The police in a small village in the United Kingdom are trying to solve a rather gruesome mystery which involves dozens of dead wild animals being dumped across Hampshire, a county in England, over the past several months.&nbsp;

<h2>What we know about the&nbsp;incident</h2>

There have been several cases of dead animals being found dumped across the county. The most recent one took place on Friday (March 15) morning, when around 50 dead hares, as well as a barn owl and a kestrel, were found outside a small community shop. &nbsp;

The discovery has reportedly left the staff of the Broughton Community Shop “distraught”. According to reports, the incident took place on Thursday night when the perpetrators smeared blood on the shop windows and two birds – a kestrel and a barn owl &nbsp;– were found impaled on the door handle.&nbsp;

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“Safe to say none of us were expecting our day to start as it did here this morning at Broughton Community Shop. Thank you all for popping in, messaging and phoning to make sure we are ok. We are ok shocked but ok,” said the Broughton Community Shop on their Facebook page.&nbsp;

They also requested nearby residents for CCTV footage and to come forward with any information that they may have. Gruesome images posted on social media show dozens of bodies of hares and birds scattered outside the shop’s door.&nbsp;

The police were called around 6:20 am (local time) on Friday, said a spokesperson for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police. “The animals have been collected and an investigation is underway.”

The police are also trying to identify the owners of a silver Suzuki Grand Vitara and have asked residents to get in touch with them if they saw a vehicle matching the description.&nbsp;

<h2>Similar cases reported</h2>

The recent incident is the latest in a string of seemingly related attacks. Last month, dozens of hares and pheasants were left outside a primary school in Awbridge. Over the past few weeks, residents have also reported dead birds and deer across the village roads and fields.&nbsp;

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The residents believe hare coursers may be involved as southern England’s Salisbury Plain is said to be a popular location for criminal gangs who livestream events on social media for people placing bets on which animal will be killed first, according to the Guardian.&nbsp;

According to media reports, the locals also speculate that this disturbing display may be the work of poachers who are trying to send a message and discourage them from meddling in their activities.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies) 
&nbsp;

The police in a small village in the United Kingdom are trying to solve a rather gruesome mystery which involves dozens of dead wild animals being dumped across Hampshire, a county in England, over the past several months.

The police in a small village in the United Kingdom are trying to solve a rather gruesome mystery which involves dozens of dead wild animals being dumped across Hampshire, a county in England, over the past several months. What we know about the incident There have been several cases of dead animals being found dumped across the county. The most recent one took place on Friday (March 15) morning, when around 50 dead hares, as well as a barn owl and a kestrel, were found outside a small community shop. The discovery has reportedly left the staff of the Broughton Community Shop “distraught”. According to reports, the incident took place on Thursday night when the perpetrators smeared blood on the shop windows and two birds – a kestrel and a barn owl – were found impaled on the door handle. Also Read | Ongoing manhunt in Philadelphia ends with police arresting killer of three “Safe to say none of us were expecting our day to start as it did here this morning at Broughton Community Shop. Thank you all for popping in, messaging and phoning to make sure we are ok. We are ok shocked but ok,” said the Broughton Community Shop on their Facebook page. They also requested nearby residents for CCTV footage and to come forward with any information that they may have. Gruesome images posted on social media show dozens of bodies of hares and birds scattered outside the shop’s door. The police were called around 6:20 am (local time) on Friday, said a spokesperson for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police. “The animals have been collected and an investigation is underway.” The police are also trying to identify the owners of a silver Suzuki Grand Vitara and have asked residents to get in touch with them if they saw a vehicle matching the description. Similar cases reported The recent incident is the latest in a string of seemingly related attacks. Last month, dozens of hares and pheasants were left outside a primary school in Awbridge. Over the past few weeks, residents have also reported dead birds and deer across the village roads and fields. Also Read | Tesla’s gearshift design under scrutiny following death of US billionaire The residents believe hare coursers may be involved as southern England’s Salisbury Plain is said to be a popular location for criminal gangs who livestream events on social media for people placing bets on which animal will be killed first, according to the Guardian. According to media reports, the locals also speculate that this disturbing display may be the work of poachers who are trying to send a message and discourage them from meddling in their activities. (With inputs from agencies)

UK village ‘distraught’ after dozens of dead animals found dumped outside local shop

Sri Lankan government officials have said that bodies of more than 10 turtles, a dolphin, fish and birds have washed up on the country`s beaches after the burning of the X-Press Pearl container ship. 
 
In a statement on Sunday, the Department of Wildlife Conservation officials said an investigation was underway to ascertain the cause of death of these marine species, reports Xinhua news agency. 
 
The dead marine creatures were found on beaches from Puttalam in the northwest to Mirissa in the south. 
 
Two turtles with injuries were also found on the Unawatuna beach in the south, according to the media reports. 
 
"Most of the turtles that were found dead on the beaches off Panadura and Wellawatte had their carapaces broken. One dead turtle at the Unawatuna beach was found with injures," an official involved in the investigation told the local Daily Mirror newspaper. 
 
A link between the marine life death and the burning of the X-Press Pearl container ship is expected to be the focus in the investigation. 
 
The Singapore-flagged vessel was carrying 1,486 containers with 25 tonnes of nitric acid and several other chemicals and cosmetics when arriving from India on May 15. 
 
It sent out a distress call while being close to the Colombo port on May 20 and soon caught fire resulting in Sri Lanka Navy dispatching vessels in efforts to fight the fire onboard. 
 
Sri Lanka's Marine Environment Protection Authority has said the burning of the vessel caused a massive environmental disaster as many beaches were damaged by the debris washing ashore. 
 
The government has said a large number of marine life have been killed as a result of the pollution caused by the fire, while the fisheries department has imposed a temporary ban on fishing from the southern to the western coast. 
 
A criminal probe is presently underway into the cause of the fire onboard the X-Press Pearl ship. 
 
Earlier Sunday, police said investigators have received the ship`s voyage data recorder which contains all the communication dialogues between the captain, the ship`s parent company and the local shipping agent. 
 
The Navy said an oil spill has not been detected from the burnt vessel, which was about 18.52 km away from the Colombo port.

Sri Lankan government officials have said that bodies of more than 10 turtles, a dolphin, fish and birds have washed up on the country`s beaches after the burning of the X-Press Pearl container ship.

Sri Lankan government officials have said that bodies of more than 10 turtles, a dolphin, fish and birds have washed up on the country`s beaches after the burning of the X-Press Pearl container ship. In a statement on Sunday, the Department of Wildlife Conservation officials said an investigation was underway to ascertain the cause of death of these marine species, reports Xinhua news agency. The dead marine creatures were found on beaches from Puttalam in the northwest to Mirissa in the south. Two turtles with injuries were also found on the Unawatuna beach in the south, according to the media reports. "Most of the turtles that were found dead on the beaches off Panadura and Wellawatte had their carapaces broken. One dead turtle at the Unawatuna beach was found with injures," an official involved in the investigation told the local Daily Mirror newspaper. A link between the marine life death and the burning of the X-Press Pearl container ship is expected to be the focus in the investigation. The Singapore-flagged vessel was carrying 1,486 containers with 25 tonnes of nitric acid and several other chemicals and cosmetics when arriving from India on May 15. It sent out a distress call while being close to the Colombo port on May 20 and soon caught fire resulting in Sri Lanka Navy dispatching vessels in efforts to fight the fire onboard. Sri Lanka's Marine Environment Protection Authority has said the burning of the vessel caused a massive environmental disaster as many beaches were damaged by the debris washing ashore. The government has said a large number of marine life have been killed as a result of the pollution caused by the fire, while the fisheries department has imposed a temporary ban on fishing from the southern to the western coast. A criminal probe is presently underway into the cause of the fire onboard the X-Press Pearl ship. Earlier Sunday, police said investigators have received the ship`s voyage data recorder which contains all the communication dialogues between the captain, the ship`s parent company and the local shipping agent. The Navy said an oil spill has not been detected from the burnt vessel, which was about 18.52 km away from the Colombo port.

Dead marine animals and birds wash up ashore in Sri Lanka after burning of cargo ship

What was recently a verdant area of trees and wildlife has become a desolate, barren landscape where life teeters on the brink after wildfires raged through this area of southeastern Bolivia. Ash has replaced leaves and dead animals scatter the charred earth in this area of the Andean country near its border with Paraguay.

Wildlife facing fire, heat, smoke and drought as Bolivian forests blaze

When Santosh Gaikwad, India&#39;s last-known practising taxidermist, first started stuffing animals 13 years ago he would keep dead birds in his family&#39;s freezer at home, much to his wife&#39;s consternation. 
 
Now, as the head of India&#39;s only taxidermy centre, he enjoys the use of two deep freezers large enough to hold a lion -- at the government-run workshop in Mumbai&#39;s national park. 
 
&quot;I had no option but to keep the dead birds in the home freezer,&quot; Gaikwad told AFP, flanked by a snarling leopard, Bengal tiger and two contented-looking lionesses. 
 
&quot;My wife was afraid because we didn&#39;t know how they had died. She thought food might get infected. So I wrapped them in two or three plastic bags, air-tight,&quot; he added. 
 
Back then, Gaikwad would take the birds from Mumbai&#39;s Bombay Veterinary College where he still works as a professor in anatomy department. Now he has built up such a reputation he receives a continuous supply of animals from state governments and pet owners. 
 
Taxidermy, popular in British colonial times, may conjure up images of Indian maharajas killing tigers and proudly displaying their stuffed corpses in their lavish palaces. 
 
But India&#39;s Wildlife Protection Act 1972 outlawed the hunting of wild animals and taxidermy trophies. 
 
Instead Gaikwad, 42, stuffs animals that have suffered a natural or accidental death and is inundated with requests to prepare animals for museums and for grieving pet lovers. 
 
It may seem a strange hobby to some but &quot;there&#39;s a lot of demand&quot; said Gaikwad, clad in a green surgical gown at the national taxidermy centre, opened in 2009 in Mumbai&#39;s lush Sanjay Gandhi National Park. 
 
Gaikwad, who is the only person authorised by the Indian government to stuff wild animals, explains that &quot;taxidermy is the combination of five arts: &quot;sculpture, painting, carpentry, cobbler, and anatomy&quot;. 
 
He skins the animal soon after death. Any remaining flesh is then carefully removed. Measurements are taken of the animal&#39;s body mass and a cast replica is prepared based on the original skeleton. 
 
- Stuffed Siberian tiger - 
The real skin is then placed on the mannequin and the finishing touches put in place -- glass eyes, perhaps whiskers and finally the stuffed creature is mounted. 
 
He says he has stuffed 13 big cats, including a Siberian tiger, a Himalayan black bear, more than 500 birds, including a Great Indian Bustard and at least 100 fish and reptiles. 
 
Gaikwad charges owners up to 3,000 Rupees ($45) to stuff an exotic bird and between 10,000 and 18,000 rupees for a dog, depending on breed and size. 
 
In 2014, Mumbai resident Susmita Mallik paid him to stuff her large German Shepherd Bruno after it died of a heart attack. She said the dog was &quot;like a child&quot; to her. 
 
&quot;I just couldn&#39;t think of losing him,&quot; she told AFP, adding that Bruno looks &quot;exactly&quot; the same as when he was alive. 
 
&quot;He is in the living room. I can touch him and brush him. It makes us feel he is with us,&quot; the 43-year-old added. 
 
It takes Gaikwad around eight months to prepare a big cat as he has to balance his work with his responsibilities at the veterinary college. 
 
He&#39;s come a long way since his interest in the ancient art was piqued by a visit to the natural history section of Mumbai&#39;s main museum in 2003. 
 
&quot;The animals were so realistic that I wanted to learn how to do it but nobody was teaching so I started by searching on the Internet,&quot; Gaikwad told AFP. 
 
&quot;An assistant to a British taxidermist told me the procedure and from what I learnt from that person and Google I started to make incisions on birds.&quot; 
 
Those initial attempts were unsuccessful though. 
 
&quot;Bird skin is very thin and often it would tear,&quot; he explained. 
 
- Mounting concerns - 
After mastering birds and fish, the former veterinarian moved on to cats and dogs before progressing to larger land mammals. 
 
Gaikwad says there is no single taxidermy course in India that accompanies all of the five disciplines, and claims to be the only one practising taxidermy on mammals. 
 
&quot;There is no next generation. It&#39;s a worry,&quot; Parag Dhakate, an animal conservationist, told AFP. 
 
Gaikwad was upset when a devastating fire at India&#39;s natural history museum in New Delhi in April destroyed rare specimens of flora and fauna, lamenting the damage done as &quot;a great loss to education&quot;. 
 
He sees his work as important to preserving knowledge of India&#39;s wildlife particularly if it&#39;s an endangered species. 
 
&quot;These are national treasures. If we burn them then we cannot see these animals again and their beauty will have permanently disappeared. 
 
&quot;Taxidermy is the optimal utilisation of that dead body. It&#39;s a rebirth. It&#39;s life after death.&quot; 
(AFP)

Santosh Gaikwad says he is inundated by requests from museums and grieving pet lovers

When Santosh Gaikwad, India's last-known practising taxidermist, first started stuffing animals 13 years ago he would keep dead birds in his family's freezer at home, much to his wife's consternation. Now, as the head of India's only taxidermy centre, he enjoys the use of two deep freezers large enough to hold a lion -- at the government-run workshop in Mumbai's national park. "I had no option but to keep the dead birds in the home freezer," Gaikwad told AFP, flanked by a snarling leopard, Bengal tiger and two contented-looking lionesses. "My wife was afraid because we didn't know how they had died. She thought food might get infected. So I wrapped them in two or three plastic bags, air-tight," he added. Back then, Gaikwad would take the birds from Mumbai's Bombay Veterinary College where he still works as a professor in anatomy department. Now he has built up such a reputation he receives a continuous supply of animals from state governments and pet owners. Taxidermy, popular in British colonial times, may conjure up images of Indian maharajas killing tigers and proudly displaying their stuffed corpses in their lavish palaces. But India's Wildlife Protection Act 1972 outlawed the hunting of wild animals and taxidermy trophies. Instead Gaikwad, 42, stuffs animals that have suffered a natural or accidental death and is inundated with requests to prepare animals for museums and for grieving pet lovers. It may seem a strange hobby to some but "there's a lot of demand" said Gaikwad, clad in a green surgical gown at the national taxidermy centre, opened in 2009 in Mumbai's lush Sanjay Gandhi National Park. Gaikwad, who is the only person authorised by the Indian government to stuff wild animals, explains that "taxidermy is the combination of five arts: "sculpture, painting, carpentry, cobbler, and anatomy". He skins the animal soon after death. Any remaining flesh is then carefully removed. Measurements are taken of the animal's body mass and a cast replica is prepared based on the original skeleton. - Stuffed Siberian tiger - The real skin is then placed on the mannequin and the finishing touches put in place -- glass eyes, perhaps whiskers and finally the stuffed creature is mounted. He says he has stuffed 13 big cats, including a Siberian tiger, a Himalayan black bear, more than 500 birds, including a Great Indian Bustard and at least 100 fish and reptiles. Gaikwad charges owners up to 3,000 Rupees ($45) to stuff an exotic bird and between 10,000 and 18,000 rupees for a dog, depending on breed and size. In 2014, Mumbai resident Susmita Mallik paid him to stuff her large German Shepherd Bruno after it died of a heart attack. She said the dog was "like a child" to her. "I just couldn't think of losing him," she told AFP, adding that Bruno looks "exactly" the same as when he was alive. "He is in the living room. I can touch him and brush him. It makes us feel he is with us," the 43-year-old added. It takes Gaikwad around eight months to prepare a big cat as he has to balance his work with his responsibilities at the veterinary college. He's come a long way since his interest in the ancient art was piqued by a visit to the natural history section of Mumbai's main museum in 2003. "The animals were so realistic that I wanted to learn how to do it but nobody was teaching so I started by searching on the Internet," Gaikwad told AFP. "An assistant to a British taxidermist told me the procedure and from what I learnt from that person and Google I started to make incisions on birds." Those initial attempts were unsuccessful though. "Bird skin is very thin and often it would tear," he explained. - Mounting concerns - After mastering birds and fish, the former veterinarian moved on to cats and dogs before progressing to larger land mammals. Gaikwad says there is no single taxidermy course in India that accompanies all of the five disciplines, and claims to be the only one practising taxidermy on mammals. "There is no next generation. It's a worry," Parag Dhakate, an animal conservationist, told AFP. Gaikwad was upset when a devastating fire at India's natural history museum in New Delhi in April destroyed rare specimens of flora and fauna, lamenting the damage done as "a great loss to education". He sees his work as important to preserving knowledge of India's wildlife particularly if it's an endangered species. "These are national treasures. If we burn them then we cannot see these animals again and their beauty will have permanently disappeared. "Taxidermy is the optimal utilisation of that dead body. It's a rebirth. It's life after death." (AFP)

A simple matter of life and death: India's last taxidermist keeps at it

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