Animals
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Attention

Elephant gores man to death at beach side restaurant in Thailand

Euan McLelland
Daily Mail, UK
Wed, 17 Jun 2015 13:44 UTC
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The five-year-old elephant is led away after causing the death of a man who was out eating with friends
A man died in hospital after being gored through the chest by an elephant that was being used to beg for money on a beach in eastern Thailand.

Weeranat Yoodee succumbed to his brutal injuries yesterday following the Monday night attack as he ate dinner with friends at a seaside restaurant in the tourist hub of Rayong, south of Bangkok.

The 28-year-old was speared by the four-ton animal's tusk after it was spooked by nearby commotion - thought to be loud music and passing traffic.

In doing so, it rammed Yoodee and charged into the telecoms worker's friend, Thongpoon Boonraksatrakul - leaving him with severe bruising to his chest and rib cage.

Police rushed to the scene in Tambon Noen Phra, with the two men taken to Krungthep Rayong Hospital.

Yoodee died on Tuesday.

The elephant's keeper - known as a mahout - was identified locally as Surin native Wittawat Aundoungdee, 21. He's been charged with violating animal welfare legislation, recklessness causing death and injury, transporting animals without permission, and using animals in inappropriate work.

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Black Cat

Georgia police in Tbilisi shoot tiger that killed man after zoo escape

Andrew North
The Guardian
Wed, 17 Jun 2015 13:30 UTC
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Animal that escaped in Tbilisi after severe flooding is shot dead but officials say other animals might be on the loose
Police in Tbilisi say a tiger that broke loose after severe flooding at a zoo in the Georgian capital over the weekend has been shot by marksmen after it killed a man and wounded another..

It has now emerged that other animals may still be on the loose, amid conflicting statements from the government and zoo officials.

The man who died is believed to be in his 40s. The tiger reportedly attacked him around midday as he and two others entered a flood-damaged building near Tbilisi's central Heroes Square, a few hundred metres from the zoo.

It brings to 20 the number of people killed in the disaster, with most of the casualties residents of homes that were flooded by the sudden deluge on Saturday night. At least six people are still reported to be missing.

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Fish

Ice age warning? Ocean near Iceland unusually cold, no mackerel

Eygló Svala Arnarsdóttir
Iceland Review
Wed, 10 Jun 2015 20:37 UTC
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© Páll Stefánsson. A West Iceland beach.
The Icelandic Marine Research Institute's annual spring expedition from May 18 to 30 concluded that the ocean temperature off Iceland has not been lower in 18 years, or since 1997. The number of krill is below average and not a single mackerel was caught.

"In the past years we have always caught some mackerel, and especially last year. But now we didn't see any," Guðmundur J. Óskarsson, one of the institution's specialists, who took part in the expedition, told Fréttablaðið.

Guðmundur stated that the ocean temperature from Southeast Iceland to the West Fjords has dropped by one to one-and-a-half degree Celsius. However, it can quickly increase if the air temperature increases substantially, he added.

Last month was the coldest May in Iceland in decades.

The expedition is part of the institute's long-term study of the condition of the ocean around Iceland, the vegetation, krill and fish which exist there. Samples were taken in 110 locations.
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Fish

More dead fish wash up on shore in Riverhead, New York

Kristin Thorne
WABC
Tue, 16 Jun 2015 16:23 UTC
Dead Fishes
© WABCFor the second time in weeks, a large number of dead fish have washed up to the shoreline in Riverhead.
There's a dead fish mystery on Long Island.

For the second time in weeks, a large number of dead fish have washed up to the shoreline in Riverhead.

"Just look, the smell, oh my God, it's terrible," a resident said.

And that's putting it mildly.

"It's just a shame. A lot of guys who own these boats they don't even want to come down here now because of the smell. And the flies, you got flies, you got all kinds of bugs down here now," said Dan Battaglia, of Moose Lodge 1742.

It's just the latest massive fish die off around Riverhead. Just two weeks ago, thousands of the same bunker fish washed up around Flanders Bay.

And a few weeks before that there were more than 100 diamondback terrapins found dead around the same area. And now there's this die off along the Peconic River.
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Attention

Thousands of tiny red crabs continue to wash up on California beaches

Melissa Pamer and Dave Mecham
ktla.com
Mon, 15 Jun 2015 18:25 UTC
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© Credit: KTLAThousands of dead or dying red crabs washed up onto the sand at Huntington Beach on June 15, 2015.
Thousands of small crabs native to the waters off Baja California have washed up on beaches in Orange and San Diego counties, coating the sand in a spiky layer of red.

The crustaceans — Pleuroncodes planipes, known as red crabs, or tuna crabs — began appearing in great numbers last week. Out of the water, they become stranded and typically perish, leaving their bodies to decay on the beach.

The crabs were first reported in San Diego and then ventured up the coast, with thousands appearing as far north as Huntington Beach on Sunday. They were also reported in Newport Beach in January, according to the Los Angeles Times.

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Wolf

Phoenix family dog attacks 4-year-old girl; dad kills it and gets arrested

Nohelani Graf
abc15.com
Mon, 15 Jun 2015 17:55 UTC
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The 4-year-old girl mauled by a pit bull terrier.
A Phoenix girl is recovering after being mauled by the family dog and her father is facing a list of charges for shooting the animal after the attack.

Nevaldo "Chris" Ford said his 4-year-old was in the backyard playing with family when he heard screaming. He ran outside to find his dog, Toben, biting his daughter's head.

Ford said he wrestled the dog off the girl, threw the animal to the ground and ran his daughter into the house.

While family tended to the little girl and waited for an ambulance, Ford went back into the yard with a rifle.

"I didn't even know him at that point; he wasn't the dog I raised. " Ford said, "I just knew he was going to attack someone else."

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Cloud Precipitation

Turtle falls from the sky during hailstorm in China

Harry Kemble
Daily Star (UK)
Mon, 15 Jun 2015 14:23 UTC
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© CEN The Yellow-bellied turtle can live up to 40 years
OAP Fu Yiting, 63, was sitting in front of his house watching the storm in the village of Liaocheng City in east China's Shandong Province, when he saw the Yellow-bellied turtle plunge from the sky and land on a patch of grass.

Thinking at first it was a large rock that had been knocked of his roof, Fu was stunned to find it was a yellow-bellied slider turtle.

Picking it up, he rushed inside to put it in a basin of water.

The Yellow-bellied slider, which can live up to 40 years and frequently basks on shore, on logs, or while floating.

Now confused Fu wants to know how this one landed in his garden.
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Health

2 children attacked by shark near Oak Island, North Carolina


wxii12.com
Mon, 15 Jun 2015 17:52 UTC
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Victims were 12-year-old girl from Asheboro, 16-year-old boy from Winston-Salem
Two Triad children lost at least part of one limb following apparent shark attacks about an hour apart at the same North Carolina beach Sunday afternoon.

A 12-year-old girl from Asheboro and a 16-year-old boy from Winston-Salem were injured off different parts of Oak Island, about 30 miles south of Wilmington. Both were flown to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, though both were in good condition as of Monday morning.

No names have been released.

The girl's left arm was amputated below the elbow, and one of the boy's arms was amputated below the shoulder, officials from New Hanover Regional Medical Center told NBC affiliate WECT. The girl also had tissue damage to her left leg.

Oak Island officials said both incidents happened when the victims were in waist-deep water about 20 yards offshore. Officials weren't able to confirm by Monday morning whether the same animal attacked both victims.

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Fish

Two-meter long tropical swordfish beaches itself on UK riverbank

Shanti Das
Daily Mirror, UK
Mon, 15 Jun 2015 17:36 UTC
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© SWNSWashed up: This swordfish was found on Severn Beach, on the mouth of the River Severn
A massive swordfish was found washed up on a British tidal riverbank - an extremely rare sight in the UK.

Beachcombers saw the majestic fish - which measured 6ft in length including its bill - struggling in shallow waters but could not save it.

Experts believe the fish travelled more than 1,500 miles to Severn Beach on the mouth of the River Severn in South Gloucestershire - all the way from the Mediterranean.

Nicola Hills, 39, from Severn Beach, found the swordfish with her husband Gary.

She said: "We were walking the dog and we saw this thing thrashing about in the water.

"The first thing I thought was 'what the hell is that?' I thought it was a shark or a dolphin or something."
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Sheeple

Hundreds of sheep mysteriously die across Iceland


grapevine.is
Wed, 10 Jun 2015 08:56 UTC
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© Runar Snær Reynisson - RÚV Hundreds of sheep have died across the country
Hundreds of sheep in Iceland have died off, and no one seems to know the exact cause. Research is currently underway to find the culprit.

RÚV reports that the deaths have hit especially hard in Borgarfjörður in west Iceland, Eyjafjörður in the north, and across east Iceland. The wide area over which the deaths are occurring - as well as the alarming rate at which sheep are dying off - has many farmers worried. In some cases, half of entire flocks have been lost.

Svavar Halldórsson, chairperson of the National Association of Sheep Farmers, told reporters that he believes disease may be to blame. As such, he and other farmers have begun taking blood samples from ill sheep to be analyzed by the National Veterinary Authority.

More specifically, MBL reports that bad hay may be killing the sheep.

Svavar has no exact figures on how many sheep have fallen so far, but told reporters that the deaths have "been a heavy weight on our farmers, to miss so many animals."
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