Animals
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Attention

Man dies following hippo attack in Kenya

Joy Garland
hivisasa.com
Fri, 25 Nov 2016 13:57 UTC
A hippo in water. A man died on Thursday morning in Mkunumbi village in Lamu County following a hippo attack.
A hippo in water. A man died on Thursday morning in Mkunumbi village in Lamu County following a hippo attack.
A man died on Thursday morning in Mkunumbi village in Lamu County following a hippo attack.

According to the Daily Nation, the man identified as Omar Mohamed Maalim, was cutting trees when the hippo attacked and killed him on the spot.

Lamu KWS Commander Jacob Orale said Friday they suspect the hippo was looking for water.

He said the ongoing famine has caused many wild animals to move from their habitat in search of food and water.

"The deceased died after being attacked by a hippo that we suspect was looking for water. Unfortunately, due to the drought, we are experiencing a situation where wild animals are now coming closer to human residences in search of food and water," said Orale as quoted by the Daily Nation.
He urged locals to stay away from bushes and forests to avoid such attacks.
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Attention

Angry hippo rams truck in Kruger National Park, South Africa

Mark Hodge
The Sun (UK)
Sat, 26 Nov 2016 13:33 UTC
Angry hippo charges at man in car
Angry hippo charges at man in car
An angry hippo smashes into the bonnet of a truck leaving the terrified driver fearing for his life.

Filmed in Kruger National Park in South Africa by Wikus Ceronie, 26, the incredible attack has now gone viral and left the driver's car badly damaged.

The footage shows the disgruntled beast charging at the welding inspector's truck while the driver can be heard swearing in disbelief.

Speaking with LatestSightings.com, Wikus said he was travelling home from Mozambique when the attack happened.

He said: "I was crossing the border from Kruger National Park when I noticed a hippo on the bridge.

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Wolf

Woman survives prolonged wolf attack in India


WebIndia123
Sun, 27 Nov 2016 13:20 UTC
Indian wolf
Indian wolf
A 50-year-old woman has survived an attack by a wolf in her farm house at Tengali village of Chitapur talukin this district today.

Police said that the animal bit Goribai on her arm and leg and she fell to the ground, crying out for help.

She fought with the beast for nearly 30 minutes alone and her son Goduba reached the spot and chased the wolf away.

The injured woman was immediately shifted to private hospital and doctors said she is recuperating well.

Chitapur Tahasildar Yallappa visited the hospital and enquired her about the incident.

Comment: See also: Wolf kills child and injures 2 others in Pakistan

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Fish

Thousands of dead herrings wash ashore in St. Marys Bay, Nova Scotia

Richard Woodbury
cbc.ca
Sat, 26 Nov 2016 16:03 UTC
Sightings like this on the shores around St. Marys Bay, N.S., have been a common sight since the beginning of last week.
© Joan ComeauSightings like this on the shores around St. Marys Bay, N.S., have been a common sight since the beginning of last week.
Scores of Atlantic herring are washing up on the shores around St. Marys Bay, N.S., but the reason isn't clear.

Within the last week, the herring have appeared on a 20-kilometre stretch of shoreline running between Marshalltown and Gilberts Cove.

"It seems to be a bit of a unique event in terms of just the sheer numbers that are showing up dead," said Shawn Craik, a biology professor at Université Sainte-Anne.

'Thousands of fish'

On Friday, Craik took some students to the shore at Gilberts Cove. He said that in some spots, there were eight fish washed up in a square-metre block.

"If you extrapolate that over the entire beach, we're talking about thousands of fish," he said.

While there, he spoke with a clam fisherman who said that in his 40 years of clamming on the beach, he had never seen anything like this.

The Digby detachment of Fisheries and Oceans Canada began receiving calls from concerned citizens about the problem on Tuesday, said Gary Hutchins, the detachment's conservation and protection supervisor.
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Cow

CCTV captures moment cow attacks man in Pakistan

Paddy Dinham
Daily Mail
Fri, 25 Nov 2016 16:07 UTC
The animal pins him up against the wall and then then sends him flying through the air with an almighty flip of its head
The animal pins him up against the wall and then then sends him flying through the air with an almighty flip of its head
This moody cow decided to take some frustration out on an innocent bystander while it was having a stroll down an alleyway.

The footage, shot in Pakistan, shows a man stood talking on his mobile phone next to a wall.

Wandering the streets of its own accord, the cow is seen heading down the same alleyway, seemingly minding its own business.

However, it clearly takes a disliking to something the man is doing, and pauses behind him.

After a couple of seconds of consideration, the cow instigates its vicious attack by digging its horns into him and catching the man, who has his back turned, completely unawares.


Comment: See also: No milk today: Rampaging cow sending man spinning through the air filmed in Nigeria

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Black Cat

Leopard enters village, attacks 8 in Gurugram, India

Shakir Mir
The Times of India
Fri, 25 Nov 2016 15:46 UTC
Leopard attack
© Manoj Kumar
A leopard was thrashed to death after it strayed into Mandawar village in Sohna, 26km south of Gurugram, and injured eight people on Thursday morning. The leopard, a two-and a-half-year-old male, sneaked in around 8am and kept villagers on their toes till noon with the forest department failing to tranquillise it and or capture it with nets.

The first to be attacked was Sundar Bharadwaj, a 46-year-old farmer. "I was tending to my field when the animal attacked me," said Bharadwaj. He noticed the leopard crouching furtively amid tall grass, before it lunged at him. He slipped his arms between its jaws, grabbing them while trying to fend off its deadly bite. During the struggle, he sustained grievous injuries on his shoulder and chest. Villagers later admitted him in Sohna's Civil Hospital.

When Bharadwaj spoke to TOI, he had a blood-soaked sling across his shoulder. According to other villagers, the leopard was first noticed in the morning by two farmers, Sumeet (21) and Rajesh (23), as they were returning from their fields. In panic, the duo raised an alarm. Scared, the leopard leapt into the compound of the Government Primary School, Mandawar. Luckily, the school was closed. "When we approached the big cat in a group, it ran away and hid inside a mound of hay," Desh Raj, a 20-year-old villager, said.
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Wolf

Three women recovering from grisly wounds after dogs attack in Cache County, Utah

Lauren Steinbrecher
fox13now.com
Wed, 23 Nov 2016 19:10 UTC
Dog attack
Three Millville women are recovering from grisly wounds after being attacked by two dogs Tuesday afternoon.

One of those dogs, a 4-year-old pit bull, was euthanized Wednesday morning, according to her owners.

Sierra Coe credits two Good Samaritans who risked their own safety to help her after the dogs rushed at her and wouldn't back down outside the Millville Post Office.

Laura Ferguson was one of those women.

On Wednesday evening, she sat in her living room with her legs elevated and bandages covering her leg, arm and ankle.

"This one bled a lot," she said, pointing to her knee.

Her arm and leg have deep puncture marks. Her ankle is the worst off, with a gaping hole exposed to the bone.
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Wolf

Vicious attack by dog pack leaves three hospitalised in western Sydney, Australia

Sinead Maclaughlin
Daily Mail
Thu, 24 Nov 2016 14:26 UTC
Dog attack
A blood-spattered driveway is a stark reminder of a vicious dog attack that wounded three people, including a police officer.

Not even tasers were enough to subdue the three savage dogs who attacked Diane, 43, and her partner Peter, 48, outside their Penrith home in western Sydney on Wednesday night.

The animal's owner, Kirk Wake, 29, has been charged after failing to keep the dogs locked up, according to 9 News.

Two of the dogs were described as being of American Staffordshire-cross-Pitbull appearance.

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Attention

Ailing humpback whale stranded on New York sandbar euthanized


ctvnews.ca
Thu, 24 Nov 2016 13:39 UTC
Veterinary team from NOAA, the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, International Fund for Animal Welfare, and North Carolina State University assess the stranded humpback whale.
© NOAAVeterinary team from NOAA, the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, International Fund for Animal Welfare, and North Carolina State University assess the stranded humpback whale.
An ailing humpback whale that became grounded on a sandbar in a bay was euthanized on Wednesday, three days after rescuers first tried to set it free.

The death of the whale, which weighed between 15 and 20 tons and was about 33 feet long, angered some environmentalists and locals who had watched the rescue effort. One state senator called for a hearing into the failed rescue.

Officials with the Riverhead Foundation of Marine Research and Preservation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration insisted the best chance for the whale's escape was hoping a high tide would allow it to free itself, but that never occurred.

They suggested it was likely the whale may have been ailing and that was the reason it became stranded in Moriches Bay, on eastern Long Island. The shallow bay has rarely been the site of whale visits.


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Eye 2

Mystery disease strikes American snakes

Colin Barras
BBC
Wed, 23 Nov 2016 19:39 UTC
A timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus)
© Daniel Heuclin/naturepl.comA timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus)
In 2006 biologists studying the only timber rattlesnakes in the state of New Hampshire recorded something alarming: a population crash. The already rare animals - numbering about 40 in total - began dying in unusually large numbers. No more than 20 rattlesnakes survived, and the population remained at that new super-low level five years later.

Many of the snakes showed signs of a severe skin infection on their heads and bodies just before they died. It was an early sign of a deadly fungal disease that is now sweeping through the snakes of eastern North America.

Today at least 30 species are affected. "Snake fungal disease" has been documented in more than 16 US states and in parts of Canada. How worried should we be?

Snake fungal disease generally begins with a relatively mild skin infection, often - but not always - where a snake's skin has been physically damaged.

The snake's immune system kicks into action, but within a few days the skin at the infection site has begun to thicken and die, creating a yellow or brown crust. In some cases this crust breaks off, exposing raw flesh and allowing the fungus to spread.
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