Enraged Elephant Discovered to Be a Man-Eater

Local Authorities Opening Up the Man-Eating Elephant

An aggressive and enraged elephant that killed 17 people in India was found to have ingested human remains.  According to zoologist Dave Salmoni, the large mammal went on the rampage after her calf was killed.  When the animal was finally shot by a professional hunter, scientists discovered through DNA samples that the elephant consumed human flesh.

Elephants are strict herbivores and this shocking behavior is thought to be done out of revenge by a crazed mother.  A television special called "World's Deadliest Towns: Killer Elephants" will feature this story and will air February 21st on Animal Planet.

Read the Huffington Post's article here.

Lake Monster Photographed?

A supposed unknown lake monster was photographed earlier this week in Lake Windermere, England.  The "creature" was photographed by Tom Pickles, who was kayaking on Lake Windermere as part of a team building exercise with his company. He said he saw the animal swim past him and watched the creature for about 20 seconds.

"It was petrifying and we paddled back to the shore straight away. At first I thought it was a dog and then saw it was much bigger and moving really quickly at about 10mph," the Telegraph quoted him as saying. Each hump was moving in a rippling motion and it was swimming fast. Its skin was like a seal's but its shape was completely abnormal - it's not like any animal I've ever seen before," he stated.

Although scientists are skeptical, this is reported to be the eighth sighting of a large creature at the lake in the last five years.  The creature has been dubbed "bownessie" by locals and the media.  Read a comprehensive summary here.

Here is the picture:

"Bownessie" - Photograph by Tom Pickles

Coconut Crab (Unbelievable Pictures) - Animal of the Week



From www.cryptomundo.com

 This amazingly large alien-like creature is this week's Animal of the Week.  According to wikipedia:

The coconut crab, Birgus latro, is the largest land-living arthropod in the world, and is probably at the upper size limit of terrestrial animals with exoskeletons in today's atmosphere. The species inhabits the coastal forest regions of many Indo-Pacific islands, although localized extinction has occurred where the species lives in proximity to humans. Generally nocturnal, they remain hidden during the day and emerge only on some nights to forage. Their body is divided into four regions; the cephalic lobe, forepart, trunk, and opisthosoma. It is a highly apomorphic hermit crab and is known for its ability to crack coconuts with its strong pincers to eat the contents. It is the only species of the genus Birgus.

Here's some more information from wikipedia about the crab's size:

Reports about the size of Birgus latro vary, but most references give a body length of up to 40 cm (16 in), a weight of up to 4.1 kg (9.0 lb), and a leg span of more than 0.91 m (3.0 ft), with males generally being larger than females. There have been reports in the literature of specimens measuring 6 feet (1.8 m) across the thorax and weighing 30 pounds (14 kg). They can live more than 30 years. 

Here are some other pictures from around the web:



From www.cryptomundo.com



 

http://www.cuteandweird.com



Hawk Finds Home in Library of Congress, Eludes Capture

(Abby Brack / Library of Congress)

In Washington DC, a hawk flew into the historic Library of Congress and has eluded several attempts to be captured.  The bird, thought to be a Cooper's hawk, has been flying around the Main Reading Room and sits perched on top of moldings and ledges. A rescue team has made several attempts at capturing the predatory animal to no avail.  Frozen quail meat, nets and even bird calls have not worked in the attempt to relocate the hawk. Read the story and see more pictures here.

Fugitve Monkey Terrorist Escapes, Then Captured

Kyodo News  /  AP

Lucky, a dangerous Macaque (monkey), was recaptured Monday after escaping from a government-run nature park in Tokyo.  The bandit, who slipped out of her cage while a keeper was cleaning, was first captured in October after terrorizing the city, biting and scratching around 120 people.  After she escaped, authorities urged residents to keep their homes locked and to be cautious. However, the monkey's fugitive status lasted less than a day. "Her capture was easy. We called her name repeatedly, and she came to us," city official Hidetsugu Uchida said. "She has been used to being called by her name." Read the story here. Read about Macaques here.