Gorilla on Loose in Alabama?

You may have heard or read about this story. It was in the headlines last week and even Stephen Colbert mentioned it on his show. The reason I didn't run it is because it mentions the creature may have been a bear later on in the very article. The closest known zoo is some 150 miles away and the only gorilla there is still in captivity, so my assumption was that it was most likely a bear. There is always the offhand chance of a Bigfoot sighting, but Occam's Razor says it was a bear.

Interestingly, a gorilla at a New York zoo bit its keeper and escaped even more recently. The 400-pound beast, known as Koga, was subdued and recaptured shortly after it got loose, though.

© C Harris Lynn, 2012

Capybara Spotted in California

A Capybara - a large rodent native to South America - was photographed as it exited a pond near a water treatment facility in Paso Robles about two weeks ago. A capybara lives for about four years and can grow to large size, but is not considered dangerous. This capybara is estimated at 100 pounds and may have escaped captivity as an illegal pet, or been set free by its owner once it grew too large.

Another capybara was seen in the general area about two years ago. Authorities believe it is the same rodent.

© C Harris Lynn, 2011

Rabid Bats Descend on L.A.

Los Angeles authorities have issued a warning to residents to stay away from the bats in and around the city, and keep their pets away from them as well, after finding over 20 rabies-infected bats in the city this year. One resident was treated for the virus after being bitten recently. Rabies can be fatal.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

Russian Bears Eating Corpses

Due to a lack of food, bears in some regions of Russia are using graveyards "like refrigerators," according to scientists. Locals say the bears have alternately scavenged towns and trashcans, as a scorching summer has depleted their natural diet of berries, mushrooms, and the like. One young man was mauled to death by the starving beasts in Komi.

Other analysts say the bears have plenty to eat, it's simply that graveyards offer an easy food supply.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

New Carnivore Discovered

Researchers in Madagascar discovered a previously unknown carnivorous mammal they named Durrell's vontsira, in honor of conservationist, Gerald Durrell. The creature was first spotted in 2004, and a dead specimen was sent for study in 2005. Researchers say it is related to the brown-tailed vontsira, but has several differences.

Durrell's vontsira lives in Madagascar's largest lake, which is threatened by pollution and invasive species, and considered extremely rare. Researchers say it may be one of the most endangered species on the planet.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

Ancient Whale Found Beneath San Diego Zoo

Construction workers uncovered the bones of a 24'-long whale while constructing a new storm-water runoff tank. Workers came across the skull of the 3-million-year-old baleen whale during the initial dig, which was unusual enough, but continue to discover even more bones, including the vertebrate and flippers. Whale fossils have been discovered in San Diego before, but rarely intact. The bones will be moved to Balboa Museum for further study and may eventually be displayed there.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

Whale Euthanized by Explosives

A "terminally ill" humpback whale that had beached itself in Western Australia was euthanized by explosive charge after it repositioned itself some ways down. Apparently, the whale became stranded in Albany two weeks ago and authorities had determined it was ill. They had decided to let it die, but it was still very strong. After it moved several meters down the sandbar, authorities decided it was a health risk and used an explosive charge to kill it.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

Giant Rats Discovered in England

A pest control agency found two giant rats in a factory in the East Midlands. Both were about 2' in length. At first, some thought they may have been coypu, a semi-aquatic, herbivorous rodent originally from South America, but experts dismissed the claim, as they did not have the orange teeth found in the species. The coypu was hunted from the wild some 20 years ago. It is now illegal to own one without a license.

A spokesman for the pest control agency, Rentokil, said, "It goes to show that where there's a food source, these rodents will grow big."

© C Harris Lynn, 2010

Moko No Let Go

Moko, a lone dolphin, took up residence at Mahia Beach two years ago and has become quite the tourist attraction. Moko even made international news recently, when he guided a confused whale and her pup back to the sea. Many tourists and residents like to swim and play with Moko, but one woman nearly drowned when Moko wouldn't let her quit and go home!

The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, said she went swimming alone, later than one should (and admitted it was "probably... not the wisest thing to do"), and enjoyed playing with Moko for a while. However, when she began to head for the beach, Moko was not done playing! Patrons of a cafe nearby finally heard her screams and rescued her from the buoy she'd been hugging. She said Moko meant no harm.

Scientists, however, are worried about the three-year old bottlenose dolphin (nature's rapist), as he has been scarred by boats and fishing hooks. They note that, of the 30 "lone" dolphins catalogued worldwide, almost half have been killed due to their interaction with humans.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Bats Know One Another's Voice

According to Dr. Yossi Yovel from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, bats can differentiate between one another solely from the sound of their "voice." The phenomenon was described as being able to distinguish a friend's voice from a single yell.

Dr. Yovel and his team pushed several bats through a series of tests in which two bats' "voices" - echolocation calls the rodents use as sonar to guide them - were played and the test subject had to choose the correct one. At first, the bat was rewarded for choosing correctly, but in later tests, the subject was rewarded regardless of the results. Dr. Yovel said the bats were correct 80% of the time in these later tests.

Analysis of the "yells" revealed that each creature is capable of producing a range of frequencies and once bats learn these, they can identify the bat making the noise. Dr. Yovel and his team believe this range is based on the differences in the bats' vocal chords. The findings help shed light on how bats remain in tight formation when flying at high speeds through the dark, and how they avoid interference from one another's echolocation calls.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Study Finds Unknown Cache of Irrawaddy Dolphins

Thousands of rare Irrawaddy dolphins have been discovered in Bangladeshi waters, bringing the number of known Irrawaddy dolphins up considerably. However researchers note these 6000 dolphins are already endangered by fishing nets and climate changes.

Irrawaddy dolphins are related to orcas (killer whales) and grow to about 8' in length. They are found in freshwater rivers and estuaries in Asia. The largest known populations were thought to contain only a few hundred, if that. The 6000-strong population was discovered in the freshwater regions of the Sundarbans mangrove forest and the Bay of Bengal.

The study made the information known so they could push for greater fishing restrictions in and around the areas. Researchers said the discovery brings "great hope" for the species.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Little, Pink Elephants

Man! This has really been a year for oddly-colored creatures! And this one is doubly neat, because of the old saying about alcoholics and little, pink elephants. A little pink elephant is exactly what a wildlife cameraman caught on film while photographing a herd in Botswana.

The calf was among the 80 elephant herd in the Okavango Delta. Experts believe the little guy (or girl) is an albino, which are extremely rare amongst African elephants. Albino elephants are a reddish-pink, not white, and they are more common in Asian elephants.

Check out the pictures and read more about the experience at BBC.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Pinky, the Albino Dolphin

Pinky, the Albino Dolphin

It's been a banner few months for odd-colored beasties, hasn't it?  Well, here's yet another from the inland saltwater estuary of Louisiana, Lake Calcasieu:

Pinky is an albino dolphin that was first spotted in the lake last year.  It has been photographed, and draws spectators to the lake in droves.  Pinky is the same color over his entire body, and has pinkish-red eyes.  Pinky has begun swimming away from his mother more lately, but usually stays with the pod.

At least one marine biologist said he has never seen a bottlenose dolphin of this color in all his career.  There is an endangered dolphin of another type in South America which is called the "pink dolphin," or boto, but Pinky is not of that species; Pinky is thought to be an actual albino dolphin.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Photo from The Guardian, links in body. - 2018

Travis, Maul Chimp

Sandra Herold raised Travis from three weeks old. The chimpanzee appeared in ads for Old Navy and Coca-Cola, among others, and though Herold defends him to this day, sources say Travis had behavioral problems in the past.

Last week, the 200-lb. chimpanzee attacked and mauled a 55-year old woman who is still in critical condition. She has undergone seven hours of emergency surgery which saved her life, and has been moved to a clinic known for its success with an earlier face transplant operation. Sandra Herold had to stab her beloved pet to try and stop the attack before police arrived and shot him to death.

And though Sandra insists Travis was agitated and she believes he was trying to protect her from the woman he attacked (Charlie Nash), who was driving a different car, had a different hairstyle, and had playfully taunted the ape with an Elmo doll she brought as a present, it has since come to light that Travis previously attacked a woman in 1996. He also escaped and ran into traffic some years ago. Sandra Herold had expressed, at the time of that incident, she knew she would have to give-up the pet at some point.

Male chimpanzees get progressively harder to control as they mature and are capable of ripping a man's arm from his body. Travis mauled 55-year old Charlie Nash so severely that the woman will never be the same. Nash's brother has already moved to sue Herold. Police are not saying if criminal charges will be filed, yet.

Herold says she gave Travis a Xanax - a prescription pill used to calm patients - but the attack happened a mere five minutes later and it could not have had time to take effect. She has since retracted the statement, saying the animal refused the medicine. The pill was unprescribed.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Rumble in the Desert

One of the reasons we cover so much straight zoology fare is because you never know what could be applicable to "hidden animals" we've yet to discover - the true meat (no pun intended) and potatoes of The OddBlog. Not to mention there are a lot of exciting things to know about the animal kingdom we already know. Elephants' ability to communicate through rumblings in the earth is one of these fabled skills. Now, zoologists are trying to harness this to better help rampaging males avoid violent confrontations with farmers and other people.

In trials, males (bulls) in "must" responded to recordings of females in heat and moved toward them. Zoologists used the recordings to maneuver the bulls around a watering hole, setting them on one path and bringing them back around to another.

The researchers buried speakers in the ground and played the sound, which is barely perceptible to humans. The bulls' response was "intense" and more direct than expected, leading the zoologists to say they were "very excited" about the developments.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Chicken Soup for the Panda

An official from the Wuhan Zoo said zookeepers there have been feeding their two pandas homemade chicken soup twice a month to ease stress and boost nutrition.

The Chinese are firm believers in chicken soup being good for health and said the pandas were reeling from a busy holiday week which drew large numbers of visitors. The soup was mixed into their normal diet of bamboo shoots and milk. The pandas are said to have enjoyed the dish and had no problems with digestion.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Bear Bones Discovered

Spelunkers have uncovered about 80% of the remains of a bear that may have died as many as 11,000 years ago in a complex cave system in the Scottish Highlands.

The Grampian Speleological Group worked for years to uncover the remains within the cave chamber, Uamh. DNA testing on a skull found in 1995 have been ongoing, as well as have tests on a bear skull found in the same system in the 1920s. But the recent uncovering is very exciting.

Researchers are trying to determine the type of bear, as well as when it died.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Stay Out of the Batcave!

A 40-year old woman died after returning from South America, where she is believed to have contracted the deadly Marburg virus while visiting a cave infested by fruit bats.

The Marburg virus is akin to Ebola and there is no known treatment, vaccine, or cure for either. Early symptoms include stomach concerns (nausea, vomiting, pain, diarrhea), which leads to high fever and bleeding.

Officials say this was an isolated case and travelers need not change their vacation plans, but do need to stay out of caves where bats live if in Uganda. Just, you know, so you know. Still, everyone with whom the woman had close contact is being closely monitored.

The Marburg and Ebola virii have an 80-90% mortality rate in primates and humans. An outbreak in 2004-05 killed over 300 people.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

European Beaver

The European Beaver will be reintroduced into Scotland after 400 years. The animal.

Four beaver families will be caught in Norway and moved to Scotland in 2009. They will be quarantined for six months before being released into five lochs proposed for the process. This will be the first time a mammal has been reintroduced into the wild in the UK and the program will have a trial run of five years. It is being hailed as an "historic moment."

The European Beaver was hunted to extinction in Scotland in the 16^th-Century.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

The White-Toothed Shrew Hits the Emerald Isle

Scientists note that the greater white-toothed shrew has made its way to Ireland.

Its natural range is Africa, France, and Germany, but researchers think the Crocidura Russula piggybacked a ride with some of the new immigrants of which Ireland has recently seen a surge. A small number of them could (and obviously have) populate the island quite rapidly.

The good news is that the new species will provide a healthy diet for the endangered birds of prey, such as the Barn Owl, the study of which led to the discovery of the white-toothed shrew. The downside is that it may lead to dwindling populations of indigenous mammals, such as the pygmy shrew.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008