Animals
S


Bizarro Earth

First alligator-related death in South Carolina history recorded - victim was 90-year-old woman

Gregory Yee
Post and Courier
Fri, 29 Jul 2016 15:05 UTC
alligator kills woman
© File/Leroy Burnell/StaffAlligator responsible for death of woman who was reported missing from a senior facility in West Ashley was found in a nearby retention pond Wednesday. Authorities continue to look into her death.
A 90-year-old woman's death this week is the first alligator-related fatality in state history, according to the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.

Bonnie Walker was reported missing Wednesday morning from Brookdale Charleston, the West Ashley assisted-living facility where she was a resident. Her body was found in a retention pond behind the property a few hours later.

The Charleston County Coroner's Office ruled her death accidental. The cause was "multiple sharp and blunt force injuries" consistent with those made by an alligator. Robert McCullough, a spokesman for DNR, confirmed Friday afternoon that the case was the first time an alligator-related incident in the state had turned fatal.

"It's the first one as far as we've been keeping records," he said.

Agency staff completed a necropsy on the alligator and confirmed it was involved in Walker's death. They turned it over to the coroner's office.

"The injuries are consistent with those which could be inflicted by an alligator and our investigation has confirmed that an alligator was involved in the decedent's death," said Coroner Rae Wooten.

Investigators believe Walker slipped and fell down a steep embankment and landed in the water, attracting the alligator's attention.

She was reported missing from the Brookdale Charleston on Charlie Hall Boulevard around 7:40 a.m. Wednesday. Police divers recovered her body from the pond shortly before 11 a.m.
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Health

Tourist is hospitalised after shark attack south of Alicante, Spain

Gerard Couzens
Daily Mail
Fri, 29 Jul 2016 20:06 UTC
Great white shark
A holidaymaker was bitten by a shark while swimming a hundred yards off a packed beach on the Costa Blanca in Spain.

People were hurriedly ordered out of the water after the attack around 11.30am today.

The 40-year-old victim was rushed to hospital in Elche where he was given stitches to a wound in his hand.

First aiders said he had come out of the sea at Arenales del Sol, just south of Alicante, with blood pouring from a large bite mark on his hand.

The man is thought to have a house locally but it is not clear if he is Spanish or an expat.
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Attention

Massive anthrax outbreak kills 1,500 deer in Russia; largest for 75 years

Vladislav Vorotnikov
Global Meat
Thu, 28 Jul 2016 14:36 UTC
Russia is keeping one eye on its venison as vets warn the virus area could increase
Russia is keeping one eye on its venison as vets warn the virus area could increase
An outbreak of anthrax has killed 1,500 northern deer in Russia and, with the figure set to rise, fears over exports of venison have begun to surface.

The anthrax outbreak in the Yamal Peninsula, the Arctic part of Russia, is believed to be the largest for 75 years. To fight against the disease, Russia has applied unprecedented measures, including the evacuation of farmers and their families.

Local veterinary services believe the disease probably emanated from animal burial sites - and some pastures where animals have been grazing will be banned for livestock use for the next 25 years.

"This disease has been present in our country for a long time and we have 35,000 officially registered animals with anthrax in burial sites," said Julia Demina, deputy head of Russian sanitary body Rospotrebnadzor. "These are the places where anthrax spores could be found in the soil."
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Roses

Schoolgirl dies after an elephant hurls rock at her head in Moroccan zoo

Sarah Dean and Gerard Couzens
Daily Mail
Thu, 28 Jul 2016 21:22 UTC
A girl has died after an elephant (pictured) hurled a rock (bottom right) at her head from its enclosure at a zoo in Morocco
A girl has died after an elephant (pictured) hurled a rock (bottom right) at her head from its enclosure at a zoo in Morocco
This is the heartbreaking moment a schoolgirl lies dying at a zoo after being struck on the head in a freak accident by a rock hurled at her by an elephant.

The seven-year-old was having a picture outside its enclosure with her family when the tragedy happened at the zoo in the Moroccan capital Rabat.

The female elephant, named Assia, picked up the large stone in its trunk and threw it into the air, hitting her on the back of the head.

The youngster was knocked unconscious and died in a nearby hospital after failing to overcome her injuries.

Footage taken by a bystander on a mobile phone and posted on social media showed the girl lying on the ground being tended to by staff as her anguished family gathered round her.

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Attention

Baboon attacks caretaker and his dogs in South Africa

Mandla Mahashe
News24
Thu, 28 Jul 2016 20:52 UTC
Thula Makoa and the female Rottweiler, bearing its injuries. Beside them is Reverend Moeketsi Mototjane, of the Holy Cross Anglican Church in Nyanga
© Mandla Mahashe Thula Makoa and the female Rottweiler, bearing its injuries. Beside them is Reverend Moeketsi Mototjane, of the Holy Cross Anglican Church in Nyanga
An alleged stray baboon attack has left both master and man's best friend nursing a bruised ego and a broken left hind leg, respectively.

According to Thuso Makoa, the incident took place in the early hours of Sunday.

"I was sitting by the fire when I heard a strange sound and I went to investigate. It was as if someone had dropped something over the fence. As I was walking in an alley, I couldn't believe my eyes."

Makoa said there, in front of him, was a baboon with a chain around its waist.

Then it lunged at him, he said.

"I turned around and ran for my life, and hid in one of the alleys,"

"As the dogs chased the animal around the yard, I managed to scramble to my room where, after a few minutes, I heard one of the dogs yelping in pain. As Makoa opened the door of his room, he said he saw one of the guard dogs, a female Rottweiler, rushing towards him, dragging its left hind leg and in obvious pain. He said he stayed in his room until daybreak as he was too scared to even save the dog from the attacker.
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Attention

Rabid bat attacks person in broad daylight in Terrace, Canada


cbc.ca
Thu, 28 Jul 2016 20:43 UTC
When a bat
© Getty ImagesWhen a bat "dive-bombed" someone at Lakelse Lake near Terrace, B.C. recently, it was caught and tested positive for rabies.
The bat 'dive-bombed' a person near Lakelse Lake during the day

It was a bizarre sight: a bat, normally a nocturnal animal, dive-bombIng a person in broad daylight near Lakelse Lake in Terrace, B.C.

When the bat was caught, it tested positive for rabies.

The individual wasn't harmed, but Dr. Melissa McLaws, a veterinary epidemiologist with the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, says rabies is a serious issue because it is "almost universally fatal if a person gets it or an animal gets it."

She says that less than one per cent of wild bats have rabies, but "we do find positive bats every year in every part of British Columbia".
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Attention

Fish dying by the millions all over the planet in last month

Michael Snyder
Activist Post
Mon, 09 May 2016 19:38 UTC
fish
Why are millions upon millions of dead sea creatures suddenly washing up on beaches all over the world?

It is certainly not unusual for fish and other inhabitants of our oceans to die. This happens all the time. But over the past month we have seen a series of extremely alarming mass death incidents all over the planet. As you will see below, many of these mass death incidents have involved more than 30 tons of fish.

Comment: More recent stories:

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Black Cat

Leopard attacks villagers, injuring 10 including a 3-year-old child in Uttar Pradesh, India

Harriet Mallinson
Daily Mail
Wed, 27 Jul 2016 17:33 UTC
In the footage the big cat can be seen charging out of a building and pouncing on a man in white shirt before dashing away
In the footage the big cat can be seen charging out of a building and pouncing on a man in white shirt before dashing away
An Indian village was plunged into fear when a runaway leopard attacked and injured 10 people.

Dramatic footage caught the moment the beast mauled two men as it ran through a courtyard.

The big cat reportedly emerged from the fields in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and entered a house where it savagely tried to drag away a 3-year-old child sitting in his uncle's lap.

Thankfully the man, known as Suraj, managed to hold onto the tot and raised the alarm, although the child sustained severe injuries from the mauling.

The animal fled to a neighbouring village where it hid in a heap of husk in a house and attacked two unsuspecting women.

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Attention

Dead whale found in the Hudson River, Jersey City

Checkey Beckford
nbcnewyork.com
Wed, 27 Jul 2016 15:37 UTC
A dead whale was found floating in the Hudson River off New Jersey.
© NBC New York A dead whale was found floating in the Hudson River off New Jersey.
A dead whale struck by a ship several days ago in New Jersey has apparently resurfaced in the Hudson River — it's one of a number that have been spotted around New York City over the past few days.

The 30-foot whale was first spotted under the bow of a cargo ship in Newark Bay by a pilot boat driver a couple of days ago, according to Bob Schoelkopf of Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine. The ship appeared to have struck the whale, the pilot boat driver confirmed.

The whale apparently sank, then floated to the surface in the Hudson River off Jersey City Wednesday, according to Schoelkopf.

On Wednesday, crews were approaching the whale to try to remove it, Chopper 4 over the scene shows.

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Wolf

Rare wolverine filmed in the Sierra Nevada believed to be first one in the area since 1920s


Daily Mail
Sun, 24 Jul 2016 10:59 UTC
This May 18 photo taken from a remote camera, set up by biologist Chris Stermer, shows a wolverine in the Tahoe National Forest in California.
This May 18 photo taken from a remote camera, set up by biologist Chris Stermer, shows a wolverine in the Tahoe National Forest in California.
Scientists following up on a rare wolverine sighting in the Sierra Nevada set up cameras and captured video of the animal scurrying in the snow, scaling a tree and chewing on bait.

They believe the wolverine is the same one that eight years ago became the first documented in the area since the 1920s.

Chris Stermer, a wildlife biologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, set up the remote cameras in the Tahoe National Forest after officials at a field station sent him photos in January of unusual tracks in the snow near Truckee.

'They were definitely wolverine tracks,' Stermer told the Sierra Sun newspaper.

Wolverines, a member of the weasel family that look like a small bear with big claws, once were found throughout the Rocky Mountains and as far west as the Sierra.

An estimated 250 to 300 wolverines survive in remote areas of Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon and Washington state, according to wildlife officials.

Prior to the 2008 sighting, scientists were convinced fur trapping during the early 1900s had wiped out the species in California.
In this February 27, 2016 photo, the wolverine is pictured during a snowy day in the Tahoe National Forest
In this February 27, 2016 photo, the wolverine is pictured during a snowy day in the Tahoe National Forest
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