Nothing can bring spirit and joy back like an impactful animal story. Many of the famous animal tales featured in USA TODAY focus on events involving rare and extraordinary creatures, connecting readers with animal stories they may have missed.
January: Ohio Dog Breaks Guinness World Record
An Ohio Chihuahua has been named the world’s oldest living dog by the Guinness World Records. Spike, who turned 23 years and 26 days old on January 19, 2023, is from Camden, a small town with a population of just over 2,000.
At the age of 23, Spike earned the title of the world’s oldest living dog from Guinness World Records. The dog, originally informally adopted by Rita Kimball in 2010, was spotted wandering in a parking lot.
“He had been shaved on his back, and there were blood spots around his neck from a chain or rope, and he looked really bad,” Kimball said. “A grocery store clerk told us he had been there for three days, and they were feeding him leftovers… When we left the store and went into the parking lot, he followed us.”
Kimball took the little dog home, and the rest is history.
She decided to name him Spike because he had a big attitude despite being “small and friendly.”
The record holder spends his time going on long walks with his owner, enjoys Brown Swiss sausages with cheese for dinner, and looks forward to his weekly evening bath.
Spike recently celebrated his 24th birthday.
February: Dog Living with Wolves in Nevada Returned to Family
The Capada family from Las Vegas was reunited with their 4-year-old pit bull named Hades after he lived with a pack of wolves in the Nevada desert for at least six months before being rescued by concerned residents.
After living with a pack of wolves in the Nevada desert for six months, the 4-year-old pit bull named Hades was reunited with his family just in time for Valentine’s Day.
The Capada family from Las Vegas fought to prove they were Hades’s true owners after a bitter dispute arose between them and the women who rescued him from the wild.
After nine days of showcasing photos, videos, and documentation from the family, a nonprofit shelter caring for the pup decided that Hades belonged to the Capada family after all.
“It was a very emotional reunion,” said Kelsey Bezy, a spokesperson for the animal foundation, to USA TODAY at the time. “As soon as he saw his family, he ran straight to them… and kept jumping into everyone’s arms.”
The family spent Valentine’s Day celebrating the return of their pup by baking a cake.
“We got him some treats for Valentine’s Day, and he’s here, in his big, comfy home,” said Kristi Capada at the time.
March: Smiling Husky Finds Forever Home
The unique appearance of dog Harvey made finding a home for him a challenge. Harvey, who has a nasal deformity, spent months in Southern California waiting to be adopted.
Most families who came to adopt a pet either overlooked Harvey after a quick glance or said he was ugly. One shelter employee decided to help Harvey by sharing some of the dog’s positive traits on Facebook.
“Harvey is a calm and relaxed husky who gets along with other dogs and loves treats,” according to the post. “He has a facial deformity that doesn’t bother him but gives him a crooked smile. I think that makes him more charming.”
He did not…
It took a long time for the shelter to receive a response.
A woman from Seattle named Sherry Lankston found the post and commented that Harvey’s cute face made her “moved.”
“I saw the post and shared a joke with my husband. I told him, ‘We found our second dog. His crooked smile melted my little crooked heart,’” Lankston told USA TODAY.
Lankston and her family drove over 1,000 miles to meet Harvey in person. They realized they would adopt Harvey as soon as they saw him.
Lankston said that Harvey’s “deformity” is actually his strength.
“That smile is really one of a kind,” she said. “He’ll be able to wiggle out of trouble.”
April: Adopting a Huge Cat in Virginia
It didn’t take long for someone to express interest in giving Patches, the gray and white cat weighing 40 pounds, a permanent home, despite his unique health challenges.
The Richmond Animal Care and Control launched a strong campaign for Patches, with clever captions and images on social media to attract a potential owner.
“Did you wake up today and say, ‘Let’s adopt the biggest cat we’ve ever seen? If so, we have the right cat for you,” the shelter wrote in a Facebook post on April 19.
People who showed interest in adopting the “beautiful sweet kitty” were asked to email the shelter with their home information and a written commitment to help Patches “reach a safe and healthy weight.”
Patches was adopted the same afternoon, and the shelter confirmed this in a video stating that the cat “is leaving the building.”
Christy Chipps Peters, the director of animal care and control in Richmond, told USA Today the next morning that the cat was doing well in its new home.
“We are so happy that we found him a committed companion who will help him reach a healthy weight,” Peters said.
May: Discovery of a Massive Sea Turtle in the Chicago River
A Chicago resident documented a sighting of a massive sea turtle sunbathing in the Chicago River and dubbed it “Chonkosaurus.”
Since the video was first posted in May, it has been viewed over 900,000 times.
“It’s amazing to see this beast thriving here in a river that was previously considered toxic, but it is being gradually cleaned and restored,” wrote Joy Santor, who shared the Chonkosaurus video on X, in the post.
Santor decided to take it a step further by adding humorous comments about the unexpected sighting while kayaking along the river and chatting with another person about the giant reptile.
“That’s a huge turtle… look at that beast,” Santor can be heard saying in the post as the turtle rests on the rocks. “Hey, how are you doing, buddy? You look good, you’re healthy.”
June: Video Shows 28-Year-Old Chimpanzee Seeing the Sky for the First Time
Hearts melted in June after a video showing a chimpanzee named Vanilla seeing the sky for the first time after spending her life in a cage went viral.
The “Chimpanzee Rescue” organization, which captured the moment on video, provided a new home for Vanilla after the closure of the animal shelter where she had lived for 24 years.
Vanilla was one of four monkeys transferred to “Chimpanzee Rescue.”
“Vanilla was more hesitant when the door opened to this new world,” unlike some of her chimpanzee counterparts, who walked right in, the “Chimpanzee Rescue” previously told USA Today.
The emotional video shows Vanilla jumping into the arms of Dwight, the alpha male, as she enjoys seeing the sky for the first time in her life.
Keep looking up, Vanilla.
July: Divers Spot a Unique Creature Underwater in Taiwan
Divers recorded a rare encounter with a deep-sea creature off the coast of Taiwan in June.
The swordfish features a scaleless body covered in silvery sheen and is usually found at depths ranging from 200 to 1,000 feet below the surface, making the sighting unusual. The marine creature, also known as Regalecus glesne, can be found virtually anywhere except the Arctic.
It was
The viral video posted by diver Wang Zhengru in June shows the team encountering a giant swordfish in the shallow waters off the Ruifang area in the northeastern part of the island, according to USA Today.
“Many amazing animals can be found off the northeast coast of Taiwan… but this was my first encounter with a giant swordfish,” Zhengru told Newsweek.
The Guinness World Records has dubbed the swordfish as “the longest bony fish in the world.”
In 1963, a swordfish was caught in New Jersey measuring an estimated 50 feet in length, and in 1885, a specimen weighing 600 pounds was caught in Maine.
August: Birth of a Spotless Giraffe at Tennessee Zoo
A giraffe named Kigaki is unlike any giraffe you have ever seen. She is better.
The giraffe was born at Brights Zoo in Limestone, Tennessee on July 31, and she is the only known giraffe to be born with no spots, according to the zoo’s staff to USA TODAY.
The last known sighting of a patternless giraffe was in Tokyo over 50 years ago. The animal, considered an endangered species, was added to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List in 2018.
A mutation in one or more of the genes may be the reason for Kigaki’s unusual coloring, according to Dr. Sarah Ferguson, a wildlife veterinarian and conservation health coordinator at the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, as reported by National Geographic.
She was also the only one among her siblings who was born with a solid brown coat.
David Bright, director of Brights Zoo, confirmed to NatGeo in August that Kigaki’s coloring was certainly surprising, but assured that she is “healthy and natural.”
The zoo decided to make the announcement of the birth of the rare giraffe more exciting by allowing the public to vote on one of four names on August 22, choosing Kigaki a week later. The name Kigaki means “unique.”
The zoo hopes that all the attention Kigaki has received since her birth will aid in conservation efforts.
“The international media coverage of our patternless giraffe baby has brought attention to the vital need for giraffe conservation,” said Tony Bright, founder of Brights Zoo, in a press release. “Wild populations are silently becoming extinct, having lost 40% of wild giraffe populations in the past three decades alone.”
September: Rescue of a Foal After its Mother was Killed
A foal got a second chance at life after being rescued by an officer in Arizona.
The one-day-old foal narrowly escaped death after its mother was struck by a car on Pleasant Lake Road, about an hour north of Phoenix, according to USA TODAY.
The foal sustained some minor injuries and remained in the area where its mother was killed. Once a police officer from the Arizona Department of Public Safety received the call, he went to retrieve it.
Knowing that the foal wouldn’t survive on its own in the wild, he contacted Stacy Thomas from the “Wild Burros and Mustang Foals” foundation in New River. Thomas agreed to take the foal if Hansen could get it to the shelter, so Hansen carefully loaded the foal into his police car.
The foal settled in with a nursing jennet after arriving at the shelter.
“The foal quickly settled and adapted to its adoptive mother, and was eating and running and playing just as a young foal should,” according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety in a Facebook post. “Thomas’s granddaughter named the foal ‘Roger’ in honor of Officer Hansen.”
October: Exhibition of the Cutest Animal Photos Showcased in a Global Competition
Included
A collection of animals from around the world, including two horses dancing the tango and a kangaroo playing the air guitar, in the photo and video showcase for the 2023 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards.
The global competition featured a “wonderful diverse mix of funny wildlife,” according to USA TODAY.
41 independent photos and three videos and three portfolio entries were selected from thousands of submissions. The winners were announced on November 23, with the best photo winning a week-long safari in Kenya.
November: A golden retriever farm in Vermont goes viral
A couple from Vermont was inspired to create a unique experience for dog lovers.
The Golden Dog Farm in Jeffersonville, Vermont is hosting an activity called the “Golden Retriever Experience,” also known as “Happy Hour,” where you can enjoy cuddling and hanging out with a group of golden retrievers for a while, according to USA TODAY.
Continuous one-hour sessions allow guests to enjoy the company of at least 10 dogs from Butternut Goldens, while they enjoy snacks and drinks.
Doug and Becca Warble, the owners of the Golden Dog Farm, said that the overwhelming success they have had so far was not certain when they decided to embark on the adventure in early 2023, when bookings were few and far between.
Everything changed when a video about the experience was posted on the TikTok account of travel influencer @mydarlingpassport, where it garnered 5.6 million views.
“We went to bed at night and woke up Friday morning and everything was booked,” Warble said. “Then we added additional dates and they were booked. Then we added more additional dates.”
The experience is currently booked out until the end of the year, but you might get a
Source: https://www.aol.com/dog-reunited-family-life-coyotes-001835465.html
Leave a Reply