Animals
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Attention

Gray whale found dead in Altata, Mexico


The Mazatlan Messenger
Mon, 11 Feb 2019 14:17 UTC
gray whale
Gray whale
A few days ago reports of a gray whale swimming at Altata Bay (North of Sinaloa) were reported. Unfortunately, on Sunday the whale was found dead.

The whale displayed injuries on it's tail and dorsal fin, and according to marine life experts the injuries were consistent with a shark attack.

Every winter, hundreds of Pacific gray whales return to their traditional breeding and birthing grounds around Mexico's Baja Peninsula. Their migration from Alaska's Bering Sea to the warm waters of Baja's Pacific lagoons is the longest mammal migration on Earth.

Of the original three gray whale populations, one in the North Atlantic is extinct, one is critically endangered in the Western North Pacific (with as few as 150 individuals remaining), and one has recovered from very low levels in the Eastern North Pacific and was removed from the U.S. Endangered Species List in 1994.
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Attention

Beached whale shark dies on coast of West Java, Indonesia


The Jakarta Post
Tue, 12 Feb 2019 14:04 UTC
The Whale Shark stranded at the Wharf Port of Nusantara Palabuhanratu Nusantara
© Aditya ARThe Whale Shark stranded at the Wharf Port of Nusantara Palabuhanratu Nusantara
A whale shark was found dead on Tuesday by locals and fishermen near the dock of a fishing port in Palabuhanratu, Sukabumi regency, West Java.

"I used to run into these [sharks] in the sea, and they had never disrupted our work. However, this time, we found one of them stranded on the dock," an unnamed fisherman, who claimed to have discovered the beached shark first, said on Tuesday as quoted by Antara.

The stranded shark, known for its distinct white spots and stripes, weighed around 300 kilograms and was around 2 meters-long.
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Binoculars

Rare black-browed albatross from the southern hemisphere turns up in Cornwall, UK

John Bett and Jeff Reines
Cornwall Live
Tue, 12 Feb 2019 13:16 UTC
The black browed albatross rarely ventures from the Southern Hemisphere but one has been spotted in Cornwall
The black browed albatross rarely ventures from the Southern Hemisphere but one has been spotted in Cornwall
Twitchers are flocking to Cornwall desperate to catch a glimpse of a bird rarely seen outside the southern hemisphere. Toby Phelps, 20, spotted a black-browed albatross and managed to get a picture of it while on a sea watching expedition.

He was stationed at the Lizard Point and, although he only saw it flying for a few minutes, experts were able to confirm the sighting.

They have now described it as a "red letter day" and said it was even more intriguing as it is believed it may be the same bird which visited Britain last year.

Toby, from Falmouth, who is studying zoology at university, said: "I was sat right on the edge of Lizard Point, by the cafe. We went down looking for birds, not specifically the albatross, we were sea watching and it just so happened to fly past.

Comment: There have been two other extremely rare records of this species in recent years (2015 and 2016) off the UK coast, see also: Another albatross species turns up in the wrong hemisphere, this time on Suffolk coast, UK

Lost black-browed albatross from the southern hemisphere seen along the coast of Yorkshire, UK

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Bug

Plummeting insect numbers 'threaten global collapse of nature'

Damian Carrington
Guardian
Mon, 11 Feb 2019 18:00 UTC
insect
© Entomologisher Verein KrefeldThe rate of insect extinction is eight times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles.
The world's insects are hurtling down the path to extinction, threatening a "catastrophic collapse of nature's ecosystems", according to the first global scientific review.

More than 40% of insect species are declining and a third are endangered, the analysis found. The rate of extinction is eight times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles. The total mass of insects is falling by a precipitous 2.5% a year, according to the best data available, suggesting they could vanish within a century.

The planet is at the start of a sixth mass extinction in its history, with huge losses already reported in larger animals that are easier to study. But insects are by far the most varied and abundant animals, outweighing humanity by 17 times. They are "essential" for the proper functioning of all ecosystems, the researchers say, as food for other creatures, pollinators and recyclers of nutrients.

Comment: See also: And check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Earth changes in an electric universe: Is climate change really man-made?

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Arrow Up

Chimpanzees build ladder to escape from Belfast zoo

Tim Sandle
Digital Journal
Mon, 11 Feb 2019 21:14 UTC
Female chimpanzee
© NELSON ALMEIDA, AFPA female chimpanzee holds her baby at the Great Apes Project (GAP), a sanctuary for apes in Sorocaba, some 100km west of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Most of us would wish to escape from captivity and a group of abstract thinking chimpanzees temporarily managed this feat by building a makeshift ladder to escape from Belfast Zoo.

In February 2019, a group of enterprising chimpanzees managed to get out of their enclosure at Belfast Zoo (Northern Ireland) by propping a tree branch against the wall to enable their improvised escape. Video footage provided by NPR (see below) shows two chimpanzees making it it to the top of the wall with one of the chimpanzees scurrying away. In all, five chimpanzees left their enclosure.

The escaped chimpanzee was later seen striding down an embankment and onto a roadway. However, later all of the chimpanzees returned home, apparently not caring much for human habitats. Speaking with The Guardian, Zookeeper Alyn Cairns states that the trees in the enclosure had been weakened by the storms (such as the recent Storm Eric), providing structures for the chimps to break and use as ladders to escape.

He adds, about the chimps returning home: "They're intelligent primates and know they're not supposed to be out of their enclosure, so got back in themselves."
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Cow

Up to 500,000 cattle die due to flooding caused by record rainfall in Queensland, Australia (UPDATE - with video)

Ben Smee and AAP
The Guardian
Fri, 08 Feb 2019 12:53 UTC
Dead cattle at Eddington Station in western Queenand. Photograph: Rachael Anderson
© Rachael AndersonDead cattle at Eddington Station in western Queensland.
The Queensland government has announced an inquiry into the historic flooding in Townsville, as evidence mounts that local authorities failed to anticipate the extreme nature of the recent record rainfall.

The independent inquiry will look into "key preparedness and response elements" to the storms that dumped more than one metre of rain on Townsville in less than a week.

In the west of the state, graziers have been confronted with scenes described by one mayor as "hell", as it became clear up to 300,000 cattle had died in the floods. The premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said the sight so many cattle that had died agonising deaths made her "sick in the stomach".


Comment: Update: The Guardian reports on the 11th of January:
In north-west Queensland it hadn't rained, any decent rain, for more than five years.

When the downpour finally came last week, graziers were elated. Now it's feared up to 500,000 cattle, mostly from severely drought-stressed herds, have been killed in widespread flood waters.

The full extent of the losses won't be known for weeks; some properties remain underwater and the flood waters are moving south. But the agricultural industry's peak body says the situation has already become "a massive humanitarian crisis", affecting an area twice the size of Victoria.

After a prolonged drought, some rural parts of Queensland received three years' worth of average rainfall in a week.


Dead cattle at Eddington station 20km west of Julia Creek, Queensland.
© Rachael AndersonDead cattle at Eddington station 20km west of Julia Creek, Queensland.


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Attention

Hyena mauls boy to death in Kenya, injures father

Steve Njuguna
Daily Nation (Kenya)
Mon, 04 Feb 2019 14:17 UTC
hyena
Hyena
A 12-year old boy was on Monday morning mauled to death by a hyena in Leleshwa village Ol Moran area, Laikipia County.

The animal ate the body, leaving only a skeleton during the 5am incident.

The boy's father, who suffered serious injuries while trying to fight off the animal to save their son, is admitted at the Nyahururu County Referral Hospital.

According to Ms Anne Wambui, the Class Two pupil at Mwireri Primary School was preparing for school when the animal attacked.

"The boy's mother was preparing breakfast in the kitchen as the victim and his brother dressed for school when the animal attacked," said Ms Wambui.

"On hearing the commotion, the boy's father rushed to rescue his family from the beast," said Ms Wambui, the boy's aunt.

Comment: Other reports from Africa over the last 5 years involving hyena attacks on humans: Baby girl mauled to death by hyena in Kenya

Boy saves older brother from attack by man-eating Hyena in Somaliland

Boy killed by lone hyena in Kenya; third attack in less than 3 weeks

Hyena kills four people in Tana River, Kenya

Hyena kills two children and injures five people in Kenya

Hyena kills two children in Tanzania

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Question

Russian Arctic town suffers polar bear invasion


RT
Sat, 09 Feb 2019 20:48 UTC
Polar bear
© Sputnik / Vera Kostamo
A state of emergency has been declared in the Russian Arctic archipelago of Novaya Zemlya, as locals face a massive "invasion" of polar bears, with over 50 predators seeking food and harassing residents in the urban landscape.

The move was announced Saturday after several weeks of close encounters between locals and the fearsome furry beasts.

"People are fearful, they are afraid to go outside, daily life is in turmoil, parents are wary of letting children to go to schools and kindergartens," deputy head of the local administration, Aleksandr Minayev, said in a statement.

The town of Belushya Guba seems to be the most affected by the polar bear problem, with at least 52 specimen roaming around the vicinity. A bunch of videos have emerged online showing the bears strolling down the snowy streets, digging through food waste - and even trying to invade homes.

Comment: And it's not just in Russia that this unusual behaviour of animals venturing into populated areas is occurring:

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Snowflake Cold

Blizzards in western China leave thousands of livestock dead and roads covered in deep snow


news.com.au
Sat, 09 Feb 2019 20:23 UTC
Yaks
Blizzards in Tibetan areas of western China have left thousands of head of livestock dead and roads covered in up to 45cm of snow.

Local authorities had sent veterinarians, medicine and animal feed to the hard-hit areas in Qinghai Province's Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Villages in the area are above 5,000 metres and workers are seeking to clear roads to ensure the delivery of supplies, a task made more difficult by high winds and drifting snow.

Mainly ethnic Tibetan villagers in the area depend heavily on livestock, mainly Yaks, goats and sheep, for their livelihoods and to feed their families.
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Doberman

Child killed in attack by family pit bull mix in Guthrie, Kentucky


kfvs12.com
Fri, 08 Feb 2019 12:32 UTC
PIT BULL ATTACK
Police in Kentucky say a 1-year-old boy has died after being mauled by the family pit bull mix dog.

WBKO-TV in Bowling Green reports Guthrie police responded to a home Thursday to find the boy unresponsive but breathing. Police said the child had deep abrasions on his head, chest and neck, and his grandmother also had injuries from trying to pull the dog off the boy.

The child had been on the floor playing with a ball. Police believe a thunderstorm may have triggered the dog.

The woman and boy were taken to a hospital, but the boy died of his injuries. The woman was treated and released.

Source: AP
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