These pictures were taken in February at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya. An elephant was giving birth when a group of lions and hyenas mistook her newborn for a potential breakfast. But watch as the rest of the herd comes to the female’s aid by huddling around her until she delivers her calf.
Capetonian Dave Meinert was recently asked to look after a mate’s dog for the weekend. Apparently that included strapping a camera to the pet’s back and making a music video for local electro-hero Johnny Neon. And boy, are we glad he did that! See the video that has had everyone talking for the last week – after the jump.
President Jacob Zuma made a very cool announcement this weekend on the 22nd anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s release from prison. Towards the end of this year South Africa will get a series of new bank notes which will have Madiba’s image as the main illustration instead of the animals we’ve come to know.
I just had to look up the words “EPIC” and “FAIL” in the dictionary, and would you know, this story was listed underneath each description. A South African conservation group demonstrating an anti-poaching method for reporters accidentally killed the rhinoceros they were using in the demonstration.
There have been two incidents recently where “rehabilitated” dogs have attacked people. Each time it sparked online discussions about whose fault it is – the owner, the dog or the victim? But these situations are much more complex. Check out this clip of a dog biting a news anchor, unprovoked, in the face during a recent interview.
A teen surfing in the wake of a yacht off the Gulf of Mexico was pleasantly surprised when two animal friends decided to join him. Watch this very cool video – featuring a pair of curious Bottlenose dolphins swimming and jumping beside the boy – after the jump.
I love the fact that we still live in a world where people care enough to do something like this. A horse recently fell down a 15m rocky cliff in Wales. It survived the fall only to find itself trapped by rough seas. This video details the rescue operation by two lifeboat crews who just happened to pass by as the incident took place.
A public and media outcry followed the release of information that a KZN businessman, who has not been identified, made a winning bid of R969 150 for the right to hunt a male white rhino in Mkuze Game Reserve. Rhino hunting permits are actually issued far more often than you might think.
Pockets Warhol is white-capped capuchin monkey. He has been given that name because he uses his tail, hands, feet, and of course, a brush, to daub canvases with his own unique artistic paintings. Pockets has become a money-spinning machine for bosses at at Story Book Farm, a primate sanctuary in Canada, with his paintings selling for as much as R3 500 each. See examples of his work after the jump.
This clip, taken last year, is believed to have been filmed at the Olympic Game Farm in Washington. It features a huge Kodiak bear waving back at sightseers and has quickly become a hit on the internet. Viewers are particularly delighted by his cheery demeanour. I love how he gives that, “OH IT’S YOU!” look before waving back.
Wild at Heart is a British TV show being shot in South Africa. One of its stars is Lucy, a nine year old pregnant giraffe. This week she fell into a swimming pool on set – forcing rescue workers to demolish it in order to free her. Video after the jump.
The Beagle Freedom Project rescues dogs that are bred and used for lab testing. These dogs are born in laboratories and live in cages their whole lives. The project recently rescued 40 dogs, between ages four and seven, who have never seen outside sunlight.
Joao Leite dos Santos is one loco ese! On Sunday he visited a Brazilian zoo in Sao Paulo, got drunk, and decided to take a swim in the monkey enclosure. As you’ll see from this video, he ended up being attacked and badly injured. According to experts, the only reason why he survived was because the monkeys were afraid of the water.
“Humphrey’s like a son to me, he’s just like a human. There’s a special relationship between me and Humphrey”. These words were uttered by Klerksdorp farmer, Marius Els earlier this year. Pictures were also taken of him happily riding on his 1 200kg pet bull hippo’s back. But on Saturday night, Humphrey the hippo gouged Els to death by repeatedly biting him.
Jamie O’Brien is a well-known Hawaiian pro-surfer. He recently decided to create some awareness surrounding fibropapillomatosis – a herpes-type virus that affects sea turtles. His “campaign” involved posting a picture of himself “riding” one of these turtles underwater. But it turns out he may have instead broken laws against harassing turtles, as well as offended fellow Hawaiians who consider these creatures as ancestral guardian spirits.
This is pretty badass – footage of a Gauteng biker assessing a motorcycle rally course for the Amageza Challenge and taking a short detour midway through to save a calf drowning in a nearby canal. In the event that you’ve grown tired of Gaddafi footage, and would like to watch something awesome instead.
A red-tailed hawk from the San Francisco Botanical Gardens miraculously survived after being shot on purpose by someone with a nail gun. For almost a week after incurring the injury, the nail extended from its cheek through the front of its head. He was rescued over the weekend and is currently being cared for at the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley in San Jose.
On Sunday, 20 000 bullfighting fans packed Barcelona’s La Monumental bullring to watch the last corrida that Catalonia will hold; the event was headlined by Spain’s premier matador, José Tomás. The regional ban on bullfighting, which was approved at the end of last year, goes into effect in January.
Researchers in Gothenburg, Sweden, met this week to launch a new “meat without slaughter” initiative – with plans on being able to release bio-sausages in the next six months. Bio-sausages made from exotic animal cells, too, because vat-grown tiger meat isn’t any less ethical than vat-grown bacon.
“Jy speel op Avbob se stoep!” If you aren’t familiar with this Afrikaans saying, get Johan in the office to translate it for you. This is exactly what the dove in this video is busy doing. Watch as this cheeky bugger sides up to a sleeping cat and… no, rather watch it yourself. This is too priceless to spoil!
The Chinese are being weird again. But since they gave us paper, the compass, and dominoes, perhaps we should let this one slide. The latest craze over there involves dyeing their pets to look like wild animals such as pandas and tigers. See pics inside.
Here at 2oceansvibe we are very much about the “vibe”. And this canine has it! If animals could read, I’m pretty sure this dog would be a regular visitor here. He has become the latest “awww cute, man!” thing on the internet due to his ability to crack a grin just like us humans. Day made!
Boy, those Russians are tough! Take this 36 year-old scientist for instance – swimming naked with Beluga whales in minus 1.5 degrees Celsius! Natalia Avseenko wants to explore the possibility of taming them before they are transported to dolphinariums around the world. Why naked? They do not like to be touched by artificial materials such as diving suits, duh!
Footage of a bunny born without ears has emerged from just outside the exclusion zone, near Japan’s crippled Fukushima plant. Thanks to help of local media and Japan’s online community, the inhabitants of this area now fear the possibility of one day bearing kids with no ears.
Sometimes there just isn’t anything more important in life than to watch videos like this. Yes it is cute, but more importantly it is the realisation afterward that hits hardest. If a cat and a dolphin can connect on such an intense level why can’t a black and a white human? Or a Palestinian and an Israeli. Take your pick, but hopefully you get my point?
The University of Illinois, collaborating with the Equid Research and Conservation lab at Princeton, have put together software that can uniquely identify any striped, spotted or otherwise marked animal with a clear digital photo. Like a barcode!
Everybody is talking about the start of U2’s concert, which had Bono waxing lyrical about Cape Town and South Africa. But then he went for a pretty cool vibe and compared each band member to a wild animal. “What manner of exotic creature do we have here” was hilarious (for The Edge)! Then Bono called […]
A 16 500 year-old cemetery was discovered a decade ago in Jordan and some of the findings are very interesting with regards to our bond with domesticated animals. It was discovered that, before cats and dogs, the red fox might have been man’s best friend.
We take a break in our schedule to give you a classic compilation of animals being hysterical. It’s so easy for us, as humans, to mock animals – we’re just so much more advanced than them. I mean, who came up with TV? And you don’t see them driving around in cars, right? God, they’re so thick! No internet for them either!
For every cute little kitten, there are at least a million other animals out there that will literally eat your face off. Why? Because nature is an asshole, that’s why. While things like parktown prawns, great white sharks and rain spiders scare the bejezus out of me, they are nothing compared to these 7 creatures that prove that nature hates us and we are all going to die.