Have you heard of dogs celebrating Valentine’s Day? Penguins with feather colors other than black? Well, you’ll hear more about these intriguing animals when you read about them here.

First, the dogs are from a shelter in Madison, New Jersey. Three dogs, Olga, Indy, and Aurora, waited a long time to be adopted. They had a photo shoot for Valentine’s Day and had the dogs wear all sorts of beautiful fashion designs. The dogs wore feather boas, pink bandannas, and more! Even a pink backdrop was used. The photoshoots made the puppies feel less timid, and their recreational, light-hearted personalities showed up more. It was an incredible, creative idea, so kudos to the shelter volunteers and the photographer for doing this fun photoshoot.

Next up, we have a blond penguin spotted in a group of about 600,000 Adélie penguins in Cape Crozier, Antarctica. You might be wondering, “How does this penguin have blond feathers? Shouldn’t it have black ones?” The reason its feathers are blond is because it has a condition called leucism. Pigments that usually create color in skin, hair, and feathers can’t be given to all the parts. Adélie penguins are the species who have this condition most often. The color doesn’t affect how often predators will hunt them. However, it is pretty unique and compelling to find penguins in these rare conditions.

Lastly, a critter has come back from being extinct. The animal is called Przewalski’s horse, and it has been cloned to become alive again. These horses unfortunately became extinct by the 1980s. They were competing for food and shelter. Zoos started breeding Przewalski’s horses and sending them back to Mongolia and China. Now more are living in their habitats and zoos. Scientists found out that these horses descended from a small group and had small genes. That means the horses would be prone to getting several diseases quickly. To help the problem, scientists took DNA from Przewalski’s horse to make a foal. There were more baby clones, and they had strong genes. Hopefully, they could pass these on to future generations so more horses would be less vulnerable to diseases.

Today, this article talked about Przewalski’s horses, dog photoshoots for Valentine’s Day and a penguin with a rare condition. The 3rd story about the Przewalski’s horse astonished me because, 1, the name is a little odd and unique, and 2, the horse got cloned, and I haven’t heard of many animals that have been cloned to make them less extinct. In conclusion, these are all engaging animals with playful personalities and unprecedented traits.

Written by Kruti Patel