Animals
S


Cow Skull

The 'dramatic effects' of declining megafauna

Jen Viegas
seeker.com
Fri, 02 Sep 2016 15:29 UTC
elephant

The shocking decline of elephant populations in Africa highlights the devastating impact the loss of large mammals will have on the planet.

Elephants, rhinos, hippos and other megafauna are in steep decline now, which researchers find is having a disastrous impact on the environment and on smaller animals down the food chain.

Of particular concern at present is the overwhelming loss of African savanna elephants in recent years. Such pachyderms are declining by 30 percent in 15 of 18 countries surveyed, according to results of the three-year Great Elephant Census that were announced earlier this week. The census and accompanying African Elephant Atlas, produced by philanthropist Paul G. Allen's Vulcan, Inc., mark what is believed to be the largest ever Pan-African survey of savanna elephants.

Mike Chase, principal investigator for the Great Elephant Census, shares how the largest pan-Africa survey since the 1970s came to be, and how he hopes this data will save Africa's savanna elephants:
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Attention

Shark attacks freediver off Refugio State Beach, California

Matt Van Slyke
ksby.com
Thu, 01 Sep 2016 17:42 UTC
Shark attacks
A man was attacked by a shark at Refugio State Beach Thursday morning, a State Parks official confirms.

Eric Hjelstrom, a State Parks superintendent for the Santa Barbara area, said the victim ran out of the ocean bleeding at around 9 a.m.

The man told a park aid at the entrance station to the beach that he had been freediving and spearfishing when a shark came up behind him and bit him on the foot. The man then drove himself to a hospital.

Hjelstrom said he went to the hospital to interview the man in order to authenticate his claims and was able to confirm the attack.

The victim had a GoPro camera on his speargun and used the speargun to fend off the shark while paddling back to shore, according to Hjelstrom, who added he had viewed the GoPro video and recognized a fairly large shark -- possibly a great white -- about six to eight feet in size.
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Snowman

Pasadena bears beat the heat in neighborhood pools


RT
Fri, 02 Sep 2016 14:17 UTC
bears
© Jim Urquhart / Reuters
It must be unbearably hot in California, because a mama bear and her two cubs had to take a dip to cool off. While they don't own the pools that they splashed around in, they certainly made themselves at home - literally.

The heat in Pasadena has been getting to some residents, especially the ones covered in fur.

Perhaps that's why a black bear and her two cubs wandered through a neighborhood to swim in pools. When they wanted a snack, they moved to dumpsters, and one clumsy cub bumped into a glass door, shattering it.

"It's not unusual at all to see bear activity," Andrew Hughan, a spokesman for the state's Department of Fish and Wildlife, told the Los Angeles Times. "But it's unusual to have them in the pool."
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Attention

Fisherman uses karate skills to fend off black bear in Japan


abc.net.au
Fri, 02 Sep 2016 14:02 UTC
Asian black bear
© Michelle BenderDespite Mr Aoki's success, police advised people against fighting Japan's numerous wild bears.
A 63-year-old Japanese man says he used his karate skills to fight off a black bear that attacked him in a mountain creek.

Atsushi Aoki was fishing when the 190-centimetre animal set upon him in what he said was an unprovoked attack.

In scenes seemingly reminiscent of Leonardo Di Caprio's epic tussle with an angry bear in the Oscar-winning film The Revenant, Mr Aoki was bitten and scratched repeatedly, including on his head.

"The bear was so strong, and it knocked me down," Mr Aoki told Tokyo Broadcasting System.

"It turned me over and bit me right here," he added, pointing to his bandaged leg.

But instead of trying to outrun the animal — an Asian black bear — the fisherman decided he would use his well-honed karate skills.
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Attention

Dead baleen whale found off the coast of Portland, UK


Bournemouth Echo
Fri, 02 Sep 2016 13:26 UTC
baleen whale
A dead baleen whale has been spotted off the coast of Portland.

The whale, spotted in the sea on August 31, was seen floating at the top of the water.

Dorset Wildlife Trust are asking people to contact them if they find the whale washed ashore.

Baleen whales range from six metres to 34 metres.

When a whale dies in the sea, its carcass usually eventually sinks to the bottom and can become home to a new ecosystem as other fish and sea animals eat off the meat.

However, sometimes whales are known to wash ashore.

It comes after a spotting of what the Dorset Wildlife Trust believe could have been a minke whale last week on August 23.

DEAD WHALE
© Dorset Wildlife Trust
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Wolf

Boy dies after attack by two dogs in Western Cape, South Africa; third death in a month for the region

Ilze-Marie Le Roux
Eyewitness News
Thu, 01 Sep 2016 18:37 UTC
Dog attack
The dogs reportedly jumped over a garden fence next to the Vlei where the boy & his cousin were swimming.

A Stellenbosch boy has died after he was attacked by two dogs.

The dogs reportedly jumped over a garden fence next to the Vlei where the six-year-old and his cousin were swimming.

Earlier this month, two children, aged one and four, were also killed in separate dog attacks in the Western Cape.

The Police's Andre Traut says, "The circumstances surrounding the death of a six-year-old boy are being investigated and a death inquest docket has been registered following an incident on 26 August."
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Attention

Elephant kills two including child in Sri Lanka


Colombo Page
Sat, 27 Aug 2016 16:12 UTC
Charging elephant
© GettyCharging elephant
A wild elephant attack on a passenger van in early morning hours of Saturday in northwestern Sri Lanka has killed two people including a five-year-old child.

The elephant had attacked the van, plying on the Puttalam-Anuradhapura Highway, near the Mee Oya Bridge at Karuwalagaswewa area in the wee hour of the morning after the van had collided with the elephant on the road, according to the police.

One passenger was killed at the scene while the five-year-old boy, who was critically injured, succumbed to his injuries after he was transferred to Colombo National Hospital from Puttalam Base Hospital.

Two women and seven men injured in the attack were admitted to the Puttalam Base Hospital while a four-year-old child who was in critical condition was later transferred to the Colombo National Hospital.

State-run television reported the passengers, in the van were residents of Jaffna and they are on their way from Jaffna to the Katunayake Airport.

The Karuwalagaswewa Police are conducting further investigations.
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Attention

Second dead dolphin in a week found near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina


nbc4i.com
Fri, 26 Aug 2016 15:40 UTC
Dead dolphin
Officials discovered a mature dolphin found deceased on the beach at 17th Avenue North Thursday.

North Myrtle Beach spokesperson Pat Dowling told WBTW that the city's beach patrol notified the SC Department of Natural Resources and Coastal Carolina University and the city's sanitation division collected the animal and kept it on ice until a professor from the marine sciences department at CCU could collect it to perform a necropsy.

Dowling did not know the name of the professor.

This is not the first dolphin to be found dead this week on the SC coast. According to the South Carolina United Turtle Enthusiasts Facebook page, volunteers retrieved a dead female neonate bottle-nosed dolphin off of South Litchfield at Midway Inlet Tuesday.
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Attention

Whale beaches and dies on beach in Volusia County, Florida


fox35orlando.com
Sat, 27 Aug 2016 15:09 UTC
Whale beaches self
© Volusia County Beach SafetyWhale beaches self
A sperm whale beached itself Saturday afternoon in Volusia County, near Ponce Inlet.

Officials say members of the Volusia County Marine Mammals Stranding Team responded with help from the Hubbs-SeaWorld team to try and rescue the whale.

Unfortunately, the whale could not be saved and died on the beach.

It's unclear what caused the whale's death, but its body was taken away for tests.
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Attention

Surfer loses two limbs in shark attack near Reunion Island

David Strege
Grind TV
Tue, 30 Aug 2016 12:18 UTC
A 10-foot bull shark was said to be responsible for the attack on a 21-year-old surfer on Reunion Island
A 10-foot bull shark was said to be responsible for the attack on a 21-year-old surfer on Reunion Island
A 6-foot hole in the anti-shark safety nets guarding the beach at Boucan Canot on Reunion Island prompted officials to raise the red flag Saturday, but that didn't stop a dozen or so surfers from entering the water.

"That same morning the nets were inspected a 2-meter hole was found, so they closed the beach," South African surfer Davy Stolk told Zigzag, a surfing magazine in South Africa. "But the swell was big so the guys still hit the water while the waves were breaking over the nets."

Officials were obviously worried about a possible shark attack, and those worst fears were realized when a 21-year-old student from nearby Etang Sale was bitten twice by a 10-foot bull shark, according to Surfing Life and local news outlet LINFO.Re.

Laurent Chardard lost an arm and a foot in the shark attack that occurred around 5 p.m. local time on the island east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.
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