Our animal friends | The bestiary of current events 2025

The coexistence of humans and animals is sometimes funny, sometimes fatal, but always captivating. Here are some animal episodes that caught our attention this year.

Ostrich (ostrich camel)

Their reprieve kept the entire west of the country in suspense, and their survival even received the support of important figures in the MAGA movement in the United States. In December 2024, an inspection carried out by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) detected that two ostriches in the flock of the Universal Ostrich Farms breeding farm in British Columbia were infected with H5N1 avian influenza and that 69 birds had died. In accordance with the health rules in force to stem the spread of this virus, the CFIA ordered the slaughter of the 300 animals. The owners fought all the way to the Supreme Court to save their herd, garnering support over the months from the libertarian movement and animal rights activists. In May, the American Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., even wrote to the president of the CFIA to ask him not to proceed with the slaughter! On the morning of November 6, the Supreme Court finally announced that it would not hear the owners’ final appeal. A few hours later, the shots rang out, and the case was closed.

Read Isabelle Hachey’s column “The strange new fight of Canadian conspiracists”

Beluga (Delphinapterus leucas)

What will become of the last 30 belugas still splashing around in the pools of the old Marineland park in Niagara Falls? In October, Ottawa refused to allow Marineland management to export the mammals to a Chinese park where they would have continued to be exploited for entertainment purposes. Marineland then threatened to euthanize the belugas if the government did not provide funds so that it could continue to care for them. This request was received rather harshly by the Minister of Fisheries, Joanne Thompson, who declared that she held “Marineland responsible for ensuring that belugas are well treated”. In late October, Nova Scotia approved a proposed captive whale sanctuary near Wine Harbour. Will belugas end their days in the Maritimes rather than Ontario? To be continued in 2026.

Read the article “Belugas are still alive after the euthanasia deadline expires”

Asian black bear (Ursus thibetanus)

There is a shortage of acorns in Japanese forests. So the bears move around to find food. And on their way, they often come across humans. At least a dozen people have been killed in bear attacks in Japan this year, a record number. To the point where a governor requested the intervention of the army to slaughter the animals. According to experts, global warming affects the hibernation habits of animals, which continue to be active later in the winter.

Great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias)

This year again, as is more and more often the case, sharks ventured into the St. Lawrence River. Among them was Contender, a (very) great white shark, more than four meters long, which visited the Gulf of St. Lawrence on September 29, off the coast of Anticosti Island. According to the chip that Ocearch pinned on him, he has since moved back south and is expected to spend the winter somewhere near Orlando, Florida.

Locate the Contender Shark on the map

Pembroke Welsh Corgi Dogs (A family dog)

That Prince Andrew lost his royal title and was kicked out of Royal Lodge because of his ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein didn’t elicit much pity. On the other hand, the fate of Queen Elizabeth II’s two corgi dogs, in the care of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor… THAT was an important question to resolve. Buckingham Palace wanted to reassure everyone by declaring that the “corgis will stay with the family”. But with which family? With Andrew, in his new, more modest home? With his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, who posts photos of the dogs on her Instagram account? Or with one or other of the princesses Eugénie and Béatrice? In any case, despite the setbacks of their masters, the popularity of corgis remains intact. As the magazine summed it up well Vanity Fair : (W)ouf.

Wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)

New York ornithologist Stella Hamilton fell in love at first sight last spring. “The first time I saw her on that balcony [d’East Village]I fell in love instantly! “, she told the CNN network. Every day, she spends several hours with Astoria, this wild turkey who moved to Manhattan in the spring. It is the only wild turkey present on the island (several congeners populate other neighborhoods of New York, including Staten Island) and the most recent famous bird to be the subject of fascination of New Yorkers on social networks, after the Pale Male falcon and the Falco owl, both of which died in recent years.

Tigre (Panthera tigris)

Nine tigers every month. This is the staggering result of the average number of seizures of this large clawed feline that have been made by authorities around the world over the past five years. In November, the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC’s report found that criminal networks are evolving faster than conservation efforts. The global population of wild tigers, which numbered around 100,000 individuals a century ago, is now estimated at between 3,700 and 5,500 individuals.

With Agence France-Presse, CBC News, The IndependentCNN