2023 was one for the books, from the first ever House speaker ousting to Taylor Swift breaking records on all fronts.
Animals had their fair share of spotlight in the news, too, ranging from adorable videos to weirder moments. If you missed a few animal news events this year, we’ve compiled some of the most notable animal moments from 2023.
Here are the top 10 weirdest animal moments from 2023:
1. Bear steals lasagna from fridge
A black bear broke into a woman’s home in October in Barkhamsted, Connecticut, and took a frozen lasagna out of her freezer before climbing out the kitchen window. Footage of this incident was posted to X on Oct 12.
2. Cat makes owner’s bed
A cat had a small fight with her kitten after seeing that it messed up the covers on their owner’s bed. After the kitten scampered away, the responsible mama pulled the covers back in place with its mouth. This video was posted to X on Oct. 10.
3. Dad asks bear to leave the barbecue
Over Labor Day weekend, one Pennsylvania family had an unexpected visitor to their family barbecue. As the dad escorted the bear out of a little wire gate, it gave him a little smack. He was OK, but his family seemed pretty nervous. Footage of this incident was posted to FaceBook captioned, “Fearless man politely escorts bear out of camp.”
4. Bear closes lady’s front door
The wacky bear news continues. This video posted to TikTok in March, 2023, shows a bear close the front door of a lady’s house behind him before he returns back home to the woods.
5. Kangaroo tries to drown dog
In Victoria, Australia, in October, a martial arts enthusiast and former cop punched a kangaroo that was attempting to drown his dog in a lake. The incident was originally posted to TikTok and Reddit before the New York Post reported on the incident.
6. Alligator in storm pipes
When engineers wheeled a robotic camera around storm pipes in Oviedo, Florida, to figure out what was causing potholes, they found a 5-foot alligator.
This discovery was reminiscent of another incident in Florida in 2017, when construction workers had to drag an alligator out of a clogged pipe.
7. A dog and a goat became best friends
Goat Cinnamon, and dog Felix became best friends at an animal shelter in North Carolina in March. ABC Philadelphia reported, “Usually you’re not mixing species, but this is a specially bonded pair, and it’s not like anything staff here has ever seen before.”
8. Wild flamingos appeared in Wisconsin
These birds are typically Caribbean natives, but they found themselves in the Badger State at the end of September due to Hurricane Idalia, the Deseret News reported.
This hurricane was reported as a Category 3 hurricane and hit Keaton Beach near Tallahassee, Florida, on Aug. 30, according to CBS.
9. Escaped circus lion wandered around Italy
Kimba the lion escaped from Rony Roller Circus in Ladispoli — about an hour outside of Rome — mid-November, the Deseret News reported.
The video on Instagram shows Kimba wandering around the seaside town at night and standing guard in front of someone’s gate to their home.
10. Lizard’s ungraceful fall in the bathroom goes viral
This video was posted originally to YouTube in January and was reposted to Instagram in August. Over 3 million people liked this Instagram reel, as a gecko fell from a bathroom ceiling, grabbing onto various shampoo bottles as it fell off the shelf.