Actress Betty White recently celebrated her 90th birthday, and to honor one of entertainment's most respected young ladies, the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association (GLAZA) arranged to name the Los Angeles Zoo's new baby orangutan after White's "Hot in Cleveland" character "Elka." more ›

The Wildlife Waystation in the Angeles National Forest has announced the death of Booie the Chimpanzee, the 44-year-old animal who came to the facility with a smoking addiction and a profound love of sweets. more ›

Our days of being able to legally consume foie gras (fattened duck liver) in California are waning, and as the enforcement of the statewide ban nears, chefs who love the delicacy are making the most of it. more ›

They're cute, and they seem almost downright cuddly, but sea lions can be vicious. An elderly couple out for a swim off Venice Beach Thursday evening found themselves the victims of an attack by a sea lion, reports KTLA. more ›

You're part of one of the nearly 40% of U.S. households with a cat, and, let's face it, your cat is the cutest cat in the world. No, really. But is your cat just like a person--only smaller, furry, unable to speak your language, and lacks opposable thumbs? No? That's okay. The helpful website eHow can teach you "How to Anthropomorphize Your Cat" in just four easy steps. more ›

A mountain lion spotted repeatedly in a Hesperia neighborhood is shy, says residents, and scares easily when approached. KABC reports that the animal has been seen in backyards, and even out on the street while kids are riding their bikes. Because of his timidity, experts believe he's simply looking for food and water. more ›

"Rango," the animated tale of chameleon's quest to "find himself" finally knocked the pirouetting horror show of "Black Swan" out of the top of the box office over the weekend, but a promotion associated with the animal-friendly film has some enemies in the form of an animal rights group. more ›

It's hard out there for a rare bird. Which is probably why a wild bald eagle has taken to chilling out right next to the bald eagle exhibit at the small Orange County Zoo inside Irvine Regional Park. First spotted last weekend, the wild bird has been spending his mornings and evening "perched in a tree above the zoo's 6-year-old female bald eagle, Olivia," according to the LA Times. more ›

"Operation Flying Turtle" got underway over a year ago, and culminated in the arrest of two men at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, who were caught smuggling 50 live turtles and tortoises into the country. However, "officials still have no idea what the men planned to do with all those tortoises," reports CBS2. more ›

UPDATE 12:28 PM: The final tally for the number of cats seized from Regan's hoard is 240, says the Star-News. There's being a "crazy cat lady," as in a fondness for LOL Cats emails, jokes about spinsterhood, and perpetual fur on clothes, and then there's being a crazy cat lady, as in keeping 140 cats in feces-soiled crates inside a storage space. more ›

Everybody say "Awwwwww!" This is a good news animal lovin' story out of San Diego, where a sick baby whale has been successful sent back out to sea, according to ABC7. The injured 15- to 18-foot-long, 3000 pound, whale "was rescued by SeaWorld crews from rocks at Torrey Pines State Beach near La Jolla Underwater Park on Sunday," and was treated with antibiotics before being taken back out to sea. A SeaWorld rep reported that the whale "swam away freely on its own," and called the mammal's swimming "a good sign." more ›

Hollywood Hills dwellers have been cautioned to keep their eyes peeled for a bobcat who is "on the prowl in the neighborhood," according to ABC7. more ›

This weekend there will be several places offering free blessings for your animals as part of an annual Catholic tradition done in honor of St. Francis of Assisi. As part of the Feast of St. Francis on October 4th, every year Catholic churches invite the public to bring their furry or feathered friends by to receive a blessing. "At Franciscan churches, a friar with brown robe and white cord often welcomes each animal with a special prayer," explains the American Catholic. more ›

These may well be the dog days of summer, but local pooches can take a "paws" and relax and unwind at a water park just for man's best friend. After all, it's not easy being a dog, and everyone needs a little pampering, right? more ›

Passed by voters in 2008, Proposition 2 ensures that our state's poultry "be able to freely lie down, stand up, extend their wings and turn around by 2015," explains SF Gate. "The law essentially bans the use of small cages that cram the animals so tightly they sometimes cannot turn around." more ›

The room at Animal is much smaller than expected, and with little to muffle the sound, it is a cacophony of voices, with music cranking as hard as it can to keep up. In a strange way though, the environment matches the intensity of the food. This is not the kind of place where you insist they turn down the music or turn up the heat. It's not the kind of place where you insist on the best table in the house; you are grateful to get any table at all. It's not that the place is hoity-toity, it's just that the demand exceeds the supply. Everyone wants in. more ›

Vivacious entertainer Charo will be the star attraction at a rally to be held tomorrow at noon on historic Olvera Street. The Spanish native will be there on behalf of PETA on the eve of Mexico's highly promoted bullfighting festival to raise awareness about the perils of bullfighting, and to air her new anti-bullfighting PETA video. Charo was raised going to bullfights with her father, however she has come to see how the entertainment is actually cruelty. "This animal doesn't need to be punished, just to entertain yourself and sacrifice this beautiful animal," says Charo. "Just to spend 45 minutes enjoying the death of a living thing is barbaric and has to go." more ›

If you've ever found yourself in a restaurant with a plate of something so fantastical in front of you that you couldn't help but wonder if the chef was high when he or she came up with it, well, they just may well have been. more ›

A 200-lb brown bear has been eluding authorities in Oxnard since the wee hours of this morning after he was "first spotted about 2:20 a.m. in the parking lot of a fire station on Vineyard Avenue," reports the Ventura County Star. more ›

As the warm afternoon light gave way to the cooler notes of evening just steps away from the Pacific Ocean last Thursday night, Los Angeles' top chefs of today and tomorrow gathered in celebration of the city's finest food. The StarChefs annual Rising Stars event gave the recognized masters from local restaurants the chance to raise their glasses in honor of their proteges--and the next wave of talent cresting on our own shore. more ›

It's hard to fathom, but someone allegedly put a 3-month-old puppy in a plastic garbage bag and beat her against a pole on a street in LA's Miracle Mile area, according to KNX1070. more ›

The 31st annual bald eagle count in the San Bernardino and San Jacinto mountains is slated to begin next weekend and will take place over occasional weekends until mid-March, and the effort is in need of volunteers to take part, reports abc7. The U.S. Forest Service needs people to help them count the eagles, and no prior experience is needed. In fact, Forest Service spokesman John Miller says all you'll need is "some warm clothes, a pair of binoculars and an hour to spare for each count." If this is you, give Matt McDonald with the Forest Service a call at (909) 382-2933. more ›

The Thanksgiving holiday may find locals and their out-of-town guests alike taking in the beautiful outdoors as afforded to us with places like the historic Griffith Park and other wilderness recreation areas here in Los Angeles. more ›

First the Station Fire, then the threat of mudslides, now a bear roaming the streets? La Crescenta residents can't seem to get a break from being in danger these days. Last night several "residents reported seeing a large black bear roaming through an apartment complex" on the 4300 block of Ocean View Boulevard, reports the Pasadena Star-News. more ›

On Sunday evening, Jessica Amen and Kyle Kushner lost just about everything when their two-story unit apartment in Brentwood went aflame. Over 100 Los Angeles firefighters fought the aggressive blaze for nearly an hour before extinguishing it, keeping it contained to only their unit. One resident and one firefighter sustained injuries, but nothing life threatening. more ›

This past week, Food & Wine magazine announced their selections for the Best New Chefs in America for 2009. Said Editor in Chief Dana Cowin: "We sought out great chefs in every corner of America, from Memphis, Tennessee to Portland, Oregon, and found some extraordinary cooking. Some of our winners are in seriously elegant restaurants. Others are in small, quirky, casual spots. But they’re all immensely talented, creative and driven.” more ›

The New York Times' Frank Bruni came to Los Angeles, and all he got was pork. Well, that's not entirely true, but he did get a menu's worth of pig-meat when he dined at Animal in West Hollywood, and deemed the restaurant so-so, unless you have a pork fetish:

[It] isn’t a great restaurant, or at least it wasn’t when I tried it. But it’s the epitome of a promiscuously meaty approach to cooking that might well be called the carniwhore school.

Some heavy fist beating and a 12-pound rock hurt the six-month German Shepherd mix so badly last month, the owner had to bring the dog to a veterinarian where the she was euthanized. LA County assistant fire chief Glynn Johnson, 54, was helping bring the runaway dog back to the owner, his neighbor in Woodcrest, when the dog clenched onto his thumb. Johnson, who was charged last week with felony animal cruelty and other counts, said his only choice was to hit the dog in self-defense, his lawyer said in court today. They also said the media and animal activists unfairly characterized the incident as an attack on an unprovoked puppy. Half a year old or not, the lawyer said the dog was big enough to do damage. more ›

For the second time in recent years, animal activists have incorrectly targeted UCLA employees involved in animal research. more ›