Two Australian Scientists Filmed Veined Octopus Carrying Coconut Shells for Shelter (VIDEO)

Australian scientists, Julian Finn and Mark Norman, have discovered an octopus in Indonesia that collects coconut shells for shelter. This behavior is considered unusually sophisticated and researchers believe it is the first evidence of tool used in an invertebrate animal.

The veined octopuses, scientifically known as Amphioctopus marginatus, were filmed by scientists filmed, selecting halved coconut shells from the sea floor, emptying them out, carrying them under their bodies up to 65 feet and assembling two shells together to make a spherical hiding spot.

The two scientists from the Museum Victoria in Melbourne observed the odd activity in four of the creatures during a series of dive trips to North Sulawesi and Bali in Indonesia between 1998 and 2008. Their findings were published Tuesday in the journal Current Biology.

While octopuses often use foreign objects as shelter, it seems that the veined octopus went a step further by preparing the shells, carrying them long distances and reassembling them as shelter elsewhere.

SHOCK: Killing and Dismemberment of Ultra Rare Sumatran Tiger in Indonesian Zoo by Poachers Draws Condemnation

SHOCK:  The killing and dismemberment of an ultra rare Sumatran tiger in an Indonesian zoo by poachers have drawn condemnation by the Zoological Society of London, which had called for tougher enforcement against trading in wildlife areas.  The society said that the female Sumatran tiger, which ZSL used in 2003 to train Indonesians in veterinary care, was drugged and skinned at a zoo in Sumatra on August 22. The body parts were likely sold on the black market as there is “high demand for their use in Chinese medicine,” the London zoo said.

“It is shocking that this tiger, who has contributed to tiger conservation via her role in training young Indonesian wildlife biologists and vets, should fuel the trade in wildlife parts which threatens her kind with extinction,” said Sarah Christie, tiger conservation manager for ZSL.

The Sumatran tiger is listed as “critically endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List and is Indonesia’s last remaining subspecies of the big cat after hunting and habitat destruction killed off the other two, the Javan and Bali varieties. As few as 400 are left in the wild, and the cat is being “sold into extinction,” wildlife monitoring network Traffic said last year in a study that documented sales of claws, whiskers and teeth across Indonesia.

“This tragic incident highlights the need for improved law enforcement at a local level,” Christie said. Police investigating the slaying are questioning a veterinarian and five workers at the Taman Rimbo zoo in Jambi, the Jakarta Post reported. Source:  Bloomberg

This is a real tragedy and I agree that the enforcement efforts must be intensified. Surely the government can step up its efforts in eradicating the poaching of its wildlife.

Photo credit:  My Opera

Komodo Dragon Attacks Terrorize Indonesian Villages, Government Refuses to Allow Erection of Concrete Wall Around Villages

Nobody would have to tell me to run like crazy if I came face to face with a Komodo dragon. There have been a slew of stories in the news lately about the world's largest lizard. Villagers in Indonesia, who have lived for generations alongside the lizards, are now under attack by these dragons. Two people were killed since 2007, a young boy and a fisherman, while others have been severely wounded after being charged, unprovoked, no less. Komodo dragons, with these shark-like teeth and poisonous venom, can kill a person within hours of a bite.Experts have said Komodo dragon attacks are still rare, but have expressed fear is swirling through the fishing villages, along with questions on how best to live with the dragons in the future. Villagers say the dragons are hungry and more aggressive toward humans because their food is being poached, though park officials are quick to disagree. I don't quite know what to make of this, but something has definitely turned these lizards against the villagers.

Komodos grow to be 10 feet long and 150 pounds. All of the estimated 2,500 left in the wild can be found within the 700-square-mile Komodo National Park, mainly on its two largest islands, Komodo and Rinca. The lizards on neighboring Padar were wiped out in the 1980s when hunters killed their main prey, deer. The animals are believed to have descended from a larger lizard on Indonesia's main island Java or Australia around 30,000 years ago. They can reach speeds of up to 18 miles per hour, their legs winding around their low, square shoulders like egg beaters.

When they catch their prey, they carry out a frenzied biting spree that releases venom, according to a new study this month in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The authors, who used surgically excised glands from a terminally ill dragon at the, dismissed the theory that prey die from blood poisoning caused by toxic bacteria in the lizard's mouth. The long, jagged teeth are the lizard's primary weapons, said Bryan Fry of the University of Melbourne. Source: Yahoo News

Villagers have reportedly asked for a 6-foot-high concrete wall to be built around their villages, but that idea has been rejected. The head of the park, Tamen Sitorus, said in a recent interview: "It's a strange request. You can't build a fence like that inside a national park!"That's a silly notion because the protection of the villagers should mean something to the powers that be. Residents have made a makeshift barrier out of trees and broken branches, but they complain it's too easy for the animals to break through. I pray that help will be on the way for these villagers. I would hate to live in constant fear of having an encounter with one of these lizards.