Different news stories have been making headlines over the week all featuring different animal stories. Featured below is the top five news stories of the week highlighting different animals across the country.
1.) Charlotte the Stingray: Charlotte is a stingray featured in an aquarium in North Carolina’s Appalachian Mountains. She is currently pregnant with pups; the surprising twist however is that she has not been a tank with male stingrays in eight years. It is possible for stingrays to reproduce on their own via a phenomenon called parthenogenesis. Parthenogenesis occurs when an egg fuses with another cell which can trigger cell division resulting in an embryo. Whats so interesting about this is that it is incredibly rare and and not often seen in captivity. Charlotte is due to have her pups soon and the aquarium has plans to install a live camera for fans to see Charlotte and her pups.
2.) Cayenne’s Cardiac Episode: Last September, Cayenne, a 9-year-old anteater at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, was hospitalized after he repeatedly kept falling out of trees, which is rare for anteaters. Doctors discovered that he was suffering from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which caused the muscles of his heart to thicken and inhibit its ability to effectively pump blood. He was put on heart medication, which stabilized his condition until he suffered another cardiac episode and required another hospitalization. This led zoo veterinarians to begin the search for another long-term solution in order to avoid further issues and collapses. This past week, Cayenne received an insertable cardiac monitor, one third the size of a AAA battery, which will record his heartbeat and allow veterinarians to monitor for irregularities and arrhythmias. This will help veterinarians to better adjust his medications and implement preventative measures if needed. While this technology has been used in domestic animals before, it has never been used in anteaters and may open doors for cardiac care in zoos in the future.
3.) The Reintroduction of the SWIMS ACT: As of February 14th, 2024 the Strengthening Welfare in Marine Settings (SWIMS) ACT has been reintroduced in the United States. The goal of this legislation is to transition out of holding orcas, beluga whales, pilot whales, and false killer whales in captivity for public viewership. Specifically, with the passing of this legislation breeding, wild capture, and import and export of these species for public display has become illegal. This is targeted at big theme parks and aquariums who currently hold multiple whales in captivity and have faced backlash in the past for treatment and living conditions of this species.
4.) Corra the Elephant: Corra the two month old elephant calf at Disney’s Animal Kingdom was released onto the savanna conservation February 15. Corra’s a second generation born African Elephant, and the first second generation elephant ever born at a theme park. Aside from her mother, Corra also has her grandma and several aunts located on the property as well. Disney is also expecting two more baby elephants to be born in 2025.
5.) Cheetah Genetics: Five Cheetah cubs were born at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. Eight year old Echo gave birth to three male and two female cubs on September 12, 2023. What is so newsworthy about this however is that the staff at the Smithsonian performed genetic testing on these cubs to determine who the father was. There were two potential options for paternity of Echo’s cubs. Staff collected blood samples from each cub during routine care and passed it on to a genetics lab to undergo DNA testing to determine parentage. When the results came back, it was determine that it was a litter of mixed parentage and that three of the cubs were sired by one cheetah and two of the cubs were sired by another.
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