Animals
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Fish

Mysterious fish kill in Tennessee lake raises neighborhoods concern

Mandy Hrach
WBBJ 7 News
Sat, 15 Apr 2017 03:49 UTC
Dead Fishes
© WBBJ 7 News
A mysterious fish kill in one community lake is raising questions and leaving many residents concerned.

Hundreds of dead fish swamped the shores of one neighborhood lake, a stench that could be smelled blocks away.

"They were all dying, there was just hundreds of them lying around," said Linda Watts, who lives by the lake.

But the smell is just one cause of concern.

Watts has lived in the Seven Oaks neighborhood next to the lake for nearly ten years, and said this is a problem she has never had to deal with.

"If there is something in the water, it is going to get into our drinking water? We don't know," she said.

The water behind is filled with dead fish of all different sizes like catfish, carp and trout.
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Info

European vulture survival - a long hard fight to ban bird killer diclofenac


Blasting News
Sat, 15 Apr 2017 20:07 UTC
Griffon Vulture
© Artemy Voikhansky Griffon Vulture
Portugal talk about allowing a veterinary product that kills vultures despite signing resolution preventing poisioning migratory birds

At the end of 2016, the Vulture Conservation Foundation posted on their website that "The #european medicines agency (EMA) has their long-awaited technical position on the vulture-killing drug diclofenac, following a request from the European Commission." Finally, it seems that they have confirmed "that veterinary diclofenac does represent a real risk to European vultures, and therefore recommends that a number of risk management measures should be taken to avoid the poisoning of vultures, including more regulation, veterinary controls, better labelling and information and/or a ban of the drug."

What is being done to address the death of Europe's vultures?

The fight for the vultures has been a long and hard one. In 2015, the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) announced in a press release that member countries who are Signatories to the MOU on the Conservation of Migratory #Birds Of Prey, listed more species of vultures to their annexure 1. The agreement which was discussed in Bonn was motivated by the African vulture crisis. Apart from illegal trade in the birds, poisoning is of very high concern. At that time there were 533 signatory countries, which was good news, but it did raise the question of what they are doing to address the threat to vultures and other birds of prey in Europe.
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Attention

Surfer critically injured after shark bite at Kauai beach, Hawaii


Hawaii News Now
Fri, 14 Apr 2017 13:11 UTC
Shark attacks
A visitor from France was critically injured Friday morning in an apparent shark bite at Kekaha Beach on Kauai.

Officials said the 28-year-old sustained severe injuries to his lower right leg when he was bit about 100 yards offshore.

The incident happened about 9 a.m., when the man was surfing at a popular spot called Davidson's.

Bystanders said a 12-foot tiger shark bit the man.

They rushed to his aid after the incident, applying a tourniquet to slow the bleeding.

He was taken to Wilcox Medical Center. The victim's girlfriend subsequently told other surfers that part of the victim's right leg was amputated.
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Attention

Two shark attacks reported within a week in Jacksonville, Florida


wkrg.com
Sat, 15 Apr 2017 12:58 UTC
Shark attacks
Two shark attacks have been reported this week from Jacksonville, Florida.

17 year old Keanan Perry is recovering after a shark attack on Friday at noon while surfing at Hanna Park.

Perry described the attack from that afternoon.
I was paddling in and I got off my board to see if I could stand to walk in. It was about chest height and was deeper than I expected. I dropped down when my foot touched the sand. Right when it touched the sand it (the shark) just latched and it was gone," Perry says.
Perry knew right away he was being attacked by a shark and his first thought was to simply get away. He says the injury is about three inches deep in the back and will likely require a lot of stitches.

The bite may have tore his achilles tendon but Perry can still move his foot. His injuries were not considered life-threatening.
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Wolf

Man mauled to death by pack of 15 stray dogs in Karnataka, India


The News Minute
Sat, 15 Apr 2017 12:10 UTC
Dog attack
A 34-year-old man from Belagavi in Karnataka was mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs late on Thursday night. Imamsaab Kittur was found lying in a pool of blood at Bailhongal bus stand, after he was attacked by nearly fifteen stray dogs, The Times of India reports.

The report states that CCTV footage showed Imamsaab being attacked by a group of stray dogs.

According to the report, Imamsaab was in an inebriated state at the time the stray dogs attacked him. The incident came to light when police inspector Sanganagouda Patil came across Imamsaab, who had collapsed on the road after the attack. The inspector was out on his routine night patrol.
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Attention

Diver killed by shark off the coast of South Africa


IOL
Wed, 12 Apr 2017 13:00 UTC
Shark attacks
NSRI Shelley Beach, NSRI Port Edward and Police Search and Rescue were activated following reports of a scuba diver missing during a dive at the Northern Pinnacle, Protea Banks on the South Coast.

The body of a man, believed to have been bitten by a shark, was later recovered.

According to fellow divers among a group on a charter scuba dive, they had been surfacing from a dive when they realised one of their group had disappeared.

NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon said the NSRI Shelly Beach sea rescue craft Caltex Challenger and Spirit of Dawn, the NSRI Port Edward sea rescue craft Wild Coast Sun Rescuer and a Police Search and Rescue boat launched to join a search operation already underway by multiple private boats.

"On arrival on the scene a co-ordinated search, assisted also by the Transnet National Ports Authority, Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, NSRI Durban and Telkom Maritime Radio Services, continued."
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Attention

Researchers to study dead right whale found in Cape Cod Bay

Jason Kolnos and Mary Ann Bragg
Cape Cod Times
Fri, 14 Apr 2017 09:19 UTC
dead whale
A day after a new record sighting of North Atlantic right whales was recorded in Cape Cod Bay, a female whale was found dead in the area Thursday, striking another blow to the endangered species.

"We lost one today," said Charles "Stormy" Mayo, right whale habitat expert at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown.

For much of the day, researchers believed the dead animal was a right whale calf. Only four North Atlantic right whale calves have been documented in this winter's calving season. By early evening, however, the size of the cetacean indicated she was likely an adult.

"It looks too big to be a calf," Mayo said in a phone interview after the whale had been removed from the water at Northside Marina in Sesuit Harbor. "I'm inclined to think it's not a calf."

Since there are only 524 North Atlantic right whales in the world, the death of any member of this species is concerning for researchers, Mayo said. That this one was a female is particularly worrisome, he said.
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Attention

Elephant kills mahout in Tamil Nadu, India


The Hindu
Wed, 12 Apr 2017 08:39 UTC
Charging elephant
© GettyCharging elephant
An elephant trampled its mahout to death near Marthandam on Tuesday.

Police said the mahout, Prasanth (22) of Ananthamangalam, was returning home with the elephant being reared by an individual from Unnamalaikadai near Marthandam after participating in a temple festival at Nattalam.

When they were crossing Nallikulam, the pachyderm suddenly got agitated, dislodged Prasanth from its back and trampled him.

Prasanth, who sustained serious injuries, was rushed to a hospital, but he died on the way.

The body was sent to Kuzhithurai Government Hospital for a post-mortem.

Marthandam police have registered a case.
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Fish

Thousands of dead perch found in Lake Michigan

Kris Millgate
Fox News
Wed, 12 Apr 2017 19:35 UTC
The perch in Lake Michigan may have died from a phenomenon known as
© Illinois Department of Natural Resources The perch in Lake Michigan may have died from a phenomenon known as "upwelling."
Thousands of dead perch in Lake Michigan raised alarm among fishermen last week.

CBS Chicago reports that anglers found the dead fish at an old dock, a popular local fishing spot. Photos of the scene were then passed on to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for investigation. Meanwhile, gulls and fish-eating ducks quickly devoured the perch, cleaning up the mess.

But though the fish may be gone, the mystery of their deaths remains.

According to WGN, authorities believe a phenomenon known as upwelling, or turnover, may be to blame for the die-off. Upwelling occurs when deep, cold water rises to the surface, displacing the warmer, nutrient-depleted water above. As the cold water ascends, fish are often drawn upward as well, which may explain why the perch surfaced.
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Binoculars

Over a quarter of the UK's birds are at risk of extinction or steep decline

Harry Pettit
Daily Mail
Tue, 11 Apr 2017 17:45 UTC
The curlew, Europe's largest and most distinctive wading bird, is among those added to the red list, with numbers falling 64 per cent from 1970 to 2014
The curlew, Europe's largest and most distinctive wading bird, is among those added to the red list, with numbers falling 64 per cent from 1970 to 2014
More than a quarter of the UK's birds are struggling to survive, with species including curlews and puffins now joining the at-risk list, according to a new report.

Entries to the UK's 'red list' of endangered birds - those in urgent need of conservation - have swelled to 67 species out of a possible 247.

Since the last review in 2009, 15 new species have been added to the list, which is reserved for species in danger of extinction or that have seen a sharp drop in population or habitat in recent years.

The report comes from the RSPB, British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT), together with UK government conservation agencies.

The curlew, Europe's largest and most distinctive wading bird, is among those added to the red list, with numbers falling 64 per cent from 1970 to 2014.
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