Animals
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Attention

Bye-bye Great Bear: Body count is mounting for Yellowstone grizzly bears after US government strips endangered species protection

Louisa Wilcox
Counterpunch
Tue, 21 Nov 2017 00:00 UTC
yellowstone grizzly
With the recent cold snap, some Yellowstone grizzly bears are slowing down - but it will still be another week or more before they are snug in dens and out of harms' way for the winter. In a disturbing trend, this year the bear body count continues to mount at a time when the population has been, by weight of evidence, declining. This problem will likely worsen with the federal government's decision last spring to strip endangered species protections from Yellowstone's grizzly bears and give management authority to the states ("delist").

Here, as elsewhere in the lower-48 states, government scientists have found that most grizzly bears die from human causes. This year is no exception. Only three of the 51 recorded grizzly bear deaths may be from natural causes.

And the rate of killing is shocking - one bear approximately every two days since hunting season began in October. Never have so many bear deaths been investigated for possible foul play in one year - 26 bears and counting, more than half of all known deaths.
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Attention

Koala bear attacks man in front yard in Wahroonga, Australia

Jake McCallum
The Daily Telegraph (Australia)
Thu, 23 Nov 2017 14:54 UTC
Mr Barnett with a photo of his attacker.
Mr Barnett with a photo of his attacker
Brutal attacks don't normally come to mind when you think of the cuddly koala — but one has left a Wahroonga man in hospital for a week after it bit him in his front yard.

Michael Barnett, 84, from Yanilla Ave, Wahroonga was attacked by the koala last Monday while he was trying to rescue the animal from a flock of angry cockatoos.

Mr Barnett was unsure where the koala's natural habitat was but his property backs onto the Lane Cove National Park.

"It is an incredible story," Mr Barnett told the Hornsby Advocate. "The first koala I see in the area in over 40 years and it bites me while I am trying to rescue it."

The attack comes after a rogue ferret bit a Baulkham Hills woman while she slept earlier this week.

Comment: See also these other odd incidents: More weird animal behaviour: Koala bear chases woman on quad bike in South Australia

Woman left bloodied after attack by koala in Willaston, Australia

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Attention

Girl recovering from shark attack off Melbourne Beach, Florida


Surfline
Wed, 22 Nov 2017 14:44 UTC
Kaia Anderson, 14, of Floridana Beach (south of Melbourne Beach) was bitten by a shark this past Saturday while surfing. While being interviewed, their dog Spot wanted to be in the photo.
© Tim Shortt/Florida TodayKaia Anderson, 14, of Floridana Beach (south of Melbourne Beach) was bitten by a shark this past Saturday while surfing. While being interviewed, their dog Spot wanted to be in the photo.
Crystal-clear water and lingering mix swell revealed some excited ocean activity in Central Florida last weekend — both above and below the surface. On Saturday evening, at about an hour or two before sunset, 14-year-old surfer Kaia Anderson was bitten by what is believed to be a spinner shark off a Floridana Beach access in southern Melbourne Beach.

"Kaia lives right next door to me, she's probably the nicest girl I've ever met in my entire life, and she and her sister go surfing every single day," said local pro Chauncey Robinson, who witnessed the attack. "I'd been up at the access watching the waves for 30 minutes prior and saw a shark go through a wave, but others thought it was a dolphin, since there were a few of those out, too. Then, probably ten minutes before it happened, I saw a spinner shark jump out the back and splash in front of everyone.
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Butterfly

Habitat loss results in a 90% population reduction of monarch butterflies in 25 years

Ken Krall
wxpr.org
Tue, 14 Nov 2017 20:37 UTC
Monarch butterflies
Monarch butterflies
Many species of pollinators are in sharp decline in Wisconsin.

Recently, a DNR program was granted more almost $70,000 to aid in helping Monarch butterflies. The grant was to help the insects during their annual trek to Mexico over the winter. The grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to restore and enhance critical monarch butterfly habitat along the Mississippi River.

But the DNR's Owen Boyle says the populations of the once-common Monarchs have fallen by 90 percent in the last 25 years.
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Attention

Five dolphins strand themselves in Mayo, Ireland; one dies

Anton McNulty
The Mayo News
Tue, 21 Nov 2017 11:45 UTC
Locals and volunteers working hard to get one of the dolphins back safely in the water.
© Tommy EnglishLocals and volunteers working hard to get one of the dolphins back safely in the water.
Four stranded dolphins were successfully rescued and returned to the sea off Achill Island today (Tuesday). The mammals, which were described as distressed and exhausted, were found by members of the public this morning.

The four common dolphins were discovered alive but in difficulty around 11am on the sand on Keem beach. A fifth mammal was also discovered, but was unfortunately found lying dead on the rocks.

A number of local volunteers initially went to the beach to try to rescue the surviving dolphins, but the low tide and lack of appropriate clothing made it difficult to successfully return the much-loved mammals to the sea.

Sorsha Kennedy, a local volunteer with Wildlife Rehabilitation Ireland was called to help, and with the assistance of David McNamara of the Achill Coast Guard Unit, and they eventually returned all the live dolphins to the water around 1pm.
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Attention

Rare oarfish discovered on beach in Kingston, South Australia


Coastal Leader
Tue, 21 Nov 2017 20:48 UTC
Oarfish
A rare discovery washed up on Kingston's shore last week.

The remains of an Oarfish was discovered on the Kingston beach by Sharryn Tiller and her dog Hugo on November 11.

Living in the deep sea, the fish is rarely seen and its behaviour not widely studied, and it is believed to have inspired tales of sea serpents.

"I was taking Hugo for a walk along the beach and we came across this great big dead fish," said Sharryn.

"I thought what on earth is it? I stood there thinking maybe it was an eel.

"But eels don't have whiskers, this fish had great long hard whiskers.

"I came home and my husband was chatting to our neighbour, Dan Watson and I mentioned what I had seen on the beach.
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Cow Skull

Hundreds of cattle found dead in Odisha, India; locals suspect epidemic


Orissa Post
Fri, 17 Nov 2017 14:13 UTC
Representative image
Representative image
An unknown epidemic has caused the death of hundreds of cattle at Gumabirsinghur village under this block in Ganjam district.

"There have been no visible symptoms. The cattle are found dead everywhere in forest, riverside, canals, hills and farmlands in the village. This condition has been occurring for the last three days," locals said.

The deadly issue came to the fore after the affected farmers brought the matter to the notice of Berhampur sub-collector. Surprisingly, the veterinary department has failed to tackle the disease as the cause of the outbreak of the disease is yet to be ascertained.

The unknown epidemic has spread panic among locals who held the administration responsible. Among the many farmers who had lost their cattle were Jagili Gouda, Bauri Gouda, Dhaneswar Pradhan, Balram Pradhan, Sudam Pradhan, L Panda, L Seemanchal, Narsingh Gouda, M Andha, D Bijay, K Trinath and M Kameshu.
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Grey Alien

Take me to your feeder: Birds with spooky dark eyes mistaken for aliens turn out to be barn owls

Liz Dunphy
Daily Mail
Mon, 20 Nov 2017 18:48 UTC
Birds with spooky eyes mistaken for aliens in India
Birds with spooky eyes mistaken for aliens in India
A video shared by Indian builders of so-called aliens turned out to be startled barn owls.

The feathery predators were filmed on a construction site in Visakhapatnam, capital of the south-eastern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

The builders who filmed them can be heard talking excitedly as two of the three owls stare at them with large dark eyes.

The birds are adolescents, just moving from being chicks into adulthood.

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Attention

Signs and Portents: Mutant bull calf is born with an extra leg on its back in north-east China


Daily Mail
Mon, 20 Nov 2017 16:16 UTC
A mutant bull with five legs has been born on a farm in north-east China
A mutant bull with five legs has been born on a farm in north-east China
A farmer in China was astonished to find one of his new-born bull calves had an extra leg on its back.

The mutant animal seems unaffected by the extra limb and is developing otherwise normally.

The animal was born on a farm near Muling city in the Heilongjiang Province of north-east China.

The leg complete with cloven hoof grows out from the young bull's back. It's just behind its shoulder, and hangs down its right side.

A gene mutation is thought to be behind the extra limb.

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Attention

Crazed ferret attacks woman in her sleep in Sydney, Australia


Triple M
Mon, 20 Nov 2017 15:58 UTC
FERRET
A New South Wales woman has awoken to a crazed ferret attacking her face.

The Baulkham Hills woman, in Sydney's northwest, told local newspaper Hills Shire Times, that she was jolted awake by a searing pain and something latching onto her cheek.

"The second it bit my face I woke up and grabbed onto it," the woman said.

"It didn't get to bite me too hard, because I grabbed its jaw pretty quickly."
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