A rare, endangered turtle is saved from likely boiling in a Chinese soup pot after wildlife officers and a microchip worked to save it from an ugly fate. Poachers nabbed the animal, belonging to a species known as "royal turtle" in Cambodia; its name inherited from the practice of feeding its eggs to kings, from a Cambodian river two months ago, and smuggled it across Vietnam's border on a motorbike, along with a horde of other common turtles.

A rare, endangered turtle was saved from likely boiling in a Chinese soup pot after wildlife officers and a microchip worked to save it from an ugly fate. Poachers nabbed the animal, belonging to a species known as "royal turtle" in Cambodia; its name inherited from the practice of feeding its eggs to kings, from a Cambodian river two months ago, and smuggled it across Vietnam's border on a motorbike, along with a horde of other common turtles.

Police discovered 300 cats, a third of which were dead, in the Virginia home of an elderly woman after neighbors complained of a stench coming from the house. The house, less than a mile from late President George Washington's historic Mount Vernon estate, looks neat from the outside with manicured lawns and bright flowers, but inside it was overflowing with wild cats, feces and urine.

Police discovered 300 cats, a third of which were dead, in the Virginia home of an elderly woman after neighbors complained of a stench coming from the house. The house, less than a mile from late President George Washington's historic Mount Vernon estate, looks neat from the outside with manicured lawns and bright flowers, but inside it was overflowing with wild cats, feces and urine.

The mixbreed genre continues as officials at Sea Life Park Hawaii announce the birth of a whale-dolphin hybrid, or "wolphin," on Thursday. The calf was born on Dec. 23 to the only wolphin in captivity, Kekaimalu, a 19 year old false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens) and Atlantic bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) mix. Park officials said they waited this long to announce the birth because of recent ownership and operation changes at the park. "Mother and calf are doing very well," said Dr. Renato Lenzi, general manager of Sea Life Park by Dolphin Discovery. "We are monitoring them very closely to ensure the best care for them. " Officials say the calf still depends fully on her mothers milk, but sometimes nips frozen capelin from the trainers hands. Her size is enormous compared to a purebread; she is already the size of a one-year-old bottlenose. Although false killer whales and Atlantic bottlenose dolphins are different species, they are classified within the same family by scientists. "They are not that far apart in terms of taxonomy," said Louis Herman, a leading expert in the study of marine mammals. There have been reports of wholphins in the wild, he said. Kekaimalu, meaning "from the peaceful ocean," came after a surprise coupling between a 14-foot, 2,000-pound false killer whale and a 6-foot, 400-pound dolphin. The animals were the leads in the park's popular tourist water show, featured in the Adam Sandler & Drew Barrymore flick "50 First Dates. " Kekaimalu gave birth to two other calves. One lived for nine years and the other, born when she was very young, died a few days after birth. Park researchers believe the wholphin's father is a 15-foot long Atlantic bottlenose dolphin named Mikioi. Sea Life Park officials hope to have the baby wolphin on display in the next few months after deciding on a name for her. On the Net: Sea Life Park Hawaii: http://www. sealifeparkhawaii. com