Some residents of Hood County, Texas, believe two bizarre beasts killed near Fort Worth are real-life examples of the legendary “goat suckers” of Latin-American lore.

“I’m not sure on that part. All I know is, it wasn’t normal,” Animal Control Officer Frank Hackett told NBC DFW. “It was ugly, real ugly. I’m not going to tell no lie on that one.”

Hackett shot and killed the creature inside a barn owned by Jack Farr.

“This had deer ears, big teeth and pinkish skin like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” Farr said.

Several miles away, a rancher captured and killed another similar specimen this week — sparking speculation that there might be a pack of chupacabras, which, according to legend, kill and suck the blood of livestock.  (Read More).

The 50cm long Asian swamp eel was allegedly inserted into the unnamed man’s bottom, after he passed out drunk, by pals playing a prank on him.

Medics said the eel had devoured his bowels. (Read More).

The animals, named Loriciferans due to their protective layer, or lorica, were discovered by a team led by Roberto Danovaro from Marche Polytechnic University in Ancona, Italy. (Read More).

Hunters in a remote wooded area in Sichuan Province trapped the unidentified beast after locals reported a bear sighting — but what they found was not a bear.

“It looks a bit like a bear but it doesn’t have any fur and it has a tail like a kangaroo,” one hunter, Lu Chin, told the Times of London. “It also does not sound like a bear — it has a voice like a cat and it is calling all the time — perhaps it is looking for the rest of its kind or maybe it’s the last one.”
An unidentified animal in a cage, Sichuan Province, China

The animal has been shipped to Beijing, where scientists will perform DNA tests. Meanwhile, experts are already trying to predict the results.

According to Loren Coleman, a cryptozoologist who has written 17 books on mysterious animals and legends like Bigfoot, the “oriental yeti” is not a yeti at all, but likely a kind of civet, a small carnivorous animal akin to the mongoose. (Read More)

Photo by RENEE BLOCK

Wildlife officials have been searching for an elusive monkey that’s been in the Tampa Bay area for more than a year.

Yesterday, Renèe Barth spotted what she thought was a large dog walk by the sliding glass doors in her St. Petersburg backyard, reports the St. Petersburg Times.

But it wasn’t a dog — it was a monkey.

It then sidled through an open screen door and swung onto a tree in the pool enclosure.

Barth said the monkey “freaked out” a bit before he found his way out of the enclosure, banging the screen and even falling into the pool

When Barth checked her property, she noticed that some of her grapefruits were missing.

The rhesus macaque that has been on the loose for months in the Tampa Bay area is one very clever monkey.

Even after being hit twice with tranquilizer darts earlier this month, the monkey managed to escape again in St. Petersburg.

“The drugs just don’t seem to affect him for whatever reason,” wildlife rehabilitator Vernon Yates said at the time. “We’ve increased the dosage every time that we’ve shot him. What we’re really doing is turning him into a drug addict,” reports Tampa Bay Online.

(Read Original)

Giraffe dismembered, probe launched by outraged mayor -

Kashka suffered a debilitating leg injury after a recent fall at Rio Grande Zoo in New Mexico.

Zoo officials tried unsuccessfully to treat the condition and in the end, veterinarians made the decision to put the 16-year-old animal to sleep.

Kashka stood 15-feet tall, weighed about 2,000lbs and was born at the Miami Metro Zoo on January 3, 1994.

During her time at Rio Grande Zoo she gave birth to six calves.

The manner in which she was treated after her death provoked a furious reaction from Mayor Richard Berry of Albuquerque.

‘This is nothing short of outrageous and the mayor has expressed that very publicly. This is unacceptable behaviour from a city employee,’ said mayoral spokesman Chris Ramirez.

The mayor has ordered a report to be delivered to him by the end of the week

Betty Rivera, the director of the city’s cultural services department, which oversees the zoo said: ‘She was a good mother and we’re very, very sad and we’re embarrassed and upset.’

A California sushi chef and the restaurant in which he worked have been charged with illegally serving meat from an endangered Sei whale, the Justice Department said on Thursday.

Kiyoshiro Yamamoto, 45, and the parent company of the popular restaurant The Hump in Santa Monica were charged late on Wednesday with violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act which makes it illegal to sell any kind of whale meat.

The case stemmed from informants who ordered whale meat at the restaurant in October 2009 and evolved into a sting operation by U.S. wildlife and customs officials who observed whale meat being served at the restaurant last week.

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