Issue 28 of Anthro is online for your reading pleasure. This issue is dedicated to the memory of Michael W. Bard, a regular contributor who served, at various times, as the 'zine's co-editor; columnist; and occasional reviewer. The cover image, Silvermane Maintenance by Cuprohastes, incorporates two of Bard's favorite motifs -- science fiction, and anthropomorphic equines -- and the issue's editorial is devoted to Bard.

The rest of this issue's contents include stories by Billymorph, Corvus & ShadowWolf, Phil Geusz, Bill ‘Hafoc’ Rogers, and Carmen Welsh; the third installment of Michael Bergey's novel New Coyote; an interview with WikiFur's Laurence ‘GreenReaper’ Parry; and a variety of other high-quality anthropomorphic material.

Morphicon's 2010 April newsletter is up! Topics include:

• Early Registration/Hotel Discount Ending
• Charity Donations Needed
• Spotlight on Convention Programming

The Fission Chicken creator and former Critters contributor has returned from an unexpected hiatus which turns out to have been due to a quadruple bypass. [oldhans117/furryne.ws]

As reported on the Journal Sentinel's blog, Milwaukee Bucks mascot Bongo successfully dunked a basketball while doing a backflip from a 16-foot ladder.

Perhaps more impressively, Chelsea F.C. mascot Stamford and Millwall's Zampa the Lion ran the London Marathon, each raising over £10,000 for charity. [freakylynx/furrymedia]

The Omaha World-Herald covers CEO Dennis Pate's vision for the Henry Doorly Zoo.

According to Pate, advances in zookeeping theory and the conservation state of species mean certain areas, like the nursery and cat house, are now redundant.

In their place he wants to see a stronger focus on the zoo's research activities, larger spaces for animals, and even a high school.

You know those games where you wander through a landscape, killing all the enemies — the famous beat-them-up? Now imagine a game like that, but with rabbits. Well, add rabbit fighters and you have Overgrowth, the game that developers Wolfire Games have been working on for the last two years.

Translated from the original article by Giles F. Ahrun.

Campfire Tails mascot [NullEnigma]

Come August 5–9, Oregon furs won't have to trek over state lines for their nearest convention – they'll head down the rabbit hole to Campfire Tails, held at Ogden Group Camp on the shores of Paulina Lake, east of La Pine.

Various Happenings are planned, described as:

[Events] of artistic significance […] ranging from traditional art exhibits, to participatory events (like craft workshops), to community builds, to mixed medium art displays, to something instantaneous and fluid, like a flash mob or a musical performance.

Base registration costs $40, and includes dinners. Sponsor levels of $60 and $80 add t-shirts, custom badges and additional meals. Members (18+ only) must register by July 1.

As previously noted, furs appeared tonight on popular Brazilian TV show Caldeirão do Huck.

The fursuiters played as extras to Luciano Huck, who was disguised as one of them.

Those who don't understand Portuguese may want to skip to 3:40 once it's loaded.

I've decided to harness the awesome power of tags with a "related stories" block on story pages which matches against the most specific tags. This will improve as old posts get tags. Popular categories are at the bottom of the front page; a tag search box is at the right.

It's been three months; how would you like to see Flayrah develop? What types of news or other content do you want to read? Do you want to see Flayrah's content on another site? (You can get email for stories or particular categories via Subscriptions on your user page.)

Remember, if you've got something interesting to say, you can always login and submit it!

The first Nordic Furdance (translation) begins in just over 17 hours.
The party will be held on the third floor of the Catonium from 19:00.

69 attendees are expected in Hamburg for a night of dance, fursuits and glow sticks modeled after the Cologne Furdance.

At-the-door entry costs €15. Water, glucose and showers are available for fursuiters.

Disney plans to release a Monsters, Inc. sequel on 16 November 2012, the BBC reports.

A new Muppets movie is also in the works, and will introduce a new character called Walter.

Furcadia's owners plan upgrades, and are selling discounted DragonScales (store credit) to fund the new hardware.

Dragon's Eye may not get many takers for the US$500 600-scale offer (including a "Furcadia-For-Life" tag), but smaller lots are available.

Those who liked the Floofs or Fluffs from earlier this month can also purchase them as temporary avatars for $4.99.

While the sale itself isn't that unusual, the announcement gives details of Furcadia's server hardware and connections.

Want to drop by Fur Affinity without filling your screen – or your browser cache – with porn? Visit sfw.furaffinity.net instead! [Fauna Urbana]

The LondonFurs are on display again, this time thanks to a video interview by Babelgum. [diegowolffox and balto_mike/furrymedia]

The New York Times' City Room notes the choice of the New York City Parks and Recreation's official mascot – Pearl the Squirrel. [strawdog/furryne.ws]

According to Disney Interactive artist Adam Koford, Pearl beat several feathered competitors:

We almost went with an owl, or one of the hawks that live alongside Central Park, but the squirrel was a bit funner to draw.

Furry fans might know Adam as the creator of the Laugh-Out Loud Cats (archive), a pair of anthropomorphic feline hobos drawn in early 20th-century style who use 21st-century Internet slang. He also illustrated the HTTP 4xx status errors (available in poster form).

Update: Pearl in fursuit form.