#this is fucking insane

[moonmunson]

i need a full album i need an EP i need a vinyl and CDs i need to be in his top .1% of spotify listeners i need to be camped out in the ticketmaster queue i need to be in the pit i need to be barricade this is so serious to me

[wachinyeya]

‘Ferrari in a junkyard’: Mules sold at auction are rare, endangered horses

https://washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/08/09/przewalskis-horses-rescued-dna-shrek-fiona/

Hannah Huckabay regularly combs livestock auctions online for horses she can rehabilitate and train at her Colorado ranch. But when she saw a video in February of a mule for sale in Kansas, she could hardly believe what she was seeing.

The stocky animal’s short black mane shot straight up like a mohawk, and its white belly stood out against its tan coat. As it nervously paced in its corral, Huckabay said it bore a striking resemblance to Przewalski’s horse, a critically endangered species she’d learned about while studying equine science.

“I was like, ‘There is no way. That is not a mule,’” Huckabay recalled thinking. “That’s a purebred Przewalski.”

Such a find would be incredibly rare. Once extinct in the wild, around 2,500 Przewalski’s horses remained worldwide as of 2022. They’re native to Mongolia and in June, seven were reintroduced to nearby Kazakhstan as part of an effort to return them to their natural habitats. They are the only truly wild horse remaining (mustangs are feral horses).

But scientists say Huckabay’s hunch appears to be correct. Hair samples from the animal Huckabay purchased - along with a second horse recently surrendered at a Utah sanctuary - were sent to Texas A&M University’s animal genetics lab. Both appear to be Przewalski’s horses, said Rytis Juras, the genetics lab’s director who tested both samples.

The hair test looks for genetic markers associated with different horse breeds to determine an animal’s likely ancestry. Unequivocally confirming that the horses are purebred Przewalski’s and not hybrids would require advanced blood tests that are expensive and would mean sedating the equines.

The blood tests look at the number of chromosomes in a horse’s cells - 66 in a purebred Przewalski, versus 64 in a common horse or 62 in a donkey. An even more advanced version could sequence the horse’s entire genome.

But Juras and two other scientists who reviewed the findings said the hair-test results are reliable.

“If I would have gotten it from a zoo … that would be one thing,” Juras said of receiving the samples. But two random tests with Przewalski’s results were “surprising and a little bit disturbing,” he said. “This is weird.”

How the horse Huckabay found - and the second in Utah - ended up in livestock auctions is a mystery, said Christopher Faulk, a professor of animal science at the University of Minnesota who has studied Przewalski’s horse genetics and also reviewed the DNA results.

“Someone had to have known what they were, they don’t just appear out of anywhere,” Faulk told The Post. “Especially to have been disposed of in that way is even weirder,” he said, since livestock that aren’t purchased at auction can end up in slaughterhouses.

“That’s like finding a Ferrari in a junkyard,” he added.

Huckabay bought the animal for $1,375 in February and, after three weeks in quarantine, the ragged and underweight animal sold as a mule arrived at her ranch outside Denver.

Seeing its features in-person left her even more convinced it was a Przewalski’s horse, she said. With a large clunky head and stiff black mane, her daughter said the horse was so ugly, he was cute, Huckabay recalled. They named him Shrek, after DreamWorks’s beloved ogre.

After almost two months of helping Shrek acclimate, Huckabay’s daughter stumbled upon a video posted on June 9 from a sanctuary in Utah.

“Did we just have a Przewalski mare surrendered?!” the caption read.

Kelsey and Gunnar Bjorklund - who own the Lazy B Equine Rescue and Sanctuary in Utah - suspected their mare was also a Przewalski. But they had no idea there was a second possible Przewalski, saved from another auction.

The Bjorklunds’ horse was brought to their facility after being purchased for $35 in January at an auction in Utah, where she was advertised as a mule.

“It takes more money to get your nails done,” Kelsey said, adding that her previous owner decided to surrender the mare after she flunked out of a professional training program.

When the horse arrived and was unloaded from the trailer, “we were just in shock,” Gunnar said. It was clear the animal wasn’t a mule or a mustang, he said.

“Anyone getting possible Przewalski vibes!?” the Bjorklunds posted. “A true wild, endangered species of equine‼️ How cool would that be!”

In response to seeing the Bjorklunds’ viral video, Huckabay’s daughter posted her own videos of Shrek two days later. One got over 11 million views.

After coming across Shrek’s video, it was easy for the Bjorklunds to settle on a name for their mystery horse - Fiona, the princess-heroine from the Shrek movies.

The rescuers were stunned that two possible Przewalski’s horses could have surfaced almost simultaneously. The Endangered Species Act allows private ownership of endangered animals, but only with a permit, and under strict stipulations. The law prohibits the possession of illegally obtained endangered animals or their transport across state lines without permits.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declined to comment on whether officials are investigating the horses’ chain of custody.

Some livestock auctions have occasionally served as hubs for illicit trade in exotic animal species.

Because most Przewalski’s horses descend from only about a dozen surviving individuals, scientists closely manage breeding genetics for diversity. Compared to the feral mustang, Przewalski’s are more resilient, said Dolores Reed, a biologist who helps oversee a small herd of the endangered horses at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. Przewalski’s horses are built for the Mongolian steppe’s harsh climate, she said, adding, “they’re very tough,” and can be unpredictable.

There are about 100 Przewalski’s horses in U.S. zoos, Reed said.

Shrek and Fiona are adjusting to their new environments, their owners said. After keeping his distance from people and trotting in circles in his pen while stressed, Shrek has relaxed and moved to a larger field. He has bonded with two gentle mares and while he won’t accept treats from people’s hands, he loves when apples and carrots are left in his feed bucket, Huckabay said.

“He’s very piggy,” she said.

In Utah, Fiona has put on weight and made friends with a miniature mule and a quarter horse filly at the Bjorklunds’ sanctuary.

The rescuers wonder what would’ve happened if Shrek and Fiona hadn’t been saved. The endangered animals might’ve been sent to slaughter “and nobody would have known about it,” Gunnar said.

Huckabay and the Bjorklunds plan to care for the horses as long as needed, but said they’d prefer to see their rescued Przewalski’s move to a professional conservation program.

Shrek is happy on the ranch, but Huckabay said she’d rather see him with “a herd of his own.”

“That would be the best-case scenario,” she said.

[infizero]

GUYS THE GASTER VALENTINE IS GONE. THE LINK IS JUST A BLANK VALENTINE NOW.

IT WAS PRESERVED ON THE WAYBACK MACHINE BEFORE IT DISAPPEARED THOUGH THANK GOD

[homulilin]

GOOD MORNING??????

[fanofcas]

you know what, they did it. the topped herogasm. because what the fuck am i watching

[technoblade-apologist-and-proud]

HAL FLIFE 3 LEAKS

HOLY FUCK CREDIBLE HALF LIFE 3 LEAKS AAAAAAAAAA

[boofindoopin]

____________________________________________

the stupid fucking post we are all mad about. l Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts in the notes. BTW this was tagged with TONS of helpil tags. Not Greek myth tags, helpol helpagan, all of it. I liked the post so I can watch the chaos unfold.

Edit: y’all, I think ALLL of us might have overreacted slightly. We were all kind of dicks. Was that person disrespectful towards the gods, yes. Should we have stooped to the same level, absolutely not. If you look through some of their posts, they seem to have realized that they were being a bit harsh. I think it’s only fair we should realize that we were also a bit harsh.

Also, to anyone who thinks just one side is in the wrong, and you are radically upset at the other, just, calm down. Try to look at everyone’s point of view.

Anyways, live y’all <3

[meet-me-in-the-pouringrain]

Paget Brewster (an actress who has been in the business since the early 90s) just tweeted out that she was paid $990 for Criminal Minds Evolution that was broadcasted across SEVENTY countries what the fuck?? FUCK HOLLYWOOD AND TV EXECS!!

Support The WGA, Support SAG- AFTRA. Actors and Writers are humans too.

Edit : Right everyone I read this wrong coz i’m a bit of a dumbass. @storiesofsvu and @blackbird-brewster both commented and corrected it! Pls read the comments and reblogs of this before taking my word for it, she didn’t get paid $990 for CME. It was *residuals* over the entire series.

[whinsical-ash]

So apparently, the choir version of "like a prayer" by the goddesses Madonna, the song for when Wolverine gets his shirt blown off and we get to see his beautiful body

It's the song to a scene that will likely be a sexual awakening for a lot of people.

It's being used by church groups. Like honey, we're not getting on our knees to pray. We're on our knees to do oral.

[power-to-live]

is this casual? i dont think so

[teddybeartoji]

i can'tbreathevekrvsvendfbjwejsbs

[jjunieworld]

i need his dick inside me. NOW.

[sweetvelaryon]

nah bc the purposely made my boys look bad in the first season. your telling me I could've had this with Lucerys still alive!!!!!???? NAH BCS HE STRUTTING NASTY AND HE LOOKS TOO GOOD!!!

[someamateurartist]

GUYSSS

STARFS BEING LOCALIZEDDDDDDDD

FUCK YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

ME AND THE ALL 30 STARF FANS CHEERED

[sunshines-child]

RARATARARARARARARARRA

[mossy-paws]

600 followers! (What is UP with you guys + small announcement in tags!)

WOW. OKAY THAT IS INSANE. Well guys, holy shit! 600 followers is absolutely fucking insane and I was not expecting to hit this milestone so quickly- I STILL do not have a singular plan for any sort of special or whatnot, but I do defintely want to thank you all a lot, this is a MASSIVE milestone and I’m so happy I managed to make it :3!

for this, i think I’ll be answering all the super old asks in my askbox that I’ve been wanting to answer for months now, these will include doodle req’s too (ONLY ONES I HAVE IN MY BOX NOW. NO MORE. I HAVE LIKE 20 ALREADY LMAO ANY NEW ONES WILL BE IGNORED LOLLLL) + I’m making a little fun low effort comic already so I’ll be working on that too for this occasion :3! I think people will like it a lot, it’s a chainsaw man x Ultrakill shitpost comic that’s ENTIRELY self-indulgent because I got the idea and couldn’t get it out of my head.

that plus I have some gifts coming up, (@sillymeowiixx you better watch your fucking back I am going to SPOIL you /vsilly) + I also have some cosplay stuff that’s gonna be worked on very very soon! Just be sure to keep an eye out for it all :3!