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Families in Uttar Pradesh are sending the elderly members of their houses into forests as tiger prey to claim compensation worth lakhs from the government.
A bizarre trend is said to be afoot in villages bordering the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR). Authorities suspect local families are sending older members into the forest as tiger prey, and their bodies then relocated to fields, to feign attacks and claim lakhs in compensation from the government.
Villagers aren't entitled to compensation if their kin die in the reserve.
There has been a string of recent fatal tiger attacks on the elderly, with seven deaths reported in the proximity of the Mala forest range alone since February 16.
© ReutersVillages bordering Pilibhit Tiger Reserve are sending elderly as tiger prey.
Villagers aren't entitled to compensation if their kin die in the reserve.
There has been a string of recent fatal tiger attacks on the elderly, with seven deaths reported in the proximity of the Mala forest range alone since February 16.
Residents of Liu’ao Township in China found this colossal sunfish washed up
Residents of Liu'ao Township in Zhangpu County, Fujian, East China, first found a large ocean sunfish (Mola mola) before coming across an oarfish lying on the sand.
Both the strange-looking creatures were dead by the time they washed ashore, and it is unclear what might have caused them to die.
Local authorities were called on both occasions and confirmed the species of the two unexpected visitors, which are now being kept for research purposes.
© Jana MuellerThe captive ravens in the study were tested on two tasks: using tools and bartering with humans.
Scientists from Sweden say ravens are able to think about the future, showing a general planning ability previously documented only in people and great apes.
Researchers Can Kabadayi and Mathias Osvath, of Lund University, tested five captive ravens in two tasks they do not do in the wild: using tools and bartering with humans. The results were published on Thursday by the journal Science.
Ravens, along with crows, jays and others, belong to a bird group called corvids. Some corvids have shown that in hoarding food, they do some planning for the future instead of just acting on natural urges.
The Lund University ravens showed they could also plan by setting aside a tool that they suspected would get them a tasty treat later. They also prepared for future bartering.
FILE - In this June 10, 2003, file photo, Jeff Knight, an entomologist with the Nevada Department of Agriculture, holds a female Mormon cricket north of Reno, Nev.
Experts say this year could be a banner one for Mormon crickets — 3-inch-long bugs named after the Mormon pioneers who moved West and learned firsthand the insect's devastating effect on forage and grain fields.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal Plant Health Inspection Service reports "significantly higher Mormon cricket populations" on federal land in southwestern Idaho, agency spokeswoman Abbey Powell wrote in an email to The Associated Press.
"There isn't a clear explanation why populations are so much higher this year," Powell wrote. "We know that populations are cyclical. ... In Idaho, in a few locations, we have seen populations as high as 70 per square yard."
The bugs can start to be detrimental to rangeland and crops when they number about 8 per square yard, state officials said.
"A storm came through here early July 4th morning," Mitchell said. "It struck our tree and it had 8 cattle laying around it."
In all Mitchell, who lives in Katy, lost ten cattle: four cows with one calf each; a steer and a heifer during the lightning strike.
He estimates the loss is around $20,000.
"Everything in a 20-foot radius around that tree was dead," Michell said. "They were killed instantly. It's one thing to deal with maybe one cow, but to be overwhelmed with so many it was pretty hard."
© HT photoRajodi fishermen trying to push the whale back into the sea.
Though the state mangrove cell confirmed that it was a sperm whale, the officials are unclear whether it was a juvenile whale or a pygmy or a dwarf (subspecies). The whale weighed 60 kg.
Fishermen from Rajodi said they spotted the whale close to the shoreline towards the south side of the beach and it looked injured.
"The mammal most likely hit a large rock close to the shoreline and got injured. We tried pulling it out, but it died as soon as it came close to the beach. We informed the forest department but nobody showed up at the spot," said James Rodrigues, a fisherman and Rajodi beach resident. "Along with seven others, we buried the animal near the spot where it had washed ashore. We have not seen a mammal like this at this beach before."
Humpback whale
National Parks and Wildlife Service's Lawrence Orel said the 2.5m humpback whale calf was found around 3km north of the campground at Sandon, and there was no obvious sign of death.
"It's possible that it's just natural attrition, and that's not unexpected given there's around 30,000 humpback whales passing north along the coast on their annual migration at the moment," Mr Orel said.
"Natural attrition is one of the ways the population can maintain their overall genetic health where the weaker or diseased just don't survive, which is just a natural process."
Mr Orel said the scratches and wounds on the calf were most likely from other animals such as sharks
Her tail is believed to have become tangled in a creel rope off the Isle of Mull.
The minke, who was healthy at the time of her death, was one of a number of whales seen around the island in recent weeks.
Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust science officer Dr Lauren Hartny-Mills said: "In this case the timely reporting of the dead whale, even at sea, enabled us to track its movements, access it when it stranded and determine the cause of death.
Massive die off of fish in a nature reserve in southern Gambia, see below
10th July 2017 - rpp noticias reports 40+ dead Sea Lions and 2 dead Whales found along the coast of Lambayeque, Peru.
According to reports, the stranding of marine species occurred as a result of the high tide that has been occurring for several days along the coast, which is why the Maritime Captaincy ordered the closure of the docks and coves of the Lambayeque region, for prevention.
Comment: See also: 36 whales wash up on west coast of India in 2 years