Source: Wikipedia Commons, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Baby_fur_seal,_South_Georgia.jpg

As their name suggests, the fur seal’s pelt was considered a top prize for many hunters throughout the 18th and 19th century. Because of that, the seals were considered commercially extinct by the early 20th century. Suffice it to say, a population still did–and does–exist in the Island of South Georgia in levels that some consider detrimental to wildlife.

Source: Hype Science

The Corpse Flower

Source: University of Wisconsin

Flowers are said to symbolize innocence, life and beauty. How ironic, then, that the largest of them all is evocative of death. Titan arum, or the corpse flower, exists naturally in the rain forests of Western Sumatra and in the gardens of botany big-leaguers throughout the world. With dark purple coloring not unlike bruises and pooled blood, the corpse flower’s imposing size is as commanding as its carrion stench: at its heaviest, the imposing plant weighs in at around 165 pounds with a height of over 10 feet.

Source: Wild Birds Unlimited

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