DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
• It was April Fool’s Day on Monday and many companies and organisation took the opportunity to have some fun. In the UK, Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team reportedly announced they would be deploying ‘search sheep’ equipped with hi-vis bandanas and bells to help people lost on the moors while in Zurich, Switzerland, police also made an animal-themed announcement, reportedly saying that cats would be joining their canine unit given their suitability for use in confined spaces, house searches and “mantrailing”. Chip company Pringles and soft drink brand OLIPOP announced on social media the creation of a new ‘Sour Cream & Onion Pringles’-flavoured drink while Australian favourite Vegemite announced a toothpaste collaboration with Hismile. Supermarket chain Aldi said it was taking applications for the first season of a new reality dating show called ‘Love Aisleland’, asking them to why they want to find love in the supermarket aisles
Laerke, three, a polar bear cub who lives at Point Defiance Zoom & Aquarium, receives a battery of tests from Head Veterinarian Karen Wolf during an annual medical exam in Tacoma, Washington, US, on 26th March, 2024. PICTURE: Reuters/Matt Mills McKnight
• Lying on her back, enormous paws in the air, Laerke the polar bear is being given her annual medical exam. It involves much the same as tests given to humans – blood, urine, heart. The difference? It takes a good half-dozen veterinary staff to turn her over. The recent exam at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma, Washington, provided encouraging results for three-year-old Laerke, who has been living in the US state with her twin sister since June 2023 when they moved from the Detroit Zoo. “So we’re looking for any kind of lumps, bumps, masses and large lymph nodes, anything that would be an indication of ill health,” said Head Veterinarian Karen Wolf. “But we didn’t find any of that. She is in optimal condition.” Reuters was given exclusive access to film Laerke being checked from nose to tail during the hour-long exam. She also had her ears cleaned, which veterinary staff joked was like “spa treatment”. “It’s just incredible to get hands on a polar bear, there are so few of them. They are really charismatic animals and really need our support for saving them from extinction and preventing them from the effects of climate change,” said Wolf. – MATT MCKNIGHT, Tacoma, Washington, US/Reuters
• Dozens of courageous Berliners braved chilly temperatures and took the season’s first dip in Lake Wannsee on Good Friday as Europe’s largest inland water lido opened its doors for the first time this year. Grey skies, an air temperature of 10 degrees Celsius and even colder water at nine degrees Celsius did not deter swimmers of all ages to visit this Berlin institution, which was founded in 1907. The beach with sand from the Baltic Sea coast at Strandbad, or lido Wannsee has a length of 1.2 kilometres and attracts thousands of visitors on busy summer days. On Friday, most of the visitors wore winter coats before and after their swim. Strandbad Wannsee is especially popular with families and according to the city of Berlin, it became a place of longing in the 1950s, following World War Two and the ensuing years of the ‘Wirtschaftswunder,’ or economic miracle in what was then West-Berlin. – Reuters TV
