Did you climb up on your chair? We did. The above footage was taken today at the CAS, which opens at the end of September. Here's just a taste of what they'll have to offer: an albino alligator. Enjoy! UPDATE: Boo! Clip pulled by CAS PR person. Alas.......

Holy cow! The Federal Bureau of Investigation (crudely known as the F.B.I.) added a cool $20,000 to the reward being offered for the arrests of the animal activists who injured a University of California-Santa Cruz scientist. Seriously, everyone is getting in on the action: UCSC threw down $15,000 to the fund, "a mix of local and national contributions" sweetened the pot considerably, and a $2,500 "gift" from the Humane Society helped out as well. Where......

An eight-year-old mother giraffe, one that recently gave birth in Febuary this year, died at the SF Zoo today. (Giraffes usually live anywhere from 15 and 20 years.) Gezi collapsed today a little after noontime, and succumbed to cardiac and respiratory arrest. If you recall, over four years ago two elephants died at the local zoo, and just last year a tiger named Tatiana was shot and killed after mauling a visitor. What leads us......

Ah, finally a few UC Berkeley protesters who aren't selfishly and clinically insane. A few angry lads we could get behind. (That is, if we didn't love the taste and texture of a rare-, medium rare-cooked red meats. Oh! And we're all set to make our very first batch of steak tartate. Is this good? Should be bother making it? WWJWD: What would Joanne Weir do?) Around nine pro-life protesters "in the hills above the......

With her pet pooch resting on her shoulder, Kaili Oteri over at SF Metblogs had an unfortunate encounter at a local cafe over the weekend while waiting in line. It seems some "foul man-pile" verbally assaulted her because her dog was in her arms at coffee joint. Having your best friend at a cafe, it seems, it against the law. "It’s the law',' screamed the cranky man. '"Are you above the law? I’ll call......

Wimbledon, that top-drawer tennis championship played on grass way over on the other side of the pond, is currently underway. What's more, it's coming under fire for "using marksmen to shoot down dive-bombing pigeons" interfering with the matches on Centre Court. Mean! Typically, Wimbledon uses scary hawks to halt (arguably) adorable pigeons from game interference. The bully birds, however, haven't done the trick this year. Wimbledon spokesman Johnny Perkins tells ESPN, "the hawks are......

Just letting you know that the fire -- which as of late this afternoon has consumed thousands of acres since it started at around 5:30 a.m. this morning -- is "completely out of control" as of 4:30 p.m. San Francisco firefighters have been deployed to the scene. What with the serious winds blowing in the area, no one knows just when the fire will start to die down. Wineries have been lost, homes and......

For those of you with large animals (i.e., horses, emus, et al.) or even not so large animals (i.e., Sprinkles, et al.), a Capitola reader just informed us that you can take your beloved pets to the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds....

Looking to get a few bucks out of the city for the Christmas Day tiger attack that claimed the life of their (alleged) friend Carlos Sousa Jr., Amritpal and Kulbir Dhaliwal have filed claims against the city. Finally. And our sources sent SFIst a copy of the claim! (We'll try to get that up for you shortly.)...

Is there anything more annoying that a college student on Spring Break? Probably not. But as luck would have it, a recently released great white shark made its way from the Monterey Bay Aquarium to the warm waters just south of Baja. Electronic tracking tags attached to the male shark show that the little guy took just six weeks to travel down to Mexico. Although, sadly, word is that the shark just passed Cabo......

Yes, Paris Hilton is a noted admirer of the species -- which then lead to their astounding popularity among Daly City teenage girls, at least according to an unofficial SFist survey conducted at the Serramonte Center on Saturday -- but that's hardly the dogs' fault. See, the Marin Human society needs your help. This last Friday they took in over 750 dogs, most of them Chihuahuas, according to CBS 5, found at an Arizona......

An update on today's story about a UC Santa Cruz faculty member whose home was invaded by, according to local media outlets, members of the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty animal rights group: the animal rights group claims zero responsibility for last night's attack. We just made contacted with a member of the reportedly elusive SHAC7. They told us the following: No--we are not responsible. In fact, the only knowledge we have of the whole......

Pro-life animal rights group Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty is being accused of taking part in a break in of a UC Santa Cruz faculty member, whose research using animals "sheds light on the causes of breast cancer and neurological diseases," and attacking a man at the residence. According to Santa Cruz Sentinel: Santa Cruz police reported that six people wearing bandanas tried to break into a Westside home ["Westside rules!" -- SFist] just before......

Let's not think about that mauling incident or the possibility that one or both of the Dhaliwal brothers pissed into the tiger grotto, prompting the Christmas Day attacks. No, instead let's think about the bundle of joy born at the Zoo this past weekend: a little giraffe, right. Sure, it was yesterday's news, but the adorable image was just released, and the story wouldn't have been complete without it. All together now: aw. Also,......

Since we'd hate to give this year's most alarmist story its own post, for fear the pandemonium will spread, we'll just stick up a nifty little shot of a python and tell you this: it's coming for you.......

The death of two horses found at a Solano County ranch last Saturday has been ruled accidental. It seems that they "died after they collided, breaking their spinal cords," and not because of any foul play. According to Marisa Lagos over at the Gate: The horses were found Saturday at Peterson Ranch on Lewis Road east of Vacaville. Authorities initially thought they may have been shot to death. The animals were taken to UC......

Because Valentine's Day is about necking, red roses, and Whitman's Samplers -- and not about making that special someone your creampie cutie for the night, you perverts -- the San Francisco Zoo's annual adult-only "Zoo Sex Tour" has changed its name to “Woo at the Zoo.” Why? No idea. But the zoo tells us: Contrary to common belief, the animals will not “mate on cue” during the Zoo’s adults-only affair (21 years and older),......

Glorious, isn't it? Raising the walls of the grotto 16.4 feet, in order to meet the minimum guidelines of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the first phase of improving the SF Zoo's four big-cat grottos is complete. The tweaks were needed, as most of you know by now, after Siberian tiger Tatiana escaped and killed Carlos Sousa Jr. during the now infamous Christmas Day tiger attacks. The second phase of the project, according to......

"Couple Get No Help for Decapitated Ram" It seems that way over in Michigan, a couple found a dead ram in a ditch on their property. Then the following day, someone cut the sheep's head off and now no one will remove it. What on earth? Exactly. And yet another reason to fear east of I-5.......

Wow. This is a bit depressing. Scratch that, a lot. According to the Chron, former directors of zoos around the globe gave the San Francisco Zoo a failing grade when it comes to caring for animals. Some of the zoo's problems are "severely outdated exhibits and animals that behave unnaturally." Take, for example, glaring issues as the African Savanna exhibit -- which lacks enough shelter or food for animals, according to Peter Stroud, a......

Oh, San Francisco. You amuse us so. This SUV here would like you to know that it's not furnished with any animal products, okay? But before you start going into convulsions, it's an SUV hybrid. So...well, it still grosses us out a bit. Not the SUV part, but the part about environmentalists of the Bay Area adopting an even more aggressive moral majority-ish tone, one that worries us. Watch it, people. Image credit: Flickr's......

And now, some nice puppies that need your help... December has been an unfortunate month for Bernal Heights and fires. One fire that we haven't discussed yet is one that happened on December 22nd. In this Bernal Fire, Rocket Dog Rescue founder Pali Boucher became homeless and lost three fostered rescue dogs all in the blink of an eye. Since 2001, Boucher has been rescuing otherwise doomed doggies from Bay Area shelters, nursing them back......

In this video, zoologist Dave Salmoni demonstrates how to survive a tiger attack. Of course, it does appear that Dave and these tigers are lovers. The demonstration of a "hostile situation" involves a kinky threesome complete with zerberts. The main point in all of this is, don't run. Hey Dave, make sure you steer clear of stingrays. K?......

Tons of Santas invade our Hooters....

While the Bay Area struggles at keeping birds oil-free and alive, fisherman Hai Nguyen, 24, of Garden Grove tries to murder marine mammals. While fishing off the end of a Newport Beach pier, Nguyen used a steak knife to stab a sea lion who innocuously swiped his bait. According to AP, "the animal was taken to the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, where staff found the knife had pierced the sea lion's heart... [i]t was later euthanized." Nguyen faces up to one year in prison and a fine of $20,000for violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act. And for being a cruel dick....

So are we! Since this is the perfect time of the year to make a donation, we thought we'd help out those animal lovers among us by providing a list of local animal-related charities and nonprofits that can use a little (or alotta) support. PAWS (Pets are Wonderful Support) - Donate or volunteer for this fabulous organization which helps low-income persons with HIV/AIDS and other illnesses keep and take care of their companion animals. Rocket......

Photos of the doggies and kitties in the windows of Macy's Union Square...

By Evan Roberts After showing a spirit the face of her killer and helping people chat with loved ones on the other side, animal communicator Charles Peden now helps animals, well, communicate with people while alive and from...BEYOND THE GRAVE. If you're reading this via an RSS reader, please click through to access the sound file. And, as always, if you have or know of a bizarre occupation that cries out for SFist-y documenting,......

What with all of the oil spilling, disastrous Hawaiian vacations, neighborhood christening controversy, 49ers humiliation, and Yahoo, Inc.'s naming names, might we offer up, for your late night enjoyment, a crudely filmed cat that has captured SFist's cold, dead heart? Behold, heavy metal cat! (It's the hand at the beginning that makes the bit. Oh whatever, it's totally adorable!)......

UPDATE: Looks like the volunteer hotlines are overwhelmed. Don't panic; at this early stage, there simply isn't much that the untrained public can do. Some new info appears after the jump, but to summarize: DON'T APPROACH OILED ANIMALS. They'll hurt you, and the oil will hurt you, and everyone will be sad. Just report them instead, and take photos so the damage can be assessed later. To volunteer: call the Oiled Wildlife Care Network......