Welcome to the
ANIMAL KINGDOM ROOM

PIGERTIG?
After checking with other zoos across the country, no tiger cubs of the right age were available to introduce to a mourning mother tiger. The veterinarians decided to try a new approach ... you won't BELIEVE your eyes!

THE KISS THAT SAYS IT ALL
While photographing a house fire, a photographer noticed a Doberman watching one of the firemen ...

GIRL RISKS LIFE FOR HORSE
A selfless teenager tells how she risked her life to save an injured horse trapped in a burning truck.

DIPPED IN FOR BEST MATE
A gutsy 72-year-old man risked his life when he stripped naked and dived into freezing, filthy water to save his drowning, blind dog.

GOAT SAVES MAN'S LIFE
Australian dairy farmer Noel Osborne declared goat milk the elixir of life recently after surviving on it for five days as he lay in the open with a broken hip.

DOLPHINS PROTECT LIFEGUARDS In November of 2005, during a training exercise, four lifeguards in New Zealand were herded together and surrounded by a group of dolphins. The dolphins kept the men together by doing tight circles around them. Then the lifeguards noticed that a great white shark had been coming toward them. The dolphins surrounded the group for forty minutes until it was safe for them to get to shore. Dr. Constantine, a marine mammal researcher at Auckland University, said that the altruistic response of the dolphins was normal. “They like to help the helpless,” she said.
the British Psychological Society, The Research Digest, issue 27

PET DOG A HERO A Husky bitch has saved the life of a Taiwanese newborn by snatching him from the toilet after his mother gave birth alone at home and collapsed. The 24 years old mother told the United Daily News that her 10-month old dog, Baby, followed her to the bathroom when she went into labour on Sunday. The woman gave birth to a boy on the toilet and managed to cut the umbilical cord before collapsing on the floor, too weak to call for help. But her faithful dog snatched up the baby's leg with her mouth and rescued him from the toilet, she told the paper. Doctors said mother and baby were in a stable condition. (Melbourne Herald Sun, January 7, 2006)

DOLPHINS TREAT DEPRESSION : Patients with mild or moderate depression can be successfully treated by swimming with the dolphins. A study published in the British Medical Journal found that swimming with the creatures led to falling levels of depressive symptoms in patients. The findings support the theory of biophilia - showing how human health and well-being are dependent on relationships with the natural environment. (Melbourne Herald Sun, November 26, 2005)

FROGS FIGHT AIDS: A frog that frequents Australian toilets and pot plants could help fight AIDS. A compound secreted from the skin of the green tree frog is being touted as preventing the transmission of the HIV. A report published in the Journal of Virology this month claims the secretion could help scientists develop a topical lotion that could be applied before and after sexual intercouse. (Melbourne Herald Sun, October 16, 2005)

PETS HELP MS: Diet and choice of pets could play independent but important roles in multiple sclerosis. University of Montreal scientists found vegetarian diets reduced MS risk by 60%, while keeping a cat halved the chance of disease. The unusual study was presented at the 2001 Congress of Epideiology in Toronto. (Melbourne Herald Sun, June 29, 2001)

DOLPHINS PROTECT SWIMMERS: A group of swimmers has told how a pod of dolphins protected them from a great white shark. Rod Howes and 3 other lifeguards were swimmingabout 100m off Whangerei, on New Zealand's northeast coast, when the dolphins herded them together. "They started to herd us up. They pushed all 4 of us together by doing tight circles around us." Mr. Howe said. He then saw why. A 3m great white shark was cruising towards the group just below the surface. (Melbourne Herald Sun, November 24, 2004)

ANIMAL WARNING: Sri Lankan officials are looking to use animals in an early warning system for earthquakes and tsunamis, hoping to take advantage of the insticts that allowed wildlife to escape last month's giant waves. Gamewardens at Sri Lanka's biggest national park believe animals fled before the tsunami hit because no animal carcases have been found there. Experts say beasts in Yala national park fled because keen senses such as hearing allowed them to detect the tsunami's approach long before humans could. (Melbourne Herald Sun, January 19, 2005

SEAL SAVES DOG: A seal saved an elderly dog after it was swept away by fierce currents in a fast-flowing river in northern England. Witnesses said the dog, which appeared to be injured before hitting the water, scampered into the River Tees and tried to swim to the opposite bank - but the current got the better of him. Suddenly, a seal appeared from the depths and gently pushed the german shepherd into mudflats on the bank. "I've never seen anything like it and I don't think I ever will," Chris Hinds said yesterday. "This seal just came out of nowhere. It was like the guardian angel came up." (Melbourne Herald Sun, June 21, 2002)