FISH SCUPPER
PELICANS have a narrow escape after fighting over a plastic bottle thinking it was food.
One of the giant birds caught the discarded rubbish in its huge beak – risking getting it stuck in its throat. Another tried to wrestle it away from its friends in St James’s Park, central London.
Photographer Kate Jaconello captured the worrying moment.
Kate, of Greenwich, south-east London, said: “I was so surprised, I nearly didn’t get a picture. I obviously waited to make sure that the pelicans were OK, and I am pleased to report it all ended up fine. “But it’s a stark reminder of how damaging plastic pollution can be.
“Something every person can do right now is pick up their rubbish.”
DOGS avoid people who upset their owners – but cats could not care less.
An experiment conducted by academics saw pets watch as owners struggled to open a container and then requested help from a person sitting nearby.
Some people helped the pet owner and others did not, before the strangers offered food to the pets.
Most pooches preferred not to take food from people who did not help their owners, but cats showed no preference between helpers and nonhelpers – eating food from anyone who offered it.
Researcher Hitomi Chijiiwa, of Japan’s Kyoto University, wrote of cats that “cooperation is not salient for this species”, whereas “dogs are known to cooperate with humans”.
He added: “Domestic cats originated from a less gregarious ancestor than did dogs.”