A crippled horse has been given a false leg in a pioneering operation to stop her being put down after suffering an awful injury.These amazing pictures show how technology has given the lame horse a new lease of life rather than face the prospect of being put down. Now this mare Riley will spend the rest of her days in an animal sanctuary.
Thanks to the artificial leg, she is able to trot around her paddock and graze normally with her pony friends.And the vet who treated her believes the surgery will be able to prevent many more otherwise healthy animals being destroyed because of broken or infected limbs.Staff at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Wyoming feared the worst for Riley when she was brought in four years ago with what was describes as ‘an awful’ hind leg injury. The buckskin horse had a severe cut on her left hind leg. Scar tissue formed, causing her tendons to contract to such an extent that her fetlock (or ankle) was pulled out of place. The best option at the time was to surgically insert a metal plate into her leg to fuse the fetlock and straighten the leg.For a few years, the plate helped Riley lead a decent life.But despite the best treatment, the plate became contaminated and an infection developed around it, causing the bone to deteriorate.Removing the plate and putting in a new one wasn’t feasible because it would entail removing bone that had grown around the plate, which would have destabilised the leg even more.
Normally in such a situation, the horse would be put down but sanctuary manager Jen Reid and the centre’s veterinarian Dr Tara Timpson were determined not to let that happen.Then one day two volunteer workers at the sanctuary in Utah mentioned Vet Ted Vlahos in Wyoming, who had successfully fitted horse amputees with artificial legs.He was one of three veterinarians who pioneered the procedure and came to assess whether Riley would be a good candidate for a prosthetic limb.To endure recovery and get accustomed to an artificial leg, a horse must have a calm temperament because post-op rehabilitation involves spending a good deal of time hoisted in a sling. If the horse is prone to anxiety, the stress incurred while in the sling could lead to colic.
The horse also needs to have a strong opposing leg - in Riley’s case, a strong right rear leg - because she would be bearing much of her weight on that leg until she adjusted to the prosthesis.He decided she fitted the bill and agreed to perform the surgery a discounted rate while a generous benefactor met the cost of the treatment.The vet transported Riley to his clinic where he amputated her leg just below her knee and fitted her with a temporary prosthetic limb.Five months ago Dr Vlahos loaded Riley into his horse trailer and transported her to his clinic where he fitted the first of three titanium limbs she will receive while the swelling in her stump heals.Not long after the procedure, she was trotting, running and even playing, as well as easily bearing the weight of Dr Vlahos’s daughter, whose birthday wish was for Riley to be well enough to ride.
Then last month Riley returned home to Best Friends.Though stiff from the long ride, she now wanders her pasture grazing, trotting and flirting.Jen Reid said: ‘She’s eating great. She takes lots of naps. She likes to flirt over the fence with her male neighbour.‘She’s doing everything a normal horse would.’Best Friends spokeswoman Barbara Williamson said:‘Each year, thousands of horses are put down for reasons very similar to those that necessitated the amputation of Riley’s leg. ‘Nowhere has that fact been more apparent than at the racetrack, where countless thoroughbreds have been destroyed after breaking a leg. ‘Riley now shows that horses’ lives don’t have to end that way, thanks to this advance in equine medicine.’
She added: ‘This procedure isn’t for every horse with a broken or severely infected leg, but many horses can be saved from a death sentence if people simply knew that having a prosthetic limb fitted is an option.’Tara Timpson who is now taking daily care of Riley said: ‘She has always been an amazing patient.‘We knew we needed a horse like that to be a good candidate for this procedure.’Dr Vlahos said the ideal candidate for the procedure was a thoroughbred racehorse because they are incredibly fit.He added: ‘We really feel that its old school to quit on these horses.’He stressed it isnt for every horse with a broken or severely infected leg, but feels many horses can be saved from a death sentence if people simply know about this option. Currently, two other veterinarians, Dr Barrie Grant of California and Dr Rick Redden of Kentucky, perform the procedure.Dr Vlahos believes that eventually the prosthesis option will become a common practice.He went on: ‘We’re hopeful that horses like Riley will get the word out that we don’t always need to kill them.‘We have thousands of guys who come back from Iraq with amputated limbs. We don’t throw them away, and nor should we with horses.’
If you or I were to flout an angling ban in a royal park, we might not expect to get off the hook so easily.But this bold heron clearly isn’t worried by rules as he brazenly holds his catch in his beak while perched on a ‘No Fishing’ sign.The elegant long-legged bird was spotted in Bushy Park, near Hampton Court Palace, Surrey.
An onlooker said: ‘It was the oddest sight. The heron almost looked as though he was mocking the law by standing on the sign.‘He stayed there and held the fish a while before gulping it down. It was quite a sight.’Herons natural habitat is in marshland and estuaries, but over the last few years an increasing number have settled in urban areas.And despite the threat to fish in gardens and parks, legal protection, mild winters and improvements in water quality have all helped to encourage more of the birds than ever.There are at least 13,000 pairs across Britain, according to recent research.And they can live for up to 25 yearsThe birds are opportunists, readily eating anything that comes near the water's edge.Among their prey are frogs, toads, rats, water voles and even ducklings.
It's fun in the water for these amazing animals who love to swim at their owner's outdoor pool.Measuring over two metres in length and weighing 200lb, these one-year-old tigers are having the time of their lives.Reaching for their human playmates with their giant paws, they dive, splash and even swim - in the same pool.Together with their handlers, Moksha Bybee and Ragani Ferrante, tigers Balavan, Bali, and Oden display unusually close interaction between man and beast.Animal expert Dr Bhagavan Antle has taught these amazing creatures to swim as part of an enrichment programme at his animal park in Miami.
'Tigers have a natural desire and ability to swim, exceeding that of all the other big cats,' said Dr Antle.'It is rarely seen and we wanted to be able to present it to people so they could really get the feel of that incredible beauty and grace that a tiger has in the water.'Tigers have modified webbing between their toes that makes their feet like flippers and they are superior swimmers.'Because of those attributes we thought it was something people would love so we built this custom-made pool to allow people to experience this unique behaviour.' The water-loving animals all live at the Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species, or TIGER, in Myrtle Beach, near Miami.Filled with 100,00 gallons of water, one side of the entire pool is made of glass, allowing guests of the institute the unique opportunity to see the handlers and the animals up close swimming together.
'There are other pictures out there of tigers underwater but people have never been able to get this close to a tiger because it is so dangerous,' says Dr Antle.'These are the only shots I have ever seen where people are swimming with tigers like this.' Dr Antle has a 25-year career caring for threatened species and has about 200 animals in large enclosures at the TIGER park.He said: 'I started swimming with tigers about 25 years ago.'We found that in the water people and tigers were on a more equal footing when the tiger was swimming around on the top.'As they were floating around we could manipulate them more easily because they don't stand up on their back legs.'When they are younger they love taking baths and then we slowly introduce them to the pool.' 
Dr Antle and his animal-trainers give one-on-one tuition to each of the animals while they are in the water.'These are hand-raised tigers,' he said.'At the institute we feel that swimming with the big cats gives them a closer bond between the animal and their human companions.'As part of our wildlife education program they are all hand-reared.' But despite the apparent danger, Doc ensures his trainers are never at risk.'There is always a team of handlers in the water at any given time,' he explains.'I don't think many people in the world try to get in the water with a tiger these days. It is all done from the edge when people throw meat and the tiger chases it.'We are playing with the tigers and letting then have that interactive capacity with the handlers instead of allowing them to have meat.' Each tiger is introduced to the pool a few months after they are born. With a potential to grow to over 500lbs and 8ft in length, it is often considered that handlers will only swim with the tigers when they are no more than a year old.
However Dr Antle often looks at each individual case when considering how close his trainers can remain to the tigers.'I depends on the tiger,' he says.'I personally have had full-grown 15-year-old adult tigers that I swam with and adult ligers [cross between a lion and tiger]. But that is me and I wouldn't put my staff at the same risk.'We will allow the tigers to swim with the handlers as they mature but we have to monitor each one on its own merits.' The TIGER centre has several programmes allowing people to interact closely with the animals.Many of the animals are also trained actors and have appeared in advertisements and films including Forrest Gump and Ace Ventura.
We may not really care what our view is when we use the loo.But maybe we should - for according to the World Toilet Organisation we spend three years of our lives on the throne.And that fact was enough to set author Luke Barclay off on a mission to flush out the planet's best loos with a view.
Among them are remote wilderness loos, such as the ones at Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia and the Boulder Pass Campsite in Montana, which overlooks the spectacular Agassiz Glacier.Many are on sacred sites - including those in the Valley of Longevity in Ecuador, where locals are said to live to 135, and on Mount Sinai in Egypt, where God is said to have handed the Ten Commandments to Moses.
The loos on the lookout tower at Alcatraz clearly worked, as no escape attempts were successful in the prison's 29-year history.But women using the aquarium toilet at Mumin Papa Cafe in Akashi, Japan, have complained of being watched by a male sea turtle.However, the future for interesting toilets is bright, as the new men's loo in Terminal 3 of Singapore's Changi Airport proves.
Loo With A View, by Luke Barclay, is published by Virgin Books at £7.99. To order your copy with free p&p, call The Review Bookstore on 0845 155 0713.
The meat had been cooked, the sandwich almost assembled and assorted Guinness Book of Records dignitaries were patiently waiting by to give it their official stamp of approval.But cooks in Iran were left in despair after their bid to create the world's longest sandwich failed when the crowd started eating it before it could be measured.Event organisers had planned to stuff the 1,500-metre-long sandwich with 700 kg of ostrich meat and 700 kg of chicken, and display it in a park in the capital Tehran.
But as the sandwich was being measured, chaos ensued.The giant snack was gone in minutes, leaving the three Guinness representatives with a problem.One of the event’s organisers said video footage of the sandwich would be sent to Guinness officials."We still think the sandwich will be recorded in the Guinness book because of all the evidence and footage that we will send them," claimed Parvin Shariati.The stunt had been organised to encourage Iranians to eat a healthier diet.Ostrich meat is far leaner than much of the Iranian diet with as half as much fat as chicken, lots of iron, and very little cholesterol - as well as being extremely tasty.
This is the moment a 'drunken' pony fell into a swimming pool after gorging himself on fermented windfall apples.The pony - nicknamed 'Fat Boy' - escaped from his stable and broke into a back garden with another pony where they began munching on hundreds of fallen apples.Because the fruit had started to rot and ferment, the greedy horses soon began to show the effects.Tipsy Fat Boy stumbled across the garden, lost his footing and fell head first into an outdoor swimming pool.
Homeowner Sarah Penhaligon, 28, woke up after hearing a 'huge' splash and found the moorland pony in the shallow end.But Sarah, of Newquay, Cornwall, was unaware the horse was inebriated and fed it MORE apples to keep it calm while fire crews were called.She said: 'When I looked outside I saw this massive animal in the dark and I thought the Beast of Bodmin was in the pool.'I was terrified, but when I took a closer look I realised it was a horse.'I didn't have a clue what to do next - who do you call when there's a horse stuck in your swimming pool? 'I dialled 999 and they asked which service I wanted and I said I didn't know - I just had a horse in my pool and needed help.' 
Police and fire crews raced to the scene at 3am on Tuesday and spent two hours building a set of hay steps in the pool to rescue Fat Boy.They finally hoisted Fat Boy out of the water at 5am with the help of several harnesses.Sarah said: 'He looked a bit panicked. He was trying to get out of the pool but couldn't manage it and was getting very tired.'I decided to sit down next to him and calm him down, so I fed him some apples to keep him occupied.'The other horse just kept munching away from the tree and didn't seem to care about what was going on at all.' Fat Boy had escaped from the nearby Trenance Riding Stables.
A spokesperson said that Fat Boy, who is 11-hands, must have smelt the apples.She added horses are known to get 'punch drunk' from eating too many apples which caused Fat Boy to become unsteady on his legs.Stable staff only discovered that he had broken-out of his field when they were called by police. A spokesman said it was his 'portly figure' that kept him warm.'It looks like he was scrounging for apples in the garden and fell in when he trod on the tarpaulin over the pool," he said.'It's a good job he's got a lot of bulk, as it kept him warm while he was stuck in the water.'After he got out he was taken back and checked over by a vet, but luckily he's fine.' 
As this little fellow's countryman Rolf Harris might say, 'Can you see what it is yet?'No? Well, that's not surprising. How many times have you seen a baby kangaroo (joey) photographed this early in his mother's pouch? He's still at the embryonic stage, and about the size of a jellybean, but has been captured on camera for a remarkable documentary called Extraordinary Animals In The Womb. 
But the cameras for this joint National Geographic Channel and Channel 4 series - from the same people who brought us last year's unforgettable images of baby elephants seemingly dancing in the womb - have traced his incredible journey, from conception to birth, using revolutionary film-making processes.Ground-breaking photographic techniques, plus state-of-the-art graphics, 4-D scanning techniques and the most sophisticated natural history models ever, have all been used to provide an unparalleled glimpse into a world that few of us would ever expect to see.For the first time ever, we can follow the embryonic journey of four different animals: our kangaroo, the lemon shark, the Emperor penguin, and the parasitic wasp. And one of the most jaw-dropping sequences is a glimpse of the joey just before he is born - a mass of kicking legs and punching arms, raring to go.
It is a staggeringly ambitious project, and one that has taken several years to make. As Jeremy Dear, head of development at Pioneer Productions, puts it, 'Illustrating what goes on inside a living creature involves the very latest digital technology and innovative filming, combined with anatomically accurate models, to create the impression of really being in the womb.'It's fair to say that, apart from little joey, the series is a much less cuddly piece of TV than its predecessor, but, if anything, it's more gripping. And it's not one for the faint-hearted either, as it turns on its head whatever assumptions you might have about life in utero being akin to a nice calming waft around a flotation tank.'One of the most exciting journeys in the series that we look at is that of the lemon shark,' explains the show's producer Peter Chinn. 'We see that this animal's embryos are cannibalistic - they eat their own siblings in order to survive. What goes on inside that particular womb is astonishingly brutal.' With a mixture of high definition (HD) scanning and intricate modelmaking, the fight is recreated for the cameras.'We've kept it as accurate as possible, and it is really gruesome in places. It happens just as their teeth have begun to form. The embryo is blind, but can sense that it has rivals in the womb, so starts eating its brothers and sisters.' So not one for teatime viewing then.Fledgling life isn't a barrel of laughs for the cute penguin chicks either. They must battle the coldest weather on the planet, where it really is a case of only the strongest surviving. And as for the parasitic wasp, Peter explains that its larvae must first hijack and exploit the body of another creature, such as a caterpillar. 'By using incredibly detailed scans, we were able to see what was actually going on, and the torment this caterpillar was subjected to. It gives some sense of what remarkable fights for life go on.' 
Peter and his team travelled across three continents to obtain the footage involved, and were lucky enough to witness the birth - within a one-hour time frame - of an incredible 14 shark pups. 'It's hard enough to film sharks, never mind trying to capture them mating or giving birth, but we spent five days in a boat in the Bahamas, hoping to find pregnant sharks.'So how does one spot a pregnant shark? 'There is a specific time of year that pregnant sharks gather, and the local experts we working with knew roughly where to find them,' says Peter. 'But, as is so often the case, it is largely down to patience - and luck.'Once they had identified their mummy-to-be, the divers were dispatched with special HD cameras, the size of a hand. 'Shark births had been filmed before, but not with the quality of these images. That's the remarkable thing about working in this field - the technology is improving all the time, so the boundaries are always being pushed back.'In terms of scanning the pregnant animals, medical advances have now made this much more straightforward. 'There was a lot of collaboration with the medical world.We used a special medical endoscope with an integrated camera. This gave us much better access, so that we could film inside such places as a kangaroo pouch.' But there is only so far that cameras can go. 'You can't just stick a camera into an animal's womb because you'd end up killing the embryo,' says Peter.
Where the photographic and scanning efforts ended, computer imagery took over. A team of model-makers was enlisted to recreate the embryos at various stages. 'These guys had an incredibly difficult job to do,' says Peter. 'Their background is in creating gremlins and the like for movies, but for us they had to produce incredibly accurate representations of embryonic animals.'Every tiny detail had to be perfect, and everything was checked and double-checked with a team of experts and against scan images. With the shark, for instance, every gill had to be in exactly the right position. It was quite a tortuous procedure.'Not least when it came to the Emperor penguin. It is virtually impossible to examine the eggs up close in order to make models of them, because they are protected by law. 'We worked with old samples belonging to the Natural History Museum, which dated from about 1910.'The end result, however, is a programme so slick that you genuinely cannot tell where the real footage ends and computer-generated images begin. 'There is no intention to deceive, and we are clear about just how far our cameras can go,' says Peter. 'But the picture we've been able to build up goes further than my wildest dreams.'Those viewers who like their baby animals to look like cute little furballs will be relieved to know that other episodes in the series offer a more conventional peek inside animal wombs.
One looks at cats, offering glimpses of the foetal development of the domestic cat, and also that of the lion, with 4-D ultrasound technology showing our feline friends stretching in the womb, while infra-red cameras capture a lion cub being born. And dogs, too - from the grey wolf to the miniature Chihuahua; the cameras even capture the tiny unborns panting.By happy coincidence, Peter's wife became pregnant during the series' production process. Did his professional expertise help his wife much? 'I kept coming up with useful facts about what would be happening to a kangaroo foetus at the particular stage that our baby was also at. I'm not entirely sure she found that helpful. Actually, I think she got a bit annoyed. She'd say, "Would you stop with the stories about cannibalistic sharks. It isn't helping."'Watching his own little boy's limbs flailing around on the ultrasound screen provided, perhaps, the most powerful reminder possible of how diverse the journey to life really is. 'I was struck by how calm the human process is in comparison,' admits Peter. 'It really makes you appreciate what a straightforward ride evolution has given us human beings. We have it pretty easy, really, all things considered.'
A science fan has had Professor Stephen Hawking's face tattooed on his leg - in tribute to the 66-year-old brainbox.Jack Newton, 23, decided to have his right leg inked with the theoretical physicist's face after reading his best-selling book A Brief History of Time - even though he didn't understand a word of it.The tattoo - complete with a Monty Python line from the classic Life of Brian film 'He's not the messiah. He's a very naughty boy' written underneath it - has already won two trophies at tattoo conventions.Mr Newton of Brighton, said: 'I read A Brief History of Time, but to be honest I didn't understand a word, but I respect the man and that's why I got his face tattooed on my leg.'He has worked on some ground-breaking scientific research and is an amazing example of how illness does not necessarily stop a man from doing great things.'He's an inspiration to us all.'Jack, a trainee artist at the Angelic Hall tattoo studios in Brighton, spent seven hours being inked by tattoo artist Stewart Francis।Stephen Hawking, who has an IQ of 152, suffers from a type of motor neuron disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - or Lou Gehrig's disease - which means he has almost no neuromuscular control.
Twin brothers were today celebrating setting a new European record by growing a massive pumpkin weighing more than a Mini car.Ian and Stuart Paton's giant squash weighed in at a staggering 1457lb - more than 104 stone - and had to be lifted by forklift truck.The pumpkin smashed the previous British record of 1,341lb set by father and son farmers Mark and Frank Baggs last month.
It also trumped the European record of 1357lb set by a Belgian grower last week।The record-breaking pumpkin took 129 days to grow and was weighed using a special winch device at the Annual Pumpkin Show in Netley, near Southampton, Hants.The Patons used a trailer pulled by a Volvo estate car to transport their giant vegetable to the show at Netley's Royal Victoria Country Park where it was weighed in front of witnesses.It was planted in a greenhouse in April and needed one and a half tonnes of manure to reach its current size.
Ian and Stuart, both 47, run the Pinetops nursery in Lymington, New Forest, and held the British record one year ago with a pumpkin weighing 1,188lb.Ian said the pair were delighted to reclaim their title.He said: "It's nice to have the record back because we had it a couple of years ago with a pumpkin weighing 1,124lb and then last year with one at 1188lb."This is the biggest and best so far. No one else will beat it this year."Stuart and I are always looking ahead and we are now going to try to grow another pumpkin to beat the world record this time next year."It's all about having a bit of luck and the right seeds - and we've definitely got the right seeds so it's just a matter of time now.pumpkin"We grow our best ones in a greenhouse to keep the wind off and plant them in one and a half tonnes of manure."At it's fastest stage this one was growing at 30lb a day - that's more than two stone."Pumpkins do most of their growing at night and it may even have managed up to 50lb in 24 hours if it was as warm as 25 degrees celsius overnight." An original Mini motor car weighs 1360lb (617kg).The average pumpkin weighs about five pounds and takes up to three months to mature.To establish a British record, pumpkin growers must have their vegetable weighed and photographed in front of witnesses at a recognised event.They must then send photographs and documentary evidence to the website 'bigpumpkins.com,' which keeps British records.The world's heaviest-ever pumpkin weighed in at 1,689lbs and was grown by Joe Jutras of Rhode Island, USA, in 2007.But expert Clive Bevan reckons climate change means British farmers will soon be competing with their bumper crops.He said: "Pumpkins love lots of sun, showers and humidity which is why Americans have always grown the biggest pumpkins but soon we may be able to able to grow them as big."
