Animals
S


Attention

Two shark attacks over the weekend off Mayport, Florida


First Coast News
Mon, 31 Oct 2016 11:48 UTC
Shark attacks
A Mayport spokesperson confirms two shark bites over the weekend in the Mayport area.

The photo we have attached to the story is related to the shark attack near the Mayport poles. There are currently no photos from the second shark bite.

According to the spokesperson a 42-year-old man was bitten on the leg Saturday afternoon at NS Mayport, the man sustained non-life threatening injury.

A second person was bitten by a shark near the Mayport poles. He suffered bite marks to his hand.

Shark bite
Shark bite
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Attention

Wild elephant kills 2 in Bihar, India


Business Standard
Mon, 31 Oct 2016 11:07 UTC
Charging elephant
© GettyCharging elephant
A wild elephant trampled two persons to death in Piprithan area under Thakurganj block, forest officials said today.

The elephant, that entered the district on Saturday from jungles of Nepal, trampled Baleshwar Singh near Balkaduba village under Pauakhali police station area and crushed a woman Sayeeda Khatoon (35) at nearby Balkaduba village yesterday, DFO, Kishanganj, Dinesh Kumar Das said.

Thakurganj Circle Officer Mohammad Ismail said Rs 5 lakh each would be paid as ex-gratia to the next of the kin of the deceased.

Wild animals, including elephants, often cross over to the bordering areas such as Kadogaon, Suribhitta, Bihartola, Dhantola, Karuvamni and others of the district from the jungles of Nepal, the DFO said.

A youth had been trampled to death by an elephant in March in Bihartoal village of Dhantola panchayat.
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Fish

Dead or dying tuna wash up on the east coast of Malta


The Times of Malta
Sun, 30 Oct 2016 14:33 UTC
Dead tuna
Dead tuna
Dead or injured tuna washed ashore in several areas of Malta's east coast today, a probable consequence of yesterday's Grigalata.

The rough weather also damaged fishfarms and sent a big slick of oily slime along the shore, clinging to seacraft moored in the bays and particularly at the Portomaso marina. Fishfarm operators yesterday denied that the slime had anything to do with them.

The rough sea yesterday was so strong, it even dislodged some tarmac near the old fishmarket in Grand harbour.

Damage was caused to San Giljan waterpolo pitch, the Radisson hotel, several boats and even cars parked close to the sea.

Comment: As well as the pollution and rough weather mentioned above as explanations for this incident, there is a strong possibility it was connected to an undersea earthquake of 4.8 magnitude, 151km east of Malta on the same day. An outgassing event?

The tremor (red dot) was recorded some 151km east of Malta
The tremor (red dot) was recorded some 151km east of Malta


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Question

Scientists have no idea why sharks are congregating off northern New South Wales, Australia

Kirrily Schwarz
news.com.au
Sun, 30 Oct 2016 19:49 UTC
Great white shark
Great white shark
A surfer has become the 12th person to be attacked by a shark in Australia this year, escaping with bite marks to his leg after hitting the surf on Monday morning at Broken Head, in northern New South Wales.

It's become the most dangerous stretch of coastline in the country for shark attacks, and the phenomenon has mystified scientists.

"It's impossible to pinpoint causation," said Daryl McPhee, a researcher at Bond University.

He told news.com.au shark attacks have been increasing globally for the past 30 years. "There's no one reason globally, it's a combination of factors," he said, listing things such as weather, environment and proximity to food.

"It's very difficult to work out why there's a concentration on the northern New South Wales coast."

Over the past few years Northern NSW has been the location of the majority of shark attacks.
© news.com.auOver the past few years Northern NSW has been the location of the majority of shark attacks.
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Attention

2 children injured by bear in Poonch, India

Ishrat Butt
Greater Kashmir
Sun, 30 Oct 2016 19:19 UTC
bear print
Reports said that Muhammad Ilyas, 12, and his sister Sobeya Bi,7, were injured after bear attacked them in Loran area of Mandi tehsil in Poonch district.

A 12-year-old boy and his younger sister were injured in a bear attack in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Reports said that Muhammad Ilyas, 12, and his sister Sobeya Bi,7, were injured after bear attacked them in Loran area of Mandi tehsil in Poonch district.

The duo were out to fetch water when the attack took place.
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Attention

Bear mauls man to death in Himachal Pradesh, India


The Times of India
Thu, 27 Oct 2016 18:45 UTC
bear print
In yet another death arising out of the growing cases of man-animal conflict in Himachal Pradesh, a bear mauled a 31-year-old man in a remote village in Kullu district on Wednesday morning.

Though the group of people accompanying Jeet Kumar back to Kehsan village in the district's Anni sub-division scared the animal away by shouting and blowing whistles, Jett succumbed to injuries on the spot. Anni deputy superintendent of police Baldev Thakur said Jeet had returned to the village after selling vegetables in the main market of Anni.

"The bear suddenly came out of the bushes when Jeet along with few others was near the village. He sustained deep injuries around the neck and throat in the attack that just last a few seconds. His body has been handed to his family after the post-mortem," he said.
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Attention

Signs and Portents: Two-headed turtle born in Khatam, Iran


Sputnik
Sat, 29 Oct 2016 18:37 UTC
A two-headed turtle
Two-headed turtle
A two-headed turtle has been born in Khatam, a city in Iran's central Yazd Province, The Tehran Times reported.

The head of the local environmental protection department, Saber Afhami, told the newspaper that the newborn turtle was in good health, the newspaper wrote.

The rare turtle arrived into this world in the company of another, less odd-looking single-headed, one.

Saber Afhami held out hope that scientists would look into the cause of this unusual phenomenon.
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Attention

Man hospitalized following bear attack in Romania


Fox News
Sat, 29 Oct 2016 17:05 UTC
Bear attack
Authorities say a 20-year-old American has been attacked by a brown bear in the Transylvanian city of Brasov.

Emergency services spokesman Captain Ciprian Sfreja told The Associated Press the man was attacked by a 100-kilogram (220-pound) bear on Saturday in a forested area of the city.

Sfreja says the man suffered a wound 2-3 centimeters (1-inch) deep to his left forearm before the bear retreated into the forest.

The man, whom authorities are not naming, was transported to a local hospital and reported to be in stable condition.

There are occasional bear attacks in Brasov, which is surrounded by several mountains.

Transylvania is a region in Romania, where between 5,000 and 6,000 brown bears are estimated to live.

Source: Associated Press
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Attention

Humpback whale found dead in the port of Wilmington, Delaware

Esteban Parra
delawareonline
Sat, 29 Oct 2016 15:16 UTC
The dead whale caught in the Port of Wilmington
© Mike Phillips/WDELThe dead whale caught in the Port of Wilmington
Officials have only a few clues so far to figure out how a dead humpback whale ended up in a berth at the Port of Wilmington early Friday.

Officials said they were working to remove the animal from the port's waters, where it was found floating at about 3:15 a.m. Suzanne Thurman, executive director of the Lewes-based Marine Education, Research & Rehabilitation Institute, said fishing gear appeared to be tangled around the dead whale's pectoral fins.

The whale appeared to be about 25 to 30 feet long and was not much older than a few years, Thurman said.

The MERR Institute had its responders on scene Friday and was working with others to remove the animal from the port's berth so it could be examined. As of late Friday afternoon the whale had been secured and towed out of the berth. MERR responders were waiting for it to be repositioned in order for it to be lifted out of the water by a crane.
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Binoculars

Lost flamingo that was heading for Saudi Arabia turns up in Siberia instead


The Siberian Times
Wed, 26 Oct 2016 19:12 UTC
Local children picked up the bird and took it to the home of Antonina Maisa where the family named it Vasya and fed it on shrimps.
© Alexey KhramtsovLocal children picked up the bird and took it to the home of Antonina Maisa where the family named it Vasya and fed it on shrimps.
The pink bird was 5,330 kilometres off course when it landed in subzero Krasnoyarsk region.

The weak and exhausted flamingo landed on the Angara River, some 397 kilometres north of Krasnoyarsk city. The bird was too frail even to retreat when local children in Motygino village came to inspect it.

Carefully, they picked up the bird and took it to the home of Antonina Maisa where the family named it Vasya and fed it on shrimps. Now the unexpected visitor is gaining strength.

We would like to pass the flamingo to a zoo or shelter with rare birds,' she said. 'Somewhere the flamingo will be comfortable, alongside companions with whom it can communicate. Ideally, the same bird breed, or at least from the same region.'

The head of Motygino village Alexey Khramtsov posted a plea on his Facebook page asking his friends to find a home for the bird.


Comment: See also: Flamingos migrating to Caspian Sea in mortal danger - lost in Siberia

Four lost flamingos fly north for the winter and turn up in Siberia

Flamingos Drop From Siberian Sky: Locals Mystified

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