The world’s most complete preserved mammoth will go on display at London’s Natural History Museum next month – the first time that the find has been shown in Western Europe.
The baby mammoth, found in Siberia by a reindeer herder in 2007, is little larger than a dog, and has been nicknamed Lyuba. It is thought to have died 42,000 years ago while just a month old, and is the most comprehensive mammoth skeleton ever found.
Professor Adrian Lister, a mammoth researcher at the Natural History Museum, said: “Lyuba is hugely important for helping us to understand the lives of ice age animals. This exhibition is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet this amazing creature from more than 40,000 years ago.” (PA)
Firefighters busy saving animals
Firefighters tackled an unusual rescue when they pulled a cow out of a swimming pool.
Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service were called to save the animal, which was not apparently distressed, after it had fallen into the pool in Gurney Slade, Wells, Somerset.
The cow was one of four animals rescued by the service on Saturday. Firefighters hoisted a cow out of a slurry pit in Rodney Stoke, Cheddar; they later used lines to free a cow from a water-filled ditch in Glastonbury. And a sheep was also released from fencing in a water filled ditch in Launcherley, Wells. (PA)
Armed protesters win cattle back
US authorities have released 400 or so head of cattle rounded up on public land from a rancher who refused to recognise their authority, in a dispute that drew hundreds of protesters to his defence and fuelled a debate over state and federal land rights.
Some of the protesters, including militia members, were armed with handguns and rifles at corrals in southern Nevada on Saturday and at an earlier nearby rally to demand the animals’ return to rancher Cliven Bundy.
Nevada, where federal agencies manage or control more than 80 per cent of the land, has deep roots in the battle over state and federal land rights. The fight has raged since the 1980s when the “Sagebrush Rebellion” challenged federal ownership of Nevada rangeland ranchers said was rightfully theirs.
Foreigners at N. Korea marathon
Runners from all over the world have filled the streets of North Korea’s capital for the annual Pyongyang marathon, which is open to foreign amateurs this year for the first time.
Tens of thousands of North Koreans lined the streets yesterday to applaud, cheer and sometimes high-five the runners, who were followed by a truck blaring patriotic music. They stood and roared as North Korea’s Pak Chol crossed the finish line. Compatriots Kim Hye Gyong and her twin sister, Kim Hye Song, finished first and second in the women’s race.
Officials say runners from 27 countries took part, including 225 amateurs. The foreign runners were instructed not to carry US or Japanese flags, or wear clothing with large writing or that was deemed inappropriately political. (PA)
Famous gorilla turns 24 today
A gorilla which became an online sensation when footage emerged of him walking like a human celebrates his 24th birthday today.
Internet video of western lowland gorilla Ambam imitating humans with his unusual habit of walking upright has been viewed nearly six million times since 2011. Gorillas usually move on all fours, but Ambam has been walking on his hind legs at Port Lympne wild animal park near Hythe, Kent.
His sister Tamba and her two-year-old son Kabale share his habit, a park spokesman said. Head of gorillas Phil Ridges said Ambam and his sister had a “particular talent at standing and walking completely upright on two legs”. (PA)