Animals
S


Info

Elk seen in South Carolina for the first time in 275 years

Bull elk
Bull elk
For the first time since the Upstate was Cherokee territory, a wild elk has been seen roaming the woodlands of South Carolina.

Northern Pickens County is abuzz with sightings of the bull elk, whose wanderings are being traced on social media.

It's not a descendent of species that once inhabited this area, but more likely a young bull elk that was ousted by the dominant males of a herd of Rocky Mountain elk that have been re-established in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, according to outdoorsman and Pickens County resident Dennis Chastain.

"This is a historic moment that some of us knew would eventually come," Chastain said. "This is the first wild elk to roam the woods and wild places in South Carolina since they disappeared in the early 1700's."

A wild elk was seen roaming in South Carolina for the first time in over two centuries.
© Caleb CassellA wild elk was seen roaming in South Carolina for the first time in over two centuries.

Pumpkin

One snack too many: Rescuers liberate fat raccoon stuck in army tank hatch

raccon rescues army tank

Watch two grown men try their best to rescue a fat raccoon stuck upside-down in a tiny tank hatch.

Raccoons are always on the hunt for food and human habitats are often their number one source. Just like us, they will eat practically anything and will do whatever it takes to get their cute, thieving little hands on snacks.

Attention

Brown bear mauls man in Seward, Alaska

Bear attack
A bear mauled a man out with his dogs before dawn Thursday on a runway of the small airport in the southern Alaska town of Seward, officials said.

The unidentified man was walking or jogging with his dogs on the airport's main runway when he was mauled by the brown bear with two cubs accompanying her, said state transportation department spokeswoman Shannon McCarthy. He suffered injuries described as non-life threatening.

The bear may have attacked the man to protect the cubs, McCarthy said. The airport has signs warning that trespassing is prohibited but is not completely fenced in.

The 55-year-old man used his cellphone to report the attack at 6:46 a.m. and was taken to a hospital for treatment, said Seward Police Chief Tom Clemons.

Oscar

And the bird that can stay airborne the longest is.....

A Common Swift is in the sky.
© N. CamilleriA Common Swift is in the sky.
The common swift is able to fly continuously for 10 months, without touching down for even a second, according to an extraordinary study which finds the species can stay in the air far longer than any other bird.

Researchers tagged 13 common swifts and followed their every move for two years. They found that while swifts land for two months during the breeding season, it is incredibly rare for them to roost during the rest of the year, when they are migrating between Europe and Africa.

Three didn't alight

In three cases, the bird didn't land on the ground, a tree, water, or anything else for the whole 10 months, while none of the 13 common swifts in the study spent more than 0.5 per cent of their time out of the air.

Binoculars

Lost oceanic bird seen along Lake Michigan

Shearwater
Shearwater
A rare bird sighting on Lake Michigan — so rare that birders aren't sure what the explanation is.

North of Milwaukee, near Port Washington, Wisconsin: a sighting of a shearwater.

"As far as I know, there has been in recorded history only one previous time when a shearwater has been observed on Lake Michigan," says Joel Greenberg, a board member of the Western Great Lakes Bird and Bat Observatory.

Someone with the observatory spotted the shearwater.

"These are solely oceanic birds. They nest on islands and coastal areas and spend most of their life on the ocean," Greenberg says.

Question

Sunflower sea star nearly wiped out by virus in British Columbia waters

A sunflower sea star found off Cliff Island, Washington on March 30, 2015
© Joe GaydosA sunflower sea star found off Cliff Island, Washington on March 30, 2015
There was once a galaxy of sunflower seastars in the Salish Sea off the British Columbia and Washington state coasts, but a new study says their near disappearance from the ocean floor should be of special concern.

Researchers at the University of California, Davis, say a wasting disease that impacted many starfish from Alaska to Mexico was devastating for the sunflower sea star.

Joseph Gaydos, one of the report's authors and the chief scientist with the SeaDoc Society, said the sunflower that covered the ocean floor in many areas off southern Vancouver Island and Washington state has been virtually wiped out.

"We're really concerned that one could completely disappear," he said in an interview.

The West Coast is renowned for its 28 varieties of seastars, some not found anywhere else in the world. In 2013, divers and researchers started noticing the starfish were dying from a disease that experts couldn't figure out.

Three years later, they believe a virus is at fault, but Gaydos said there may also be other factors such as water temperature that makes certain starfish more susceptible.

Rainbow

Givers of Courage: Thousands of wild American Bison appear from nowhere at Standing Rock

bison
© Davidica Littlespottedhorse
The Tatanka Oyate were called upon and gave us courage. Pilamiya Maske for your vision. Stay strong Water Protectors! Davidica Littlespottedhorse

The great bison or buffalo of North America is a very powerful symbol to American Indians. Though best suited to cooler climates, bison roamed virtually in entire continent.

The smaller woodlands bison and its bigger cousin, the plains bison were revered and honored in ceremony and every day life. To the plains Indian, our Bison Brother meant sacred life and the abundance of the Creator's blessing on Mother Earth.

The bison is powerful medicine that is a symbol of sacrifice and service to the community. The bison people agreed to give their lives so the American Indian could have food, shelter and clothing.

The bison is also a symbol of gratitude and honor as it is happy to accept its meager existence as it stands proud against the winds of adversity.

The bison represents abundance of the Creator's bounty and respect for all creation knowing that all things are sacred.

The chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe criticized law enforcement's "militarized" response to the camp and called for demonstrations to remain peaceful, but stressed that activists would not give up their cause.

"Militarized law enforcement agencies moved in on water protectors with tanks and riot gear today. We continue to pray for peace," Dave Archambault II said in a statement Thursday evening.

"We won't step down from this fight," he added. "As peoples of this earth, we all need water. This is about our water, our rights, and our dignity as human beings."

Attention

Dozens of dolphin carcasses litter beach in Bangladesh

Dead dolphin
Representative image
At Kuakata Beach in Patuakhali is the tragic end of a beautiful story. Along the shoreline dozens of dolphin carcasses are in various stages of decay. For locals and tourists alike the stench overpowers, makes beachfront enjoyment impossible. Beyond being an inconvenience, the dead dolphins demonstrate what can happen when wild creatures come into contact with human activity: when entangled in fishing nets, the air-breathing dolphins drown.

In Patuakhali, as in coastal areas across the country, fishing communities have inherited the knowledge of generations. They know the sea. Among them it wouldn't be easy to find one who rejoices in a dolphin's death. It's unsurprising.

Apart from the agility and grace dolphins display in the wild, dolphins, like them, have enviable fishing skills.

"I've worked as a fisherman for 20 years," says Nurul Islam, 45, from Alipur village in Patuakhali's Kalapara upazila. "It's beautiful to see dolphin pods swim and jump out of the water. On our boat, the FB Mayer Doa, we never hunt dolphins; we seek hilsa fish. But we find many dolphins that died in fishing nets."
Dead dolphin
Dead dolphin

Attention

Dead whale washes up on coast in Newfoundland, Canada

A dead whale washed into Joe’s Cove in Lord’s Cove on Sunday.
© Margaret Mary MartinA dead whale washed into Joe’s Cove in Lord’s Cove on Sunday.
A dead whale that washed in over the weekend has the Town of Lord's Cove wondering what course of action to take.

On Sunday, the remains of the mammal were brought into an inlet in the community known as Joe's Cove.

The whale had been coming in and out with the tide.

"It is beached right now," town manager Eileen Harnett told The Southern Gazette on Wednesday.

"On Sunday, it went off quite a ways, but it washed back in again, and it was dead when it came ashore," she said.

Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolts kill man and 3 donkeys in Zimbabwe

lightning
A man and three donkeys died after they were struck by lightning in two incidents in Matabeleland North.

A bolt of lightning fatally struck Charles Maponda (32) of Nyamandlovu in Umguza District while he was looking for firewood in a bush on Tuesday.

Maponda, a recently promoted farm employee at Waynne Manroe's Farm, knocked off duty and left alone to fetch firewood in the bush.

Mr Robert Muthethwa, who is a security guard at the Farm, discovered the badly burnt body minutes after he had been struck.

"It started to rain and there was thunder and lightning. I found Maponda in an open space. It looked like he had just been struck by lightning.