rare fish found and rare creature filmed

Stanley Ferry catch is sturgeon on the ridiculous

A FISHY find in the canal has baffled anglers.Geoff Marsh was pike fishing at Stanley Ferry when a 33-inch sturgeon - a breed of fish rarely seen in British fresh waters - floated towards him.The shark-like creature appeared to have been injured or attacked by another fish. Retired Mr Marsh, of Ferry Lane, said: “I caught this carp and was bringing it in when this sturgeon surfaced. I had no idea what it was at first - I thought it was a shark.“It was on its way out, so I don’t know if a carp had got to it or if it had been hit by a boat.”Some species of sturgeon have been known to grow up to 18 ft long.Marine experts at Liverpool University examined a photograph of the find at Stanley Ferry and confirmed it was a species of sturgeon. Senior lecturer Michael Berenbrink, from the University’s Institute of Integrative Biology, said sturgeons native to the UK were very rare and were never known to have bred in the British Isles. He said: “The species lives the majority of its adult life in the sea and only migrates into large river systems for spawning.

Read rest here: http://www.wakefieldexpress.co.uk/news/local/more-wakefield-news/stanley-ferry-catch-is-sturgeon-on-the-ridiculous-1-5205810

The fact they are not known to breed in the Uk and are so rare makes the theory that Nessie is a sturgeon less likely.

Rare cat filmed up close in Borneo

Matt Walker By Matt Walker Editor, BBC Nature

One of the world's most rare and elusive cats, the Sunda clouded leopard of Malaysia, has been filmed up close.A biologist holidaying in Malaysia has captured unique footage of a young female leopard resting in the forest. Previously, this top predator has only been filmed fleetingly and at a distance, with the first wild footage to be made public captured in 2010.The Sunda clouded leopard was only discovered to be a distinct species in 2007.Experts say the footage is extraordinary, believing it to be the only close-up film of the cat in the wild. They are not true leopards, being more distantly related to leopards, snow leopards, lions and tigers than those big cats are to each other.For many years, experts thought there was a single species of clouded leopard. Then in 2007, Mr Andreas Wilting of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin, Germany and colleagues discovered there are actually two distinct species.

Read rest see video here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/20627836

Apparently this species has many similarities with sabre toothed tigers.