Certain pets have become household names over time for a variety of reasons, including their appearance on television or cinema, or their relationship with high-profile celebrity owners. Here are some animals that you may seen on the internet over the years.
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Koko
Koko, a 46-year-old western lowland gorilla who died in her sleep on 19 June 2018, was known for her emotional depth and ability to communicate via sign language. According to The Gorilla Foundation, Koko was adept at conversing in American Sign Language (ASL) with a vocabulary of over 1,000 signals and the ability to understand 2,000 words of spoken English. Koko showed us what all big apes are capable of: reasoning about their world and loving and grieving the other animals to whom they grow attached.
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Bo
Back during his first news conference, President Barack Obama was questioned about the breed of dog the Obama family would choose for the new presidential pet. The Obama family’s quest for their newest member received hours of coverage on CNN.
Senator Ted Kennedy solved the standoff by presenting the family with a Portuguese Water Dog after much hedging and hawing. Bo, like the rest of the Obamas, has gotten a lot of press and even has his own baseball card with his official photo and statistics. Check out the full list of US presidential pets here!
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Pumpkin
This isn’t your typical pet, to be sure. But, with 1.2 million Instagram followers, Pumpkin the racoon has become an Instagram celebrity (@pumpkintheracoon) in her own right, so I couldn’t just leave her out, could I? Pumpkin fell out of a tree in 2014 and was found in the backyard of a family in the Bahamas, where she was nursed back to health.
She ended up living with a human family and two rescue dogs as friends after the local Humane Society was apparently unwilling to take her in. Her Instagram account chronicles her domestic activities, which include everything from playing with her dogs to trying new dishes.
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Dolly
Dolly’s birth in 1996 was perhaps the first and last time the entire world was concerned about the birth of a single sheep. She was the first mammal to be cloned from an adult animal’s cell using a technique known as somatic cell nuclear transfer. This is because the cell she was cloned from, came from another sheep’s mammary gland.
Dolly spent the majority of her existence at the Roslin Institute, where she was born, surrounded by a swarm of scientists curious to observe how she evolved. Her life however, was marred by health problems. The Roslin researchers observed that she was aging rapidly, with arthritis starting at the age of five. On 14 February 2003, Dolly was put to sleep. If you are interested, read more about Dolly the cloned sheep here!
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Venus
Is there any need to explain why this kitty is so famous? Venus (@venustwofacecat) rose to recognition on Instagram thanks to her unusual fur and eye colors, and she now has 2million followers. “Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” by Dr. Seuss is stated on their bio and we totally agree.
Venus was rescued by her owners, Christina and Chris, in 2009 after they discovered her as a stray in North Carolina. Though some have questioned about her odd coat patterns, Venus’ owners responded on her behalf on her website, saying, “I’m 100 percent natural.” I’m not wearing any makeup at all. Even eyeliner isn’t enough. Photoshop and spray paint aren’t even allowed at the salon where I get my pedicures.”
Here are some animals that are famous in their own right and who knows? Maybe your pet could be a star on the internet too!
This article was brought to you by Raj who is currently fleeing the battle~
