Animals
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Wolf

Man dies following attack by dog pack in South Africa

Selby Nomnganga
Ground Up
Fri, 31 Mar 2017 12:37 UTC
Dog attack
On 7 March, Andries "Aloe" Afrikaner passed away in the intensive care unit at Dr Harry Surtie Memorial hospital in Upington. He died from dog bites 39 days after he was attacked on 26 January in Kakamas.

Captain Francois Steenkamp, communications officer for the Kakamas police, said Afrikaner was found at the corner of 15th and 17th Avenue, close to the Kakamas Hospital. A police officer out on his morning jog saw Afrikaner lying by the roadside. He called the police, who called the paramedics.

A paramedic from the nearby Kakamas hospital, who did not wish to be named, was amongst the first people to find Afrikaner. "His body had holes at the back and his torso had deep wounds. His shin bones were visible," said the paramedic.
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Heart - Black

Japan kills more than 300 minke whales in annual Antarctic hunt


The Guardian
Fri, 31 Mar 2017 12:20 UTC
A dead minke whale onboard the Nisshin Maru, part of the Japanese whaling fleet, at sea in Antarctic waters.
© Glenn Lockitch/AFP/Getty Images A dead minke whale onboard the Nisshin Maru, part of the Japanese whaling fleet, at sea in Antarctic waters.
Whaling fleet returns to port after slaughtering hundreds of minke whales, in defiance of moratorium on hunting and global criticism

A Japanese whaling fleet returned to port on Friday after an annual Antarctic hunt that killed more than 300 of the mammals, as Tokyo pursues the programme in defiance of global criticism.

The fleet set sail for the Southern Ocean in November, with plans to slaughter 333 minke whales, flouting a worldwide moratorium and opposition led by Australia and New Zealand.

The fleet consisted of five ships, three of which arrived on Friday morning at Shimonoseki port in western Japan, the country's Fisheries Agency said.

More than 200 people, including crew members and their families, gathered in the rain for a 30-minute ceremony in front of the Nisshin Maru, the fleet's main ship, according to an official of the Shimonoseki city government.
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Attention

Kangaroo attacks the car of tailgating driver in Lake Bathurst, Australia

Ben Hooper
UPI
Wed, 29 Mar 2017 17:47 UTC
Kangaroo attack
A driver on a rural Australian road at night ended up having their car whacked by a road raging kangaroo that didn't take kindly to being tailgated.

The driver said they were driving behind the kangaroo for more than half a mile March 2 in the Lake Bathurst area, and the dashboard camera footage of the encounter shows the marsupial hopping along the road a few yards in front of the vehicle.

The kangaroo, apparently deciding to change tactics, stops abruptly, causing the car to stop. The 'roo strikes up an intimidating pose before unleashing a brief flurry of punches on the car. The driver attempts to get around the animal, but it follows and continues to punch the car.

"I had followed this Roo for about 1 kilometre, and it just stayed on the road. Unfortunately, if you pass them, they will often jump sideways straight into your car. The Roo decided he had a better plan and thought he'd go for fight over flight!" the driver wrote.

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Tornado1

Sharknado? Bull shark washes up in aftermath of Cyclone Debbie in Ayr, Australia


RT
Thu, 30 Mar 2017 16:20 UTC
bull shark on road
© Queensland Fire and Emergency Services / Facebook
A storm can leave in its wake a trail of destruction and devastation, but as Cyclone Debbie made its way through Queensland, Australia, residents of Burdekin Shire weren't expecting to find a man-eating shark beached on the road.

The meter-and-a-half bull shark was discovered on a muddy road near Ayr in Burdekin on Thursday. Bull sharks are one of the most dangerous sharks in the world - alongside great whites and tiger sharks, they're the most likely to attack humans.

"He must've gotten caught in a torrent and confused, beached himself on the side of the road," journalist Philip Calder told news.com.au. "We were pretty amazed, we were turning up to shoot a flooding road, we weren't expecting to see wildlife as well."
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Eye 2

Man swallowed whole by 23-foot reticulated python in Sulawesi, Indonesia


WHDH.com
Wed, 29 Mar 2017 13:50 UTC
Reticulated python
Reticulated python
A 25-year-old Indonesian man has been swallowed whole by a python on the island of Sulawesi, villagers and news reports said.A six-minute video on the website of the Tribun Timur publication shows villagers slicing open the python's carcass to reveal the legs and torso of the dead victim, named Akbar.

Junaedi, the secretary of Salubiro village in West Sulawesi province, told The Associated Press that villagers began searching for Akbar on Monday night after realizing he hadn't returned from working on his palm oil crops the previous day.Junaedi said Wednesday that the search party found scattered palm oil fruit, a picking tool and a boot, and then spotted the engorged 7-meter (23-foot) -long reticulated python.

"When its stomach was cut, we first saw his boot and legs near the neck," he said. "It seems he was attacked from behind because we found a wound on his back."

Warning: Graphic content

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Question

Biologists scrambling to find out why birds are dying along Florida coast

Tarik Minor
news4jax.com
Tue, 28 Mar 2017 11:55 UTC
Osprey
Osprey
Local birds are dying and biologists are scrambling to find out why. The deaths are being reported up and down the coastline.

Experts are asking for the community's help in letting them know if they see something suspicious.

Some birds -- including ospreys, pelicans and other seabirds -- were close to death when locals rescued them, and they were rushed to the Bird Emergency Aid & Kare Sanctuary, or B.E.A.K.S.

Biologists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said something mysterious in the ocean is making locals seabirds sick.

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Attention

Humpback whale discovered dead on Anderson Island, Washington


q13fox.com
Thu, 30 Mar 2017 11:32 UTC
Dead Humpback whale, Anderson Island
© Robert LydenDead Humpback whale, Anderson Island
Researchers are trying to determine how a humpback whale that washed ashore Tuesday on Anderson Island died.

According to the Cascadia Research Collective, a non-profit group that conducts research on whales, the humpback had been spotted in the area recently and looked small.

It washed ashore in the Thompson Cove area on the south end of Anderson Island.

Researchers are conducting a necropsy to determine how the whale died.

Friend of Q13 News and photographer Robert Lyden said the whale will likely be towed to McNeil Island soon for more research.
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Attention

Large alligator snuck up on golfers at Kiawah Island golf course during tournament

Tommy Braswell
The Post and Courier
Tue, 28 Mar 2017 20:26 UTC
alligator golf course
© Carrie Moores
A chance encounter with a large alligator at Kiawah Island Club's River Course has created quite the social media buzz for the Barrier Islands Free Medical Clinic.

Carrie Moores, the Marketing and Communications Specialist for the Johns Island clinic, was taking photos during a fund-raising golf tournament Monday when out of the corner of her eye she saw an alligator heading toward a group of golfers with their backs turned.

"I was marching up to the hole with my camera poised to get the golfers' picture. Then I realized the alligator and I were coming together in a 'V' right toward the golfers. I quickly snapped the photo, then ran back to the person who was driving a golf cart for me to see if she knew what the protocol was for an alligator on the golf course," Moores said.

Moores said she and her driver eventually got the golfers' attention, and they hopped in their cart and drove away. Meanwhile, the gator continued on its way before disappearing into a lagoon near where the golfers had been standing.
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Ambulance

11 Asian Elephants rescued from mud-filled Vietnam War bomb crater

Stephanie Pappas
Live Science
Wed, 29 Mar 2017 19:51 UTC
elephants
© WCS CambodiaEleven Asian elephants trapped in a Vietnam War bomb crater in Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary in Cambodia.
A rescue in Cambodia saved 11 Asian elephants from a muddy death after they fell into an old bomb crater. The herd — three adult females and eight juveniles — was discovered in the large crater in Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary on March 24, covered in mud and unable to escape, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Local farmers notified the Cambodian Department of Environment, which called in the WCS to save the unfortunate pachyderms. [Watch Video of the Muddy Elephants Rescued from Pit]

"Too often, the stories around conservation are about conflict and failure, but this one is about cooperation and success," Ross Sinclair, the country director for WCS in Cambodia, said in a statement. "That the last elephant to be rescued needed everyone to pull together on a rope to drag it to safety is symbolic of how we have to work together for conservation."
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Wolf

Man mauled by own Staffordshire bull terrier dies in London


BBC
Wed, 29 Mar 2017 13:14 UTC
Dog attack
The Staffordshire bull terrier, which is not a breed prohibited under the Dangerous Dogs Act, injured the 41-year-old in Wood Green on 20 March.

The man, named locally as Mario Perivoitos, suffered injuries to this throat and was taken to hospital, but was pronounced dead two hours later.

The man was taking part in a BBC documentary at the time of the attack.

'A lot of blood'

Neighbour Geoff Morgan, 52, who was home at the time, said: "I heard shouting - 'Get him off! Get him off me!'

"He was shouting really loudly. He was bleeding from his neck. There was a lot of blood."

Avraam Avramidis, 31, who lived upstairs, said: "For me, Mario was a good guy. He was actually very clever."
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