SCIENTISTS have grown meat in the laboratory for the first time. [more inside]
posted by kliuless on Nov 30, 2009 - 94 comments

In 20 years, according to one estimate, wild lions could be extinct in Kenya. [more inside]
posted by allkindsoftime on Nov 24, 2009 - 38 comments

Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home Tribe of Heart's first film, "The Witness", was an eye opening look at how one man's whole life was changed by an encounter with a kitten. Their new film, "Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home", tells the story of a group of farmers coming to grips with the realization that they can't continue to make a living from the suffering of animals.
posted by DaddyNewt on Nov 13, 2009 - 7 comments

Vanity Fair explores the rise of cuteness and why we love it so very much.
posted by Lutoslawski on Nov 11, 2009 - 48 comments

"What's the deal with cat ladies?" asks an article. Maybe you saw the TV show, which could be "the grossest footage" on TV. Gross indeed, but read the studies from the Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium, or watch the documentary, and maybe you'll want to visit the little old lady that lives down the street and see if she's OK.
posted by Cool Papa Bell on Nov 8, 2009 - 47 comments

-Where Tasty Morsels Fear to Tread
-'Leopard Behind You!'
-A Long, Melancholy Roar

posted by kliuless on Oct 17, 2009 - 6 comments

Clips from each six episodes of BBC's Walk on the Wild Side, which involves the overdubbing of voices to natural history footage. 1 2 3 4 5 6
posted by MaryDellamorte on Oct 6, 2009 - 16 comments

Animals With Lightsabers.
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Sep 14, 2009 - 15 comments

The sounds of a loon, two owls, cat, wood stork and cuckoo are the sole musical instruments in this furry arrangement of the classic, "Fur Elise," composed by Ludwig van Beethoven. The Dance of the Sugar Plum Furry, trained flies, underwater astonishments, make new animals and more at Switcheroo Zoo. [more inside]
posted by nickyskye on Sep 12, 2009 - 26 comments

The Ever So Strange Animal Almanac
posted by anastasiav on Sep 9, 2009 - 9 comments

Dogs were probably the first animals animals to be domesticated - because we wanted to eat them.
posted by bigmusic on Sep 7, 2009 - 50 comments

Photographs of extinct animals.
posted by shakespeherian on Aug 27, 2009 - 37 comments

An Armadillo running and sniffing
The Mole-Cam
Cow Staring at Cow.
These and many more at the Museum of Animal Perspectives, a site run and curated by Sam Easterson.
posted by vacapinta on Aug 27, 2009 - 39 comments

Alan! Alan! Alan! Alan! Alan!
posted by Christ, what an asshole on Aug 19, 2009 - 49 comments

Animals With Casts has everything from a wrinkly mutt with his hind legs supported by a homemade PVC pipe wheelchair, to an elephant with an enormous leg cast, to a turtle with two wheels attached to its shell, to a baby kangaroo with its hind legs wrapped up. But please don't go breaking your pet's leg just to get in the lineup.
posted by netbros on Jul 30, 2009 - 19 comments

Apes do it. Birds do it. Even educated elephants do it. But can a dog do it? Can a dog make art? Meet Tillamook Cheddar, an adorable Jack Russell Terrier who, after 19 solo shows, has made more than $100,000 in sales of paintings like these. (I believe she did not choose the titles.) Opinions on her work vary. [more inside]
posted by maudlin on Jul 25, 2009 - 33 comments

Endangered pangolins (scaly anteaters) have been heavily hunted in China to supply a large demand for food, particularly fetus soup (warning: graphic photos), and Chinese medicine. "Proceedings of the workshop on trade and conservation of pangolins native to South and Southeast Asia" [PDF] a report from TRAFFIC (Wildlife Trade Network) was released yesterday. More on pangolins previously on MetaFilter
posted by booknerd on Jul 21, 2009 - 33 comments

Masturbation in the animal kingdom.
posted by gman on Jul 17, 2009 - 52 comments

Friday Flash Fun: Who Pooped? [NSFLunch, autoplays sound] Brought to you by the Minnesota Zoo.
posted by aheckler on Jun 5, 2009 - 32 comments

National Geographic's photographic history of monkeys in space.
posted by Joe Beese on Jun 2, 2009 - 15 comments

At the Toronto Humane Society, veterinarians say animals die suffering unnecessarily in their cages while pleas to euthanize them are dismissed. Dozens of staff, volunteers and veterinarians have quit in protest. ... A note written by a staff member or volunteer on the medical chart of a cat, animal ID A127495, admitted last fall, reads: "Died Oct 19 3:15 am. Gasped and jerked and cried last breaths, because there was no one in shelter to euthanize or treat. This is not humane." ... [THS president] Mr. Trow says he strives to keep euthanasia rates low for ethical reasons. “How can anyone suggest that, because he might be here longer than anyone would want, that it's better to put [a dog] down?” Mr. Trow asked. “I think that's a strange suggestion, don't you? You live here as long as you can.” Images (yes, they're disturbing.) Video of a puppy adopted out with a broken leg. The THS web site. [more inside]
posted by maudlin on May 30, 2009 - 63 comments

Now preparing for departure: PetAirways, an airline exclusively for animals that begins service to five US cities in mid July. Entrepreneurs Dan Wiesel and Alysa Binder came up with the idea of catering to the in-flight comfort of your four-legged friend, using specially modified cabins with pet attendants. Will it take off? The most recent APPA National Pet Owners Survey estimates that US pet owners spent $45.4 B on their animals in 2009.
posted by woodway on May 22, 2009 - 42 comments

Charlie plays. Charlie explores. Charlie bites. Charlie relaxes. Charlie sleeps. Charlie loves. [more inside]
posted by Joe Beese on May 1, 2009 - 41 comments

The art of Justin Gibbens. Gibbens imitates the conventions of 18th and 19th century zoological illustration and traditional Chinese fine-line painting to make images of curious creatures and beautiful beasts. [Via]
posted by homunculus on Apr 17, 2009 - 9 comments

What can jump 4 feet straight up, births identical quadruplet pups nearly every time, can curl itself into an armor-plated ball, walk underwater for up to six minutes and can swallow air until it bloats to double its size to float? [more inside]
posted by iamkimiam on Apr 2, 2009 - 39 comments

Implausible hybrid creatures, by Amy Ross. [Via]
posted by homunculus on Apr 2, 2009 - 22 comments

Revealing how we are just a bunch of monkeys... (via) [more inside]
posted by kliuless on Mar 28, 2009 - 15 comments

No, you're not drunk, it's really a pink elephant. Pink dolphin unavailable for comment.
posted by baphomet on Mar 22, 2009 - 17 comments

Bay Area resident Michelle Hamilton has been adopting and caring for dozens of abandoned and neglected animals in the past decade, racking up tens of thousands of dollars in debt. To call this a "predicament" for Hamilton is a little misleading. She sees only one option when faced with the choice of paying for the care or treatment for an animal in need: she pays, regardless of cost.
posted by porn in the woods on Mar 16, 2009 - 45 comments

In 2005, graphic artist Kentaro Nagai was struck by the play on words between peace and piece in relation to global politics. This concept was expanded in an exhibition entitled Twelve Animals, where Nagai rearranged outlines of the world's landmasses into shapes respective of the aspects of the Chinese Zodiac. [via]
posted by Smart Dalek on Feb 12, 2009 - 11 comments

The title says it all: Pets Who Want To Kill Themselves.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy on Feb 7, 2009 - 32 comments

Woof Report has a litter of pup-perfect ideas, dog care tips, products, and more. Think of it as your daily dose of doggie delight. Woof Report works to promote awareness of animal welfare causes, pet adoption initiatives and charities.
posted by netbros on Jan 18, 2009 - 2 comments

"The animals all think he's Margaret when he speaks. He loves ordering them around and commanding them – it's very surprising. He's not frightened or scared of them at all."

Baby Elephants Eat Christmas Trees : in Germany, baby Elephants are put to work eating five fir trees apiece each day. [more inside]
posted by grapefruitmoon on Jan 5, 2009 - 26 comments

I, for one, welcome our new loner female, tool-using dolphin overlords. [more inside]
posted by kliuless on Dec 27, 2008 - 40 comments

Snow day at the zoo. Even the baby elephant has fun. Seals, tigers, wolf, elephants. Teh cute starts at 2:36. [more inside]
posted by nickyskye on Dec 26, 2008 - 21 comments

Animals In Formalin Preservation. That is all.
posted by gman on Dec 24, 2008 - 15 comments

Cute things falling asleep.
posted by Korou on Dec 16, 2008 - 61 comments

Fuck You, Penguin. A blogger tells cute animals what's what. (Slightly NSFW - profanities in text.)
posted by wretched_rhapsody on Dec 15, 2008 - 53 comments

The longer the fish can stay out of the water the less likely a predator will catch it. Flying fish are showing up all over the world.
posted by rageagainsttherobots on Nov 16, 2008 - 28 comments

The philosopher and the wolf. "A spur-of-the-moment decision to buy a wolf cub changed Mark Rowlands’s life. From that moment on he found human company never quite matched up." [Via]
posted by homunculus on Nov 14, 2008 - 50 comments

The Dog Files is a website and video podcast about dogs and the people that love them.
posted by blue_beetle on Nov 14, 2008 - 7 comments

The Noisy Drinking Cat. More videos of animals having fun. Who says that animals don't experience pleasure? [Scroll down for some of the interesting things animals enjoy.] Love Songs Bring Pleasure to Bird Brains. [more inside]
posted by nickyskye on Oct 26, 2008 - 41 comments

Using ground-breaking photography techniques, revolutionary 4D scanning techniques and anatomically accurate models, Channel 4 shows us Extraordinary Animals in the Womb.
posted by chuckdarwin on Oct 22, 2008 - 8 comments

Chrissie Hynde: “[A] complete rock star in every sense of the word”? Nope: “I consider myself an animal activist first and my music as more of a hobby that gives me a platform to fight for animals.” [more inside]
posted by joeclark on Oct 5, 2008 - 136 comments

Global Warming. [more inside]
posted by iamkimiam on Sep 19, 2008 - 64 comments

Remember Cy? Well, meet the world's first pigmonk. Or would that be monklet? [more inside]
posted by miss lynnster on Jul 26, 2008 - 40 comments

Got some time to kill? Well then, maybe you should start exploring the exciting world of papercraft! To get you started, here's a link to 100 free paper models and toys. Once you're done there, you might want to start checking out card modeling, build some skyscraper models, animals and motorcycles and when you get really good, faces of real people such as these. There's even some creative paper modeling websites out there for the kids and people who like Pokemon and Nintendo. And if all those links still aren't enough to satiate your new found lust for papercraft, check out this papercraft search engine for even more designs.
posted by Effigy2000 on Jul 25, 2008 - 12 comments

Baby Animal Alphabet [more inside]
posted by miss lynnster on Jul 21, 2008 - 49 comments

Eusociality - its what bees, ants, and all those other insects that divide into workers, drones, and queens do. But naked mole rats (which are not related to moles or rats) are one of only two mammal species that follow the same pattern, with their cousins Damaraland mole rats as the only other eusocial mammals. They're also nearly cold blooded, impervious to pain, and feed their young on their own feces from the time they're a month old until they can eat the giant tubers that make up most of their diet.
posted by sotonohito on Jul 17, 2008 - 39 comments