12/31/2009

The Year in Animals

The Best of Two Thousand and Swine

Heard the one about the man who beat someone up with a live swan? What about Berlin's new rest stop for beavers? Or the stork who got a prosthetic leg? If you are a regular SPIEGEL ONLINE reader, you know that Germany has a limitless font of fauna-related news. We present the best German animal stories of 2009.

An unlikely friendship: Wild boar meets dog

dpa

An unlikely friendship: Wild boar meets dog

Climate change, the financial crisis and the death of Michael Jackson may have dominated the headlines in most publications during 2009. But for SPIEGEL ONLINE International, the real stories of the year involved runaway zebras, gay penguins and kleptomaniac foxes. We present a selection of 2009's best German animal stories.

The Case of the Missing Swan

The year got off to a worrying start for German animal-lovers when Petra, the black swan who gained nationwide fame by falling in love with a large swan-shaped pedal boat, went missing from her lake in the western German city of Münster in January. Her worried fans, in the shape of the "Friends of Black Petra" society, asked the public to help find her, distributing some 150 "Have you seen this swan" posters and leaflets throughout Münster. Sadly, the society gave up the search in March, having failed to find any trace of Petra.

Photo Gallery

6 Photos

Photo Gallery: Petra the Famous Swan Is Missing

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