Animals
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Attention

Dead sperm whale found at beach in Bali, Indonesia

Krishna Arisudana and IMB Andi Purnomo
Antaranews.com
Tue, 20 Mar 2018 10:22 UTC
sPERM WHALE
A sperm whale carcass, with a length of about 15 meters and a weight of 10 tons, was stranded at the Bungkulan Village Beach, Sawan Sub-District, Buleleng District, Bali.

"Hundreds of local people came to see the carcass of the female sperm whale stranded on the coast of Bungkulan Village Beach, Sawan Sub-district, Buleleng District, at around 09.30 a.m. local time," Resort Police of Buleleng AKP I Putu Aryana said here on Monday.

He stated that the giant sperm whale was a spectacular sight for the people, because they had not succeeded in rescuing or evacuating the large mammals.

The police and the local district government responded quickly on the news of the dead sperm whale being stranded on the beach with its skin peeled off and entrails scattered out.
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Eye 2

Signs and Portents: Two-headed boa also discovered to have double hearts in Deerfield Beach, Florida

Maggie O'Neill
Daily Mail
Fri, 16 Mar 2018 19:56 UTC
The breeder brought this two-headed boa to a veterinarian's office where it was discovered that the animal has two different hearts. Additionally, the animal has two separate digestive systems
The breeder brought this two-headed boa to a veterinarian's office where it was discovered that the animal has two different hearts. Additionally, the animal has two separate digestive systems
A Floridian snake-breeder recently ended up with a two-headed boa that has two separate hearts.

The snake, at two weeks old, was featured on a National Geographic program.

The creature was born with two heads, which emerge from a shared body, National Geographic reported.

Both heads check out their surroundings separately and flick their own tongues.

The snake was presented to the office of Veterinarian Dr Susan Kelleher for examination.

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Attention

Dead Sei whale found on Marathon's bayside, Florida

Katie Atkins
Flkeysnews
Fri, 16 Mar 2018 12:01 UTC
This dead sei whale was found on the bayside of Marathon.
© Shanna ShroederThis dead sei whale was found on the bayside of Marathon.
What caused the death of a 50-foot sei whale found on the bayside of Marathon Wednesday and how it ended up in the warm waters of the Florida Keys is a mystery.

Its stop at the Marathon Yacht Club caused quite a stir. Shanna Shroeder, officer manager of the club, said it was brought to the 33rd Street boat ramp, where biologists took samples and eventually removed it from the property and reportedly disposed of it offshore.

It had "quite the smell," she said.

It didn't actually wash up at the yacht club, but was found dead on the bayside of Marathon and "secured" at the 33rd Street boat ramp next to the club until biologists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration arrived, said Lt. Andy Cox with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
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Attention

Bryde's whale carcass washes ashore in Tamil Nadu, India


The Times of India
Sat, 17 Mar 2018 11:15 UTC
Bryde's whale
Bryde's whale
A Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera brydei) weighing more than 10 tonne washed ashore dead at Thondi in Ramanathapuram district on Friday morning. Local fishermen, who spotted the huge carcass floating one km away from the shore, alerted wildlife officials from Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park (GoMMNP).

Based on the information, wildlife officials deployed fishing boats and towed the carcass to the beach. Veterinary doctors inspected the carcass and found that performing an autopsy was very difficult.

Forest range officer S Sathish said that the stomach cavity has been exposed and it should have been dead for more than 20 days. Looking at the carcass, they deduced that it should have been hit by a ship, Sathish said.

However, samples have been collected from the carcass. The whale, a fully grown female, weighed more than 10 tonne, he said.
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Wolf

Coyote attacks 9-year-old child in Davie County, North Carolina


myfox8.com
Fri, 16 Mar 2018 15:37 UTC
Coyote
© Getty ImagesCoyote
A coyote attacked a 9-year-old child in Davie County Thursday night, according to Davie County Animal Control.

Animal Control received a report of an animal attack at 6:35 pm.

The attack occurred at 942 Markland Road in Advance.

A coyote followed a young female to the door of her home and attacked her as she was trying to get inside.
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Black Cat

Hunger guides mountain lions' actions to enter residential districts


Science Daily
Tue, 13 Mar 2018 18:57 UTC
A cougar
© DreamstimeA cougar
In late February, CBS News Denver reported that mountain lion sightings were on the rise in Colorado's high country. Lion attacks on people in the state and around the world are rare, but the story referenced an attack on a 5-year-old boy in 2016 by a mountain lion near Aspen.

Wildlife biologists around the world studying these big cats have had difficulty explaining why these attacks occur, even after tracking the predators with GPS collars. A study from Colorado State University and Colorado Parks and Wildlife provides new insight. Researchers found that while the animals are generally fearful of and avoid humans, hunger can dampen that fear.

The study, "Hunger mediates apex predator's risk avoidance response in wildland-urban interface," was recently published online in the Journal of Animal Ecology.

Comment: See also: Mountain lions are showing up all over the San Francisco Bay Area - and beyond

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Attention

Human-tiger conflicts on the rise in Sumatra, Indonesia


Clean Malaysia
Thu, 15 Mar 2018 18:46 UTC
Tiger
Three construction workers were at work on a building site in the Indragiri Hilir district of the Sumatran province of Riau when they noticed a tiger lurking around. They decided to wait for the animal to leave, but when they thought it was safe to leave they chanced upon the predator, which mauled one of them to death.

Nor was this the first deadly attack by a tiger in the area. In January a female worker was mauled to death by a Sumatran tiger at a palm oil plantation some 20km away.

A week ago another attack by a Sumatran tiger ended in tragedy when a local was mauled to death in the village of Mandailing Natal in North Sumatra. Villagers, believing the wild tiger to be a shapeshifting evil spirit called a "siluman," hunted the animal down and killed him. They proceeded to disembowel the dead tiger before hanging his carcass up in a hut.
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Attention

Blue penguins washing up sick and injured on beaches in Auckland and Northland, New Zealand

Nicole Lawton
Stuff
Wed, 14 Mar 2018 18:27 UTC
Birds NZ have found 64 little blue penguins dead on the east coast of the upper North Island, from Mangawhai to Kauri Mountain, in January.
© Birds NZBirds NZ have found 64 little blue penguins dead on the east coast of the upper North Island, from Mangawhai to Kauri Mountain, in January.
This year's unusually hot and stormy summer has taken a toll on Auckland and Northland's seabirds with thousands of dead and ill birds found on the regions' beaches.

Little blue penguins have been particularly hard hit, with hundreds of them washing up dead or exhausted.

Seabird experts said a combination of bad weather, a lack of food, heat and a change in the prevailing maritime wind directions had coincided with when the little blues like to come ashore to moult - putting them under great stress.

Karen Saunders, director of the National Bird Rescue on Waiheke Island - an established penguin breeding ground - said she'll remember this summer as the summer of seabird starvation.

Comment: See also this report from the beginning of the year: Thousands of dead penguins wash up on beaches in Northland, New Zealand

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Attention

Signs and Portents: Mutant lamb with two heads born in China

Tom Towers
Daily Star (UK)
Wed, 14 Mar 2018 14:48 UTC
BIZARRE:It had had two conjoined heads, four eyes, two ears and two mouths
© ASIAWIREBIZARRE:It had had two conjoined heads, four eyes, two ears and two mouths
The bizarre creature was born on a farm in the county of Gangu in the north-west of the country.

It had two conjoined heads, four eyes, two ears and two mouths but was unable to stand up.

The farmer said its mother rejected it so he tried to keep it alive by hand-feeding it.

But his efforts were in vain and the creature died just two days after birth, local media report.

The lamb suffered from diprosopus or craniofacial duplication, resulting in shared features.

It is rare for such creatures to survive more than a few hours after birth because their internal organs are often deformed.
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Attention

Signs and Portents: Mutant pig with human-like face dies hours after birth in Argentina

Charlotte Ikonen
Daily Star (UK)
Fri, 09 Mar 2018 14:39 UTC
The pig was born with human-like features
© CENSHOCK: The pig was born with human-like features

The bizarre-looking babe is the latest shocking mutation to be discovered in a rural region Argentina.

The deformed animal was spotted next to its mother after she gave birth to eight piglets in the area of Santo Domingo in Santiago del Estero Province.

But it died a few hours after birth when it had trouble breathing on March 7.

Its deformities are believed to be caused by pesticides and GM crops.

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