Wildlife

Killing Stray Cats With Tylenol Is "Humane," Audubon Writer Says

Everybody has that neighbor (OK, some of you are that neighbor) whose heart bleeds for all the stray cats in the hood. Cat Lady or Cat Dude leaves paper bowls full of Meow Mix all over the sidewalks, and the scraggly, fiercely independent kitties go tomcatting all over town. You might think you ... More >>

Manatees Dying Off Both Florida Coasts; Scientists Trying to Figure Out Why

Scientists have been working diligently to figure why manatees have started to die at an alarming rate lately. While Red Tide -- which is basically blooms of poisonous algae called Karenia brevis that is deadly to fish and other sea life -- off the coast of southwest Florida has killed roughly 180 ... More >>

Alleged Manatee Molester Cuddles With Animal, Lets Kids Ride It

Last October we told you about Ana Gloria Garcia-Gutierrez, the Pinellas County woman who was arrested for hopping on top of a manatee and riding it like it was a horse. See also: -Accused Manatee Molester Is on the Loose in St. Petersburg -Manatee Molester Ana Gloria Garcia-Gutierrez Arrested ... More >>

Five Cutest Animals Saved Wildlife Center (Photos)

On Clean Plate we write a lot about delicious food and, because we can, we show you equally delicious pictures of it. Sure, pictures of cats would get even better traffic, after all, this is the internet. Unfortunately, while pictures of adorable animals are web traffic gold, there isn't generally m ... More >>

Hundreds of Manatees Find Refuge From the Cold Near FPL Plant

Merry Christmas, South Florida! It's 304 manatees! The recent cold snap forced hundreds of the sea cows to the FPL plant located east of State Road 7 right off Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The herd sought refuge from the suddenly chilly weather in the plant's discharge of war ... More >>

Florida Panther Population Saved By Texas Pumas

Turns out that male Florida panthers think female Texas pumas are kinda hot, because the once-endangered cat's population has been buoyed thanks to mating with those Texas felines.Back in 1995, eight female pumas were brought to Florida from Texas by wildlife officials, in hopes that mating with the ... More >>

Manatee Molester Ana Gloria Garcia-Gutierrez's Family Doesn't Understand What All the Fuss Is About

The family of Ana Gloria Garcia-Gutierrez, the 53-year-old St. Petersburg woman arrested for molesting a manatee, is none too fired up about cops arresting her after she committed a crime. Police arrested Gutierrez at her job in a St. Petersburg Sears over the weekend on a warrant for violating ... More >>

Here's How the Feds Busted David Feltenberger for Smuggling Turtles to China

In October 2011, an undercover officer with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service arrived at David Feltenberger's "Big Lake Fish Farm" in Okeechobee. Feltenberger was sentenced last week for conspiring to export turtles. He had a license to keep hundreds or thousands of softshell turtles, snapping ... More >>

Should Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Be Let Lose In Key West?

The latest battle over genetically modified organisms is brewing in Key West. On one side, a British biotechnology firm called Oxitec and a mild-mannered Midwesterner by the name of Michael Doyle, who heads mosquito control operations in the Keys. Together, they want to release millio ... More >>

Forest Ranger Beats Huge Python to Death With Rake, Posts YouTube Video, Retires for Unrelated Reasons

​Most people eat cake and slack off on their last day of work. Not Jean Bernard Tarrete. The former forest ranger wrapped up his career with the Florida Forest Service at the end of March by hunting down a 15-foot Burmese python, wrestling with the beast while a coworker beat it to death with ... More >>

Python Destruction of Everglades May Be Overhyped

​At the end of January, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published a study suggesting that Burmese pythons were decimating mammal populations in the Everglades. The numbers were shocking: a 99 percent decline in raccoon sightings, a 98 percent drop in opossum  ... More >>

Monster Pythons From the Everglades Get Dissected on PBS Show (Video)

​Nature shows are simply brilliant television. Sharks devouring seals in midair, a Golden Eagle dragging a helpless mountain goat to a savage death, and monkeys getting wasted off fermented fruit -- these are things dreams are made of.  Now South Floridians can puff out their chest with local ... More >>

Hoofing Emperor Penguins Return In "Happy Feet Two"

Florida Has World's Worst Invasive Amphibian and Reptile Problem, According to UF Research

University of FloridaThis iguana doesn't belong in Florida, but here it is at someone's front door in Lake Worth.​If you're looking for a reptile or amphibian species that "causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health," chances are, it's in Florida.According ... More >>

Monarch Air Says It Will Stop Shipping Monkeys

South Florida SMASH HLS​Animals rights activists are claiming victory after a local private airline, Monarch Air Group, agreed to stop shipping primates for research. Monarch, which runs private passenger and cargo flights from its base in Fort Lauderdale, sent a letter to the animal rights group ... More >>

Top Chef Masters Recap: Gettin' Squirmy With It

NBC/Universal​Bravo's Top Chef has (mostly) been a beacon of light in the dimly lit world of reality television. On Top Chef people are smart and driven and even though there are sharp knives and open flames, no one has been stabbed or set on fire purposely. Though some past chall ... More >>

Food Mystery: Vanishing of the Bees

Vanishing of the Bees - Trailer from Bee The Change on Vimeo. Honey, if you haven't heard about the disappearing bees, you are in for a shocker! Vanishing of the Bees is a film currently screening across the country (this Sunday in Palm Beach Gardens) about the massive disappearance of bees from hi ... More >>

Amerijet Says It Will Stop Shipping Monkeys

​Amerijet, the Fort Lauderdale-based cargo shipping company, will cease transporting primates, according to a letter printed on Amerijet letterhead, addressed to the president of the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida. For months, local animal rights activists have targeted the company, writing l ... More >>

Florida Otters May Look Cute, but Lately They've Been on the Attack

​Florida's otters are up to no good.First, in March, a 90-year-old man in Venice, Florida, was brutally mauled by a rabid otter, which came streaking from the bushes of an otherwise peaceful street like a cute, button-nosed demon. The otter went for the man's foot and brought him crashing to the g ... More >>

Morning Juice: Aid to Haiti Trickles in; FPL Rate Hike Denied

​The catastrophe in Haiti dominates the headlines in South Florida and around the world:The Port Au Prince airport is now taking chartered flights and aid has arrived -- just nearly enough to meet the dire need for water and fuel. [New York Times]Lynn University in Boca Raton learned late last nig ... More >>

An Ocean of Art

Panda Baby

Koala Overdose

The Australian bush fires that started on Saturday have racked up a devastating death toll, with 181 confirmed dead and it could total over 200. How does the world comfort itself? By oohing and ahhing over a rescued koala bear. Get outta the way, you un-cuddly human survivor with unsightly burn woun ... More >>

Pompano Dude Saves World from Killer Bees

Jason Soldini has been working in Animal Control for the city of Pompano Beach since 1996. On an average day he might pick up dogs, put down a raccoon, and scrape some roadkill off the street. In 2005 he recalls hearing the city's meter readers routinely being attacked by giant black swarms of Afric ... More >>

Florida Is Cleaner

No sale!

Primate on the Rocks

In a Wilton Manors bar, the monkeys are cool and the Cocksuckers are creamy

Reptile Style

RIP, Silver

Landfill Memorial

Victory Varmint

From Boca Raton to Baghdad, this squirrel may be the key to winning the War on Terror.

Shark Bites

JAWS Unleashed is as sloppy as it is gory.

Shell Game

Over the Hedge wants you to feel bad about what it's selling, which is everything.

Capsule reviews of current area art exhibitions.

Motor City Overhaul

The Detroit Cobras tune up a classic sound

How A-boat It?

Floundering

Cruel, vapid, and unfunny, this Shark bites

Let Them Eat Clams

Artist Wyland sees the big picture

Shark Bait

Open Water delivers more flaws than jaws

27 Holes on the Fourth

Burning Bright

Twin tigers light up the screen in Two Brothers

Best Place to Snorkel

Fort Lauderdale

Best Fundraiser

St. Joseph's Episcopal Church

Lion Country's Stud

An elephant's, um, premature problem means zookeepers have a messy job

Letters for September 26, 2002

Bashing Bush

Fly Free

The Sunshine State's busiest animal hospital aims to spread its wings

Best Little-Known Attraction

Treasure Coast Wildlife Hospital

A Fishy Bit of Environmentalism

Local fishermen say a proposed ban on fishing around Broward's coral reefs is a ploy by diving promoters to build business

She's Crafty

Letters

Night & Day

October 8 - 14, 1998

Bureaucrats Play "Skim the Cat"

Money from Florida's best-selling license plate was supposed to help protect the panther. Instead it's going for swamp buggies and butterfly gardens.