Genus Envy: The Cow Who Thinks It's A Horse

A horse is a horse, of course, of course -- unless it's a bovine.

A young German lass was told by her parents that she couldn't have a horse, but she wasn't ready to give up her yearnings to ride free throughout the Bavarian countryside atop a four-legged mammal. So the 15-year-old trained a cow named Luna to do the job.


The Associated Press article relaying the magical journey of Regina Mayer and her animal calls the two "soul mates" and recounts the years of acclimation it took to make Luna into the running, jumping, saddle-friendly cow she is today. Luna will obey commands to "go" and "gallop" and in turn gets the grooming and petting so often reserved for horses. Sometimes Luna gets a bit sassy and won't do as she's told, but to combat this tendency, Mayer got help from "a cow expert in Switzerland on how to deal with 'steering' problems." (See what they did there?)

The lesson being: Don't judge an animal by its hide. Though this open-mindedness really should have become standard the moment we saw that you can teach a squirrel to water ski.


Read more:
http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/04/06/genus-envy-the-cow-who-thinks-its-a-horse/#ixzz1IoHbdZZM

Mystery surrounds death of Knut the celebrity polar bear at Berlin Zoo

Knut, the polar bear cub, has its first public appearance with his keeper Thomas Doerflein in the Berlin zoo and (inset), is seen floating in the pond on his enclosure after dying of unknown causes at the weekend.

BERLIN - Germany was in mourning yesterday for Knut, the celebrity polar bear that died mysteriously in Berlin Zoo on Saturday.

Hundreds of people, including many children, made their way to the zoo yesterday to leave flowers at the compound of Knut, 4, a bear that became a posterboy for global warming.

The news spread across the world through Twitter and Facebook. "We have had condolences from Australia, New Zealand and Honolulu," said Heiner Kloes, the zoo's chief bear keeper. He added that many German children had collapsed on hearing the news and that newspapers devoted pages advising parents how to break the news.

"Everyone is just in shock here," said Claudia Bienek, a spokeswoman for the zoo.

Visitors had watched on Saturday as Knut writhed in the moat of his compound, and then lay half submerged in the water.


"It had been a completely normal day," said Mr Kloes. "He had just been with the female bears. After they had been shut away, he strolled around the enclosure, appeared to suffer a spasm and slipped into the water, where he died."

A post-mortem examination is to be held today and authorities are considering holding a formal funeral to allow Berliners to say farewell. Whatever the cause of Knut's early death, it is expected to lead to a fierce debate about animals in zoos.

"Knut's short and distressed life shows us again that polar bears do not belong in zoos," said Wolfgang Apel, of the German animal protection association. Peta, another animal welfare group, said last year that Knut was suffering from severe behavioural disorders, and was unable to relate to other bears. There was even a suspicion that the bear could have depression or bipolar disorder.

Knut was rejected at birth by its mother, an East German circus bear, and hand reared at the zoo. The animal's popularity was used to highlight the disappearance of polar bears because of the melting Arctic ice caps. The bear made the cover of Vanity Fair, and generated millions for the zoo.

"He was a star," said Klaus Wowereit, the Mayor of Berlin last night (Sunday). "A star who died too early."

Read More

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/mystery-surrounds-death-of-knut-the-celebrity-polar-bear-at-berlin-zoo/story-e6frg6so-1226025378763