Monkey Business! Wayne and Coleen Rooney's car takes a beating after trip to safari park with Kai

By Sarah Fitzmaurice


Monkey Business: Wayne and Colleen Rooney took their son Kai to Knowsley Safari park last week where the primates played havoc with their car


It is well known that if you drive your car into a monkey enclosure at a safari park the chances are the cheeky primates will do their fair share of damage.

And that’s exactly what happened to Coleen and Wayne Rooney when their took their son Kai to Knowsley Safari Park on Thursday last week.

The couple treated their one-year-old son to an up close encounter with the animals at the park but as they entered the monkey den the primates paid particular attention to their car.


Wayne tweeted: ‘Just been Knowsley safari park with @ColeenRoo and Kai. Monkeys all over my car. Kai loved it.’

And wife Coleen made sure she took some snaps which she posted to Twitter showing the monkeys attacking their Audi worth around £80,000.

But with Wayne thought to be earning around £150,000 a week he can afford to let his car get trashed by the cheeky animals.

Problematic primates: Coleen posted a picture of a monkey attacking a windscreen wiper on their £80,000 Audi car

Cheeky chappy: Coleen also posted a picture of a monkey peering around the windscreen and pulling on the wing mirror


Coleen tweeted: 'Great time in safari park with Kai and @WayneRooney!!! The monkeys were so funny. X.'

But she added: ‘Not good for your car though!!!’

Coleen also posted pictures of two monkeys, one peering around a wing mirror appearing to be trying to peel it from the side of the car, while another snap saw a cheeky animal snapping back a wing mirror.

Splashing out: Last week Coleen flew from Manchester to London for a Littlewoods shoot carrying an expensive personalised Louis Vuitton case worth £2,630


Earlier in the week Coleen had been in London shooting for her new fashion range with Littlewoods but also used the opportunity to catch up with friends.

As she jetted from Manchester into the capital Coleen was seen pulling a personalised Louis Vuitton suitcase worth a cool £2,630.


source:dailymail

Kristen Stewart walks Robert Pattinson's dog in New York

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

New York walkies: Kristen Stewart takes Bear, the rescue dog she shares with boyfriend Robert Pattinson, out for a walk in New York's East Village


Being the pet of a famous movie star may have its perks, but being left behind while your owner travels the world isn't one of them.

Luckily for Robert Pattinson's dog Bear his owner's girlfriend Kristen Stewart is happy to take over walking duties when he isn't there.

With Pattinson was in London promoting Water For Elephants, Kirsten took the reigns as Bear's carer.


Leading the way: Bear and Kristen head out onto the street for their blustery walk


Dressed in skinny jeans, Converse trainers and a grey T-shirt, Kristen, 21, and her canine companion braved the wind and rain as they made their way across New York's East Village.

Clutching his blue lead, Kristen was careful to keep a tight hold on Bear as they set out across the city together.

Pattinson found Bear in an animal shelter while shooting Breaking Dawn in the Baton Rouge area of Louisiana.


Undeterred: Kristen and Bear don't let the New York weather stop them from heading out as they leave The Bowery Hotel on the Lower East Side


The dog was originally called Yogi Bear, but Pattinson and Kristen decided to shorten his name to Bear after Rob admitted he thought Yogi was 'a bit much.'

Kristen, and her canine companion, have been staying at one of the actress's favourite New York hotels, The Bowery, on the Lower East Side of the city.

Meanwhile, the Twilight actress is set to welcome a new man into her life after it was announced today that British actor, Sam Claflin, has been cast alongside her in Snow White and the Huntsman.

The 24-year-old actor will play Prince Charmant to Kristen's Snow White.


source: dailymail

A mother's grief: The startling images which show how chimpanzees mourn their dead just like humans

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By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Grieving process: A chimpanzee mother tenderly lays her dead 16-month-old infant on the ground after carrying the body for more than 24 hours. Scientists filmed this heartbreaking footage in Chimfunshi, Zambia


Chimpanzees appear to mourn their dead infants just like humans, scientists have discovered.

Chimpanzee mothers establish close physical relationships with their young, carrying them for up to two years and nursing them until they are six.

But now scientists have filmed how one chimpanzee mother, whose 16-month-old infant died, apparently begins the grieving process.

It’s the latest evidence highlighting just how similar chimps and other great apes are to humans.

The ape continued to carry the body for more than 24 hours before tenderly laying on the ground. Then from a short distance she watched over her child.

Periodically she returns to the body and touches the face and neck with her fingers to establish it was dead.

She then took the body to other chimpanzees in the troop to get a second opinion. The following day the chimp had abandoned the body, according to a report by scientists from the respected Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics.

Dr Cronin said the research provided 'unique insights into how chimpanzees, one of humans' closest primate relatives, learn about death'.

Dr Katherine Cronin and Edwin Van Leeuwen together with Prof Mark Bodamer, of Gonzaga University in Washington State, and Innocent Chitalu Mulenga videoed the chimpanzee in Chimfunshi, Zambia.


Devastated: Struggling to take in the news, the mother then moves to a nearby grass bank and watches over the body of her dead child


Dr Cronin said the research provided 'unique insights into how chimpanzees, one of humans' closest primate relatives, learn about death'.

She said: 'After carrying the infant's dead body for more than a day, the mother laid the body out on the ground in a clearing and repeatedly approached the body and held her fingers against the infant's face and neck for multiple seconds.

'She remained near the body for nearly an hour, then carried it over to a group of chimpanzees and watched them investigate the body. The next day, the mother was no longer carrying the body of the infant.'

The report, published in the American Journal of Primatology, said almost nothing is known about how primates react to death of close individuals, what they understand about death, and whether they mourn.

The researchers therefore believe they have reported a unique transitional period as the mother learned about the death of her infant, a process never before reported in detail.


Second opinion: The mother then invites other chimpanzees over to the body, touching the face and neck with her fingers to confirm it is dead


'The videos are extremely valuable, because they force one to stop and think about what might be happening in the minds of other primates,' Dr Cronin said.

'Whether a viewer ultimately decides that the chimpanzee is mourning, or simply curious about the corpse, is not nearly as important as people taking a moment to consider the possibilities.'

Previous reports have documented chimpanzee mothers carrying their deceased young for days or weeks, showing the strength of the mother-infant bond.
The latest research complements these observations and sheds new light on how chimpanzees might learn about death.

Professor Bodamer said: 'These data contribute to a small but growing body of data on how non-human primates respond to death.

'We hope these objective accounts will continue to accumulate and eventually allow researchers to take a comprehensive look at the extent to which non-human primate understand death, and how they respond to it.

'It was only a matter of time, and the right conditions, that chimpanzees' response to death would be recorded and subjected to analysis that would reveal remarkable similarities to humans.'

Chimps are human’s closest relatives in the wild. Like people they can use tools, using sticks to fish out termites, hunt in teams and plan ahead.

They are also one of the few animals that can recognise themselves in a mirror - and realise that they are looking at a reflection.


Chimpanzee mother learns about her dead infant



source: dailymail [endtext]

Captain Hook's revenge: The poor crocodile who swallowed a mobile phone... that can be heard ringing in its belly

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By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Unhappy: Poor Gena the crocodile, who is now listless and appears in pain after swallowing the Nokia mobile phone


The crocodile in Peter Pan happily went 'tick-tock' after swallowing an alarm clock.
But a crocodile in Ukraine has been a little less fortunate.

Zookeepers at an aquarium in the eastern city of Dnipropetrovsk did not believe one visitor when she claimed Gena, a 14-year-old crocodile, had eaten her mobile phone.

But then they heard the phone begin ringing - inside the croc's belly.

'The sound was coming from inside our Gena's stomach and we understood she wasn't lying,' said aquarium employee Alexandra.

Now Gena is refusing food and acting listless.

Rimma Golovko, a new mother in her 20s, admits the accident was her fault. She stretched out her arm to snap a photo of Gena opening his mouth and dropped her Nokia phone into the water.


It's my fault: Rimma Golovko, who has confessed to dropping her phone while trying to take a photo of Gena



'This should have been a very dramatic shot, but things didn't work out,' she said.
Ms Golovko is resigned to losing her phone, but still wants its SIM card back since that has her precious photos and contacts.

The mishap has caused bigger problems for the crocodile, which has not eaten or had a bowel movement in four weeks and appears depressed and in pain.

'The animal is not feeling well,' said Alexandra.

'His behaviour has changed, he moves very little and swims much less than he used to.'

Doctors tried to whet the crocodile's appetite this week by feeding him live quail rather than the pork or beef he usually gets once a week.

The quail were injected with vitamins and a laxative, but while Gena smothered one bird, he didn't eat it.

He also won't play with three fellow African crocodiles, despite being the leader in the group. Crocodiles can live up to 100 years.

'He is the biggest and the oldest, perhaps he went for the phone to protect his group,' Alexandra said.

Dnipropetrovsk chief veterinarian Oleksandr Shushlenko said the crocodile will be taken for an X-ray next week if he continues to refuse food.


Never smile at a crocodile: In the tale of Peter Pan, as shown here by Disney, Captain Hook could always hear the crocodile coming from the ticking of an alarm clock it had swallowed (though sometimes he wasn't quick enough)


Surgically removing the phone would be a measure of last resort, he said, since incisions and stitches usually take at least three weeks to heal in reptiles and the procedure is dangerous for the animal and the vets.

'Everything will depend on where the foreign body is located,' Shushlenko said.
'We don't have much experience working with such large animals.'

The crocodile in 'Peter Pan' with the ticking stomach was on the hunt for Captain Hook after getting a taste for the pirate's flesh from eating one of his hands.
But luckily for Hook, he could always hear the crocodile coming.


Crocodile Eats Mobile Phone, Now Not Eating



source: dailymail [endtext]

He'll always be on the ball now: Paul the Octopus receives permanent memorial in honour of World Cup predictions

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By LEWIS BAZLEY

On the ball: Paul the Octopus's monument is unveiled at the Sea Life aquarium in Oberhausen today


He'll go down in history as one of the faces of 2010 but now three months after his death, Paul the Octopus today received a permanent memorial.

The cephalopod shot to fame last summer after correctly predicting the results of several matches in the football World Cup in South Africa.

And after he passed away in his sleep in October, Paul's former carers at the Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen, Germany, decided the octopus should be given a shrine to mark his seemingly expert predictions.


The ashes of the tentacled creature are contained in a golden octopus urn visible through a see-through screen


Golden moment: The urn of a sculpture of Paul inside the ball


The tentacled creature correctly predicted the outcome of eight matches at the 2010 World Cup, including Germany's thrashing of England and Spain's victory over the Netherlands in the final.

He cost bookmakers thousands after floating languidly towards boxes of mussels draped in the colours of competing teams in the South African tournament last year.

The aquarium where Paul lived first mooted the idea of erecting a memorial to the octopus after his death last year and now the soothsayer's legacy has been enshrined with the permanent monument.

The statue is around 1.80 metres high with Paul straddled on top of a football, with a see-through window displaying a goden urn containing the octopus's ashes.


World Cup star: Paul the Octopus predicted the results of all seven of Germany's matches at the 2010 World Cup, as well as the final


Predictive Paul: The octopus oracle has been honoured with a shrine after his death at a German aquarium


A successor to Paul, a French octopus named Paul II, was unveiled at the aquarium on November 3 after spending two months in quarantine.

He has yet to attempt to follow his predecessor's fortune-telling but it is thought the Sea Life Centre may tempt him with flag-covered mussel treats for the 2012 European Championships in Ukraine and Poland.

After the original Paul's death last year, Stefan Porwoll, manager of the Oberhausen Sea Life Centre, said: ‘Paul delighted people from all continents with his seven consecutive correct predictions for the matches of the German national team and for the final.


Guessing game: Paul shot to world renown after selecting mussel boxes emblazoned with the flags of the World Cup teams that would go on to win the matches in question


‘He was dear to all our hearts and we will sorely miss him. It is a comforting thought that he had a good life with us with the best possible care delivered by a committed team.

‘His success made him almost a bigger story than the World Cup itself.'


Object of affection: Photographers surround the monument of Paul


Memorial to World Cup Predicting Octopus Opens


source: dailymail [endtext]

Cat summoned for jury service in the U.S. and court says he 'must attend'

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By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Not guilty, your honour: Sal has been summoned for jury duty from March 23 - and his owner has been told he is not exempt from serving


A pet cat has been summoned for jury duty in the U.S. - and has been told by courts he 'must attend'

Despite owner Anna Esposito's protestations that a mistake has been made, a jury commissioner has ruled that Sal must attend the court.

She wrote that Anna was 'unable to speak and understand English' - and included a letter from her vet saying that the animal was a 'domestic short-haired neutered feline'.


Amazed: Sal's owners Anna and Guy Esposito are preparing to take their pet to court after a jury commissioner turned down their request to have the animal exempted from service


Bizarrely, the court ruled the animal must report to the courtroom. If the matter is not resolved he will have to report to Suffolk Superior Crown Court in Boston, U.S. on March 23.

Anna wrote her Sal's name under 'pets' on the last census - she crossed out 'dogs' and said he was a cat.

She said: 'When they ask him guilty or not guilty? What's he supposed to say - miaow?

'Sal is a member of the family so I listed him on the last Census form under pets but there has clearly been a mix up.'


Case closed? Sal's details were recorded when there was a Boston state census - and he appears to have been mistakenly identified as a human when the forms were processed


Husband Guy added: 'I said, Sal, what's this? I was shocked. He likes to sit on my knee and watch crime shows with me but even so he's still under qualified for jury duty if you ask me.'

There are ten statutory disqualifications preventing people from serving on a jury - and Mrs Esposito said Sal was not suitable because he could not understand the language.

However, jurors are 'not expected' to have a perfect command of the English language.
The other exemptions did not apply because Sal was not ill, too old or a convicted felon.

It is thought he accidentally ended up on the juror list when paperwork was misread at the last census.




source: dailymail [endtext]