The world Poitou population just went up by one. And where there's less than 200 of you, that's a big deal.
The very rare and prehistoric looking variety of donkey was born to a mother mare, using a new technique which helps trick the surrogate mother into thinking the implanted embryo is her own pregnancy, vasty reducing complications and miscarrage.
The embryo had to be 'relocated' when the mother donkey's knee problems put it into doubt whether she could sustain a baby to term.
Scientists say the technique, used first here to help a similar species become a surrogate for a rare cousin, will be a boon to endangered species reproduction, as well as rare breeds. Like the Poitou.

Corey May, Michael "Dooma" Wendschuh and Baruch Inbar had the luck many closet scriptwriters only dream of. Disney saw thier idea for a new Wind in the Willows film, and bought the look and treatment, as well as the kids as "Executive producers", for a six figure sum.
Based on a colaboation of May and Wendschuh, two film graduates, and the artistic vision of Inbar, an art school sculputor, the new vision gives the old story a "Jules Verne-influenced sensibility" and will be live action with either computer animated characters or CGI-enhanced costumed actors.

U.S. runner Tom Johnson went all the way to the United Arab Emirates to prove that when it comes to man versus horse in a test of desert endurance, man can win...barely.
Johnson beat al-Buraq, an Arabian rode by fellow American Jennifer Nice, by just 10 seconds in a 50 mile desert endurance challange.
Bothered by the heat and sand, as well as stray camels, Johnson kept his pace slow until the last few meters of the race, finishing in a sprint to pull in just before the stallion.
Al-Buraq was allowed rest periods and water as par endurance race rules. No one was on hand to make sure of the humane treatment of the human runner.

The Associated Press, by way of the Seattle P-I, reports that a late-night fire in Volketswil, Switzerland, destroyed 4 million chocolate Easter bunnies Wednesday. No word on how this may effect the price of the popular chocolate prey.

From Corona Coming Attractions:

A young clownfish named Nemo is stolen from the coral reef he calls home, forcing his father to undertake a mission to find him and bring him back.

December 2, 2000... Playing catch up here with a press release from last month that revealed the latest Pixar project is Finding Nemo. We've added the premise up top along with a new release date: Summer 2003. [Press release forwarded over by Dave Planche; info also sent in by Aurora Szalinski and litz27.]

February 4, 2002... We've finally launched our page for Pixar's next animated movie, Finding Nemo, because of the interesting scoop received this past weekend. Very little information about Nemo's storyline and characters has leaked out from the Pixar offices, so what our scooper has to say to us is quite valuable. Our anonymous informant leaks to us a number of new characters, an addition to the celebrity cast and describes what Nemo's animation looks like at this stage of its development...

Check out the webpage for the full scoop:
http://www.corona.bc.ca/films/details/findingnemo.html

The 5th Kyoto International Cartoon Exhibition, in September 2002, has announced "Coexisting With All Animals" as its theme. Deadline for entries is February 28, 2002. There are four prizes of 500,000 yen (roughly $3,700), 200,000 yen, 100,000 yen, and 20,000 yen.

BBC Online reports that Australian scientists have developed a method of studying whales without killing them. By analyzing the whale feces they can determine the species, quantity, and origin of krill eaten by the whales, in addition to a large number of other factors about the health of the whales and their ecosystem. Such analysis, which the scientest say is far cheaper than hunting whales, could replace most of the "research" currently used as the justification to kill some whales.

From Brandweek.com:

LOS ANGELES -- DreamWorks' animated horse love story, "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron," will be carried by a projected $75-100 million in promotional support and partnerships with Burger King, Baskin-Robbins, M&M/Mars, Hewlett-Packard and juice-maker Veryfine.

DreamWorks also is expecting solid retail tie-ins and has projected a Spirit presence in 80,000 retail outlets, sources said. DreamWorks executives were said to have held tete-a-tetes with Wal-Mart brass over a follow-up to the discounter's support for the studio's 2001 hit "Shrek," though no deals are signed.

From The Hollywood Reporter.com:

Don Bluth's best-selling laserdisc video game "Dragon's Lair," which debuted in arcades 18 years ago and has generated more than $130 million in revenue through its translation to 16 different gaming platforms, has a new sequel, "Dragon's Lair 3D," hitting retail stores in July for all video game platforms as well as an animated feature film in preproduction in Phoenix at Don Bluth Films.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hollywoodreporter/convergence/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1302811

From The Hollywood Reporter.com:

On the heels of its surprise summer hit feature "Cats & Dogs," Warner Bros. is moving forward on a live-action/CGI sequel and has hired helmer Kevin Lima ("102 Dalmatians") to direct it. Bruce Berman's Village Roadshow Pictures and Andrew Lazar's Mad Chance Prods. will return to produce. "Cats & Dogs 2" is being written by the film's original writers, John Requa and Glenn Ficarra, and will continue the wars between canines and felines. Many of the original film's characters are expected back.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hollywoodreporter/film/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1302842

The Sahaaran Embassy(http://www.sahaaran.com/) and Frighter Tails (http://www.mzzkik.com) have lost their creator, as Paul Gibbs died on Thusday, January 31st, 2001, of unknown causes, presumably food poisoning. His conceptual artist, co-creator and freind Bill Redfern has posted an announcement on the Freighter Tails forum. His works can be found on the above sites, for those not versed in them, and at Mia's Anthro Story Archive. His works had a charm and life all thier own, and he will be sorely missed.

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DyeHard/dyehard.html

Seal For Hire

Scientists Use Seals to Videotape Fish at Antarctic Depths

"They couldn't have done it without the help of seals like the one with so much personality she was dubbed Ally McSeal, who became so fond of her collaborators that she returned to their base camp several times, apparently just to say howdy."

I suppose it's a bad sign when elevator repair work is a major news item but judging from the reports from last year's Anthrocon it's certainly a matter of concern. The short version: they're going to get better (hopefully), but they're not going to be 100% fixed.

The volcanic eruptions in the Congo are not only a threat to people, enviromentalists are worried that the two eruptions (with possibly more to come) may be the last blow to the wild population of moutain gorillas. Between refugee movement, lava flows and enviromental contamination, the mountain gorilla habitat might be damaged beyond the level needed to support the 650 or so remaining animals.

From cartoonresearch.com:
Yes, it's apparently true - Warner Bros. Animation is a producing a new BABY LOONEY TUNES show, possibly for Cartoon Network.
BABY LOONEY TUNES has been a successful licensing property for Warner Bros. for about ten years. You've seen the party favors, the baby bottles, teething rings and such staring at you from the shelves of the supermarket. I believe there are even childrens books with the characters. LITTLE GO BEEP, the most recent Looney Tune theatrical cartoon was based on the Baby Looney Tunes Coyote & Roadrunner.
Internet rumor says Granny will be the caretaker of the lot of baby Bugs, Daffy, Taz, Lola and so on (ala MUPPET BABIES).