Animals

Stray dogs maul elderly woman to death in Karnataka, India

New Indian Express
Sun, 16 May 2021 12:24 UTC

Representational image (File photo| EPS)

In a tragic incident, an elderly woman was mauled to death by a pack of stray dogs at Dwaraka Nagar in RR Nagar on Friday night. The dogs were apparently chasing another passerby for over half-a-km, before they across the woman and pounced on her instead, police said.

The police have filed a case against BBMP for not taking adequate steps during the lockdown to keep the stray canine population in check.Meanwhile, the identity of the deceased is yet to be ascertained.

A police officer said the woman, aged about 70 years, was walking alone at around 11.30 pm, when she was attacked by the dogs. She was not carrying anything in her hands. Police also suspect that she had no one to look after her.

14-meter fin whale washes ashore in southern province of Mersin, Turkey

Hurriyet Daily News
Sat, 15 May 2021 14:23 UTC

A 14-meter-long fin whale, which has washed up on the shore of the southern province of Mersin, was moved on to the shore after a four-hour operation on May 13.

The dead body of the whale was transferred to Mersin University. Its skeleton will be exhibited in the city's Sea Museum.

Early on May 13, some inhabitants informed the police that "something big" was floating on the sea some 200 meters off the shore.

As the Coast Guard spotted that it was a dead whale, a team of firefighters was also transferred to the seaside.

350 rare antelopes killed by lightning in Kazakhstan

France24
Fri, 14 May 2021 11:44 UTC

Critically endangered: Saiga antelopes are targeted by poaching, fuelled by demand for the animals' horn in Chinese medicine

© ANATOLY USTINENKO/ AFP
Critically endangered: Saiga antelopes are targeted by poaching, fuelled by demand for the animals' horn in Chinese medicine

Kazakhstan said Friday that around 350 critically endangered Saiga antelopes had been killed, probably by lightning, after villagers found their bodies in steppe land in the west of the country.

The discovery came during calving season for the Saiga, which is known for its distinctive bulbous nose.

The Kazakh ecological ministry said in a statement that lightning was the probable cause of their deaths "as there are traces of lightning strikes on the carcasses."

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), whose "Red List" is the scientific reference for threatened wildlife, lists the Saiga as among five critically endangered antelope species, with a population of around 124,000 adults.

Dead gray whale washes ashore at Francis State Beach - 10th found in San Francisco Bay Area this year

August Howell
Half Moon Bay Review
Thu, 13 May 2021 13:18 UTC

© Adam Parde
A dead gray whale washed ashore at Francis State Beach on Tuesday. It was drifting in and out with the tides on Thursday.

A dead gray whale washed ashore on Tuesday evening at Francis State Beach in Half Moon Bay. It had disappeared by Thursday morning, officials say, but much of the remains had drifted back to shore by this afternoon.

The California Academy of Sciences received reports of the whale from California State Park rangers on Tuesday, said Marine Mammal Center spokesman Giancarlo Rulli. By the time an expert from the academy arrived at the beach Thursday morning, the decomposing whale was gone.

Because no necropsy was performed, experts don't know how it died or how old it was. The whale's appearance is the latest in a slew of sightings over the last five months. This was the eighth gray whale to wash ashore in the Bay Area since April 1. An adult female gray whale was found beached at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve on April 3.

Lightning bolt kills 22 goats in Haryana, India

The Tribune (India)
Fri, 14 May 2021 12:25 UTC

As many as 22 goats died when a tree under which they were standing was struck by lightning in Pirthipur village of Yamunanagar district.

The incident took place when Fazla of Taharpur Kalan village, Yamin and Shakeel, both residents of Jaitpur village, were grazing their goats in Pirthipur village on Wednesday afternoon.

A source said three goats of Fazla, Yamin and Shakeel were standing under a tree to take shelter from the rain. "In the incident 22 goats died and one had a narrow escape," the source added. The source said a veterinary doctor, a patwari and policemen visited the spot after getting the information of the incident to take stock of the loss.

Lightning bolt kills herd of 18 elephants in Assam, India

The Hindu
Fri, 14 May 2021 12:12 UTC

Elephants died after being struck by lightening near Bamuni Hills in Kandali, Nagaon district, in Assam on Wednesday night.

A bolt of lightning is believed to have killed a herd of at least 18 elephants in central Assam's Nagaon district on Wednesday night.

The incident happened in the hilly Kandali Proposed Reserve Forest in the Forest Department's Kathiatoli Range, officials said.

"The local staff said 18 elephants have died and lightning is most likely the cause," Assam's Chief Wildlife Warden, M.K. Yadava told The Hindu.

"There have been cases of lightning striking animals down. Lightning claimed five elephants in West Bengal some time ago, but this is huge," he said.

Worker dies after neighbour's pit bull bites his neck in Karnataka, India

Times of India
Wed, 12 May 2021 13:23 UTC

A 38-year-old daily-wage worker was killed after a neighbour's pet dog attacked him and bit his neck in Attur Layout, Yelahanka New Town, on Tuesday afternoon.

Narasimha was from Raichur and lived with his wife in a makeshift shed on a construction site in Attur Layout. He was attacked by the neighbour's pit bull when he tried to stop the dog, which had come out of its parent's home and was running amok.

Police have booked the pit bull's parent, identified as Christi, under IPC section 304A for causing death due to negligence. Christi is a student from Tamil Nadu who lives in a rented accommodation next to the construction site. The dog is currently with her. "Since she also sustained injuries and is undergoing treatment, we have summoned on Wednesday or Thursday," an investigating officer said.

The incident occurred around 1pm when Narasimha was resting after lunch. As the government has allowed labourers living on construction sites to work during the lockdown, he and his wife Anita were working in the half-constructed residential building, police said.

Dog attack leaves one person dead, another injured in Big Spring, Texas

cbs7.com
Tue, 11 May 2021 13:16 UTC

A Big Spring man died after being attacked by a dog on Tuesday morning.

The victim has been identified as John Henry, 46.

According to the Big Spring Police Department, officers were called to the 1100 block of East 13th Street at 6 a.m. for a disturbance.

When police arrived, they found a dog attacking a man, identified as Henry.

Rarely seen deep sea fish washes up on California beach

wbrz.com
Wed, 12 May 2021 12:58 UTC

A Pacific Football Fish, which is a type of Angler Fish that resides at depths of over 1,000 feet in the ocean, washed up on the shores of Crystal Cove State Park in California on May 7, 2021.

A rarely-seen fish that lives thousands of feet deep in the ocean somehow managed to wash up on the shore of a California Beach on Friday, CNN reports.

Representatives with Crystal Cove State Park Pacific say a type of Angler Fish called a Pacific Football Fish washed up on the shores of Newport Beach, about 60 miles south of Santa Monica.

Unique in appearance, the Pacific Football Fish was quickly spotted by a beachgoer who reported it to officials.

State Park representatives said it's pretty rare to find an angler fish intact, and they aren't quite sure how the fish washed ashore.

Two fin whales found dead under hull of Australian ship at Naval Base San Diego, California

Michael Chen
10news.com
Wed, 12 May 2021 12:49 UTC

The whale carcass dislodged from underneath HMAS Sydney.

Two dead fin whales became dislodged from the hull of an Australian Navy ship as it pulled into Naval Base San Diego on Saturday.

Video shows the HMAS Sydney, an Australian destroyer, making its way into San Diego Bay on Saturday morning. The ship has been in the area conducting joint exercises with the U.S. Navy since early April.

Around 9:45 a.m., as the ship was pulling into a pier at Naval Base San Diego, a sobering sight emerged.

According to U.S. Navy spokesperson, the carcasses of two fin whales became dislodged from the hull and surfaced.

One was 65 feet long. The other was about 25 feet.