Dog nurses 2 ligers after tiger mom abandons them

In this photo taken on Thursday, May 19, 2011, a dog
nurses two liger cubs at a zoo in Weihai in east China's
Shandong province. Cong Wen of Xixiakou Wildlife Zoo
in eastern China says four cubs were born to a female tiger
and a male lion on May 13. The tiger mom fed the ligers for
four days then for unknown reasons abandoned them, she
says. Chinese zoo workers brought in a dog to nurse them
instead, but two died of weakness. (AP Photo) CHINA OUT

Posted on Tue, May. 24, 2011 04:50 AM
The Associated Press

A Chinese zoo official says two rare cubs born to a male lion and a female tiger are being nursed by a dog after they were abandoned by their mother.

Cong Wen of Xixiakou Wildlife Zoo in eastern China says four cubs called ligers were born to the lion and tiger earlier this month.

She said Tuesday the tiger mother fed the ligers for four days but then abandoned them for unknown reasons. Two died of weakness.

Cong said staff at the zoo in Shandong province found a dog who had just given birth to feed the surviving cubs.

She said the two cubs had trouble at first drinking milk from the dog but are now used to it.

Ligers are rare and are sometimes bred in zoos by mistake.

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/05/24/2898589/dog-nurses-ligers-after-tiger.html

Mysterious Killer Canid Stalking Bowen Island, B.C.

Residents of a small community in British Columbia have a mysterious killer in their midst and are taking steps to protect their pets, farm animals and small children.

An animal thought to be part timber wolf has been stalking Bowen Island, just off the coast of Vancouver, for about six months -- preying mainly on dogs and cats.

"Anyone who has family, has pets, and anyone who has seen it, seen the way it looks at you, knows that it's dangerous to have around," said island resident Stacey Powers.

Her husband John recently caught the animal on video, and saw it snatch a gosling out of a nearby pond.

The animal has "shown no fear of coming up close to the house," he said, "and obviously you don't want to have a concern that he's there and all of a sudden the kids are in his range." The family is keeping its pets indoors and young children nearby.

A local veterinarian believes it is part dog, part wolf and that it may have been abandoned after being brought to the island.

"They are a mixed-up species. They are part domestic with the instincts of a wolf," said Dr. Alastair Wescott. "They don't react normally and so people can't manage them, and so dumping them is a common thing to do."

It is thought to be a young male weighing about 90 pounds.

Missing pet signs are posted all over the island. The animal has killed at least three dogs, more than a dozen cats and two sheep. Many deer carcasses have also been found.

The municipality has set up a hotline, bought a tranquilizer gun, and enlisted both Westcott and a professional trapper to find the animal.

Once caught, it is expected to be euthanized. Rescue organizations have been contacted, but the animal's behaviour has been so vicious they say there's no chance of rehabilitation. - ctv

Click for video

**********

Hunting the wolf-dog of Bowen Island

Since appearing on Bowen Island, B.C., in December, an animal believed to be a wolf-dog hybrid has killed five dogs, six sheep and “more cats than we even know” says Chris Buchanan, the island’s bylaw services supervisor. It has taken numerous geese, raided two chicken coops and littered the island with deer carcasses.

“He’s definitely getting more bold,” says Stacey Powers, a resident of this 50-square-kilometre island located 20 minutes by ferry from West Vancouver. “I definitely don’t let my dog out, or my cats, or my kids.”

The island’s only veterinarian, Alastair Westcott, mounted a private campaign to stop the animal, his $2,000 high-powered tranquilizer rifle purchased especially for the task. He is intimately acquainted with the animal carcasses strewn about the island by the creature, but is yet to spot the canine itself.

“It’s my nemesis,” he says.

This week, local authorities — who have advised Bowen Islanders to “take precautions when hiking, or when allowing small children or pets outdoors unattended” — called in a professional trapper. He arrives just as the animal has begun targeting sheep. The attacks have come at dawn, with the animal leaping into a pen and tearing the throat out of several lambs and ewes in a matter of minutes.

“When he kills the sheep, he doesn’t really eat them … it almost seems to be a game,” says Mr. Westcott.

Normally, wolf-plagued communities need only call up the B.C. Conservation Officer Service, which sends in a team to capture or kill the animal. However, after officers examined some grainy video images of the Bowen Island creature, they determined that the animal was an escaped wolf-dog hybrid – and thus out of their jurisdiction.

Private attempts to kill the creature have been hampered by an island-wide ban on firearms.

“As you can appreciate, Bowen Island is a bedroom community to the Greater Vancouver area … the province has determined this is a no-shooting area,” says Cpl. Don Southern with the Bowen Island RCMP.

Illegal or not, local gun-owners are keeping their rifles close at hand, says resident Ed Booiman. In January, Mr. Booiman was the first Bowen Islander to get a good look at the creature when he came upon it eating his pet Sheltie. “Everybody’s hoping that someone will take this animal down,” he says.

The island’s mailboxes, bulletin boards and trailhead signs are now plastered with posters instructing residents to report sightings to a dedicated “Hybrid Hotline.” When residents phone in the animal’s position to the hotline, Mr. Westcott attempts to head it off by taking up a position in one of seven hunting blinds he has set up around the island.

“Initially, I just went out for a couple hours every few days or so,” says Mr. Westcott. “Now, it’s three to four hours a day.”

Wolves are notoriously hard to hunt, especially in a thickly wooded island about half the size of Manhattan. The municipality of Bowen Island has left traps for the animal, but to no avail.

In February, a loose wolf-dog was shot and killed by a farmer on nearby Salt Spring Island after it killed more than a dozen of his lambs. After discovering lamb carcasses on his property, farmer Ted Akerman grabbed his 12-gauge shogun and spent the night staking out his flock from the cab of his pickup truck. He was able to kill the dog when it came back for his sheep in the morning.

“People come to the island with a dog they can’t handle and they leave it here,” says Mr. Akerman. “I’ve had ferry workers tell me about people coming over with a big dog, and when they come back they don’t have it.”

Although domestic wolves are illegal in B.C., residents are allowed to own wolf-dog hybrids.

“It’s one of the real messes of wolf biology that people want to breed them because they think it’s sexy to have a wolf – and then they get loose and disappear,” says Bob Hayes, former wolf biologist for the Yukon Territory. The B.C. SPCA has long taken a strong stance against ownership of wolf-dog hybrids. “Crossing a wolf and crossing a dog generally undoes 12,000 years of domestication,” says Robert Busch, general manager of operations for the B.C. SPCA. The animal may seem friendly and dog-like, but it can easily “snap” and revert to its wild state.

Mr. Westcott still suspects that the animal could be a common wolf. - nationalpost

Original post: Wolf-dog hybrid puts B.C.’s Bowen Island in ‘lockdown’

http://naturalplane.blogspot.com/2011/05/mysterious-killer-canid-stalking-bowen.html

Wolf-dog hybrid puts B.C.’s Bowen Island in ‘lockdown’

Postmedia News Feb 18, 2011 – 12:02 PM ET
by Sean Sullivan

Residents of British Columbia’s Bowen Island are in “lockdown” as a marauding wolf-dog hybrid that has killed at least one dog continues to be spotted across the island, leading fearful residents to keep children and pets indoors.

The community, just north of Vancouver, has called in a private trapper to catch the mysterious animal, which was first sighted on Jan. 20 by resident Ed Booiman after it had killed his dog Penny.

“It’s awful to witness,” he said. “It basically killed my dog within 50 feet of the house and then dragged it into the bush.”

Mr. Booiman, who had gone to look for Penny when she didn’t turn up for dinner, interrupted the animal as it was eating his dog.

Since then, one Husky-cross dog and a string of cats have gone missing, he said, and partially eaten deer carcasses have been found on the island. One of the island’s prized swans has also been found dead.

“(The sightings) have helped tie a lot of pieces of the puzzle together here on Bowen Island with respect to missing animals,” Mr. Booiman said. “It’s got everybody so nervous.”

Chris Buchanan, the island’s bylaw services supervisor, said he’s now receiving reports of sightings “almost daily.”

“The municipality has contracted a trapper to come to the island to capture the beast,” Mr. Buchanan said Thursday. “It could be someone’s pet, we don’t know, so we’re using a humane trap.”

The B.C. Conservation Service is not involved, Mr. Buchanan said, as it doesn’t respond to incidents related to domestic or feral dogs — only wildlife.

The island has no coyotes, and no wolf packs are known to live within 100 kilometres of Bowen Island, RCMP said. Discharging firearms is prohibited on the island, so it’s unlikely a citizen will dispose of the animal.

Mr. Buchanan said reports indicate the wolf-dog weighs about 45 kilograms.

Residents won’t feel safe until the animal is trapped and euthanized, Mr. Booiman said.

“Parents aren’t letting their children walk to the school bus and everyone’s keeping their pets on leash,” Mr. Booiman said.

“That’s not what life here is like.”

Postmedia News
http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/02/18/wolf-dog-hybrid-puts-b-c-s-bowen-island-in-lockdown/

Mutant turtles terrorising London ponds

Evening Standard
25 May 2011

Hybrid turtles are taking hold of London's parks and ponds.

Experts studying 1,600 square kilometres of London and the home counties were shocked to find 10 species and several hybrids. They even found rare African turtles in a Camden park.

Despite culls, numbers are growing. Tom Langton of the London Natural History Society said: "We found a big increase in the sightings of terrapins, a type of turtle popular in the Eighties due to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cartoon series."

A government ban in 1997 has led to "lookalike" species being sold cheaply in pet shops. Mr Langton said he hoped all terrapins would be banned in the UK.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23953408-mutant-turtles-terrorising-london-ponds.do

It's all white to be a rare sight in the bush

A standout ... one of the albino wallaroos that has been spotted at Wolgan Valley
in the Blue Mountains. Photo: Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa

THAT is not an escaped lab mouse on steroids peering through the grass of the Wolgan conservation area in the Blue Mountains.

Nor is it a giant white rabbit on its way to a tea party.

It is, in fact, a rare albino wallaroo, one of three that have been delighting staff and visitors at the Wolgan Valley Resort and Spa.

"We've had sightings of one mature albino wallaroo on the property since opening 18 months ago, but to have two more spotted on the property is incredibly rare and exciting for us and our guests," the resort's general manager Joost Heymeijer said.

The resort's field guides have noticed the albino wallaroos are more timid and less trusting of humans than their grey brothers and sisters, and wait until it is darker to come out to feed.

The education program co-ordinator at Featherdale Wildlife Park in Doonside, Peter Spradbrow, said albinism is a rare condition where the skin, hair and eyes lack the pigment that gives them colour.

It is observed across many animal species, but in the wild it is difficult for an albino creature to reach adulthood.

''Albino animals are particularly at risk of predation because they stand out from their environment,'' Mr Spradbrow said.

And, to make matters worse, they suffer from skin cancers and other skin diseases because they lack the pigment which protects them from UV radiation.

Albinism often shows up when both parents pass on the albinism gene. Some individuals who look normal carry the gene but are not albino.

Featherdale has albino laughing kookaburras, blue-tongue lizards, common wallaroos and tammar wallabies. ''The weirdest example of an albino that I have ever seen is an albino red-bellied black-snake,'' Mr Spradbrow said.

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/its-all-white-to-be-a-rare-sight-in-the-bush-20110416-1dio1.html
(Via Chad Arment)

Scientists Create a One of Kind Frog (Via HerpDigest)

Scientists Create a One of Kind Frog
by Wynne Parry
LiveScience Senior Writer
3/7/11
A newly bred hybrid frog - the offspring of two species of tropical leaf frogs - is one of a kind and even rarer than its endangered parents.

A scientist at The Manchester Museum inEngland allowed the two species of endangered Central American leaf frogs housed within the same chamber to interbreed to better understand how closely these parents are related. Understanding the genetic relationships between, and even within, species is important when trying to protect them.

This was a match made in lab heaven. The parents, Agalychnis annae and Agalychnis moreletii, wouldn't cross paths on their own, since they occupy different regions in Central America. In the past 30 years, populations of endangered leaf frogs have completely disappeared, particularly at cooler, high elevations. The amphibian-devastating chytrid fungus is implicated.

Frogs that have adapted to less fungus-friendly habitats are likely to be less at risk, making it important to identify the differences between populations, writes Andrew Gray, the museum's curator of herpetology, in a study that appeared in February in arXiv, an open archive maintained by Cornell University.

"There is also real concern that certain populations may disappear before their distinctiveness has even been established," Gray writes.

The parents look very much alike - in fact their skulls are nearly indistinguishable - but they have different coloration. Their love child resembles both, but is also distinct. It has dark red irises like the papa frog A. moreletii, and the purple-to-blue coloration along its flanks and thighs, like most A. annae, the mama frog. However, its hands and feet are more intense orange than seen in either parent.
Hybridization experiments like this are helpful in better understanding the inheritance of genes in amphibians, including those determining color patterns, the researchers

Ancient Mexicans bred wolf-dog hybrids, anthropological study finds (via Chad Arment)

Mexican researchers said Wednesday they have identified jawbones found in the pre-Hispanic ruins of Teotihuacan as those of wolf-dogs that were apparently crossbred as a symbol of the city's warriors.

The National Institute of Anthropology and History said the jawbones were found during excavations in 2004 and are the first physical evidence of what appears to be intentional crossbreeding in ancient Mexican cultures.

The jawbones were found in a warrior's burial at a Teotihuacan pyramid. Anthropological studies performed at Mexico's National Autonomous University indicate the animal was a wolf-dog.

"In oral traditions and old chronicles, dog-like animals appear with symbols of power or divinity," said institute spokesman Francisco De Anda. "But we did not have skeletal evidence ... this is the first time we have proof."

Wolf- or dog-like creatures appear in paintings at Teotihuacan, but had long been thought to be depictions of coyotes, which also inhabit the region. But archaeologists are now reevaluating that interpretation.

Several jawbones were made into a sort of decorative garment found on the warrior's skeleton at the 2,000-year-old site north of Mexico City.

The wolf-dog apparently served as a symbol of strength and power.


Dogs and wolves are very similar genetically, and there has been evidence of ancient remains that may show natural crossbreeding.

But archaeologist Raul Valadez said the animal was the result of intentional selection. While the inhabitants of Teotihuacan had dogs, wolves and coyotes, they almost exclusively used wolf-dog bones in the ceremonial arrangement.

Of the bones found, eight were wolf-dog, three were dogs and two were crosses of coyotes and wolf-dogs.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2010/12/ancient-mexicans-bred-wolf-dog-hybrids-anthropological-study-finds.html

Ancient Mexicans bred wolf-dog hybrids, anthropological study finds (via Chad Arment)

Mexican researchers said Wednesday they have identified jawbones found in the pre-Hispanic ruins of Teotihuacan as those of wolf-dogs that were apparently crossbred as a symbol of the city's warriors.

The National Institute of Anthropology and History said the jawbones were found during excavations in 2004 and are the first physical evidence of what appears to be intentional crossbreeding in ancient Mexican cultures.

The jawbones were found in a warrior's burial at a Teotihuacan pyramid. Anthropological studies performed at Mexico's National Autonomous University indicate the animal was a wolf-dog.

"In oral traditions and old chronicles, dog-like animals appear with symbols of power or divinity," said institute spokesman Francisco De Anda. "But we did not have skeletal evidence ... this is the first time we have proof."

Wolf- or dog-like creatures appear in paintings at Teotihuacan, but had long been thought to be depictions of coyotes, which also inhabit the region. But archaeologists are now reevaluating that interpretation.

Several jawbones were made into a sort of decorative garment found on the warrior's skeleton at the 2,000-year-old site north of Mexico City.

The wolf-dog apparently served as a symbol of strength and power.


Dogs and wolves are very similar genetically, and there has been evidence of ancient remains that may show natural crossbreeding.

But archaeologist Raul Valadez said the animal was the result of intentional selection. While the inhabitants of Teotihuacan had dogs, wolves and coyotes, they almost exclusively used wolf-dog bones in the ceremonial arrangement.

Of the bones found, eight were wolf-dog, three were dogs and two were crosses of coyotes and wolf-dogs.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2010/12/ancient-mexicans-bred-wolf-dog-hybrids-anthropological-study-finds.html

Mating Mystery: Hybrid Animals Hint at Desperation in Arctic

(sk) Mating Mystery: Hybrid Animals Hint at Desperation in Arctic


An odd-looking white bear with patches of brown fur was shot by hunters in 2006 and found to be a cross between a polar bear and a grizzly bear. Apparently, grizzlies were moving north into polar bear territory. Since then, several hybrid animals have appeared in and around the Arctic, including narwhal-beluga whales and mixed porpoises.

The culprit may be melting Arctic sea ice, which is causing barriers that once separated marine mammals to disappear, while the warming planet is making habitats once too cold for some animals just right. The resulting hybrid creatures are threatening the survival of rare polar animals, according to a comment published today (Dec. 15) in the journal Nature. [ Real of Fake? 8 Bizarre Hybrid Animals]

A team led by ecologist Brendan Kelly of the National Marine Mammal Laboratory counted 34 possible hybridizations between distinct populations or species of Arctic marine mammals, many of which are endangered or threatened.

"The greatest concern is species that are already imperiled," said Kelly, first author of the Nature comment. "Interbreeding might be the final straw."

Pizzlies and Narlugas
When hunters encountered a hybrid of a polar bear and a grizzly in 2006, Kelly's colleagues remarked that the incident was just a fluke. But as Kelly delved into the issue, he found more evidence of similar anomalies. In 2009, a cross between a bowhead and a right whale was spotted in the Bering Sea, between Alaska and Russia. And a museum specimen in Alaska attests to breeding between spotted seals (Phoca largha) and ribbon seals (Histriophoca fasciata), which belong to different genera, a scientific classification of organisms that is broader than the species level.

Evidence suggests at least five other types of hybrids that may arise from animals of distinct genera, Kelly's team reported. These include:

* Narwhal (Monodon monoceros ) and beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas)

* Ringed seal (Phoca hispida) and ribbon seal (Histriophoca fasciata)

* Bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) and right whale (Eubalaena spp.)

* Harp seal (Phoca groenandica) and hooded seal (Cystophora cristata)

* Harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) and Dall's porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli)

Breedings between these marine mammals near the North Pole are likely to result in fertile offspring, because many of these animals have the same number of chromosomes, said comment co-author Andrew Whiteley, a conservation geneticist at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Chromosomes that are unmatched in number cannot pair during meiosis, a special type of cell division necessary for sexual reproduction. During meiosis, chromosomes duplicate and the cell divides to form daughter cells, which split apart to form gametes, or mature sexual reproductive cells. But with unmatched chromosomes, the split into gametes would be uneven, creating sterility.

Over the short term the hybrid offspring from these Arctic animal matings will likely be strong and healthy, because unlike inbreeding, which magnifies deleterious genes, so-called outbreeding can mask these genes. Most of these genes are recessive, meaning the offspring need a pair to actually show the trait. Different species or different genera generally don't have the same bad recessive alleles, and so there's not a high chance of a pair turning up. (Alleles are different versions of the same gene.)

But over time, as the hybrids mate randomly, those harmful genes will come out of hiding and make the offspring less fit and less capable of surviving, Whiteley warned.

Kelly said that breeding between species usually isn't beneficial when it's caused by accelerated environmental change, because the hybrid animals don't have time to evolve survival traits. "This change is happening so rapidly that it doesn't bode well for adaptive responses."

http://www.livescience.com/animals/hybrid-animals-arctic-climate-101215.html

Mating Mystery: Hybrid Animals Hint at Desperation in Arctic

(sk) Mating Mystery: Hybrid Animals Hint at Desperation in Arctic


An odd-looking white bear with patches of brown fur was shot by hunters in 2006 and found to be a cross between a polar bear and a grizzly bear. Apparently, grizzlies were moving north into polar bear territory. Since then, several hybrid animals have appeared in and around the Arctic, including narwhal-beluga whales and mixed porpoises.

The culprit may be melting Arctic sea ice, which is causing barriers that once separated marine mammals to disappear, while the warming planet is making habitats once too cold for some animals just right. The resulting hybrid creatures are threatening the survival of rare polar animals, according to a comment published today (Dec. 15) in the journal Nature. [ Real of Fake? 8 Bizarre Hybrid Animals]

A team led by ecologist Brendan Kelly of the National Marine Mammal Laboratory counted 34 possible hybridizations between distinct populations or species of Arctic marine mammals, many of which are endangered or threatened.

"The greatest concern is species that are already imperiled," said Kelly, first author of the Nature comment. "Interbreeding might be the final straw."

Pizzlies and Narlugas
When hunters encountered a hybrid of a polar bear and a grizzly in 2006, Kelly's colleagues remarked that the incident was just a fluke. But as Kelly delved into the issue, he found more evidence of similar anomalies. In 2009, a cross between a bowhead and a right whale was spotted in the Bering Sea, between Alaska and Russia. And a museum specimen in Alaska attests to breeding between spotted seals (Phoca largha) and ribbon seals (Histriophoca fasciata), which belong to different genera, a scientific classification of organisms that is broader than the species level.

Evidence suggests at least five other types of hybrids that may arise from animals of distinct genera, Kelly's team reported. These include:

* Narwhal (Monodon monoceros ) and beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas)

* Ringed seal (Phoca hispida) and ribbon seal (Histriophoca fasciata)

* Bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) and right whale (Eubalaena spp.)

* Harp seal (Phoca groenandica) and hooded seal (Cystophora cristata)

* Harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) and Dall's porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli)

Breedings between these marine mammals near the North Pole are likely to result in fertile offspring, because many of these animals have the same number of chromosomes, said comment co-author Andrew Whiteley, a conservation geneticist at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Chromosomes that are unmatched in number cannot pair during meiosis, a special type of cell division necessary for sexual reproduction. During meiosis, chromosomes duplicate and the cell divides to form daughter cells, which split apart to form gametes, or mature sexual reproductive cells. But with unmatched chromosomes, the split into gametes would be uneven, creating sterility.

Over the short term the hybrid offspring from these Arctic animal matings will likely be strong and healthy, because unlike inbreeding, which magnifies deleterious genes, so-called outbreeding can mask these genes. Most of these genes are recessive, meaning the offspring need a pair to actually show the trait. Different species or different genera generally don't have the same bad recessive alleles, and so there's not a high chance of a pair turning up. (Alleles are different versions of the same gene.)

But over time, as the hybrids mate randomly, those harmful genes will come out of hiding and make the offspring less fit and less capable of surviving, Whiteley warned.

Kelly said that breeding between species usually isn't beneficial when it's caused by accelerated environmental change, because the hybrid animals don't have time to evolve survival traits. "This change is happening so rapidly that it doesn't bode well for adaptive responses."

http://www.livescience.com/animals/hybrid-animals-arctic-climate-101215.html

'Ligers' bred in Taiwan zoo

A private zoo in Taiwan could be fined after breeding 'ligers' – a cross between a lion and a tiger.

Published: 6:36PM BST 16 Aug 2010

The zoo is the island's first to breed the hybrid of a lion and a tigress, but officials seized the cubs and said they may fine the owner.

The three liger cubs were born in Taiwan on Sunday at the World Snake King Education Farm in the south, but one of them died almost immediately.

"The pregnancy of the tigress caught me totally unprepared," said Huang Kuo-nan, the farm's owner.

"The lion and the tigress have been kept in the same cage since they were cubs more than six years ago, and nothing happened."

But the Tainan county government later in the day seized the two baby ligers, relocating them to a home for wild animals in another southern county.

"What else can I do? I respect the decision, but I hope the two cubs can be taken good care of," Mr Kuo-nan said.

He faces a fine of up to 50,000 Taiwan dollars (£1,000) for breeding wildlife without authorities' prior approval, said the Council of Agriculture.

According to the Taipei-based Apple Daily, there are only around 10 surviving ligers in the world, with adult ligers capable of growing much larger than average lions.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/taiwan/7948783/Ligers-bred-in-Taiwan-zoo.html

Uncommon hybrid of zebra and donkey born at north Georgia wildlife preserve (Via D R Shoop)

http://www.startribune.com/nation/99337569.html?elr=KArks8c7PaP3E77K_3c::D3aDhUMEaPc:E7_ec7PaP3iUiacyKU7DYaGEP7vDEh7P:DiUX

DAHLONEGA, Ga. - A zedonk, an unusual cross between a donkey and a zebra, is attracting attention at the Chestatee Wildlife Preserve in Dahlonega after being born there about a week ago. The animal, which has a zebra father and donkey mother, has black stripes prominently displayed on her legs and face.

C.W. Wathen, the preserve's founder and general manager, said the foal has a zebra's instincts. Wathen said she sits up instead of lying on her side, as if she's staying alert for predators.

Donkeys and zebras don't usually mate, but zedonks turn up occasionally.

Wathen said that in about two weeks, the zedonk will begin roaming the property with the rest of the animals.

___

Information from: The Times, http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/

Pictured: 'Ugly' chick born with four wings

A bizarre and "ugly" looking bird was born out of a chicken egg with four wings.

By Andrew Hough
Published: 7:30AM BST 15 May 2010

The extremely rare chicken-guinea fowl hybrid, which is called a guin, was born on Lyn Newman's smallholding.

The 59 year-old raises a number of fowl in Defford, Worcs, but she was astonished when one of her eggs hatched into a weird looking bird even she couldn't identify.

The tiny bird was covered in clumps of feathers and - most strangely of all - had four wings.

The retired social care worker had to trawl the internet before she realised that this bizarre bird was a hybrid.

A rogue guinea had mated with one of her hens, which left the ugly chick.

The four wings are a result of a genetic mutation because of the cross-species breeding.

"I was just shocked when I saw that this thing that hatched had four wings," she said.

"I couldn't believe my eyes. I had no idea what it was until I did some digging around on the internet.

"As well as having extra wings, the bird is also much smaller and is a totally different shape."

She added: "I was shocked when I found out it was a cross between a guinea and a chicken - you just don't expect it. Apparently the cross is very rare.

"But she's settling in really well, and doesn't seem to realise that it's different from all the other chicks. She's just one of the gang.

"We haven't given her a name yet, but the chick very easily identifiable among all its friends."

She continued: "She's an odd looking bird, and apparently extremely rare. I had no idea that guineas could actually breed with chickens.

"I've seen a guinea flying around, so probably soon we'll be overrun with these weird looking birds.

"She's a real character and is one of the gang. I'm thinking of selling her at auction, as apparently guinea-chicken crosses are very rare and also infertile. I'm sure that she will find a very loving home, and that people won't be put off by her four wings."

Sharon Boundy, who operates UK Guinea Fowl, said the hybrid bird sounded like a freak of nature with its four wings.

"It is very rare for chickens and guinea fowl to breed. I've only known of one other guinea-chick in my many years in the business," she said.

"It's especially unusual for them to have four wings though - I've never heard of anything like it.

"It's not dangerous for the two species to breed but they don't tend to go near each other."

She added: "But obviously a guinea fowl just fancied a chicken for a change. Crosses between species can be very odd looking, and this seems to be no exception."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7722786/Pictured-Ugly-chick-born-with-four-wings.html

Six amazing hybrid animals

Bryan Nelson, Mother Nature Network – Mon May 3, 6:28 pm ET

Ligers, tigons and grolar bears, oh my! Take a look at some of these otherworldly hybrid animals and you'll realize the possibilities are endless.

Though they rarely occur in nature, individuals from different but closely related species do occasionally mate, and the result is a biological hybrid — an offspring that shares traits from both parent species. You may have heard of the mysterious sheep-pig creature, but it turns out that one isn't a true hybrid.

Here are six bizarre, but truly unique half-breeds.

(Photo: Wiki Commons / GNU)Zebroids

A zebroid is the offspring of a cross between a zebra and any other equine, usually a horse or a donkey. There are zorses, zonkeys, zonies, and a host of other combinations.

Zebroids are an interesting example of hybrids bred from species that have a radically different number of chromosomes. For instance, horses have 64 chromosomes and zebra have between 32 and 44 (depending on species). Even so, nature finds a way.

(Photo: Jason Douglas / Wiki Commons / public domain)Savannah cats

Savannah cats are -- contrary to popular belief -- from a coastal town in Georgia. But what they are is what you get from mixing your everyday domestic cat with an African Serval cat. Historians believe the first one was bred sometime in the mid 1980s by a cat breeder in, of all places, Pennsylvania. The International Cat Association first recognized the cat in 1996. The hybrid cat can now be purchased or perused in copies of 'Savannah's Illustrated' magazine.

(Photo: aliwest44 / Flickr)Ligers

Ligers are the cross of a male lion and a female tiger, and they are the largest of all living cats and felines. Their massive size may be a result of imprinted genes which are not fully expressed in their parents, but are left unchecked when the two different species mate. Some female ligers can grow to 10 feet in length and weigh more than 700 pounds.

Ligers are distinct from tigons, which come from a female lion and male tiger. Various other big cat hybrids have been created too, including leopons (a leopard and a lion mix), jaguleps (a jaguar and leopard mix), and even lijaguleps (a lion and jagulep mix).

(Photo: Mark Interrante (aka pinhole) / Flickr)Wholphins

A cross between a false killer whale and an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, wholphins are hybrids that have been reported to exist in the wild. There are currently two in captivity, both at Sea Life Park in Hawaii.

The wholphin's size, color, and shape are intermediate between the parent species. Even their number of teeth is mixed; a bottlenose has 88 teeth, a false killer whale has 44 teeth, and a wholphin has 66.

(Photo: via Inhabitots.com)Grolar bears

The offspring of a grizzly bear and a polar bear, a grolar bear is one beast you don't want to meet in the woods. Interestingly, unlike many hybrid animals on this list, grolar bears are known to occur naturally in the wild.

Some experts predict that polar bears may be driven to breed with grizzly bears at an increased frequency due to global warming, and the fact that polar bears are being forced from their natural habitats on the polar ice.

(Photo: via readthesmiths.com)Beefalo

Beefalo are the fertile offspring of domestic cattle and American bison. Crosses also exist between domestic cattle and European bison (zubrons) and yaks (yakows). The name given to beefalo might be the most suggestive, since the breed was purposely created to combine the best characteristics of both animals with an eye towards beef production.

A USDA study showed that beefalo meat, like bison meat, tends to be lower in fat and cholesterol. They are also thought to produce less damage to range-land than cattle.

Bryan Nelson is a regular contributor to Mother Nature Network, where a version of this post originally appeared.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ygreen/20100503/sc_ygreen/sixamazinghybridanimals

Bear killed by Inuit hunter may be rare polar-grizzly hybrid

EDMONTON — An animal shot last week by an Inuit hunter travelling on the sea ice in the High Arctic has sparked debate over whether another polar bear-grizzly hybrid — a so-called "pizzly" or "grolar" — has been discovered. The creamy white animal, which was shot near the community of Ulukhaktok, N.W.T., on Victoria Island, is almost picture-perfect in terms of colouring for a polar bear.

But its big head, long claws and ring of brown hair around its hind feet are more in keeping with the profile of a grizzly bear.

Scientists say it's possible the animal is a hybrid — a rare product of a polar bear and grizzly mating in the wild.
Although several suspected sightings have been made in recent years, only one hybrid — an animal shot by an U.S. hunter in 2006 — has ever been confirmed in the wild.

"It's a bit hard to say for sure whether it might be a hybrid because the angles of the photos don't really illustrate the animal optimally," says scientist Ian Stirling, who studied polar bears for 37 years while working with the Canadian Wildlife Service out of Edmonton.

"However, I have to say the claws on the front feet look pretty long for a polar bear to me, and the head and ears look like they might have some similarities to a grizzly.

"There also seems to be some brown hair down by the hind feet. Otherwise, the coat looks rather like a polar bear. I would like to have a much better look, but it does seem like a hybrid is a possibility at least. I hope they make sure they get a sample for DNA analysis so the details can be clarified for sure."

University of Alberta scientist Andrew Derocher said he'd be more inclined to say it's a grizzly bear, if it weren't so early in the season.

"It's a bit early for grizzlies to be out this time of year in the Arctic," he said.

"But it was 0 C in Tuktoyaktuk yesterday, which is very warm for this time of year. To me, it does look like a grizzly, but it's rather hard to tell for sure. There are lots of blond grizzlies in the Mackenzie Delta and beyond — some very white.

"It will be interesting to hear what comes of this one, but I'd say grizzly — the fur and feet sure look like one."
DNA test results on the bear, expected later this week, will clarify the matter. The hunter who shot the animal won't talk — or release photos — until then. But he's betting it's a hybrid.

Until about 20 years ago, sightings of the animals in the High Arctic were extremely rare.

But ever since a Northwest Territories biologist came upon a grizzly 600 kilometres north of the mainland in 1991, an increasing number of brown bears have been spotted on the ice and on the High Arctic islands.
What grizzlies are doing that far north is not clearly understood. It may be that they're following caribou migrating north of the mainland on the sea ice in the spring. Or it could have been a case of heading in the wrong direction at a time of year when everything is covered in snow. Climate change may also be a factor.

No one expected the two species to mate in the wild because both engage in extended, although similar, mating rituals.

To prevent wasting its eggs, a female ovulates only after spending several days with a male. This ensures that the female doesn't produce an egg that would die unfertilized if there were no mate around at the time. The bears then mate several times over the next several days.

The story of the so-called "pizzly" that was shot in 2006 set off a flurry of stories around the world. Some stories suggested a possible link with climate change and wildlife-management practices that might be favouring an expansion of the Arctic grizzly bear population.

Both bears were shot at almost the same latitude, far from the mainland, but near adjacent islands — Banks and Victoria.

http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Bear+killed+Inuit+hunter+rare+polar+grizzly+hybrid/2906332/story.html
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

Hybrid pet wolves escape and roam parts of Ohio

Hybrid pet wolves escape and roam parts of Ohio
25 March 2010
The Plain Dealer

OUTDOORS
There are wolves living in Ohio, generally hybrid wolves bred and raised here or brought to Ohio by people who want them as pets. In Sandusky County last week, a hunter thought he killed a large coyote, only to discover it was most likely a pet wolf that had probably been running wild for about six months.

Dusty Gore of Bellevue, Ohio, spotted a small pack of what he thought were coyotes while driving past York School near his home on March 15. Coyotes are a problem for rural landowners and farmers, as they kill livestock and pets. The sighting prompted Gore to return home to get his hunting rifle. Gore shot and killed the largest of the animals. Two others ran off. Coyotes seldom grow to more than 50 pounds. This animal was estimated at more than 120 pounds, and looked suspiciously like a wolf.

Sandusky County wildlife officer Brian Bury confirmed it was a wolf, and wildlife officials were sure it was an escaped pet wolf. Even though the animal was genetically close to being a pure wolf and was in prime physical condition, the last truly wild wolf was killed in Ohio in 1842. "This wolf was huge, at least twice the size of a big coyote," said Bury. "I would not want to go face-to-face with a wolf of that size and not be armed."

No one seems prepared to handle domestic wolves should they escape or be released and become wild. Wolves are not managed by the Division of Wildlife. They might be dangerous animals, but they are the responsibility of local dog wardens and law enforcement officials, said Division of Wildlife district game management supervisor Scott Butterworth.

"If an animal like this escapes and is eventually caught or killed, someone usually claims it," said Butterworth. "But if it would maul a kid, it's doubtful anyone would come forward." No one seems to know if these people-raised wolves will be a danger to Ohioans or livestock. So far, there have been no documented attacks. Like elk, exotic deer and other animals not on Ohio's official list of wildlife, they are fair game for hunters, with no seasonal hunting restrictions. In a worst case scenario, like feral pigs, they could breed in the wild and increase in number.
Wildlife officials may have tracked down the original owner of the wolf, but won't reveal the name. "A lady called us after seeing the photo of the wolf in a local newspaper, and identified it as a hybrid wolf she raised and had sold," said Division of Wildlife district law enforcement supervisor Paul Kurfis. That wolf, said Kurfis, had apparently been sold or given to yet another person before it escaped last September.

"I've had at least a half-dozen reports of wolves in a 20-mile area around Sandusky County," said Bury. "People are very irresponsible in getting these animals, then let them loose or allow them to escape when they don't want to continue to care for them.

"From reports I get, the wolves are not afraid of people or very aggressive. People have seen them eating carcasses or carrying a rabbit in their mouth. We have not heard of livestock kills, though one was spotted standing near a chicken coop. They're not malnourished."

Most troubling is that the dead wolf was spotted only a couple of hundred yards away from a school, and two others running with it had escaped. The wolf is now at a local taxidermy studio. It was reportedly 98 percent wolf with a little German shepherd and Alaskan Malamute in its genetic background.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
degan@plaind.com, 216-999-5158

Liger who enjoys tourist attractions right in her own pad

Click to enlarge

Metro Herald Ireland, 28 January 2010, p3.

FLYING SQUIRREL HYBRIDISATION RIDDLE

http://www.peterboroughexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1615613

Flying squirrels on the move as weather warms

Posted By SARAH DEETH/Examiner Staff Writer
Posted 8 hours ago


Flying squirrels are hybridizing, and it could be an indication of the species’ attempt to adapt to climate change, according to researchers at Trent University.

Ph.D. student Colin Garroway, in the environmental and life sciences graduate program, said southern flying squirrels, located in the Dorset area, are increasingly moving to the northern edge of Algonquin Park as winters get warmer.

Those southern flying squirrels are breeding with northern flying squirrels, and creating fertile offspring, he said.

Southern flying squirrels are smaller than their northern counterparts, Garroway said.

They’re also more aggressive and carry a parasite that doesn’t hurt them but affects northern flying squirrels.

The study, led by Trent with involvement from two universities in Pennsylvania, one in Alberta and the Ministry of Natural Resources, is the first to notice the hybridization in the species.

Garroway said he’s been involved with the project for three years, but it’s been ongoing since about 2001.

The two closely related species had little overlap before the southern flying squirrel began its migration, Garroway said.

Because of the overlap and resulting interbreeding, scientists may see a mix-up in the species’ genetic diversity, he said.

Garroway said it’s hard to say if this is good or bad news for the species.

If people are causing climate change, he said, then it’s evidence of an adverse affect on the natural world.

But scientists could also be seeing the beginnings of a species adapting and evolving to the changing climate around them, he said.

“Instead of flying squirrels going extinct, perhaps they could exist as a hybridized species,” he said.

Human-ape hybrids?

http://metro.co.uk