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TECHNOLOGY A23
Thursday 31 December 2015
Online animals of the year: Cute faces and a rat’s resolve
shelter in Castaic, California BEI BEI THE GIANT PANDA
and knew she was the one. BABY
Methachittiphan started Bei Bei (BAY BAY) weighed
posting photos of the feline just 4 ounces when he was
with striped fur and big blue born Aug. 22 at the National
eyes and Nala’s popularity Zoo in Washington D.C. He
exploded. She looks particu- was pink, hairless, blind and
larly fetching in hats. dependent on his mother
Online: http://instagram. Mei Xiang (may SHONG).
com/nala_cat and https:// Four months later, he weighs
www.youtube.com/user/ around 18 pounds and is a
iamnalacat . lively bundle of fur, muscles,
claws and teeth.
TOAST Bei Bei’s public debut is
scheduled for mid-January,
Toast is a King Charles span- but fans can follow his every
squirm and squeal online.
iel and puppy-mill rescue There’s a panda cam, Twit-
ter feed, YouTube clips of
with a floppy pink tongue everything from his first steps
to his veterinary check-ups
that hangs out of her mouth. and more.
Online: http://nationalzoo.
She’s also a celebrity, ap- si.edu/animals/webcams/
giant-panda.cfm .
pearing in fashion shows and
PIZZA RAT
shoots, photographed wear- A video of a rat dragging
an entire slice of pizza down
ing sunglasses and other ac- the steps of a Manhattan
subway station was posted
cessories, and retweeted on YouTube on Sept. 22.
By the next morning it had
by the likes of Reese Wither- been viewed more than 1.4
million times. By late Decem-
This Dec. 1, 2015 photo shows Grumpy Cat with her owner Tabitha Bundesen during an interview spoon. She’s probably best- ber, the views exceeded 8.7
million.q
at the Associated Press in Los Angeles. Animals can melt the human heart, tickle the funny bone known for her Instagram
or bring us to tears. All you have to do is follow, like or pin them. There is no end to the number feed, toastmeetsworld.
of online animals - from YouTube to www.explore.org and all the social media sites in between. On Jan. 13, Toast will marry a
Nobody was busier than Grumpy Cat in 2015. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
SUE MANNING Grumpy Cat. She had 8.3 and there are calendars, dog named Finn at a hotel
Associated Press million Facebook follow- socks, tanks, T-shirts, sweat-
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Animals ers as of Christmas Eve. Her shirts, gift tags, key chains in Manhattan. Donations to
can melt the human heart, YouTube videos have drawn and other souvenirs, said
tickle the funny bone or viewers by the tens of mil- owner Tabitha “Tabby” their wedding registry atw-
bring us to tears. And thanks lions. Bundesen.
to Instagram, YouTube and On Dec. 8, the feline with the Online: https://www.you- ww.zola.com/registry/toas-
other online options, you comical frown became the tube.com/user/SevereAv-
can enjoy their antics simply first cat immortalized in wax oidance andhttps://www. tandfinn will raise money to
by following, liking or pinning at the Madame Tussauds facebook.com/TheOfficial-
them. museum in San Francisco. GrumpyCat/ . fight puppy mills and pay for
Dr. Bonnie Beaver, execu- The 3-year-old, 4-pounder
tive director of the Ameri- with feline dwarfism is mak- care for needy animals.
can College of Veterinary ing her second movie as
Behaviorists and a professor well as a cartoon series, Online: https://www.
at Texas A&M University’s and is featured in a series
College of Veterinary Medi- of Random House Little instagram.com/
cine, says two things make Golden Books (the first be-
animal photos and videos ing “The Little Grumpy Cat toastmeetsworld/?hl=en .
so popular. that Wouldn’t”). She’s also
— Many animals have physi- continuing as spokescat for NALA CAT
cal traits that subconsciously Friskies cat food. Her stuffed
cause humans to nurture, animal line will grow in 2016, Nala is a 5-year-old shelter
like large, round heads and
large eyes. Think E.T. cat, a Siamese and tabby
— Many images show ani-
mals doing something unex- mix who stands out as the
pectedly clever, human-like
or just plain cute — kittens most popular cat on Insta-
trying to run up a slide, for
example, she said. gram with 2.6 million follow-
“Some do both,” Beaver
said, “like Garfield and Mick- ers. She also has 1.8 million
ey Mouse.”
The Associated Press got Facebook followers.
hooked on six animals in
2015, from dogs and cats to Varisiri Methachittiphan
a panda and a rat, whose
popularity is likely to contin- found her in 2010 as an or-
ue into the new year. Here’s
a look. phaned kitten in an animal
GRUMPY CAT than
Nobody’s busier
