Laura Kyle is a self-professed animal lover. In the About the Author, she says,

Laura loves all animals, and has previously enjoyed the companionship of dogs, cats, ferrets, gerbils, rats, hamsters and a horse, though allergies now sadly prevent her from sharing her house with any furry friends. (page [+2])

A wildlife organization, Friends of the Wolf in Vancouver, British Columbia, has assisted in verifying that Kyle’s descriptions of wolf behavior are accurate. Kyle admits that the zoo in Kavishar is based on the old-fashioned “animals in small cages” model that is being phased out throughout the world, and urges readers to support modern “animal friendly” zoos and animal-rescue organizations, especially those that work with wolves.

Kavishar is a true-life animal adventure novel like Jack London’s White Fang and The Call of the Wild, except for the fantasy element that the animals are intelligent and can speak with one another. Think of Disney’s Lady and the Tramp with a story about a young wolf trying to get the town’s dogs to accept him as a fellow dog. Some Furry fans may be disappointed because the animals are not more anthropomorphized, but Kavishar is an excellent blend of true-life animal fiction and “if animals could talk” fantasy.

Bright Prospects, LLC, August 2013, trade paperback $11.99 (466 [+ 2] pages), Kindle $0.99.

Animation Xpress #351 for 22 August announces that, “Chennai based HappyCloud Studios working on Talkative Tortoise, 26X11 Animated TV Series”, by Zeenia Boatwala. In the usual news story that looks just like a hyperenthusiastic press release, it is announced that:

With a mission to provide high quality animation content for all mainstream media, including Theatrical, TV, Web & DVD; Chennai based HappyCloud Studios is working on its In-house IP Talkative Tortoise, 26 X 11 CGI.

Talkative Tortoise is a humorous show which orbits around a talkative tortoise that always talks about the environment and educates about global warming.

Another new discovery from WonderCon: “Knightingail: The Legend Begins is a 6-issue fantasy, adventure mini-series that tells the story of how a Forester, teenage princess named Eloa is transformed into a mystical powered warrior princess named Knightingail. Knightingail has the ability to control the forces of nature and heal living creatures. She must re-unite the 7-tribes of her homeland to fight off a massive invasion force.” Those 7 tribes include various anthropomorphic species as well — check out the character of Kaeli Hunter from the cover of issue #4, below! The series is created written, and published by Wayne Gardiner and penciled by Tina Francisco. Various artists helped out with the inking, coloring, and covers. You can find out more about all of this (including a new package offer for the whole 6-issue series) at the Knightingail web site, hosted by Knightingail herself.

image c. 2012 Knightingail

The International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University has released a list of the top 10 species discovered in 2009.

The list is taken from the 20 000 newly discovered species that are found each year and includes such organisms as a plant that eats rats and a fish with vampire fangs. It is a good start if you want to learn about the variety of living things in the world, and how little about them we know, or even if you just want to create a unique fursona.