Britain’s leading wildlife charity zoo
The Doctor Who screenwriter has spoken about his husband Andrew Smith’s death from glioblastoma in 2018. He says caregiving was hard but he would have done it for 50 more years. Smith and Davies were together 20 years, married in 2012, and Davies is dating Oliver Cole. Davies will publish a memoir about his career this year.
Edinburgh Zoo has welcomed a pygmy hippo calf born on July 31 to Gloria and Otto. The gender is pending health checks; the calf is bonding with its mother in private, away from public view, while keepers monitor its early development.
The Japanese macaque Luka has fled his Highland Wildlife Park home near Kingussie overnight, triggering a search with thermal-imaging drones. Public are urged not to approach; sightings should be reported to the listed number. A 2024 escape by a monkey from the same park is recalled in background.
Chester Zoo has used electrochemotherapy to treat a fibrosarcoma in a 50kg reticulated python named Jodie Foster. The procedure, adapted with University of Liverpool cancer specialists, has left Jodie cancer-free and eating normally. The operation required two operating tables joined to accommodate the snake, and the team notes the treatment’s potential for veterinary medicine and broader translational research.
Spiders are appearing more widely across the UK as warming drives ranges northward. Reports from multiple sources show new northern sightings of the wasp spider and other species; scientists warn these shifts reflect climate change and will reshape local ecosystems.