Having a whale of a time with a one tonne puppy - diver's dance with a cute cetacean

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Flipper to flipper: Underwater cameraman Roger Munns gets up close and personal with the calf


An underwater cameraman has had a whale of a time while filming off the coast of Tonga.

Roger Munns was in Toku - a region of sheltered bays and inlets on the isolated Pacific Ocean island - in the hope of catching on film the mating rituals of giant humpback whales.

But while he was able to observe plenty of bulls competing with each other to win a mate, the star of Roger's production turned out not to be one of the fully-grown, 45ft gentle giants.

For while the heavyweight males were obviously too pre-occupied with their own love match, an inquisitive calf approached the cameraman looking for a playmate - and spent the next hour posing before the lens.

Roger, from Cornwall, said: 'I've heard about calves doing this but I was not prepared for the playful nature at all.


Getting the hump: The whale cavorted before the camera and appeared inquisitive about his new playmate


That's no bull: While the adult males fought for mating rights, the young calf was much more interested in playing


'He seemed to scamper towards us like a giant excited pony and wanted to play tag like a little puppy. I couldn't help but laugh as the calf kept bumping into me with an extremely naughty glint in its eye, but it was clearly in the name of fun.

'Up close you suddenly realised just how big it actually was. The games continued for an hour and I have to admit it was probably one of the most enjoyable hours I have spent in the water.'


Let's roll: The baby humpback enjoyed playing a game of tag


Role reversal: Normally behind the viewfinder, wildlife photographer Roger poses for the camera while exploring the waters around Tonga

source :dailymail

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'I have never known pain like it': Fox came in through my cat flap and bit the top of my finger off, says ambulance driver

By REBECCA EVANS

Tammy Page holds up the finger which was savaged by the fox. 'Blood was pouring from my finger, the tip was hanging off and it was so mangled and infected the doctor could not stitch it.'


An ambulance worker told yesterday how a fox crept into her house through the cat flap and attacked her.

Tammy Page, 29, found the animal in her kitchen in the middle of the night.

As she tried to move it back into the garden, it launched itself at her, biting the top of her finger off.


Tammy Page with her cats Tinks. She says the fox came in through the cat flap before biting her finger


Miss Page, who keeps chickens in the garden of her ground-floor flat, had woken early on Sunday to the sound of her back door rattling.

Fearing it was a burglar, she jumped out of bed and went downstairs. Seeing the fox dash under the stairs, she ran to her kitchen to grab a weapon – and the fox followed her.


A fox bares its teeth. Tammy's flat backs on to a railway line and she said foxes living there have increased in number and become more brazen in their hunt for food


She said: ‘It was a young fox, maybe a year old, but it was mangy and crazy looking. I think it might have chased one of my cats in so thank God it didn’t get hold of them.

‘It looked starving and desperate. I was between it and the exit and there was a stand-off. It was screaming like a baby being hurt, it was one of the worst noises I have ever heard.

‘My cats were terrified on top of the freezer so I went to try to push it back out but it came at me and snapped its jaw shut round my left index finger.

‘I felt the pain immediately, but grabbed the fox round the scruff of the neck and chucked it in the garden.’

Miss Page, from Worthing, West Sussex, wrapped a tea towel round her finger and drove straight to hospital. ‘Blood was pouring from my finger,’ she said. ‘The tip was hanging off and it was so mangled the doctor could not stitch it.


In June last year, nine-month-old twins Lola (right) and Isabella Koupparis were savaged by a fox at their home in East London. Their mother Pauline, 41, told how the animal crept in and mauled the babies in their cot


Experts believe the animal had become desperately hungry after wheelie bins were introduced in Miss Page’s street, removing an easy source of food for urban foxes.

Billy Elliot, of Worthing and District Animal Rescue Service, said: ‘The more scarce their food is the more desperate they’ll be for food.

‘If it sees a cat going through a flap, it thinks why can’t I?

‘It doesn’t know what’s on the other side but when it enters a home it can be more traumatising for the fox than the owner.’

He recommended pet owners keep cats in at night, lock cat flaps and keep windows closed at this time of year, which is the foxes’ mating season. It is also the time when adult foxes are more likely to be scrounging for food.

source: dailymail

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I don't mind if you hog the limelight! The formerly prickly pair who are now best friends

By DAVID WILKES

My tiny spiny pal: Mary the terrier shares the sofa with Mini Hog the African albino pygmy hedgehog


Their first meeting was a little prickly, but now it’s clearly puppy love.

Side by side on the sofa, Mini Hog the African albino pygmy hedgehog and Mary the terrier couldn’t look cosier in each other’s company.

Equally at home – and seemingly equally unlikely pals – are Puddles the duck and Jessie the doberman, and Gladys the cockerel and Snowy the cat.

The three sets of creatures appear in the latest edition of Country Life in a feature about extraordinary animal friendships.


Dog and duck: Puddles the duck with Jessie the doberman look happy in each other's company


Mini Hog and Mary became friends after owners Charles and Charlotte Sainsbury-Plaice bought the hedgehog for their four children.

Mary and her siblings Mungo and Miggs were understandably curious when introduced to Mini Hog and their natural inquisitiveness led to a few uncomfortable encounters. Mr Sainsbury-Plaice, 44, a sporting and wildlife photographer, said: ‘They didn’t hit it off straight away, but any unwanted attention was repelled by her putting her spines up.

‘After a few pricks on the nose, the dogs soon learnt their lesson and they all get along fine now.’


Which came first... The chicken and the cat. Gladys (left), a crossbreed chicken, and Snowy (right) get on just fine


Mini Hog, two, lives under a settle by the Aga at the family’s Warwickshire home and is so relaxed around the dogs that sometimes she even lies on them when they are asleep.

Puddles the duck, meanwhile, prefers the company of Jessie the doberman to living in the garden with the hens at Jacqueline Meadows’ home in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire.

And Gladys – who turned out to be a cockerel after being named – formed a bond with Snowy the cat at Jane Etheridge’s home near Middleton, Suffolk, after a fox killed his feathered friends.


Resting with a friend: Puddles the duck with Shadow the Alsatian


Revealed: Extraordinary animal relationships


source: dailymail

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Coral species may be extinct within 50 years, warn scientists as they reveal most endangered

By GRAHAM SMITH

Endangered: The crisp pillow coral is one of ten species at greatest risk of becoming extinct, scientist warned today


Scientists have identified the ten coral species at greatest risk of becoming extinct.

Led by experts at London Zoo, the Edge Coral Reefs project has prioritised the most evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered species that conservationists fear will die out in the next 50 years.

Among those singled out as urgently in need of conservation are the crisp pillow coral, which resembles a brain, and the elegance coral, which has glowing tubular tentacles.


Elegance coral: Current worst case predictions suggest that tropical coral reefs will be functionally extinct within the next 30 to 50 years


Current worst case predictions suggest that tropical coral reefs, which have evolved over millions of years, will be functionally extinct within the next 30 to 50 years.

Saving these species could hold the key to the future adaptation of coral reefs to climate change, the scientists said at the project's launch today.

The other species prioritised include are the pearl bubble coral, which is a favoured food source of the hawksbill turtle, and the Mushroom coral, which supports at least 15 brightly coloured shrimp including the popcorn shrimp.

The species are found in some of the world’s most famous coral reefs, from the Great Barrier Reef to the waters surrounding the Chagos Archipelago.


These prehistoric ecosystems have been around for 400million years and support one third of all marine life, despite only inhabiting 0.2 per cent of the ocean floor.


Dr Heather Koldewey, of London Zoo, said: 'Corals are one of the most threatened groups of animals on our planet and iconic flagships of the marine environment.

The Edge conservation team will now train scientists to carry out vital conservation research on the ten focal species.

The plan is to develop a greater understanding of their status and determine the most effective methods for conserving them.


Mushroom coral: The Edge Coral Reefs conservation project has prioritised the most evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered species

source: dailymail

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Penguins tagged by scientists with metal armbands 'die quicker and have less chicks'

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Damage: New research shows metal bands used to monitor penguin populations affect death and birth rates


Metal bands used to track penguins may inadvertently be killing the birds, according to a study by scientists.

Thousands of penguins have had the steel rings fitted around their legs and flippers over the last decade to monitor population numbers.

But a 10-year study among tagged King Penguins showed survival rates were 44 per cent lower than those without bands.


Visible signs: Researchers say penguins who wear the bands look haggard


It also significantly affected birth rates among the birds, with banded penguins producing 41 per cent fewer chicks than their unbanded counterparts.

The French study, published in the journal Nature, theorise that the bands - made either aluminum or stainless steel - increase drag on the penguins when they swim, making them work harder.


Thousands of penguins have been fitted with the armbands in the last decade


Author Yvon Le Maho of the University of Strasbourg in France, said the banded penguins looked haggard, appearing older than their actual age.

Consequently, studies that use banded penguins - including ones about the effects of global warming on the seabirds - may be inaccurate, mixing up other changes in penguin life with the effects from banding, said Le Maho and colleague Claire Saraux.

'There is an ethical question: should we continue with banding penguins?' said Le Maho.


Options: There are several different types of armbands, and they do not produce the same results


The researchers followed 50 banded adult penguins and 50 unbanded birds for 10 years, tracking them with under-the-skin transponders.

Thirty six per cent of the non-banded survived for 10 years, compared to only 20 per cent of the band-wearing birds.

Penguins generally live for around 20 years although King penguins - among the largest penguins at 3ft tall - can live even longer.

The non-banded penguins had 80 chicks, while the banded seabirds produced 47 chicks, a 41 per cent drop.

The penguins were studied on a French island in the Indian Ocean between Africa and Antarctica.

Penguin researchers have long debated the use of bands. The bands weigh just under an ounce and are a bit more than an inch wide.

The scientists singled out potential problems with research on global warming's effect on penguins.

Banding may have skewed the data, but climate change is still harming and will harm penguins, they said.

Saraux said a study she did a couple years ago - without bands - showed harm to penguins from global warming.


source: dailymail

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Gorillas in a frizz... or how the early morning mists play havoc with their hair-dos

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Hair-raising: This youngster isn't quite sure whether the permed look suits him


These wild haired primates prove that being a real life gorilla in the mist can wreak havoc with your hairdo.

Looking in desperate need of some frizz-ease, the grizzled gorillas have the local weather to thank for their curly look.

Each morning the damp forested slopes of the volcanic Virunga Mountains, along the northern border of Rwanda in the East Africa, are blanketed in mist.

This event, and the gorillas who call the slopes home, became famous thanks to gorilla expert Dian Fossey's book and the subsequent film 'Gorillas in the Mist'.

When the haze eventually burns off it leaves everything coated in a fine layer of water - resulting in the gorillas' curly coiffures.


Bad hair day: The early moning mist leaves the gorillas looking a bit fluffed up


Curly coated: But perhaps rolling around a bit will help to straighten things out


But being transformed into permed primates doesn't crimp their style and the gorillas soon dry off as the morning progresses.

However, before that could happen these particular gorillas were captured in all their frizzed-up glory by professional wildlife photographer Andy Rouse.


source :dailymail

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A real tall story: Zookeepers stunned by birth of 5ft baby giraffe after ‘secret’ pregnancy

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

You big baby: The new-born giraffe that took zookeepers by surprise when they arrived for work on Monday morning


Zoo keepers have been shocked by the birth of a 5ft baby giraffe to a mother who kept her pregnancy hidden.

The as-yet-unnamed calf was born at Paignton Zoo in Devon on Monday morning to first-time mother Sangha.

Zoo keeper Jim Dicks said: 'The birth has come as a bit of a surprise. We thought Sangha might be pregnant back in the summer, but the signs were not clear and we began to think it was a false alarm.

'Wild animals are very good at keeping this sort of thing hidden. The first we knew about it was when we found the youngster when we arrived early on Monday morning.'

Although he is Sangha's first baby following a 16-month pregnancy, his father Yoda had a calf by the zoo's other female, Janica, in February last year.

Because the first few days of a baby giraffe's life are so critical, the zookeepers prefer not to choose a name, but their shortlist is from three Swahili names - Kito (Jewel), Nakuru (waterbuck haven) and Mosi (first born), and the Czech names Jacob and Josef.


That's my boy: Proud mum Sangha who took Paignton Zoo by surprise with the birth of her as-yet unnamed calf


'All the signs are good so far,' said zoo press officer Philip Knowling.

The new arrival is expected to draw big crowds to the tourist attraction, which in 2006 tragically lost all three of its giraffes - Paddy, Kizi and their week-old calf - in a fire.

The zoo now has five Rothschild's (Baringo) giraffes, which are classified as endangered.


First-footing: The new arrival is quickly on his feet while mum Sangha, right, and father Yoda keep a watchful eye on him


Sangha, who is five and a half, arrived from Liberec Zoo in Slovakia, while six-year-old Yoda came from Givskud Zoo in Denmark.

source: dailymail

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A chimpanzee looks on, watched by hundreds of visitors at Alipore Zoo

A champanzee carries a dead snake and a banana at Alipore Zoo in Kolkata on January 11, 2011. The zoo only counts two chimpanzees left following death of two others last year.




A chimpanzee picks up a dead snake at Alipore Zoo in Kolkata on January 11, 2011. The zoo only counts two chimpanzees left following death of two others last year.




A chimpanzee looks on, watched by hundreds of visitors at Alipore Zoo in Kolkata on January 11, 2011. The zoo only counts two chimpanzees left following death of two others last year.


source :Daylife
photo: Gettyimages

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Mr Fox has a fantastic sense of direction as he uses the magnetic field to hunt

Foxy loxy: The predators combine their acute hearing with their uncanny sense of direction to time jumps perfectly


Foxes aren't just cunning - they also have a fantastic sense of direction, scientists have shown.

A new study has found that the creatures are able to detect the Earth's magnetic field and use their navigational skills to hunt mice, rabbits and voles.

In tests, animal behaviour experts discovered that foxes tend to face north east when jumping on prey, no matter their location or the time of day.

Researchers believe they combine their acute hearing with their uncanny sense of direction to time jumps perfectly.

The discovery means foxes join other migratory animals - including pigeons, turtles and whales - in being able to sense the points of the compass.

The same team of scientists has previously shown that cattle and deer tend to align themselves with the Earth's magnetic field when resting so that herds end up pointing in the same direction.

Prof Hynek Burda, of the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany, studied the behaviour of 84 wild red foxes at 65 locations across the Czech Republic as they pounced on food.

Foxes leap high into the air when hunting to catch their prey by surprise from above.
Over two years the researchers recorded 592 hunting jumps - making a note of the time of day, weather and direction of the leap.

They found that foxes preferred to face the north-
east before jumping. North-eastern facing leaps tended to be more successful, they report in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters.

"Foxes on the prowl tend to direct their jumps in a roughly north-eastern compass direction,'' he said.

"The tight clustering of preferred attack directions cannot be explained by an effect of light cues, since observations were carried out at different times of day.

"Nor was this clustering a response to wind direction which varied from observation to observation, and rarely came directly from the north or south."

They added: "We suggest that mousing red foxes may use the magnetic fields as a "range finder" or targeting system to measure distance to its prey and thus increase the accuracy of predatory attacks."

If foxes are unable to see their prey because of vegetation or snow cover, they animals approach their prey from the south west - using their hearing and their awareness of the magnetic field to get an accurate estimate of the distance they have to leap, the researchers said.

Foxes are relatively small - weighing around 12lbs, only a little heavier than a large cat.

They are solitary hunters and scavengers happy to eat vegetables, insects, food scraps from bins or small mammals. They rarely eat anything larger than a rabbit.

They were once country animals but since the 1930s have moved into cities and towns in large numbers. Around 30,000 foxes - or 14 per cent of the population - are now urban.

Foxes rely on their acute hearing rather than their sense of smell or vision, and seek out food with a "grab and go" approach -- removing it to a safe place before eating it, or burying it for later.


source: dailymail

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Police raid garage 'cannabis factory'... only to discover it's a cosy home for guinea pigs called 'Simon' and 'Kenny'

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Hot to trot: Pamela Hardcastle with Simon her pampered guinea pig outside the super-heated garage police thought was a cannabis factory


Embarrassed police have issued an apology to a mother after officers swooped on her house thinking she had turned it into a cannabis factory - and found an electric heater for her two guinea pigs 'Simon' and 'Kenny'.

Six officers, in three vehicles, rushed to Pam Hardcastle's home and the 42-year-old was shocked to receive a call from her mother telling her the police were asking her to return from work.

The officers had been alerted when a police helicopter picked up a hotspot on the roof of Pam's garage and assumed it was a drug den, when in fact it was a cosy home for her loveable pets.

Pam, a primary school learning mentor, was forced to return home to Bradford after officers from West Yorkshire Police obtained a search warrant believing they had uncovered a specialist heating system designed to grow cannabis.

She said: 'The officer said they wanted me to go home. He said my garage lit up when the police helicopter was out and they believed I could be growing cannabis.
'He said they had a warrant and they wanted to search my premises.

'It was unbelievable. My mum told them I had guinea pigs in the garage and would have a heater in there to keep them warm. But they cut a bolt off my neighbour's gate to gain entry.

'My neighbours told me police were everywhere. Everybody was asking what I had done wrong. It is embarrassing.'

Simon and Kenny belong to Pam's ten-year-old son Jack. They have lived in her garage for three months and she had put the heater inside because she was concerned they would get cold.

She added: 'I have no criminal record. I haven't even got an unpaid bill. I told the police I was squeaky clean and they said they knew, but they wanted to look in the garage.


Mistaken identity: Simon shares the cosy garage with his fellow guinea pig Kenny



Whoops: A police helicopter used a thermal imaging camera to capture this image of Mrs Hardcastle's garage


'When I opened it up and they saw the guinea pigs, they didn't say anything. They were in the garage two seconds and they left. People are now wondering what I've been up to, it's like I've been branded a drug dealer.

'I have contacted a solicitor because I am concerned I might now have a criminal record. I am worried that this would come up on a CIB check if I went for another job. People think there's no smoke without fire.'

Neighbourhood Policing Team Inspector Darren Brown said: 'The majority of operations of this nature are intelligence-based and often rely upon swift action.

'Due to the location of the garage, we could not make further observations without alerting the occupants. On this occasion, it transpired that the significant heat source coming from the property was not connected to the production of cannabis.

'Officers who attended explained the full circumstances to the occupant and discussed any damage. I would like to apologise for the distress this may have caused. However, I would point out that these tactics are essential in tackling drugs across the district.

'I can also reassure the occupants that their details will not be kept on police records and I will be personally visiting them to discuss any concerns they may have.'

Pam said that a police inspector had now visited her to issue an apology in person and the police had bought a new lock for the neighbour's gate.


source: dailymail

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