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Thu, 16 Sep 2021
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Question

Sea turtles stranded along Florida beaches with mystery illness

Tyler Vazquez
Florida Today
Thu, 11 Mar 2021 12:35 UTC
turtle
Sea turtles along the Florida coast from Jacksonville to Brevard are falling sick and wildlife experts are working hard to find out why.

The turtles — primarily Green sea turtles — have been coming ashore from the ocean and lagoons in increasing numbers over the past few weeks. They're being taken to the Brevard Zoo and to specialty turtle rehab centers around Florida, according to Shanon Gann with the Brevard Zoo Sea Turtle Healing Center.

"There's not one specific ailment. Most of them are stranding from the ocean and presenting with lethargy and low glucose," she said Wednesday. "It's not boat strikes or a parasite."

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Attention

Three sperm whales that stranded on beach in Northland, New Zealand all now dead

Belinda Feek
New Zealand Herald
Tue, 09 Mar 2021 13:45 UTC
The sperm whales washed up on Ripiro Beach
© DoC
The sperm whales washed up on Ripiro Beach and were currently being harvested by local iwi. Photo / DoC
Three male sperm whales stranded on a Northland beach have all died.

The Department of Conservation today said the whales stranded on Ripiro Beach on the Poutu Peninsula near Dargaville on Monday night.

Spokeswoman Abigail Monteith said a member of the public found the whales and notified the department.

Staff monitored them overnight but they died on Tuesday morning.
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Question

Rescue group responds to dozens of birds found dead in Leland, North Carolina - cause unknown


wect.com
Tue, 09 Mar 2021 13:25 UTC
Grackle
Dozens of birds have reportedly died due to unknown causes in Leland, according to local group SkyWatch Bird Rescue.

"After a call to our wildlife hotline, an intake of 12 Grackles at once were received last night on our after hours non contact drop off porch, for urgent care. This is a very unusual intake so we suspected that where they came from, there may be more. Volunteers went out today to search the area and found dozens more in the areas of McDonald's, KFC, Taco Bell and parking lot of Piggly Wiggly in Leland NC. These birds tend to scavenge parking lots in flocks," according to a Facebook post.

Unfortunately, many of the birds were dead by the time rescuers got to them, or in catatonic states.

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Black Cat

Boy killed by tiger in Kodagu, India - 3rd such death in the district in 3 weeks


The Hindu
Mon, 08 Mar 2021 18:56 UTC
Tiger
A boy was killed and his grandfather a plantation worker seriously injured in a tiger attack at Belluru village in Ponnampet taluk of Kodagu district on Monday. The victim was identified as Rangaswamy, 8, while his grandfather, Kencha, a plantation worker, has been hospitalised.

Conservator of Forests T. Hiralal said the Forest Department team has identified the marauding tiger, which is about 10 years old. The official said the team has tracked the animal to a sacred grove or devara kaadu. The combing operations are on and the tiger has been cornered, he added.

Earlier in the day, the team had tried to tranquilise the animal which was lurking in the bushes but sources said the tranquiliser dart missed its mark. The marksmen accompanying a foot patrol team had come close to the tiger and hence were forced to open fire but the tiger escaped. A senior official said the combing and tracking operation would was suspended late in the evening and will resume at dawn.

Monday's incident is the third human death due to a tiger attack in Kodagu in the last three weeks and has resulted in widespread anger against the authorities for their failure to curb human-animal conflict.

Comment: Tiger attacks on people skyrocket in the Sundarbans, India - 70 in 3 months with 40 deaths

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Attention

Record 93 dolphin and whale deaths reported in first 2 months of 2021 in Ireland

Lynne Kelleher
Irish Independent
Mon, 08 Mar 2021 11:42 UTC
Missing: Fungie the dolphin, who has lived for decades near the Dingle Peninsula, Co Kerry, is 'more likely' to have died.

Missing: Fungie the dolphin, who has lived for decades near the Dingle Peninsula, Co Kerry, is 'more likely' to have died.
Mystery surrounds the worst spate of dolphin and whale strandings on record in Ireland.

There have been 93 dead dolphins, whales and porpoises washed up along the coast in the first two months of the year - the highest number ever recorded in that time period.

Four were successfully refloated after efforts from volunteers but 89 died.

Last year, the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group received 70 reports of the animals washing up dead in the winter months, which was unprecedented, but it was surpassed this year with 93 strandings.
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Doberman

Street dogs attack and kill boy in Kashmir


Unied News of India
Sat, 06 Mar 2021 15:20 UTC
dog attack
A minor was killed after attacked by street dogs on Saturday in south Kashmir district of Pulwama, official sources said.

They said a group of streets dogs attacked and seriously injured an eight-year-old boy Azhar Manzoor at Pingalana in Pulwama. However, other elders present in the area immediately rushed to rescue Azhar who had received injuries in the head and neck.

He was immediately rushed to District Hospital, Pulwama where he was declared brought dead.

People protested against the authorities, particularly Municipality for failing to control the stray dog population.
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Hearts

European domestic dog may have originated in Southwestern Germany

Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum
Phys.org
Thu, 04 Mar 2021 12:00 UTC
Canidae
© Senckenberg
The domestication of wolves was studied on the basis of Canidae fossils from the Gnirshöhle cave in Southwestern Germany.
Together with a group of international colleagues, a research team from the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment at the University of Tübingen studied the beginnings of the domestication of wolves in Europe. Using a multi-method approach, the researchers analyzed several Canidae fossils from a cave in Southwestern Germany. In their study, published today in the nature journal Scientific Reports, they reach the conclusion that the transition from wolves to domesticated dogs may have occurred in this region between 16,000 and 14,000 years ago.

Dogs are generally considered the oldest domestic animals. "However, to date it is still not clear exactly when the transition from wolves to domestic and herding dogs occurred. Scientific estimates range between 15,000 to 30,000 years ago," explains Dr. Chris Baumann of the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment at the University of Tübingen, and he continues, "Moreover, the location where this transition from wild to domestic animals occurred also continues to be uncertain."

Comment: Interestingly, it has been proposed that the domestication of dogs may have happened more than once:

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Doberman

Brazilian man dies after having his face ripped off by SEVEN pitbulls while out for his morning walk

Olivia Burke
The Sun (UK)
Fri, 05 Mar 2021 14:41 UTC
Pereira's family have hit out at the owner and accused him of not housing his pets properly
© Unomidias
Pereira's family have hit out at the owner and accused him of not housing his pets properly
A BRAZILIAN man mercilessly attacked by seven pitbulls that ripped his face off has died in hospital.

Aglacir de Macedo Pereira, 46, was ambushed by the deadly dogs in Lageado Feio, a rural area of southern Brazil on February 2.

Pereira was enjoying his regular morning walk when the seven savage pitbulls escaped from a farm underneath a gate and let rip.

Brave passersby rescued him from the gruesome attack and called an ambulance. They then helped the victim down the road to meet the emergency vehicle.

Pereira was rushed to the Santa Cruz Hospital in central Pinhao, over 20 miles away from the rural area where the incident took place.

The pit bulls had completely bitten off all of the skin on his face, leaving his skull completely exposed.
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Doberman

Mother walking to corner store killed by pack of dogs in Porter, Texas

Jacob Rascon,
Click2houston.com
Mon, 01 Mar 2021 10:45 UTC
dog attack
Deann Stephenson walked to the corner store near her home almost every day until Feb. 15, when her family says four dogs that belong to a neighbor escaped their front yard and bit her to death.

The midday incident in Porter, north of Kingwood, happened about a year after the family moved to the area for a fresh start: A new home, church and friends.

"I'm devastated," said Stephenson's husband, Bruce Clark. "They took everything. I got nothing."

Clark is disabled and Stephenson was also his caretaker. He said they have two children together.

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Attention

The end is nigh? Watch swarms of locusts 'invade' Saudi Arabia

Henry Batyaev
Sputnik
Tue, 02 Mar 2021 19:21 UTC
locusts
The kingdom has been struggling with a locust infestation as the current climate conditions in the country have allowed the ravenous insects to multiply and attack crops.

Myriads of locusts have been "bugging" Saudi Arabia since January, arriving in the kingdom from neighbouring countries.

The authorities have been forced to double down on their efforts to combat the "invasion" with aerial spraying, according to Arab News.

Locals have shared horrifying videos of the locusts' conquest of Saudi Arabia, with one such video uploaded on YouTube.

In the footage, dated 22 February, an astounding amount of the insects is seen covering every surface imaginable, be it the desert, trees, or city streets.

Locusts have historically been a nightmare for farmers, as these insatiable swarming critters are known for their ability to destroy crops.

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