Animals
S


Wolf

34 killed, 350 injured by leopards in 10 years across Himachal Pradesh, India

Gaurav Bisht
Hindustan Times.
Wed, 10 May 2017 15:19 UTC
Leopard
Leopard
The rising human population and shrinking habitat of animals has led to a conflict between the two. In the last decade, leopards have strayed into human habitation and killed 34 people in different parts of the hill state.

The prowling leopards in Himachal has certainly raised concerns for the forest department, which has now ordered to carry out a statewide survey to assess the population of felines that threaten humans and livestock in the state.

"Increasing biotic interference in the habitats of large carnivores, including leopards, and easy availability of food/ prey base in the human-used landscapes has brought them towards human habitations, causing leopard-human conflicts," said additional chief secretary Tarun Kapoor.

The state has witnessed 34 deaths due to leopard attacks since 2004. In addition, 367 cases of injury to people have also been reported over the same period, out of which 99 cases were of grievous nature.
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Attention

Bear charges two cyclists on trail in Slovakia

Daniel Uria
UPI
Tue, 09 May 2017 18:55 UTC
Bear charge
A pair of cyclists were startled when a bear came charging toward them out of the woods near a bike trail in Slovakia.

Video shared to YouTube by Dusan Vinzik shows helmet camera footage of himself riding behind a friend on a trail in Malino Brdo when a bear emerged from nearby woods and charged at the cyclist in front.

The bear pursued Vinzik's friend for a few feet before turning off the trail and back toward the wooded area.

Vinzik's friend began cycling faster for a few feet and got off his before reaching the end of the trail where he would have been forced to turn back toward the bear's path.

Vinzik called out to his friend, who walked back down to the path, as the two regrouped to share in a sigh of relief.

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Wolf

6-month-old baby dies after attack from pit bull in Las Vegas

Antonio Castelan and Tony Garcia
news3lv.com
Tue, 09 May 2017 09:25 UTC
Dog attack
A 6-month-old child was killed this afternoon after being attacked by a dog.

The incident occurred just before 1:15 p.m. on the 9100 block of West Brilliant Prairie Court, near West Centennial Parkway and North Fort Apache Road, according to Officer Laura Meltzer of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

The child was taken to Centennial Hills Hospital and later pronounced deceased.

The mother of the child was inside the home at the time. Police say their pit bull, for some reason, became agitated and bit the child. The mother immediately called 911. The baby was pronounced dead at the hospital.

"This is something a lot of families can learn from," said LVMPD Officer Larry Hadfield. "It's an absolute tragedy, and regardless how trusting you are of your animals in your house, you have to make sure you are supervising."

Comment: Other serious dog attacks in the last few days: Liverpool dog attack: Two-year-old girl injured in garden

Toddler hospitalized following dog attack in Butler, Pennsylvania.

7-year-old bitten by pit bull boxer mix in Dayton, Ohio

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Attention

Wild elephant kills two in Karnataka, India


The Economic Times
Mon, 08 May 2017 20:11 UTC
Charging elephant
© GettyCharging elephant
A wild elephant trampled two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans, including an assistant sub-inspector (ASI), to death at the CRPF training camp in Kaggalipura forest range, off Kanakapura Road on Sunday morning.

The deceased have been identified as ASI H Dakshina Murthy (55), hailing from Vellore, Tamil Nadu and constable Puttappa Lamani (35) from Haveri district. Kaggalipura Police said the incident took place around 5.30 am when the duo was walking near the CRPF training centre which also houses a dog training camp.The camp is near the Bannerghatta forest area.

Police said there are seven posts around the camp, with four jawans deployed in each of them.

Comment: Elsewhere on the subcontinent in the last few days: Wild elephant kills two people in Bhagalpur

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Red Flag

Researchers find first known evidence of deer scavenging on bones of human corpse


Sputnik
Mon, 08 May 2017 17:58 UTC
deer
© CC0 / Pixabay
The first known evidence of deer scavenging the bones of a human corpse has been uncovered.

The chilling discovery was made when researchers at the 26-acre Forensic Anthropology Research Facility (FARF) in San Marcos, Texas, were conducting an equally grisly experiment. Seemingly monstrous things often must be done in the name of forensic science — in order to optimize crime-solving and corpse identification techniques, dead bodies are often subjected to violent attacks, left in controlled conditions to rot, and other morbid applications.

​The FARF center is specifically devoted to the study of decayed human remains. In July 2014, staff left a body in a wooded part of FARF, in order to see how different scavenging animals left their mark on human remains.

A motion-sensitive camera was set up nearby to see what stopped by to chow down on the body. Animals such as foxes, turkey vultures, raccoons, coyotes, and other local residents are known to be partial to dead human flesh, but the experiment demonstrated an entirely new critter has a penchant for mankind meat.
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Eye 2

Alligator attacks girl in Orange County, Florida

Christal Hayes
Orlando Sentinel
Mon, 08 May 2017 14:22 UTC
Alligator
Alligator
The 10-year-old attacked by an alligator at an Orange County park Saturday was able to get free after prying open the reptile's jaws, records show.

The girl was sitting down in 2-foot-deep water in a designated swimming area at Moss Park about 2:30 p.m. when the 8-foot, 9-inch gator attacked her, according to a report by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The girl was in Lake Mary Jane with four family members, who were also in the water about 10 feet away, an accident report shows.

The gator bit the girl's calf and knee, but she was able to pry open its jaws to get her leg free, the report states.

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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills woman and her horse in Sedalia, Colorado

Ann Schmidt
Daily Mail
Mon, 08 May 2017 08:34 UTC
A lightning bolt struck this oak tree and killed a 37-year-old woman and her horse who were nearby. Police say the woman was 10 feet away from the tree when she died
A lightning bolt struck this oak tree and killed a 37-year-old woman and her horse who were nearby. Police say the woman was 10 feet away from the tree when she died
A 15-year-old girl was left fighting for her life after a lightning bolt struck a tree near her and killed a woman she was with in Colorado.

The two were riding horses on an equestrian trail between the community of Sedalia, Colorado and the Roxborough State Park on Sunday afternoon.

After a lightning bolt struck an oak tree, the 37-year-old woman and her horse died.

The girl was 'conscious and breathing' when paramedics found the pair and the girl was taken to the hospital where she was treated for electrocution, according to Denver7.
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Cloud Precipitation

Flash floods sweep away 18,000 livestock in Samburu, Kenya

Josphister Lengarpatei
Citizen Digital
Sat, 06 May 2017 20:23 UTC
dead cattle
Livestock farmers in Samburu County are counting losses after an estimated 18,000 head of livestock were swept by flash floods following a heavy downpour in the county.

Livelihoods are now under threat in an area that has suffered the blunt of drought that has left hundreds of livestock dead due to starvation.

Speaking to Citizen Digital on phone, area Member of Parliament, Alois Lentoimanga said that the most affected areas by floods are Nyiro, Ndoto, Elbarta, Nachola, Angata and Baawaa wards where households have also been swept away by the floods.

Lentoimanga is now appealing to the government and the Kenya Red Cross to intervene, describing the situation as dire.

According to Joseph Lekaato, a resident of Bendera village in Samburu North Sub County, this is the worst loss that has never been experienced in the region.

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Attention

Dead orca whale shows highest pollutant level ever seen by scientists in an animal


Sputnik
Sun, 07 May 2017 12:15 UTC
orca whales
© AP Photo/ NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Cente
A dead orca whale that washed up on the shore of a Scottish isle has been revealed to have the highest concentration of dangerous pollutants ever recorded.

Following the dead whale's discovery in January on a small island, researchers with the Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS), a group that according to their website, "collates all data from stranded marine animals around Scotland," conducted an autopsy that revealed astonishingly high levels of dangerous pollutants, including highly toxic manmade polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

Scientists conducting the autopsy said the PCB levels are the highest ever recorded in an animal, according to Ibtimes.
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Info

Hundreds of leopard sharks washing up dead on San Francisco beaches


Sputnik
Sat, 06 May 2017 11:59 UTC
leopard shark
© Matthew Field
For seven weeks now, hundreds upon hundreds of leopard shark corpses have been washing up on the beaches of San Francisco Bay, turning the City by the Bay into the "Dead Shark Capital of California."

A similar incident occurred in 2011, when the beautiful beaches of San Francisco Bay were choked with the fetid corpses of leopard sharks. Similar die-offs have been reported going back to 1967.

"I look at it as a 50-year-old shark murder mystery, and we are hopefully closing in on the killer," said California Department of Fish and Wildlife senior fish pathologist Mark Okihiro to Bay Nature, a California conservation group.
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