A Brazilian man has died after being crushed to death by a cow which fell through the roof of his home.

Joao Maria de Souza, 45, was asleep in bed next to his wife Leni at the home in Caratinga, southeast Brazil. A cow had escaped from a nearby farm and clambered onto the corrugated roof of the couple’s home, which sits on a steep hill.

The weight of the animal – which was estimated to be around one and a half tonnes – caused the roof to collapse and the cow fell eight feet onto the bed, crushing Mr de Souza.

He was taken to hospital suffering from a fractured leg, but had no other obvious injuries, and was said to be communicating normally. However, he later died from internal bleeding whilst waiting to be seen by doctors.

Maria de Souza, the victim’s mother, told Brazil’s SuperCanal TV channel: “I didn’t bring my son up to be killed by a falling cow.”

Police in Caratinga, Minas Gerais state, have confirmed that they have now launched an investigation into the death, and stated that the owner of the cow could be charged with involuntary manslaughter.

El Candigato Morris. Image from Candigato’s Facebook page.

Morris, a feline resident of the Mexican city of Xalapa, is standing for election in his hometown.

Sergio Chamorro, owner of the political pussy, explained that the cat standing for mayor started as a joke between friends but the widespread disenchantment with leaders has resulted in it becoming something a bit more serious. The cat has grown to stand as a symbol of people’s rejection of the leaders, he is essentially saying ‘we don’t care who wins’.

He said: “Morris has become an expression of how fed up people are with all the parties and a political system that does not represent us.”

The cat has garnered a huge following on Facebook with his ‘Candigato’ (gato means cat in Spanish) page receiving over 130,000 ‘likes’, a significant number more than the other candidates in the election.

A range of artwork and campaign propaganda has sprung up around the cat, including t-shirts with the ‘YES WE CAT’ slogan emblazoned on them in style of US President Barack Obama’s ‘Yes we can’ campaign. However, his first campaign slogan was: “Tired of voting for rats? Vote for a cat.”

Chamorro added that the whole thing has taken on a life of its own: “The truth is that Morris no longer belongs to us. He belongs to his fans.”

Obie in his heavier days.

A seriously overweight Dachshund that has managed to lose more than half of his bodyweight has gathered a bit of a cult following.

Obie was taken in by Oregon Dachshund Rescue after his elderly owners overfed him. He had reached a massive 35kg, more than twice the average weight of a standard Dachshund.

Fortunately under the care of new owner Nora Vanatta Obie has managed to lose the extra pounds and is now down to 14kg. His massive weight loss left him with a substantial amount of excess skin, which he has since had removed in an operation that took off around a kilogram of skin.

His new owner commented on his good nature: “He is extremely sweet and loving. He was obviously loved and is a joy to work with. The ageing owners just couldn’t say no.”

Now, Obie’s weight loss achievement has given him something of a cult celebrity status on the internet. A Facebook fanpage set up for him has received over 97,000 ‘likes’, and Vanatta has received thousands in donations towards the dog’s ongoing care needs.

But the fame has come at a cost for Vanatta, who spent tens of thousands of dollars on legal battles over custody of Obie. Tensions rose high between herself and Oregon Dachshund Rescue, but eventually the two managed to reach a settlement at the start of this year and Vanatta is to keep Obie.

Socks struts his stuff to Fleetwood Mac.

The Shetland pony that starred in a commercial for mobile phone network Three has found itself at the centre of a paternity battle after swimming across a Scottish loch to be with the mare of its dreams.

Socks found fame while moonwalking to Fleetwood Mac’s Everywhere in the Three advert released earlier this year. Before the bright lights came calling, the five-year-old was already busy working as a stud stallion, however, and his lustful ways have led him into hot water over the paternity of a certain foal.

Born last month to a mare named Kimberley, Scamp the foal does not know who his father is. His mother had been happily grazing in a field with another mare and another stallion, Nuggett, when Socks took a shining to her and swam across a loch to get better acquainted.

Socks’ owner, Mari Williamson, told her story to The Telegraph: “There is a bit of paternity battle involving him at the moment. I put him with three ladies in a field with a loch. But he is a very good swimmer and unfortunately he took a shine to another one of my mares – who I had put in a group with my other stallion Nuggett. He just fancied her more and thought the grass is always greener on the other side.

“Socks swam across – and with his three ladies in tow – and now we don’t know for sure who is Scamp’s real father. Socks was put in stables for two weeks after. He’s certainly one for the ladies.”

She added that there is now an expensive DNA testing process in motion to ascertain who is Socks’ true father and to “keep the line correct”. Socks’ fame mean that Scamp will command a premium if he is sold with confirmation of his lineage.

Fortunately Ms Williamson confirmed that even if Socks turns out to be the son of Nuggett, Socks has “plenty of years as a stud in him so “there should be lots of little Socks running about”.

The unidentified creature.

The remains of a sea creature, as yet unidentified, have washed up on Pukehina Beach in New Zealand. A video of the monster from the deep has sparked a debate about exactly what the animal might be …

Elizabeth Ann filmed the shoot, which reveals the 30-foot long carcass with its entrails apparently trailing out behind it. The animal has rows of sharp teeth but appears to have been almost severed in half itself, prompting the further question about how the unknown animal met its demise.

The video poster has asked viewers to identify what the animal might be, noting that it has “a huge head and teeth with rudimentary flippers”.

Anton van Helden, a marine mammal expert, has suggested that the creature is most likely to be a decomposed killer whale. Speaking to New Zealand’s Channel 3, he explained that the animals are common in the area the carcass was found and that the body of the creature has a fin structure similar to that of a killer whale.

Among the suggestions put forward so far are a saltwater crocodile, a dolphin, a giant moray eel or even a dinosaur. Tests are currently underway to establish exactly what the animal is, in the meantime theories will continue to spring up about exactly what the creature might be.

You can view the video here.

Here’s looking at you kid.

Scientists have confirmed the discovery of a two-headed shark in the Gulf of Mexico.

The bull shark was found back in April 2011 when a fisherman cut into the uterus of an adult shark and discovered the two-headed offspring. Since the initial find, scientists have been analysing the creature and can now say for sure that it is a single shark with two heads, rather than conjoined twins.

MRIs were used by Professor Michael Wagner, Michigan State University’s assistant professor of fisheries and wildlife, and his team to reveal that the animal had two distinct heads, hearts and stomachs, while the rest of its body joined together again and formed a single tail at the back.

Prof Wagner commented on the find: “This is certainly one of those interesting and rarely detected phenomena. It’s good that we have this documented as part of the world’s natural history.”

He added that it is widely thought that similar animals die before being born, but that in other species they are often able to survive birth.

“You’ll see many more cases of two-headed lizards and snakes,” he remarked. “That’s because those organisms are often bred in captivity, and the breeders are more likely to observe the anomalies.”

The fisherman who found the creature originally brought it to the marine science department at Florida Keys Community College before it was taken to the Michigan University to receive more in-depth study.

Photo source and video.

This pig is for illustration purposes only and is not actually the fattest pig in Britain.

Two pigs at a farm in Cornwall have been given the enviable accolade of being Britain’s fattest pigs.

The animals, named Marjorie and Boris, have a combined weight of nearly three quarters of a ton and have lived on Chyvarloe Farm for a few years now.

While the pair were originally bought by the farmers Paul Parfitt and his wife Charlotte to fatten up and sell on, they have become so popular with their owners that they have been kept on as regular breeding mates.

Boris now weighs in at 420kg, while his mating partner Marjorie is a hefty 300kg. According to Mr Parfitt, the weight does not come from junk food and the pig has learnt to carry his weight well: “He never throws his weight around – he’s the most docile, laid back pig you’ll ever meet and he’ll happily let 100 schoolchildren line up and stroke him.

“He carries his weight really well – he’s a strong chap whose strength is hidden under rolls of fat. I’ve heard of pigs that weigh more than 450kg, but I reckon Boris is the podgiest porker in Britain.”

Boris looks to have secured himself a happy future as his owners have noted that he won’t be sold for meat anytime soon.

A sea slug from the Nudibranch family.

The sex life of a bizarre sea slug has become the subject of scientists’ attention after it was found to lose and regrow its penis after sex.

A study published in the Royal Society’s Biology Letters journal revealed that some species of sea slug grow a new sex organ after at least three sessions.

Conducted by Japanese researchers, the study looked closely at the copulation habits of sea slugs that had been captured in the Pacific Ocean. Their findings proved shocking to the scientific community, which has never seen anything like this before.

“No other animal is known to repeatedly copulate using such disposable penises,” the researchers said. They added: “We propose that the tissue at the spiral part of the penis is compressed and undifferentiated, gradually differentiating into the next penis. It may need approximately a day for the spiral structure to be ready for copulation.”

Almost all sea slugs are thought to be simultaneous hermaphrodites, which means that they are equipped with both female and male sexual organs and are able to use them both at the same time.