Strange/Rare Fauna Reports
Strange/Rare Fauna Reports
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Tuesday, 25 April 2006
Zoologists said they were delighted and perplexed at the birth of four rare Komodo dragons, whose paternity remains a mystery.
The four reptiles were born last month from a clutch laid at London Zoo by a female called Sungai.
Sungai normally lives at the Thoiry wildlife park, west of Paris, but was lent to London as part of a European breeding programme to help this badly-endangered species.
But Sungai laid the fertilised eggs before even meeting her British lover -- and the last time she is known to have had intercourse was two years ago, with another Thoiry Komodo dragon called Kinaam.
Thoiry founder Paul de la Panouse told Agencies that there were two possible answers to the riddle.
"Either female komodo dragons are spermthecal, meaning that they have the ability to store sperm or fertilised eggs for long periods, in this case for two years, or they are parthogenetic, meaning that they are self-reproductive -- they produce clones of themselves," de la Panouse said.
Genetic tests will be carried out to try to explain the mystery.
The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) is the world's biggest lizard, reaching up to three metres (10 feet) long. The creature is carnivorous, killing goats, deer and other mammals through deadly bacteria in its saliva.
The dragon is found on the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Gili Motang and Flores, but its numbers have dwindled to around 6,000 as a result of poaching and invasive species.
http://egyptelection.com/content/view/33/34/
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21 Aug 2000 UK:
Wolf sighting reported by member of shooting party in Scottish forest.
A VISITOR to the North-east claimed last night that he had encountered a wolf in the wild during a recent holiday. Conrad Sheward, 62, was on a shooting trip with friends when he saw what he was sure was a wolf roaming Clashindarroch Forest, near Huntly. Mr Sheward, from Gloucester, was driving up a hill with friend Richard Brundle and Mr Brundle's 15-year-old son, Tom, when they made their apparently startling discovery last Monday morning. "We opened the locked forestry gate and drove through about 100 yards and then came to a bend," said the lawyer. "About 120 yards away, there was an animal in the middle of the road sideways on to us. "It turned and looked straight at us. Initially I though it was a huge fox. It was grey with a whitish tail but it was too big for a fox." Mr Sheward, who has been visiting the North-east for nine years, said he had seen wolves in the flesh at wildlife parks and was convinced his eyes had not deceived him. "I have got no doubt in my mind that it was a wolf. I would have known if it had been a dog." Mr Sheward had been staying with friend Jim Copland, from Aberdeen, who has been shooting tenant at the Forestry Commission-owned land for 18 years. Mr Copland, 73, said he had never seen or heard reports of a wolf on the estate - but was not overly surprised at his friend's apparent sighting. He said he had been told of reports that wolves were being released into the wild in the Highlands. The presence of the predators would be a major setback for local farmers whose livestock would come under threat, added Mr Copland. He said he first suspected the animal might have been a giant cat such as a puma - revealing that a feline beast had been shot and buried in the forest two years ago. Some conservationists have appealed for the reintroduction of wolves in the Scottish glens to save the countryside from an explosion of red deer. The wolf, which once numbered several thousand throughout the British Isles, was hunted to extermination by the end of the 18th century. The possibility of bringing the species back to Scotland has drawn an angry response from farmers and landowners who fear the effect on livestock.