Animals
S


Heart - Black

Outrage after video shows bear falling off cliff while being stoned by 'villagers' in India


RT
Sun, 12 May 2019 10:48 UTC
Brown bear
© AFP / Abdullah Khan / Snow Leopard Foundation 1107
People on social media vented anger after a viral video showed a brown bear falling off a cliff while being stoned by a cheering crowd in India. Local villagers were reportedly behind the brutal act.

The heart-wrenching footage captured a brown bear trying to hold its balance on a rocky cliff while being hit by stones. Eventually, the animal falls down into a mountain stream as cheering voices are heard in the background.

The incident occurred in the Kargil district of the northern Jammu and Kashmir state. The bear climbed up the cliff striving to escape from the local residents who chased him all the way from the nearby village, local media report. As the bear was running away he got trapped in barbed wire but managed to free himself, a separate video suggests.

The gruesome footage quickly went viral and sparked outrage among social media users. "This is truly barbaric," one person wrote while another one dubbed the scene as "cruelty at its best."

Comment: Here is another video after the bear reached the bottom of the cliff:



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Snowflake

300 Himalayan yaks died of starvation in India's northeast due to heavy snowfall


Daily Mail
Sat, 11 May 2019 18:36 UTC
Over 300 yaks starve to death
Over 300 yaks starve to death
At least 300 rare Himalayan yaks have died of starvation in the high mountains in the northeastern Indian state of Sikkim, close to the border with China, authorities said Saturday.

A team of local administrators and veterinarians visiting the heights of Muguthang and Yumthang in northern Sikkim discovered the animals' corpses on Friday, said government official Raj Yadav. He said the semi-domesticated animals became trapped in December after their passage to the nearest village got blocked due to heavy snowfall.

Yadav said authorities tried several times to drop feed for the Yaks by helicopter but failed due to inclement weather. "The passage was cleared five days ago, after which our team trekked to the area to discover the tragedy," he said.

The areas of Muguthang and Yumthang are favorite grazing grounds for yaks in the region.
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Attention

10th dead humpback washes up on Cape Cod, Massachusetts


Uptoboston.com
Fri, 10 May 2019 11:43 UTC
Humpback whale carcass washes up on East Sandwich beach
© Cape Cod TimesHumpback whale carcass washes up on East Sandwich beach
The carcass of a 45-foot, 40-ton humpback whale named Vector washed up on East Sandwich Beach Monday evening. The adult female whale was first seen in 1984, according to the Center for Coastal Studies, and she often swims the waters around Maine and Massachusetts during this time of year. Sadly, she will no longer be making appearances in Cape Cod Bay waters.

Vector had been seen every year for the past 15 years in many areas of the Gulf of Maine from Massachusetts to Nova Scotia, reports Mass Live. She birthed five calves over the years.

Vector's body was spotted Saturday afternoon floating in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Sharon Boutilier, a representative of IFAW, stated, "She was first known to us floating in the bay on Saturday, so she's been deceased for several days now." It took the humpback whale's body a few days to reach the shore, but on Monday evening, she came to rest on East Sandwich beach.


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Doberman

14-year-old killed in dog mauling in Dighton, Massachusetts


Boston25news
Fri, 10 May 2019 13:16 UTC
canine attack
© Angela Antunes / CC by 2.0
Police in Dighton are investigating an apparent fatal dog mauling.

Police say around 8 p.m. Thursday, a neighbor called 911 to report they found a dead teenager on Maple Swamp Road.

Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn's office says the teenager is a 14-year-old male from neighboring Rehoboth. It's unclear why the teen, whose name has not been released, was in the Dighton neighborhood.

Boston 25 News spoke with the owner of the property, Scott Dunmore, who called the situation heartbreaking, and said he wasn't at the property when it happened and couldn't comment further on the incident due to the investigation. He said his only concern, right now, is for the teen's family.

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Fish

Some deep-water fish see in color says new research

Stephen Fleischfresser
Cosmos Magazine
Thu, 09 May 2019 18:25 UTC
Deep Sea Fish
© Wen-Sung Chung, University of Queensland, AustraliaThe tub-eye fish (Stylephorus chordatus) was found to use five different rod opsins within its eyes. The long cylindrical shape of the eyes increases light capture and also enables the fish to move them from a horizontal to a vertical position.
Contrary to expectations, some deep-water fish species see in colour, researchers have discovered.

The depths of the ocean are unimaginably dark. Any remaining light from the surface is mostly blue and thus, it has long been assumed, for the denizens of the deep the world is dim, drab and monochromatic.

But now an international team of scientists have found the assumption to be wrong, after discovering that many deep-sea fish species come equipped with a range of previously unknown vision-related proteins.

Vertebrates use sight for just about everything: from foraging and avoiding being eaten by passing predators, to navigation and choosing a mate. This vision is based on two types of photoreceptor cells: rods and cones. The cells contain light-sensitive proteins called opsins, which come in several varieties.

Cones deal with bright light situations and have four kinds of opsins, while rods are more specialised for low light conditions and in 99% of vertebrates contain only one opsin type. This means that most vertebrates are near colour-blind in dim light.

It had been long thought that deep sea fish, living between 200 and 1500 metres below the surface, were in the same situation.

Research published in the journal Science reveals some remarkable exceptions.
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Attention

Signs and Portents double special: Extremely rare TWO-HEADED albino turtle born on farm in Bangkok, Thailand

Debbie White
The Sun (UK)
Wed, 08 May 2019 09:58 UTC
The albino red-eared slider turtle was born with the rare mutation on a farm in Bangkok, Thailand
The albino red-eared slider turtle was born with the rare mutation on a farm in Bangkok, Thailand
An extremely rare two-headed albino turtle is struggling to find a new home over fears he will die soon.

The albino red-eared slider turtle was born with the rare mutation on a farm in Bangkok, Thailand, and has been valued at £24,000 ($31,500).

Newsflare reports that the turtle's owner, Noon Ausanee, had the creature valued and breeders gave him a price of at least one million Thai baht (US $31,500).

However, she's struggling to find a buyer because collectors are concerned about the unique turtle's life span.

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Binoculars

Non-migratory red-legged thrush from the Caribbean turns up in Lantana, Florida


Naples Florida Weekly
Thu, 09 May 2019 09:40 UTC
The red-legged thrush is a non-migratory blue-gray bird, found mostly in the Greater Antilles and Bahamas.
© Paul WallerThe red-legged thrush is a non-migratory blue-gray bird, found mostly in the Greater Antilles and Bahamas.
The Tropical Audubon Society's online Bird Board said it all:

"Red-legged Thrush. Lantana Nature Preserve; many birders on it."

That was enough to send birdwatchers flocking to Lantana Nature Preserve recently when the bird, seen only one previous time in North America, was spotted.

The red-legged thrush was seen April 25 by a man from Arizona who photographed it at 7 a.m. At first, he thought it was an exotic species, but confirmation from two other birders revealed what he had found, a news release said.

Word of the sighting was spread through online messaging and the birding website eBird, and birders and photographers lined up to see the bird until the preserve's closing that evening.

Birders arrived the next day, but the bird had moved on and has not been seen since. "You have to try and come as quickly as you can when the alerts go out," said Paul Waller, who was one of the first to respond to the alert.
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Attention

Ninth dead gray whale found in San Francisco Bay Area since March


ABC News
Mon, 06 May 2019 12:32 UTC
Waves roll into a dead whale at Ocean Beach in San Francisco, Monday, May 6, 2019.
© AP/Jeff ChiuWaves roll into a dead whale at Ocean Beach in San Francisco, Monday, May 6, 2019.
Marine mammal experts are concerned about the death of a gray whale that washed ashore in San Francisco.

The whale found Monday on Ocean Beach was the ninth discovered in the San Francisco Bay Area since March.

The Marine Mammal Center plans a necropsy to determine what killed the animal.

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Fish

Shark species as big as small yachts spotted off California coast after 30-year absence

Amy Graff
SFGate
Fri, 03 May 2019 15:23 UTC
basking shark
© Gregory B. Skomal / NOAABasking sharks are large and gentle and in April 2019 they started to reappear in California waters after a 30-year absence. (photo: Gregory B. Skomal / NOAA)Basking sharks are large and gentle and in April 2019 they started to reappear in California waters after a 30-year absence.
A species of enormous sharks, some as long as small yachts, have been frequently spotted off the coast of Southern California after all but vanishing decades ago.

But need not fear, basking sharks are often called "gentle giants" as they aren't aggressive and don't bite. Swimming with their mouths wide open and often near the surface, they are filter feeders, consuming tiny food such as plankton.

Cal State Long Beach Shark Lab Director Christopher Lowe tells the Ventura County Star it's been 30 years since basking sharks have been seen in the area in large numbers.

After whale sharks that can reach 60 feet long, basking sharks are the second-largest known shark species, growing to be 30 feet long, though the ones seen locally have been in the 18- to 25-foot range.
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Attention

2 dead grey whales wash ashore, raising total to 13 in Washington this year


KOMO News
Sun, 05 May 2019 09:33 UTC
Stranded dead gray whale May 4 at Cape Disappointment
© NOAA Fisheries/WestStranded dead gray whale May 4 at Cape Disappointment
Two dead grey whales were found washed ashore in the last two days, bringing the total to 13 this year alone in Washington state, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

A dead grey whale washed ashore at Harborview Park in Everett Sunday, according to the Everett Police Department.

Another gray whale was found stranded near Ilwaco at Cape Disappointment Saturday.

A portion of Harborview Park remains closed.


Comment: Meanwhile over on the other side of the country along the Atlantic coast dead whales have recently been found in Westhampton, New York and Oyster, Virginia.

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