Coco the Chocolate Labrador

Pictured above is Coco, a one and a half year old female chocolate Labrador.

Although Coco is still just a baby, she still manages to escape from the house from time to time and catch wild birds.

She also enjoys eating paper, running through the sprinklers, and jumping on visitors with her big muddy paws.

She lives with her friend Falkor, who is a Pitbull/Labrador mix, and probably the source of all her bad habits.

Vital stats:

Name: Coco
Breed: Chocolate Labrador
Size: Medium
Weight: 40 lbs
Age: 1.5 years
Sex: Female
Loves to: Jump all over you

(photo: courtesy of her owner Peyman)

Up Close and Personal at the Taronga Zoo

Above are a few pics of a friend of mine who worked briefly at the famous Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia.

She’s a vet, and was fortunate enough to spend a bit of time in Sydney working with a slew of different zoo animals including bears and tigers.

The pictures above give you an idea of what vets working at zoos do when the animals get sick or need special care.

Luckily, both animals were sedated so she was able to get an up close and personal look at both these amazing species.

Most people only dream to see these animals, let alone operate on and care for them.

Tiger Piglets

In another pig-related post, we see a Tiger mom nursing a bevy of little piglets in a Thai zoo.

The Sriracha Zoo, 50 miles east of the Thai capital Bangkok, recently created a program teaching domestic animals, such as pigs, to get along with wild animals, such as tigers, as a means to boost visits to the zoo.

The end result has been largely effective, with pictures like the one above showing the relative harmony these two very unlike species have etched out for themselves.

The program also has mother pigs, also known as “sows” nursing tiger cubs at a very young age.

Not only is the practice great for tourism, but it may come in handy if any complications leave a cub or piglet without a mother in the future.

Pigasso Painting Pigs

A farm in Buckfastleigh, Devon, England has stumbled upon a novel idea to raise funds for their Farm Crisis Network charity.

The farm has enlisted the help of two piglets, known as “Van Snout” and “Bottabelli” who one day accidentally got into a few cans of non-toxic paint, and the next day had become artists.

Their work is comparable to a Jackson Pollock painting for its messy and loose design, and wild mix of colors.

Farm owner Chris Murray said “The pigs tended to go more for pointilism – they weren’t too keen on cubism. We think of them as our little Pigassos.”

The paintings sell for up to £16 each and have raised more than £150 so far, which is sure to grow once the news spreads.

The quality of the paintings is actually quite good, so good that you may be surprised to see who the true artists are behind the works.