Newsbytes archive for January 2020

Contributors this month include BlindWolf8, dronon, earthfurst, GreenReaper, and Sonious.

earthfurst: Fur Affinity unveiled update including new user interface & 3 new themes. They have "brought on additional [coding] staff to rewrite and modernize" FA. Also offering $5/month Fur Affinity Plus (FA+) membership for sponsor-icon & ad opt-out.

GreenReaper: 48-year-old siverback gorilla Massa is one of 30+ animals killed in a fire at Krefeld zoo, believed to have been started by Chinese sky lanterns. Such lanterns have been implicated in numerous fires in built-up areas and were illegal to set off or sell in the city.

GreenReaper: NME can't resist impugning fur con hook-ups while mulling over the massive loss Cats represents for Universal.

GreenReaper: Rats finally have their own coin. But what will they spend it on? Now for sale at the Royal Mint, the second-best deal after the £5 appears to be the Silver Proof Kilo, which costs 'just' ~four times its £500 face value.

GreenReaper: Lidl's lion is the latest casualty of government and charities' war on cartoon animals in sugary "junk food". Also to be cut, as the Daily Mail notes, are a 'snappy' gator and vaguely disturbing honey bee.

GreenReaper: With unicorns, hedgehogs, and snake-headed pharaoh, will Korean TV hit Masked Singer take off in the UK? (And more importantly: how well would it work with fursuits?)

GreenReaper: Rolling Stone visits Midwest FurFest, and is moved to ask whether furry fandom will retain its kinky, freewheeling nature, or end up sanitised for the sake of wider cultural acceptance.

GreenReaper: After fire comes the hunger, for the animals of Merimbula.

GreenReaper: After 80 years exile, and ~800 fathered in a bid to save his kind, giant tortoise Diego is to retire to Española in the Galápagos Islands - named after his species - to live with his children.

GreenReaper: Anyone for a paper tiger? UK artist Lisa Lloyd moved from animation to sculpture, and now sells her animal- and plant-centric designs internationally to brands and individual buyers.

GreenReaper: Koala firefighters feature in Melbourne graffiti art to support WWF Australia, while carrots are being air-dropped to feed wallabies in New South Wales.

GreenReaper: Artist and "fluffy cringe monster" Zillion Ross joined Coloradan shark-kitsune Dinghy Manokit, Kiwi Fox and Nova Husky to raise $17,800 to support the Australian Red Cross in a two-hour spicy-tasting session - one Foxy fan gave 87% of the total.

dronon: Animorphs is being adapted into graphic novel format.

GreenReaper: Scottish island girls dress as horses, tack and tails - while boys draw ploughs - inspiring a costume designer: "In one of his designs he has a hoodie and he's put ears on it, which is like some of the outfits which have little ears for the horses".

GreenReaper: The Sun notes the passing of "Mr Derek" of early-70s The Basil Brush Show fame, who died Friday morning aged 82.

GreenReaper: Could "munching Chespin" be the death-knell for the ASMR trend? How many Poké Puffs can one 'mon take?

dronon: Nominations are open for the 2019 Ursa Major Awards, with a deadline of February 15, 2020.

dronon: Fight of Animals on Steam is... well, the title pretty much sums it up.

GreenReaper: Studio Ghibli is coming to Netflix; just not in the USA or Canada - you'll need HBO Max - or Japan.

BlindWolf8: Anthropomorphism favors coexistence, not deadly domination.

Sonious: Mercury News covers furries stepping in to break up a domestic disturbance at San Jose's Further Confusion.

GreenReaper: Brazilian and US scientists tortured dark-furred mice, accidentally finding the cause - and later, a potential path towards a cure - for grey hair triggered by stress-induced high blood pressure.

GreenReaper: Got a view on flying in the USA with cats, ferrets, squirrels, sugar gliders or emotional support animals in general? Time to speak up; the Department of Transport proposes limiting "service animals" to those with special training.

GreenReaper: Quad suit, or quad puppet? How an elephant was brought to life on stage.

dronon: In the city of Chiclayo, Peru, the Paseo Yortuque park has several interesting sculptures, including crab and lizard-men.

dronon: News bite: Corgi butt buns. (I still prefer the non-edible Dragon croissant sculptures.)

GreenReaper: Recreation camps: a welcome break for hard-working temple pachyderms, or a brief moment in the exercise yard chained up with your fellow prisoners? (Perhaps they'd prefer the "orphanage" featured at the end.)

dronon: The Daily Dot reports that the Industrial Workers of the World used fat-fur artwork. After reactions on Twitter, the IWW takes it in stride and invites freelance artists and fursuit makers to join unions.