I was watching the Daily Planet, and was shocked by what I saw. This was the one of the most interesting segments I have seen on this show, once you get by the dry stuff (G says there is no dry material)  there is a whole bunch of interesting shit!  Well. I found it here…my next undomesticated pet.  G has always begged for weird pets.  When I first met him, he was in the process of adopting a groundhog.  Yes, a groundhog.  He told me that he was going to bring it home and help nurse it back to health. Well that never happened but when we were in Mexico we came across some Coatimundis and now that is all he talks about.  Apparently they are legal to buy as pets in Ontario.  Who knew?

Anyways, to get back to my original point I was discussing my new (unrealistic) pet.  I have a most favourite commercial, it aired in Canada in 1999.  It was developed to make children think and not believe everything they see or read, and become better critical thinkers (amazing really…they should have more of these out there!!)  Alright, maybe  you should just watch it….

So the “House Hippo’ is a fake.  Of course it’s not real….or is it? Well, I always knew I wanted one, they are so damn cute and I just love Hippos (cue “I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas) but as the add says…of course it’s not real.  The second best thing?  A Pygmy Hippo.  Other than it’s recluse behaviour, and of course it becoming extinct (have to look into this so it doesn’t happen!) it would make a fine pet and a friend to BouBou, Hugo and Cracker.  OK, I’m being ridiculous and would never want this as a pet as it must live in the wild but,…  this brings me to my next and final point.  There are SO many species of animals that are unknown to us and are just so amazingly rare and beautiful.  Learning and discovering new things is rewarding, and I wanted to share with you some more cool animals I just found!

Pygmy Hippo

Pygmy hippos stand only about three feet tall at the shoulder. Their head and body together are between four and six feet long but they can weigh 500 to 600 lbs!

Sun bear

The Sun Bear stands approximately 1.2 m (4 ft) in length, making it the smallest member in the bear family. It is often called the “dog bear” because of its small stature and usually weighs less than 145lbs!

Tapir

Tapirs are large browsing mammals, roughly pig-like in shape, with short, prehensile snouts. They inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, Central America, and Southeast Asia.

The Philippine Tarsier

The Philippine Tarsieris very peculiar small animal. In fact it is one of the smallest known primates, no larger than a adult man’s hand. Mostly active at night, it lives on a diet of insects.

The proboscis monkey

“The most distinctive trait of this monkey is the male’s large protruding nose. The purpose of the large nose is unclear, but it has been suggested that it is a result of sexual selection. The female Proboscis Monkey prefers big-nosed male, thus propagating the trait.”  You know what they say about a monkey with a big nose…

Red panda: 

The red panda, panda being the Nepalese name for “small, cat-like animal,”.  Studies suggest that red pandas are equally related to three different groups of animals that include skunks, weasels and raccoons.

Javan Rhino

The Javan Rhino is the rarest of the rhino species with 27-44 animals surviving only in Indonesia.  The last Javan rhino is believed to have been poached in Vietnam in 2010.