Over the past 50 years, the Gibbon Conservation Center has become a globally recognized institution dedicated to the care and well-being of gibbons. Located just outside of Los Angeles, the center focuses on one of the most rare and critically endangered primates on Earth. Founded by a self-taught primatologist, it now houses about 40 gibbons across five species, some critically endangered. Gibbons face increasing threats from habitat destruction, and the center has successfully bred some endangered gibbons. The center welcomes students, volunteers and visitors, offering guided tours and hands-on experiences.

Fat Marmot Week is coming soon. Last winter was tough for the groundhog-like rodents living in the Colorado mountains. Researchers say there wasn't enough snow to keep marmots' burrows warm while they hibernated, causing many of the animals to freeze to death. The marmots that survived are doing well. They've fattened up, gaining the critical weight they need to make it through next winter. To drum up interest in their work, marmot researchers are launching an online contest for the public to vote for their favorite critter — Fat Marmot Week. It begins Monday.

The first New World screwworm outbreak in Texas in 60 years is hindering efforts to move rescued dogs and cats out of crowded animal shelters to states where they would be adopted. U.S. officials have emphasized the parasite’s threat to the nation’s $113 billion cattle industry, but the screwworm fly can lay eggs that hatch into flesh-eating larvae in the wounds or mucous of any mammal. Several dogs have had infestations in southern Texas and southeastern New Mexico. All but a handful of states have placed new restrictions on importing animals. That's complicating the annual flow of dogs and cats from Texas to other states.

Scientists at a biotech company have used gene editing to create two hypoallergenic beagles that don't trigger allergies. Using a Nobel Prize-winning editing tool called CRISPR, they switched off a gene that produces the main allergy-causing protein in dogs. The pups Alfie and Bailey were born healthy and are still going strong almost two years later. It'll take years before such pooches could be available at pet stores because scientists need to make sure the approach is safe and affordable. It's the first time this technique has been successful in dogs. Findings were published on Wednesday in the CRISPR Journal.