Animals
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Roses

Demonic dog attack: 6-year-old boy fighting for his life following pit bull mauling in Wilmer, Alabama

Devan Coffaro
fox10tv.com
Thu, 04 Feb 2016 18:24 UTC
Michael Bulger, of Eight Mile, says his 6-year-old son Andrew was attacked by a pit bull Monday night at approximately 6:30 p.m.
Michael Bulger, of Eight Mile, says his 6-year-old son Andrew was attacked by a pit bull Monday night at approximately 6:30 p.m.
A six-year-old boy is fighting for his life in the hospital after a vicious pit bull attack in Wilmer. This is the second pit bull attack on a child in our area in a week. As we reported, 13-year-old Hunter Sharman was attacked in his front yard in Mobile.

Six-year-old Andrew Bulger is in critical condition undergoing his third surgery in two days at the UAB children's hospital in Birmingham. His first two surgeries were at Springhill Medical Center in Mobile, but his injuries were so bad, he was transferred for specialized treatment.

"The worst is watching him suffer," said Andrew's grandmother, Rene Bulger. "That's the hardest part, you know?"

Andrew can't talk, he can barely move and he can't breathe on his own. Family members say they can't believe their fun-loving little boy is now fighting for his life. Doctors say there is an unknown amount of surgeries ahead and there is no guarantee he will ever talk again.

"What they're going to try and do in the surgery is repair the trachea check out the voice box," said Bulger. "It's very hard, especially when we first came. They restrained him because of the tubes."

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Black Cat

Bobcats attacking pets in Richardson, Texas

Gabriel Roxas
dfw.cbslocal.com
Wed, 03 Feb 2016 17:37 UTC
Bobcat
Bobcat
Efforts to stop a spike in bobcat attacks on pets are running into an unexpected problem. For months animal control officers in Richardson have been trying to crack down on the bobcats.

The city has had some success with about six traps set throughout the city. Owners of pets killed by the bobcats are hopeful the problem doesn't get any worse, but they're asking for the public's help.

10-year-old Yorkie, Denali is one of the lucky ones. When a bobcat leaped into her backyard, it went after her owner's other Yorkie, Dakota.

"She's confused. She doesn't know what's going on. Last night when we were in bed she was looking around like, where's Dakota?" David Dinsmore said about Denali.

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Wolf

Dog missing for 3 days found buried alive in sinkhole, Platte County, Missouri

Monica Evans
fox4kc.com
Mon, 01 Feb 2016 14:27 UTC
Maverick
Maverick
A dog missing for three days is found buried in a 5-foot sinkhole in Platte County.

Lisa Van Valkenburgh said she let her dog Maverick out Thursday evening to relieve himself and he wandered off. Van Valkenburgh said she and her family searched for her dog and found him Saturday afternoon.

"I walked this road. I walked down and back and walked on this side and came right here and heard a moan, like a bark," Van Valkenburgh said.

Maverick's owner said she couldn't believe her 12-year-old German Shepherd was buried alive. "That would swallow a child; that is a dangerous situation," she said.

When the dog was pulled to safety Van Valkenburgh said he was lethargic and dehydrated.

Greg Sager, the Platte County Director of Public Works said water caused the pipe to rust and the soil was washed away, creating the sinkhole. Sager said a new pipe was ordered today and he expects to have it replaced in a week or two.

As for Maverick, his veterinarian said he's expected to make a full recovery.

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Heart

One of the lucky ones: Blue whale rescued off Dapoli, India

Kunal Chonkar
dnaindia.com
Wed, 03 Feb 2016 18:45 UTC
Volunteers of Sahyadri Nisarg Mitra and forest officials rescuing the stranded blue whale on Dapoli beach in Ratnagiri district.
© Mohan UpadhyeVolunteers of Sahyadri Nisarg Mitra and forest officials rescuing the stranded blue whale on Dapoli beach in Ratnagiri district.
The whale, weighing approximately 25 tonnes, was seemingly stranded in the shallows during the night because of the high tide and was then trapped in the sand.

Sightings of whales along the coastline of Maharashtra seem to have become a common occurrence. Three days after a 45-feet-long Bryde's Whale was found dead on the Juhu beach, another behemoth whale was spotted around 200 km away from Mumbai.

A 40-feet-long blue whale was spotted stranded in the shallow waters of Dapoli beach in Ratnagiri district by members of the Sahyadri Nisarg Mitra on February 1, who successfully rescued it and sent it back into deeper seas.

According to the environmental group, on a chilly morning at around 6 am, a volunteer of the group saw the whale struggling to keep itself in the waters, almost 100 metres from the shore.

The whale, weighing approximately 25 tonnes, was seemingly stranded in the shallows during the night because of the high tide and was then trapped in the sand.

"Immediately, the volunteer alerted other members of the group and we informed the forest officials," Project Director, Mohan Upadhye from Dapoli said. The distress call by the group was heeded by around 25 men of the village, alongside a strong force of forest officials as well.
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Attention

Dead sperm whale washed ashore at Ganjam, India

Ronalisa Parida
iamin.in
Wed, 03 Feb 2016 18:22 UTC
The body of the sperm whale
The body of the sperm whale
The sight of dead body of a 35 feet long and 10 feet round sperm whale washed ashore shocked locals on Tuesday near Kantiagada village that under Ganjam block.

The whale is suspected to have died five days back.

Informing about the body that washed ashore, Khalikote Forest Ranger, Dilip Kumar Martha, said, "We doubt that the whale died four or five days back. Initial investigations suggest that the whale died after being hit by a ship. The Odisha museum has also been informed about the whale if they ever want to preserve it. If they don't, the whale will be buried near the coast."
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Attention

Tourist gored and trampled to death during elephant ride in Thailand

Lindsey Bever
The Wasington Post
Tue, 02 Feb 2016 18:00 UTC
The elephant is said to have attacked its handler first, before turning on Mr Crowe. This is another elephant on the same park where Mr Crowe was killed
The elephant is said to have attacked its handler first, before turning on Mr Crowe. This is another elephant on the same park where Mr Crowe was killed
Thai authorities said Tuesday that a Scottish tourist was gored by an enraged elephant and trampled to death during a trekking tour on the resort island of Koh Samui.

Gareth Crowe, 36, and his stepdaughter, Eilidh Hughes, 16, were riding the adult elephant when they were thrown from the animal, police told Agence France-Presse. Crowe's stepdaughter and the elephant's handler were able to escape, but Crowe — who had a prosthetic leg, police said — could not outrun the elephant, Samui District Chief Paiboon Omark told AFP.

Crowe was wounded by the elephant's tusk and trampled. He died after being transported to a local hospital.

According to Thai news reports, the elephant — named Rambo but also known as Golf — became upset when his handler, called a mahout, climbed down to take a picture for the tourists.

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Attention

North Sea sperm whale death toll increases to 23 as another 8 are washed up on German coast

Tom Wyke
Daily Mail, UK
Mon, 01 Feb 2016 18:51 UTC
Bleak scene: The creatures are male and about the same age as a number of others who have washed up on the coast of northern Europe over the last few weeks
Bleak scene: The creatures are male and about the same age as a number of others who have washed up on the coast of northern Europe over the last few weeks
Eight dead sperm whales have died after they were washed up on a German beach today, taking the total number of dead whales to 23 after a devastating number of beachings during the past month across northern Europe.

The eight whales found near the northern town of Friedrichskoog were young bulls, around the same age as the animals discovered three weeks ago at various North Sea spots.

They were lying close to each other in the mudflats of a restricted area of the Wadden Sea national park, the Schleswig-Holstein regional environmental authority said in a statement.

Since the 1990s, a total of 82 sperm wales have been found stranded in the Wadden Sea in Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany.

The sperm whale is the largest of the toothed whales, and the largest toothed predator.It can measure up to 20 metres (67 feet) long and weigh over 50 tonnes.

There are various theories why the whales end up in the North Sea rather than the Atlantic - but the nutrient-poor waters can prove catastrophic for them
There are various theories why the whales end up in the North Sea rather than the Atlantic - but the nutrient-poor waters can prove catastrophic for them

Shocking: At least 23 whales have been stranded across the coastline of northern Europe and may have come from a single whale pod
Shocking: At least 23 whales have been stranded across the coastline of northern Europe and may have come from a single whale pod
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Attention

Humpback whale, 2 dolphins & porpoise found dead along Oregon and Washington coast

Teresa Blackman
kgw.com
Tue, 02 Feb 2016 18:36 UTC
This dead whale washed up on the beach in Seaside on Sunday.
© The Daily AstorianThis dead whale washed up on the beach in Seaside on Sunday.
A 24-foot humpback whale was among four marine mammals that washed ashore last weekend, along a stretch of the Oregon and Washington coastline, according to Keith Chandler, the manager of Seaside Aquarium.

The whale was found on the beach in Seaside on Sunday, a harbor porpoise washed up near Fort Stevens on Saturday and a striped dolphin was found on Cannon Beach on Saturday, Chandler said. Another striped dolphin washed up in Ocean Park, Washington, also on Saturday.

Chandler said the deaths could be in some way connected and all of the mammals were dead before they reached the shore.

"It's quite a wide area, but it's a big ocean," he said. "We had some really heavy surf, so when you see one, you often see more than one."

He explained that the deaths could be disease-related, or another issue. But there were no obvious signs of trauma.
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Wolf

Dog kills woman in Kamloops, Canada


CFJC Today
Sun, 31 Jan 2016 12:50 UTC
The victim is being reported as TIB elder Kathleen Green (centre), who lived with her grandson in a home on the band’s reserve. Emergency crews were forced to shoot the dog following the attack.
© Facebook The victim is being reported as TIB elder Kathleen Green (centre), who lived with her grandson in a home on the band’s reserve. Emergency crews were forced to shoot the dog following the attack.
The BC Coroners Service says a Tk'emlups Indian Band elder who died after she was mauled by a dog Saturday night was trying to feed her grandson's dog at the time.

RCMP and paramedics rushed to a property on West Shuswap Road Saturday night after being called by a frantic relative.

78-year-old Kathleen Green was pronounced dead at the scene.

"We would like to extend our deepest condolences to the family who have suffered a recent loss. She was a well respected elder in the community," says Chief Fred Seymour, Tk'emlups Indian Band.

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Attention

Update: Researchers think Gulf of Alaska seabird die-off is biggest ever recorded; at least 22,000 dead

Yereth Rosen
Alaska Dispatch News
Fri, 29 Jan 2016 15:49 UTC
Dead Murres
© David Irons/USFWSDead Murres line a beach in Prince William Sound
The mass of dead seabirds that have washed up on Alaska beaches in past months is unprecedented in size, scope and duration, a federal biologist said at an Anchorage science conference.

The staggering die-off of common murres, the iconic Pacific seabirds sometimes likened to flying penguins, is a signal that something is awry in the Gulf of Alaska, said Heather Renner, supervisory wildlife biologist at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.

"We are in the midst of perhaps the largest murre die-off ever recorded," Renner told the Alaska Marine Science Symposium on Thursday. While there have been big die-offs of murres and other seabirds in the past, recorded since the 1800s, this one dwarfs most of them, Renner said.

"This event is almost certainly larger than the murres killed in the Exxon Valdez oil spill," she said.

After that spill -- at the time, the nation's largest -- about 22,000 dead murres were recovered by crews conducting extensive beach searches in the four months after the tanker grounding, according to the Exxon Valdez Trustee Council, the federal-state panel that administers funds paid to settle spill-related claims for natural-resource damages.

Now, hundreds and thousands of dead murres are turning up on a wide variety of Alaska beaches, including nearly 8,000 discovered this month on a mile-long stretch in Whittier, she said. A preliminary survey in Prince William Sound has already turned up more than 22,000 dead murres there, she said. Starving, dying and dead murres are showing up far from their marine habitat, in inland places as distant as Fairbanks, hundreds of miles from the Gulf of Alaska coast, making the die-off exceptionally large in geographic scale.

Even if she weren't an expert, the bird die-off would be obvious to Renner. She lives in Homer, where the beaches are "littered" with murre carcasses, she said.

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