Animals
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Attention

Rhino kills woman in Nepal


The Himalayan
Mon, 19 Dec 2016 18:19 UTC
Charging rhino
© Dhritiman MukherjeeIndian rhino
A woman died in a rhino attack incident near the Chitwan National Park on Monday.

The victim has been identified as Motimaya Tamang (69) of Chitwan district.

The sexagenarian was attacked by the wild animal on the bank of Rapti River in Sauraha, Ratnanagar Municipality-19.

The District Police Office said she had been to the river area to quench the thirst of her cattle.

The woman had died on the spot.

Further investigation is underway.

Source: Rastriya Samachar Samiti
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Attention

Whale dies on beach in Cape St Francis, South Africa


The Herald (South Africa)
Mon, 19 Dec 2016 16:09 UTC
Swimmers try to push the whale out to sea, but it was already dead
© Catherine Richards Swimmers try to push the whale out to sea, but it was already dead
A brave attempt by about 20 beachgoers to save a whale in distress at Seals Beach in Cape St Francis ended disappointingly when it was discovered that the whale was already dead.

The whale had been stranded in shallow water about 100m from the shore.

Residents and holidaymakers had flocked to the beach in droves as word spread about the distressed whale.

Bayworld marine mammal curator Dr Greg Hofmeyr said the whale was probably of the Bryde's species.

As a man, identified only as Ryan, and a friend waded into the surf to try to save the whale by pushing it into deeper water, they were quickly joined by other men, women and children.

But NSRI members who arrived shortly afterwards urged them to get out of the water because it was dangerous. Onlookers on the shore then started chanting "shark, shark, shark", which had the desired effect, with those in the water all out within minutes.
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Wolf

Woman attacked by jackal in Uttar Pradesh, India


The Times of India
Sun, 18 Dec 2016 19:02 UTC
Indian jackal
Indian jackal
A 55-year-old woman sustained injuries when a jackal attacked her while working in her thatched house here on Friday.

According to range officer of social forestry division, Gajendra Singh, officials received information about a leopard attack in Sinaura village in Lalaurikhera block on Friday night.

When they rushed to the spot, they found that Omwati (55) had sustained injuries on the face in a wild animal attack.

However, they were not able to trace the pug marks of any leopard and instead found the footprints of a jackal.

Immediately, the officials rushed the woman to Pilibhit district hospital and provided her a financial assistance of Rs 2,500.

Comment: See also: Jackal attacks 2 children outside their house in Goa, India

Demented jackal attacks devotees inside temple severely injuring 3 in India

8 people attacked by jackal in Iran

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Wolf

Man dies after being critically injured following dog attack in Grover Beach, California

Lindsey Holden
The Tribune
Sun, 18 Dec 2016 15:26 UTC
Dog attack
A 64-year-old man critically injured in a Grover Beach dog attack died late Friday night, leaving friends and family saddened and in disbelief.

At 10:57 p.m., David Fear succumbed to injuries suffered during the Tuesday attack, said Ron Yukelson, a Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center spokesman.

The San Luis Obispo County Coroner's Office is investigating the death, Sgt. Jeff Nichols of the county Sheriff's Office said.

Fear and his neighbor, Betty Long, 85, were attacked about 1:15 p.m. Tuesday on the 1100 block of Nacimiento Avenue, said Eric Anderson, San Luis Obispo County Animal Services manager.

Police and fire officials arrived on the scene to find Fear and Long suffering from serious injuries and two dogs — a 2-year-old Belgian Malinois and a German shepherd — running in the area.

The Belgian Malinois was found to be the primary aggressor and was euthanized with the owner's permission. The German shepherd did not appear to be aggressive and is being held by its owner.

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Fish

Mysterious 'ghost shark' filmed for first time ever

Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
cnet.com
Sat, 17 Dec 2016 12:47 UTC
Pointynose blue chimaera
© Citron/CC-BY-SA-3.0Pointynose blue chimaera
Remote cameras accidentally catch images of the phantasmal creature with a sex organ on its forehead, far from the waters previously believed to be its home.

It's like the plot of a Michael Crichton book. The disturbing-looking pointy-nosed blue chimaera, also known as a "ghost shark," has been caught alive on video for the first time, purely by accident.

Researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute repeatedly captured footage of numerous species while on dives up to 6,700 feet (2,042 meters) below the sea off the coast of southern California, central California and the Hawaiian islands, in 2009. The footage and an accompanying paper in "Marine Biodiversity Records" came out in October, but the video just started to pick up steam this past week.

The institute wasn't looking specifically for the creatures -- the bluish, pointy-nosed sharks simply happened to be caught on camera on six separate occasions during remotely operated vehicle deep-sea surveys.

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Fish

Another beach becomes littered with thousands of dead fish in Cornwall, UK


Pirate FM News
Sun, 18 Dec 2016 12:22 UTC
Dead fish on Cornwall beach
Dead fish on Cornwall beach
More dead fish have washed up in Cornwall - on a different beach.

At the beginning of December, Pirate FM told you about thousands littering the shore at Pentewan.
Now more have beached at Marazion - and were discovered by a dog walker on Saturday.

David Hughes spotted them at low tide and strangely, revealed seagulls and his dog did not seem to want to go near them.

David said: "Just got back from a walk on the beach at Marazion, Cornwall and noticed thousands of fish which I believe to be Mackerel washed up on the beach at low tide.

"Interestingly, the seagulls were not interested in these fish even though they looked very fresh and our boxer dog did not even try to eat them?

"Would be interested if you hear of any reason this may have happened".

Dead fish

Comment: See also this earlier December report referred to above: Thousands of dead fish found on beach near St Austell, UK

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Attention

Dead sperm whale discovered beached in Samal, Philippines

Yas Ocampo
Manila Bulletin
Sat, 17 Dec 2016 17:05 UTC
Beachgoers and residents gather around a beached whale in Babak, Samal on Saturday, December 17, 2016. The whale was alive Friday night, but died Saturday
© Dean OrtizBeachgoers and residents gather around a beached whale in Babak, Samal on Saturday, December 17, 2016. The whale was alive Friday night, but died Saturday
A 37-foot sperm whale washed up in front of a resort along Babak district in the Island Garden City of Samal.

The giant marine mammal was found beached on Friday night, December 16 before dying Saturday.

Cetacean expert Darrell Blatchley, who responded to the beaching, said the whale's carcass will be transported across the Davao Gulf to the Bone Museum in Davao City.

Curious residents and beachgoers gathered around the whale, which was already bleeding by Saturday.

A backhoe was used to slowly drag the whale toward the shore. One netizen shared on Facebook the hauling of the whale.
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Black Cat

Bobcat attacks animal control officer near school in Odessa, Texas

Chelsey Trahan
kcbd.com
Fri, 16 Dec 2016 15:32 UTC
bobcat
A scary moment for Bowie Middle School in Odessa, a bobcat was spotted on their campus.

The animal was tranquilized twice after trying to attack an animal control officer and died.

"Our intent was not to kill the bobcat. The intent was to subdue the threat and relocate it," said Cpl. Steve LeSueur of the Odessa Police Department.

Police say they have had bobcat sightings in the past, mainly on the outskirts of town.

"It's not uncommon for them to come into the city limits, especially kind of on the outline areas, especially near Commanche Trail Park and other areas like that," said LeSueur.

"If you do see it in the daytime, like this one was, chances are, it could be rabid," said Midland County Game Warden Patrick Merriman.

Comment: See also: Two hurt in bobcat attack in New Scotland, New York

Woman attacked by bobcat outside her home in Luverne, Alabama

Bobcat attacks woman sitting on a bench in Solvang, California

Massachusetts man attacked by bobcat in his garage

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Health

Diver bitten by shark near Perth, Western Australia

Kim Macdonald
Perth Now
Thu, 15 Dec 2016 14:57 UTC
Shark attacks
A Scarborough diver recovering from what is believed to be a shark bite claims fishermen gutting fish on the beach are attracting sharks to the area.

Tim Roberts said he had noticed a big increase in the number of sharks and other dangerous sea life, including stingrays, because of the fish tails and guts that wash out to sea after fishermen gut them on shore.

Mr Roberts, 61, was diving 100m offshore on Wednesday when what he believes was a shark punctured his left foot four times through his fin.

"I swam like crazy after I felt that," he said. "I was waiting for the inevitable big bite, but it never happened."
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Health

Shark bites man's foot in New Smyrna Beach, Florida

Katie Kustura
The Daytona Beach News-Journal
Thu, 15 Dec 2016 14:19 UTC
Shark attacks
A 19-year-old New Smyrna Beach man suffered a shark bite to his right foot while surfing, according to a report.

Shane Garthwait said he was floating on his board when he felt a sudden tug on his right foot, which was dangling in the water, according to the questionnaire filled out for the Florida Museum of Natural History with the University of Florida.

The shark, which Garthwait didn't get a good look at, left a 1½ inch cut on the top of Garthwait's right foot, a half-inch cut on the back of his ankle and some bruising on his foot, according to the report.

Garthwait said he'd been surfing south of the Jetty for about an hour when he was bit Sunday afternoon and had seen two sharks swimming in the area prior, according to the report.

Garthwait declined treatment and said his father, a nurse, would look at the wound later, according to the report.
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