Animals
S


Attention

Rare oarfish discovered on beach in Kingston, South Australia


Coastal Leader
Tue, 21 Nov 2017 20:48 UTC
Oarfish
A rare discovery washed up on Kingston's shore last week.

The remains of an Oarfish was discovered on the Kingston beach by Sharryn Tiller and her dog Hugo on November 11.

Living in the deep sea, the fish is rarely seen and its behaviour not widely studied, and it is believed to have inspired tales of sea serpents.

"I was taking Hugo for a walk along the beach and we came across this great big dead fish," said Sharryn.

"I thought what on earth is it? I stood there thinking maybe it was an eel.

"But eels don't have whiskers, this fish had great long hard whiskers.

"I came home and my husband was chatting to our neighbour, Dan Watson and I mentioned what I had seen on the beach.
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Cow Skull

Hundreds of cattle found dead in Odisha, India; locals suspect epidemic


Orissa Post
Fri, 17 Nov 2017 14:13 UTC
Representative image
Representative image
An unknown epidemic has caused the death of hundreds of cattle at Gumabirsinghur village under this block in Ganjam district.

"There have been no visible symptoms. The cattle are found dead everywhere in forest, riverside, canals, hills and farmlands in the village. This condition has been occurring for the last three days," locals said.

The deadly issue came to the fore after the affected farmers brought the matter to the notice of Berhampur sub-collector. Surprisingly, the veterinary department has failed to tackle the disease as the cause of the outbreak of the disease is yet to be ascertained.

The unknown epidemic has spread panic among locals who held the administration responsible. Among the many farmers who had lost their cattle were Jagili Gouda, Bauri Gouda, Dhaneswar Pradhan, Balram Pradhan, Sudam Pradhan, L Panda, L Seemanchal, Narsingh Gouda, M Andha, D Bijay, K Trinath and M Kameshu.
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Grey Alien

Take me to your feeder: Birds with spooky dark eyes mistaken for aliens turn out to be barn owls

Liz Dunphy
Daily Mail
Mon, 20 Nov 2017 18:48 UTC
Birds with spooky eyes mistaken for aliens in India
Birds with spooky eyes mistaken for aliens in India
A video shared by Indian builders of so-called aliens turned out to be startled barn owls.

The feathery predators were filmed on a construction site in Visakhapatnam, capital of the south-eastern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

The builders who filmed them can be heard talking excitedly as two of the three owls stare at them with large dark eyes.

The birds are adolescents, just moving from being chicks into adulthood.

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Attention

Signs and Portents: Mutant bull calf is born with an extra leg on its back in north-east China


Daily Mail
Mon, 20 Nov 2017 16:16 UTC
A mutant bull with five legs has been born on a farm in north-east China
A mutant bull with five legs has been born on a farm in north-east China
A farmer in China was astonished to find one of his new-born bull calves had an extra leg on its back.

The mutant animal seems unaffected by the extra limb and is developing otherwise normally.

The animal was born on a farm near Muling city in the Heilongjiang Province of north-east China.

The leg complete with cloven hoof grows out from the young bull's back. It's just behind its shoulder, and hangs down its right side.

A gene mutation is thought to be behind the extra limb.

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Attention

Crazed ferret attacks woman in her sleep in Sydney, Australia


Triple M
Mon, 20 Nov 2017 15:58 UTC
FERRET
A New South Wales woman has awoken to a crazed ferret attacking her face.

The Baulkham Hills woman, in Sydney's northwest, told local newspaper Hills Shire Times, that she was jolted awake by a searing pain and something latching onto her cheek.

"The second it bit my face I woke up and grabbed onto it," the woman said.

"It didn't get to bite me too hard, because I grabbed its jaw pretty quickly."
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Eye 2

10-year-old boy found dead after crocodile attack in Malawi; 2nd such incident locally in 3 months


Daily Sabah
Sat, 18 Nov 2017 12:16 UTC
croc
© EPA
The body of a 10-year-old boy who was attacked by a crocodile was discovered in the Southern African country of Malawi on Saturday, police said.

Owen Sanudi was attacked by the reptile while he was swimming with friends in the Shire River, which passes through Liwonde National Park, police spokesman Davie Sulumba said.

"The deceased was attacked by a hungry crocodile and he drowned in the river," said Sulumba. "Post-mortem results from Machinga District Hospital proved that the death was due to loss of blood and suffocation."

The incident was the second death caused by a crocodile in the district within three months, a situation linked to lack of prey for the crocodiles, Sulumba told the German Press Agency (DPA).

Reports have suggested that Malawi's decision to join the International Convention on Endangered Species (CITES), which limits the culling of crocodiles, has led to a rise in their numbers.

Source: DPA
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Attention

Body of whale shark found washed ashore in Tamil Nadu, India; third in the region since May


The Hindu
Sun, 19 Nov 2017 15:44 UTC
Whale shark
Whale shark
The carcass of a young female whale shark was found washed ashore on Mookaiyur seashore near Sayalkodi on Thursday.

On being alerted by the local people, a team of forest personnel, led by Sikkandar Basha, Forest Range Officer, Kilakarai, who is in charge of Thoothukudi range, inspected the carcass on Friday and buried it on the shore after postmortem by a veterinary surgeon.

The postmortem revealed an internal haemorrhage and the whale shark could have died after hitting against a rock or fishing vessel, he said. The two-year-old young whale weighed about 1.5 tonnes and measured 375 cm in length and 280 cm in circumference.

The length of the dorsal fin measured 47 cm and the caudal fin measured 76 cm, he said.

Comment: There seems to have been a high number of such incidents involving this species over the last 2 years, see also: Another whale shark found dead, the latest in Gujarat, India

Three dead beached whale sharks found in Indonesia

Whale shark found washed ashore in Tamil Nadu, India

Dead whale shark washes ashore on beach in Puri, India

Dead whale shark found in Tanza Bay, Philippines

Dead whale shark found in Tamil Nadu, India

Dead whale shark found on beach in Odisha, India

Whale shark discovered dead in coastal waters of Shandong, China

Whale shark found dead at Palghar, India

Dead whale shark discovered on coast of Bukas Grande Island, Philippines

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Black Cat

Leopard kills man and attacks several others in Assam, India


The Northeast Today
Thu, 16 Nov 2017 15:21 UTC
LEOPARD
A 23-year-old person, who was injured in a leopard attack here on Sunday, died today.

The man, identified as Anowar Ali was seriously injured as he fought with a leopard at Dhirenpara and saved at least six persons.

Ali succumbed to his injuries on Thursday morning.

A leopard that came down from a neighbouring hill went berserk on Sunday morning injuring several residents in the city's Dhirenpara area. The incident sent shock waves among residents and children who ran for cover. Police had awarded Ali with Rs. 3000 on Sunday for helping save lives.
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Music

Study reveals how the songbird changes its tune in a way 'very similar' to human speech

Dana Smith
Science Magazine
Thu, 16 Nov 2017 12:00 UTC
Study reveals how the songbird changes its tune Biology
© Brainard Lab / UCSF
Researchers at UC San Francisco have shown how the Bengalese finch, a domesticated songbird, can learn to tweak its song in specific ways depending on context, which could shed light on how the human brain learns to apply different rules depending on the situation, and have implications for understanding human language and movement disorders.

The study, published November 16, 2017, in Neuron, showed that finches switch from generic to specific versions of their songs depending on the situation they are in. What's more, the researchers identified two distinct areas in the birds' brains dedicated to this learning process: one region that encodes generalizable rules to produce default songs, and another area that can override the default pathway to produce different sounds for different contexts.

This is much like how your own brain learned in infancy the standard arm movement to reach and grab an object, but since then has also learned to adjust the force of your arm and grip of your hand based on the situation - if, for example, you are picking up a full cup rather than an empty one.

Comment: Also See:

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Bug

Man dies after being attacked by a swarm of bees in Victoria, Australia

Josh Hanrahan
Daily Mail
Wed, 15 Nov 2017 16:13 UTC
bees
A man has died after being stung by a swarm of bees on a farm in country Victoria.

The 30-year-old man came under attack about 10am while working on a property on MacArthur Street, at Dunkeld, in western Victoria.

It is understood the man was working at the property as a gardener.

Worksafe officers attended the scene and a report is being prepared for the coroner.
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