Animals
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Attention

Giant salamander being eaten to extinction because it tastes like chicken

Stuart Winter
Express
Mon, 21 May 2018 14:51 UTC
giant salamander chicken
© ZSL / GETTYThe Chinese giant salamander is said to taste like chicken.
A REAL-life river monster that has survived since the age of the dinosaurs is being hurriedly eaten towards extinction. The Chinese giant salamander has become the must have delicacy among Far East luxury diners who prize its lean but chewy flesh said to taste like chicken.

Despite being embedded in Chinese myth and folklore, with the iconic yin and yang symbols for opposites supposedly representing two salamanders entwined, the 6ft-long amphibian is now so desired by epicures that its 170 million history is in peril.

Four years of research across 97 known Chinese strongholds show how the striking muddy brown salamander - affectionately known as "wa wa yu" or baby fish as their distress calls are said to sound like a crying child - has all but vanished from its freshwater haunts.

Although the Chinese authorities prohibit the hunting of the salamander - scientific name Andrias davidianus - the country's ministry of agriculture allows the widespread release of farmed animals to aid its conservation.

This practice, warn conservationists, may be harmful to wild populations as it risks spreading disease and mixing genetic lineages.
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Binoculars

After my breakdown, wild birds helped me to heal

Joe Harkness
I News
Tue, 22 May 2018 20:47 UTC
A silhouetted Fieldfare
© Joe HarknessA silhouetted Fieldfare
In 2013, I suffered a breakdown, and it nearly broke me. Looking back, I believe there was probably something wrong with my mental health from my mid-teens, but it took until my mid-twenties for it to fully surface. I'd masked it, abusing alcohol and Class A drugs in order to create a full-frontal façade of disgusting arrogance. The reality was that inside, I was screaming out to be able to shrink away and be who I really was - but I had to break in order to rebuild.

I needed more than counselling

After the breakdown, I embarked on a therapeutic journey. The NHS support was less than inspiring. The waiting list for funded counselling was months, and the stress workshops I was offered were flatly delivered. Antidepressant medication was the filler for my cracked mind - lifting my mood and suppressing my negative cyclic thoughts, albeit artificially.

Comment: See also: Mother nature is a valuable resource for human health & wellbeing

Spending time in nature calms and re-grounds us providing a sense of renewal

More than just folk wisdom: Immersing yourself in nature has a healing effect

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Wolf

9,191 people died of animal attacks across India in 2017-18 - the highest in 5 years


The TeCake
Tue, 22 May 2018 13:30 UTC
Charging elephant
© GettyCharging elephant
Between April 2017 and March of this year, more than 9,100 people have been reported dead because of animal attacks, stings from reptiles and scorpions. This record is considered to be the highest in the last five years, as stated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in a query to the Right to Information. This is just the reports telling the rates and there would be many more cases that couldn't have been possible to make it to the medical departments.

This brings to the average of 766 deaths every month for over 12 months. According to the latest received data, from April 2018, there have been more 143 animal bites and attacks that also resulted in deaths in India out of which 140 cases of them were found to be from the rural areas.

Comment: See also: Dog bites affect over 2.7 million people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh

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Attention

Remains of gray whale found near Bowerman Airport, Washington

Louis Krauss
The Daily World
Tue, 22 May 2018 12:42 UTC
female gray whale
© Jessie Huggins, Cascadia Research
The remains of a juvenile female gray whale were discovered near the western shore of Bowerman Airport on Monday. It's approximately 24-feet-long.

There was no indication of entanglement, said Jessie Huggins from Cascadia Research. She said it had probably been dead for a couple weeks, and that it was likely one or two years old.

You can view it from the furthest viewing point on the Sandpiper Trail with a good camera or binoculars.

Comment: A day earlier a dead humpback whale washed ashore at Ocean Shores about 10 miles further west of the above discovery.

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Attention

Post mortem on pygmy sperm whale ashore in Melbourne, Australia


Daily Mail
Tue, 22 May 2018 12:29 UTC
pygmy whale
A dead whale has been taken to a Melbourne zoo for a post mortem to find out how it washed ashore in the western suburbs.

The distressed 2.4-metre pygmy sperm whale was found by a commercial fisherman washed up around Kororoit Creek, Hobsons Bay, on Monday afternoon.

It was later euthanised after environment department and veterinary staff tried unsuccessfully for hours to save it by enticing it into deeper waters.

Department incident spokesperson Shane Vandenborn said the stressed whale was unable to swim unaided and would have drowned without intervention. Its body was taken to Werribee Zoo for an autopsy.

Source: Australian Associated Press
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Wolf

Dog bites affect over 2.7 million people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh

Brajendra K Parashar
Hindustan Tmes
Mon, 21 May 2018 19:45 UTC
canine attack
© Angela Antunes / CC by 2.0
Two years ago, a Rajya Sabha committee went to the extent of putting out newspaper advertisements, inviting suggestions from various stake holders to deal with the dog menace in MPs' areas in Delhi.

It is not known whether the move eased the situation or not for the MPs' there. But in Uttar Pradesh, which sends 31 members to the Upper House of Parliament, dog bites continue to be a big public health problem, affecting more than 27 lakh people every year, according to health department sources.

While the killing of more than a dozen children by feral dogs in Sitapur in back-to-back incidents has only brought the problem to the fore in its worst form, on an average, not less than 100 people are bitten by dogs in each district every day, as per a rough estimate.

The state's health department does not compile any data on statewide cases of dog bites, according to director, medical and health, Padamakar Singh.

Comment: See also: Sitapur dog attacks in India: Eight-year-old succumbs to injuries - local death toll increases to 14

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Attention

Dead humpback whale found at Ocean Shores, Washington


komonews
Mon, 21 May 2018 13:42 UTC
A dead humpback whale washed ashore at Ocean Shores, Wash., on Sunday, May 20, 2018.
© Cascadia ResearchA dead humpback whale washed ashore at Ocean Shores, Wash., on Sunday, May 20, 2018.
A dead humpback whale washed ashore Sunday morning at Ocean Shores.

John Calambokidis, senior research biologist with Cascadia Research Collective, said the whale, a young female, was entangled in crab gear, which may have caused its death.

The dead whale was seen floating off shore Friday and was reported to the Coast Guard. It was found washed ashore Sunday morning.

Calambokidis described the whale as 28 and a half feet long and estimated that it was 1 to 2 years old.

The whale will eventually be buried.
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Attention

3 monk seals found dead off Oahu, Hawaii

Dillon Ancheta
Hawaii News Now
Sat, 19 May 2018 12:30 UTC
Ua Malie previously seen resting with her pup on a beach.
© Nate Yuen/FacebookUa Malie previously seen resting with her pup on a beach.
NOAA officials are stressing the importance of reporting monk seal sightings following the discovery of three dead seals around Oahu this week.

The first dead monk seal was discovered Tuesday. NOAA officials say RK60 was found floating offshore in Kaneohe Bay.

The second discovery was made in Laie on Wednesday when a female pup was found dead. A day later, an adult female seal was found dead in Kahuku. That seal has been identified as Ua Malie, and is believed to be the dead pup's mother.

On all three seals, officials conducted examinations to determine the cause of death.
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Black Cat

Mountain lion kills biker near North Bend, Washington


wpxi.com
Sun, 20 May 2018 13:58 UTC
A cougar
© DreamstimeA cougar
A mountain lion attacked two bikers, leaving one dead Saturday, according to King County Sheriff's officials.

See a photo of the mountain lion here (WARNING: Graphic).

Emergency crews responded to a report of a mountain lion attack in the foothills near North Bend around 11:20 a.m. Saturday, Eastside fire officials said.

Comment: Just to show the rarity of this kind of attack on people another report from The Seattle Times contains the following pertinent extract:
This was just the second fatal cougar attack in the state in the last 94 years, according to the state's Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Interestingly, Wikipedia lists only 20 fatalities due to cougar attacks in North America between 1890 and 2011. Prior to 1990 most involved children while for the 3 most recent decades fatalities totaled 9 but with only one youngster killed

Are they becoming less wary and aggressive toward adults humans?.

See also these other reports from the last 5 years of non-fatal attacks on people: Jogger uses rock to battle cougar in attack on Vancouver Island, Canada

Cougar attacks pipeline worker near Grande Prairie, Canada

A third cougar attack within a month leaves six-year-old California boy injured

Teenager attacked by cougar in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta

Some wild animals are losing fear of humans: Biologist recovering after cougar assault in Grand Prairie, Alberta

Cougar attack in British Columbia leaves woman in critical condition

Man fights off cougar with skateboard; Parks Canada tracking animal

Hiker attack by mountain lion reported near Waynesboro, Virginia

Man sustains minor injuries after attack by mountain lion near Libby, Montana

Mountain lion sought after apparent attack on homeless man, Perris, California

Mother pulls mountain lion off her 5-year-old son near Aspen, Colorado

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Galaxy

Are octopuses aliens?

Ephrat Livni
Quartz
Sat, 19 May 2018 12:00 UTC
maldive octopus
Maldive octopus
Octopuses are strange, smart creatures that certainly seem alien-what with the tentacles, camouflage, and shape-shifting skills. Still, the idea that they actually came from outer space would seem to fall strictly into the realm of sci-fi; an update of HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu, say.

But in these interesting times, real life reads like fiction. Recently, a group of 33 scientists worldwide - including molecular immunologist Edward Steele and astrobiologist Chandra Wickramasinghe - published a paper suggesting, in all seriousness, that octopuses may indeed be aliens.

The paper, published in the March issue of the the journal Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology, is controversial, obviously, and the vast majority of scientists would disagree. But the paper is still worthy of discussion-for one, as a thought exercise, because outlandish ideas are often initially rejected. And in provoking us with seemingly bizarre theories, it forces us to acknowledge that there are aspects of life on Earth for which classic evolutionary theory as yet has no explanation.

Comment: See also:

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