DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
Adventurer Lexie Alford from Miami became the first to drive 30,000 kilometre around world in an electric car this week. PICTURE: Screenshot/Reuters TV
• A 25-year-old American woman set the world record for the first person to circumnavigate the globe in an all-electric vehicle when she crossed the finish line in Nice, France, on Tuesday. Adventurer Lexie Alford from Miami drove 30,000 kilometres through 27 countries and crossed six continents in the new electric Ford Explorer, to receive her record certificate from RecordSetter, a world records organisation similar to the Guinness World Records. “I’m feeling absolutely speechless,” Alford said upon receiving her award. “This has been the honour and a privilege of a lifetime to be able to travel around the world in an electric vehicle, and honestly, a little bit of a relief because I’m feeling so exhausted from the past 200 days on the road.” Defying freezing conditions, power outages in Africa, and a lack of charging infrastructure in Chile’s Atacama Desert, Alford made it back to the south of France where she started her “Charge Around The Globe” journey on 8th September, 2023. According to a Ford Motors press release, its Explorer “can achieve a driving range of more than 600 km on a single charge”. Over the course of Alford’s six-month journey, she had to use alternative charging solutions such as DC (direct current) fast chargers, household outlets, solar panels, and portable battery packs. “I think the goal of pushing the limits of what’s possible to do in an electric vehicle, I hope that, through my journey around the world, I’ve shown that you’re very much able to drive an electric vehicle in Europe every day,” Alford said. Martin Sander, general manager of Ford Model e Europe, said it was a great moment for Ford in Europe. “Exactly 100 years ago, Aloha Wanderwell was the first person to actually travel around the globe in a car. And today, Lexie ‘Limitless’ is returning from a journey around the globe in an electric vehicle – the first time this has ever been done with an electric vehicle,” he said. This is not Lexie ‘Limitless’ Alford’s first world record; at the age of 21 years and 177 days, she became the Guinness World Record-holder for the youngest person to travel to all sovereign countries and the youngest female to travel to all sovereign countries. – Reuters TV
• An ostrich that escaped from a zoo in the South Korean town of Seongnam has been captured, local authorities said on Tuesday, after it spent an hour dodging vehicles in heavy traffic, surprising many drivers. Witnesses posted pictures and video of the male ostrich named Tadori on social media, after he broke free from a zoo named Bug City and found himself trotting speedily past and across traffic, a local policeman said. Police and a local fire department captured the bird using a net at a car park about 2.6 kilometres from the zoo, located about half an hour south of Seoul. The four-year-old ostrich was safe and returned to the zoo in stable condition, zoo owner Choi Yun-joo told Reuters. “His only friend, a female ostrich Tasooni, passed away about a month ago. Guess that has been tough on Tadori,” Choi said. – SEBIN CHOI and MINWOO PARK, Seoul, South Korea/Reuters
A newborn pygmy hippo stands next to his mother Lizzie in their pen, at the Attica Zoological Park near Athens, Greece, on 27th February, 2024. PICTURE: Reuters/Stelios Misinas
• A rare and endangered pygmy hippopotamus has been born in Athens’ Attica Zoological Park for the first time in 10 years, delighting conservationists. A lack of male pygmy hippos in captivity had complicated breeding efforts, so zoo staff were “absolutely thrilled” the baby was a boy, Noi Psaroudaki, the zoo’s wildlife veterinarian, told Reuters. “This is the first birth in the zoo in 2024, and what a birth!” Psaroudaki said. “Every captive birth of pygmy hippos is extremely important. We’re very happy to see this baby grow into a healthy adult hippo, and hopefully one day reproduce,” she said. Pygmy hippos are native to swamps and rainforests in western Africa. They are listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and it is estimated only about 2,000-2,500 still live in the wild. Weighing seven kilograms, the male calf – whose name will go to a vote – was born on Feb. 19 and joins his parents Lizzie and Jamal as the only pygmy hippos at the zoo. The hippo, solitary and nocturnal by nature, will remain with its mother for a couple of months until it ventures into the outdoors enclosure. – STELIOS MISINAS, Athens, Greece/Reuters
