Tag Archives: kitty

Arts & Entertainment, Film & TV

The Killing Fishes for Clues, While the Kitty Fishes for Fish

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I look forward to the day when The Killing lives up to its potential and AMC backing and is interesting enough on its own that I don’t need to supplant my recaps with the latest Woodland Park Zoo news. This is not that day. Sunday’s episode began as I expected: with the federal agents letting Holder and Linden go, since they’re cops. As the episodes title (“Stonewalled”) would suggest, there are of course going to be issues when there’s different agencies whose investigations collide. I’ve seen enough seasons of 24 to know the bureaucratic chains of command hoo-ha that usually follows. Let’s hope that this isn’t turning into that. Let’s also hope that Rosie Larsen’s murder isn’t somehow tied up in a terrorist plot, because that would be too way out of left field. This week also led to the reveal that Holder is in AA (or NA, I suppose, since he was a former meth user)–also not too surprising, if you’ve been paying attention. Mitch left her kids in the garage with the engine running, though not long enough to take care of those buzzkills for once and for all. Richmond finally got a backbone and played dirty in his political campaign, allowing Jamie to leak the news that Mayor Adams has a mistress. And Linden’s son sent photos of the murder scene to his friends, which eventually made their way to the press.

Meanwhile, the zoo’s ocelot kitty is learning to fish. In the video above, shot last Friday, sixteen-week-old Evita explores the zoo’s tropical rain forest exhibit with her mother Bella, and together they pawed at the live fish that have recently been introduced into their environment. It was a gradual process, as the zoo first added still water to the exhibit, then turned on the stream, and then released trout into the running water. Give Evita a little time and practice, and she’ll be catching those fish in no time.

Also, today’s the last day for voting on the name for the zoo’s new reticulated python. Out of the 400 names submitted, the final five are: Java – in honor of its roots in Southeast Asia and Seattle; Rimbo – “jungle” in Indonesian; Kaa – from Jungle Book; Pogi – “good looking” in Tagalog; Sundara – “beautiful” in Hindi. Facebook polls close at 3 p.m.

Off-Task

Woodland Park Zoo’s Ocelot Kitty Hates the Dentist

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SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Check out this video of the Woodland Park Zoo‘s latest zoo baby, newly-named eight-week-old ocelot kitten Evita, as she gets a health exam (and a clean bill of health) from the zoo staff. The best part: angry kitteh noises at 0:32 and the end of the clip. You mad, in the cutest way possible.

Now nearly three-and-a-half pounds, Evita was born on January 15th to ten-year-old Bella and fifteen-year-old Brazil, as part of one of the zoo’s species survival plans, cooperative breeding programs to ensure genetic diversity and demographic stability across North American zoos and aquariums. Bella and Brazil previously had a set of twin ocelot females in the fall of 2008 (video here), so they’re already experienced parents–or at least Bella is. In the wild, only the mother ocelots care for the kittens, so Bella is busy nursing and bonding with Evita in an off-view birthing den (here’s some cute closed-circuit footage), while daddy Brazil is still on display in the Tropical Rain Forest Exhibit.

To see little Evita in person, you’ll have to wait another month. The kitten is not expected to be on public view until mid- or late April.

And in other zoo baby news, today the wallaroo joey born last September ventured out of his mother’s pouch for the first time. According to the zoo, “it still spends most of its time in mama’s pouch. Optimum time to catch it out of the pouch is during feedings in the mornings and end of day, about 3:30-3:45 …with a lot of patience.”