Animals
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Attention

Man hospitalized following bear attack in Romania


Fox News
Sat, 29 Oct 2016 17:05 UTC
Bear attack
Authorities say a 20-year-old American has been attacked by a brown bear in the Transylvanian city of Brasov.

Emergency services spokesman Captain Ciprian Sfreja told The Associated Press the man was attacked by a 100-kilogram (220-pound) bear on Saturday in a forested area of the city.

Sfreja says the man suffered a wound 2-3 centimeters (1-inch) deep to his left forearm before the bear retreated into the forest.

The man, whom authorities are not naming, was transported to a local hospital and reported to be in stable condition.

There are occasional bear attacks in Brasov, which is surrounded by several mountains.

Transylvania is a region in Romania, where between 5,000 and 6,000 brown bears are estimated to live.

Source: Associated Press
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Attention

Humpback whale found dead in the port of Wilmington, Delaware

Esteban Parra
delawareonline
Sat, 29 Oct 2016 15:16 UTC
The dead whale caught in the Port of Wilmington
© Mike Phillips/WDELThe dead whale caught in the Port of Wilmington
Officials have only a few clues so far to figure out how a dead humpback whale ended up in a berth at the Port of Wilmington early Friday.

Officials said they were working to remove the animal from the port's waters, where it was found floating at about 3:15 a.m. Suzanne Thurman, executive director of the Lewes-based Marine Education, Research & Rehabilitation Institute, said fishing gear appeared to be tangled around the dead whale's pectoral fins.

The whale appeared to be about 25 to 30 feet long and was not much older than a few years, Thurman said.

The MERR Institute had its responders on scene Friday and was working with others to remove the animal from the port's berth so it could be examined. As of late Friday afternoon the whale had been secured and towed out of the berth. MERR responders were waiting for it to be repositioned in order for it to be lifted out of the water by a crane.
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Binoculars

Lost flamingo that was heading for Saudi Arabia turns up in Siberia instead


The Siberian Times
Wed, 26 Oct 2016 19:12 UTC
Local children picked up the bird and took it to the home of Antonina Maisa where the family named it Vasya and fed it on shrimps.
© Alexey KhramtsovLocal children picked up the bird and took it to the home of Antonina Maisa where the family named it Vasya and fed it on shrimps.
The pink bird was 5,330 kilometres off course when it landed in subzero Krasnoyarsk region.

The weak and exhausted flamingo landed on the Angara River, some 397 kilometres north of Krasnoyarsk city. The bird was too frail even to retreat when local children in Motygino village came to inspect it.

Carefully, they picked up the bird and took it to the home of Antonina Maisa where the family named it Vasya and fed it on shrimps. Now the unexpected visitor is gaining strength.

We would like to pass the flamingo to a zoo or shelter with rare birds,' she said. 'Somewhere the flamingo will be comfortable, alongside companions with whom it can communicate. Ideally, the same bird breed, or at least from the same region.'

The head of Motygino village Alexey Khramtsov posted a plea on his Facebook page asking his friends to find a home for the bird.


Comment: See also: Flamingos migrating to Caspian Sea in mortal danger - lost in Siberia

Four lost flamingos fly north for the winter and turn up in Siberia

Flamingos Drop From Siberian Sky: Locals Mystified

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Info

Elk seen in South Carolina for the first time in 275 years

Ron Barnett
USA Today
Fri, 28 Oct 2016 18:26 UTC
Bull elk
Bull elk
For the first time since the Upstate was Cherokee territory, a wild elk has been seen roaming the woodlands of South Carolina.

Northern Pickens County is abuzz with sightings of the bull elk, whose wanderings are being traced on social media.

It's not a descendent of species that once inhabited this area, but more likely a young bull elk that was ousted by the dominant males of a herd of Rocky Mountain elk that have been re-established in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, according to outdoorsman and Pickens County resident Dennis Chastain.

"This is a historic moment that some of us knew would eventually come," Chastain said. "This is the first wild elk to roam the woods and wild places in South Carolina since they disappeared in the early 1700's."

A wild elk was seen roaming in South Carolina for the first time in over two centuries.
© Caleb CassellA wild elk was seen roaming in South Carolina for the first time in over two centuries.
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Pumpkin

One snack too many: Rescuers liberate fat raccoon stuck in army tank hatch


RT
Fri, 28 Oct 2016 17:33 UTC
raccon rescues army tank

Watch two grown men try their best to rescue a fat raccoon stuck upside-down in a tiny tank hatch.

Raccoons are always on the hunt for food and human habitats are often their number one source. Just like us, they will eat practically anything and will do whatever it takes to get their cute, thieving little hands on snacks.
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Attention

Brown bear mauls man in Seward, Alaska


Fox News
Fri, 28 Oct 2016 17:04 UTC
Bear attack
A bear mauled a man out with his dogs before dawn Thursday on a runway of the small airport in the southern Alaska town of Seward, officials said.

The unidentified man was walking or jogging with his dogs on the airport's main runway when he was mauled by the brown bear with two cubs accompanying her, said state transportation department spokeswoman Shannon McCarthy. He suffered injuries described as non-life threatening.

The bear may have attacked the man to protect the cubs, McCarthy said. The airport has signs warning that trespassing is prohibited but is not completely fenced in.

The 55-year-old man used his cellphone to report the attack at 6:46 a.m. and was taken to a hospital for treatment, said Seward Police Chief Tom Clemons.
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Oscar

And the bird that can stay airborne the longest is.....

Tom Bawden
I News
Fri, 28 Oct 2016 15:12 UTC
A Common Swift is in the sky.
© N. CamilleriA Common Swift is in the sky.
The common swift is able to fly continuously for 10 months, without touching down for even a second, according to an extraordinary study which finds the species can stay in the air far longer than any other bird.

Researchers tagged 13 common swifts and followed their every move for two years. They found that while swifts land for two months during the breeding season, it is incredibly rare for them to roost during the rest of the year, when they are migrating between Europe and Africa.

Three didn't alight

In three cases, the bird didn't land on the ground, a tree, water, or anything else for the whole 10 months, while none of the 13 common swifts in the study spent more than 0.5 per cent of their time out of the air.
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Binoculars

Lost oceanic bird seen along Lake Michigan

Steve Miller
chicago.cbslocal.com
Thu, 27 Oct 2016 14:48 UTC
Shearwater
Shearwater
A rare bird sighting on Lake Michigan — so rare that birders aren't sure what the explanation is.

North of Milwaukee, near Port Washington, Wisconsin: a sighting of a shearwater.

"As far as I know, there has been in recorded history only one previous time when a shearwater has been observed on Lake Michigan," says Joel Greenberg, a board member of the Western Great Lakes Bird and Bat Observatory.

Someone with the observatory spotted the shearwater.

"These are solely oceanic birds. They nest on islands and coastal areas and spend most of their life on the ocean," Greenberg says.
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Question

Sunflower sea star nearly wiped out by virus in British Columbia waters

Terri Theodore
vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca
Wed, 26 Oct 2016 14:15 UTC
A sunflower sea star found off Cliff Island, Washington on March 30, 2015
© Joe GaydosA sunflower sea star found off Cliff Island, Washington on March 30, 2015
There was once a galaxy of sunflower seastars in the Salish Sea off the British Columbia and Washington state coasts, but a new study says their near disappearance from the ocean floor should be of special concern.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, say a wasting disease that impacted many starfish from Alaska to Mexico was devastating for the sunflower sea star.

Joseph Gaydos, one of the report's authors and the chief scientist with the SeaDoc Society, said the sunflower that covered the ocean floor in many areas off southern Vancouver Island and Washington state has been virtually wiped out.

"We're really concerned that one could completely disappear," he said in an interview.

The West Coast is renowned for its 28 varieties of seastars, some not found anywhere else in the world. In 2013, divers and researchers started noticing the starfish were dying from a disease that experts couldn't figure out.

Three years later, they believe a virus is at fault, but Gaydos said there may also be other factors such as water temperature that makes certain starfish more susceptible.
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Rainbow

Givers of Courage: Thousands of wild American Bison appear from nowhere at Standing Rock


White Wolf
Fri, 28 Oct 2016 13:59 UTC
bison
© Davidica Littlespottedhorse
The Tatanka Oyate were called upon and gave us courage. Pilamiya Maske for your vision. Stay strong Water Protectors! Davidica Littlespottedhorse

The great bison or buffalo of North America is a very powerful symbol to American Indians. Though best suited to cooler climates, bison roamed virtually in entire continent.

The smaller woodlands bison and its bigger cousin, the plains bison were revered and honored in ceremony and every day life. To the plains Indian, our Bison Brother meant sacred life and the abundance of the Creator's blessing on Mother Earth.

The bison is powerful medicine that is a symbol of sacrifice and service to the community. The bison people agreed to give their lives so the American Indian could have food, shelter and clothing.

The bison is also a symbol of gratitude and honor as it is happy to accept its meager existence as it stands proud against the winds of adversity.

The bison represents abundance of the Creator's bounty and respect for all creation knowing that all things are sacred.

The chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe criticized law enforcement's "militarized" response to the camp and called for demonstrations to remain peaceful, but stressed that activists would not give up their cause.

"Militarized law enforcement agencies moved in on water protectors with tanks and riot gear today. We continue to pray for peace," Dave Archambault II said in a statement Thursday evening.

"We won't step down from this fight," he added. "As peoples of this earth, we all need water. This is about our water, our rights, and our dignity as human beings."
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