Paranormal Magazine

Aurochs were immortalised in prehistoric cave paintings and admired for their brute strength and “elephantine” size by Julius Caesar.

But despite their having gone the way of the dodo and the woolly mammoth, there are plans to bring the giant animals back to life.

The huge cattle with sweeping horns which once roamed the forests of Europe have not been seen for nearly 400 years.

Now Italian scientists are hoping to use genetic expertise and selective breeding of modern-day wild cattle to recreate the fearsome beasts which weighed around 2,200lb and stood 6.5 feet at the shoulder.

Breeds of large cattle which most closely resemble Bos primigenius, such as Highland cattle and the white Maremma breed from Italy, are being bred with each other in a technique known as “back-breeding”.

At the same time, scientists say they have for the first time created a map of the auroch’s genome, so that they know precisely what type of animal they are trying to replicate.

“We were able to analyse auroch DNA from preserved bone material and create a rough map of its genome that should allow us to breed animals nearly identical to aurochs,” said team leader Donato Matassino, head of the Consortium for Experimental Biotechnology in Benevento, in the southern Campania region.

“We’ve already made our first round of crosses between three breeds native to Britain, Spain and Italy. Now we just have to wait and see how the calves turn out.”

The last animal disappeared from the British Isles in the Iron Age and the breed was declared extinct in 1627 after a female died in the forests of Poland.

Aurochs are depicted in ochre and charcoal in paintings found on the walls of cave galleries such as those at Lascaux in France and Altamira in Spain. Caesar described them in The Gallic Wars as being “a little below the elephant in size” and a favourite hunting prey for wild Germanic tribesmen.

Their abiding mystique means they remain as the symbol of several states and cities in Europe, having figured prominently in Teutonic folklore. In ancient times, killing an auroch was seen as a great demonstration of courage, with the horns turned into silver-clad drinking cups.

The last time there was an attempt to recreate the animal was on the express orders of Hitler. The Nazis ordered a pair of German zoologists to recreate the auroch as part of the Third Reich’s belief in racial superiority and eugenics.

Herman Goering hoped to use the aurochs to populate a vast hunting reserve which he planned to create in the conquered territories of Eastern Europe.

Many geneticists argue that though the Heck may resemble their ancient forebears, they will be genetically very different.

“There are a number of rare breeds that have been brought back to life in recent years, such as the Cumberland pig,” said Dr Claire Barber, from the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. “But our view is that what has been recreated is something that looks like the old breed, but which is not genetically the same.

“You would need to interbreed animals that are very close to the auroch in their genetic make-up. The closest you could find in Britain are two semi-feral breeds: the Chillingham and the Vaynol. If there are breeds which maintain many of the attributes of an auroch, then it could well be feasible. It’s certainly a very exciting project.”

If the Italian-led project is successful, it will raise questions of what to do with an animal which boasts a size and temper akin to a tetchy rhinoceros.

“Even the wild cattle we have today are very hard to handle and an auroch would be even more difficult,” said Dr Barber. “Aurochs were significantly larger than any cattle in existence and they would be potentially dangerous.

“There would be some serious management issues – to look after their teeth and feet, for instance, you might have to sedate them with dart guns.

“You wouldn’t want to try to milk one – that’s assuming that the females produced milk when they didn’t have calves.”

[via: telegraph.co.uk by Nick Squires]

BIG-CAT hunters are to visit West Fife next month to pounce on evidence of large felines in the area which have terrified witnesses.

A group from Big Cats in Britain (BCIB), including founder Mark Fraser, will head north after hearing about repeated sightings in Devilla Forest, near Kincardine.

There were around eight sightings of big cats in West Fife last year, ranging from pumas to lynx.

Bob Wallace, BCIB Fife representative, will join Mark and others in two overnight vigils in the hope of capturing the beast on camera.

He said, “Mark is convinced there’s something in there – the area is well covered with plenty of food and has several water sources so it’s an ideal place.

“It’s worth a look because of the number of reported sightings already and we’ll be looking to interview witnesses.”

The latest reported sighting was in November when a man claimed to have been followed by two pairs of green eyes to his car at the forest entrance on the A985 Rosyth to Kincardine road.

The man – a regular dog-walker – said he would never set foot in the woods after dark again.

In October the Press reported the story of two Valleyfield men, James McGarry and Alan Yates, who claim they saw a large black cat while out hunting rabbits in a field at Culross not far from the forest.

Other encounters in West Fife have included a man claiming to have come face-to-face with a Puma-like creature sat upon a hay bale at the ash lagoons in Low Valleyfield and another man seeing a large black cat in Townhill while out with his daughter.

The investigation will take place on the weekend of 6-7th February.

If you have any information regarding sightings in the area contact Bob Wallace on 07936 719909 at wallace_robert@yahoo.co.uk.

[via: dunfermlinepress.com by Mark Meade]

A SHEEP gave birth to a dead lamb with a human-like face. The lamb was born in a village not far from the city of Izmir, Turkey.

Erhan Elibol, a vet, performed  a caesarean on the animal to take the lamb out, but was horrified to see that the features of the lamb’s snout bore a striking resemblance to a human face.

“I’ve seen mutations with cows and sheep before. I’ve seen a one-eyed calf, a two-headed calf, a five-legged calf. But when I saw this youngster I could not believe my eyes. His mother could not deliver him so I had to help the animal,” the 29-year-old veterinary said.

The lamb’s head had human features on – the eyes, the nose and the mouth – only the ears were those of a sheep.

Vets said that the rare mutation most likely occurred as a result of improper mutation since the fodder for the lamb’s mother was abundant with vitamin A, CNNTurk.com reports.

A goat from Zimbabwe gave birth to a similar youngster in September 2009. The mutant baby born with a human-like head stayed alive for several hours until the frightened village residents killed him.

The governor of the province where the ugly goat was born said that the little goat was the fruit of unnatural relationship between the female goat and a man.

“This incident is very shocking. It is my first time to see such an evil thing. It is really embarrassing,” he reportedly said. “The head belongs to a man while the body is that of a goat. This is evident that an adult human being was responsible. Evil powers caused this person to lose self control. We often hear cases of human beings who commit bestiality but this is the first time for such an act to produce a product with human features,” he added.

The mutant creature was hairless. Local residents said that even dogs were afraid to approach the bizarre animal.

The locals burnt the body of the little goat, and biologists had no chance to study the rare mutation.

[via: telegraph.co.uk]

Hunters in San Carlos, Arizona have found the carcass of an unidentified beast with elongated fangs and possible wings.

The carcass resembles that of a domestic cat, but with several noticeable differences. The animal is described as “sabertoothed” because it’s incisor teeth are elongated into fangs, the front limbs of the creature are also longer than an ordinary cat’s legs and appear to have an extra joint giving the appearance of large feet. Even more bizarrely the carcass reveals evidence of possible wings protruding from the animal’s back.

The carcass was found by two hunters in a remote area near San Carlos, they passed the remains on to Jess Underberg from Globe, AZ. who is hoping to try and identify the strange looking beast.

The long fangs and elongated front limbs are characteristic of descriptions given of the infamous “goat sucker” or chupacabras. However most chupacabras sightings are dismissed as coyotes with mange, not felines with wings.

[via: themorningstar.co.uk - Jason Clarke]

Fears are being raised for the famous creature following a lack of ‘credible’ sightings during the past year.

The Loch Ness Monster may be dead, according to a leading Nessie enthusiast.

Gary Campbell, president of the Official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club, said only one sighting – made just off the Clansman Hotel on June 6 last year – was judged in his opinion to have been the only ‘credible’ report of the monster in 2009.

Mr Campbell stated such reports are increasingly rare. He added: “That’s why we’re so relieved to have heard about this sighting. In June, when it was reported, nobody had seen anything for a year. If it hadn’t been for that one, we would have been really, really worried. There is an embarrassment factor to seeing Nessie. The first thing people say to you is, ‘Had you had a drink?’”

The Nessie enthusiast added: “Ten years ago we had a lot of good sightings, but in the last two or three years, they have tailed off. What we regard as a dependable sighting is very much down to the person who sees it.

“This was a local chap who knows the things that Nessie isn’t – boat wakes, debris on the loch or seals in the summer. A local person will know what these things look like.”

A recent documentary Death at Loch Ness also suggested that the monster might be dead.

To prove this theory wrong, Mr Campbell hopes new witnesses might come forward. He added: “If people start to believe this, it might start to affect tourist numbers. Whether you believe in Nessie or not, the Loch Ness Monster is one of the most important tourist attractions we have.”

The possible demise of our beloved monster follows the death of a man whose research became synonymous with Nessie.

American scientist Robert Rines, whose development of ultrasound and image scanning helped discover the wrecks of the Titanic and the Bismarck, passed away aged 87 last November. He was of one of the foremost Nessie investigators of the last century.

Gary, meanwhile, is one current enthusiast who is keeping his hopes up. He concluded: “Perhaps, though, the answers are to be found underwater instead of on the Loch’s surface. Maybe Nessie is just keeping her head down.”

[via: news.stv.tv]

Terrified locals in a South American town are running scared after a strange creature they describe as “Gollum” crawled out of a lake and charged schoolkids.

The beast — which has “sparked fear and confusion” in the small town of Cerro Azul, Panama — was spotted on Saturday when four 14 to 16-year-olds were playing by the waterfront.

According to their account, reported by Panamanian news service Telemetro, the youngsters “screamed” when the five-foot creature emerged from a cave and started clambouring over rocks towards them “as if to attack them”.

In a “desperate bid to defend themselves” the four terrified boys said they hurled rocks at the strange creature to kill it, before throwing its corpse in the water and running away.

Their disbelieving parents returned to the lake the following day — and were stunned to discovered the beast’s body washed up on the shore.

Experts have yet to examine the images — or make any statements regarding their discovery.

But locals told Panama news channels, who ran the story, that the water-monster was “Gollum from Lord of the Rings”.

One said: “I have only seen that creature once before – and it was in the Tolkien film.”

The fictional Gollum — originally known as Smeagol — was a hobbit whose later name was derived from the “disgusting gurgling, choking cough he made”.

[via: thesun.co.uk by Virginia Wheeler]

AS you drive from Perth down to your favourite Margaret River winery, you’ll pass close to the place where palaeontologist Gavin Prideaux and his team from Adelaide’s Flinders University are brushing and scraping their way towards scientific discovery.

You won’t notice them, though. They’re deep below the surface in a network of secret caves known to only a handful of people. Small openings lead into vast limestone caverns filled with dazzling stalagmites and stalactites.

But it’s not these stunning formations the scientists have come to see.

They’re here to look at very old bones, the bones of Australia’s large beasts that disappeared thousands of years ago.

These creatures were big. Wombats as big your fridge lying on its side, kangaroos standing more than 2m tall, a goanna called Megalania that could eat you for lunch, and a very nasty piece of work called Thylacoleo carnifex or the marsupial lion.

Built like a leopard on steroids, Thylacoleo was the apex carnivore in the group. He could easily make a meal of most others by dropping from trees and stabbing them in the neck with his huge front teeth, then slicing them open with his razor-sharp thumb claw.

This group of beasts is known as Australia’s megafauna and they walked this land for at least a million years.

Scientists have been picking up their bones for more than a century. Perhaps the most exciting find was a complete Thylacoleo skeleton discovered deep in a remote cave on the Nullarbor in 2002. At the time, this set of bones created quite a stir within the world scientific community.

About 400,000 years earlier the unfortunate creature fell into the cavern through a small hole. Unable to climb out, it wandered aimlessly until it died. As time passed the animal’s flesh melted away leaving a complete set of bones. For palaeontologists, who normally measure their finds in fragments of bone, this was the holy grail of Thylacoleo skeletons.

For years a debate has raged over how and when our megafauna became extinct.

Was a climatic event responsible? Did something happen to their food source or did disease sweep across the country and wipe them out? Perhaps they were hunted to extinction.

In the northern hemisphere, mammoth remains have been found with the scars of hunting, but no Australian megafauna bones have shown evidence of being killed by humans.

In the Margaret River cave, Prideaux is slowly removing fragments of bone from layers

of sediment.

If you have a mental picture of palaeontologists as dull scientists with long beards hunched over microscopes, let me set you straight. Beards are a common theme, but that’s where the stereotype ends.

I join Prideaux on his dig for two days and learn quickly there are parts of a palaeontologist’s life more akin to an extreme sportsman than a laboratory boffin.

My first challenge is climbing down to where the team is working. Tight Entrance Cave, as one of these holes is known, is aptly named. You can walk within touching distance of its mouth and be unaware of it.

Picture a roundish rock chimney with an assortment of jagged protrusions around its sides disappearing into the ground in front of you. It’s about 7m deep and just a little wider than the average human body.

[The rest of this story can be found at The Australian]

Herefordshire’s big cat mystery has deepened with reports of the savaging of sheep in the same area as a sighting reported in last week’s Hereford Times.

Following our story, Pauline Mannion contacted us to say four of her sheep had been killed near Newtown crossroads in unknown circumstances.

Two had been killed in late November and another pair perished last week.

Last week, herefordtimes .com posted a video shot by Steve Hall of what appears to be a large feline-like animal walking across a field.

Mrs Mannion, who is now worried about the safety of her horses, has seen it but is unsure what it is.

“Perhaps there are big cats out there. I really don’t know,” said Mrs Mannion.

“If somebody has seen one I would have no reason to disbelieve them.”

Judith Haw, press officer for the RSPCA, said there was no evidence of big cats living in Britain but if anyone should come across one, they should keep away and contact the police.

“If they have other animals, such as rabbits and guinea pigs, they should consider keeping them inside if possible,” she said.

The killings have been reported to police, who are making investigations.

[via: herefordtimes.com by Mark Bowen]

Now and again, I get asked if government agencies take an interest in reports of strange creatures roaming the countryside – in much the same way that, for many years, official departments have investigated other forms of anomalous phenomena, such as UFOs. Well, the answer is “Yes,” there have indeed been such studies undertaken. As just one of many examples, consider the following.

Early in 1998, the British Government’s House of Commons held a debate on the existence – or otherwise – of a particular breed of mystery animal that is widely rumored, and even accepted by many, to inhabit the confines of the British Isles: the so-called Alien Big-Cats, or ABCs, as they have become known. It scarcely needs mentioning that Britain is not home to an indigenous species of large cat. Nevertheless, for decades amazing stories have circulated from all across the nation of sightings of large, predatory cats that feed on livestock and terrify, intrigue and amaze the local populace.

Indeed, there now exists a very large and credible body of data in support of the notion that Britain does have in its midst a thriving population of presently unidentified large cats – such as the infamous “Beast of Bodmin” and “Beast of Exmoor” that so dominated the nation’s newspapers back in the early-to-mid 1980s.

Documentation that followed the February 2, 1998 debate in the controversy in the House of Commons began with a statement from Mr. Keith Simpson, the Member of Parliament for mid-Norfolk: “Over the past twenty years, there has been a steady increase in the number of sightings of big cats in many parts of the United Kingdom. These are often described as pumas, leopards or panthers. A survey carried out in 1996 claimed sightings of big cats in 34 English counties.”

Many of the sightings, Simpson continued, had been reported in his constituency by people out walking dogs or driving down country roads, often at dawn or dusk. Frequently the description given fitted that of a puma or leopard. Simpson also added that in a number of incidents it had been claimed that ewes, lambs, and even horses had been attacked – and in some cases killed – by the marauding beasts.

Simpson elaborated further: “A number of distinguished wildlife experts have suggested that some pumas or leopards could have been released into the countryside when the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 made it illegal to own such animals without a licence. They would have been able to roam over a wide area of countryside, live off wild or domestic animals and possibly breed. So what is to be done?”

Simpson had a few ideas: “I should like to suggest two positive measures for the Minister to consider. At national and local levels, it is logical that the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food should be the lead Government Department for coordinating the monitoring of evidence concerning big cats.”

In response, Elliot Morley, at the time the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, admitted that there was a valid issue that needed addressing. He said: “The Ministry’s main responsibility on big cats is confined to whether the presence of a big cat poses a threat to the safety of livestock. The Ministry is aware that a total of 16 big cats have escaped into the wild since 1977. They include lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars and pumas, but all but two animals were at large for only one day.”

Morley expanded: “Because there is a risk that big cats can escape into the wild and because of the threat that such animals could pose to livestock, the Ministry investigates each report in which it is alleged that livestock have been attacked. Reports to the Ministry are usually made by the farmers whose animals have been attacked. In addition, the Ministry takes note of articles in the press describing big cat incidents and will consider them if there is evidence that livestock are at risk.”

On receipt of a report of a big cat, explained Morley, the Ministry would ask the Farming and Rural Conservation Agency – the Ministry’s wildlife advisers – to contact the person who reported the sighting, as he explained:

“The FRCA will discuss the situation with the farmer and seek to establish whether the sighting is genuine and whether any evidence can be evaluated. It will follow up all cases where there is evidence of a big cat that can be corroborated and all cases where it is alleged that livestock are being taken.

“The FRCA will consider all forms of evidence, including photographs given to it by members of the public and farmers, plaster casts of paw prints and video footage. In addition, it will carry out field investigations of carcasses of alleged kills for field signs of the animals responsible.”

In conclusion, Morley stated: “It is impossible to say categorically that no big cats are living wild in Britain, so it is only right and proper that the Ministry should continue to investigate serious claims of their existence – but only when there is a threat to livestock and when there is clear evidence that can be validated. I am afraid that, until we obtain stronger evidence, the reports of big cats are still in the category of mythical creatures.”

Of course, many of those British citizens who have seen big-cats roaming the countryside would perhaps strongly argue with the notion that these beasts are merely mythical in nature…

[via: mania.com - Nick Redfern]

SAN LUIS, Colo. —  A creepy string of calf mutilations in southern Colorado has a rancher and sheriff’s officials mystified.

Four calves were found dead in a pasture just north of the New Mexico state line in recent weeks. The dead calves had their skins peeled back and organs cleared from the rib cage. One calf had its tongue removed.

But rancher Manuel Sanchez has found no signs of human attackers, such as footprints or ATV tracks. And there are no signs of an animal attack by a coyote or mountain lion. Usually predators leave pools of blood or drag marks from carrying away the livestock.

Two officers from the Costilla County Sheriff’s Office have investigated the mutilations but say they don’t know what’s killing the calves.

“There’s nothing really to go by,” said Sanchez, who’s ranched for nearly 50 years. “I can’t figure it out.”

A spokesman for the sheriff’s office told The Pueblo Chieftain that investigators doubt a person butchered the calves because there is no blood at the scene.

“I’ve butchered a cow before and I know what kind of a mess it leaves,” Sgt. James Chavez said.

Some in the area believe the mutilations are the work of aliens. An area UFO chaser, Chuck Zukowski of Colorado Springs, has been to the Costilla County pasture to investigate.

He told the paper there have been other unexplained calf mutilations in the area, including three in March. One of the other calves, found dead on a ranch near Trinidad, had its ears removed, Zukowski said.

“We’re trying as much as we can to find a pattern,” said Zukowski, who runs a UFO Web site called ufonut.com.

Sanchez said he has sold off his 32 remaining calves out of fear more would be mutilated. He hasn’t decided how he’ll manage the remaining 40 animals in his herd.

“It’s a big loss for a small rancher,” he said.

[via: foxnews.com]

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