Sumatran ape applied sap and leaves to open cut after suspected fight with another male, say scientists

The high intelligence levels of orangutans has long been understood, partly due to their practical skills such as using tools to crack nuts and forage for insects. But new research suggests the primate has another handy skill in its repertoire: applying medicinal herbs.

Researchers say they have observed a male Sumatran orangutan treating an open facial wound with sap and chewed leaves from a plant known to have anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties.

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As Kong continues to terrorise us in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, we rate some great apes

Despite the English title, there’s only one “ape” in this cheesy slice of Mexploitation, once labelled a video nasty. A mad doctor transplants the heart of a gorilla into his dying son; the youth turns into a homicidal simian creep who sexually assaults women. Also features a lady luchador.

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Some say the public bragging of the formerly obscure governor of South Dakota ends her chances. But with Trump, who can say?

There is a familiar moment in Republican electoral politics when an obscure politician thrust into the limelight during election season comes under intense public scrutiny and is found to be not quite as first impressions suggested. This was Sarah Palin in 2008, or Ben Carson in 2016, and the inflection point is the moment at which the supposedly promising new face shades into what Mitch McConnell once delicately referred to as the Republicans’ “candidate quality problem”. Or, as most of us know it colloquially, the moment we realise: oh, this person is unhinged.

So it was last week for Kristi Noem, the formerly obscure governor of South Dakota, propelled into the big time as a possible running mate for Donald Trump, and who at first glance appeared appalling in all the ordinary ways. The 52-year-old, who was elected to the governorship in 2018, echoes the Republican party’s hardline positions on abortion, immigration and offshore drilling in ways indistinguishable from the rest of the VP field. She is telegenic, charismatic, reliably rightwing, and, according to her forthcoming memoir No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong With Politics and How We Move America Forward, also killed her 14-month-old puppy , Cricket.

Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist

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Republican senator says Noem’s story of killing her 14-month-old hunting dog makes her unlikely to be Trump’s running mate

• US politics – latest updates

Mitt Romney may have infamously tied a dog in a kennel to the roof of his car for a cross-country trip but at least he didn’t shoot it, the Utah Republican senator said, as outrage over the South Dakota governor, Kristi Noem, telling her story of killing a 14-month-old hunting dog continued to ripple through US politics.

“I didn’t eat my dog. I didn’t shoot my dog. I loved my dog, and my dog loved me,” Romney said, on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, as reported by HuffPost.

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Largest trainer of dogs in country is trying to prevent an estimated £20m funding gap opening up by 2026.

Guide Dogs UK, the largest trainer of dogs in the country, is to make about 160 people redundant – around 9% of its workforce – to prevent an estimated £20m funding gap opening up by 2026.

The charity blamed Covid and the cost of living crisis: veterinary bills have increased by almost 20% and pet food bills by 12% since 2023, with further increases expected.

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Family discovers ‘terrifying’ gigantic bee colony in wall of home with blood-like honey oozing down wall and $20,000 in damage

A toddler told her mom that “monsters” were in her closet. But in fact, there were more than 50,000 bees there.

A mother of three children under four years old was met with a “terrifying” surprise after she and her husband investigated why a handful of bees had flown into the attic of the couple’s North Carolina home.

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Virus has already killed other mammals including sea lions and seals, while also taking toll on farm animals

The first case of a walrus dying from bird flu has been detected on one of Norway’s Arctic islands, a researcher has said.

The walrus was found last year on Hopen island in the Svalbard archipelago, Christian Lydersen, of the Norwegian Polar Institute, told AFP.

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After the trauma of losing their spouse and breadwinner to the Sundarbans’ great predator, women are cast out by their superstitious communities. But they are coming together to rebuild their lives

Nobody saw exactly what happened in the minutes leading up to Aziz Murad’s death. But when his friends got back to the boat where they had left him, they found only his severed hand in the fishing net he was untying.

“We were only gone for about five minutes,” says Abu Sufyan, who was first to reach the boat. “When we got back, he was gone and there was blood everywhere.”

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Six people have been killed and more than 200 injured in attacks by bears over the past year

Japan is to trial an AI bear-warning system after a record number of attacks on humans over the past year as the animals struggle to find their staple foods.

A pilot system in Toyama prefecture, central Japan, will monitor live feeds from government, municipal and private security cameras to identify bears on the move in areas close to people, and send instant warnings to relevant local authorities, police and hunters. AI will also be used to monitor bears movement patterns and try to predict their future whereabouts.

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