oddly enough

oddly enough

Mammoth skeleton up for auction in Paris

PARIS

Looking for that must-have ornament for a cavernous living room or backyard lawn? Perk up — Sotheby’s is putting a complete Mammoth skeleton up for sale in Paris.

The auction house plans the Oct. 2 sale as part of a collection of fossils, skeletons, meteors and minerals — and even a dinosaur egg and woolly rhinoceros skeleton — from the Kashiwagi museum in Japan.

Sotheby’s said in a statement Thursday that the skeleton of Mammuthus primigenius, from Siberia, dates to the Middle Paleolithic period when Neanderthals roamed the Earth. The house estimates it will go for more than $240,000.

The Mammoth skeleton, which has been arranged in a bit of an upward-facing pose, measures 111/2 feet in height — just slightly taller than it is long.

Officials: Florida man wanted to cook rare sea turtle

TAMPA, Fla.

A rare sea turtle that a Florida fisherman wanted to cook and eat has been released back into the wild.

Officials at The Florida Aquarium say the fisherman snagged the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle in May. Instead of releasing it, he put the 15-pound juvenile turtle in a tank in his backyard in Tampa.

Aquarium official Susan Coy tells The Tampa Tribune that the fisherman planned to cook and eat the endangered species, but a neighbor reported him to authorities.

It’s not unheard of for turtle meat to be used in dishes such as soups.

Gary Morse, a spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, says the fisherman told investigators he didn’t know the turtle was endangered.

The turtle named “Lucky” was rehabilitated at the aquarium until Wednesday, when it was released.

Associated Press