Aroma Pets

World's Oldest Bat Who is Too Old to Fly - But LOVES to Sunbathe!

Meet the world's oldest BAT - who is too old to fly but loves being carried outside for a sunbathe. Statler is a 33-year-old fruit bat and keepers believe he's oldest living in captivity, because most of the species don't live past 20.

He spends his days in the 'geribatric' ward at Bat World Sanctuary in Weatherford, Texas, USA with around 20 other senior citizens.

Newly discovered bacterium linked to fatal chimp disease could jump to humans, research suggests 

A disease that has killed dozens of chimpanzees at a sanctuary in Sierra Leone may pose a risk to humans.

The newly-discovered bacterium linked to the fatal illness was reported for the first time in the journal Nature Communications this week.

Since 2005, some 56 Western chimpanzees, which are critically endangered, have died from an unknown sickness at the Tacugama sanctuary. Bizarrely, the disease only impacted chimps at the sanctuary.

It began with chimps suffering neurological problems, vomiting and having diarrhoea. Chimps went from being healthy to staggering around with bloated stomaches. The illness resulted in death even after medical treatment.

An international research team investigating the unknown illness named it “epizootic neurologic and gastroenteric syndrome” (ENGS).

Now, after five years of research, the disease has been linked to a newly-discovered species of bacterium, Sarcina troglodytae, belonging to the Sarcina genus. (It was named as such by the scientists as Pan troglodytes is the scientific name for chimpanzees.)

Until now, there were only two known species – one found on the surface of cereal seeds and in soil, and another found in human and animal stomachs, which would cause similar gastrointestinal issues as it appeared the chimps were suffering from.

According to a 2013 journal article, the bacterium was "implicated in the development of gastric ulcers, emphysematous gastritis and gastric perforation". In emphysematous gastritis, characterised by the presence of gas in the wall of the stomach, it had the potential to be fatal.

While the disease has not been found in people, it has the potential to be transferred as humans and chimps share 98.8 per cent of genetic makeup. The researchers pointed to another example when "one of the main causative agents of human malaria, Plasmodium falciparum, once thought to have co-evolved with humans, actually arose from a recent zoonotic transmission from a western gorilla". Other infections, like Ebola and HIV, have reached humans through zoonotic transfer from great apes.

Dr Tony Goldberg, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who co-authored the study, has led the investigation from the start.

He told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "There are very few pathogens that infect chimpanzees without infecting humans and very few pathogens that infect humans without infecting chimpanzees."

The study also notes that many questions surrounding the ENGS cases in chimps remain a mystery. For example, the number of cases has peaked each year in March and it's unknown why.

However Dr Goldberg added that, unlike Covid-19, this bacterium will not cause a pandemic, and is not contagious.

Reference: Independent: Louise Boyle  21 hrs ago

England's last surviving mountain hares 'at risk' from global warming

England's last surviving mountain hares are 'at risk' from global warming, conservation groups have warned. 

Recent studies suggest there are only 2,500 of the animals in the Peak District left.  

The People's Trust for Endangered Species said “the hares could be in trouble,” as researchers examine whether their population is in decline.  

Climate change is an increasing risk to the creatures' survival, making summers too warm and reducing food sources, such as heather, the trust warned. 

Reduced snow coverings mean the hares may not be as camouflaged in winter, despite their white coats.

Nida Al-Fulaij, grants manager at the People’s Trust for Endangered Species, said: "The Peak District's altitude and colder climate is ideal habitat for mountain hares, who have adapted perfectly.

"But, with the onset warmer and more erratic weather, these hares could be in trouble." 

"We can't let them die out," she added.  

The trust hopes the study's findings - due to be published later in the year - will help guide successful reintroductions of the "shy, but striking" species, as well as safeguarding those that are left.

Carlos Bedson, a biologist from Manchester Metropolitan University who is leading the research said: "Mountain hares are effectively an ice age Arctic animal and it is a privilege to be able to see one in England, surviving here at lower latitudes.

"We are so lucky to have them."

He added it was amazing to think that "in normal times", "you could be working on a Friday in your office or school or factory, and then on the Saturday you could drive to the Peak District and go out and have an Arctic wildlife exploration experience all of your own".

Mountain hares, a sister species to the Arctic hare, had died out in England during the last ice age yet survived in Scotland. 

Landowners in the 1870s attempted to reintroduce them to England yet were mostly unsuccessful. 

Only those released into the Peak District survived. 

The hare’s fur turns from brown in summer to white during winter which led earlier biologists to believe they ate snow to turn white. 

In fact, the change relates to differences in day length and air temperature, which stops them producing brown melanin in their fur. 

Reference: The Telegraph: Max Stephens  22 hrs ago

Dog FLIES out of a car window after driving through a roundabout

A dog has been filmed tumbling out of a car window as its owners drove through a roundabout.

A motorist's dashcam captured footage of a Toyota Yaris driving through a roundabout, before a cocker spaniel in the backseat was flung onto the road.

The dog was catapulted out of the window and landed on its head on the bitumen, while the unaware owner continued to drive before realising what had happened.

The pooch, which still had its lead on, rolled a couple of times before walking along the footpath towards the car.

The owners, who pulled over about 50m up the road, ran towards the cocker spaniel, which didn't appear injured. 

The dog wagged its tail excitedly as its owner hugged and patted it, before being put back in the car. 

The RSPCA can issue fines under The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. 

If an animal is injured because it was unrestrained, owners face up to six months' jail and fines of up to $5,500. 

Reference: daily Mail: Alana Mazzoni For Daily Mail Australia  1 day ago