Animals
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Attention

2 women trampled to death by elephants in India


Coastal Digest
Tue, 30 Dec 2014 19:53 UTC
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Two women died in separate incidents after they were attacked by elephants in interior Thithimathi and Palibetta villages here on Monday.

The victims have been identified as Puttichanda Poovamma (70), a resident of Kavadi village near Ammatthi, and Lakshmi (35), a resident of Thithimati village.

According to the police, Poovamma was walking outside her daughter's house in Palibetta at around 7.30 am, when an elephant strayed into the front yard and trampled her to death.

She was severely injured and died on the spot, they said. Her body was sent to Gonikoppal for an autopsy, the police added.

In another incident, Lakshmi, a resident of Vinayaka Nagar in Thithimathi, was headed towards the forest at around 9.30 am, when a wild elephant attacked her. She died on the spot, the police said.

Assistant Conservator of Forest Sripathi, Matthigod Wildlife Division Range Forest Officer Kiran and Thithimati Division RFO Gopal visited the Hunsur wildlife division.
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Attention

Herd of 6 elephants storms village and kills one person in Bangladesh


unb.com.bd
Tue, 29 Dec 2015 19:40 UTC
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A man was killed in an elephant attack at Kamarkhali village in Durgapur upazila of the district on Sunday morning.

The deceased was identified as Chand Miah, 55, a resident of the area.

Police said a herd of 6 elephants came down the hills of Meghalaya State, India and stormed the village.

The elephants attacked Chand around 5:30am while he was going to mosque for saying Fajr prayers, leaving him dead on the spot.

On Information, police rushed to spot and frightened elephants away to the border hills with the help of local people.

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Attention

More dead seabirds found on Oregon beaches

Tracy Loew
Statesman Journal
Fri, 02 Jan 2015 17:14 UTC
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© Tracy Loew / Statesman JournalAbout 50 dead Cassin’s auklets such as this one washed up on the shore at Seaside, Ore. Dec. 21
Many visitors to Oregon's coast over the holidays were greeted with the disturbing sight of dead seabirds.

On Dec. 21, on the beach at Seaside, more than 50 dead birds washed ashore, most of them Cassin's auklets.

On Dec. 26, Robert Ollikainen, of Tillamook, found 132 dead birds on the beach there, including 126 Cassin's auklets.

"It was pretty dramatic," Ollikainen said.

On Dec. 27, Dave Miller counted 15 dead Cassin's auklets on the beach near William Tugman State park. The next day, he found more at Beverly Beach.

"I estimate there were probably 30 to 50 per mile," said Miller, who grew up in Newport and now lives in Camas, Wash. "I've never seen that many before."

Comment: See also: Dozens of bird corpses wash up on Monterey beach, California

Large-scale die-off of Cassin's auklets reported along U.S. West Coast

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Attention

Moose charges at ski patrolman on the slopes in Colorado

Michael Gadd
Daily Mail, UK
Thu, 01 Jan 2015 19:49 UTC
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A moose charges a ski patrolman on the slopes of Steamboat Springs in Colorado
As if there weren't already enough potential perils on the slopes, skiers in Steamboat Springs in Colorado had to contend with a charging moose this week.

In footage shot on Sunday, December 28, a moose wandered onto the popular ski fields of Routt County and took aim at a red jacket-wearing ski patrolman.

Luckily for the patrolman, who was not on skis, he was fleet of foot enough to evade the largest member of the deer like a matador.

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Fish

Rare deep sea Ocean Sunfish found for the first time in Pakistan's waters


The International News
Wed, 31 Dec 2014 17:00 UTC
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An extremely rare breed of fish called the Ocean Sunfish was found by fishermen in Pakistan’s waters for the first time
The fishermen released it back into the sea upon realising the special rarity and uniqueness of the breed.

According to WWF Pakistan, it was caught in a net by fishermen in Ormara town in Gwadar District of Balochistan.

The fish was a common 'mola' (Mola mola), that was seen in Pakistan's waters for the first time ever. According to experts, it is supposed to be the heaviest known bony fish in the world.

This particular fish was measured to be about 1.8 meters in length and weighed about 450Kg. The fishermen released it back into the sea after 20 minutes.
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Cow

Bulls 2 Matadors 0: Female bullfighters gored and spectators attacked, Mexico

Thomas Wyke
International Business Times
Mon, 29 Dec 2014 16:08 UTC
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© AlToroMexico.comKarla de los Angeles was gorded twice by the bull
Two female Mexican bullfighters, one a single mother competing for the first time in three years, have been gored in a bloody annual festival.

The two fighters, Karla de los Angeles and Lupita Lopez, were taking part in an all-women event called the "festejo de damas", alongside Hilda Tenorio. The event was staged at one of the world's biggest bullrings, Plaza Mexico.

De los Angeles, one of Mexico's best-known female bullfighters, was fighting for the first time since she withdrew from the sport in 2011 to look after her young daughter.

Before the fight, she had spoken of her dream of becoming a matador - a master bullfighter - and made national headlines by saying "being a mother is not an impediment".

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Fish

Thousands of fish, animals dying in Turkey Creek, Florida

Dan Billow
Wesh.com
Wed, 31 Dec 2014 18:29 UTC

Palm Bay - Thousands of fish and animals are dying in a local waterway, and longtime residents say it's not just an ordinary fish kill.

Turkey Creek in Palm Bay is known for its clean, fresh water. It flows into the Indian River Lagoon downstream, and it's there in the lagoon where most fish kills happen, not in the creek.

Chris Jones grew up along Turkey Creek.

"You can get out and be in old Florida, natural Florida, the way it was hundreds of years ago before people were here," said Jones.

But now, catfish have been dying for weeks.

People have reported dead animals including an alligator and some raccoons and turtles. They've taken pictures of a film on the water.

"I've never seen catfish or any fish die off to this extent," said Jones.
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Attention

Dead humpback whale washes up on Little Cranberry Island, Maine

Beth Brogan
Bangor Daily News
Wed, 31 Dec 2014 18:58 UTC
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© Erin Fernald Triomphe, a humpback whale born off the Dominican Republic, was found dead recently on a Little Cranberry Island beach.
Scientists from the College of the Atlantic have identified the carcass of a 36-foot humpback whale that washed ashore on Little Cranberry Island on Christmas Day as Triomphe, a nearly 7-year-old male.

"The pigmentation on the flukes was sufficient to identify the individual," said Rosemary Seton, research associate and Marine Mammals Stranding Coordinator at the college's Allied Whale Program. "He was in our catalog, born in 2008 to a female humpback named Spar."

The whale was discovered on the afternoon of Dec. 25 and showed some signs that it had been entangled in fishing gear, Harbormaster Bruce Fernald said.

"There were some entanglement signs, but nothing I saw that was deep," he said. "You could just see a little groove in about two or three places on its tail - it was nothing that I would think would kill a whale, but I don't know."

Seton said it might be impossible to determine a cause of death.
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Binoculars

Rare Eurasian kestrel appears in Nova Scotia, Canada


cbc.ca
Wed, 31 Dec 2014 15:56 UTC
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© Kyle Shay/Nova Scotia Bird Society)Eurasian kestrels are quite common across their home range of Europe, Asia and parts of Africa, but very rarely seen in North America.
Bird watchers in Nova Scotia are being treated to a rare sight.

Birders are flocking to Hartlen Point in Eastern Passage to try and catch a glimpse of a rare Eurasian kestrel. The bird was first spotted in the Eastern Passage area in November and is still there.

Blake Maybank with the Nova Scotia Bird Society says it's a male.

"Presumably this bird just got caught up in the wrong weather, not a storm per se, but they tend to follow tailwinds and it got carried over, but when, we can't be sure," he said.

Maybank was one of many bird watchers in Eastern Passage on Tuesday hoping to catch a glimpse of the rare sight. He found the Eurasian kestrel lunching in a spruce tree.

According to the National Audubon Society, the birds are larger than their North American cousins, American kestrels.


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Binoculars

Another completely lost avian species: Couch's Kingbird flies from southern Texas to New York

Rosa Goldensohn
dnainfo.com
Mon, 29 Dec 2014 19:28 UTC
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© Splash News
A lost tourist is bringing crowds of admirers to the West Village.

The Couch's Kingbird, a bright yellow bird usually not seen in the USA north of Texas and Louisiana, has been perching in Abingdon Square Park and other spots in the neighborhood, watched by dozens of bird watchers.

It's thought to be the first of its species to come to New York, according to Phil Jeffrey, a scientist in the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton who photographed the visitor at the weekend.

On Monday morning, more than a dozen bird enthusiasts waited with cameras on the corner of Washington and Jane Streets - one of the spots where it's been seen.


Comment: Similar recent reports of birds completely losing their way across the Northern Hemisphere: Warbler that should be wintering in western Mexico turns up in Louisiana

Bean goose from Eurasia takes a wrong turn and winds up on the Oregon Coast

Four lost flamingos fly NORTH for the winter and turn up in Siberia

Wrong place, wrong time: European robin turns up thousands of miles away in China

Rare bird from Mongolia turns up in Wakefield, UK

Wrong time, wrong place: Rare bird found in Barrie, Canada

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