Common Vampire bat
Vampire bats in Latin America are turning to cattle for their staple diet of blood, due to deforestation of their natural prays habitat.
Most forest clearing in South and Central America is for cattle grazing, and as a result, bats numbers have grown to take advantage of the larger prey.
Scientists have said said studies in area of deforestation where there are few or now farms say bat number have stayed the same, but in areas where there are lots of cattle grazing, the numbers have gone up sharply in resent years.
But the problem with the growing number of cattle farms now encroaching on the bats natural environment has also meant a rise in numbers of Rabies related diseases. In 2005 a staggering 1,500 people were treated for rabies and bat bites in just two months, and 23 people died as a result of the disease.
The only option is to try and better manage the bats natural habitat through conservation, along with efforts to reduce wildlife poaching scientist said, which will minimise the overall impact of vampire bats and their late-night raids!
Source:
National Geographic [link]
Wikipedia [link]
Are Big Cats loose in the UK?
The infamous big cats of Buckinghamshire and Bexleyheath have been spotted again this summer.
The Beast of Bucks was seen around 5pm on the 2nd August 2007 by Richard Skipp and a work colleague while driving home near Beldlow Ridge, just north of West Wycombe.
“It was a puma-like creature. It wasn’t panicked by us, it just went through the hedge and slinked off.” said Mr Skipp.
The Bexleyheath big-cat was seen earlier this summer (no exact date given) at around 9.30pm by Nicola Short, as she travelled by train near Crayford.
The big black animal, thought by some to be a puma like cat, was seen descending from a tree before disappearing into the undergrowth.
Have you seen or heard a story about Big Cats in the UK? Please leave a comment or contact Cryptoworld in confidence via our contact form.
Source:
Bizarre London [link].
Pet Camel Dangers
This sounds very nasty indeed. Apparently an Australian woman has been killed by her pet camel after it tried to have sex with her!
This has to be a Fortean moment if ever I have heard of one. It’s just a shame that it is such an unfortunate story and my feeling are with the woman’s family, friends and loved ones.
Pet related deaths are nothing new and range from the not surprised pet Crocodile, Lion and Snake incidents, to the weird and wonderful pet Cow, Goat and Mouse related fatalities.
I think it is clear that some animals should never be considered pets, you can keep them by all means – but as soon as you start to turn your back on a natural predator, you have to understand you could be its next meal, or dare I say partner!
Source:
Pet camel kills Australian woman (BBC)
I think the below says it all…
Yangtze River Dolphin
The Yangtze River dolphin or baiji (Lipotes vexillifer), an obligate freshwater odontocete known only from the middle-lower Yangtze River system and neighbouring Qiantang River in eastern China, has long been recognized as one of the world’s rarest and most threatened mammal species. The status of the baiji has not been investigated since the late 1990s, when the surviving population was estimated to be as low as 13 individuals. An intensive six-week multi-vessel visual and acoustic survey carried out in November/December 2006, covering the entire historical range of the baiji in the main Yangtze channel, failed to find any evidence that the species survives. We are forced to conclude that the baiji is now likely to be extinct, probably due to unsustainable by-catch in local fisheries. This represents the first global extinction of a large vertebrate for over 50 years, only the fourth disappearance of an entire mammal family since AD 1500, and the first cetacean species to be driven to extinction by human activity. Immediate and extreme measures may be necessary to prevent the extinction of other endangered cetaceans, including the sympatric Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides asiaeorientalis).
It’s a bout time we started to learn from our mistakes, action is needed before another and then another and another species disappears, never (NEVER) to be seen again.
External Links:
EDGE – The EDGE of Existence programme
