Animals
S


Attention

Forester gored to death by rhino in West Bengal, India

Pinak Priya Bhattacharya
The Times of India
Fri, 01 Dec 2017 19:01 UTC
Greater One Horned Rhino
Greater One Horned Rhino
A forest beat officer, who was to retire in 2019 from service, was gored by a rhino in Jaldapara National Park on Wednesday night.

Chief wildlife warden Ravi Kant Sinha said 58-year-old Uttam Sarkar was on duty at the Shiltorsha beat of the national park. Sarkar was a resident of north Bengal.

"It was dark and the beat officer probably couldn't spot the rhino when it attacked him," added Sinha. State wildlife advisory board member Animesh Bose said Sarkar was heading towards his beat on a bike on Wednesday night when he came face-toface with the rhino.

"The animal attacked and killed him on the spot. Though deaths of forest guards in rhino attacks were reported earlier from the park, this is the first time a beat officer was killed in rhino attack," Bose added.
Read More...
Attention

Signs and Portents: Two-headed piglet with eight legs born in southern China

Tom Michael
The Sun (UK)
Wed, 29 Nov 2017 17:22 UTC
Footage emerged showing this set of conjoined piglet twins in southern China
Footage emerged showing this set of conjoined piglet twins in southern China
A two-headed piglet with two snouts and eight legs has been born in southern China.

Footage filmed by bemused locals shows the baby hog wriggling about on the floor shortly after arriving into the world.

The clip was filmed in Wuping County in Fujian Province on November 11.

From the front, the pig looks like a mutant - with a normal pair of front legs but two snouts.

But the person recording turns the animal over to reveal it has an extra set of front legs on its back.

The little piglet - in fact a set of conjoined twins - reportedly only lived for three days.
Read More...
Wolf

Boy killed by 3 dogs in Cherokee County, South Carolina

Zach Fox
GoUpstate.com
Sat, 02 Dec 2017 13:59 UTC
canine attack
© Angela Antunes / CC by 2.0
An 8-year-old boy is dead after being attacked by dogs in Cherokee County near Cowpens National Battlefield.

Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler said in an email Korbin Michael Williams of 253 Daniel Morgan School Road, Gaffney, was mauled to death by multiple dogs near his home.

Cherokee County Sheriff's Office Maj. Richard Turner said in a phone interview that Korbin was walking from his house to another when he was attacked by three dogs.

Korbin was bitten by the dog multiple times, Fowler said in an email.
Read More...
Attention

Tourist dead after shark attack off Cocos Island, Costa Rica; second person injured

David Rivers
Daily Star (UK)
Sat, 02 Dec 2017 13:04 UTC
A tiger shark mauled a woman to death in Costa Rica
© GettyA tiger shark mauled a woman to death in Costa Rica
A tourist has died after being attacked by a shark in an underwater rampage that also left a dive master seriously injured.

The American woman was diving with a group of tourists off the Costa Rican island of Isla Del Coco when the tiger shark mauled her to death.

The Costa Rican environment ministry says the attack took place around 330 metres from the country's Pacific coast on Thursday.

She was rescued from the water but the bites to her limbs were so severe she could not be saved.
Read More...
Attention

Dead sperm whale found on beach in Domburg, Netherlands


DutchNews.nl
Fri, 01 Dec 2017 19:56 UTC
whale
A dead 13.5 metre long sperm whale has washed up on a beach in the south of the country.

The whale, a male, has some injuries to its tail but is otherwise in good condition and experts are on hand to try to determine the cause of death.

'It certainly got lost,'Jaap van der Hiele of the Dutch sea mammal rescue association said. 'It should be in the northern Arctic sea.'
Read More...
Binoculars

Wrong place, wrong time: Rare bird seen for only the second time in Bermuda

Jonathan Bell
The Royal Gazette.
Fri, 01 Dec 2017 19:31 UTC
map range
An unusual feathered visitor has been spotted for only the second time in Bermuda.

Birdwatcher Ian Fisher snapped a picture of a western tanager, first sighted in 2006 by David Wingate, in Ferry Point Park, the same location as the American songbird was spotted 11 years ago.

The birds range through the west coast of North America and spend their winters in Central America.
Read More...
Attention

IFAW probes latest right whale death on Nantucket, Massachusetts


CapeCod.com
Thu, 30 Nov 2017 11:43 UTC
The remains of a North Atlantic right whale found this week on Nantucket, Mass.
The remains of a North Atlantic right whale found this week on Nantucket, Mass.
Scientists say they cannot determine what may have killed the right whale that washed up on Nantucket over the weekend.

A whale carcass was discovered on a Medaket beach on Sunday. Research teams from the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution arrived on Monday but were unable to gather much information.

The animal had decomposed to the point where scientists could not determine its gender or what may have led to its death. The length of the whale was somewhere between 13 and 14 meters.

Comment: See also: North Atlantic right whales close to extinction again

Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 3 horses in South Australia

Brittany Denton
The Border Watch
Thu, 30 Nov 2017 15:47 UTC
DEVASTATING LOSS: Ryan Ferguson and Lynn Brierley mourn the loss of three horses
© Brittany DentonDEVASTATING LOSS: Ryan Ferguson and Lynn Brierley mourn the loss of three horses, killed instantly when they were struck by lightning during Wednesday night’s thunderstorm. They are pictured with surviving two-month-old foal Kelly and Clydesdale horse Sylvie.
"It was the most horrific thing I've ever witnessed - a big ball of white light hit and all three of them were dead before they hit the ground."

Lynne Brierley fought back tears as she relived the devastating loss of her three beloved horses, killed instantly when they were struck by lightning on Wednesday night.

"I was only four feet away - it sounded like someone had fired a gun right next to my ear."
Read More...
Binoculars

Extremely rare visitor: Black vulture seen in Newfoundland, Canada

Maggie Gillis
CBC
Thu, 30 Nov 2017 14:59 UTC
This Black Vulture was first spotted in Burgeo on Nov.18.
© Ken KnowlesThis Black Vulture was first spotted in Burgeo on Nov.18.
When Ken Knowles saw a photo of a Black Vulture turn up in the Newfoundland Birdwatching Group on Facebook, he thought it must have been posted by someone from outside the province.

Then he read the text.

"I immediately went into a panic," said Knowles, who has been an avid birdwatcher for the past 45 years. "Then I started scheming about how I was going to get to see this bird."

The photo had been taken on Nov. 18 by Burgeo resident Mitchell Billard, who was looking for help identifying the strange-looking bird that was sitting on his roof.
Read More...
Wolf

Pack of 4 pit bull terriers kill woman in Guntersville, Alabama; seriously injure another

JJ Vincent
Rocket City Now
Wed, 29 Nov 2017 14:13 UTC
PIT BULL ATTACK
In a neighborhood just off of of Highway 79 Marshall County investigators are trying to piece together what exactly happened at around 8 AM Wednesday.

We have learned Tracey Cornelius, 46, and her friend were attacked by four dogs belonging to a relative of Cornelius.

It happened at the home of Cornelius' relative, two doors down from Cornelius' home on Jason Road, which is located just south of Guntersville.

Both women were rushed to the hospital, where Cornelius later died and the other victim is clinging on.

At the dog owner's home, they are trying to process.

Comment: The following are reports from just the last 4 months with details of the fatalities caused by this type of dog: Man dies following attack by 4 pit bull terriers in Philadelphia

Six-month-old boy killed by pit bull terrier in South Africa

Woman killed by her own pit bull terrier in Canberra, Australia

Boy killed by 2 pit bull terriers in Lowell, Massachusetts

61-year-old woman killed by pit bull terrier in Gilmer County, Georgia

1-month-old baby killed by 2 pit bull terriers in Knox County, Ohio

Woman dies from injuries sustained in pit bull terrier attack in Neshoba County, Mississippi

Woman dies following pit bull terrier attack in Calhoun County, Florida

Girl dies following attack by pit bull terrier in Durban, South Africa

Read More...