RSPB Urges Need For Good Hygeine To Halt Winter Bird Diseases

The RSPB are highlighting the need for good hygiene around brid feeders and water baths, they say: ‘Cold weather can trigger outbreaks of diseases that seriously affect garden birds, so we’ve released advice on how to help reduce the risk of infections spreading.’

For more info visit their website: RSPB

Saboteurs To Employ Hi-Tech Anti-Hunt Equipment

Telegraph:

Hunt saboteurs are opening up a new front in their battle with hunt followers by using hi-tech monitoring equipment, including telescopic lenses and hidden cameras.

As the new hunting season begins today, animal rights activists are threatening to disrupt meets as “observers”, as well as joining hunts undercover…

British Safari Guide Killed By Elephant

Telegraph:

Anton Turner, 38, described as an expert with elephants, was escorting a television crew through a remote mountainous area of the African country when the animal ran at him…

Japan’s Prime Minister Hates Whale Meat

Google:

Japan’s Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has revealed he dislikes whale meat, a newspaper reported Saturday, in an unusual confession for the prime minister of a country that defies Western criticism of whaling…

Sperm Whale Found Dead On Aberdeenshire Beach

BBC News:

A 40ft-long (13m) sperm whale has been found dead at Balmedie Beach in Aberdeenshire…

16 Mountain Rescuers And Coastguard Copter To Save Dog With Sore Paw

Daily Record:

Sixteen mountain rescuers and a helicopter were scrambled to rescue a dog from one of the toughest hills in Scotland.

Kerry the boxer went lamewhile climbing Sgurr Dubh Mor on Skye’s notorious Cuillin ridge with owner Peter Sinclair.

After carrying her for a while, retired police superintendent Peter, 56, realised he had no choice but to spend the night with her on the mountain…

Sixty Kittens To Be Put Down As Rescue Centre Closes

Telegraph:

An animal rescue centre which has been closed by the credit crunch says it may be forced to put down 60 kittens…

Oldest Dog In The World?

I met a woman once in a pet shop who swore her two greyhounds both lived to 21! But according to the Guinness Book Of Records a Shropshire sausage dog cross is the oldest living dog today.

 See the spritely sausage here: BBC News

Two-Headed Snake Found In Drawer Of Rubbish

Yahoo:

When Jerry Williamson’s wife first told him she had found the scary reptile he thought she was pulling his leg…

Chimpanzees’ Grief Caught On Camera

Telegraph:

A group of chimpanzees have been photographed seemingly grieving for the death of one of their own in Cameroon.

More than a dozen chimps stand in silence watching from behind their wire enclosure as Dorothy, a chimp in her late 40s who died of heart failure, is wheeled past them…