Animals
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Attention

Death toll of rare saiga antelope reaches 85,000 in Kazakhstan


National Post
Fri, 22 May 2015 13:18 UTC
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Saiga antelope
Authorities in Kazakhstan says around one-third of the endangered saiga antelope population in this Central Asian nation has mysteriously died off in the last few days.

Kazakhstan's agriculture ministry said Friday the number of saiga that have died may have reached 85,000.

The ministry says it suspects the animals, which are recognizable for their distinctive humped snout, may have been struck by an epidemic of pasteurellosis caused by a bacterial infection. Officials say international veterinarian experts have been flown to Kazakhstan to study other possible causes for the catastrophic die-off.

The number of saiga plummeted in the 1990s as a result of poaching. At the latest Kazakh government count in 2014, the saiga population stood at 257,000.

Saiga are also found in smaller numbers in parts of Russia.

Source: The Associated Press
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Attention

Gray whale found dead on Portuguese Beach, California

Clark Mason
The Press Democrat
Sat, 23 May 2015 17:50 UTC
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© Damien Jones / California State ParksA young gray whale washed up on Portuguese Beach in Sonoma County early May 23, 2015.
A dead, juvenile gray whale washed up on the Sonoma Coast this weekend at Portuguese Beach.

The 28-foot whale appeared to have been dead for some time and was in a state of obvious decomposition, according to California State Parks Ranger Damien Jones.

He said the carcass came ashore Friday night or Saturday morning. The Marine Mammal Center took a tissue sample in an attempt to determine cause of death, but it did not to appear to be from trauma, he said, such as being struck by a ship.

Jones said State Parks did not plan to remove the whale from the beach, which is about halfway between Jenner and Bodega Bay. He said the tide could carry it out to sea again.

"Generally we leave dead and sick animals where they are and let nature take its course," he said.
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Binoculars

Wayward bird turns up on the wrong side of the Rockies in Lodi, California

Alex Breitler
The Record
Sat, 23 May 2015 11:25 UTC
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A Baltimore Oriole (though not the one seen recently near Lodi) at Emmenegger Nature Park in St. Louis
Most often, the only Baltimore Orioles you'll find in Northern California are the 6-foot-tall variety that migrate to the Oakland Coliseum a couple of times each year.

Members of Stockton's Audubon Society, however, are excited about a Baltimore Oriole — a bird, not a baseball player — spotted recently at Westgate Landing Regional Park just north of Highway 12, in the Delta west of Lodi.

The oriole was first seen by Lodi birders Dave and Pat Croft on May 15. Other birders have since come from as far away as Palo Alto to get a look, Dave Croft said.

The distinguished visitor is a very loud fellow, Croft said, and is quite active flying back and forth between the trees in the park.

"He might be singing for a mate," Croft said. "Who knows?"

The find is rare, said well-known local birder David Yee.
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Wolf

Woman rescues 3-year-old girl from coyote attack in Irvine, California


losangeles.cbslocal.com
Fri, 22 May 2015 17:45 UTC
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Coyote
A 3-year-old girl was attacked by a coyote Friday while playing with a friend in an Orange County park.

It happened around 5:50 p.m. at the corner of Equinox and Silverado, according to Irvine police.

The coyote charged at the girl "out of nowhere" and lunged at her neck.

It could have ended much differently had it not been for a nearby resident who acted quickly.

Ginna McKenna was sitting on her patio when she spotted the attack, as told to CBS2's Stacey Butler.

"A little girl was screaming and the mother was screaming, so I came running out and there was a coyote in the park. I chased [the coyote] off," McKenna said. "They were scared."

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Attention

Circus elephant tramples 3 to death in Bagerhat, Bangladesh


The Daily Star (Bangladesh)
Sat, 23 May 2015 14:38 UTC
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Circus elephant emphatically refuses to perform tricks
Three people were trampled to death by a circus elephant in Mollahat upazila of Bagerhat early today.

The elephant also damaged several houses during the attacks at three villages in the upazila, our Bagerhat correspondent reports quoting ANM Khairul Anam, officer-in-charge of Mollahat Police Station.

The dead are Monwara Begum, 45, of Gafra village, Kusum Biswas, 61, of Kahalpur village and Mizanur Rahman, 45, of Basabari village.

The elephant entered Mollahat village and attacked the house of Monwara around 5:30am, leaving her critically injured.
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Attention

Man killed and 4 others injured in 3 separate bear attacks in Kashmir, India


Kashmir Images
Sat, 23 May 2015 14:19 UTC
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Bear track
One person was killed and four others were injured in three different bear attacks across the Valley.

35-years-old Mohammad Yaseen Famda, son of Noor Mohammad, resident of Fakeer Gojri, who had gone for grazing his cattle in the jungle area was reported to have died in a bear attack on Wednesday. Police has started the investigation under section 174 CrPC in this regard.

The body of deceased was handed over to his relatives for last rites, police spokesman said.

Meanwhile, a bear attacked and injured two persons Mohammad Lateef Chohan, son of Ghulam Mohammad, and Bashir Ahmed Chohan, son of Galtar, both resident of Ahlan Kokernag. Both the injured were shifted to PHC Kokernag for treatment.

In another incident, a bear attacked and injured two persons Alyas Khan, son of Abdul Qayoom, resident of Iqbal Colony Check Ferozpora, Tangmarg, and Mohammad Sultan Khatana, son-in-law of Jallildin, resident of Drang, in adjacent forest area. Both the injured have been shifted to the hospital for treatment.
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Wolf

Dogs may have been man's best friend for 40,000 years

Ben Spencer
Daily Mail, UK
Thu, 21 May 2015 13:58 UTC
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The DNA evidence, published in Current Biology, also showed that modern-day Siberian Huskies (stock image) and Greenland sled dogs share an unusually large number of genes with the ancient Taimyr wolf
It was thought humans first tamed the ancestors of domestic dogs in the Ice Age, between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago.

But a new study has found our canine sidekicks have been our best friend for much longer.

A team of Swedish scientists discovered a divergence in the species may have occurred up to 40,000 years ago based on the genetic analysis of an ancient wolf bone.

To early humans, the first domesticated wolves were hunting companions, fighting animals and beasts of burden.

As they bred the animals, selecting those that best met their needs, the domestic and wild breeds diverged, and the animals' genetic code became less and less similar.
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Question

Mystery of 9 brains found in US county village remains unsolved

Ken Sturtz
www.syracuse.com
Thu, 21 May 2015 23:51 UTC
Brain
© _DJ_/Flickr
Nine brains inexplicably appeared earlier this week along a street in a St. Lawrence County village. How the brains got there and where they came from remains a mystery.

Residents discovered the brains on Beck with Street near railroad tracks and called the police.

Gouverneur police collected one of the brains and brought it to a local veterinarian for an examination, WWNY TV 7 reported. The veterinarian determined the brain had been professionally removed -- likely from a dog -- and preserved in formaldehyde.

The veterinarian told North Country Now that the brain was consistent with a beagle-sized brain and was in very good condition with no damage.

But a chemistry professor at Clarkson University told North Country Now the specimen was possibly from a sheep, not a dog.

Regardless, police told both news outlets there was little to fear. The nine brains are believed to have been part of a collection for educational or research purposes and no criminal activity, other than littering, is suspected, police said.

As unusual as it might seem, mishaps with preserved brains do happen. Last year the University of Texas in Austin said dozens of human brains stored in jars of formaldehyde and reported missing were actually destroyed in 2002. The brains had been donated for teaching and research.
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Attention

Almost 40 million birds dead as avian flu ravages Midwest

Lorraine Chow
ecowatch.com
Thu, 21 May 2015 17:47 UTC
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© Nonpareil Photos Avian flu remains.
The devastating avian influenza sweeping the Midwest has forced the mass slaughter of nearly 40 million diseased chicken, turkey and wild birds in order to contain the outbreaks, according to the latest grisly numbers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
BREAKING: State officials confirm #Malvern landfill among those receiving avian flu remains. http://t.co/bwJsCNtikQ pic.twitter.com/qUGMvDsvtp

— Nonpareil Photos (@NonpareilPhotos) May 20, 2015
According to the USDA, since it was first detected in December 2014, there have been several ongoing highly pathogenic avian influenza cases along the Pacific, Central and Mississippi Flyways (or migratory bird paths). The strains in particular, H5N2 and H5N8, have been found in wild birds, as well as backyard and commercial poultry flocks.

This is the worst epidemic of bird flu in the nation's history. Egg-producers in Iowa, the top egg-producing state, have been hit the hardest, with a shocking 40 percent Iowa's egg-laying hens dead or to be euthanized.

In a report from Harvest Public Media (via NPR), while some local incinerators are burning dead birds 24 hours a day, other landfills have been turning away the carcasses for fear of contamination and neighbors' complaints.
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Attention

Wild elephant kills one in Assam, India


The Assam Tribune
Thu, 21 May 2015 13:03 UTC
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Upset elephant
One person was trampled to death by an elephant which got isolated from its herd. The jumbo also destroyed houses and standing crops at Kakripara village under Mankachar PS in Dhubri district on Monday, sources said.

The deceased, Monir Jamal, was guarding his paddy field when the elephant attacked him. After destroying some thatched houses and rice fields at Kakripara village, the jumbo retreated to the forest, the sources added.
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