Animals
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Attention

A total of 12 whales die on the coast of Taiwan in 16 days

Amy Huang and Lilian Wu
Focus Taiwan
Sat, 15 Oct 2016 21:05 UTC
Blainville's beaked whale
Blainville's beaked whale
A total of 12 whales have died over the past 16 days in Taiwan and the outlying island of Kinmen, the Taiwan Cetacean Society said Saturday.

Kuo Hsiang-sha said the society has tentatively ruled that the latest death -- a 800-kilogram whale in Kinmen -- was due to decompression sickness, caused by a sudden change in water pressure.

Kuo noted that there have been 12 cases of whales dying after being grounded in Yilan, Hualien, New Taipei, Pingtung, Taoyuan and Kinmen between Sept. 28 and Oct. 13.

He said that whales often surge upwards because of earthquakes, explosions or due to panic caused by such events.

This many deaths in such a short period could be because of the recent spate of typhoons, he speculated.
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Attention

Kangaroo attacks man and kills family dog in Melbourne, Australia


9news.com.au
Mon, 17 Oct 2016 18:34 UTC
Grey kangaroo
Eastern grey kangaroo
A man has been injured and a beloved family dog killed after a kangaroo jumped over a fence into the backyard of a Melbourne home.

Gloria Lewis and her family woke on Saturday morning to the sound of her Husky crying in the backyard of her Keilor residence.

After rushing downstairs, Ms Lewis found a two-metre tall eastern grey kangaroo attacking her other dog, a Pomeranian named Monty.

In an attempt to save her dog, Ms Lewis called police and Wildlife Victoria for advice.

"Wildlife Victoria recommended we make loud noises with objects to distract the animal and send a photo to rangers," Ms Lewis told 9NEWS.

"Even after an hour, no-one came."

Comment: See also these reports from the recent past:

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Wolf

Dog attacks soar by 50% in 10 years for Scotland

Connor Gillies
Heart
Mon, 17 Oct 2016 17:37 UTC
Dog attack
Heart can reveal the number of Scottish people needing hospital treatment for dog attacks has soared by 50% in the past 10 years - with children the most likely to be mauled.

Figures we have exclusively obtained show Glasgow was the area with the highest rate of attacks, and Orkney the least.

More than 55,093 people attended Scottish accident and emergency departments for bites and strikes from dogs between 2006 and 2015.

6,061 victims visited medical staff in 2015 - up from 4,053 in the corresponding period ten years ago, according Freedom of Information data from all health boards in Scotland.

Of the total injured, 5,899 were children under nine.

Hundreds of bites were to the face but most injuries were to the hands, arms, legs or feet.
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Igloo

Moose freezing to death due to global warming!

Joanna Nova
JoNova
Mon, 17 Oct 2016 16:59 UTC
Male Moose
© Wikimedia CommonsMale moose, Superior National Forest, Minnesota, USA.
Tragic news about moose today — the climate used to be the same for 65 million years, so moose are unprepared to deal with the sudden extra degree on the modern Earth-Perfect-Thermostat.
Jackson, Wyo. - Global warming might cause moose to freeze to death in Yellowstone National Park.
Don't cry. Moose are declining:
The reason for the decline is complicated. Wolves have taken moose, and grizzly bears have been expanding their presence.

But climate could be the biggest challenge. Part of the problem is ticks. A moose with too many of the parasites during the winter can lose its hair and freeze to death.
We all know, before Columbus there was one perfect quota of moose, bear, wolf. The numbers didn't vary from the sacred Gaia Triangle Ratio (whatever it was). There were no cycles. Moose never declined. Then man came, used air conditioners in Florida, caused tick outbreaks in Saskatoon, and da fur fell off doz' mooses. Cold moose!
In general, moose are simply better adapted to colder temperatures. When it's too warm, they spend more time in the shade trying to cool down and less time feeding, Courtemanch said.
You might have thought fur-free moose might like warmer weather. They just can't win eh?
"The warmer winters and warmer summers are incredibly stressful to them," she said. "They're so heat-stressed all the time. It cascades into poor body condition for females, and that impacts their ability to have a calf. They are so stressed they can't put on enough weight every year."
Sounds like da stressed mooses need psychotherapy. If we stopped trying to buy nice weather with solar and wind we could afford a psychotherapist for every mother moose. Stop a windfarm, save a moose!
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Attention

Wild elephants kill 4 within 2 days in Sherpur, Bangladesh; 7 killed in the region over the past month


bdnews24.com
Mon, 17 Oct 2016 16:43 UTC
Charging elephant
© GettyCharging elephant
Wild elephants attacked and killed another person in Sherpur on Saturday, a day after they had killed three in the same area.

Early on Friday, three persons were trampled to death in Jhenaigati Upazila.

The latest victim has been identified 60-year-old Momena Begum, who was attacked in the border village of Tilaparha on Saturday, said Jhenaigati Forestry Department's Beat Officer Ashraful Alam.

"Around 2:30am on Saturday, a wild elephant charged into the victim's home and trampled her to death," he said.

In the past one month, wild elephants have killed seven people in the Jhenaigati border region, said Upazila administration chief (UNO) Md Selim Reza.
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Attention

Victim recovering after bear attack near Columbia Falls, Montana


kpax.com
Mon, 17 Oct 2016 16:29 UTC
Bear attack
A person was attacked by a bear Sunday in northwest Montana.

The victim was taken to Kalispell Regional Medical Center with what are said to be non-life threatening injuries.

Montana, Fish, Wildlife and Parks has closed the area where the attack happened until further notice.

All of the land owned by Stoltze Lumber near Columbia Falls is now off-limits and the Haskill Basin is closed until further notice.

We will have more information on this developing story as it becomes available.
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Binoculars

4 birds from Siberia seen in the UK for the first time; an unprecedented influx of 59 in northern Europe


ITV
Mon, 17 Oct 2016 14:40 UTC
Siberian Accentor, Mossy Hill, Shetland, 9 October 2016
© Josh JonesSiberian Accentor, Mossy Hill, Shetland, 9 October 2016
A rare bird has got twitchers in a flap after being spotted in the North East TWICE over the weekend.

The Siberian Accentor flew into the Shetlands last Sunday - the first time it had been seen in Britain.

One was then recorded in Spurn, in East Yorkshire, before two more were spotted in the region.

On Saturday one was found in a hedgerow on the cliffs at Saltburn, in East Cleveland, and then the a bird was discovered at a quarry in Hendon.

It's thought the birds were migrating to South East Asia when they were blown off course.


Comment: From Dutch Birding on the 17th October via Google Translate:
Unbelievable! 59 Siberian Accentors (Prunella Monta ella) have been recorded in northern Europe (outside Russia) within 13 days (4-16 October 2016)! No doubt this is not yet the end of this amazing influx and I am certain that in the next days other individuals will turn up.


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Attention

Surfer survives shark attack off Caloundra, Australia

Daniel Peters
Daily Mail (UK)
Sun, 16 Oct 2016 14:41 UTC
Shark attacks
A surfer has survived a terrifying shark attack just 10 metres from the shore while lying on his board in the water at a popular tourist beach on the Sunshine Coast.

University student Cooper Hallam said he was 'hit hard' from the rear left side and then took two or three bites to his body before he could react and fight off the shark.

The attack took place at Kings Beach, in Caloundra, late on Saturday afternoon.

Photographs of Mr Hallam's wounds were uploaded to the Dorsal Shark Reports Facebook page along with a description of the attack.

'Shark was obviously small, couldn't fit jaws around my waist, but still enough to give me the fright of my life,' he wrote.

'Further inspection of the bite looks like the sharks jaw size is around the diameter of a dinner plate.'

'Still very rattled... Not freaking out quite as much as my Mum though.'

Photographs of the man's wounds were uploaded to the Dorsal Shark Reports Facebook
Photographs of the man's wounds were uploaded to the Dorsal Shark Reports Facebook

Comment: See also: Shark attack on surfer off Ballina, Australia; 6th attack for the area in 21 months

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Attention

Woman suffers leg injuries in shark attack off Maui, Hawaii; 5th such incident for the area so far this year

Rosemarie Bernardo
Honolulu Star Advertise
Fri, 14 Oct 2016 20:00 UTC
Shark attacks
A 66-year-old Washington state woman was injured in a suspected shark attack in waters off Charley Young Beach in Kihei this morning.

Maui County Fire Services Chief Edward Taomoto said the woman sustained injuries to her lower leg, and was transported to Maui Memorial Medical Center in serious condition after the attack, which occurred shortly before 10 a.m.

The woman, a part-time Kihei resident, had been snorkeling in waters about 40 feet from the shore at a depth of seven feet when the attack occurred, according to a state Department of Land and Natural Resources news release.

A nearby stand-up paddleboarder heard the woman yell for help an responded to the scene. The paddler pulled the woman onto the board and brought her to shore. Also, a visitor from Washington state swam out to assist her.

Two nurses and a firefighter from the mainland who were on vacation treated the woman on the beach before lifeguards arrived, according to a Maui County Fire Department news release.
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Attention

Dead Blainville's beaked whale found on beach in Taiwan


Focus Taiwan
Sat, 15 Oct 2016 18:42 UTC
Blainville's beaked whale
Blainville's beaked whale
Coast guard personnel and residents move the carcass of an 800-kilogram whale to the high-water mark on a beach in offshore Kinmen County, in order for the whale to be dissected and analyzed.

The 4-meter long Blainville's beaked whale was found on the shore near Kinmen Airport on Oct. 13.

Dead Blainville's beaked whale
© CNADead Blainville's beaked whale
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