A female Indian rhino is about to become the first of her species to give birth after conceiving through artificial insemination.  The birth will be the reward for eight years of research for Cincinnati Zoo scientist Monica Stoops. For conservationists this birth is an important step in the effort to protect Indian rhino populations.

For more, visit UPI.com.

Read more about Indian rhinos at Animal Fact Guide.

Airport staff in Thailand found a live tiger cub packed into a suitcase filled with stuffed animals. The staff noticed what looked like a live cat when x-raying the suitcase. When they opened the suitcase to investigate they found the two-month-old cub. The cub had been sedated.

For the whole story, visit CNN.com.

Photo: Alabama Convention and Visitors Bureau

Seventy-three loggerhead sea turtles hatched at an Alabama beach Wednesday and entered the waters into the northern Gulf of Mexico.

For the past two months, scientists have deemed the Gulf of Mexico unsafe for sea turtle hatchlings due to BP’s catastrophic oil spill.  They have transported 28,000 eggs from Alabama and Panhandle beaches to Florida’s Atlantic coast.  After incubation at a Kennedy Space Center facility, the hatchlings were released into the Atlantic at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

However, after further examination of the Gulf waters, scientists have determined the northern Gulf of Mexico is now safe for sea turtles.

According to Dianne Ingram of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, “It was a good decision based on the best information we can get. It was more risky to ship them to Florida than it was to let them go straight into the water.”

The group of loggerhead hatchlings that entered the Gulf Wednesday was the first batch in Alabama allowed to enter their native waters.

For more information: AL.com.

A fully-grown male koala was struck by a car going 80km/hr. Miraculously, the koala became stuck in the grill of the car but was uninjured. The driver of the car drove very cautiously 15 kilometers to the nearest vet. The koala was cut from the grill of the car and released back into the wild later the same day.

For the full story and additional photos visit 9News.

For more information about koalas, see Animal Fact Guide’s article: Koala.

In April we wrote about Lonely Lilly, a meerkat without a mate. To aid in her quest for love, the owners of the park she lives in created a website called Meerkat Match. It was through the website that Lilly met the meerkat of her dreams, Mr. Darcy.

It must have been love at first sight because Lilly is now the proud mother of four!

There are several very interesting programs airing in the next few days on NatGeo that focus on animals. Be sure to tune in!

My Child is a Monkey
Airing Friday, August 13 at 5pm ET/PT

They wear diapers and ride in strollers but, they’re not babies — they are “monkids.” NGC goes inside the controversy of adopting monkeys as surrogate babies. Many question whether this is animal cruelty or even a danger to the owners. Others are fiercely devoted to these primates they see as part of the family. See just how far these wild monkeys have come from their treetop habitat as we explore this growing phenomenon.

Watch a video clip that outlines some of the issues that come with integrating a wild animal into a human family.

And Man Created Dog
Airing Friday, August 13 at 9pm ET/PT

If humans were as varied as dogs we would range in height up to 22 feet tall and in weight more than 1,000 pounds. In the ultimate canine ancestral story, NGC traces the genetic journey from wolf to dog, taking viewers back 100,000 years to meet the “mother of all dogs.” It’s no accident that dogs evolved this way, as humans have been selectively breeding them for around 14,000 years to serve our needs as laborer, companion, hunter, herder and warrior, as well as to suit our aesthetic fancy.

In this video clip, we meet an incredible therapy dog named Tuesday who helps an Iraq veteran to overcome his debilitating PTSD.

Wild Nights: New Orleans
Airing Monday, August 9, 2010, at 9pm ET/PT

We journey to the “Big Easy,” famous for streets packed with party fanatics, but they aren’t alone. Mireya’s on a treasure hunt to find as much wildlife as possible and even hopes to confirm a rumor about an unexpected urban invader—a feral hog. We’ll follow as she searches through parks, swamps and city streets to find New Orleans’s wildest animals—including large invasive rodents called nutria that have been devouring the New Orleans ecosystem. She goes on a late-night escapade with a city-hired hog-hunting squad to catch hogs in a central New Orleans park, and eats bayou food including frogs and bugs … local style!

Watch this clip of Mireya tracking down the elusive New Orleans urban hog in a residential neighborhood.

SeaWorld rehabilitation experts have been working around the clock tending to a baby manatee orphan.  Every three hours, the 3.5-foot, 41-pound marine mammal is bottle-fed with a nutrient-rich formula. Every other day, the animal care specialists weigh the manatee and monitor her progress. Although her condition remains guarded, park veterinarians hope to eventually release her back into the wild.

The manatee, just weeks old, was rescued from the waters of Daytona Beach, Florida and transported to SeaWorld by the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission.

In the wild, all three species of manatee are considered threatened by the IUCN Redlist. The Florida manatee subspecies is considered endangered.  Threats include habitat destruction, red tide, and boating accidents.

SeaWorld animal care specialist Jeff Braso bottle-feeds a baby manatee, Tuesday, July 27, at SeaWorld’s Rescue & Rehabilitation Center in Orlando, Fla. The park’s animal staff has been providing 24-hour care for the animal since she was orphaned by her mother in Daytona Beach, Fla. on July 24, 2010. (Photo by SeaWorld Orlando)

A pair of African lions made their public debut in Israel on Sunday at the Zoological Center Tel Aviv-Ramat Gan. The two female cubs were given a check-up and vaccinations while the press watched.

For more photos, visit the LA Times.

One of the most reclusive primates in the world, the Horton Plains slender loris has only been spotted four times since 1937. So rare were sightings that researchers thought the loris had gone extinct sometime between sightings in 1939 and 2002.

All species of slender loris are native to Sri Lanka and southern India. Deforestation has led to a decline in all populations and prompted a study of the nocturnal animals.

It was during this study the photograph of the male Horton Plains slender loris was taken.

For more, visit CNN.com

An editor at Merriam-Webster discusses the proper plural of octopus.