Animals
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Attention

Carcass of 45-feet-long whale recovered off Puri coast in India - 5th for the state of Odisha in 13 months


The Statesman (India)
Sat, 11 Dec 2021 13:10 UTC
A 45-feet-long critically endangered whale has washed ashore on Fatehpur beach coming under Chilika Wildlife Division in Odisha’s Puri district.
© SNSA 45-feet-long critically endangered whale has washed ashore on Fatehpur beach coming under Chilika Wildlife Division in Odisha’s Puri district.
A 45-feet-long critically endangered whale has washed ashore on Fatehpur beach coming under Chilika Wildlife Division in Odisha's Puri district.

This is the fifth whale species, which inhabited the Odisha coast, found dead in 13 months. Last time, the carcass of a 20-feet-long whale shark washed ashore on 4 October on Ramatara beach under the Kujang forest range near the Bhitarkanika forest division in the Jagatsinghpur district, said, forest officials.

The gargantuan mammal that weighed around 10 tons was spotted lying motionless on the sea coast.

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Doberman

Deputies investigating apparent dog attack that killed a woman in Sumter County, South Carolina

Mike Olson
abccolumbia.com
Fri, 10 Dec 2021 12:30 UTC
dog attack
Deputies with the Sumter County Sheriff's Office says they are investigating after a 60-year-old woman died of an apparent dog attack. Officials say the incident occurred inside a home in the Cherryvale area on Thursday.

Deputies say the victim, Lori Martin, was visiting family when she was attacked by her family member's dogs who were fighting each other. According to officials, Martin was found unresponsive by a family member shortly after the apparent attack. Authorities say both she and the dogs had lacerations consistent with dog bites and scratches.

An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
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Health

Man attacked by 20 otters in Singapore, bitten 26 times: 'I thought I was going to die'

Ben Cost
New York Post
Fri, 10 Dec 2021 12:18 UTC
Mr Graham George Spencer was attacked by otters on the morning of Nov 30, 2021, and was left with injuries to his legs, buttocks and finger.
© GRAHAM GEORGE SPENCERMr Graham George Spencer was attacked by otters on the morning of Nov 30, 2021, and was left with injuries to his legs, buttocks and finger.
That otter hurt.

A Singapore resident was hospitalized after a bizarre animal attack last month in which he was accosted by a gang of otters, who reportedly bit him 26 times.

"I actually thought I was going to die - they were going to kill me," British native Graham George Spencer told the Straits Times of the otterly frightening encounter, which occurred Nov. 30 while he was strolling to the Singapore Botanic Gardens with a friend.

Spencer, who is in his 60s, was reportedly approaching the visitors center when he spotted around 20 otters crossing a dimly-lit path in front of him. He claimed it was the first time he had seen the mustelids in the area despite taking his morning walks there for five months. The animal encounter went south after a jogger ran through the pack, causing the fish-eaters to go "crazy like dogs" and try to bite the passerby, the shocked senior told Singapore's Today online newspaper.
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Attention

Woman killed by sloth bear in Gujarat, India


The Indian Express
Sat, 11 Dec 2021 12:08 UTC
Sloth bear
Sloth bear
A 42-year-old tribal woman from Amlipanichhotra village in Devgarh Baria taluka of Dahod district died in a sloth bear attack under the Saagtala range of the biodiversity zone of the forest department on Friday, forest department officials said.

The victim, Sanjli Mashru Rathwa, had taken her cattle to graze when she was attacked by the bear, the officials said. The forest department recovered Rathwa's body late on Friday night.

RM Parmar, Deputy Conservator of Forests (Devgarh Baria), said the incident was the first fatal conflict involving a sloth bear in the Saagtala range this year. Parmar said, "We received a call on Friday evening that a woman from a nearby village was attacked by a sloth bear when she went into the forest. Our teams went in search of the victim and found her body in a remote location within the forest. The body has been sent for post mortem."
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Fish

Huge 'strange looking creature' swims under paddleboarder off California

Maddie Capron
The Sacramento Bee
Wed, 08 Dec 2021 05:11 UTC
Sunfish
© Rich GermanMatthew Wheaton sits on a 14-foot paddle board while a huge sunfish swims by.
Rich German says he has gone paddling off the California coast every day for 12 years. He's seen thousands of dolphins and whales, and many fish in the sea. On Dec. 2, however, a giant creature like he's never seen before swam up under his board. It was an unusually large ocean sunfish.

"My buddy and I were blown away when we saw it," German told McClatchy News in an email. "First off they are just strange looking creatures and this one was massive and was just floating on the surface getting some sun."

German and his friend Matthew Wheaton have seen sunfish before, but none have ever been this large or close to shore. Ocean sunfish, known scientifically as mola mola, are usually about 11 feet long and can weigh up to 5,000 pounds, according to National Geographic.

"Matt's board is 14 feet long and you can see in the photos how big the fish appears," German said. "Obviously we didn't catch it or measure it but this one sure looked longer than 9 feet." The sunfish looks like it could be at least the size of Wheaton's paddle board, video and photos show.
Sunfish
© Rich GermanSunfish can weigh up to 5,000 pounds.

Comment: Video of this encounter, go here.

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Doberman

Woman dies after vicious dog attack in Franklin County, Missouri

Dan Brannan
RiverBender.com
Tue, 07 Dec 2021 10:38 UTC
dog attack
Franklin County, Mo., Sheriff Steve Pelton announced that a 61-year-old woman - Leann Gratzer - was killed after an attack by a group of dogs outside a relative's home.

The sheriff said the tragedy occurred around 5 p.m. Monday in the 2400 block of Highway TT. As of now, no criminal charges have been issued after the attack.

The sheriff added that deputies were told Gratzer was attacked when she was en route walking to a relative's home. Gratzer was critically injured in the attack and later died.

The medical examiner's office continued the investigation after her death.

The sheriff said his office's thoughts and prayers go to the victim's family.

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Map

'Sharks are amassing': Tracker shows great white sharks gathering on East Coast US

Sam Raskin
New York Post
Sun, 05 Dec 2021 10:55 UTC
great white shark
© MediaDrumWorld.com via ZUMA Press“We have tagged 83 white sharks in the NW Atlantic,” an Ocearch said.

A Twitter user recently raised the alarm by posting a screenshot of a tracker app showing about 100 sharks gathering in the Atlantic Ocean near the East Coast of the US.

A platform user with the handle @punished_stu tweeted early Wednesday "sharks are amassing on the east coast" with an accompanying screenshot of about 100 sharks along the US coast line. The tweet went viral, garnering more than 6,000 retweets and 53,000 likes.

"I occasionally log in to check that the nearest Great White is at least 2000 miles away," the Twitter user followed up.

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Binoculars

Rare gull that normally lives above the Arctic Circle found in Hastings, Minnesota

Greg Seitz
Stcroix360.com
Thu, 02 Dec 2021 12:18 UTC
Ross’s Gull at Point Douglas, Nov. 2021
© Matthew Thompson/iNaturalistRoss’s Gull at Point Douglas, Nov. 2021
A bird that normally lives its whole life above the Arctic Circle was spotted this week at Point Douglas, at the confluence of the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers. The Ross's Gull (Rhodostethia rosea) was first observed and identified by birder Ben Douglas on Saturday, Nov. 27. The bird was born just this year somewhere in the far north.

"It had a flight that was dainty and buoyant while it hunted for food under the nearby bridges (car and rail) spending the majority of time in Washington County, MN waters, but did circle in Pierce County, WI and later made brief flights over Dakota County, MN waters as well," Douglas reported on eBird. It took a trained eye to pick the rare bird out of flocks of common gulls it was among.

Over the next few days, hundreds of enthusiasts visited Point Douglas Park, hoping to catch a glimpse. Many were rewarded.

"We watched it catch quite a few small fish (~15) in the evening before heading up the river to roost," reported Steve Kolbe.

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Doberman

5-year-old boy mauled to death by pit bull in south Taiwan

Keoni Everington
Taiwan News
Fri, 03 Dec 2021 10:16 UTC
PIT BULL ATTACK
A young Indigenous boy was mauled to death on Thursday evening (Dec. 2) by an American pit bull terrier in south Taiwan.

The five-year-old boy was in his neighbor's yard at 7 p.m. in Pingtung County's Chunri Township when he was bitten by the dog on his abdomen. He was declared dead after being rushed to the hospital, reported SET News.

The dog was on a leash at the time of the incident and both the owner of the dog, surnamed Chiang (江), and the boy's mother have been asked by police to file reports on the incident. The area where the attack occurred has been sealed off with a police cordon.
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Question

Flock of 150 starlings drops from the sky in Galician city, Spain

Chris King
Euro Weekly
Fri, 26 Nov 2021 14:24 UTC
Flock of 150 starlings drops from the sky in Galician city.
Flock of 150 starlings drops from the sky in Galician city.
A flock of about 150 starlings died around 9am this Friday, November 26. The flock of birds was reportedly in mid-flight, then suddenly all crashed onto Calle Alcalde Quintanilla Martinez street, in the Caranza neighborhood, of the A Coruña municipality of Ferrol.

This incredible incident saw the birds drop on top of vehicles in the street, and even onto the pedestrians who were passing by in the vicinity of the Ribera Juan Cardano Hospital. Residents quickly alerted the Ferrol Local Police force, who deployed a patrol to the Galician location.

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