Kala and Keira, two shelter dogs who were scheduled to be euthanized on Monday, proved that love is the best way to save a life.

Angels Among Us Pet Rescue published a photo of Kala hugging Keira as a last attempt to find them a forever home and save them from their fate.

Footage of an endangered white rhino trained to perform in a circus has prompted an outpouring of anger and calls to boycott shows featuring live animals.

Social-media users were furious at the videos taken in Russia showing a rhino being forced to parade or carry a man on its back in a circus ring, while the trainer holds whips at the ready. Rhinos are rarely seen in circuses, although elephants have long been used – and are being phased out following years of protests about cruel training and the unnatural conditions they are kept in.

In a clip circulating online taken at the Russian State Circus, the rhino is made to sit and let the trainer clamber onto his back before setting off to tour the ring. A couple of times the animal also appears to turn away quickly from the trainer as he approaches with a whip.

In another clip, suspected of having been shot at the Safari Circus in Moscow, what is thought to be the same rhino is seen on a circular platform under a bright spotlight, hesitating several times before stepping off.

Experts in wild-animal welfare said using a white rhino - which can weigh up to 2,300kg - in public show was extremely risky for the trainer and spectators. “It could quickly cause injury to the trainer, and if there isn’t a substantial barrier, to the public,” said Chris Draper, of the Born Free wildlife charity. “However well trained it is, rhinos are naturally nervous and impulsive.”

The animal, probably hired out from one circus to another, would have been trained using cruel, painful methods behind the scenes to perform as instructed, he said.


“To see the animal in this circumstance when you’ve seen one in the wild is utterly incongruent,” he said. “Not only is it being exposed to substantial noise, but the use of the whip is wrong. They would say it doesn’t hurt, but if that’s the case why use it at all?”

Transporting the rhino around would also inflict stress and strain on him, Dr Draper added.

In a separate video, the rhino, Mafa, is filmed away from the ring, being fed by the trainer, Sergey Nesterov, who says: “I put a bed next to it, and I left it only when I had to eat, in order to spend more time with it. This way it got used to people.”


Mr Nesterov says it took a year to arrange the paperwork to transport Mafa from South Africa.

The Safari Circus’s website states that it uses exotic animals, and said that in 1996 Sergei Nesterov and Elena Fedotova decided to create a new attraction with exotic animals based on an older one created by Elena's parents.


Safari’s site features photos of the rhino, as well as shots of a kangaroo with a chain around its neck and boxing gloves on, apparently sparring with a human. There are also photos of five white tigers in the ring with the trainer. Facebook and Twitter users condemned the use of the rhino, saying the animal belonged in the wild and had not been domesticated like a cat or dog.

The behind the scenes of the white Rhino of the Russian circus. Outrageous!!!! pic.twitter.com/buXw4k1Q8J

— Warriors4Wildlife_Int™ 🌐Ⓥ🐾 (@W4W_Int) August 13, 2018

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Rolan Warrior, an Inupiat guide from Kaktovik, was taking tourists to a barrier island to watch polar bears when he noticed one of the bruins caught in a net.

“From rescue to conflict reduction efforts, Northern communities play an important role in the conservation of polar bears—they are on the ground 24/7 and have important experience and perspectives passed down from generations untold,” said Geoff York, Polar Bears International’s Senior Director of Conservation.

Kaktovik residents in boats kept the bear from drowning until the tranquilizers set in. They then maneuvered the bear to shore where the net could be removed.

Biologists were able to untangle the bear, check for injuries, and release it.

“It’s great to see local people and scientists come together to solve a clear problem. In this time of unprecedented change, we need more collaboration across the Arctic and across groups,” York said.

The relationship between bears and Inuit people of that region is a delicate balance between predators - and on this day - it was Inuit volunteers in small boats who saved the life of the great Nanuuq.( Polar bear Kaktovik Inupiat name)


Flora Rexford says, "My mother and my father went on their boat, and then the guide, Rolan Warrior, the guy whose net it was, they went out with their boats. They helped with rescuing the bear because they darted it but it went into the ocean so if the boats weren't there ... they were critical in helping save it. They got it to the shore - rolled it up on the beach - had a hard time getting it up on the beach in the waves and they got the net free."


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Firefighters rescued five wolf pups from an abandoned den Tuesday as they battled the massive Funny Rive Fire in southern Alaska's Kenai Peninsula.

The pups had not been hurt by the blaze, according to a Facebook post by firefighters with the Kenai Wildlife National Refuge, who discovered the den.

Medics with the fire crew fed the fuzzy brown puppies glucose (sugar water) and plucked porcupine quills from their skin. In reward, they got some excited licks from the tiny pups. With help from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the litter was taken to Anchorage, where they await a permanent home.


The Funny River Fire has burned through more than 183,000 acres and is 30 percent contained, according to the Alaska Division of Forestry. State officials have told the news media that the fire was probably caused by a campfire that was not properly extinguished.


The Funny River Fire has burned through more than 183,000 acres and is 30 percent contained, according to the Alaska Division of Forestry. State officials have told the news media that the fire was probably caused by a campfire that was not properly extinguished.


Stephen Miller / Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Deputy ManagerMedics Eric Zucker and Alicia Renfer hydrate and remove porcupine quills from the wolf pups that were found in their den next to a firebreak. Firefighters found the den while fighting the Funny River Horse Trail fire earlier in May.The firefighter who crawled in the den and pulled out the pups was Steven Niksik.


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