Animals
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Attention

Bear kills 2 people in Mongolia

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The National Police Agency said on Saturday that 2 people died in a bear attack in Mongolia as the animal attacked a Mongolian ger, the country's largest traditional round-shaped dwelling.

Munkhtur Munkhshur, NPA spokesperson, said that "A 55-year-old man and his eight-year-old son were killed in a bear attack in Yeruu soum of Selenge province on Thursday. The killer bear has not yet been found".

He added that "Many black bears have migrated from Russia into the northern parts of Mongolia due to severe forest fires in Siberia this summer. Officials believe that the killer bear may be one of them".

Police officials and emergency workers were dispatched to the scene.

Comment: Bear attacks increasing worldwide


Attention

Signs and Portents: Two-headed calf with five legs born in Malaysia

Unfortunately, the new-born died shortly after, possibly from suffocation.
© NSTPUnfortunately, the new-born died shortly after, possibly from suffocation.
After six hours in labour, a cow in Kampung Seri Damai gave birth to a two-headed male calf with five legs, much to the surprise of its breeder as well as local villagers.

Unfortunately, the new-born died shortly after, possibly from suffocation.

Its owner Ibrahim@Aziz Abdullah, 66, from Kampung Seri Damai said the cow had shown signs of labour since 9am yesterday but efforts for a natural birth were unsuccessful due to the calf's unusual body structure.

Biohazard

Brain-shrinking fungus that can kill if touched found in Australia

fungi
© RAY PALMER/AFPOne of the world's deadliest fungi has been discovered in Australia's far north for the first time
One of the world's deadliest fungi has been discovered in Australia's far north for the first time - thousands of miles from its native habitat in the mountains of Japan and Korea.

The Poison Fire Coral fungus was discovered in a suburb of Cairns by a local photographer and subsequently identified by scientists, James Cook University announced Thursday.

Several people have died in Japan and Korea after mistaking the bright red fungi for edible mushrooms that are used in traditional medicine, and brewing it into a tea.

Comment: See also:


Smiley

British citizens drawn to idea of chimpanzees running the country

Parliament of Chimps
© NewsThump
After a painting by Banksy showing the House of Commons being run by chimpanzees was sold at auction for just under £9.9m, the British public has asked if this is something that could be implemented as soon as possible.

The 4m wide artwork 'Devolved Parliament' was painted by the anonymous Bristol artist in 2009, and depicts the House of Commons full of chimpanzees deciding the direction of the country.

"It's a great painting, and obviously makes a satirical point about the nature of debate in our parliament", explained art critic Simon Williams, "and the reason it makes such a point is that it shows the contrast between the measured, contemplative depiction of the chimpanzees, which is of course at odds with the rowdy, aggressive, sneering behaviour that those of us who tune into the BBC Parliament channel are subjected to."

Attention

'It's starvation' Biologists in Alaska see a fifth year of significant seabird die-offs

Dead seabirds near Nome, Alaska, August 2019
© Sara Germain/Alaska Department of Fish & GameDead seabirds near Nome, Alaska, August 2019
Biologists in Alaska have again seen massive seabird die-offs this summer, or "wrecks," as some experts call them, extending from May into last month.

According to the National Park Service, reports received by mid-August documented thousands of dead short-tailed shearwaters from Bristol Bay, and lower numbers of other types of birds, found deceased in the Northern Bering and Chukchi Seas. This marks the fifth year in a row Alaska has seen mass seabird mortality events.

"Of all the carcasses we've collected and sent in, and that people have examined or looked at in any way, it's starvation. The birds are dying of starvation," said Kathy Kuletz seabird section lead for Alaska with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Kuletz said scientists still can't determine why hundreds and hundreds of birds, of a variety of species, are washing up on Alaska's shores, starving to death. According to Kuletz, it's possible that toxins from harmful algal blooms weakened the birds, preventing them from foraging, cannot be ruled out.

Bacon

Avoiding red meat may lead to longer, more miserable life says new study

Red Meat
© Associated Press / J. Scott Applewhite
U.S. — A new study suggests that avoiding red meat may lead to a longer, more miserable life.

The study found that by carefully avoiding bacon, carne asada, chicken-fried steak, hamburgers, brisket, tri-tip, tomahawk steak, and filet mignon, you might be able to eke another year or two out of your pointless existence.

"You might live a little longer, maybe," said one study intern. "Of course, then you'll be eating salad, kale, vegetables, fruits, and generally just hating life. So yeah, it's kind of a lose-lose."

Careful research showed that those who spent every waking moment trying to avoid the temptation to bite into a delicious bone-in ribeye could gain a few months of life, but they would pretty much hate those extra months of life, as well as the rest of their life, because they weren't eating red meat.

Attention

Man attacked by black bear 3 times in northwestern Ontario

black bear
A Winnipeg man says he is lucky to be alive after suffering severe bites from a bear that attacked him three times near his cottage in northwestern Ontario.

Dave Schwab, who is 69, says he was finishing his walk near Kenora last Thursday when he spotted a black bear about 100 metres ahead of him in some bushes.

Schwab, an experienced hiker, says he made noise and the bear seemed to walk away, but it didn't leave the area and started following him before it attacked and bit his thigh and arm.

Comment: Bear attacks increasing worldwide


Health

Woman gored by bison at same Utah park where date had been attacked months ago

These were the only two bison attacks reported at Antelope Island State Park this year, officials said.
These were the only two bison attacks reported at Antelope Island State Park this year, officials said.
A Utah woman was attacked by a bison in the same park where her date had also been gored three months ago.

Kayleigh Davis, 22, was taking a sunset hike Friday on a trail at Antelope Island State Park when she came face-to-face with the soon-to-be rambunctious bovine.

She stepped off the path to steer clear of the animal when it suddenly charged, flipping her 15 feet in the air.

"I go around the bison, like off the trail away from him, and there's actually four bikers coming down the trail and I think they had spooked him," Davis told NBC affiliate KSL from her hospital room Monday. "That's when he flipped me up in the air."


Comment: What are the odds! Some people need really intense, repeat experiences to learn lessons!


Doberman

Boy mauled to death by 2 family dogs after reportedly falling out window in Louisville, Kentucky

canine attack
© Angela Antunes / CC by 2.0
A 3-year-old boy was killed Tuesday morning after being attacked by two family dogs at a home in Louisville's Newburg neighborhood, police say.

Officers responded to the 4800 block of Brenda Drive just after 9 a.m. Tuesday, according to Louisville Metro Police spokesman Dwight Mitchell.

The 3-year-old boy suffered fatal injuries in the attack, Mitchell said.

According to 911 audio, the child had reportedly fallen out of a window into his family's yard, where the family's two Rottweilers attacked the child.

The dogs were taken away by Louisville Metro Animal Services, Mitchell said. A spokesperson for the animal services agency confirmed the department had been on the scene and said animals involved in incidents such as this one are placed in quarantine.


Doberman

Woman who was attacked by her pit bull dies in Hampton, Virginia

PIT BULL ATTACK
Police here Monday afternoon said the woman who was attacked by her pet pit bull Sunday has died "as a result of her injuries."

Authorities identified the woman as Morgan Crayton. She was 31 years old.

Police said Crayton was in her yard in the 100 block of Powhatan Parkway with several dogs on Sunday evening when her own dog, a 92-pound pit bull, attacked her.