On December 22, 1956, a baby gorilla named Colo entered the
world at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio, becoming the first-ever
gorilla born in captivity. Weighing in at approximately 4 pounds,
Colo, a western lowland gorilla whose name was a combination
of Columbus and Ohio, was the daughter of Millie and Mac, two
gorillas captured in French Cameroon, Africa, who were brought
to the Columbus Zoo in 1951.
Before Colo’s birth, gorillas found at zoos were caught in the
wild, often by brutal means. In order to capture a gorilla when
it was young and therefore still small enough to handle, hunters frequently had to kill the gorilla’s parents and other family
members.
Mother Millie with her daughter Colo who died in 2017.
The Soviet Union launched the first animal to orbit the earth
into space—a dog nicknamed Laika—aboard the Sputnik 2
spacecraft.
Laika (above) part Siberian husky, lived as a stray on the
Moscow streets before being enlisted into the Soviet space
program.
Laika survived for a few hours as a passenger in the USSR’s
second artificial Earth satellite, kept alive by a sophisticated
life-support system.
Electrodes attached to her body provided scientists on the
ground with important information about the biological
effects of space travel. She died from overheating and
panic.
Model of Sputnik 2 at the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics
in Moscow.
COOS BAY, Ore. — Oregon has yet another gem in its crown –
Wild Thang, the official World’s Ugliest Dog!
Wild Thang, an 8-year-old-Pekingese, won the World’s Ugliest
Dog championship at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma,
California on Friday.
The World’s Ugliest Dog contest has been a highlight at the
fair for almost 50 years and promotes adopting dogs from
shelters, instead of breeders, especially senior dogs.
(by Allison Berry, Associated Press)
Ann Lewis, of Coos Bay, Ore., holds her dog Wild Thang after winning first place at the World’s Ugliest Dog competition in Petaluma, Calif., Friday, June 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)