British gorilla walks like a man

Taken from the Ottawa Citizen



Is it evolution in action, or is Ambam just smarter than your average, um, gorilla?

A Silverback gorilla housed at a British nature park is the newest Internet sensation after a clip of the ape walking upright on his hind legs like a human was posted to YouTube._The footage of Ambam, a 21-year-old male gorilla who was born in captivity in Britain, was filmed last April by animal researcher Johanna Watson while she was working on a project on great ape locomotion.

The 220-kilogram animal, part of a bachelor group of critically endangered Western lowlands gorillas at the Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Kent, casually strolls across the screen in the video, oblivious to his knuckle dragging buddies.

Gorilla keeper Phil Ridges said all gorillas can walk upright to some extent, but he said the park doesn't have any others that can do it like Ambam.

And the behaviour appears to run in the family.

"Ambam's father Bitam used to display the same behaviour if he had handfuls of food to carry," said Ridges. "Ambam also has a full sister, Tamba, and a half sister at Howletts (another British nature park), who also sometimes stand and walk in the same way."

Ridges said the handlers think the great ape might stand up to get a height advantage to look over the wall when keepers come to feed him.

"Ambam can also carry a lot more food if he stands and uses both hands," he said. "And walking on two feet also means he doesn't get his hands wet when it is raining."

Burglars snort man’s ashes, thought it was cocaine

Taken from the Ottawa Citizen

MIAMI — Burglars snorted the cremated remains of a man and two dogs in the mistaken belief that they had stolen illegal drugs, Florida sheriff’s deputies said on Wednesday.

The ashes were taken from a woman’s home in the Central Florida town of Silver Springs Shores on December 15.

The thieves took an urn containing the ashes of her father and another container with the ashes of her two Great Danes, along with electronic equipment and jewelry, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said.

Idiots.

New Batman Villains cast!!

I'm so excited! According to IMDB, they cast Tom Hardy as Bane for the next Batman villain!! Tom Hardy was in Inception as the shape-changing guy.

I was sooo hoping they'd pick that character as the villain!

Oh, and Anne Hathaway as Catwoman.

Check it out! IMDB

Fox shoots man

Is it just me, or does anyone else find this extremely hilarious? No? Oh well.

Taken from the Ottawa Citizen

MOSCOW - A wounded fox shot its would be killer in Belarus by pulling the trigger on the hunter's gun as the pair scuffled after the man tried to finish the animal off with the butt of the rifle, media said on Thursday.

The unnamed hunter, who had approached the fox after wounding it from a distance, was in hospital with a leg wound, while the fox made its escape, media said, citing prosecutors from the Grodno region.

"The animal fiercely resisted and in the struggle accidentally pulled the trigger with its paw," one prosecutor was quoted as saying.

Fox-hunting is popular in the picturesque farming region of northwestern Belarus which borders Poland.

Huzzah!

My casual is extended until May 11!

Celebrate, for all is well!!

I want Adobe Photoshop CS5.

Cool photography

Here are some really nice shots I found around the intarwebs.

Old meeting minutes

Here are some previous meeting minutes:

Meeting minutes

Had another, albeit short, meeting today.

What? I like drawing tiki statues! They're easy when you're in a meeting!