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Boats herded them into shallow waters at Skalabotnur beach in Eysturoy, where they were killed with knives. The carcases were pulled ashore and distributed to locals for consumption. Warning: This article contains graphic details and images some may find distressing. But the scale of the killing at Skalabotnur beach has shocked many locals and even drawn criticism from groups involved in the practice. He said the previous record was 1,200 in 1940. The next-largest catches were 900 in 1879, 856 in 1873, and 854 in 1938, Mr Mikkelsen said. "This is a good time for campaigners to put even more...

It's been about a month since California wildlife officials started sounding the alarm on nutria, invasive South American rodents that look like enormous, 20-pound rats and have the power to devastate wetlands. They're making a comeback after being eradicated in the 1970s and have been spotted in Stanislaus, Fresno, Tuolumne and Merced counties so far. "We didn't know at first if it was a small, isolated population," California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesman Peter Tira told the Chronicle in February. "But it became clear that it's a breeding population, and they're reaching major waterways where they can move." It...

The Ebola epidemic in West Africa may have surprised most of the medical establishment – this is the first such outbreak in the region – but the risk had been steadily rising for at least a decade. The risk had grown so high, in fact, that this outbreak was almost inevitable and very possibly predictable. All that was needed was to see the danger was a bat’s eye view of the region. Once blanketed with forests, West Africa has been skinned alive over the last decade. Guinea’s rainforests have been reduced by 80%, while Liberia has sold logging rights to...

Zombie Pigeons Invade Moscow MOSCOW–This summer, zombie birds have come to Russia’s capital. In what some might compare to a horror film–or even a sign of the apocalypse–the streets of Moscow have been littered with dead and sick pigeons in the past week. Videos posted on the Internet show pigeons twisting their necks, walking backward in circles or standing completely still with their heads on the ground. Muscovites are calling them “zombie pigeons.” Corpses of those that don’t survive have been spotted across the city. Russia’s chief sanitary official, Gennady Onishchenko, said Friday that veterinarians had concluded the pigeons were...

<p>A homeless man was sentenced today to 60 days in jail for choking a pelican to death because he was hungry.</p> <p>The District Attorney's Office said Sergio Alvarez, 30, caught the bird near the Malibu pier on Aug. 22.</p> <p>About 5:50 p.m. that day, a bystander flagged down a sheriff's deputy and said a man was choking a pelican.</p>

It’s officially legal to kill Bigfoot in Texas Cryptid conservationists, be on the alert; it's officially open season on Sasquatch. According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, if you can find Bigfoot in the state of Texas, you can kill it. Cryptomundo reader John Lloyd Scharf sent a letter to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department about whether it would be legal to kill Bigfoot, and apparently department Chief of Staff L. David Sinclair replied that killing an indigenous cryptid would be legal since it isn't listed as a game animal: The statute that you cite (Section 61.021) refers...

These weird creatures were found in an abandoned foundation pit in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk.

BEIJING - A southern Chinese province must stop the "shameful" and "cruel slaughter" of cats for food, a group of more than 40 animal lovers in Beijing said Thursday as they unfurled banners in a tearful protest. ADVERTISEMENT Thousands of cats across the country have been caught in the past week by traders and transported to Guangdong province to be killed for food, said the protesters gathered at the Guangdong government's office in Beijing. "We are very angry because the cats are being skinned and then cooked alive. We must make them correct this uncivilized behavior," said Wang Hongyao, who...

REMAINS of a mysterious "creature" washed up on a Long Island beach have set websites in United States abuzz with speculation about its origins. Hot on the heels of new claims from an ex-NASA astronaut about aliens visiting Earth, news of the find has excited conspiracy theorists around the world. Dubbed the Montauk Monster after the Long Island town where it was found, the creature has prompted speculation it was part of a secret mutant breeding program undertaken by the US Government. The Huffington Post has even given the creature its own blog.

A research team is proposing a new technique that would allow meat to be grown in a laboratory for mass consumption, according to a report. Researchers in the U.S. say the technology now exists now to produce processed meats such as burgers and sausages, starting with cells taken from cows, chickens, pigs, fish or other animals. Growing meat without the animal would not only reduce the need for the animals -- which often are kept in less than ideal conditions -- but may also address a number of environmental ills blamed on meat production. Cultured meat could also be tailored...

Thousands of commercial hunters armed with clubs, rifles and spears moved on to the ice floes off eastern Canada today to kill more than 300,0000 baby seals for their pelts over the next few weeks. The spring hunt, which began yesterday, is expected to bring the area's coastal communities some £8.5m, but has been condemned by animal rights activists as barbaric. This year's hunt is the third large-scale cull since the Canadian government decided in 2003 to allow almost a million seals to be culled over three years. Article continues The move dismayed the anti-seal hunting movement, which has been...