You choose, we deliver
If you are interested in this story, you might be interested in others from The Journal Gazette. Go to www.journalgazette.net/newsletter and pick the subjects you care most about. We'll deliver your customized daily news report at 3 a.m. Fort Wayne time, right to your email.

Critters

  • Respect the growl
    Growling is a dog's way of communicating to us that something is making him uncomfortable.Most dog owners' immediate reaction is to punish the dog for growling.
  • Pet of the week
  • 6 parvovirus cases to shelter; vaccinating dogs urged
    Six dogs with parvovirus, a highly contagious canine disease, have been relinquished to Fort Wayne Animal Care & Control within four days, and officials are reminding dog owners to vaccinate their pets against the infection.
Advertisement

Orangutan gets birth-control implant

CLEVELAND – An orangutan at a Cleveland zoo has become the first such animal in North America to receive an implanted birth control device.

The Plain Dealer reports (http://bit.ly/xTqClI) that a Cleveland Clinic women’s health specialist made a house call at the zoo Tuesday to demonstrate how to implant the contraceptive. It’s about 1 1/2 inches long, slightly thicker than pencil lead and is meant for humans.

General curator Geoffrey Hall says the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo doesn’t want the young Bornean orangutan named Kira to breed, at least not yet. The procedure went well, and Kira was back on her feet within hours.

In exchange for her help, the Clinic’s Dr. Judith Volkar was given a backstage tour of the zoo’s more exotic animals and got to sit on a giant tortoise.