then stitched together by NIST ballistics specialists to generate a vivid 3-D rendering detailed enough to show grooves left by the barrel of the gun.

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A resident of Erie County, Ohio called police on Tuesday when she spotted a large pig outside her back door. The police attempted to capture the suspect but as body cam footage (below) shows, it was no easy task. Eventually, the sheriffs used apples to lure the pig into a barn and located the animal's owner.

"We try and avoid pigs," said Erie County Sheriff Paul Sigsworth.

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In Russia, some idiot spraypainted this polar bear with "T-34," the model of a Soviet tank. The video was shared by World Wildlife Fund employee Sergey Kavry who lives in the remote region of Chutkotka. From CNN:

In the comments (on Facebook where Kavry posted the video, he) said he obtained the video via WhatsApp from indigenous minorities in Chukotka, in Russia's far east, though it is not clear from the video where it was filmed...

Anatoly Kochnev, a senior researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti that, while the black paint is likely to wash off, the polar bear might find it difficult in the meantime to use its coat as camouflage while hunting.

It's not known why the animal was painted. Kochnev said it was probably the work of "pranksters."

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