World's Top Animal Movie Stars

Looking into our beloved animals who still play a crucial role in the entertainment industry.

To celebrate all the hardworking animal actors out there, the following are a list of eight iconic animal thesps, domestic and wild, contemporary and dearly departed. In fairness, we’ve limited it to one animal actor per species as we certainly wouldn’t want hammy canines to rule the list.

Pal
Uggie as "the Dog." Cosmo as "Arthur." Jill as "Verdell." Terry as "Toto." Higgins as "Benji." And perhaps most traumatically, Darla as "Precious." While these are all fine examples of outstanding cinematic turns by canines in Oscar-nominated or Oscar-winning films, only one four-legged thesp has been honored with a five-pointed star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. That, of course, would be Lassie.

Lassie, depicted as a female, was in fact the stage name/alter-ego of Pal, a North Hollywood-born male rough collie who not only starred in "Lassie Come Home" but a series of sequels and spin-offs before entering retirement (he died in 1958 at the age of 18 ... or 126, depending on who you ask.)

Mitzi
While a series of female bottlenose dolphins collectively portrayed Flipper, aka "Lassie of the Sea," during the three-season TV run of "Flipper," a photogenic – and exceptionally trained – lady-dolphin named Mitzi primarily played the titular role in MGM’s 1963 family film that birthed the popular spin-off series (along with a mawkish, Jennifer Alba-starring TV revival in the 1990s and a 1996 remake starring Paul Hogan and Elijah Wood that relied heavily on animatronics in lieu of real dolphins).

Mitzi, the original Flipper, passed away in 1972 of a heart attack at the age of 14 and is interred at the nonprofit Dolphin Research Center in the Florida Keys, the same institution where she resided and was trained.

Bart the Bear
Bart the Bear, a 9.5-foot force of nature who over the course of his storied career appeared opposite Anthony Hopkins, Ethan Hawke, Brad Pitt, Alec Baldwin and, err, Steven Segal, was born in 1977 into an established ursine acting clan – apparently his mother appeared in the late-1970s schlocky horror movies "Grizzly" and "Day of the Animals." Bart, however, had grander aspirations than low-budget genre films and went on to appear briefly in "Clan of the Cave Bear" (1986) with Darryl Hannah and the John Hughes-penned Dan Akroyd /John Candy comedy, "The Great Outdoors" (1988).

Bart passed away from cancer in 2000 the age of 23 in Park City, Utah, under the care of his long-time trainers and human companions, Doug and Lynne Seus of Wasatch Rocky Mountain Wildlife.

Crystal
Hollywood’s go-to capuchin, 20-year-old Crystal, has demonstrated remarkable range over her short but prolific career: She’s played a drug dealer (“The Hangover Part 2”), a medical doctor (“Animal Practice”), a drunk (“Dr. Doolittle”), an unhinged personal assistant (“Malcolm in the Middle”) and the primate embodiment of Adam Sandler (“Zookeeper.”) And in 2012, she was one of television’s highest paid actors, diaper-wearing or not, commanding a cool $12,000 per episode for her roll as Dr. Rizzo in the (mercifully) now-cancelled sitcom “Animal Practice.” Funny, we figured as a monkey that she’d receive compensation in bananas, hugs and kisses. When not rehearsing, doing back flips on the red carpet or evoking the ire of PETA (and no, she doesn’t really smoke), Crystal lives a quiet life in a Los Angeles home that she shares with handler/trainer Tom Gunderson, his family and a menagerie of other showbiz-savvy critters.

Bamboo Harvester
You’d think that the Palomino behind television’s chattiest equine would have a more dignified, debonair name than Bamboo Harvester. Maybe something like Jack, Charlie, Felix or Reginald P. Hoofmeister. But Bamboo Harvester? What does that even mean?

But we digress. As the titular quip-prone gelding belonging to hapless architect Wilbur Post (Alan Young), Bamboo Harvester starred in all six seasons of “Mister Ed” from 1961 to 1966, and during that period became the hay-munching toast of the town. Although “Mister Ed” is a rather silly sitcom relic (children of the 1980s and 1990s may have fond memories of it playing during Nick at Night), one “Mister Ed” legend has held strong to this day: How did the show’s creators get Bamboo Harvester — trained by Les Hilton of Francis the Talking Mule fame — to “talk”? Peanut butter? Nylon strings? Forcefully inserted carrots?

And would an old-fashioned talking horse sitcom fly today? Probably not (we’d watch it, of course, of course). However, Fox did attempt to revive the series back in 2004 with a never-aired television pilot starring David Alan Basche, Garrett Dillahunt and the late Sherman Hemsley as the voice of the inimitable Mister Ed.

Jiggs
While a super-talented parade of apes —we’re looking at you, J. Fred Muggs — have graced television and theater screens over the years, none deserves trailblazer status as much as Jiggs, the hardworking professional ham who originated the role of Tarzan’s faithful chimp sidekick, Cheeta. Owned and trained by Tony and Jacqueline Gentry, Jiggs only appeared as Cheeta in two Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan films, “Tarzan the Ape Man” (1932) and “Tarzan and His Mate” (1934) along with the Buster Crabbe-starring serial “Tarzan the Fearless” (1935).

Jiggs lived a tragically short life for a chimp, passing away from pneumonia at the age of 9 in 1938. He was buried in the Los Angeles Pet Memorial Park in Calabasas, also the final home of Rudolph Valentino’s Great Dane, Charlie Chaplin’s cat, Petey the pit bull from “Our Gang” and Hopalong Cassidy’s horse, Topper.

Orangey
Orangey – also known as Rhubarb or Jimmy – is the only cat to win two PATSY (Picture Animal Top Star of the Year) Awards, the American Humane Association’s now-defunct honor bestowed upon Hollywood’s hardest-working critters. Other esteemed recipients of a PATSY include Pal, Bonzo the chimp, Bruno the Bear (“Gentle Ben”), Arnold the pig from “Green Acres” and multiple award winner, Molly (aka Francis the Talking Mule).

Orangey’s first PATSY win came in 1951 with her role as the titular kitty in “Rhubarb.” Ten years later Orangey was presented with her second PATSY award for portraying Holly Golighty’s unnamed pet feline in Blake Edward’s “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (pictured left.) Other Orangey appearances include “The Incredible Shrinking Man” (1957) as Butch, “The Comedy of Terrors” as Cleopatra (1964) and the sitcom “Our Miss Brooks” (1952-1958) as Minerva.

Tai
Tai made her film debut in “Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book” (1994) and has been working steadily, to some controversy, ever since. Playing Rosie, an abused circus elephant in the 2011 film adaptation of Sara Gruen’s best-selling novel “Water for Elephants,” Tai garnered as much praise as a nearly 10,000-pound method actor can get. However, in addition to predicable noise from PETA, Tai was at the center of real-life abuse allegations (the deplorable mistreatment depicted in “Water for Elephants” was the result of CGI and special effects) when Animal Defenders International (ADI) released a short video that purportedly showed Tai being electrocuted with stun guns and beaten with bull hooks by her handlers some years before the filming of “Water for Elephants.”

Amazing Snowy Owl

Male

Female

The Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) is a large owl of the typical owl family Strigidae. The Snowy Owl was first classified in 1758 by Carolus Linnaeus, the Swedish naturalist who developed binomial nomenclature to classify and organize plants and animals.
Until recently, it was regarded as the sole member of a distinct genus, as Nyctea scandiaca, but mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data (Olsen et al. 2002) shows that it is very closely related to the horned owls in the genus Bubo. The Snowy Owl is the official bird of the Canadian province of Quebec.

Description

Plate 121 of the Birds of America by John James Audubon, depicting the Snowy Owl

This yellow-eyed, black-beaked white bird is easily recognizable. It is 52–71 centimetres (20–28 in) long, with a 125–150 centimetres (49–59 in) wingspan. Also, these birds can weigh anywhere from 1.6 to 3 kilograms (3.5 to 6.6 lb). It is one of the largest species of owl and, in North America, is on average the heaviest owl species. The adult male is virtually pure white, but females and young birds have some dark scalloping; the young are heavily barred, and dark spotting may even predominate. Its thick plumage, heavily feathered taloned feet, and colouration render the Snowy Owl well-adapted for life north of the Arctic Circle.

Snowy Owl calls are varied, but the alarm call is a barking, almost quacking krek-krek; the female also has a softer mewling pyee-pyee or prek-prek. The song is a deep repeated gahw. They may also clap their beak in response to threats or annoyances. While called clapping, it is believed this sound may actually be a clicking of the tongue, not the beak.

Ecology

The Snowy Owl is typically found in the northern circumpolar region, where it makes its summer home north of latitude 60 degrees north. However, it is a particularly nomadic bird, and because population fluctuations in its prey species can force it to relocate, it has been known to breed at more southerly latitudes. During the last glacial, there was a Central Europe Bubo scandiacus gallicus, but no modern subspecies are recognized.

Young owl on the tundra at Barrow Alaska. Snowy Owls lose their black feathers with age, though particular females retain some.

This species of owl nests on the ground, building a scrape on top of a mound or boulder. A site with good visibility such as the top of mound with ready access to hunting areas, and a lack of snow is chosen. Gravel bars and abandoned eagle nests may be used. The female scrapes a small hollow before laying the eggs. Breeding occurs in May to June, and depending on the amount of prey available, clutch sizes range from 3 to 11 eggs, which are laid singly, approximately every other day over the course of several days. Hatching takes place approximately five weeks after laying, and the pure white young are cared for by both parents. Although the young hatch asynchronously, with the largest in the brood sometimes 10 to 15 times as heavy as the smallest, there is little sibling conflict and no evidence of siblicide. Both the male and the female defend the nest and their young from predators, sometimes by distraction displays. Males may mate with two females which may nest about a kilometre apart. Some individuals stay on the breeding grounds while others migrate.

Range

Snowy Owls nest in the Arctic tundra of the northermost stretches of Alaska, Canada, and Eurasia. They winter south through Canada and northern Eurasia, with irruptions occurring further south in some years. Snowy Owls are attracted to open areas like coastal dunes and prairies that appear somewhat similar to tundra. They have been reported as far south as the American states of Texas, Georgia, the American Gulf states, southernmost Russia, and northern China.

Between 1967 and 1975, Snowy Owls bred on the remote island of Fetlar in the Shetland Isles north of Scotland. Females summered as recently as 1993, but their status in the British Isles is now that of a rare winter visitor to Shetland, the Outer Hebrides and the Cairngorms.

In January 2009, a Snowy Owl appeared in Spring Hill, Tennessee, the first reported sighting in the state since 1987. More notable is the huge mass southern migration in the winter of 2011/2012, when thousands of Snowy Owls were spotted in various locations across the United States.

Hunting and diet

Eating a rat at Diergaarde Blijdorp (Rotterdam Zoo), Netherlands

This powerful bird relies primarily on lemmings and other small rodents for food during the breeding season, but at times of low prey density, or during the ptarmigan nesting period, they may switch to favoring juvenile ptarmigan. They are opportunistic hunters and prey species may vary considerably, especially in winter. They feed on a wide variety of small mammals such as meadow voles and deer mice, but will take advantage of larger prey, frequently following traplines to find food. Some of the larger mammal prey includes hares, muskrats, marmots, squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, prairie dogs, rats, moles, and smaller birds entrapped furbearers. Birds preyed upon include ptarmigan, other ducks, geese, shorebirds, pheasants, grouse, coots, grebes, gulls, songbirds, and even other raptors, including other owl species. Most of the owls' hunting is done in the "sit and wait" style; prey may be captured on the ground, in the air or fish may be snatched off the surface of bodies of water using their sharp talons. Each bird must capture roughly 7 to 12 mice per day to meet its food requirement and can eat more than 1,600 lemmings per year.

Snowy Owls, like many other birds, swallow their small prey whole. Strong stomach juices digest the flesh, while the indigestible bones, teeth, fur, and feathers are compacted into oval pellets that the bird regurgitates 18 to 24 hours after feeding. Regurgitation often takes place at regular perches, where dozens of pellets may be found. Biologists frequently examine these pellets to determine the quantity and types of prey the birds have eaten. When large prey are eaten in small pieces, pellets will not be produced.

Natural threats

Though Snowy Owls have few predators, the adults are very watchful and are equipped to defend against any kind of threat towards them or their offspring. During the nesting season, the owls regularly defend their nests against arctic foxes, corvids and swift-flying jaegers; as well as dogs, gray wolves and avian predators. Males defend the nest by standing guard nearby while the female incubates the eggs and broods the young. Both sexes attack approaching predators, dive-bombing them and engaging in distraction displays to draw the predator away from a nest. They also compete directly for lemmings and other prey with several predators, including Rough-legged Hawks, Golden Eagles, Peregrine Falcons, Gyrfalcons, jaegers, Glaucous Gulls, Short-eared Owls, Great Horned Owls, Eurasian Eagle Owls, Common Ravens, wolves, arctic foxes, and ermine. They are normally dominant over other raptors although may (sometimes fatally) lose in conflicts to large raptors such as other Bubo owls, Golden Eagles and the smaller but much faster Peregrine Falcons. Some species nesting near Snowy Owl nests, such as the Snow Goose, seem to benefit from the incidental protection of snowy owls that drive competing predators out of the area.