News and lifestyle contents that are engaging, weird, funny, tragic, heartwarming, heartbreaking, odd, humorous, interesting, world breaking and good to know that are made picturesque and easy-to-view. Animals especially pandas and rhinos, fishes, mammals like whales, sharks and dolphins and insect stories to make you cry or wonder.
The tears of a child over her lost pet are hard to look at. But the story is more gut wrenching as it becomes clear this girl found her pet roasted and ready for sale at a local meat vendor. The photographs showing the young girl crying have gone viral on Vietnamese social media, after she allegedly spotted her family's dog on sale at a local meat vendor after it had gone missing for several days. The unnamed girl, thought to be about five years old and from a village in northern Vietnam, spotted the dog for sale, after it had been slaughtered, roasted, and placed in a flat basket. Her tragic response has brought back long-running discussion on social media in Vietnam, as well as in neighbouring China, about the ethics of eating dogs. Stories about strays or other dogs taken from the street and sold in unhygienic conditions to the public are common with a growing number of clashes between people looking for dogs to cook and sell ending up in clashes with dog owners. Eating dog meat is not illegal in China, and there is an annual dog eating festival in the Chinese city of Yulin, with an estimated 10,000 dogs slaughtered at the summer solstice event every year. In response to international outrage China said it was clamping down on the illegal street dog meat sellers, forcing it instead into authorised premises. They want the dogs to come from authorised traders and not be harvested off the street where they may have diseases that could pose a risk to human health and subsequently be butchered in unhygienic conditions. Only recently a raid happened in the Shunyi District of China’s capital Beijing where customers were given the chance to pick their dog from a cage before it was slaughtered and screened in front of them.
A stray dog adopted by adventurers on a 430-mile South America endurance mission has arrived at his new home. Arthur joined Mikael Lindnord's Team Peak Performance on an extreme trek around Ecuador as part of the Adventure Racing World Championship last November. The group fed the stray a meatball and from then on he refused to leave their side.
Arthur joined the team in huge hikes, mountain climbs and energy-sapping mud treks as the arduous trail took the group through the Andes, the Pacific and the Amazon rainforest.
He also took part in a 36 mile kayak ride - even after the group had tried to set off without him. Instead, Arthur dove into the water and started frantically paddling, forcing Lindnord to drag him into the boat, reports the Daily Mail.
Now, unable to face the prospect of life without his trusted companion, Lindnord has adopted the dog in his native Sweden.
After being forced to spend four months in quarantine for health reasons, Arthur has finally been given the all clear to start his new life.
Lindnord told MailOnline: "He is really happy to be with us. When we came to pick him up he jumped around, gave us kisses on the mouth and lay down so we could scratch his stomach. He has been greeting everyone he has met during the day.
'We have been waiting for this day for so long and now he is here. Its a big day for our family and an even better day for Arthur.
"It is his first day as a free dog with a family who loves him."
He named the dog Arthur after the legend of King Arthur, as he described him as "calm, almost noble".
Lindnord plans to treat Arthur like part of the family, with his own bed and food - a world away from his life as a stray.
He said: "He is a fighter like me who never gives up. I could really see that in the jungle when he just kept following us."
A farmer says he was inundated with cash offers for a pig born with a human face and a penis on its forehead after photos of the newborn 'mutant' went viral.
Friends and neighbours of Tao Lu rushed to his property in Yanan township in the city of Nanning, China, after news of the deformed pig spread.
One of the last to be born in a litter of 19, the little piglet was described by witnesses as having a human face and a penis on its forehead.
And when a local newspaper published pictures of the bizarre-looking animal, several people contacted Tao, offering to buy it.
Sadly, the animal died after being rejected by its mother and refusing a bottle.
Tao, 40, said: "It was a large litter, and the mutant was one of the last of 19 piglets to be born.
"All the others were normal, just this one was really bizarre.
"It is a shame it died, I could have got more money for it than for the rest of the family put together based on what people were offering me on the phone."
The farmer said he had intended to put the pig on display to attract visitors.
One person who saw the animal first hand, Wu Kung, 32, said: "I was one of a dozen people who went there to see the piglet, and it really did have human face and exactly like he said, a penis growing out of its forehead."
With what seems to be a huge smile on her face, a lioness hugs the man who saved her in this amazing moment captured on camera.
The story of Sirga and conservationist Valentin Gruener was one of the biggest viral hits of 2014, with a video of the beautiful beast leaping into his arms viewed almost 10 million times on YouTube.
Their unlikely friendship began when cub Sirga was driven out of her pride, and faced certain death alone on the plains.'
But she was spotted by Valentin, who rescued her and took her into the Modisa Wildlife Project in Botswana.
As their bond grew, every time Val opened the gate to her enclosure he was hugged by his feline friend.
And now, three years on, the 140kg lioness and conservationist remain the best of friends, and Valentin was named on Google's 2014 inspirational list for his remarkable work with Sirga.
Their fascinating tale has now been made into a documentary series, but with an even more incredible twist - the man must teach the lioness to hunt.
This six-part film will tell the story of their powerful bond.
Her pink face smiles from everything from tins of pasta to sunglasses and backpacks. And today, 10 years after she hit TV screens, Peppa Pig is such a phenomenon it’s hard to imagine a world without her. Five-minute cartoons of Peppa plus family and friends are shown in more than 170 nations, and yesterday we told how her earnings are set to top one billion dollars.
It’s an incredible British success story that almost never happened because Peppa’s creators – three mates who met at Middlesex Polytechnic in the 80s who are now all millionaires – struggled to get anyone interested. The idea was born in 2000 when out-of-work animators Neville Astley and Mark Baker joined forces with producer pal Phil Davies to create a children’s character and get it commissioned. But as their funds dwindled with no interest they were on the verge of shelving Peppa.
Neville, 57, says: “The year 2000 was hard. We had to spend a lot to make Peppa plausible as an idea and I only earned £400 in 12 months. We survived by raiding our savings. “It got to the stage where we almost had to split up and go and earn money. Phil adds: “That was pretty tough. I had to watch the pennies and what we bought in the supermarket. I had to avoid the finer range aisles, put it that way!” Thankfully for millions of parents around the world who get five minutes of peace when Peppa comes on screen they were saved at the last minute. “Between us we got a commercial that kept us going and then Peppa got commissioned. “I like the thought that young generations will think of Peppa Pig when they grow up in the same way I still remember Bill and Ben. That’s pretty special.”
As soon as the first episode aired on Channel 5 in May 2004 it began building legions of followers. And the team recognised at once the importance of selling merchandise. The fact that could adorn children’s bedrooms – and the kids themselves – with Peppa branded products helped it become a way of life rather than just a TV cartoon. One episode featured Peppa sporting a pair of fairy wings and a real-life version was in the shops in time for Christmas, along with a Peppa-themed fairy castle which topped the Christmas toy charts.
Now more than 200 episodes of have been made along with more than 12,000 branded products, from garden sets to crayons and wellies. Entertainment One, who own the licensing rights, estimate earnings will break the $1billion (£640m) barrier by the end of this year. Peppa has cracked America and an exclusive licensing deal with toy giant Fisher Price put Peppa products exclusively in US Toys R Us stores. When that expires a new deal with Jazwares will land Peppa sold in 4,200 Walmart stores. “They love the Queen’s English – the British accent,” said Entertainment One’s boss Darren Throop. But where there’s a hit there’s a writ and this week it was revealed that an Italian woman called Gabriella Capra is suing the show for £80,000.
The show’s Gabriella Goat character is called Capra (Italian for goat) in their version and she says she has never lived it down since the goat bleated (in Italian) “Hello. I am Gabriella Capra. Baaa.” And in September, a Facebook campaign to have Peppa banned for offending Muslims was revealed as a hoax that thousands of people fell for. Still, none of it comes close to denting Peppa’s popularity. “You get protective of her,” says Phil. “There are certain things we wouldn’t involve her in, like political campaigns.”
The trio in fact turned down an invitation from the Labour Party to get involved before the last general election. Phil says his own family provides inspiration for some story lines. “There are episodes completely based on family experiences,” said the father of two. “Either from my childhood or through having children. “One was based on me and my sister trying to sell our old toys outside our house when we were kids to raise money to buy sweets.” Peppa Pig is now made by a 30-strong team at the Elf Factory - the London HQ - along with the trio’s more recent show, Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom. The brand may have grown beyond the wildest dreams of its creators but the trio have tried to keep their feet on the ground. Neville says he is still “frugal” while Phil concedes: “I can shop in the more expensive supermarket aisles now. “Sometimes, I even treat myself to Marks and Spencer crispy duck.”
An elephant that was kept in chains for 50 years and abused by a drug addict who used the animal beg in India has been freed. Raju had been beaten and starved since being poached from the wild as a baby and resorted to eating paper and plastic to fill his stomach. The chains and spikes wrapped around his legs had left him with chronic wounds and arthritis and he was in almost constant pain. But now he is walking free for the first time after a daring rescue by conservationists with a court order by the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department to take the elephant from his abusive owner.
The charity took Raju in the middle of the night on Thursday, supported by police and state officials. The elephant's mahout and previous owner tried to stop him being taken by adding more chains and having people block the roads for the rescue lorry. Experts worked for hours to gain the elephant's trust with fruit and encouragement until they could get him into the van that would take him to a sanctuary.
When Raju was being rescued, volunteers said they saw tears rolling down his face. Pooja Binepal, from Wildlife SOS UK, said: "The team were astounded to see tears roll down his face during the rescue. It was so incredibly emotional for all of us. "We knew in our hearts he realised he was being freed. "Elephants are not only majestic, but they are highly intelligent animals, who have been proven to have feelings of grief, so we can only imagine what torture half a century has been like for him."
Kartick Satyanarayan, the charity's co-founder, said the mahout tried to make the elephant charge by shouting commands. He added: "We stood our ground and refused to back down -- and as we did so, tears began to roll down Raju's face. "Some no doubt were due to the pain being inflicted by the chains, but he also seemed to sense that change was coming. "It was as if he felt hope for the first time in a very long time." Almost two days later and 350 miles away in Mathura, the chains were removed after 45 painstaking minutes. A video showed the moment they cut the painful spikes and chains binding the animal's legs so he could walk freely for the first time. Mr Satyanarayan said: "We all had tears in our eyes as the last rope which held the final spike was cut and Raju took his first steps of freedom."
Other elephants at the Conservation and Care Centre at Mathura came to watch the new arrival. He is being fed to restore him to a healthy weight and vets are treating his many wounds and abscesses from beatings and chains. Rescuers at Wildlife SOS believe Raju started life in the wild but was caught as a baby by poachers and sold as a working elephant. Ms Binepal said: "The poachers either slaughter the mother, or they drive the herd into traps that are small enough only for the babies to fall into. The mother cries for her baby for days after he's been stolen -- it is a sickening trade. "The calves are then tied and beaten until they submit to their owners -- their spirits are effectively broken."
He had almost 30 owners in his life but was found by the charity exactly a year before his rescue, working as a begging elephant on the streets of Allahabad. His owner, a drug addict, would tell pilgrims at religious sites his elephant could "bless" them in exchange for money. Raju's tail was almost bare because the man had been ripping out hairs to sell tourists as a good luck charm for hundreds of rupees. The elephant was covered in deep wounds from the spikes, as well as the spear used to discipline him and abscesses from his chains. He was kept chained outside with no shelter or rest, even in the summer heat, and was dangerously underweight.
Raju is now recovering in Wildlife SOS' elephant sanctuary, where he will live with other rescued animals. The charity, founded in India in 1995, is appealing for £10,000 of donations to help start the elephant's new life. To donate, visit http://www.wildlifesos.org/ or cheques or postal orders can be sent to: Wildlife SOS, 483 Green Lanes, London, N13 4BS.
A pet dog living with its family in the town of Odate in northern Japan is being hailed a hero after she was credited for saving the life of a five-year-old boy. According to Yahoo News, the six-year-old dog, a Shiba-inu breed named "Mego" took on a large 1 meter bear when the boy was attacked by the wild animal. The boy was reportedly walking by a riverside with his great-grandfather when the incident happened. According to reports, the alert dog barked unusually loud after it spotted the bear before attacking it. The boy, however, did get minor scratches on his body. The boy's clothes were torn and his back and bottom were covered in scratches where the bear had apparently clawed at him. Odate is located around 340 miles north of the capital, Tokyo. According to a local police spokesman, the boy was taken to hospital, but he was released on the same day. The local Japanese media also reported that when the bear attacked, the child's 80-year-old great grandfather raised an alarm. According to locals, Mego was always known to be a calm and timid dog. For the same reason, it came as a surprise to many when they found that Mego managed to scare a large bear away and save the life of the little boy. "Mego is usually calm and timid. It was a great surprise that she chased away a bear. Mego has always been his friend and we have rewarded her with meat and other treats," the dog's owner told the Sports Hochi daily. The bear species that attacked the boy is believed to be an Asian black bear, which is common in the northern fringes of Asia, particularly in Japan. While not as big as Brown bears, they are big and strong enough to cause injury and death to human beings. Japanese authorities have confirmed that they have seen an increase in the number of bear sightings in the area where the attack was reported, says Japan Today. They have also stepped up patrols in the area so incidents like this are not repeated.
