Animals
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Wolf

Woman in her 90s dies following attack by pit bull terrier in Virginia Beach

Mike Connors
The Virginian-Pilot
Thu, 01 Jun 2017 19:26 UTC
canine attack
© Angela Antunes / CC by 2.0
An elderly woman died Thursday after being attacked by a dog.

Shortly after 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, officers joined animal enforcement after receiving a report of an attack in the Pembroke Manor neighborhood, police said in a news release. They found a woman suffering from severe bites and lacerations.

The woman, who police said was in her 90s, was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. She died this morning. Police said that out of respect for the family's wishes, the victim's identity will not be revealed.

Police said a 50-pound, 1-year-old American pit bull terrier attacked the woman while she was lying on the floor after a fall. The dog is currently in quarantine at the Virginia Beach Animal Care and Adoption Center.

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Red Flag

Scientists: Humans bringing about sixth mass extinction of life on Earth

Ian Johnston
The Independent
Thu, 01 Jun 2017 17:07 UTC
Bengali tiger cub
© Ulises Rodriguez/ReutersA two-month-old Bengali tiger cub in an animal refuge in El Salvador; the species is considered to be endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature
Humans are bringing about the sixth mass extinction of life on Earth, according to scientists writing in a special edition of the leading journal Nature.

Mammals, birds and amphibians are currently becoming extinct at rates comparable to the previous five mass extinctions when "cataclysmic forces" - such as massive meteorite strikes and supervolcano explosions - wiped out vast swathes of life, including the dinosaurs.

The growing human population - which has increased by 130 per cent in the last 50 years and is set to rise to more than 10 billion by 2060 - and our increasing demand for resources as we become wealthier is ramping up the pressure on the natural world.

Tens of thousands of species - including 25 per cent of all mammals and 13 per cent of birds - are now threatened with extinction because of over-hunting, poaching, pollution, loss of habitat, the arrival of invasive species, and other human-caused problems.
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Fish

Deep sea fish missing for more than a century rediscovered off Sydney, Australia

Elle Hunt and AAP
The Guardian
Wed, 31 May 2017 13:40 UTC
The fish found by scientists from Museums Victoria and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.
© John Pogonoski/AFP/Getty Images The fish found by scientists from Museums Victoria and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.
A "faceless" deep-sea fish not seen for more than a century has been rediscovered by scientists trawling the depths of a massive abyss off Australia's east coast, along with "amazing" quantities of rubbish.

The 40cm fish was rediscovered 4km below sea level in waters south of Sydney by scientists from Museums Victoria and the Australian government's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) on the weekend.

Dr Tim O'Hara, the chief scientist and expedition leader, who is a senior curator of marine invertebrates at Museums Victoria, said it was the first time the fish had been seen in waters off Australia since 1873, when one was dredged up by a British ship near Papua New Guinea.

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Black Cat

Man sustains minor injuries after attack by mountain lion near Libby, Montana


ktvq.com
Tue, 30 May 2017 19:08 UTC
A cougar
© DreamstimeA cougar
Officials with Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks are investigating reports that a man was attacked by a mountain lion near Libby.

Wardens received a report on Saturday, May 27 that a man sustained minor injuries from an encounter with a mountain lion near Boundary Mountain North of Libby on Friday morning.

The man, whose name has not been released, told investigators he was trying to drag out a log he had cut for firewood when he was hit by the mountain lion and knocked into a tree.

His report goes on to say that he swung back at the animal and hit it before running to his truck.

He told FWP wardens that he scared the lion off with his truck after the animal approached him a second time.

Wardens say the man received superficial scratches to the side of his face and stomach. He reportedly did not seek medical attention.
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Better Earth

Ouch! Dutch wood closed to public after buzzard attacks


Dutch News
Wed, 31 May 2017 17:37 UTC
warning about buzzards
© DutchNews.nl Read more at DutchNews.nl: Dutch wood closed to public after buzzard attacks http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2017/05/dutch-wood-closed-to-public-after-buzzard-attacks/
A regional park organisation in Zuid-Holland has closed a popular wooded area near Lisse to the public because several people have been attacked by buzzards. The Keukenhofbosch, close to the popular tulip park, is home to a breeding pair and several people have been left with bloody injuries, a forestry worker from Het Zuid-Hollands Landschap told news agency ANP. Reports about the buzzards' aggressive behaviour were first recorded several weeks ago.

'They attack people who come to close or enter their territory,' the spokesman said. 'Sometimes they pretend to attack but some people have actually been pecked, resulting in nasty head wounds.' The young buzzards will likely leave the nest within six weeks or so, and then the wood can be reopened to the public.
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Eye 2

Snake regurgitating another live snake filmed in Newton, Texas

Ben Hooper
UPI
Tue, 30 May 2017 09:11 UTC
Snake regurgitates live snake in video captured in Texas
Snake regurgitates live snake in video captured in Texas
A Texas couple taking video of a snake with a strange object in its mouth were shocked when the serpent regurgitated a second snake, which was still alive.

Christopher Reynolds said he and his wife were leaving his mother's Newton home Sunday when he spotted a snake near the road and stopped to look at the reptile.

Reynolds said he and his wife initially thought the snake, which had a strange object in its mouth, was dead, but it soon surprised them by starting to move.

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Attention

Pelicans found sick, dying along the coast at Ventura and Santa Barbara, California

Cheri Carlson
Ventura County Star
Sat, 27 May 2017 20:53 UTC
dead birds
A local rescue group has found dozens of sick and dying pelicans along the Ventura and Santa Barbara coasts in recent weeks.

One cause likely is domoic acid poisoning, which has taken a toll on birds and marine mammals throughout California in recent months.

Domoic acid is a naturally occurring toxin in the algae.

Fish eat the algae but generally not enough to harm them. Sea lions and birds, however, eat so many of the fish that they are getting a level that is toxic to them.

For a while, the hardest hit type of bird seemed to be loons, said Julia Parker, animal care director for the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network.

"Now, it's affecting the pelicans," she said.

Comment: See also: Algae toxin killing marine mammals along Southern California coast

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Attention

Woman found mauled to death after apparent bear attack in Akita, Japan


The Japan Times
Tue, 30 May 2017 12:30 UTC
Police officers put up a no-entry sign at the foot of the mountains in the city of Senboku, Akita Prefecture, on Saturday.
© KYODOPolice officers put up a no-entry sign at the foot of the mountains in the city of Senboku, Akita Prefecture, on Saturday.
Akita Prefecture is stepping up vigilance against bears attacking people in the wake of the apparent mauling death of a local woman over the weekend.

Masako Oishi, a 61-year-old assistant nurse from the eastern Akita city of Senboku, was found dead shortly after noon on Saturday in the city's mountains. She set off on a hike at around 6 a.m. with a female acquaintance to pick bamboo shoots, a seasonal delicacy.

At around 8:30 a.m., the acquaintance returned to the parking lot at the foot of the mountains, but Oishi did not return, according to police. When locals searched for her, they found her dead, bleeding and lying on the ground.

She had been mauled on several parts of her body, including her head, shoulders and arms, leading the police to suspect she was attacked by a bear.
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Attention

Dead minke whale found at Long Beach Peninsula, Washington

Janet I. Tu
The Seattle Times
Mon, 29 May 2017 09:16 UTC
People at Long Beach Peninsula, Pacific County, view a small minke whale that had died and washed ashore Sunday.
© Tiffany Boothe/Seaside AquariumPeople at Long Beach Peninsula, Pacific County, view a small minke whale that had died and washed ashore Sunday.
In a relatively rare sighting, a dead minke whale, with its diaphragm pushed outside of its mouth, washed ashore Sunday on Long Beach Peninsula, Pacific County, about a quarter mile north of Klipsan Beach Approach.

The whale had died before washing ashore, with gases from decomposition building up inside the animal. Once the whale reached the beach, the pressure from the gases combined with its own weight pushed its diaphragm outside of its mouth, causing the balloon-like shape at the head of the whale, said Tiffany Boothe, an administrative assistant at Seaside Aquarium, who took the video and photos seen here.


Seaside Aquarium, based in Seaside, Ore., along with Portland State University, are coordinators in dealing with marine mammals that wash up in northern Oregon and southern Washington.
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Attention

Wild boar charges children at playground in Vienna, Austria


The Republic
Mon, 29 May 2017 21:07 UTC
Wild boar
A wild boar charged at children at a playground in Vienna, then hid in shrubbery next to an apartment house before being shot by police.

Police spokesman Patrick Maierhofer says the children ran away and nobody was hurt, in the latest of occasional attacks involving wild pigs that live in close proximity with humans in the leafy outskirts of the Austrian capital.

Maierhofer was cited by state broadcaster ORF Monday as saying that police decided to kill the animal Saturday after municipal veterinary authorities told them they had no sedation substances available.

Leigh Turner, Britain's ambassador to Austria, was left shaken and slightly injured earlier this month after being chased recently by a hostile boar in Vienna's Lainzer Tiergarten nature park.

Source: AP
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