Feral pigs have apparently stopped terrorizing tiny California town

From the Associated Press:

Some residents of the San Mateo County community of Hillsborough are relieved to see a pair of feral pigs have apparently left town.

The pigs had turned into quite a nuisance in the upscale town, prowling the streets after dark, damaging manicured lawns and landscaping.

Residents and police say they have not seen the pigs since Oct. 4.

A Hillsborough police spokesman says the department had received numerous complaints of the pigs from residents during the last several months.

Invasive mussels found in Colorado reservoirs

Exotic mussels that compete with native species and clog pipes, pumps and boat motors have been found in two more Colorado reservoirs, the Colorado Division of Wildlife announced.

Larvae of quagga mussels have been discovered in Jumbo Reservoir in Logan County and Tarryall Reservoir in Park County, the agency said Thursday.

Quagga mussels, the related zebra mussels or their larvae, have also been found in Grand Lake, Lake Granby, Shadow Mountain Reservoir, Willow Creek Reservoir and Lake Pueblo, the Granby-based Sky-Hi Daily News reported.

Colorado officials are inspecting boats at several reservoirs in hopes of preventing the spread of the mussels, wildlife officials said. (Parts of the Colorado River serve Southern California, by the way.)

Native to Eastern Europe, quagga mussels multiply by the millions, clogging pipes (as pictured above) and competing with fish for food. They've been spotted throughout California as well.

--Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo credits: (top) California Department of Fish and Game; (right) Bill Tate / U.S. Geological Survey

Galapagos expels citizens as a flood of tourists threatens islands

There's controversy on the Galapagos Islands off Ecuador. Times Staff Writer Chris Kraul reports:

A few weeks ago, 19 Ecuadorean citizens detained on these world-renowned islands were marched onto a plane and sent back to the continent under armed guard. Their crime? Illegal migration.

So far this year, the government has expelled 1,000 of its citizens from the Galapagos -- a living laboratory of unique animal and plant species -- who were there without residency and work permits. It has also "normalized" 2,000 others, in effect giving most of them a year to leave.

The migrants are attracted not by the tortoises or blue-footed boobies but by the islands' booming economy, which offers plentiful jobs and good pay. Typical wages run 70% higher than on Ecuador's mainland, the public schools are good, and violent crime is nonexistent.

Last year, Ecuador was stung by a United Nations warning that the islands, whose human population has doubled in 10 years to about 30,000, are at risk from overcrowding and mismanaged tourism.

Priming the economy is the apparently insatiable demand by foreign tourists for a close-up look at giant tortoises, elephant seals, flamingos, marine iguanas and other species in their native habitat. As a result, scientists warn, that habitat is becoming increasingly less pristine.

Endangered turtles return to Monterey Bay

From the Associated Press:

MOSS LANDING, Calif.—Scientists say endangered leatherback turtles have returned to Monterey Bay to feast on jellyfish after nearly disappearing from the area in recent years.

Moss Landing Marine Laboratories researcher Scott Benson says marine biologists counted more than 300 of the giant endangered turtles in the bay this year.

Benson said a strong upwelling of nutrient-rich cold water this year brought greater stocks of jellyfish, which attracted the turtles.

Poor upwellings in previous years have sent the turtles elsewhere to find food.

The 70-million-year-old leatherback species is the largest of all sea turtles. Benson says the Pacific's leatherback population has declined by 90 to 95 percent in the last 25 years because of egg poaching and turtles getting caught in fishing gear.

Photo: Scott A. Eckert/Widecast

Off California's coast, where there's jellyfish, there's leatherback turtles

Endangered leatherback sea turtles have been spotted again off the Central California coast after a two-year hiatus, drawn by jellyfish swarming the area, the San Francisco Chronicle reports:

The leatherbacks were spotted during a monthlong survey cruise aboard a government research vessel and repeated aircraft observations. Researchers said they were seen diving for meals close to shore and snacking now and then in deeper waters much farther out.

"We're getting a better understanding of the leatherbacks and their coastal habitat here after several years when the population was much lower than usual — and after we observed none at all in 2006," said Scott Benson, chief scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's leatherback survey mission based in Monterey County at Moss Landing.

Spotters aboard the NOAA Twin Otter aircraft found six leatherbacks "surrounded by miles of jellyfish" — along with humpback whales and large ocean sunfish — off the San Mateo County coast and in the midst of regular cargo shipping lanes leading to and from the Golden Gate.

In one case, a leatherback was observed swimming among the jellyfish only 5 miles west of Benson's home in Moss Landing, he said. Another leatherback that was equipped with a more permanent satellite tag a year ago had returned to the same area this year, apparently after spending the winter a few hundred miles south of Hawaii along what Benson called "Jelly Lane."

Leatherbacks don't eat the jellyfish's transparent globular bells — it's the viciously stinging tentacles they love, and Benson and his colleagues found themselves "covered with stinging jellyfish slime" whenever they hauled any of the turtles aboard, Benson said.

In the last 25 years, more than 90% of the leatherback population has vanished.

According to Michael Milne of the Sea Turtle Restoration Project, an environmental group based in Marin County, the abrupt decrease stems from a variety of reasons: egg-hunters raiding their nests, commercial long-line fisheries whose hooks can ensnare the turtles as "bycatch," and, most recently, the erosion of many nesting beaches because of small rises in the sea level caused by global warming.

The Moss Landing sightings aren't the only ones we've reported off the California coast: Last month, more jellyfish also meant more leatherbacks in Morro Bay. And even Texas has seen an uptick in rare leatherback sea turtle sightings.

— Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo credit: Scott A. Eckert / Widecast

Grizzlies thriving in Montana, study says

From the Associated Press:

Federal scientists have documented the largest population of grizzly bears in Montana, a sign that the threatened species could be at long last on the rebound.

Researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey announced Tuesday that there are approximately 765 bears in northwestern Montana. Earlier estimates said there were at least 250-350 bears. The results stemmed from a $4.8-million, five-year study of the grizzly bears' DNA that has been criticized by Republican presidential candidate John McCain on the campaign trail as an example of pork barrel spending.

The study was backed by Montana ranchers, farmers and Republican leaders as a step toward easing restrictions in place since 1975 on oil and gas drilling, logging and other development.

Photo: Associated Press

Animals in the news: today's roundup

• Remember the great white shark that the Monterey Bay Aquarium released after 11 days because it wouldn't eat? She had to be freed again, this time after getting caught in a fishing net.
• A Glendora family came home last night to find a bear playing with a soccer ball in their front yard.
• An Australian animal rights group has launched a national search for a young man who was featured violently beating a kangaroo in an online video.
• A Texas software executive is in court for allegedly allowing hunters to kill 32 of his neighbor's bison because they roamed onto his Fairplay, Colo., ranch.
• Zoologists have captured a photo of a wild okapi, a relative of the giraffe with zebra-like stripes on its legs and rear. Scientist say the photographs are evidence that the creature, well known to zoo visitors, has survived in the wild in its native Democratic Republic of the Congo despite poaching and civil war.

-- Tony Barboza

Photos: Monterey Bay Aquarium; Associated Press/The Zoological Society of London

Hundreds of jellyfish wash up on Morro Bay beach: good for turtles, bad for swimmers

Hundreds of jellyfish washing up on Morro Bay beach show the population is healthy and booming, but beachgoers should be aware of possible stinging, experts say.

David Sneed of the San Luis Obispo Tribune reports:

The jellyfish are likely moon jellies, a common jellyfish species that is known to breed in great numbers, said Steve Johnston, a staff member at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Occasionally, a couple of things conspire, he said, and the conditions are just right for a population explosion.

The factors that control jellyfish population are algal blooms -- which the jellies feed upon -- water temperature and currents. Jellies float at the mercy of winds and current and, inevitably, some of them drift close to the shore and get caught in the surf where they wash ashore and die, Johnston said.

On the beach, the jellies look like translucent, gelatinous blobs.

People who spend a lot of time on the water report seeing large schools of the animals floating offshore.

"The concentrations of them in some spots are pretty amazing," said Mike Harris, a marine biologist with the state Department of Fish and Game in Morro Bay.

Harris said he's also seen more leatherback sea turtles in the area. Leatherbacks feed on jellyfish.

-- Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo: Cabrillo Marine Aquarium

With Tuscany Hills homeowner in doghouse, bobcats move in

With real estate values plummeting and foreclosed homes sitting empty, a family of bobcats apparently decided the time was right to pounce.

So last week, they slipped out of the parched foothills of Lake Elsinore and into a spacious vacant home in well-groomed Tuscany Hills.

Residents of the development got their first look Aug. 27 when the feline squatters -- at least two adults and three kittens -- lolled atop a wall outside the Spanish-style house.

Someone called 911, reporting mountain lions. Four police cruisers showed up, and officers ordered everyone inside. But soon they were out snapping photos along with the neighbors.

Bobcats are not known to attack humans, said Monique Middleton of Animal Friends of the Valley, which provides animal-control services. "But are they pussycats? No. Can they do a lot of damage? Yes," she said. "They usually look for a food-and-water source, and there is an old koi pond in the backyard and that's where they are headed."

She said she expected the animals to move on in a few weeks, when the kittens are old enough to travel.

Tuscany Hills has been hit hard by foreclosures, and the house on Vista Palermo has been empty at least six months, neighbors said.

Said Scott Brown, who with his wife, Karen, moved there from Long Beach to be close to nature: "They are great neighbors, and as long as they don't want to baby-sit my kids, it's not a problem."

--David Kelly

Photo: Karen Brown

Adult alligator seized from North Hollywood home

No, it's not Reggie. And it's not a home invader-- as you might think if this was Florida. This time it's a pet.

Animal control officers from the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services went to a North Hollywood residence this week and found an adult 5-foot-6-inch-long male alligator named Ziggy.

Ziggy’s owner, whose name was not released, surrendered the alligator to the officers without incident. Animal Services had gone to the residence because of a referral call from the Los Angeles Police Department.

"The alligator appears to be in good health, thankfully," said Kathy Davis, assistant general manager for L.A. animal services.

Ziggy is about 5 years old and has been with his owner since he was small.

Alligators are a restricted species in California, requiring a possession permit, Davis said. (You might remember the Pasadena Humane Society's resident alligator Tina, who has lived 10 years at the shelter thanks to the shelter's license.)

"Our local zoo is an excellent venue for viewing wild animals in habitats conducive to their species," Davis said. "Residents are urged to adopt traditional pets, such as dogs, cats and rabbits, from our shelters in lieu of wild animals, whose care and containment can often be overwhelming. Worse, an escaped wild animal can be disastrous for all involved."

The average male alligator can grow to 13 feet long. They are generally found in the Southeastern United States, primarily in Florida, where alligators thrive in the state's wetlands.

L.A. Animal Services has contacted a local herpetology society member who has the proper permit, and Ziggy will be transported to their facilities today.

L.A. Animal Services has also contacted California Fish and Game to inform them of the impoundment and subsequent transfer to the herpetology society, and that agency will determine if any criminal charges will be filed.

"I don't know how you have dinner parties with an alligator in the house," Davis said. "This is the largest reptile we've seized in a long time."

--Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo: Los Angeles Department of Animal Services

Bigfoot report a fake, but what about the chupacabra?

Even though we told you about spotting dinosaurs in Southern California, we can't fail to mention recent rumblings in the Southwest over "sightings" of Bigfoot and its folkloric Latino cousin - the Chupacabra.

Well, now we know one was a hoax: Today, two researchers on a quest to prove the existence of Bigfoot say that the carcass encased in a block of ice — handed over to them for an undisclosed sum by two men who claimed to have found it — was discovered to be a rubber gorilla outfit.

The news was announced by Steve Kulls, executive director of squatchdetective.com and host of Squatchdetective Radio, in a posting on a website run by Bigfoot researcher Tom Biscardi. As the “evidence” was thawed, the claim began to unravel as a "hoax."

The revelation comes just days after two self-proclaimed Bigfoot trackers, Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer, held a news conference in Palo Alto to publicize their claim of having found the elusive Sasquatch, or at least the body of one as pictured above, in northern Georgia. Malia Wollan of the Associated Press reports:

As they faced a skeptical audience of several hundred journalists and Bigfoot fans -- including one curiosity seeker in a Chewbacca suit -- the pair were joined by Tom Biscardi, head of a group called Searching for Bigfoot. Some Bigfoot hunters say Biscardi just likes attention.

Biscardi fielded most of the questions. Among them: Why should anyone accept the men's tale when they weren't willing to display their frozen artifact or pinpoint where they supposedly found it? How come bushwhackers aren't constantly tripping over primate remains if there are as many as 7,000 Bigfoots roaming the United States, as Biscardi claimed?

"I understand where you are coming from, but how many real Bigfoot researchers are out there trekking 140,000 miles a year?" Biscardi said.

The story did cause a furor of fun coverage.

The Times' Mary Forgione wrote on the travel blog about where Bigfoot has been "spotted" in California and Web Scout's David Sarno blogged about a video of Bigfoot interacting with humans in the redwoods of Northern California. The Washington Post's Ashley Surdin pointed out--with a link to a hilarious graphic -- what "experts" truly say makes a Bigfoot:

According to the website of the Bigfoot Discovery Museum in Felton, Calif., there is a discernible difference between "fake hairy" and "genuine" bipeds. Among the telltale signs of fakery: "knees lock and feet flap when walking," "ankles too dainty" and "buttocks too tiny." The real thing has "extra thick" calluses on its feet, "very large jaws" and "bad body odor when afraid or provoked."

Not be left on the wrong side of the border of reality, the Chupacabra, which translates as goat sucker, made its latest appearance on a dashboard-mounted camera by Deputy Sheriff Brandon Riedel and his officer, Ellie Carter, in the town of Cuero, Texas, ABC News reports.

The Chupacabra has taken on legendary status akin to Bigfoot in Latino culture and has previously been sighted as far south as Chile and Argentina and as far north as Maine. Similar animals have been described in Russia and the Philippines.

But its other most recent perennial showing in Cuero last year turned out to be a coyote with mange.

The search continues.

--Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo: Getty Images

Red lionfish wreaking havoc on Caribbean's ecosystem

The red lionfish, a visually stunning but venomous sea creature, is rapidly multiplying in the Caribbean's warm waters, swallowing native species, stinging divers and wreaking havoc on an ecologically delicate region, the Associated Press reports.

A marine biologist likens the arrival of the red lionfish to an invasion of locusts. As the AP reports:

The red lionfish, a tropical native of the Indian and Pacific oceans that probably escaped from a Florida fish tank, is showing up everywhere -- from the coasts of Cuba and Hispaniola to Little Cayman's pristine Bloody Bay Wall.

Wherever it appears, the adaptable predator corners fish and crustaceans up to half its size and sucks them down in one violent gulp.

"This may very well become the most devastating marine invasion in history," said Mark A. Hixon, an Oregon State University zoology professor and marine ecology expert who compared lionfish to a plague of locusts. "There is probably no way to stop the invasion completely."

--Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo: Doug Kesling/Associated Press

Catching up with the 'Montauk Monster'

Perhaps you've heard reports on the "Montauk Monster"? Seen the photos of a dead creature that resembles a fighting dog/raccoon/turtle/raptor? It all started last month when someone took a photo of "something" that had washed onshore in Long island’s East Hamptons. Gawker.com posted the image and the Internet went nuts. Experts were called in to comment. Was it a real creature? A hoax? Newsday updates the situation:

Fifty years from now, when the history of Montauk is recalled -- maybe over drinks at a pub -- the summer of 2008 will belong to the Montauk Monster. (Here's a link to a video.)

And while said Monster -- part pig, turtle, possum, dog, you name it and have at it -- could not be located yesterday, rest assured, the search continues for this Ditch Plains beast that can now be added to the pantheon of the mythical.

And residents are proud of it.

Many locals think it was all very "Montauk" and just another weird thing to add to the lore of what weather and ships and storms and boats can bring to shore....

It was THE story at the surf shops and at Colleoden Hotel, said Trish O'Gara. "It's pretty cool and everybody is talking about it," she said. "Every year it's something. Last year it was the weird clouds that were forming and this year they have the monster."

Despite the local pride, there still was much debate over just what the monster was.

Was the Montauk Monster a hoax along the lines of the short-lived legend of the sea serpent living in a local Montauk pond circa 2003?

Or a real, dead thingamabob?...

A local who wanted to remain anonymous (we are dealing with monsters here) and who was seen in the vicinity of Mr. John's Pancake House said she has seen the monster on people's phones. And she knows people who saw it on Ditch Plains [Beach] and other people who saw it at the person's house that they took it to.

"It's only about the size of a cat," she said, taking the monster right out of this Montauk mystery.

Can you take us to it so we can gaze upon its beaked visage, no matter that it is a stinking corpse? Maybe take a few DNA tests?

"Now it's decomposed and it's just skull and bones.

"Hopefully we don't find another one," she said.

New population of western lowland gorillas discovered

There's good news and bad news on the primate front, as reported today by Greenwire:

A survey of vast tracts of forest and swamp wilderness in Congo has revealed a population of more than 125,000 western lowland gorillas, an encouraging sign for the subspecies, which was listed as critically endangered earlier this year after its population was ravaged by hunting and outbreaks of the Ebola virus.

The Wildlife Conservation Society's survey findings were to be presented today at a meeting of the International Primatological Society in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The government of Congo Republic has designated one of the studied regions as a national park, but conservation groups warn the government has insufficient funds for protecting the park, especially as the threat of illegal logging looms as demand for tropical hardwood grows....

"Separately, a report released today finds that 48 percent of the world's primates -- a group of humankind's closest relatives that includes chimpanzees, orangutans, gibbons and lemurs -- face extinction.

Photo credit: Associated Press / Thomas Breuer / Wildlife Conservation Society

L.A. Zoo animals photographed for NoHo Gallery

In an effort to educate the public about endangered species surviving in the wild, NoHo Gallery L.A., in collaboration with the L.A. Zoo, is presenting "Paws, Claws, Applause," an exhibition of animal portraits.

Black-and-white photos of various wildlife shot at the L.A. Zoo by featured photographer Charlie Morey are on display along with paintings and animal-like pieces of artwork by artists including Ildar Galyamov, Francis Gill and Harlan Peterson.

A percentage of the proceeds from the show, which runs through Aug. 29, will be donated to the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Assn.

For more information visit www.nohogalleryla.com.

NoHo Gallery L.A. exhibit

Golden retriever adopts tiger cubs

A golden retriever in the Midwest may just win the best-mother-of-the-year award. The Associated Press reports:

CANEY, Kan.  — A dog at a southeast Kansas zoo has adopted three tiger cubs abandoned by their mother. Safari Zoological Park owner Tom Harvey said the tiger cubs were born Sunday, but the mother had problems with them.

A day later, the mother stopped caring for them. Harvey said the cubs were wandering around, trying to find their birth mother, who wouldn't pay attention to them. That's when the cubs were put in the care of a golden retriever, Harvey said.

Harvey said it's unusual for dogs to care for tiger cubs, but it does happen. He said he has seen reports of pigs nursing cubs in China, and he actually got the golden retriever after his wife saw television accounts of dogs caring for tiger cubs.

Puppies take about the same amount of time as tiger cubs to develop, and Harvey said the adoptive mother just recently weaned her own puppies.

"The timing couldn't have been any better," he said.

The mother doesn't know the difference, Harvey said. He said the adopted mother licks, cleans and feeds the cubs.

The Safari Zoological Park is a licensed facility open since 1989 and specializes in endangered species.

Photo credit: Rob Morgan / Associated Press

Yes, it's a 44-pound cat

Meet Princess Chunk, a 44-pound cat, who is just two pounds shy of the 1987 Guinness World Record for overweight cats.

South Jersey, to be sure, has seen its fair share of the indictable variety, but never before has it seen the likes of the portly pussycat found waddling in Voorhees.

News reports, including one in the Philadelphia Inquirer, state that the Camden County Animal Shelter is trying to find the feline's owner ... and trying to develop an exercise routine for its suddenly famous resident.

"She's bigger than my Yorkie dog," said shelter volunteer and "foster mom" Deborah Wright.

According to the Inquirer report:

Dennis Green, a librarian at the central branch of the Philadelphia Free Library, researched records on the fattest cat in the world. Green said the record was held by 46 pound, 15 1/4 ounce Himmy of Australia who was entered into the 1987 Guinness Book of World Records, the last year the organization had the weight category for cats. Himmy died of respiratory failure.

Photo: John Costello / McClatchy-Tribune

Another false sighting of Moe the chimp

A hiker stranded over the weekend in the San Bernardino National Forest thought she saw a monkey in the mountains, but after further investigation, it's not Moe, the chimpanzee missing since last month, the Associated Press reports today:

Grace Hilario was hiking Friday when she became separated from her group. That afternoon she saw the silhouette of what she said appeared to be a dirty gray monkey weighing about 50 to 60 pounds.

However, Moe is about twice the weight Hilario described and black in color. And the area where she was found is nearly on the other side of the San Bernardino National Forest, at least 20 miles from where Moe escaped June 27.

Jungle Exotics owner Joe Camp says Moe would have had to cross numerous highways to get there from his compound.

Still, volunteers will pay more attention to that area of the forest where Hilario was.

The 42-year-old Moe became a celebrity during the decades he lived in a couple's West Covina home. He is pictured here with the couple, LaDonna and St. James Davis, at their wedding in 1970.

For the record, Moe is an ape, not a monkey. And speaking of monkeys, if Hilario did see one, where did that animal come from?

-- Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo credit: Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times

Small research center provides window into global warming

High on a jungle hilltop, at a unique research center in the middle of the Panama Canal, scientists are studying three-toed sloths (like the one pictured), howler monkeys and jungle flora to better understand evolution and the practical effects of global warming.

The biological secrets being studied at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute are more than just thesis fodder. Scientists say some provide clear warnings of a planet in peril and could provide clues to ways to save it. Chris Kraul reports in today's L.A. Times:

Barro Colorado Island was formed in 1911 when the Chagres River was dammed to help create the Panama Canal. The flooding formed an isolated refuge for thousands of plant and animal species.

The Smithsonian set up shop here in 1923, when the canal was under the control of the United States. Its continued existence was assured through the terms of the canal's transfer to Panama in 1999. Now, an average of 300 biologists a year from 15 countries use STRI's uniquely self-contained ecosystem to study animal and plant life.

"It's a precious jewel of tropical biological research," said Kate Milton, a UC Berkeley zoologist who has studied howler monkeys here for 30 years.

Photo: Max Planck Institute

Still no Moe the chimp, just some false leads

The search is still on for Moe the chimp, which escaped on June 27 from his cage at Jungle Exotics near Devore, but officials had no luck over the weekend. The San Bernardino Sun reports:

Michael McCasland, a spokesman for Moe's West Covina owners, said that a search for Moe on Sunday night turned up no new clues as to the chimpanzee's whereabouts.

"They got all the tools they need to track him," he said of the searchers.

McCasland said Moe has left behind "no traces, just no evidence of where he's at." This has made the search more difficult, he said.

There have been no confirmed sightings of the chimp since his escape. The weekend searchers followed up many leads on Moe, McCasland said, but all the tips turned out to be the tracks of a mule, dogs or other animals.

However, the Sun reports, a bizarre tip did come in during the weekend search:

Although the weekend search turned up no hard evidence of Moe's location, Arden Wiltshire of the San Bernardino County sheriff's office confirmed a report of a man in a monkey suit running in and out of traffic about 10 p.m. Sunday at a turnout near Lake Williams Road in Big Bear.

Authorities were sent out to investigate and found nothing.

"I have not talked to anybody this morning on that," McCasland said on Monday regarding whether a report could have been a Moe sighting. "If it's something halfway credible, we would have already heard about it."

Moe lived with LaDonna and St. James Davis for more than 30 years in their West Covina home, when this picture was taken in the 1970s, until Moe was later removed from their home and placed in a sanctuary. The Davises spoke to the press on June 30 to lament his escape.

--Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo: Gary Friedman/Los Angeles Times

Whale watching in Santa Barbara

Catching a glimpse of a majestic humpback whale in the Santa Barbara Channel may be priceless for marine life enthusiasts, but The Times' Pete Thomas reports that for under $100, you can get a front-row seat:

It's a bizarre yet wondrous sight: a 40-foot humpback whale holding position only a few feet beside a 75-foot catamaran.

The whale's radiant white pectoral fins are spread like wings. Its massive body rolls gently as this great leviathan casts a curious glance toward its gawking admirers.

It's one of two "friendlies" providing passengers aboard the Condor Express with encounters so close they can hardly believe their eyes.

These are lively times in the Santa Barbara Channel. Vast blooms of krill and nutrient-rich waters teeming with bait fish have attracted dozens of mammalian species, including humpback and blue whales.

The high-speed Condor Express -- the only vessel making daily forays deep into the channel -- can reach the feeding grounds in less than an hour.

Several minutes pass before a large splash in the distance. Soon the vessel is alongside two humpbacks. Passengers crowd the rails and camera shutters click.

"I finally have proof!" shouts a gleeful Jeffrey Mummey, 11, from Heath, Ohio, explaining that his cousin Nick, who is not aboard, "never believes me when I tell him stuff."

Globally, humpbacks number 35,000 to 40,000. The ones Thomas and his boat mates saw measure 40 to 50 feet and weigh about 40 tons and are among the perhaps 1,300 that migrate between Costa Rica and California.

--Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo: Eric Zimmerman

Possible gray wolf sighted in New Mexico

The Associated Press reports that a possible gray wolf has been sighted on a ranch in northern New Mexico, raising the prospect that wolves may have migrated into the state from the Northern Rockies ,where they were reintroduced more than a decade ago.

There's been no confirmed gray wolf in the wild in New Mexico since the animals were exterminated from the state in the early and mid-1900s. The animal was seen several times and photographed on Vermejo Park Ranch, which is owned by media mogul Ted Turner. It was first spotted about a month ago, but government biologists have not been able to capture the animal to obtain genetic material to confirm whether it's a wolf.

A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman said that government agencies hoped to capture the animal on the ranch, attach a radio collar and then track it. A gray wolf in New Mexico would be protected by the federal Endangered Species Act.

Photo: Associated Press

Photos of South China tiger faked

The tale of the tiger started last October when local forestry officials in China's Shaanxi province held a news conference and released what they said was a photo of a rare South China tiger in the wild, a sight not seen since the 1960s.

But The Times' Mark Magnier reports that the story and its photos always seemed too good to be true:

This weekend, local authorities revealed after months of delay that the pictures had been staged using a poster cutout. Police also produced a paw made of wood they said had been used to make prints in the snow.

Zhou Zhenglong, 54, a farmer and local guide who took the photographs, was arrested Saturday on suspicion of fraud. And 13 officials in Shaanxi province in central China have been fired or disciplined, the government announced Sunday.

The revelations in the "paper tiger" case were driven by persistent Internet activists who demanded answers from Zhou and local officials. The case has also spurred a heated debate over cover-ups, culpability and corruption, as well as whether Zhou was forced to take the fall for powerful officials.

Zhou was paid $2,915 for the photographs by the local forestry department, which was reportedly trying to start a nature reserve, seeking over $1 million from Beijing in funding and pushing to boost tourism. Zhou, who had acted as a guide for animal protection officials, had originally been led to believe the photos might be worth as much as $140,000.

Looks like Hollywood isn't the only place guilty of doctoring what appears as reality. Local officials in the tiger case said they were "reflecting on their mistakes."

Speaking of tigers in China, a Times editorial today urges the Chinese government to close the country's tiger farms in order to save them from extinction and abuse.

-- Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo: AFP/Getty Images

A reprieve for the pigeons of Wimbledon?

ESPN is reporting that the pigeons around the All England Club are safe -- for now.

Wimbledon organizers came under fire from animal rights groups for using marksmen to eradicate some pesky pigeons Sunday, but they have pledged to use only two hawks to keep the birds away for the remainder of the tournament.

Wimbledon organizers said the extreme pest control response had only been deemed necessary because pigeons were creating a health risk around the players' lawn and a restaurant.

"The hawks are our first line of deterrent, and by and large they do the job," Wimbledon spokesman Johnny Perkins said Tuesday. "But unfortunately there were one or two areas where the hawks didn't deter the pigeons, so it was deemed necessary to take a harder approach," he explained.

The decision to call in the marksmen was condemned as "cruel and illegal behavior" by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which complained to the tournament organizers and the police.

Big black bear pawing around Twentynine Palms

Who says the Southern California desert heat is un-bear-able?

It was 108 degrees in Twentynine Palms on Tuesday and likely will reach 106 today. But that hasn't slowed down a big black bear that has been roaming the high desert town of Twentynine Palms, the Associated Press reports:

San Bernardino County sheriff's Deputy Philip Bushline said the bear weighs as much as 400 pounds. While keeping tabs on it Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, deputies say it crisscrossed State Route 62 several times. It was last seen near the Joshua Tree National Park Visitor Center.

Deputies still have no idea where the bear came from. Animal control officers have been notified.

The animal has not been aggressive, but residents should keep their distance and call deputies if they see it, officials said.

--Francisco Vara-Orta

Cat shot by sheriff's deputies was a leopard

State biologists identified a big black cat killed by a sheriff's deputy in the Midwest as a leopard, the Associated Press reports.

James Dixon of the Missouri Department of Conservation said the cat was identified by the St. Louis Zoo.

Newton County Sheriff's Cpl. Donn Hall shot the animal when it charged him May 19. A woman had reported the the cat was scratching at the door of her home near Neosho, Mo.

Owners of big cats in Missouri are required to register their animals, but the sheriff's department says no one has reported a leopard missing.

Mistaking a big cat for another animal, such as a leopard, or vice versa, isn't an uncommon call for law enforcement agencies, as evidenced locally by a recent big cat sighting in Eagle Rock.

--Francisco Vara-Orta

Alligator discovered in Chicago River

Chicago has had some interesting experiences with wild animals this year. In April, a cougar had the misfortune of wandering into the city's North Side -- it was shot by police. Yesterday, a different kind of creature was discovered in the Chicago River. The Chicago Tribune reports:

Terrible things have emerged over the years from Bubbly Creek, a spot in the Chicago River that was once a churning sewer for the city's slaughterhouses. But until Friday, nobody had seen what Bill Cox and his co-workers saw — something with a devilish underbite, sinister eyes and a coldblooded appetite. An honest-to-goodness alligator in the Chicago River...

The American alligator, at left, may have been a long way from home, but she looked docile in the water. Her demeanor changed after she was trapped by volunteers with the Chicago Herpetological Society.

The thrashing, hissing transplant — estimated to be 5 years old — was put in a plastic container and spent the next few hours snapping at TV cameras and people who came to meet her in the Midland parking lot. The American alligator is one of the strongest and most aggressive of reptiles native to the United States, experts said.

The animal will be sent to a shelter in the Southeast.

--Alice Short

Photo: Alex Garcia/Chicago Tribune

Friday is Take Your Dog to Work Day

We tend to be a little suspicious of proclamations such as "Friday, June 20, is Take Your Dog to Work Day." (Doesn't it sound a bit like a Hallmark conspiracy?) And yet, our dog is so ab-fab that we're tempted to ignore the voices in our head that say "Perhaps the L.A. Times newsroom is not a great place to bring your terrier-mix for the day," and sneak the little guy past security, past the boss' office and into the tiny space under the work station that passes for leg room.

According to the Take Your Dog to Work Day website, the celebration has been around since 1999. Its primary sponsor appears to be Pet Sitters International, the "world’s largest educational association for professional pet sitters, representing nearly 8,000 independent professional pet-sitting businesses in the United States, Canada and abroad." (We had no idea!)

If you're wondering who on earth would allow their employees to bring dogs to work, a report on MSNBC says "as many as 10,000 companies in the United States and Canada opened their doors to employees' dogs during the annual event held last June."

How will Southern California officially celebrate? Well, we've received one piece of intelligence from a news release issued by the L.A. County Department of Public Works: "This Friday is 'Take Your Dog to Work Day,' and County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works officials will use this day to remind dog owners of the importance of picking up after their pet, for the health of their four-legged friends and our environment." (We suspect the county is not in a true mood to celebrate Take Your Dog to Work Day.)

If by some chance you really can bring your dog to work, Denise Flaim of Newsday has some tips about what to do to create a good first impression.

A unicorn lives in Italy

Who says there's no such thing as a unicorn?

The Associated Press reports that "a deer with a single horn in the center of its head -- much like the fabled unicorn -- has been spotted in a nature preserve in Italy."

"This is fantasy becoming reality," Gilberto Tozzi, director of the Center of Natural Sciences in Prato, said. "The unicorn has always been a mythological animal."

The 1-year-old Roe Deer -- nicknamed "Unicorn" -- was born in captivity in the research center's park in the Tuscan town of Prato, near Florence, Tozzi said. He is believed to have been born with a genetic flaw; his twin has two horns.

Single-horned deer are not unheard of, but the position of the horn makes this creature most unusual, experts say.

As for mythical unicorns, they have appeared in the art and stories of cultures worldwide, from ancient times to Harry Potter. In a 1960s novelty song, the Irish Rovers retold the tale of Noah and the flood in "The Unicorn Song," explaining that the unicorns missed the boat. Remember the catchy chorus that began, "There was green alligators and long-necked geese"?

--Alice Short

Photo: Young Kwak/Associated Press

Pandas, sharks and more -- an animal news roundup from today's Times

The eight young pandas evacuated during the recent earthquakes in China have become the Beijing Zoo's media darlings, Barbara Demick reports.

Visitors to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta can pay to swim with whale sharks, but some experts says the practice could be risky for the sharks, Richard Fausset reports.

Speaking of risk, some SoCal surfers are opting to take the risk of a swim in the shark-populated waters at a beach north of Ixtapa, Mexico, Pete Thomas reports.

President Bush urges offshore drilling in wildlife refuge areas, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger disagrees with tampering with California's coast.

Meanwhile, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, a nonprofit coalition of hunting, fishing and other organizations, filed  a lawsuit against the Interior Department and the Bureau of Land Management in U.S. District Court in Washington, saying the government agency "failed unequivocally" to monitor and mitigate the effects of gas and oil drilling on wildlife in Wyoming, Tami Abdollah reports.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's refusal to let firms test for mad cow disease denies consumers a safety net, a Times editorial says.

-- Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo: Andy Wong/Associated Press

Town & Country dogs

The Washington Post has another reason why the rich are different from the rest of us:

Socially prominent humans have been known to hunt for their own photos every time the latest issue of Town & Country magazine lands in their mailboxes. The next best thing? Finding photos of their dogs.

The editors of the magazine have cleverly gathered canine portraits that have appeared in its pages over the past 15 years in a new book, "Town & Country Dogs" (Hearst Books/Sterling Publishing, $14.95.) The dogs appear in stylish settings from Palm Springs to St. Bart's, some with their famous owners and some without. Check out Matthew Broderick and Sally, his cute border collie. They have the same smile.

No doggie pedigree was required.

Leatherback turtles reaching shores all over the place

Californians can proudly claim a champion in the Great Turtle Race, an international event we told you about earlier this month that tracked the journey of 11 radio-tagged leatherbacks in the Pacific Ocean toward the International Date Line.

The first to reach the finish line was a turtle named Saphira II, sponsored by the Bullis Charter School of Los Altos, Calif. Turtle enthusiasts can relive the adventure by visiting the race's website and watching an interactive recreation using a rainbow of colors to differentiate the turtles.

But Saphira II and her competitors aren't the only leatherbacks making strides on the world's shores. The New York Times is also reporting that the creatures showed up for the first time in decades on Texas tan-tinged beaches near Corpus Christi:

For the first time since the 1930s, federal biologists confirmed that a leatherback sea turtle has nested on a Texas beach, at the Padre Island National Seashore near Corpus Christi.

Last Friday, staff conducting a beach patrol found turtle tracks and a few exposed eggs. They were thought at first to be those of a green turtle. But the eggs and the width of the tracks, more than 6 feet across, were later determined by a park biologist, Cynthia Rubio, to be from a leatherback. The giant turtles, endangered around the world, have until now only been known to nest in four spots in the United States –- with about three dozen females a year laying eggs on beaches along the east coast of Florida and slightly larger nesting populations in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. There is evidence of nesting in North Carolina as well.

-- Francisco Vara-Orta

Photo: Scott Benson/U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service

Rattlesnake bites man in Inglewood park

A 22-year-old man was recovering this morning after he was bitten by a rattlesnake at an Inglewood park Tuesday night. The Times' Molly Hennessy-Fiske reports:

The man, whose name had not been released this morning, told police that he picked up the snake in Edward Vincent Park, 700 Warren Lane, thinking it was harmless, Inglewood Police Sgt. Gabriela Garcia said.

Then it bit him, twice.

The man attempted to drive himself to the hospital, became ill and called 911 about 9:45 p.m., Garcia said. Police and Los Angeles County fire paramedics found the man in the 100 block of North La Brea Avenue, Garcia said.

They took him and the snake, which he had placed in a bucket, to Centinela Hospital Medical Center, where staff determined what sort of antivenin to use to treat the man, Garcia said.

The snakebite victim was listed in good condition this morning, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

Garcia said such snakebite reports are rare.

"I've been with the department 11 years, and this is the first I've ever heard of a rattlesnake in the area," she said.

Rattlesnake sightings, however, are common in the Southland, and their bites are only becoming more lethal, The Times' Tony Perry reported earlier this week on L.A. Unleashed. Other people have been bitten recently, including a 3-year-old on Monday in Lake Arrowhead, Hennessy-Fiske reports.

--Francisco Vara-Orta

Working to save Tasmanian devils and whooping cranes

Catching up on a few stories about endangered species:

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, efforts to save Australia's Tasmanian devils are on the rise as the marsupials that are the size of small dogs near the brink of extinction because of a lethal contagious cancer.

The devils, unique to Australia's Tasmania island, earned their name from their hair-raising growling and propensity to brawl over carrion. Now, their violent behavior is quickly spreading a facial tumor disease. When infected devils bite each other's faces in scuffles, they transmit tumor cells.

Infected animals usually die within three months.

In the meantime, the San Antonio Express-News reports that more than 500 whooping cranes are living in North America for the first time in a century:

The birds' resurgence has boosted the confidence of wildlife biologists over the long-term survival of the critically endangered species.

Whooping cranes nearly went extinct in the 20th century because of habitat loss and hunting -- there were only 15 in existence in 1945. But the numbers have steadily grown thanks to concerted conservation efforts....

...More than half of the world's whooping cranes winter in Texas, where their habitat is threatened by coastal development and dwindling water supplies in the state's rivers. Natural threats such as disease and hurricanes also pose risks to the cranes' small population.

-- Alice Short

Tasmanian devil photo: Rob Griffith/Associated Press

Whooping crane photo: Kelly Overton/Associated Press