In an article for the first edition of Cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans wrote that cryptozoology is the study of 'unexpected animals' and following on from that perfectly reasonable assertion, it seems to us that whereas the study of out of place birds may not have the glamour of the hunt for bigfoot or lake monsters, it is still a perfectly valid area for the Fortean zoologist to be interested in. So after about six months of regular postings on the main bloggo Corinna has taken the plunge and started a 'Watcher of the Skies' blog of her own as part of the CFZ Bloggo Network.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES
In an article for the first edition of Cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans wrote that cryptozoology is the study of 'unexpected animals' and following on from that perfectly reasonable assertion, it seems to us that whereas the study of out of place birds may not have the glamour of the hunt for bigfoot or lake monsters, it is still a perfectly valid area for the Fortean zoologist to be interested in. So after about six months of regular postings on the main bloggo Corinna has taken the plunge and started a 'Watcher of the Skies' blog of her own as part of the CFZ Bloggo Network.DALE DRINNON: Florida sea monster, Zuni water monster, Zuni ape, North American lion, Benny's blogs
New at Frontiers of Zoology:
New at Benny's Blog for Thelma Todd:
New at Benny's other blog, the Ominous Octopus Omnibus:
Best Wishes, Dale D.
THE PAPER BY MAX BLAKE, DARREN NAISH et al
And whilst on the subject of Max and the lynx, look what I found:
ANDREW MAY: Words from the Wild Frontier
From Nick Redfern's World of Whatever:
- Big Cats and Missing Cats — Pet cats vanish when Big Cats appear...
- Megalania - Australia's lizard king — A giant monitor lizard of the Pleistocene epoch...
- Hunt resumes for Fjordland Moose — Searching for descendants of the North American moose released in New Zealand in 1910...
THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN DOUBLES AS A RHINOCEROS
Richard Freeman arrived yesterday tea time,
and will be here for the next few weeks. I always enjoy his visits. There was,
apparently, a crisis involving the kitchen taps late last night, so we have no
water at the moment. Hopefully this will be rectified sooner rather than later.
In the meantime we have various bloggybits for you.
Our daily visit to the world of Thom the World
Poet
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_30.html
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_30.html
Today's Gonzo Track of the Day is from Genre
Peak
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/gonzo-track-of-day-hell-on-surface.html
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/gonzo-track-of-day-hell-on-surface.html
Rock's Back Pages: The Incredible String Band
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/rocks-back-pages-incredible-string-band.html
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/rocks-back-pages-incredible-string-band.html
Stephen Stills forms a blues band
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/stills-gets-blues.html
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/stills-gets-blues.html
Dutch review of Erik Norlander
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/dutch-review-of-erik-norlander.html
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/dutch-review-of-erik-norlander.html
* The Gonzo Daily is a two way process. If
you have any news or want to write for us, please contact me at jon@eclipse.co.uk.
If you are an artist and want to showcase your work, or even just say hello
please write to me at gonzo@cfz.org.uk.
Please copy, paste and spread the word about this magazine as widely as
possible. We need people to read us in order to grow, and as soon as it is
viable we shall be invading more traditional magaziney areas. Join in the fun,
spread the word, and maybe if we all chant loud enough we CAN stop it raining.
See you tomorrow...
* The Gonzo Daily is - as the name implies - a daily online magazine (mostly) about artists connected to the Gonzo Multimedia group of companies. But it also has other stuff as and when the editor feels like it. The same team also do a weekly newsletter called - imaginatively - The Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this link: http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit-to-print.html
* The Gonzo Daily is - as the name implies - a daily online magazine (mostly) about artists connected to the Gonzo Multimedia group of companies. But it also has other stuff as and when the editor feels like it. The same team also do a weekly newsletter called - imaginatively - The Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this link: http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit-to-print.html
* We should probably mention here, that
some of our posts are links to things we have found on the internet that we
think are of interest. We are not responsible for spelling or factual errors in
other people's websites. Honest guv!
* Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures (and several others) is an old hippy of 53 who - together with his orange cat (who is currently on sick leave in Staffordshire) and a not very small orange kitten (who isn't) puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon which he shares with various fish, and sometimes a small Indian frog. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his elderly mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the orange cats?
* Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures (and several others) is an old hippy of 53 who - together with his orange cat (who is currently on sick leave in Staffordshire) and a not very small orange kitten (who isn't) puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon which he shares with various fish, and sometimes a small Indian frog. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his elderly mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the orange cats?
LARS THOMAS IS A BEETLE FAN
Hi all,
A little something for the website - this has absolutely nothing to do with
cryptozoology, although it is a quite rare and rather strange beetle.
Platyrhinus resinosus is a broad nosed weevil, and like so many other
interesting critters it is starting to awaken from its hibernation. This is only
the second one I have ever found during my 40 odd years of interest in natural
history. Weird looking - innit?
Lars
WALLY THE COMEDY RHINOCEROS: Yesterday's News Today
Oll is having computer problems, so for the next few days Yesterday's News Today will be done by Wally the Comedy Rhinoceros. He is a stand up comedian of some renown. Here is one of his rhino-related jokes.Why did the rhino cross the road?
To get to the haberdasher
Ha Ha that was funny. Sidesplitting. Yes. Ha! Now for the news...
And now for a lovely tune to whistle while you work; a song about a Duchess:
Monday, April 29, 2013
DOUG SHOOP: North Carolina Goldfinches
Thought
I’d share a couple shots of a Goldfinch visiting our thistle feeder here in
North Carolina.
I used
my high speed –multiple shot ( 8 frames per second) shutter mode and captured
some interesting shots.
FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES
In an article for the first edition of Cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans wrote that cryptozoology is the study of 'unexpected animals' and following on from that perfectly reasonable assertion, it seems to us that whereas the study of out of place birds may not have the glamour of the hunt for bigfoot or lake monsters, it is still a perfectly valid area for the Fortean zoologist to be interested in. So after about six months of regular postings on the main bloggo Corinna has taken the plunge and started a 'Watcher of the Skies' blog of her own as part of the CFZ Bloggo Network.Fields project is just right to save the twite
THE GONZO BLOG DOO DAH MAN IS IMPRESSING SOMEONE HE HOPES
I spent most of yesterday asleep. I woke up
to do the blogs, and do a brief bit of computer fiddling about for my mate the
Tory town councillor (although, with my well known views on the subject it goes
against the grain to admit that I actually HAVE a mate who is a Tory town
councillor). After going back to sleep again I got up to interview the lovely
Liz Lenten about her forthcoming album (I have heard the demos and they are
stunning) and then drank brandy with Graham, and listened to the new album by
'Days between Stations', which features various 'Yes', 'King Crimson' and 'XTC'
alumni, and is really rather good. A big thank you to Billy James for sending it
to me. I then went back to sleep. A good day!
Our daily visit to the world of Thom the World
Poet
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_29.html
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_29.html
Today's Gonzo Track of the Day is from Helen
McCookerybook
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/gonzo-track-of-day-helen-mccookerybook_29.html
And whilst on the subject of Helen, check out one of her next projects
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/what-helen-did-next.html
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/gonzo-track-of-day-helen-mccookerybook_29.html
And whilst on the subject of Helen, check out one of her next projects
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/what-helen-did-next.html
John Shuttleworth goes amphibious, and as I believe
that we are the only people in Britain to have succesfully bred Typhlonectes
natans I cannot help but applaud him
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-lissamphibious-john-shuttleworth.html
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-lissamphibious-john-shuttleworth.html
So DID Jimi Hendrix ever play with ELP?
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/i-never-believed-it-would-have-worked.html
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/i-never-believed-it-would-have-worked.html
Tribute to Richie Havens
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/tribute-to-richie-havens.html
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/tribute-to-richie-havens.html
Rick Wakeman in Gloucester
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/rick-wakeman-in-gloucester.html
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/rick-wakeman-in-gloucester.html
* The Gonzo Daily is a two way process. If you have any news or want to write for us, please contact me at jon@eclipse.co.uk. If you are an artist and want to showcase your work, or even just say hello please write to me at gonzo@cfz.org.uk. Please copy, paste and spread the word about this magazine as widely as possible. We need people to read us in order to grow, and as soon as it is viable we shall be invading more traditional magaziney areas. Join in the fun, spread the word, and maybe if we all chant loud enough we CAN stop it raining. See you tomorrow...
* The Gonzo Daily is - as the name implies - a daily online magazine (mostly) about artists connected to the Gonzo Multimedia group of companies. But it also has other stuff as and when the editor feels like it. The same team also do a weekly newsletter called - imaginatively - The Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this link: http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit-to-print.html
* We should probably mention here, that some of our posts are links
to things we have found on the internet that we think are of interest. We are
not responsible for spelling or factual errors in other people's websites.
Honest guv!
* Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures (and several others) is an old hippy of 53 who - together with his orange cat (who is currently on sick leave in Staffordshire) and a not very small orange kitten (who isn't) puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon which he shares with various fish, and sometimes a small Indian frog. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his elderly mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the orange cats?
* Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures (and several others) is an old hippy of 53 who - together with his orange cat (who is currently on sick leave in Staffordshire) and a not very small orange kitten (who isn't) puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon which he shares with various fish, and sometimes a small Indian frog. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his elderly mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the orange cats?
DALE DRINNON: More Loch Ness plesiosaurs, Frontiers of Anthropology, Benny's Blogs
New at the Frontiers of Zoology:
New at the Frontiers of Anthropology:
New at Benny's Blog, the Ominous Octopus Omnibus:
Best Wishes, Dale D.
WALLY THE COMEDY RHINOCEROS: Yesterday's News Today
Oll is having computer problems, so for the next few days Yesterday's News Today will be done by Wally the Comedy Rhinoceros. He is a stand up comedian of some renown. Here is one of his rhino-related jokes.How many rhinos does it take to change a light bulb? Nine!
Ha Ha that was funny. Sidesplitting. Yes. Ha! Now for the news...
And now for a lovely tune to whistle while you work; an avant garde epic about skin disease:
Sunday, April 28, 2013
FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES
In an article for the first edition of Cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans wrote that cryptozoology is the study of 'unexpected animals' and following on from that perfectly reasonable assertion, it seems to us that whereas the study of out of place birds may not have the glamour of the hunt for bigfoot or lake monsters, it is still a perfectly valid area for the Fortean zoologist to be interested in. So after about six months of regular postings on the main bloggo Corinna has taken the plunge and started a 'Watcher of the Skies' blog of her own as part of the CFZ Bloggo Network.DALE DRINNON: Lake monster sturgeon, bull pike, Frontiers of anthropology
New at the Frontiers of Anthropology:
New at Frontiers of Zoology:
Links current as of 6:30 PM local time and if there are to be any more
postings, another update shall be sent out. The hour is getting late and there
could very well be no further updates.
Best Wishes, Dale D.
MY COUSIN PENE SENT THIS IN
Hello Zooniverse!
Today we're very pleased to announce our latest project: Notes from Nature (http://www.notesfromnature.org) - through your efforts we can help scientists and researchers make better conservation decisions.
People have been collecting specimens from the natural world for centuries - minerals, plants, fungi and animals. Today, there are an estimated two billion specimens housed in natural history museums around the world! These biological collections document where species and populations exist now and where they existed decades and centuries before, so they hold irreplaceable information necessary for uncovering the patterns of changes in species distributions and ecosystem composition over time. Scientists use such data and information in order to address key environmental issues we are facing right now, such as the impacts of climate change and how diseases affect wildlife and humans.
We need you to help us transcribe that data and make it available for further use in biodiversity and conservation research.
Visit the new site now at http://www.notesfromnature.org
Thanks for all your help, and we hope to see you on our projects soon.
Arfon and the Zooniverse Team
PS - Find the new blog at http://blog.notesfromnature.org and follow @nfromn on Twitter
PPS Find us on Twitter @the_zooniverse (our projects are on Twitter too, for example: @galaxyzoo and @cyclonecenter)
Today we're very pleased to announce our latest project: Notes from Nature (http://www.notesfromnature.org) - through your efforts we can help scientists and researchers make better conservation decisions.
People have been collecting specimens from the natural world for centuries - minerals, plants, fungi and animals. Today, there are an estimated two billion specimens housed in natural history museums around the world! These biological collections document where species and populations exist now and where they existed decades and centuries before, so they hold irreplaceable information necessary for uncovering the patterns of changes in species distributions and ecosystem composition over time. Scientists use such data and information in order to address key environmental issues we are facing right now, such as the impacts of climate change and how diseases affect wildlife and humans.
We need you to help us transcribe that data and make it available for further use in biodiversity and conservation research.
Visit the new site now at http://www.notesfromnature.org
Thanks for all your help, and we hope to see you on our projects soon.
Arfon and the Zooniverse Team
PS - Find the new blog at http://blog.notesfromnature.org and follow @nfromn on Twitter
PPS Find us on Twitter @the_zooniverse (our projects are on Twitter too, for example: @galaxyzoo and @cyclonecenter)
Lair of the Beasts: A Monstrous Yearbook
Out right now is a brand new book published by Britain’s Center for Fortean Zoology, one of the very few full-time groups in the world that investigates such strange creatures as the Abominable Snowman, the Loch Ness Monster, Sasquatch, and the Chupacabras. Its title: The CFZ Yearbook 2013.
As well as publishing its own, high-quality, paperback books, the CFZ also embarks upon expeditions to various parts of the globe in search of all-things beastly and mysterious, and works closely with TV and the press on breaking stories.
Each year, since 1996, the CFZ has published a book-length round-up of what went on in the organization during the previous year. And the 2013 edition – which highlights the CFZ’s activities in 2012, and much more too – has just been published. Edited by CFZ director Jonathan Downes and his wife, Corinna, the book is a first-class study of a wide range of cryptozoological phenomena.
So, what do you get for your money? Well, I’ll tell you. Irish author and cryptozoological expert, Ronan Coghlan, provides us with an A to Z-style paper – which runs to no less than 140 pages – that lists a wealth of strange creatures reported across the planet and the centuries.
The good thing about Coghlan’s contribution to the CFZ Yearbook is that it doesn’t focus on those alleged beasts that just about everyone has heard of, such as Mothman, Nessie, and Bigfoot.
THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN REFLECTS
On sundays I always find the time
to do
the Gonzo blogs in rhyme
I know my poetry's not good
but it scans and rhymes where I know it should
I know my poetry's not good
but it scans and rhymes where I know it should
I know some readers are confused
but it keeps this journalist amused
and why? (you ask, I hear the sound)
its cos bad poetry makes the world go round
but it keeps this journalist amused
and why? (you ask, I hear the sound)
its cos bad poetry makes the world go round
And first I'll tell ya (I think I'd
better)
issue 23 of our groovy newsletter
devised and edited by me
has just gone out (click this link, you'll see)
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/gonzo-weekly-newsletter-23.html
issue 23 of our groovy newsletter
devised and edited by me
has just gone out (click this link, you'll see)
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/gonzo-weekly-newsletter-23.html
Now something I should have said before
Daevid Allen is currently out on tour
now here presented to you from me
are some tour dates to put in you diary
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/daevid-allen-tour-dates-aprilmay-sunday.html
Daevid Allen is currently out on tour
now here presented to you from me
are some tour dates to put in you diary
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/daevid-allen-tour-dates-aprilmay-sunday.html
Yesterday Rob Ayling stood in awe
as the second favourite band from Apple Corps
who never did what they should have (in terms of sales)
were honoured by a town in Wales
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/rob-ayling-at-pete-ham-memorial-concert.html
as the second favourite band from Apple Corps
who never did what they should have (in terms of sales)
were honoured by a town in Wales
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/rob-ayling-at-pete-ham-memorial-concert.html
Peter Banks' final tunes
will be released on album soon
by 'Days Between Stations' a damn fie group
so let's all have a celebratory WHOOOP
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/la-prog-duo-days-between-stations-to.html
will be released on album soon
by 'Days Between Stations' a damn fie group
so let's all have a celebratory WHOOOP
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/la-prog-duo-days-between-stations-to.html
Today's Gonzo Track of the Day
is 'Wipe Out', let's all shout HOORAY
Played by Merrell Fankhauser and Willie N
C'mon let's play it once again
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/gonzo-track-of-day-merrell-fankhauser.html
is 'Wipe Out', let's all shout HOORAY
Played by Merrell Fankhauser and Willie N
C'mon let's play it once again
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/gonzo-track-of-day-merrell-fankhauser.html
And finally it's poetry time
from a bard whose words are better than mine
but who is he? Think hard, you know it
it's Texas Thom our fine World Poet
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_28.html
from a bard whose words are better than mine
but who is he? Think hard, you know it
it's Texas Thom our fine World Poet
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_28.html
Byeeeeeeeeeeeee
* The Gonzo Daily is a two way process. If you have any news or want to write for us, please contact me at jon@eclipse.co.uk. If you are an artist and want to showcase your work, or even just say hello please write to me at gonzo@cfz.org.uk. Please copy, paste and spread the word about this magazine as widely as possible. We need people to read us in order to grow, and as soon as it is viable we shall be invading more traditional magaziney areas. Join in the fun, spread the word, and maybe if we all chant loud enough we CAN stop it raining. See you tomorrow...
* The Gonzo Daily is - as the name implies - a daily online magazine (mostly) about artists connected to the Gonzo Multimedia group of companies. But it also has other stuff as and when the editor feels like it. The same team also do a weekly newsletter called - imaginatively - The Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this link: http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit-to-print.html
* We should probably mention here, that some of our posts are links
to things we have found on the internet that we think are of interest. We are
not responsible for spelling or factual errors in other people's websites.
Honest guv!
* Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures (and several others) is an old hippy of 53 who - together with his orange cat (who is currently on sick leave in Staffordshire) and his new orange kitten puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon which he shares with various fish. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his elderly mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the orange cats?
* Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures (and several others) is an old hippy of 53 who - together with his orange cat (who is currently on sick leave in Staffordshire) and his new orange kitten puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon which he shares with various fish. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his elderly mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the orange cats?
OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today
Yesterday’s News Today
On this
day in 1948 Sir Terry Pratchett was born. Although his novels are parodies and
satires at heart Pratchett has become the world's greatest living fantasy
author, and in my opinion (sorry Tolkien fans) the greatest ever. Since being
diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's Pratchett has campaigned to raise
awareness of the disease and funds to improve treatment of the disease and
research into a possible cure. Another charitable project he has been involved
in is the conservation of Orangutans.
And now
the news:
A
trailer for the mini-series based on Terry Pratchett's best
book:
Saturday, April 27, 2013
PARANORMAL CANNOCK
For well over 2000 years, the beautiful and tranquil Cannock Chase Forest in Staffordshire, England, has been home to the most intense concentration of unusual phenomena ever to manifest in the British Isles. From heavily documented UFO sightings and ghostly apparitions, to disturbing tales of animal/human hybrids and top secret military activity, the Chase (as it is known locally) exhibits all the standard traits, often attributed to a paranormal portal, which, to me, makes the area endlessly fascinating.
Over the last 12 months, I have been collating evidence, stories and witness reports from residents and visitors to Cannock Chase, and have nearly finished writing a book detailing my findings. When the publication is complete I will post a link on here, but until then, I think a little taster is in order........
TODAY'S BIG CAT NEWS ROUNDUP
The hunt for British Big Cats attracts far more newspaper-column inches than any other cryptozoological subject. There are so many of them now that we feel that they should be archived by us in some way, so we should have a go at publishing a regular round-up of the stories as they come in. In September 2012 Emma Osborne decided that the Mystery Cat Study Group really deserved a blog of its own within the CFZ Blog Network.
RICHARD FREEMAN'S RHINO NEWS SPECIAL
When people paid to help save the rhino, did they really imagine it was so that the rhino’s head
could one day hang on someone’s wall?
How Do You Save Endangered Rhinos?
For the first time in 33 years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has granted a permit to an American hunter to import a black rhino trophy from Africa.
The move certainly set a precedent for importing endangered species trophies (it’s the first time any endangered species trophy has been allowed into the states) and has stirred up controversy about whether or not killing an endangered species can help save them.
Rhino horn madness: over two rhinos killed a day in South Africa
Read more at Rhino poachers have killed 232 rhinos during 2013 so far in South Africa, reportsAnnamiticus, which averages out to 2.1 a day. The country has become a flashpoint for rhino poaching as it holds more rhinos than any other country on Earth. Rhinos are being slaughter for their horns, which are believed to be a curative in Chinese traditional medicine, although there is no evidence this is so. Last year, South Africa lost 668 rhinos to poachers, according to the Department of Environmental Affairs. Most of the rhinos killed are white rhinos (Ceratotherium simum), which are currently listed by the IUCN Red List as Near Threatened. The other four rhino species are more endangered: the Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) is listed as Vulnerable, while the black, Javan, and Sumatran are all listed as Critically Endangered. The Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) is down to just 100 individuals, while the Javan rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus) is down to about 60.
Sumatran rhino population plunges, down to 100 animals
Less than 100 Sumatran rhinos survive in the world today, according to a bleak new population estimate by experts. The last survey in 2008 estimated that around 250 Sumatran rhinos survived, but that estimate now appears optimistic and has been slashed by 60 percent. However conservationists are responding with a major new agreement between the Indonesian and Malaysian governments at a recent summit by the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Species Survival Commission (IUCN SSC). The Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) is found in small, fragmented populations on the islands of Sumatra (Indonesia) and Borneo (Malaysia), as well as a recently identified individual or group in Indonesian Borneo. The world's smallest and hairiest rhino, the Sumatran is believed to be possibly related to the extinct woolly rhinoceros, having been around for around for 20 million years. Has WWF just condemned the last rhino in Kalimantan? WWF-Indonesia recently caught the attention of the global media with their announcement that the Sumatran rhinoceros still exists in Indonesian Borneo, some 40 years after being declared extinct there. This sounds like great news for biodiversity conservation. But is it really? Sumatran rhinos were once wide-spread in South-East Asia, but poaching for their horn decimated populations. In Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo, there had been no reliable records of the species since the 1970s, although there were rumors of their continued existence at least until the mid-1990s (Meijaard, 1996). |
FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES
In an article for the first edition of Cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans wrote that cryptozoology is the study of 'unexpected animals' and following on from that perfectly reasonable assertion, it seems to us that whereas the study of out of place birds may not have the glamour of the hunt for bigfoot or lake monsters, it is still a perfectly valid area for the Fortean zoologist to be interested in. So after about six months of regular postings on the main bloggo Corinna has taken the plunge and started a 'Watcher of the Skies' blog of her own as part of the CFZ Bloggo Network.DALE DRINNON: Pumas, Frontiers of Anthropology, Benny's Blogs
New at the Frontiers of Zoology:
New at the Frontiers of Anthropology:
New at Benny's Blog for Thelma Todd:
Brest Wishes, Dale D.
THE GONZO BLOG DOO-DAH MAN IS KING OF THE WILD FRONTIER
My life gets stranger. As I have written
elsewhere, I went to see Adam Ant with his rather swish new band, playing a set
of punky favourites from the early days and the best bits of his rather nifty
(in parts) new album. He was excellent. Corinna went with me, but for various
reasons (explained elsewhere) so did my 83 year old Mother-in-Law, and a
massively eccentric composer friend of mine. Add to that the fact that I had no
sleep on Thursday night, then you will understand why I am running a little late
this weekend.
The pond is now fully functional and
various goldfish and newts that were made homeless when it was removed from its
previous home, have now been rehomed. Jessica and Matthew have done a brilliant
job and are presently removing years of detritus from my conservatory prior to
some major building work by Graham (needed to stop it falling down). Hey
Ho!
Our daily visit to the world of Thom the World
Poet
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_27.html
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/thom-world-poet-daily-poem_27.html
Today's Gonzo Track of the Day is from Al
Stewart
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/gonzo-track-of-day-al-stewart-zero-she.html
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/gonzo-track-of-day-al-stewart-zero-she.html
An exclusive interview with René van Commenée, the
man behind the rather wonderful Mr Averell
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-real-exclusive-interview-with-rene.html
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-real-exclusive-interview-with-rene.html
Mother vs Adam Ant
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/my-mother-in-law-queen-of-wild-frontier.html
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/my-mother-in-law-queen-of-wild-frontier.html
Interview with Badfinger's Joey Molland
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/joey-molland-interview-legacy-of.html
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/joey-molland-interview-legacy-of.html
A new song from Michael Des Barres
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/new-music-from-michael-des-barres.html
http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2013/04/new-music-from-michael-des-barres.html
* The Gonzo Daily is a two way process. If
you have any news or want to write for us, please contact me at jon@eclipse.co.uk.
If you are an artist and want to showcase your work, or even just say hello
please write to me at gonzo@cfz.org.uk.
Please copy, paste and spread the word about this magazine as widely as
possible. We need people to read us in order to grow, and as soon as it is
viable we shall be invading more traditional magaziney areas. Join in the fun,
spread the word, and maybe if we all chant loud enough we CAN stop it raining.
See you tomorrow...
* The Gonzo Daily is - as the name implies - a daily online magazine (mostly) about artists connected to the Gonzo Multimedia group of companies. But it also has other stuff as and when the editor feels like it. The same team also do a weekly newsletter called - imaginatively - The Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this link: http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit-to-print.html
* The Gonzo Daily is - as the name implies - a daily online magazine (mostly) about artists connected to the Gonzo Multimedia group of companies. But it also has other stuff as and when the editor feels like it. The same team also do a weekly newsletter called - imaginatively - The Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this link: http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit-to-print.html
* We should probably mention here, that
some of our posts are links to things we have found on the internet that we
think are of interest. We are not responsible for spelling or factual errors in
other people's websites. Honest guv!
* Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures (and several others) is an old hippy of 53 who - together with his orange cat (who is currently on sick leave in Staffordshire) and a not very small orange kitten (who isn't) puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon which he shares with various fish, and sometimes a small Indian frog. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his elderly mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the orange cats?
* Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures (and several others) is an old hippy of 53 who - together with his orange cat (who is currently on sick leave in Staffordshire) and a not very small orange kitten (who isn't) puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon which he shares with various fish, and sometimes a small Indian frog. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his elderly mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the orange cats?
OLL LEWIS: Yesterday's News Today
Yesterday’s News Today
On this
day in 1922 Jack Klugman was born. Klugman played the title roll in Quincy M.E.
and stared in 4 episodes of the Twilight Zone and as a copyright evading version
of Quincy in an episode of the 4th season of Diagnosis
Murder.
And now
the news:
You
know a few days ago when I said the opening credits of Ironside were among the
best ever created, well so was Quincy's:
Friday, April 26, 2013
CARL MARSHALL: New Giant Glasswing at Stratford Butterfly Farm.
The species Methona confusa, commonly known as the giant glasswing, was
named in 1873 by the famous English entomologist Arthur
Gardiner Butler in his concise work, Tropical Butterflies
and Moths. Until recently M. confusa existed in the public domain
only as preserved specimens highly prized by collectors; Although
not particularly rare in the wild, captive bred specimens were non existent in
the UK until recently, when our farm was fortunate to be in a position to
acquire pupae, of which many healthy butterflies emerged this spring. M.
confusa is an almost transparent species from the Nymphalidae family that is
found in lowland rainforests in Brazil, Panama, Ecuador and Peru. They have a
wingspan of about 90mm - 100mm (3.7 in approx) making them relatively large when
compared to the true glasswing - Greta oto. M. confusa have
transparent wings with black margins and black cross-bars on the forewings and
hindwings. The Margins of the hindwings display a series of small spots. The
abdomen has a series of double parallel white spots and theantennae are black with bright yellow tips.
M. comfusa are unpalatable to birds so many other butterfly species
mimic them. They are primarily found in wet rainforests at altitudes of about
200 - 700 m above sea level.
Sub species:
[1] Methona
confusa confusa - (Brazil)
[2] M. confusa psamathe - (Ecuador & Peru)
[3] M. confusa ssp. - (Panama)
The Stratford Butterfly Farm is a pioneering establishment, hence the
acquisition of many rare (in captivity) or unusual species. For enthusiasts in
this field, to see free flying M. confusa in captivity is a unique
and inspiring opportunity which I highly recommend.
KARL SHUKER - SECRETARY BIRDS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA?
Karl Shuker investigates a bizarre claim that Africa's endemic secretary bird also exists in the Philippines.
Read on...
ANDREW MAY: Words from the Wild Frontier
From Nick Redfern's World of Whatever:
- In Search of the Crypto-Camels — Out-of-place animals in the United States...
- Some legends have teeth - meet The Bunyip — A YouTube trailer for a new cryptozoological movie...
FORTEAN BIRD NEWS FROM THE WATCHER OF THE SKIES
In an article for the first edition of Cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans wrote that cryptozoology is the study of 'unexpected animals' and following on from that perfectly reasonable assertion, it seems to us that whereas the study of out of place birds may not have the glamour of the hunt for bigfoot or lake monsters, it is still a perfectly valid area for the Fortean zoologist to be interested in. So after about six months of regular postings on the main bloggo Corinna has taken the plunge and started a 'Watcher of the Skies' blog of her own as part of the CFZ Bloggo Network.