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June 26, 2015

Strange But True!

Q. Feral animals find their natural habitat in wild places, but some have been seen “hanging out” in more populated, urban areas. Which ones?

A. A fox was seen on the 72nd floor of the unfinished Shard skyscraper in London rifling through the edible discards of the workers, says Nathan Seppa in Science News magazine. As journalist Tristan Donovan put it in his book “Feral Cities,” maybe this shouldn't have come as such a surprise, given that the usual one fox per square mile in rural England jumps up to 14 in cities! And in Jaipur, India, thousands of rhesus macaque monkeys have been raiding fruit stands using a standard M.O.: One monkey distracts the owner while others steal the goods. Yet efforts to stop the practice are hampered by the Hindu religion protecting the animals.


 
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