Abused chicks likely to grow into bullies
London: Chicks, bullied by the older birds, tend to perpetuate the same behaviour themselves when they come of age.
Such chicks are more likely to grow into bullies as adults, suggests a new study based on a colony of Nazca Boobies, seabird from the Galapogas Islands.
Scientists say the evidence is the first from the wild showing that, like humans, child abuse is socially transmitted rather than genetic, reports the journal The Auk.
“The maltreatment of nestlings by adults is really obvious,” said study co-author David Anderson from the Wake Forest University, North Carolina, US. “Essentially all nestlings experience some maltreatment,” he said, the Daily Mail reports.
“The Nazca booby model may be very useful for studies of the phenomenon, especially manipulative studies, that cannot be done with humans.”
Like humans, Nazca parents raise one child at a time. These birds nest very close together, violence will break out between families.
Often, when parent birds are away from the nest gathering food, non-related adults will interact with the babies. This can take the form of care and feeding or in some cases sexual and physical abuse. (IANS)
China probes nutrition pills made from organs of dead infants
Beijing: China is rocked by reports that a Chinese hospital sold dead infants and placenta to an underground factory to manufacture nutrition pills available in South Korea, prompting officials here to order a probe.
“Expressing great concern” the Chinese Health Ministry ordered a probe following the reports in South Korean media stating that Seoul customs had seized a batch of medicines from China that used the dried-up remains of dead infants as its main ingredient.
“We have ordered the Department of Health of Jilin Province to launch an immediate investigation into the reported case,” ministry spokesman Deng Haihua said.
“China has strict regulations on disposing of the remains of infants, foetuses and placentas. We are firmly against trading of human bodies or organs. We demand that health departments at all levels strengthen administration in this regard,” he was quoted by state-run Global Times as saying.
This followed revelations by South Korea’s SBS TV that a Chinese hospital sold dead infants and placenta to an underground factory that manufactures pills.
In the report, an undercover SBS news team followed their unnamed source to a house in China, where a woman claimed to have stored dead babies in her refrigerator as an ingredient for making the pills.
The team purchased some capsules from the woman and sent one to South Korea’s National Forensic Service for tests, which showed that the ingredients of the capsules had a 99.7 per cent match with human DNA.
The report said that there was an underground network that manufactured and sold the capsules to South Korea, but did not specify locations or names.
“The South Korean government is aware of the reports and has started investigating the alleged underground network,” an official from the South Korean embassy said.
“South Korean customs are trying to track down any buyers or sellers. The authorities do not have any evidence so far that supports the documentary’s allegation, but human ingredients would certainly be considered illegal in South Korea – if it is really happening,” the official said.
Jia Qian, head of the National Traditional Chinese Medicine Strategy Research Project, was quoted by state-run Global Times as saying that “placenta and umbilical cords have been used for making traditional Chinese medicines”. (PTI)
Man sacked for filming sleeping boss
London: A security guard in Britain was axed after he filmed his supervisor asleep on the job. The supervisor, however, claims she was just “resting” her eyes.
Security guard Darrell Welsh posted the 30 second film clip on Facebook, The Sun reported.
The supervisor kept her job after she said she was not really sleeping, but just “resting” her tired eyes.
Welsh had shot the short clip with his mobile on a night shift at a warehouse in Bridgwater, Somerset.
His employer held him guilty of gross misconduct.
“You can tell she’s asleep by her body language,” Welsh was quoted as saying. (IANS)