Animals
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Attention

Man survives bear attack at Panther River, Alberta

Bear attack
A Calgary man is in hospital after being attacked by a bear in the Panther River, Alta. area.

The 32-year-old man was eating on Thursday at about 9 a.m. in a wilderness area popular with hikers when he was attacked.

"A bear actually came out of the woods and grabbed him by the legs," said Sundre RCMP Cpl. Ronald Bumbry.

"But the male managed to fight off further attacks and was able to hike back to his vehicle, which was several kilometers away. He was then able to drive to a Panther River lodge to seek assistance."

Bug

Thousands of cockroaches filmed fleeing typhoon in China

cockroaches
Thousands of cockroaches were seen crawling along a wall in China, seemingly attempting to escape a typhoon in the area.

Video shared by 100 Most magazine Wednesday shows the massive horde of cockroaches marching along the seaside wall.

The line of cockroaches extends for several feet in either direction along the wall, as the roaches attempted to flee ground soaked by Typhoon Hato.

The skin-crawling video has been viewed more than 500,000 times and received more than 14,000 likes.


Attention

Dead marine life on Gulf coast sets off concerns over dead zone; 47 dolphins and 51 sea turtles found so far in 2017

dead dolphin
This year, 47 dolphins and 51 endangered sea turtles have died off the Gulf Coast and scientists are trying to figure out if they are the latest victims of the massive dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico.

Those scientists are also sounding the alarm that these swift environmental changes are affecting all life in our ecosystem.

Life-long Gulf Coast fisherman, Reggie Walker said it's getting harder and harder to make a living.

"It's just getting real bad right here, right now. It's not nothing like it used to be back in, years ago," said Walker, who lives on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

He doesn't need to see news reports about the largest dead zone in Gulf history, the size of New Jersey, because he sees the effects first hand every day.

Attention

'There had to be over 1,000': Dead snow geese wash up near Cambridge Bay, Canada

Carcasses of dead snow geese are seen on the shoreline, near the Nunavut community of Cambridge Bay. A resident said the birds dotted the shoreline for at least 20 kilometres.
© Government of Nunavut/Department of EnvironmentCarcasses of dead snow geese are seen on the shoreline, near the Nunavut community of Cambridge Bay. A resident said the birds dotted the shoreline for at least 20 kilometres.
Hundreds of dead snow geese have washed up on the shores near Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, and it may be some time before officials figure out what caused them.

The geese washed up near Long Point, west of the Nunavut community. David Ohokannoak, who lives in Cambridge Bay, drove by the carcasses on Sunday evening on his ATV.

"It was just dead geese for about, maybe 20 kilometres of shoreline," he said. "There had to be over a thousand...there was too many to even count.

"It's a long drive, so you can see them for that whole drive, you just see nothing but geese. Kind of sad to see."

Ohokannoak said most of the carcasses were washed up right on the shore, while a couple were located further away from the coast.

Snow geese migrate to the Arctic in massive numbers each summer. In past years, they have been known to devastate large areas, traveling in the millions.

Wolf

Nine dog attack fatalities recorded in 2016 for South Africa; more than the total for the preceeding 9 years

canine attack
© Angela Antunes / CC by 2.0
Man's best friend is more likely to turn on him in South Africa than anywhere else in the world.

According to law firm DSC Attorneys, the country has the highest incidence of dog attacks on humans than any other in the world. The firm is advising people on their rights and possible claims stemming from dog attacks.

Kirstie Haslam, a partner in the firm, said dog bites account for tens of millions of injuries annually, and in South Africa dogs account for 76 percent to 94 percent of animal bite injuries, and dog bite fatalities are higher because of lack of post-exposure treatment and appropriate access to healthcare.

In the US, the figure is three percent to 18 percent and also lower in Australia, Canada and France.

"There were nine dog attack fatalities in 2016, more than the total number in the nine years from 2006-2015, and so far in 2017, reported dog attack fatalities and injuries are a daily occurrence.

With high crime rate, large breeds of dogs are popular and many dogs are trained to be aggressive for security purposes.

Source: Cape Argus

Attention

Locals panic as various sea fish wash up on beach in Kerala, India

The reason for this unusual occurrence has not yet been established as no marine department has yet turned up to study it.
The reason for this unusual occurrence has not yet been established as no marine department has yet turned up to study it.
The residents near the Alappuzha beach in Kerala were greeted with the horrifying sight of different sea creatures lying dead on its shores on Saturday. From Jellyfish, Balanus amphitrite, to the poisonous Pufferfish and Physalia Physalis (man-of-war) these marine animals were found lying dead on the beach by locals.

The reason for this unusual occurrence has not yet been established as no marine department has yet turned up to study it.

Most of these species are found in the deep sea. Locals noticed these marine animals dying on the shore since Saturday afternoon and it continued until Monday.

According to Professor AA Mohamed Hatha, Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology, Biochemistry in Cochin University, the occurrence might be due to climate change, variation in the saline content of the sea or the monsoons.

Red Flag

Cape Cod beaches close after shark attacks seal just feet from shore

shark attack seal
A shark took a fatal bite out of a seal off Cape Cod's Nauset beach, and the water turned red, while a man swimming nearby and two surfers scrambled for shore.

Pat O'Brien was swimming with his 9-year-old daughter when the shark bit the seal 25 feet behind him, he said.

"I was in the water with my daughter," he said. "She had just gotten out and I was looking up at her, and she yelled something down to me, but I didn't hear what it was."

When other beachgoers started yelling, "Shark!" Pat made his way to shore.

Bug

Thousands of millipedes appear outside a subway station in Hangzhou, China

The millipedes were spotted outside a subway station exit on August 7 in Hangzhou, China
The millipedes were spotted outside a subway station exit on August 7 in Hangzhou, China
For those who aren't so fond of bugs you might want to avert your eyes from these millipedes in eastern China.

Footage posted online shows a large number of black millipedes at a subway station exit in Hangzhou, China.

There were rumours spreading that the miilipede appearance could be a sign of earthquake, but was later refuted by professionals.

According to Zhejiang Daily, the millipedes were spotted at the exit of Yingfeng Road station on Hangzhou metro's line no. 2, in Xiaoshan district on August 7.

Footage shows hundreds of black millipedes crawling on the floor, covering the tiles in a huge pile.


Attention

Another whale dies on the coast of Belize

Another whale has died in the waters of Southern Belize. TIDE, Toledo Institute for Development and Environment reports that on Friday the massive 30 foot whale was sighted south of Punta Gorda in the vicinity of Orange Point. They say that the baleen whale was beached and local fishers were trying to dislodge it from shallow water. One of the fishers told TIDE that he saw the whale making an effort to swim out to the deep for at least three hours, but it kept circling back to shore. They note also that blood was coming from the whale's blowhole and one of its fins seemed injured.

whale
It died at about 5pm. Samples were taken to determine the cause of death.

It is the second whale to have died in southern waters in a year: the first was a humpback that died near Barranco.

Attention

Signs and Portents: Two-headed sea turtle found on Florida Space Coast

A marine research group found a turtle with two heads in Florida last week.
© L. RittenburgA marine research group found a turtle with two heads in Florida last week
Researchers with the University of Central Florida Marine Turtle Research Group discovered a rare two-headed Loggerhead sea turtle while conducting sea turtle nest surveys along beaches in Brevard County, Florida.

The condition is called Dicephalic parapagus, a rare form of partial twinning where there are two heads side by side on one torso.

Although rare, two-headed sea turtles are not unheard of. In 2012, a two-headed sea turtle hatchling was discovered on Jupiter Island in Broward County, Florida.