When U.S. lawmakers couldn’t agree on raising the debt ceiling, the government shut down for two weeks. Naturally, this had some pretty drastic effects, most glaringly, the National Zoo pulling the plug on its beloved panda cam. When the live feed, which broadcasts the daily lives of two giant pandas, went dark, the Internet did not respond well. At all. The only positive outcome of this lack of round-the-clock pandas was that other animal cams got their turn to shine. But of course, after the two-week deprivation, the Internet breathed a collective sigh of relief when the zoo shared a very important message on Twitter: “The panda cam is back ON!”
The 11 Most Influential Animals of 2013
They pawed around the West Wing and comforted people after tragedy. Sometimes, like pandas, they made their biggest impact by not being there at all. Here’s an unranked look at four-legged and finned creatures that shaped our year.