Animal Fix: Pandas, Cubs, a Gator crossing the road & a Swan's Love Story

Pandas at the Olympics: 

Remember Izzy from the Atlanta Olympics?  Not really much of a mascot was he?  Well the Chinese have a can't miss mascot for upcoming Games.  The Panda.  Everyone loves them, so the Chinese are gathering Pandas for a display the world has never seen.

Here are the preparations. 

Eight giant pandas from a breeding centre in southern China are set to travel to Beijing for the Olympic Games after being picked in an online vote.

They are to join the seven pandas currently residing at Beijing zoo, which is expecting a dramatic increase in visitors for the duration of the Games.

Pandas are considered a national treasure and Jingjing the panda is one of the five official Olympic mascots.

According to state media, zoo officials decided to use the opportunity of the Games to promote the protection of the rare creatures and their living environment.

The China Panda Protection and Research Centre in Wolong, in Sichuan province, was called upon to provide the zoo's new, temporary residents.

On its website, the centre gave visitors a chance to pick eight pandas out of a group of 16.

Described by the centre as "well-mannered, lively, mentally healthy and easy going", the lucky winners were four females - Cuicui, Duoduo, Meixin and Fengyi - and four males - Taotao, Langlang, Huanhuan and Fuwa.

All were born at the centre in 2006.

According to the Xinhua news agency, the zoo has upgraded its facilities to accommodate the visitors.

It also plans to build a giant panda museum that will document efforts to save the endangered species, Xinhua said.

The animals will be on display at Beijing Zoo until November.

---

And now, let's get to the babies.

Another German Polar Bear Cub: 

Nuremberg Zoo's polar bear cub takes first steps in the outside world since being taken from mother.

Nuremberg Zoo's famous polar bear cub Flocke took her first tentative steps outside on Friday.

Flocke has been indoors since being taken from her mother after zoo officials observed the adult repeatedly dropping her offspring and feared for the cub's safety.

While the three and a half month old cub now weighs a hefty 36 pounds, she still needs the protection of her keepers, who kept a close eye on her as she explored outside, sniffing the strange smells in the air and
clambering over rocks.

Flocke was allowed to wander round a vacant tiger pen but is still too young to join the rest of the polar bears at the zoo.

It has four keepers to prevent becoming attached to just one person, which could lead to it adopting human behaviour, and is expected to become a big star when making a first public appearance next month.

---

Cub Mania in Japan: 

Zoos in Japan are celebrating the arrival of newborn lion and cheetah cubs at the beginning of a warm spring.

One rare lion cub, born on 11th February, made his first public appearance on the 21st of March.

The precious Indian lion cub, also known as the Asiatic lion, was very weak and put in an infant incubator immediately and the zoo has decided to raise the cubs.

Two cubs were born but the sibling died after the birth.

Scampering around, the seven-week-old Indian lion is being treated like the "prince" of the zoo because he is the first male cub in eight years.

On Wednesday, he was named "Raja" deriving from the Hindi word for "King".

The cub rested its front paws on the milk bottle as proud father Shunichiro Tajima fed the cub like he does everyday.

The rare cub has been nurtured by the zoo keeper and have grown to a healthy 5198 grammes.

In the past eight years, male cubs were born but none of them survived. Raja is the proud survivor of the Zoorasia. His older brother is housed at Ueno Zoo at Tokyo.

The cubs are particularly special because they are so rare - there are barely 500 of the species still in existence - 300 in the wild and 200 in captivity.  

---

Schmidt's Red-tailed Guenon Baby 

A rare monkey was born at the Houston Zoo, and it's the first birth of the species at the zoo in 29 years.

Matani is a Schmidt's red-tailed guenon. His father, Kabili, arrived at the zoo in 2006 with several other monkeys rescued from the bushmeat and illegal pet trade in Africa.

“Matani means ‘strength’ in Swahili, and the baby is living up to his name,” primate supervisor Dena Strange said. “He’s very strong and healthy. His mother, Malaika is being a great mom.”

It's Kabili's first offspring. According to the zoo, there are only 37 of the monkeys living in 10 zoos in the United States.

Though the red-tailed guenon is not endangered, it is protected by an international agreement.

Their homes are being destructed by deforestation.

They're found in the Central African Republic, Kenya and Uganda.

---

Baby River Otters:

Who knew that River Otter pups look like newborn dogs! 

Animal lovers in Columbus got their first look at the city zoo's new pride and joy.

Zoo revelers took in the sights of very rare newborn river otters.

While otters are not endangered, their birth in captivity is extremely rare.

n fact, the three new otters, one male and two female, are only the second litter of otters the zoo has ever had.

Zoo keepers say their mother Audrey is taking good care of the new two week old kits, as baby otters are called.

---

Baby Kangaroo: 

A New York zoo on Friday introduced a new baby kangaroo named Riley.

Brookland's Prospect Park Zoo announced the new name after it was selected in an Internet naming contest.

Voters could choose from four names: Kinta, Kylie, Nari and Riley.

Born to parents Christy and Junior, the baby western grey joey hopped around and groomed itself in the pen with her mother.

---

Frisky Donkey Colt 

A little Democrat was born in Iowa this week. Well sort of.

The icon of the Democrats is the donkey and an awfully cute little donkey was born at the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines.

Zoo officials even say the little fellow was likely conceived as Democratic presidential candidates campaigned in the state last May.

The male baby donkey weighed approximately 27 pounds at birth.

Sicilian male donkeys are called "jacks" and are unique in that their head appears big for their body.

---

Now let's move on to Wild Animals in the Big City.

Alligator Hits Town 

You probably saw this on the news this week.  Here are two angles of the Gator who tried to cross the road.

A rush hour reptile stopped traffic along one South Florida Traffic Tuesday . It happened along a major highway in Broward County.

Drivers kept a close eye on the nine-foot gator on the grass in North Lauderdale. It took about an hour for a sheriff's office deputy to block off the area until a wildlife officer arrived.

With traffic backed up, onlookers watched as the gator crept closer.

The wildlife officer was eventually able to snag the gator after rush hour. The gator is considered too large to release back into the wild, so Florida Fish and Wildlife says it will be harvested.

We've got the view from overhead.

And then, up close and personal, with reaction from passersby.

---

Attack of the Turkeys:

Beware of amorous wild turkeys.  We've got plenty around here these days.

The residents of a Twin Cities apartment complex are having turkey  troubles.

A group of wild turkeys have moved into the complex a while ago, but one male has gone bad now that it's mating season.

Reporter Maya Nishikawa the story.

---

A Swan In Love 

And speaking or romance, sometimes you just can't choose who you fall for.  And that has created quite a soap opera for Petra the Swan. 

A black swan called Petra has been reunited with her beloved swan-shaped paddleboat after a failed romance with a real bird in Germany.

Officials at a Muenster zoo where Petra has been spending the winter took her to a nearby lake on Friday and released her next to the paddleboat shaped like a giant white swan.

"It was very surprising for us, that suddenly the real swan appeared. And then Petra thought: "Ah there's a real swan", and then she left her paddleboat. But we were okay with it, this is of course biologically explainable," the Zoo director said.

"But then suddenly the real swan was gone and what's going on now? The paddleboat remained true and now Petra is with the paddleboat again. I almost would say that this is true love, finally. This is of course a bit over the top, but it simply is a nice story," Joerg Adler added.

In recent months, Petra had struck up a relationship with a real white swan.

However, he abandoned her last weekend - and officials decided to reunite her with the boat, which was returned to its owner only last week.

He said it was too early to tell whether Petra will stay with the boat this time.

Petra became so attached to the boat back in 2006 that she refused to leave its side.

When winter came around, she and the boat were taken into the zoo.

"From now on, this will last forever. Now, that she has realized that the other swan is not meant for her, as he left her. Petra and the paddleboat belong together," a visitor to the zoo said.

But others think there may be hope for real love for the black swan.

"Some day, it will get a bit one sided for her and maybe she'll find a (real) swan again - and I hope this will. happen," another visitor to the zoo said.

Petra abandoned the real swan last weekend and officials decided to reunite her with the boat, which was returned to its owner only last week. 

---

Stranded Cat:

How many times has Luther told you, but we still just don't listen.

This cat climbed a power pole in Mesa, Arizona, sending his owner into a tizzy.

Lisa McGowan called the police.. she called the firefighter.. she called animal control.  But none would come out and rescue her cat from the power lines.

But she did manage to get a news hellipcopter to respond.

McGowan says Toehead was up there at least 24 hours. 

So who finally saved the cat?

Toehead eventually climbed down himself sometime in the night.

As they often say, you never find cat skeletons in trees where they get stuck.