Animals
S


Wolf

Hyena crushes sleeping boy's face at Kruger National Park, South Africa


News24
Mon, 27 Jun 2016 18:26 UTC
Spotted Hyena
Spotted Hyena
A 15-year-old boy from Centurion was bitten in the face by a hyena in the Kruger National Park on Sunday, a SANParks spokesperson has said.

Erco "Boela" Janse van Rensburg woke up at 04:30 in his tent at the Crocodile Bridge Camp to find a hyena's jaws around his head.

After biting Erco's face, the hyena dragged the 15-year-old by the collar of his pyjama top before sitting on him, Netwerk24 reported.

The boy's grandfather, Basie Smalberger, told Netwerk24 that Erco described the harrowing sound like "chips breaking in a packet."

When he was found, a nurse applied first aid at the camp, before his parents rushed him to a hospital in Nelspruit. He was then transported by helicopter to Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg where he underwent plastic and reconstructive surgery to his mouth and jaw.
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Health

Black bear bites woman in Canton, Connecticut

Rachel Rooney
wfsb.com
Sat, 25 Jun 2016 15:31 UTC
Officials issue warning after a woman in Canton was nipped by a bear.
© DEEPOfficials issue warning after a woman in Canton was nipped by a bear.
Canton police are issuing a warning to residents after a woman who was out gardening Friday afternoon was nipped by a black bear.

Officers said the woman was in her yard on Atwater road around 3:30 p.m. Friday when the bear approached her.

The victim told police she had been tending to her garden when she looked up to see the bear. The bear then nipped her before the woman was able to scare it off.

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection was notified and responded to the scene.

DEEP officials immediately began attempting to locate the bear and have set up traps for the animal.
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Attention

Boy attacked by shark at Atlantic Beach, North Carolina; second local attack in 2 weeks

Stephanie Petit
People
Sun, 26 Jun 2016 18:23 UTC
Great white shark
An 11-year-old boy was attacked by a shark in North Carolina Saturday afternoon.

According to WCTI, the victim was surfing off Atlantic Beach when he was attacked.

Atlantic Beach Fire Chief Adam Snyder said first responders were called at 2:34 p.m. for a reported shark bite and the boy was transported to a local hospital with "deep wounds" on his left foot.

The size and kind of shark is unknown. The beach remained open after the attack.
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Newspaper

'Captivity is degrading': Buenos Aires to shut down its zoo

Elahe Izadi
Washington Post
Sun, 26 Jun 2016 15:48 UTC
rhino
© Juan Mabromata/AFP/GettyA Rhino at the Buenos Aires Zoo, June 24, 2016.
The Argentinian capital has hosted a zoo for more than 140 years. But that's coming to an end, Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta announced this week, as he unveiled plans to transform the facility into an ecological park.

"This situation of captivity is degrading for the animals, it's not the way to take care of them," he said Thursday, the Guardian reported.

"Animals have to live in their habitat, not in the middle of buildings," the mayor tweeted.

Most of the Buenos Aires Zoo's 1,500 animals will be relocated to Argentinian sanctuaries and to locations overseas, according to the Associated Press. Some of the birds will be released in a riverside ecological reserve spanning 864 acres in the city.

Comment: Great news for the captives. Zoos are little more than animal prisons.

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Wolf

3.2 million animals slaughtered by U.S. Wildlife Services in 2015


Eco Watch
Tue, 21 Jun 2016 15:46 UTC
Red fox
© PexelsRed fox
The highly secretive arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture known as Wildlife Services killed more than 3.2 million animals during fiscal year 2015, according to new data released by the agency.

The total number of wolves, coyotes, bears, mountain lions, beavers, foxes, eagles and other animals killed largely at the behest of the livestock industry and other agribusinesses represents a half-million-animal increase more than the 2.7 million animals the agency killed in 2014.

Despite increasing calls for reform a century after the federal wildlife-killing program began in 1915, the latest kill report indicates that the program's reckless slaughter continues, including 385 gray wolves, 68,905 coyotes (plus an unknown number of pups in 492 destroyed dens), 480 black bears, 284 mountain lions, 731 bobcats, 492 river otters (all but 83 killed "unintentionally"), 3,437 foxes, two bald eagles and 21,559 beavers. The program also killed 20,777 prairie dogs outright, plus an unknown number killed in more than 59,000 burrows that were destroyed or fumigated.
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Attention

Dead humpback whale discovered outside Shinnecock Inlet in Southampton, New York


27east.com
Sat, 25 Jun 2016 18:53 UTC
Whale
A dead humpback whale was found just outside the Shinnecock Inlet in Southampton.
© Southampton Town Bay ConstableA dead humpback whale was found just outside the Shinnecock Inlet in Southampton.
A dead humpback whale was spotted floating in the water on Friday about a half mile outside of the Shinnecock Inlet in Southampton.

The cause of death for the whale was not immediately clear, as the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation did not send out a team to investigate as of Friday afternoon, according to Rachel Bosworth, a spokesperson for the foundation.

Ms. Bosworth also did not know the gender or size of the whale.

Southampton Town officials and marine patrol were also notified of the dead whale.

At the request of town officials, Ms. Bosworth said the foundation will likely be waiting to access the whale until it washes up on the shore instead of towing it in.

Source: The Southampton Press
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 14 cattle in Ghana


Starr FM Online
Fri, 24 Jun 2016 14:47 UTC
The dead cattle
The dead cattle
About 14 cattle were left dead after lightning struck at Welembelle in the Sissala East District of the Upper West Region Thursday.

A native and teacher in the community, Jonas, told StarrFMonline.com the incident happened at about 10:30pm. He said they saw the lifeless bodies of the animals after the downpour.

"We were there this morning and one caretaker of the cattle, a Fulani, came to inform us that some of the cattle are dead, so we rushed to the place and met exactly what the caretaker had said.

"Usually, when things of such nature occur certain rituals are performed before anyone touches it for fear of being struck by lightning, so the rituals were performed after which the cattle were buried," Jonas narrated.

He added that residents of the community have been shocked at the huge number of the dead cattle, as a minimal number is often killed under such circumstances.

Owner of the cattle, Samba is reportedly traumatized at his loss.
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Ambulance

Service dog killed protecting her owner from alligator in Port LaBelle, Florida

Samantha Sosa
WPTV
Thu, 23 Jun 2016 14:19 UTC
Precious
Precious
A man is pleading with officials in Glades County for a code inspection after his dog was eaten by an alligator at the marina where he resides.

"Precious" the pit bull kept Robert Lineburger safe by sensing his seizures before they happened, but now she's buried in his front yard.

Lineburger lives on his boat at the Port LaBelle Marina. One April night when he left to use the restroom, his pet followed.

The dog's owner said his pet saved him from the alligator, which tried to bite him on the dock.

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Bug

Bees dying at an alarming rate in Pennsylvania; could impact food supply

John Shumway
pittsburgh.cbslocal.com
Thu, 23 Jun 2016 14:02 UTC
Honey bee
Honey bee
For many of us, bees are something to avoid; but for the agricultural community, bees are all about success or failure of their crops.

To the farmer or grower, an active bee hive ready to mass pollinate is a thing of beauty.

"Every flower needs it, so every piece of fruit needs a bee to get to it," says Reed Soergel, of Soergel's Orchards. "So, to the crop, it's huge."

But bees in Pennsylvania are dying at an alarming rate.

"About 60 percent of colonies dying off here in our state," says Stephen Riccardi, of Penn Environment.

"It's getting into a situation where we're going to start running out of food," said Kevin Hermman, the executive chef at The Porch at Schenley.

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Attention

Great White shark attacks fisherman near Cape Agulhas, South Africa

Lizeka Tandwa
news24.com
Sat, 25 Jun 2016 13:07 UTC
Great white shark
A shark, apparently a Great White, attacked a spear fisherman near Cape Agulhas on Thursday, the NSRI said.

A fellow spear fisherman brought the 43-year-old man to Arniston harbour around noon and used the rubber bands from their spear guns as a tourniquet on the wounds, National Sea Rescue Institute Agulhas station commander Reinard Geldenhuys said in a statement.

"It was reported that he was safe in the harbour and suffering bite wounds following a reported shark encounter, believed to be with a Great White shark, while spearfishing off-shore of Ryspunt."

The man had multiple lacerations, a tear to his left leg, and lacerations to his right hand, caused by trying to fight the shark off.

NSRI medics and Fire and Rescue Services paramedics treated the man before he was taken to Bredasdorp hospital, where he was stabilised. He was airlifted to a Cape Town hospital in a serious but stable condition.
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