Living Nature
From an advent calendar filled with Brussel sprouts to breakfast served in a Christmas stocking, animals at London Zoo got a taste of their own festive treats on 20 December, in the run-up to the holidays.
More than £11,000 had been raised less than 24 hours after the blaze broke out.
Monkeys and exotic birds are among the animals housed in the affected area.
An orphaned spectacled bear was rescued in Peru, after locals reportedly killed his mother and left the 8-month old cub tied to a tree. The cub is receiving round-the clock care with local vets, to get him back to health.
Berlin’s Tierpark released more images of their newest polar bear cub, born on 1 December. The mum and baby will be housed in an isolated area to minimise the risk of the cub picking up an infection.
When a sea turtle washed up on shore, veterinarians thought it was sick. But when medicine didn’t help, they found a plastic bag lodged in its throat.
An estimated 145 pilot whales became stranded on the remote Stewart Island off the south coast of New Zealand. By the time conservation groups reached them half had died and the other half had to be put down due to their poor health and remote location. In a second separate incident, 10 pygmy whales were stranded on the other side of New Zealand. Two have died, but with more help available conservationists are hoping to “refloat” the surviving eight. The process involves returning them to the sea slowly.
With Christmas season in full-swing, London Zoo has set up a light display of animals to see once their 19,000 residents go to sleep. While some nocturnal animals may be spotted, a Zoo spokesperson has reassured that the light’s don’t bother any of the residents.
Three rare white Bengal tigers were born at a safari park in Crimea. Tigers are endangered, with poaching, deforestation and over-hunting of their natural prey making it hard for them to survive in the wild. These white tigers are purposefully bred from a line of tigers with the recessive gene needed to give them their white fur.
The big cat was sedated while an attempted rescue took place.