Animal | featured news

Every animal with bones has blood with hemoglobin, which binds with oxygen and makes the blood appear red. Every animal, that is, except one. The ocellated icefish (Chionodraco rastrospinosus) has gin-clear blood. And it has no scales. And it lives nowhere but the inky depths down to 3,200 feet (1 kilometer) in the icy waters off Antarctica.

At the Everland Zoo in South Korea, there is a young male elephant that can speak Korean. His vocabulary includes “annyong” (hello), “anja” (sit down), “aniya” (no), “nuo” (lie down) and “choah” (good). Researchers say the elephant, whose name is Koshik, vocalizes in a novel way: he puts his trunk in his mouth.

A drug-sniffing dog now is the only certified member of the police force in the small eastern New Mexico town of Vaughn. Police Chief Ernest "Chris" Armijo decided to step down Wednesday after news stories reported that he wasn't allowed to carry a gun because of his criminal background.

Watch out Mr. Hare, this tortoise has a wheel. A 12-year-old African tortoise that recently had its front left leg amputated due to injury is now moving just fine, thanks to a swiveling wheel attached to his shell by doctors at Washington State University's veterinary hospital.

An environmental group says an animal widely believed to be the source of the unicorn legend is back from the brink of extinction after a successful breeding program.