Animals
S


Attention

Man attacked by shark off Hawaii after it knocked him off his paddleboard


9news.com.au
Mon, 02 Apr 2018 12:00 UTC
shark
A man has been left in a critical condition after being bumped off his paddleboard by a shark that attacked him in waters off Hawaii's largest island over the weekend.

Hawaii authorities told US television network KHON the 25-year-old was paddleboarding around 9.30am with his father around 100 metres offshore of Kukio Beach when the animal swam up to him and knocked him into the water before biting him.

The man, who is believed to be a resident of the Kukio Golf and Beach Club, was rescued by a private safety team on the secluded beach and treated at the scene before being airlifted to hospital.

Read More...
Wolf

Video of pit bull lunging at seven-year-old boy and breaking his wrist in savage attack in Taiwan

Keiran Southern
Daily Mail
Wed, 28 Mar 2018 12:31 UTC
Money, a pit bull pup, is said to have felt threatened by a seven -year-old boy who was throwing treats in his direction in south-western Taiwan
Money, a pit bull pup, is said to have felt threatened by a seven -year-old boy who was throwing treats in his direction in south-western Taiwan
CCTV footage captured the heart-stopping moment a pit bull pup attacked a young boy who tried to feed it biscuits and broke his wrist.

The months-old pit bull mix named Money is believed to have felt threatened when the seven-year-old child who lives next door threw the snack in its direction.

Security video from the alleyway in Kaohsiung City's Hunei District in south-western Taiwan shows the boy trying to back away from the pooch, which continues to charge at him.

Read More...
Newspaper

For the first time in 20 years: Turtles return to nest on a Mumbai Beach

Josh Davis
IFLScience
Fri, 30 Mar 2018 13:53 UTC
Mumbai sea turtles
© roxybrownfoxy/shutterstock
For the first time in nearly two decades, a beach in Mumbai - one of the most populated cities in the world - is crawling with tiny baby turtles, proving that life truly does, uh, find a way.

Versova beach stretches along the eastern side of Mumbai, looking out onto the Arabian Sea. While olive ridley turtles are known to nest on other beaches around India, this is the first time in close to 20 years that they have done so in Mumbai, with around 90 hatchlings making their way into the sea.
Read More...
Binoculars

Wrong place, wrong time: Trio of great white egrets make rare visit to Newfoundland, Canada


The Southern Gazette
Tue, 27 Mar 2018 14:31 UTC
A trio of great white egrets
© Austin W. ClarkeA trio of great white egrets have been reported in the Lewin's Cove Area
Some rare feathered visitors have caught the attention of bird enthusiasts on the Burin Peninsula in recent days.

Three great egrets have been reported in the Lewin's Cove area.

Egret visits are not unheard of in Newfoundland but they are rare - perhaps just a few each spring and fall, according to Bruce Mactavish, an environmental consultant and avid birdwatcher.

Great egrets are members of the heron family and are known for their all-white plumage.
great egret
Great white egret

Comment: See also this recent report from further south on the Canadian east coast : Wrong place, wrong time: Tricoloured heron and great white egret turn up in Nova Scotia, Canada

Read More...
Attention

Rampaging elephant crushes mahout to death during religious festival in Kerala, India

Sara Malm
Daily Mail
Wed, 21 Mar 2018 11:11 UTC
Attack: Two of the 'passengers' manage to flee, but two others are attacked by the elephant
Attack: Two of the 'passengers' manage to flee, but two others are attacked by the elephant
A man has been killed by an elephant at a religious festival in Kerala, India, after the animal suddenly ran rampage during a parade.

Graphic video footage shows the moment the elephant throws four people off its back, and gores and tramples its handler to death.

The angry bull elephant is seen tossing the dead body around on its tusks, before turning on another bull, as crowds of men, women and children flee for their lives.

Read More...
Attention

Thousands of birds fill the sky over Adelaide in Australia as they flee oncoming storm

Thomas Peter McLavin
Austin American-Stateman
Mon, 26 Mar 2018 20:42 UTC
Thousands of birds flee incoming storm in Australia
Thousands of birds flee incoming storm in Australia
Hordes of white birds screeched and flew away from an approaching storm at Andrews Farm, South Australia, on March 25.In the footage, the noisy birds, which appear to be corellas, fill the sky in Adelaide's north.


Source: Storyful
Read More...
Smoking

Smoking elephant captured on camera lighting up jungle cigarette


RT
Tue, 27 Mar 2018 16:04 UTC
Smoking elelphant
© Wildlife Conservation Society / YouTube
Footage purporting to show an elephant smoking is perplexing viewers online. While some domesticated animals have been known to mimic such human behavior, researchers are baffled as to how the pachyderm learned to light up.

In 2016, a group of researchers was visiting and assessing camera-traps in Nagaharole National Park in India when they stumbled across the footage, which was published only recently online.

"In India, the Forest Department burns fire lines to create fire breaks that can help control forest fires," Vinay Kumar, assistant director of the WCSs India Program told Live Science. "And this effort leaves behind wood charcoal on the forest floor." RT.com has contacted Kumar for additional comment.
Read More...
Fish

Large amount of dead fish wash up on the coast of Oman


GDN Online
Tue, 27 Mar 2018 16:35 UTC
dead fish
A large quantity of dead fish washed ashore along the Seeb coastline over the past days.

The Muscat Municipality deployed teams of workers to clean up the beaches, without giving details about the causes which might have killed the fish.
Read More...
Info

Young gorillas have learnt to dismantle poachers' snares in the wild

Bec Crew
Science Alert
Mon, 26 Mar 2018 00:00 UTC
Young gorillas
© Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund
Days after a poacher's trap killed a young mountain gorilla in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park in 2012, researchers spotted something remarkable: two four-year old gorillas working together to dismantle similar snares in the area.

"This is absolutely the first time that we've seen juveniles doing that ... I don't know of any other reports in the world of juveniles destroying snares," Veronica Vecellio from the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund's Karisoke Research Centre in Rwanda told National Geographic at the time.

"We are the largest database and observer of wild gorillas ... so I would be very surprised if somebody else has seen that."

Thousands of these snares are set up by local bush meat hunters to catch antelopes and other animals for eating, and while they reportedly have no interest in primates, young gorillas are sometimes unintentionally caught up and left to die.

Comment:


See also:
Orangutans know herbal medicine
Rooted in our biology: Revealing insights on behavioral sex differences from our primate cousins
Bonobos observed making wooden spears, daggers and stone shovels like our human ancestors

Read More...
Wolf

Woman mauled to death by at least one of her pit bull terriers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Jesse Garza
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Mon, 26 Mar 2018 10:37 UTC
PIT BULL ATTACK
A Milwaukee woman was found dead in her near west side home after being mauled to death by at least one of her pet dogs, according to the Milwaukee County medical examiner's office.

Hong Saengsamly, 49, was found by her son about 10 p.m. Saturday in the kitchen of her home in the 500 block of N. 28th St., according to a medical examiner's report.

Saengsamly suffered multiple puncture and blunt force injuries on her arms and shoulders and her death was due to "mauling by dogs," according to the report.


Comment: This was the second instance of a human fatality caused by a family pit bull-type within 2 days, for details of the other, see: Boy killed by family pit bull terrier in Converse, Texas.

Read More...