Remembering "Rex"

Today's Endangered Species Day so I thought it would be appropriate to share some pictures of one of our leucistic (white) Bengal tigers that passed away two weeks ago.

He was known as "Rex", and he lived with his brother "King Zulu" at the Audubon Zoo for the past 13 years.

Photo by: Maria DiFulco

Rex, unfortunately lost his battle to cancer at the ripe old age of 16. In the wild their life span is 8-10 years.

These two tigers had a special bond, which is unusual for their species.

Photo by: Sarah Rosedahl

Normally tigers are known to be very territorial and solitary animals, but these brothers seemed to genuinely enjoy each other's company.

Photo by: Emily Esposito

They acted as great ambassadors of their species to teach people about the declining number of tigers. Bengal tigers are the subspecies with the most representatives in the wild, but even they are running into hunters that see them as trophies or ingredients in medicine.

Visitors and Keepers alike will surely miss Rex, but I wonder if Zulu will miss him even more.

Photo by: Terri Casso-Witt

Huge thank you for all of the wonderful photos taken by vistors/adoring fans! You can see more on the Audubon Zoo's facebook page.

Animal Mothers

Being a mother doesn't mean you physically gave birth to a living creature. In fact, you don't even need to be the same species. These stories are about some unlikely mothers:

Photo by Tom Harvey and Keith Philpott

A golden retriever takes care of three Bengal tiger cubs that were rejected by their mother. They stayed together until the cubs were a year old. You can read about their last time together here.

Photo by Johanna Kerby

This little piglet has become one of the litter, in fact, he's "mom's" favorite. His story is actually a children's book called The Pink Puppy

Photo by Peter Greste

This young hippo was orphaned after a tsunami and when he was brought to a reserve the first animal he saw was the tortoise. The tortoise took the young hippo's attention and affection and stride and their relationship was explored by NPR.

Koko's relationships with kittens made the news. She named her first kitten All Ball because to her that's what the kitten looked like.

The real "criteria" for the term mother is the endless love, and giving of self to another. These animals display this in a beautiful way. Happy Mother's Day!

Cat and Crow

Today is International Migratory Bird Day and Hug Your Cat Day so I've found a story that touches on both.

One day in 1999, Wallace and Ann Collito were sitting on their front porch when they noticed a very little stray cat. The next day that same cat came around again but, this time a crow was nearby. At first the couple were worried that the crow was bullying the little kitten, but it turned out he was acting as her protector.

Over the next few weeks, they witnessed the crow finding bugs and feeding the cat. The crow also showed her where she could find water. He even scolded the cat when she hung out in the street. He would try to push her back out of the road if she didn't listen to him.

The more they saw the more they realized, he wasn't just a protector to her, they were friends. They'd wrestle and play games with each other.  And when they were going somewhere, they walked side by side. The Collitos named the crow Moses and the cat Cassie.

When they told people about this odd couple, they were met with disbelief. So the Collitos videoed Moses and Cassie interacting.

Eventually, the Collitos were able to get Cassie to trust them enough that the cat started spending the night in their house. Every morning, Moses would be there to collect Cassie and the two would enjoy each other's company all day. This relationship continued this way for over 4 years.
One morning Moses didn't show up. The Collitos think that he found a girlfriend and he knew that Cassie was in good hands.

What we do know for sure is that Cassie and Moses found each other at a time when they needed each other the most.

***Update*** There's a book about this friendship called Cat and Crow. Here's a review of that book.

Helping Hand

I love that the lizard reached out to a friend in need!

This image, taken by Alexey Tymoshenko from Caters News, made it on "Best Image of the Week" on Yahoo!. I'd have to agree.

Dog Lead Dog World

A few weeks ago, I ran across the story of Lily, a Great Dane, who was born with a  condition that led her eyelashes to grow into her eyes. Veterinarians removed her eyes when she was just a puppy.

I would have thought life would be pretty hard for Lily but, she found a guide in her friend Maddison, another Great Dane.

Unfortunately, after 6 years, her humans could no longer take care of the two large dogs and was looking for someone willing to take them both.

Just 9 days later, the story of Lily and Maddison being adopted made the news.

Maddison is a great reminder of what it means to be a friend.

Happy Halloween!

Mae Sai Mai, a Bengal tiger in the Sriracha Tiger Zoo, is "giving back".  She was nursed by a pig for 4 months when she was just a cub.