Editors’ note: “Amy Dickens,” the pseudonym used by the author of the following guest column, will be quickly recognized as such by anyone aware that British author Charles Dickens’ most memorable female character was arguably Amy Dorrit, heroine of his novel Little Dorrit, published serially in 1855-1857. ANIMALS 24-7 does not know who “Amy Dickens” is. […]
He arose! Jonathan the 194-year-old tortoise did not die on April 1!
Reports of his death, as Mark Twain said, were “Greatly exaggerated.” HELENA––“Heartbroken to share that our beloved Jonathan,” a Seychelles tortoise with an estimated age of 194 years, “the world’s oldest living land animal, has passed away today peacefully,” a scammer purporting to be St. Helena veterinarian Joe Hollins posted to social media on April […]
Kangaroos, mink, & crocs have skin in the game; politicians do not
Republicans try to undo legislation against kangaroo leather and the mink trade; IUCN favors crocodile & snake farming DETROIT, SACRAMENTO, WASHINGTON D.C., MELBOURNE, Australia––2026 began most auspiciously for those of us who believe fur and hides belong on the animals who grew them, not to human scavengers, but that was before politicians got involved on […]
Reports from Iran: perhaps world’s most officially animal-unfriendly nation
The Iranian people have never been hostile toward animals, but the Islamist government & the Revolutionary Guard are another matter TEHRAN, Iran; JERUSALEM, Israel––Animal advocates and rescuers on opposite sides of shooting between Iran and Israel report similar responses among the dogs and cats in their care since U.S. and Israeli forces jointly bombed targets […]
Five little noted but accomplished animal advocates who died in 2025
Marshall R. Thompson, Jamie Massey, Sarah Fisher, Neil C. Wolff, DVM, and Vincent van der Merwe Among the many accomplished animal advocates whose passage in the last months of 2025 mostly escaped notice from all but family and friends were Marshall R. Thompson, Jamie Massey, Sarah Fisher, Neil C. Wolff, DVM, and Vincent van der […]
Big wins for elephants, rhinos, giraffes, sharks & falcons in Uzbekistan desert
The big loser at CITES Conference of the Parties 20 was the saiga antelope, native to host nation Uzbekistan SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan––Elephants, rhinos, giraffes, white-tipped sharks, peregrine falcons, and the Vantara captive wildlife sanctuary in Gujarat state, India, were among the big winners at the twentieth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the […]
“Don’t worry; be happy!” Animal aid in Jamaica post-Hurricane Melissa
Amid wreckage from Hurricane Melissa, rescuers find comfort in survival of creatures great & small KINGSTON, Jamaica––Self-introduces Damion Laren Whyte, “I am a naturalist from the Island of Jamaica.” A lecturer for the Department of Life Sciences at the University of the West Indies, located in Mona, Jamaica, five miles from Kingston at the east […]
Burning urgency to find homes for displaced captive marine mammals
Even if no marine mammals are displaced by fire at the Yeisk Dolphinarium, hundreds from failing dolphinariums have nowhere to go YEISK, Russia; TARANTO, Italy; ANTIBES, France; NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario; MIAMI, Florida––A marine mammal population of unknown size, including Black Sea dolphins, a beluga whale, sea lions, and seals, reportedly survived a September 9, 2025 […]
Gators grab people, python panic grips Florida, & Jaws is still scariest of all
What would a Florida summer be without creatures from the black lagoon? EVERGLADES, Florida––From Lake Waccamaw, North Carolina to the Florida Everglades is an eleven hour drive at best. Just getting to the Florida border takes nine hours. But a 12-foot male alligator perhaps accidentally injuring a 12-year-old girl on June 13, 2025 nonetheless made […]
Turtle news? Not much is new to a turtle, but they just keep plodding along
25th annual World Turtle Day was a much bigger success than Donald Trump’s military parade MALIBU, California––The 25th annual World Turtle Day was “shellebrated,” in founder Susan Tellem’s idiom, back on May 23, 2025, but turtle and tortoise news tends to crawl along much like turtles and tortoises themselves, much more slowly and calmly most […]