A rare Mexican species of dove that died out in the wild in the 1970s has been successfully bred at London Zoo. The Socorro Dove (Zenaida graysoni) is thought extinct in the wild and was last seen in its natural habitat on Socorro Island in 1972. There is now thought to be less than 100 in captivity. Zoo keepers at London Zoo have named the new dove Arnie, in reference to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s famous catch-phrase [...]

Scientist have identified what is thought to be the oldest known specimen of bee. The 100 million year-old bee has been found preserved in amber and is from a mine in the Hukawng Valley in northern Burma. The bee, named Melittosphex burmensis appears to share features from both bees and wasps, supporting theories of bee evolution. The pollen-dependant bees of today are thought to have evolved away from their carnivorous wasp ancestors with the arrival [...]

Police launched an air search yesterday (24th October 2006) after a number of people reported seeing a big ‘black’ cat near Weald Country Park, Brentwood. Essex Police said it is now interviewing several people who had reported seeing the animal, which has been described as being the size of a puma. People have been urged to report any sighting to the police, but not to approach the animal. Pet owners have also been advised to [...]

Referring back to Sunday’s post Hundreds of UFOs sighted over UK skies, you may recall I was interested to know what Lynne Featherstone had actually asked to prompt Derek Twigg’s response. Well after searching the Parliament website for an hour, I decided it would be a lot quicker and easier to just email the MPs and ask them what they said. So far only Lynne Featherstone has replied, but she was kind enough to send [...]

Meteorite, Plane or UFO? A strange object was seen in the sky over Tel Aviv last Thursday afternoon (12th Oct 2006). Three flat mates saw a flash of light that was first orange and then turned white — “We suddenly saw a strip of bright light flying downwards,” said Lior one of the three flat mates. “There was a sense of something supernatural happening, I have never seen such a thing,” she added.

More than 700 UFO sightings have been reported to to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) in the last six years. But out of the 714 reports, only 12 of them are said to “worthy of further consideration”, according to junior defence minister Derek Twigg . Mr Twiggs comments come from a Commons written reply to Liberal Democrat Lynne Featherstone , and goes on to state — “Reports [of UFOs] are analysed solely to consider whether [...]

Exciting news for all cryptozoologists and zoologists alike at the discovery of the first new European mammal in over 100 years. The Cypriot mouse, Mus cypriacus proves there are still unknown animals, all be it small ones, still out there waiting to be discovered — even in Europe. It’s thought the mouse predates the arrival of humans on Cyprus, which also opens up some interesting theories as to how it has survived for so long [...]

The bones of a 100,000 year old species of dromedary camel have been found by a Syrian-Swiss archaeological team north of Damascus in Syria. The animal is being called a Giant Camel because it huge size. It’s some four metres (12 feet) tall, double the size of the modern day camel. First traces of the animal was found in 2003, but it is only now that the remains have been identified as a new species [...]