Animals
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Attention

Elephant tramples mahout to death in Thailand

Theerarak Suthathiwong
Pattaya Mail
Fri, 20 May 2016 13:32 UTC
Charging elephant
© GettyCharging elephant
A Surin mahout died after being trampled by an elephant at a camp in Nong Plalai.

Saifon Sala-ngam, 36, died May 7 at Banglamung Hospital after being attacked at the Siam Chang Show 2 on Highway 36.

Owner of the pachyderm, Winai Sroysaeng, 27, said the 10-year-old cow named Hongyok was carrying two Chinese tourists when the jumbo went on a rampage and ran towards the mahout, who was taking photos of tourists.

The man flew about 5 meters and the elephant then stomped on him, leading to massive internal injuries. The two tourists fell off and sustained minor injuries.

Winai said Hongyok usually was a peaceful elephant and had never exhibited bad behavior before. He suspects the jumbo was agitated by the heat.

Police ordered the elephant camp to keep the pachyderm away from people until it could be examined by a specialist.
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Attention

A third of birds in North America threatened with extinction

Emily Chung
CBC News
Wed, 18 May 2016 15:40 UTC
woodland duck
© Sean Kilpatrick
A billion birds have disappeared from North America since 1970, and a third of bird species across the continent are threatened with extinction, a new report says.

The first State of North America's Birds report finds that of 1,154 bird species that live in and migrate among Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, 432 are of "high concern" due to low or declining populations, shrinking ranges and threats such as human-caused habitat loss, invasive predators and climate change.

Steven Price, president of Bird Studies Canada, a member of the North American Bird Initiative behind the report, says that since 1970, "the estimate is we've lost at least a billion birds from North America.... The trend lines are continuing down. They have to be turned around or will fall below a threshold where they can be recovered."

Most threatened, with more than half the species of "high concern" are ocean birds such as northern gannets, tropical and sub-tropical birds, including many that breed in Canada and the U.S., but winter in Mexico.

There are also steep declines in coastal shorebirds like semipalmated and western sandpipers and red knots, which have lost 90 per cent of their population; grassland birds such as the greater sage grouse, Sprague's pipit and chestnut-collared longspur; and aridland birds.
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Attention

Signs and Portents: Lamb born with facial deformities in Kazakhstan


Daily Express
Thu, 19 May 2016 19:17 UTC
The strange mutant animal was born on a farm in the town of Chilik, Kazakhstan
© CENThe strange mutant animal was born on a farm in the town of Chilik, Kazakhstan
According to local media, the strange mutant animal was born on a farm in the town of Chilik, in the southern Kazakhstan region of Almaty.

The images show one of the breeders holding up the baby lamb, which has no nose to speak of and is blind, with a protruding jaw and a strange trunk poking from its head.

The farmer holds its face up to the camera.

The poor animal sticks out its tongue and makes squeaky snoring sounds as it breaths with obvious difficulty, causing the man holding it to laugh.

It died just a few hours after being born.

The video has been seen and shared widely by social media users, some who have voiced concerns about the increasing cases of mutant farm animals being born.
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Wolf

Dog runs amok and attacks 11 children in Blyth, United Kingdom

Nadia Khomami
The Guardian
Thu, 19 May 2016 18:40 UTC
Dog attack
Police are trying to trace the owner of a Staffordshire bull terrier that attacked more than a dozen children at a park in Northumberland.

The incident took place in Burns Avenue, Blyth, at 6.30pm on Wednesday. Nine children were treated in hospital for bite injuries. None are thought to have been seriously injured.

Sheryl Allison, whose daughter was in the park at the time, told ChronicleLive: "The dog attacked about 14 kids, it was like a terrorist attack. There were injured kids lying all over the place, it was a war zone.

"Eventually a dad of one of the girls saw what was happening and sprinted into the park and jumped on the dog, he pinned it down until the police arrived. The whole street has been traumatised by this, nothing like this has ever happened before."
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Attention

Wrong time, wrong place: Bowhead whale from Arctic waters seen off the coast of Cornwall, UK; only second time recorded in Europe

W B Gayle
West Briton
Mon, 16 May 2016 14:23 UTC
Bowhead whale
Bowhead whale spotted off Cornish coast
Marine experts were left flabbergasted after a whale paid a visit to a Cornish beach over the weekend.

The bowhead whale, which was seven metres long, was seen in shallow wasters at Long Rock Beach near Penzance yesterday.

There were fears it would become beached but fortunately the lone adventurer turned around and made its way back out to sea.

Posting on Facebook, Marine Discovery Penzance, which provides tours in the area, said: "So, flabbergasted doesn't begin to cover it

"There have been two confirmed sightings of this species in Europe and both of them were in Cornwall.

"The previous one was in the Isles of Scilly in February 2015, so it's possible that this was the same bowhead whale, though it would be impossible to tell.


Comment: See also: Rare Arctic bowhead whale seen for the first time in UK waters

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Attention

Millions of tuna crab die mysteriously along coast of Ensenada, Mexico


Strange Sounds
Mon, 16 May 2016 09:08 UTC
Dead crabs
Are these mysterious mass die-offs along the Pacific coast going to decrease or what?

Now thousands of tuna crab have washed ashore on beaches in Ensenada, Mexico.

There is currently something going wrong along the American Pacific coast.

Almost every day, an catastrophic animal die-off is being reported... But nobody knows why.

Some officials name red tides and El Nino, or even natural death as origins... But there may be something more terrifying behind.

I don't know what you think about these apocalyptical signs, but animals dying are never a good omen.

After California, this latest mass die-off was reported in Ensenada, Baja California on May 14, 2016, where beaches turned completely red! Blood red.


Comment: See also: Thousands of tuna crabs found in Imperial Beach, California

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Cloud Lightning

3 rhinos and other animals killed by lightning bolt that 'shook the ground for miles' in West Bengal, India

Simon Tomlinson
Daily Mail
Wed, 18 May 2016 20:55 UTC
Cut down in their prime: The family had been living in the reserved forest at Gorumara National Park in India's West Bengal state for more than a decade
Cut down in their prime: The family had been living in the reserved forest at Gorumara National Park in India's West Bengal state for more than a decade
Three members of a rhino family have been killed by a lightning strike at an Indian national park.

A 27-year-old female, a 14-year-old calf and a baby rhino were found dead after they were struck by a bolt that 'shook the ground' for miles, officials said.

The family had been living in the reserved forest in Gorumara National Park in India's West Bengal state for more than a decade.

Uma Rani, Jalpaiguri district's forest officer, said: 'The deaths were caused by lightning. It was an unprecedented accident.

'Some other animals have also died and we are checking the forests.'

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Attention

Second whale washes up on the beaches of Spain within a week


Spanish News Today
Wed, 18 May 2016 17:38 UTC
Dead whale
Another whale beaches on the beach of Matalascañas in Huelva

Following the discovery last week of a live whale calf on the beach of Punta del Moral in Ayamonte, in the province of Huelva (Andalucía), a second beached whale was found on the Atlantic coast on Tuesday in Matalascañas, around a hundred kilometres further east.

The animal, which measured 9.5 metres in length, was found dead on the beach of Asperillo, and despite the fact that this incident occurred so close to Ayamonte and such a short time afterwards the Department of the Environment in the regional government reports that there is no reason to conclude that there is any relation between the two deaths.

The responsibility of removing the dead whale from the beach lies with the Town Hall of Almonte.
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Attention

Whale carcass found on beach in Egypt


Egyptian Streets
Tue, 17 May 2016 14:36 UTC
Dead whale
© Al-Wafd
Civil Protection personnel pulled out the carcass of a dead whale that had washed ashore on a beach approximately ten kilometers west of Egypt's northwestern city of Marsa Matrouh, privately-owned al-Wafd reported.

The whale, which was first spotted by city locals who then reported it to the authorities, is around 15 meters long and weighs seven tons. An earlier version of this article had cited the general director of the Fisheries Authority in Matrouh as saying the animal is a humpback whale native to the Atlantic Ocean. However, its appearance suggests it is a sperm whale.

Dead whale
© The Cairo PostDead whale on beach at Marsa Matrouh
He went on to say that the whale had come to the warm waters of the Mediterranean to find a mate but was stranded due to the shallow waters outside Marsa Matrouh, which have a depth of no more than ten meters.

In video clips posted on social media, the whale carcass can be seen bobbing back and forth in the salty water, while a number of bystanders watch and take pictures.

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Binoculars

Wrong time, wrong place: Rare bearded vulture (lammergeier) seen in Wales; first time ever recorded in the UK


ITV
Tue, 17 May 2016 19:48 UTC
The lammergeier takes to the skies
© Dale KedwardThe lammergeier takes to the skies
One of the world's most stunning birds - the lammergeier - has been seen soaring over the Severn Estuary.

The bird, also known as a bearded vulture, is typically found in mountainous areas in Europe, Asia and Africa.

The bird was seen at Sudbrook in Gwent on May 12, and a few days later over Dartmoor.

If the sightings are confirmed as a wild bird, it will be the first time one has ever been seen in the UK.

Watch the lammergeier in flight near the Severn Estuary. Video courtesy of Dale Kedward.

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