Purple Herons Breed For The First Time In The UK

Wildlife Extra:

The first purple herons ever to breed successfully in the UK have hatched their chicks on the RSPB’s Dungeness Nature Reserve in Kent. It is not yet known how many chicks have hatched and confirmation will only be possible when the young fledge in a few weeks time…

RSPCA Opens Luxury Dog Shelter In Durham

ChronicalLive:

It’s a far cry from the dog house as the first residents move into their long-awaited £2m pad.

Some of the region’s most cruelly-treated hounds will get to enjoy luxury at the new kennels, kitted out with underfloor heating, an indoor and outdoor area for each dog and Perspex panels so they can see their neighbours.

After 10 years of planning, work started in August last year to create the shelter, which opens this week and boasts 36 kennels, 12 of which will be used for animals involved in cruelty cases rescued from their former homes by the RSPCA…

Whale And Dolphin Watchers Wanted In Dorset This Summer

BBC News:

The marine research charity Sea Watch is seeking nature lovers and sea users to watch out for dolphins and whales along the Dorset coastline this summer.

The research is being carried out as part of National Whale and Dolphin Watch (NWDW).

Observers can participate in ‘watches’ from land or, if they have access to a boat, the sea.

Key locations for sightings in Dorset include Portland Bill, Durlston Head and Poole Bay…

Bad News For Humpback Whales

Radio Australia:

There’s been a controversial end to the whaling commission meeting with the International Whaling Commission giving Greenland the right to hunt humpback whales.

Nations were split on the decision with some accusing critics like Australia of denying the culture its basic rights. But the chair forced the opposition parties to back down in the spirit of co-operation, a move that was ridiculed by conservation groups who say the IWC has failed in its duty.

Prosthetic Paws For Bionic Cat

Australia Telegraph:

First there was Six Million Dollar Man Steve Austin, then Bionic Woman Jaime Sommers – now meet Oscar, Britain’s lucky bionic cat.
Nine months ago he was fighting for his life after an horrific accident on the Channel island of Jersey cost him both his back paws. But with prosthetic paws after pioneering surgery in London, the two-year-old moggie is set to star in The Bionic Vet, a British TV show…

Dog Rides 11,000 Miles Around Europe On Back Of A Tiger

Daily Mail:

Any biker will tell you there’s nothing like the thrill of the wind rushing through your fur on the open road.

While your average Jack Russell is more at home with walkies, Smudge has taken to motorbikes like a real road dog.

The three-year-old terrier has clocked up more than 11,000 miles biking around Europe by riding side-saddle with her owner Rob Fuller on his Triumph Tiger…

Giant Salmon Will Be First GM Animal Available For Eating

Telegraph:

A salmon that grows at twice the normal rate is set to be the first genetically modified (GM) animal available for human consumption…

Psychic Cats

Penguin Books:

Do cats have healing powers?

Do they have a sixth sense?

Do they really know when someone is about to die?

Psychic Cats is a collection of unexplained and heart-warming true stories that demonstrate the remarkable psychic power of cats.

Angel cats that have refused to let death part them from their human companions, cats who have saved lives, cats who have helped their owners find love . . . This book confirms that our whiskered friends are divine messengers of comfort with precognitive abilities.

Cat-loving spiritualist Theresa Cheung shows that the sixth sense in cats is well and truly alive, and that they have the ability to touch our hearts long after they have purred their last.

Deer News

RSPCA:

A baby roe deer, born after her mother was hit and killed by a car, is being hand-reared in a Cheshire RSPCA centre.

An inspector was called to a pregnant deer hit by a car near Turton, Bolton at around 1.00am on Sunday 23 May 2010. The collision killed the adult almost instantly but ruptured her abdomen and two kids spilled out. Miraculously, one was still alive.

RSPCA chiefs initially rated the tiny newborn’s prospects as bleak. But now, four weeks on, they have described Bambi’s survival as unbelievable and told how she is getting stronger by the day.

Cambridge News:

Staff at a kitchen and bedroom shop in Cambridge were left fawning over a cute new customer – a deer.

The female muntjac ran into Premier Kitchens and Bedrooms in Histon Road through an open door, before ending up in the staff kitchen, where it was kept until the RSPCA arrived.
Debbie Karram, a demonstrator at the firm, said: “The poor animal was terrified and was running and jumping around the showroom Bambi-like before aiming for the door it had come through…

BP To Donate Revenue From Oil Spill To Wildlife Foundation

Xinhauanet:

British oil giant BP said Tuesday it would donate net revenue from the oil it recovers from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

BP said in a new release that it would provide 5 million U.S. dollars to the group immediately, “to ensure that their work can begin even as initial oil collections from the Discoverer Enterprise enter the refining process”…