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U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins took bold action to protect America’s food supply and ranching industry from an imminent biological threat. Effective immediately, all live cattle, horse, and bison imports through U.S. southern border ports of entry have been suspended in response to the reemergence of the New World Screwworm. The New World Screwworm (Cochliomyia hominivorax) is a parasitic fly whose larvae (maggots) are flesh-eating parasites that infest warm-blooded animals, including cattle, wildlife, pets, and humans. It is considered one of the most destructive parasites known to livestock. According to the CDC:

Russia appears to have begun to deploy its troops on horseback in Ukraine, as reports emerge that President Vladimir Putin has nearly depleted his Soviet military stockpiles. Newsweek has contacted the Russian government for comment by email. Why It Matters Reports that Russia's military is using horses in the war suggests that Putin is resorting to extreme measures due to equipment shortages caused by his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in 2022. The conflict has resulted in the largest depletion of Russia's military equipment in 80 years, independent news outlet The Insider reported earlier this month. What To Know Videos...

...Przewalski's horse is the last truly wild horse species. Native to the steppes of Central Asia, it has existed for about 500,000 years. These horses are known for their stocky build and distinctive short mane. Due to their endangered status, they play a vital role in conservation efforts...The Caspian horse is often considered the oldest breed, with remains dating back to 3,400 B.C. Found in Iran and Turkmenistan, these small horses are agile and used for various purposes, including riding and work...Originating from Turkmenistan, the Akhal-Teke horse has a history of over 3,000 years. Known for its striking metallic coat...

After the COVID-19 pandemic, we're all a little wary of biosecurity hazards, and the news out of Australia today isn't too comforting. In 2021, 323 vials containing samples of deadly viruses went missing from a lab in Queensland, Australia. The breach wasn't discovered until 2023, and for whatever reason—it sounds like red tape — an investigation is just now underway, over a year later. Health Minister Tim Nicholls announced the news on Monday. [snip] ...a statement: "I want to stress that there have been no public health incidents linked to these materials, so we have no evidence so far of...

A 2,800-year-old burial in Siberia that contains the remains of an elite individual, who was buried with at least one sacrificed human and 18 sacrificed horses, appears to belong to a culture closely related to the enigmatic Scythians, a new study finds.The kurgan, or large burial mound, was unearthed in Tuva, a republic in southern Siberia. It dates to the transition between the Bronze and Iron ages, and it's one of the earliest known of its kind to show Scythian burial practices...An excavation of the kurgan revealed horse-riding gear and artifacts decorated with animals, indicating that the elite person's culture...

BY THE OREGONIAN/OREGONLIVE (Compiled from news accounts, court records, public notices) Last week's arrest of a long-sought accused eco-saboteur pushed the spotlight back on a tight-knit cell of radical environmentalists responsible for a $48 million run of firebombings and other crimes across the West in the 1990s and early 2000s. Six men and five women prosecuted in Oregon received sentences ranging from three years to 13 years. They were arrested starting in 2005 in what the FBI called "Operation Backfire," a task force that tracked down the suspects with the help of an informant deep within the underground group....

While growing up around Burbank, one of many suburbs butting up against Los Angeles proper, Melissa Perez and her friends would spend their summers riding around their neighborhood on horseback. “We were like the little brats on our horses,” Perez laughs. From early morning until sundown, the pack of young equestrians would sneakily traipse through the hills and horse trails tucked into Griffith Park, where they technically weren’t allowed to go. Perez would have such a blast that she’d sometimes forget to eat lunch, snacking on her horse’s carrots whenever she got peckish. The Burbank Rancho Equestrian District sits just...

Horses were domesticated at least twice, researchers report June 6 in Nature. Genetic data suggest Botai hunter-gatherers in Central Asia may have been the first to domesticate the animals for milk and meat around 5,000 years ago. That attempt didn't stick. But other people living north of the Caucasian Mountains domesticated horses for transportation about 4,200 years ago, the researchers found.Those latter horses took the equine world by storm. In just a few centuries, they replaced their wild cousins and became the modern domestic horse...ancient people from southwest Asia known as the Yamnaya have been credited with being the first...

A horse which appears to be covered in blood is among seven Household Cavalry mounts which escaped were running loose through central London. Four people have been injured and taken to hospital after a spooked horse threw its rider and the seven animals escaped and started to run through London. Emergency services are on the scene in Victoria, with a blue tarpaulin put up while people, including a serviceman, received treatment. One horse appeared to be covered in blood as it hit a number of vehicles as it ran, including a tour bus which was left with a shattered...

ETHRIDGE, Tenn. – Who needs AAA when you have an Amish neighbor? A heartwarming scene unfolded in Ethridge, Tennessee, this week as snowstorms pummeled portions of the U.S. An Amish man used his horses to help a driver free their SUV that was stuck in the snow. A video taken by Sandra Sam Newton showed the horses pulling the vehicle out of a snowy ditch while a group of people pushed on the other side of it

William Taylor, an assistant professor of anthropology and curator of archaeology in the Museum of Natural History at CU Boulder, says this research shows that the story about people and horses in the Americas is "far more dynamic" than previously thought...Juan Bautista Belardi, a professor of archaeology at the Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral in Argentina and Taylor's research colleague, and his team in Patagonia conducted all the field research at a canyon site called Chorrillo Grande 1 in southern Argentina. They unearthed the remains of an Aónikenk/Tehuelche campsite (people of the Indigenous Tehuelche nation traditionally used horses for...

Advocates are skeptical of a new $2 million effort to find solutions to the ever-growing population of wild horses on Nevada’s ranges and elsewhere. But a Friday vote in Washington, D.C., is a step forward in bringing $11 million to help solve the problem. A Bureau of Land Management (BLM) news release on Wednesday announced up to $2 million available for a variety of studies or research efforts. “Fifteen years ago I might have applauded all the grants BLM seems to have money for each year. But after 15 years of watching BLM say they have no money for management...

...Çavuştepe Castle is located in the Çavuştepe neighborhood on the Van-Hakkari-Iran highway in the Gürpınar District, 25 km southeast of Van. It was built in the middle of the 8th century BC by the Urartian King Sarduri II.The first excavations in Çavuştepe Castle were carried out under the presidency of Prof. Dr. Afif Erzen and continued to be done for 25 years between 1961 and 1986 while the second-period excavations started in 2014 and have been carried out under the chairmanship of Prof. Dr. Rafet Çavuşoğlu since then..."In our work this year, as in every year, we encountered a new...

Budweiser owner Anheuser-Busch InBev BUD -0.29%decrease; red down pointing triangle said it has stopped cutting the tails off its famous Clydesdale horses after months of pressure from animal-rights activists who say the practice is cruel. The brewing giant’s concession to activists comes as it tries to navigate its way through the culture wars, after a consumer backlash over a promotion with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney buffeted sales.

Archaeologists From the Eurasian National University (Enu) Have Uncovered a Pyramidal Structure at the Kyrykungir Archaeological Site. Kyrykungir is a funerary complex near the village of Toktamys, located in the Abay region of Kazakhstan.Previous excavations since 2014 have identified clusters of burial mounds from the Hun and Saka periods, containing funerary deposits of ceramic vessels, food offerings, and bronze beads.In a press announcement by the Eurasian National University, archaeologists have uncovered evidence of a hexagonal pyramidal that dates from the early Bronze Age around 2,000 BC...According to the researchers, the structure is hexagonal in shape, with each of the six...

Ancestors such as Eocene Hyracotherium exhibited foot structures resembling those of present-day tapirs, featuring four toes at the front and three at the back. Each toe was equipped with its own hoof and supported by an underlying foot pad.In contrast, contemporary equids such as horses, asses, and zebras possess a solitary toe, which is a remnant of the original third toe on each foot. This lone toe is protected by a sturdy keratinous hoof, while the underside of the hoof features a triangular frog that functions as a shock absorber.To unravel the mystery behind the lost digits, a team of...

Mounted on a working horse, fully decked in digger gear of tunic and slouch hat, Tanya Lightowler proudly guards the ancient Aussie spirit, calling us to care for our equine mountain heritage. ......... documents of the secretive Andrews government stated, about their plans to eradicate the wild horses made famous in the Man From Snowy River: " ....... all shooting operations are to be discussed on a need-to-know basis, because of a “significant risk posed by feral horse activists”. " I see Tanya Lightowler as a peaceful protestor and national hero not a risky "feral horse activist." Daniel Andrews secrecy...

Archaeologists Excavating a Tomb at the Yanghai Cemetery in the Turfan Basin, Located in the Eastern End of the Tian Shan Mountains in the Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang, China, Have Found a Well-preserved Soft Leather Saddle Associated With the Subeixi Culture.The emergence of the saddle brought about a significant enhancement to horseback riding, leading to a revolutionary impact on warfare and facilitating swift long-distance travel throughout Eurasia.The tomb contains the burial of an adult female in a flexed position, who was buried with a hide coat, leather boots, a pottery cup, a braided woollen band, remains of woollen fabric,...

Species of the horse genus Equus first appeared on the North American continent during the Pliocene era and spread to and across Eurasia beginning around 2.5 million years ago. They disappeared from the Western Hemisphere during the megafauna extinction event at the end of the Pleistocene and the last glacial period. The return of equids to the Americas through the introduction of the domestic horse (Equus caballus) is documented in the historical literature but is not explored fully either archaeologically or genetically. Historical documents suggest that the first domestic horses were brought from the Iberian Peninsula to the Caribbean in...

JURASSIC Park got a little bit closer to reality today with news that scientists are ‘confident' of cloning a 42,000 year old extinct species. =============================================================== The ginger-coloured foal died when it was just one or two weeks old, some time during the late Stone Age, around 42,170 years ago. But its body has been perfectly preserved in near perfect condition in Siberian permafrost, and scientists are optimistic that they will obtain enough genetic material to clone the animal and bring its extinct species back to life. The joint Russian-South Korean research team is led by South Korean cloning expert Professor...