Animals
S


Attention

Signs and Portents: Pig born with the face of monkey in Cuba

Kara O'Neill
Daily Mirror, UK
Mon, 11 Jan 2016 21:30 UTC
Deformed: Crowds gathered to gawp at the strange animal
Deformed: Crowds gathered to gawp at the strange animal
A piglet born with the head of a monkey could be a result of 'environmental pollution'.

Images and video of the animal quickly went viral on social media, as viewers branded the strange creature 'a monkey pig'.

The animal appears to have a considerably shortened snout as well as monkey-like ears and eyes.

Sadly, the piglet died just four days after it was born.

A video of the pig showed its owner holding it up in his arms as a crowd gathered around to look at it in the city of Ciego de Avila in central Cuba.

"One of a kind, never seen before", one of the bystanders can be heard commenting.

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Black Cat

Mountain lion with teeth growing out of its head found in Idaho

Piper McGowin
The Daily Sheeple
Wed, 17 Feb 2016 14:31 UTC
lion tooth head
It's hard to watch the media downplay all these bizarre animal events as if they just have no idea whatsoever that we're under continual assault by ever-increasing radiation in our environment.

Last month a hunter's dog was attacked by a mountain lion that had a set of teeth literally growing out of the top of its head.

The mainstream media reported on it as if it just has people "scratching their heads" as to what could possibly cause such a deformity, like these deformities aren't popping up more and more these days and especially in the western half of the U.S.
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Attention

Signs and Portents: Two-headed calf born in China

Kirstie McCrum
Daily Mirror, UK
Tue, 16 Feb 2016 19:20 UTC
Two-headed calf
© CENWeird occurrence: The calf and Gan Yuanhua, who says that it was born from a cow who has had three healthy calves previously
A calf born with two heads has stunned farmers in a small village.

The animal was born from a cow who has given birth to three healthy calves in the past.

And it would likely have been dismissed by villagers, they say - had they not seen it with their own eyes.

Farmer Gan Yuanhua said: "I heard the cow shuffling around and making odd noises in the shed, and I knew she was about to give birth."

From his home in Shaijin Village in Linshui County, in south-west China's Sichuan Province, he said he initially thought the cow had given birth to twins when he saw the two heads and did not realise immediately that it was a mutation.
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Attention

Two sperm whales die after beaching on coast of East China

Nectar Gan
South China Morning Post
Tue, 16 Feb 2016 17:52 UTC
Authorities and experts measured the giant carcasses
© China NewsAuthorities and experts measured the giant carcasses to try to determine the cause of death.
Two sperm whales have died after beaching themselves on the East China coast in the past two days, the China News Service reported.

On Sunday, villagers found one dead whale beached near Yangkou, in Jiangsu province, while another whale lingered in the deeper water of a channel nearby.

The second whale then became stranded and died on Monday afternoon, about 10km from the first while.

Fisherman Yin Qiufeng said he spotted the whale on the beach early on Sunday.

"[At first] I thought it was a capsized ship, but at a second glance I found it was a huge fish," Yin said. "In the beginning I didn't dare go too close to have a better look because I thought it was still alive, but later I found out it was already dead."

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Attention

Another dead whale found on coast in Odisha, India; fifth this month

Debabrata Mohanty
The Indian Express
Tue, 16 Feb 2016 17:35 UTC
Carcass of a whale
© Debabrata MohantyThe carcass of a whale was found near Mangala river mouth in Puri on Tuesday morning.
In the fifth case of whales washing ashore on Odisha coast, the carcass of another giant whale was found near Mangala river mouth in Puri on Tuesday morning.

Divisional Forest Officer Puri wildlife division Chittaranjan Mishra said the forest department officials have seized the decomposed body of the 38-feet-long whale.

"We will bury the body of the whale after ascertaining its cause of death and and send some of its parts to Bhubaneswar to know the species of the whale. We have sought the experts' opinion," he said.

Odisha forest and wildlife department officials have written a letter to the Ministry of Forest and Environment for investigation into the cases of whale carcasses washing ashore.
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Question

Duck or rabbit?

Chloe Farand
The Independent, UK
Sun, 14 Feb 2016 10:15 UTC
Duck or a rabbit
© Wikimedia Commons What do you see? A duck or a rabbit?
What do you see: a rabbit? or a duck?

More than a 100 years after it was first sketched, a drawing has sparked huge reaction after being shared on social media.

Some see a rabbit and others will see a duck - but are you able to see both alternatively?

What you see (and how fast you see it) could indicate how quickly your brain works - and how creative you are.

The duck-rabbit drawing was first used by American psychologist Joseph Jastrow in 1899 to make the point that perception is not only what one sees but also a mental activity.
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Fire

Australian raptors may utilize fire as a hunting tool

Stephen Luntz
IFLScience
Fri, 15 Jan 2016 03:52 UTC
australiam birds start fires
© Alexius Sutandio/ShutterstockBlack kites such as this one could be spreading lightning-initiated fires to additional territory.
Two scientific conferences have heard evidence that at least two Australian birds have learned to use fire, picking up smoldering sticks and dropping them in unburnt territory. The behavior has not been photographed, but numerous sightings have been reported, and is woven into the culture of local Indigenous communities.

Astonishingly, it is only a few decades since textbooks confidently proclaimed that humans were the only tool-making species. In 1960, Jane Goodall's ground-breaking reports of tool use amongst chimpanzees overthrew this theory, and today tool use is studied from dolphins to parrots, with crows revealing a sophistication that outshines many humans.

Fire propagation, however, is considered a bright line marking humans apart from animals. Except that is, by the fourteen rangers interviewed by Bob Gosford, and many Australian Aboriginal people in north-central Australia, who say birds use it too.
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Bizarro Earth

Odd Australian creature washed up identified as pike eel

Tim Connell
Newcastle Herald, Australia
Tue, 16 Feb 2016 02:33 UTC
Pike Eel
© FacebookMYSTERY: A creature apparently photographed near the Swansea boat ramp has sent ripples through social media.
Giant eel, "messed up crocodile" or unidentified lake monster?

A creature apparently photographed at Swansea has confused and slightly frightened locals since it washed up on social media on Monday.

Ethan Tippa, who posted the photo on Facebook, typified the general response.

"What the f--- is it?"

The answer, said marine biologist Julian Pepperell, is that it's a pike eel.

The angle of the photo made it difficult to judge the creature's length, but it seems longer than the species' average maximum of 1.8 metres.

"I think it's definitely a pike eel. The head is very indicative of that species," Dr Pepperell said.

"It's hard from the photo to get an idea of the scale."

The nocturnal pike eel is common in NSW waters, but surprisingly little is known about it.

Dr Pepperell said the species is frequently caught by fishers at night who get "the fight of their lives" when they reel in a powerful, thrashing predator with a nasty bite.
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Attention

Whale carcass removed from Bantry Bay, South Africa


ENCA
Sun, 14 Feb 2016 19:34 UTC
Dead whale along the promenade towards Bantry Bay
© Metaxia SterianosDead whale along the promenade towards Bantry Bay
The City of Cape Town successfully removed the carcass of a whale that beached in Bantry Bay.

Authorities believed that dead marine mammal posed a risk to the public.

Decomposing whales could attract sharks, and they also create an awful stench.

Samples will now be taken for research purposes, and the carcass buried in a landfill site.

Gregg Oelofse from the City of Cape Town said before the removal, "It's going to be difficult. But the particular location of this animal means we're going to have to take it off by towing it back out to sea."

"We're quite lucky because it's a small whale, a calf, about 6 metres in length so it makes it easier for us."

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Attention

Dolphin found dead on east coast - days after whales died in Lincolnshire, UK


Grimsby Telegraph
Sun, 14 Feb 2016 19:26 UTC
A Hornsea Coastguard officer with the dolphin.
© Hornsea CoastguardA Hornsea Coastguard officer with the dolphin.
A dolphin washed up dead on the east coast, just days after a number of whales were stranded along the Lincolnshire coastline.

Hornsea Coastguard was called out to the beach in East Yorkshire at about 3pm on Friday afternoon after reports of a whale or porpoise on the beach.

It was later identified as a white beaked dolphin, and details were passed to the Natural History Museum to arrange collection.

A spokesman for Hornsea Coastguard said: "Team paged by CGOC Humber to a report of a whale/porpoise on the beach north of Hornsea.
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