Animals
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Attention

Circus elephant kills 12-year-old boy in Vietnam


Viet Nam News
Thu, 25 Dec 2014 21:11 UTC
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The elephant that killed the boy.
A 12-year-old boy was killed by an elephant from a travelling circus troupe on Tuesday in Dak Mil district's Duc Manh commune.

Nguyen Van Luat was feeding the elephant while it was chained up in preparation for that evening's show when the 40-year-old animal grabbed him with its trunk and crushed it under its foot, according to chairman of the communal people's committee Du Van The.

The elephant keeper rushed out to save the boy, but it was too late.

Binh Minh circus troupe, which comes from northern Thai Binh Province, arrived in the commune on Monday during its tour of Viet Nam.

Pham Thanh Cao, deputy head of the troupe, said the boy and his friend were annoying the elephant. He admitted that the troupe had not taken any protective measures.

The case is currently under investigation.
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Attention

Dead minke whale found near Dam Neck Naval base, Virginia

Catherine Rogers
wavy.com
Wed, 24 Dec 2014 19:57 UTC
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© Virginia AquariumFemale Minke whale.
Virginia Aquarium responders found a stranded whale in Virginia Beach Wednesday morning.

The female Minke whale was dead when the aquarium's stranding response team arrived near Dam Neck Naval base. It was about 14 feet long. Heavy equipment on the base is assisting moving the animal above the high tide line and the stranding team will conduct a necropsy Friday morning.

The program is supported by the Virginia Aquarium Foundation through donations from the community, and grant-making organizations. To report a dead or live stranded marine mammal or sea turtle call the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response Program 24-hour hotline at (757) 437-6159.
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Attention

Bear attacks increase in Annapurna, Nepal

Shiva Sharma
ekantipur.com
Thu, 25 Dec 2014 12:26 UTC
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Asiatic black bear
A significant increase has been noticed in the tendency of Asian black bear entering human settlements, damaging crops and attacking humans in Annapurna Conservation Area which is said to be a suitable habitat for the animal, according to a survey conducted by the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP).

The study carried out a year ago has shown an increase in the incident of bear attacks, raising questions about security of local residents in the area.

Local people who enter nearby forests in the region to collect fodder are falling victim to bear attacks. Bhadra Bir Nepali, 41, of Parche was attacked last August when he went to collect fodder for his livestock. Likewise, Bal Bahadur Gurung of Dhampus was also seriously injured in a bear attack in the same month.
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Attention

'Tame' hippo attacks people for the second time in 4 weeks, South Africa


news24.com
Tue, 23 Dec 2014 11:17 UTC
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Jessica the tame hippopotamus would never intentionally hurt a person, a man who was reportedly attacked by the animal said on Tuesday.

"I worked with her for two years, she knows me and I did the tours with the people," Stephen Jansen van Rensburg said.

"There is no way that she will hurt anybody intentionally, maybe by accident, I mean look at my hand but never intentionally. Wish these people will stop sensationalising it."

Jansen van Rensburg said a report in the Beeld newspaper on Tuesday was sensationalising the incident that happened on Saturday when he put his hand in the 14-year-old hippopotamus's mouth.

Beeld reported that paramedics on the scene said Jansen van Rensburg was swimming with his girlfriend and friends when Jessica made a dash for them. His hand was bitten while he wrestled with Jessica and tried to stop her.

Paramedic Pieter Papdorf was quoted as saying Jessica's owners were more worried about the traumatised Jessica than the bleeding Jansen van Rensburg and took her to a quiet place where they massaged her to calm her down.

"He bled a lot. His left thumb was hanging on skin. The muscle was torn and the rest of his hand was badly injured," he was quoted as saying.

However, Jansen van Rensburg said it looked worse than it was. He said he put his hand in Jessica's mouth and she closed her mouth and a small tusk pierced the webbed part of his left hand between his thumb and index finger.

"My thumb is definitely not hanging. A small piece of skin is the only thing that is missing, it is not that serious at all. It looked way more serious," he said.
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Attention

Hippopotamus attacks and kills woman in Malawi


maravipost.com
Wed, 24 Dec 2014 20:05 UTC
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A hippopotamus attacked and killed a womanin the Vwaza WildlifeReserve early Tuesday morning where she had gone to fish in Lake Kazuni.

Rumphi Police and Vwaza Wildlife Reserve official confirmed the incident in separate interviews and identified the deceased as Dorica Banda, 36, from Chauluntha Village in the area of Traditional Authority Mpherembe in Mzimba District.

Rumphi Police Spokesperson Victor Khamisi said the deceased was among a group of poachers who had gone into the protected area to fish.

"While they were casting their nets, a hippopotamus suddenly emerged and charged at them before it went for Banda, who was at the time in the water, and attacked her.

"When she shouted for help, the rest of the group ran away, leaving her at the mercy of the beast," Khamisi said.
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Heart

A lesson for humans: Monkey revives electrocuted fellow monkey

Lisa Suhay
Christian Science Monitor
Mon, 22 Dec 2014 00:00 UTC
The video of a monkey in India patiently and persistently working to revive a fellow monkey has gone viral. Check out this and other animal rescue stories.


Last week Pope Francis proclaimed that animals have souls and can go to heaven. Now, one monkey in Kanpur, India, has displayed the kind of compassion and heroics many humans might admire.


Comment: Whether heaven exists or not, most mammals care for their offspring and behave like souled beings. They demonstrate more 'humanity' than many of us humans, that is for sure.


This monkey - probably a Rhesus macaque, the most common urban dweller in India - worked frantically to revive another monkey that had passed out on the train tracks after getting a severe shock while cavorting on an electric wire above the station.

Dozens of humans watched, took videos and snapped photos on Dec. 21, but none made a move to help as the doggedly determined little monkey shook, bit, slapped, and splashed water on the unconscious primate.

When his companion was finally revived, the two huddled together in a safe space between the tracks.
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Binoculars

Robin seen in the dead of winter in Bethel, Alaska

Charles Enoch
kyuk.org
Fri, 19 Dec 2014 19:28 UTC
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© Kevin MorganA robin spotted in Bethel December 17th.
A rare winter robin has been spotted in Bethel and it has folks wondering what exactly it means. Locals and a biologist say they think it has to do with climate change.

Bethel resident Myron Angstman spotted and videotaped a robin outside his window on Wednesday(12/17). He says that's not the only unusual thing he saw. Angstman says his wife looked out through the kitchen window and saw a red squirrel hanging out with the robin.

"And the red squirrel bounded into the feeder and chased the robin out and the robin came and landed in a tree by the kitchen window. So then we got a good look at it and we got some pictures," said Angstman.

Angstman says the robin was eating bird seed because the bugs it would normally feed on are nowhere to be found in the winter. He adds that in his 40-years of living in Bethel, he's never seen a robin in the middle of December.

"It's always really spring before they get here. They don't show up in the end of winter at all. It's usually May sometime, usually late May I think, but it's usually pretty warm out when you see your first robin," said Angstman.
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Camcorder

Film maker exposes US factory farms using a drone

April McCarthy
PreventDisease.com
Wed, 24 Dec 2014 18:59 UTC
Speciesism: The Movie
© Wikimedia CommonSpeciesism: The Movie
Speciesism: The Movie is an award-winning and controversial new documentary that takes viewers on a sometimes funny, sometimes frightening adventure across North America, exposing the biggest secrets about modern factory farms, and asking the biggest philosophical questions about the belief that our species is more important than the rest. You'll never look at animals the same way again. Especially humans.

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Binoculars

12 endangered vultures rescued after fleeing severe cold in Nepal, Bhutan and India


The Daily Star (Bangladesh)
Wed, 24 Dec 2014 17:44 UTC
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Twelve critically endangered Himalayan Griffon vultures have been rescued after they fell on the ground in several areas of Panchagarh.

Officials of Rajshahi and Dinajpur forest departments and Panchagarh district administration rescued the rare vulture species from Mirgarh, Malipara, Station Road, bus terminal areas of the district.

Tapan Kumar Dey, conservator (Wildlife) of the forest department, said the vultures had flown from Nepal, Bhutan and Himachal of India.
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Question

Two rare sea turtles found on UK's shores 5,000 miles from home


The Telegraph, UK
Wed, 24 Dec 2014 17:11 UTC
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© Wildlife Trust
One of two Kemp’s ridley turtles found in Cumbria and Merseyside, 5,000 miles from their home in the Gulf of Mexico.
Critically-endangered Kemp's ridley turtles were found in Cumbria and Merseyside, 5,000 miles from their home

Two rare sea turtles have washed ashore on beaches in the North West, some 5,000 miles from their home in the Gulf of Mexico.

The critically-endangered Kemp's ridley turtles were found in Cumbria and Merseyside, and it is feared that more could yet appear.

Rod Penrose, a Marine mammal expert, said that they could have been "cold-stunned" by a drop in ocean temperatures in the US, which would leave them unable to feed or swim against strong currents.

Rob Archer, who was walking with his girlfriend on Saturday when he found one of the turtles on Sefton Beach, near Formby, told the Liverpool Echo: "At first I thought it was a crab.

"It seemed in a stupor as if there wasn't much life left in it.
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