Calves more likely to die in first year; 350,000 did so in 2015

DutchNews, February 13, 2017    

Tens of thousands of calves which are taken away from their mothers in the days after they are born die in the first year of life and the death rate is getting worse, the Volkskrant said on Monday. 

In 2015, 13.3% of registered calves died within 12 months of being removed from their mothers – a total of 350,000 animals, the paper said. 

In 2009, the death rate was 9%, a figure described at the time by animal health experts as too high. Most calves are taken from their mothers within three days of birth and the males are almost always sold on to beef and veal farmers. 

Animal rights organisation Dier & Recht said the care of newborn calves may have been affected by the increasing size of dairy farms in the Netherlands.

‘As farms get bigger, there is little attention for individual calves,’ said vet and Dier & Recht spokesman Frederieke Schouten. 

The lobby group wants dairy cooperative Friesland Campina to put pressure on its farmers to try to stop so many calves dying.

Rare elephant with 'sabre-tooth' tusks found in Malaysia

Yahoo – AFP, August 12, 2016

An elephant with downturned tusks pictured at a palm oil plantation in the Malaysian
state of Sabah on Borneo island, in a picture released on August 11, 2016 by the
 Sabah Wildlife Department (AFP Photo)

Kuala Lumpur (AFP) - A rare pygmy elephant with tusks growing downwards instead of up to give it a look like a sabre-toothed tiger has been found in Malaysia, a wildlife official told AFP on Friday.

The unusual looking animal was found by a team of wildlife experts at a palm oil planation in the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo island on Thursday.

"It is very rare," said Sabah Wildlife Department's assistant director Sen Nathan.

"We're not exactly sure why the tusks are like that but it could be a congenital defect or maybe because of inbreeding."

A similar elephant was caught on camera a few years ago and in 2015 in Sabah, Nathan said.

The wildlife department plans to send the animal to an elephant sanctuary in Sabah on Saturday until a suitable area in the wild is found where it could be released with a tracking device attached.

"The tusks resemble the prehistoric sabre-tooth tiger, but of course, they are not related," said Andrew Sebastian, co-founder of the Ecotourism and Conservation Society Malaysia.

"It could make wildlife watching in Sabah more interesting."

But Sebastian warned that the rare elephant's reversed tusks might create some problems when it comes to jostling with other elephants.

A study done a decade ago showed there were about 2,000 elephants in Sabah. Wildlife officials said a new study will be conducted soon.

The biggest threat to elephants in Sabah was not poaching, but loss of habitat due to modernisation and an increase in the human population, said Nathan.

Nanning zoo appeals for help to keep two-headed snake alive

Want China  Times, Xinhua 2015-08-12

The two-headed cobra. (Internet photo)

A zoo in the southwestern Chinese city of Nanning recently adopted a two-headed cobra. The rare creature has already survived 15 days but the zoo said it may need to call in specialists to sustain its life.

The 20-centimeter-long snake has two brains but only one digestive system. It was born on a snake farm and was soon handed over to the zoo for better care. It weighs only 50 grams, about 15 grams lighter than a normal cobra at the same stage of life.

Zookeeper Li Keqi has been caring for snakes since 2007 but said he had never seen a two-headed snake until now. He said temperature and humidity changes during incubation may have caused the mutation.

"One of its heads wants to move to the right, while the other wants to move left. This kind of incongruity is constantly affecting the animal," Li said.

The snake shed its skin for the first time a week ago but has since refused to eat. Zookeepers are using artificial feeding to keep the animal alive, but this method is not sustainable.

The zoo is calling for snake experts from around the world to offer their advice.

Rare albino sparrow spotted in Australia

Yahoo – AFP, 25 May 2015

An albino sparrow, one of the rarest birds in the world, seen in the outer

Melbourne suburb of Point Cook (AFP Photo/Bob Winters)

A rare pure white sparrow has been spotted in Australia, leaving ornithologists all aflutter.

The albino was photographed at Sanctuary Lakes near Melbourne, but it is not expected to survive long with its snowy white plumage making it stand out to birds of prey.

Bob Winters, a birdwatching expert and environmental educator, photographed the animal after being alerted to its presence by a friend. But it wasn't an easy task.

"It's a very nervous animal, understandably, so I had to try for quite a few days to get some photos," he told AFP, adding that pure white sparrows had been seen globally only "once in a blue moon".

Australian media said there had been a handful of confirmed sightings of the bird across the world, including one reported in Britain in 2010.

Winters judged that the bird was six or seven months old which in itself was an achievement, due to its lack of camouflage and disabilities that come with being a genetic mutation.

An albino sparrow (L), one of the rarest birds in the world, is seen in the

outer Melbourne suburb of Point Cook (AFP Photo/Bob Winters)

"This bird has got so many disadvantages. They usually get kicked out of the nest because they're different and it has fragile feathers that make it quite difficult to fly," he said.

"Probably no-one wants to breed with it, and it's easy pickings for a bird of prey."

Albinism is a recessive characteristic which only shows up when a bird inherits the albino gene from both parents.

It affects all the pigments, with albino birds showing no colour whatsoever. They also have pale pink or reddish eyes, legs, feet and a pale bill.

Rare albino wallaroos call Aussie race track home

Yahoo – AFP, Glenda Kwek, 16 March 2015

An albino wallaroo with a normal coloured joey and adult daughter sit between the

 trunks of eucalyptus gum trees in the Mount Panorama Woodlands near Bathurst

in New South Wales (AFP Photo/Peter Parks)

Bathurst (Australia) (AFP) - "There she is, there she is!" In the distance beyond the outstretched finger of conservation biologist Daniel Ramp stood a rare white animal, rising slowly as her ears stiffened and eyes focused on him.

Nestled below her snowy chest was a brown joey, its head peaking out of a pouch.

The 1.5-metre (4.9-feet) tall albino wallaroo bounded towards the thin trunks of eucalyptus gum trees in the Mount Panorama Woodlands, her light leaps barely breaking the silence of the natural reserve.

Conservation biologist Daniel Ramp heads

 up the Bathurst Kangaroo Project, which is

 trying to protect the rare albino wallaroo

 living near a major grand prix circuit

(AFP Photo/Peter Parks)

Several hundred metres away, the harsh sounds of revving engines echoed as V8 supercars raced around the track of Australia's spiritual home of motor sport in Bathurst, some 300 kilometres (185 miles) west of Sydney.

The white marsupial, believed to be more than four years old and one of only three spotted in the area, has thrilled researchers studying the local kangaroo population -- but there are concerns about the wallaroos' chosen home in the woodlands surrounding the race circuit.

The Bathurst Kangaroo Project, funded by the University of Technology Sydney's Centre for Compassionate Conservation and Bathurst's local council, is keen to reduce the conflict between the animals and race cars.

Mount Panorama is home to the "Bathurst 1000", known as the "Great Race", which takes place in October.

The culling of some 140 kangaroos near the tracks sparked outrage in 2009, while videos of them bounding between cars travelling at almost 200 kilometres (125 miles) per hour have gone viral on YouTube.

Organisers have sought to keep them away by erecting fences but some still get on the track, causing near-misses or crashes.

"We see kangaroos jumping into fences left, right and centre, getting scared," Ramp said, describing how some kangaroos react when stressed by the race and the appearance of thousands of fans.

Unique population

Kangaroos feature on Australia's coat of arms alongside the native emu and are a mix of red, brown and grey colours, with tens of millions across Australia and more than 50 different species.

Wallaroos are slightly smaller, and typically have grey fur.

There have only been a handful of mentions of albino kangaroos in scientific literature and in the media, although zoos have bred them in the past as attractions, said Ramp from UTS.

"This population is unique and we can show very clearly the effects of that albinism," Ramp, who heads up the Bathurst Kangaroo Project, told AFP.

Albino wallaroos are rare in the wild, while zoos have in the past bred

them as attractions (AFP Photo/Peter Parks)

"The albinism is a tip of the iceberg. That's one very visual form of the recessive inbreeding that is occurring... reflective of an inbred population that is closed and has nowhere to go."

The researchers believe the three white wallaroos -- two adult females and a joey -- in the area may be descendents from a male albino brought to Bathurst by Australian philanthropist Sir Edward Hallstrom four decades ago.

Hallstrom -- who was a trustee of Sydney's Taronga Zoo -- donated the wallaroo to a local nature park, although it is not known where he got it from, the park's manager for some 25 years Ian McArtney said.

"The time that I was there, he was the main breeding male, but at no time... did he produce any albino offspring," he added.

But years later, the researchers say recessive genes carried by subsequent generations may have led to the striking creatures' re-emergence.

McArtney said he also saw albinism in smaller-sized red-neck wallabies, but none of them survived for more than a few months as they were preyed on by feral cats and foxes.

Roo-race tensions

Potential solutions to the conflict between the race and wallaroos include moving those trapped in woodlands within the circuit to another area, or changing the fences, kangaroo scientist Ray Mjadwesch said.

As part of the project, Mjadwesch dons a camouflage suit and shoots the roos with tranquilliser darts, tagging them to monitor their movements.

Mount Panorama has been dubbed Australia's spiritual home of motor sport and

is home to the 'Bathurst 1000', known as the 'Great Race' (AFP Photo/Greg Wood)

Listening posts pick up the frequencies emitted by tags every 30 seconds, with the figures painting a picture of where they roam on race days and for the rest of the year.

Twenty kangaroos have been tagged since the project started in May, and Ramp hopes to eventually keep tabs on 10 percent of the population, estimated to be up to 600.

Motion-sensor camera traps document the animals' behaviour, and there are plans to make the data publicly available to get the local community involved.

Ramp and his team are also collecting roo hair samples with the goal of testing their stress levels, after a recent study of wolves in Canada was able to do that using the animals' fur.

The researchers plan to count all the resident kangaroos, including the number of males, females and joeys, to identity the different family groups and how they interact.

Ultimately, they hope to document the pace at which the population is growing and expand their data-collection to other regions, amid conflicting evidence on whether the native creature is in historical decline or at plague proportions.

Four species -- swamp wallabies, red-necked wallabies, wallaroos and eastern grey kangaroos -- have so far been observed at Mount Panorama.

Herd mentality: 'Sheepdog mystery' solved at last

Yahoo – AFP, Richard Ingham, 27 Aug 2014

A sheepdog herds a flock in Lowther, northwest England, on September 13, 

2009 (AFP Photo/Paul Ellis)

Paris (AFP) - There is the riddle of the Bermuda Triangle. The unresolved identity of Jack the Ripper. The enigma of how the Universe developed beyond a quark-gluon soup following the Big Bang.

And then there is the Sheepdog Mystery.

A puzzle that has niggled mathematical minds for years, the Mystery is this: how does a single dog get so many selfish sheep to move so efficiently in the same direction?

The answer, revealed on Tuesday in a journal published by Britain's prestigious Royal Society, is that sheepdogs cleverly follow a simple rulebook.

Researchers fitted highly accurate GPS tracking devices into backpacks that were then placed on a trained Australian Kelpie sheepdog and on a flock of 46 female merino sheep in a five-hectare (12-acre) field.

They then used the GPS data to build a computer model of what prompted the dog to move, and how it responded.

Sheep cohesiveness is the big clue.

The dog's first rule is to bind the sheep together by weaving around side-to-side at their backs, and once this has been achieved, it drives the group forward.

"It basically sees white, fluffy things in front of it," said Andrew King of Swansea University in Wales.

"If the dog sees gaps between the sheep, or the gaps are getting bigger, the dog needs to bring them together."

Daniel Stroembom of Uppsala University in Sweden explained: "At every step in the model, the dog decides if the herd is cohesive enough or not.

"If not cohesive, it will make it cohesive, but if it's already cohesive, the dog will push the herd towards the target."

Single sheep dogs can successfully herd flocks of 80 or more sheep in their everyday work and in competitive herding trials.

But the model suggests that, in theory, a dog could herd more than 100 by following the two simple rules.

In contrast, other attempts at resolving the Sheepdog Mystery are more pessimistic. They say that 50 sheep would be the limit -- beyond this, another dog (or a human) would be needed to close up the gaps.

The study, published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, comes with an intimidatingly geeky headline: "Solving the Shepherding Problem: Heuristics for Herding Autonomous, Interacting Agents."

But the work goes beyond scientific curiosity, said the authors.

"There are numerous applications for this knowledge, such as crowd control, cleaning up the environment, herding of livestock, keeping animals away from sensitive areas and collective or guiding groups of exploring robots," said King.

Spooked baboons baffle Dutch zoo in Emmen

BBC News, 2 August 2013

The baboons took to the trees in fear... and stayed there

Related Stories 

• Monkeys recognise words on screen

Staff at a zoo in the Netherlands say they are baffled by their baboons, who have spent days sitting still, huddled together in fear and hardly eating.

The behaviour started on Monday evening, and only now are the 112 baboons becoming their normal, active selves again, said a biologist at Emmen Zoo.

The zoo still has no idea what spooked the hamadryas baboons, but it is a good sign that some are now eating apples, biologist Wijbren Landman said.

The zoo last saw such hysteria in 2007.

"What frightened them? We don't know, it's a mystery. There have been many suggestions - an earthquake, escaped snakes, aliens, thunder," Mr Landman told BBC News.

"The other animals here are OK - they have lemurs, elephants and kangaroos as neighbours, and they show no sign of panic."

Emmen lies in the north-eastern Netherlands, near the German border.

Mr Landman said he had consulted a French baboon expert who had witnessed such baboon hysteria in the wild, triggered by awareness of a predator. But the French expert said such hysteria had not lasted as long as in the Emmen case.

"The first deviation we saw was on Monday evening," Mr Landman said.

"We were going to bring them to the night enclosure - it normally takes a minute for all 112 to enter, but it took more than an hour to get them all inside. Then the next morning it was a problem to get them out, and then they were immediately sitting in the trees and on the rocks doing nothing at all."

He said some males in the hierarchy must have got frightened for some reason, and the rest of the baboons followed their lead.

According to Mr Landman, it is unlikely they would have been spooked by a fox, as the zoo is in the city centre, and they are used to seeing herons flying low over their enclosure, so a bird of prey is also an unlikely cause.

The Emmen baboons had similar scares in 1994, 1997 and 2007 and some would have experienced the previous hysteria, as hamadryas baboons can reach the age of 30, Mr Landman said.

Horse stuck in ravine rescued through ‘telepathy’

A missing horse was rescued from a deep ravine in Redmond after a horse communicator helped locate her.

Seattle Times, Brian M. Rosenthal, Seattle Times staff reporter, May 28 2013

Emergency workers rescued Gemma the

 horse from a 70-foor ravine near Redmond.

Officials executed a difficult horse rescue on Tuesday, lifting an 800-pound Norwegian fjord out of a deep Redmond ravine without any injuries.

But the most incredible part, says the stable’s owner, is how caretakers found the horse — with the help of a telepathic animal communicator.

Gemma, a 4-year-old with a history of escaping and other behavior problems, apparently got out of her stall at the Saddle Rock Stables, in the 24000 block of Northeast 115th Street, and slipped 70 feet into a steep ravine nearby before settling on a ledge.

Owner Barbara Linstedt said caretakers searched for her for hours before getting connected to acclaimed horse communicator Joan Ranquet on Monday night.

Ranquet apparently communicated via telepathy with Gemma and determined she was in a tight space near shrubbery and could hear road noise and water, Linstedt said.

Linstedt knew that meant the shelf in the ravine.

She and the others looked there and immediately saw Gemma.

Rescuers waited until the morning to move in.

They got the horse out Tuesday afternoon by putting a helmet and harness on her, setting up pulleys and pulling her up.

About 60 rescuers from nine state agencies and nonprofits participated in the effort, which was led by the Washington State Animal Response Team.

Gemma was reportedly doing well Tuesday night.

“It’s amazing,” Linstedt said. “It’s an absolute miracle that we found her and got her out.”

Brian M. Rosenthal: 206-464-3195 or brosenthal@seattletimes.com. On Twitter @brianmrosenthal

Another Crop Circle Discovered in Indonesia

Jakarta Globe, May 16, 2011

A new crop circle has been reported in a rice field in Cikarang, Bekasi,
West Java. (Photo courtesy of Ufonesia)

A new crop circle has been reported by a group established to investigate UFO sightings in Indonesia.

Beta-UFO, set up in 1997, said the latest crop circle had appeared in a rice field in Cikarang, Bekasi, West Java.

“The locals didn’t know,” group member Julius Perdana told Detik.com on Monday. “We had to climb up a hill to see it [the crop circle] for ourselves.”

Julius said the crop circle was discovered three weeks ago but the group had only become aware of it on Sunday.

The news portal did not say how the group had been alerted to the find.

He said the crop circle — which fringe groups claim have extraterrestrial origins — was 90 meters long and 30 meters wide in some places and consisted of two circles topped with hexagons.

“There are no police lines or spectators,” Julius said.

He said the design differed from the previously discovered crop circle discovered in Sleman, Yogyakarta, but more closely resembled another discovered in Magelang, Central Java.

Beta-UFO had taken photos of the crop circle and would send them to researchers at Central Java’s Diponegoro University for further examination.

“We will wait for the researchers t0 say whether it is original or man-made,” Julius said.Beta-UFO, a community established in October 1997 to investigate UFO sightings in Indonesia, reported that a new crop circle has appeared in Cikarang, Bekasi, West Java.

“The locals didn't know. We had to climb up a hill to see it [the crop circle] by ourselves,” Julius Perdana, a member of the community told news portal Detik.com on Monday.

Beta-UFO learned about the crop circle on Sunday. After visiting the location, on a farm near Delta Mas housing complex in Cikarang, and talking to the land owner, the crop circle was first found three weeks ago.

According to Julius, the crop circle was 90 meters long and 30 meters wide. The land owner had cut several parts of the circle.

“There are no police lines or spectators,” Julius said, adding that the crop circle is different with the one previously found in Sleman, Yogyakarta but it resembled the one found in Magelang, Central Java. The circle in Bekasi consisted of two circles and a hexagon symbol on top of the circles.

Beta-UFO had taken photos of the circle and would send the photos to researchers at Central Java's Diponegoro University for further examination.

“We will wait what the researchers say whether it is original or man-made,” Julius said.

Crop Circle at Berbah, Yogyakarta: Stand Back Rod Rice

DiBalikBerita, 3 Feb 2011 (Google Translation)

"Whatever the word LAPAN (National Institute of Aeronautics and Space) or reporters. They say this (crop circles ) man-made, please, that's their right. But for residents, this may not manmade. With this registration form, and time (the construction) that while, at night, no way. When meeting with the police in dukuh, citizens have declared their stance, in our opinion this is not a man-made, "said Suhari, one resident told DiBalikBerita.

(Fig 2.) Sticks on the side showing the "swelling" in
ruasnya and 1 normal stem from outside the CC

The same thing also disclosed Ayu, a resident whose house is about 25 meters from the crop circle(CC), the nearest house with CC. "Saturday night, residents hang out in front of my house, patrolling, came home at 3 am. There was no sign of anything. The next morning (01/23/2011) was found at 7.Keep how to make it? I even suspected journalists. He said, 'This is perhaps the make of people whose homes were closest. " If you can make , I mean these people smart . I am really tired of facing these questions. She thought that people make - make . "He said.

Several other residents also recalled their disappointment against LAPAN and journalists. LAPAN team just arrived on Tuesday, after 2 days in advance, through the media, was "sure" that the CC in Berbah is manmade. They also assume that some reporters already have their own conclusions, which refer to the official source statement (LAPAN) alone, and do not seriously explore the facts on the ground.

"The team of LAPAN coming, enter (tip) umbrella to the axis (center of the circle CC). When the umbrellas go easily, they conclude this because it is definitely man-made hole former stick (man made tool of CC with a stick and rope). Lha, it's rice fields fertile, friable soil, trampled or anything inserted would easily fit. They also say there are human footprints. This trail must exist because it was 2 days and have trampled the visitors, "added Kardi.

In addition, the central point of CC is indeed hollow. According to residents, on the first day was found, there is a visitor came and pulled a handful of rice stalks are still standing in the shaft, so there is a hole there. "I do not know what purpose," said Suhari. In fact, there is still the central point that rice can be shown that there is no hole there.

LAPAN attitude that has taken the decision even before looking into the location it can be "understood". Aviation and aerospace official institutions of any country would do the same when faced with this kind of phenomenon. Therefore, in England, where CC is most prevalent, serious study of CC is only done by private institutions (at least the results are published).

When DiBalikBerita visited the location and managed to get into CC, rice stalks fall down "swelling" in ruasnya and forming an angle of about 45 degrees, but not broken.

Figure 2 sticks on the side showing the "swelling" in ruasnya and 1 normal stem from outside the CC.

It has a similarity with corn stalks in the CC in Southern England (see picture corn stalks in "Scientific Facts about Crop Circle").

Meanwhile, rice stalks outside the CC does not show this - trunk segments straight.When the rice patang demolished with pressed or stepped on, no segment of "swell" or "explode" like that, but just broken.

All of rice straw in the CC there is nothing broken. The proof, which collapsed rods that are now starting to come back to his feet. Link to a video that shows it (02/03/2011).

News Photo: "Crop Circle" in Piyungan

Kompas, Editor: Tri Wahono, Tuesday, January 25, 2011 - (Google Translation)

Crop circle found in Piyungan, Yogyakarta,
photographed by a visitor named Cundoko.

BANTUL, KOMPAS.com - The phenomenon of crop circles, mysterious circle formed in the rice fields, re-discovered in the Yogyakarta area. Crop circles are first found in the region Berbah, Sleman, Sunday (1/23/2011), and the second in Piyungan, Bantul, Tuesday (1/25/2011) today.

Location corp circle in rice fields along the highway Piyungan-Prambanan, exactly Hamlet Wanujoyo Kidul, Desa Srimartani, Piyungan District, Bantul. Residents reported finding approximately at 13.00 even though the land owners actually already know the strangeness of it since 10 days ago.

Crop circle pattern is seen in Hamlet Wanujoyo, Srimartani, Piyungan, Bantul,
Yogyakarta, on Tuesday (25/01/2011). Until now a number of institutions continues to
uncover the pattern-making circle (KOMPAS / FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO)

The size of the second crop circle is smaller than the first, only about 30-40 meter. The pattern is not clearly known, but is thought to differ from the first crop circle.

Not yet known who made it. So far, the crop circle phenomenon is often associated with a UFO (Unidentified flying objects) and alien. However, others argue, it is due to natural phenomena or even deliberately made human.

Related Articles:

Indonesia Space Agency Pooh-Poohs Idea that Aliens Behind Crop Circle

UFO-related "crop circle" found In Yogyakarta rice field

UFO trace?: A large circle and geometric pattern local residents say
were created by a UFO have been found in a rice field in Krasakan
hamlet in Sleman, Yogyakarta..(Tribun Jogja)

Indonesia Space Agency Pooh-Poohs Idea that Aliens Behind Crop Circle

Jakarta Globe, Candra Malik | January 24, 2011

Hundreds of curious visitors have flocked to a small rice field in central Java to witness
what could be Indonesia’s first documented crop circle, an occurrence attributed by some
to close encounters of the Alien kind. (JG Photo/Boy T Harjanto)

Yogyakarta. Hundreds of curious visitors have flocked to a small rice field in central Java to witness what could be Indonesia’s first documented crop circle, an occurrence attributed by some to close encounters of the Alien kind.

(JG Photo/Boy T Harjanto)

Ngadiran, one of six farmers who owns the land in Slemen where the crop circle measuring 70 meters in diameter was found on Sunday afternoon, told the Jakarta Globe on Monday that he had not seen what had caused the distinctive pattern but others may have.

“According to several residents, they saw a tornado on Saturday evening. On Sunday afternoon, we saw the footprint in our fields,” Ngadiran said.

He would not say if he believed that an unidentified flying object (UFO) was behind the crop circle, which contains a number of symbols.

The farmers have fenced off the area to prevent their fields from being trampled by sightseers, while police have set up cordons.

Thomas Djamaluddin, the head of atmospheric sciences and chief of astronomy research at the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (Lapan), doubted, however, that the Slemen crop circles were an indication that humankind had been visited by aliens.

(JG Photo/Boy T Harjanto)

“We will not send investigators to the scene because we suspect the crop circle involves human invention, not natural phenomena, nor scientific phenomena associated with outer space creatures commonly referred to as aliens,” Thomas said.

Budi Waluyo, head of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geology Agency (BMKG) in Yogyakarta, said the agency had no records of a tornado in the special province or its surrounding areas on Saturday and Sunday.

He said even if a tornado did occur, it would leave a distinctive snaking trail, not a crop circle.

Related Articles:

UGM Students claim to have created the crop circle

UFO enthusiasts fascinated with Sleman crop circle

UFO-related "crop circle" found In Yogyakarta rice field

UFO trace?: A large circle and geometric pattern local residents say were
created by a UFO have been found in a rice field in Krasakan hamlet in Sleman,
Yogyakarta..(Tribun Jogja)

Mayan Prophecies and Crop Circles - An Extraordinary Connection

More Crop Circle articles ....

UFO-related "crop circle" found In Yogyakarta rice field

Antara News, Senin, 24 Januari 2011 02:33 WIB

Photo crop circle in rice cultivation areas Berbah, Sleman, DI Yogyakarta,
the alleged UFO landing site. (TRIBUNJOGJA.COM / Hendi Kurniawan)

Sleman, Yogyakarta (ANTARA News) - A unique "crop circle", popularly believed to be the footprint of an unidentified flying object (UFO) was discovered in Rejosari village, Jogotirto, Berbah subdistrict, Sleman district, Yogyakarta province, on Sunday.

Crop circle in Yogyakarta

Kompas.com quoted a Rejosari villager named Basori as saying that he had heard a strange noise like that of a helicopter on Saturday at 10.30 PM West Indonesia Time landing on a rice field near his house.

Basori, whose house was located on the northern part of the crop circle-marked rice field said he heard the flying object`s sound for thirty minutes.

"The sound was heard for thirty minutes but at the moment I didn`t think much of it I thought it was only the sound of a passing helicopter," said the 41-year-old Basori.

The man`s confession was confirmed by Ayu Rukini, 32. "I also heard the sound. At the time, I and my husband were wathing TV. I thought it was an air force helicopter on a training flight," said Basori`s wife.

The crop circle at the rice field that certain people in the world frequently associated with UFOs was first observed by Yudi, 20.

Yudi was quoted by Kompas.com as saying that he first saw the crop circle when passing the rice field on his way to work on Sunday at 05.00 AM local time.

"When passing the rice field, I saw the paddies fall down but they formed a neat, orderly pattern," he said adding that he had not heard the sound Basori and his wife, Ayu Rukini, had claimed on Saturday night.

Yudi said he sat near Basori`s house from Saturday evening to early Sunday at 03.00 AM but he heard nothing. "During the night, there was no rainfall... But on Sunday morning, there was this pattern (crop circle) in the middle of the rice field," Yudi said.

This crop circle could clearly be seen from the peak of a hill on the northern part of the rice field. Locals called the hill "Mount Suru", he said.

Tens of people who were eager to see the unprecedented phenomenon climbed the slippery hill, including Syamsul Bahri, 37. Bahri said the crop circle was a sign of Almighty God`s greatness.

"Whether a UFO has indeed landed here, I don`t know precisely. What is clear is that this is a sign of God`s greatness. Maybe Almighty Allah (God) wants to warn mankind here to take care of His creation, nature," said the resident of Beloran village, Madurejo, Prambanan, Sleman district.

UFO trace?: A large circle and geometric pattern local residents say were created by a UFO
have been found in a rice field in Krasakan hamlet in Sleman, Yogyakarta..(Tribun Jogja)

Related Articles:

Indonesia Space Agency Pooh-Poohs Idea that Aliens Behind Crop Circle

Air Force to get bird’s-eye view of ‘UFO’ trails

Crop circles found in Yogya rice field

Kalitirto has scientists, UFO enthusiasts going round in circles