Animals
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Attention

Elephants kill 3 people in Satkania, Bangladesh


Dhaka Tribune
Wed, 17 Dec 2014 20:19 UTC
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© Jagdeep Rajput
The incident took place near Cox's Bazar-Chittagong highway of the area on Wednesday

Three people have been killed in an attack by elephants in Nayakhal area of Kheochhiya union under Satkania upazila in Chittagong.

The deceased are Mahbubul Alam Talukdar, 35, son of late Abul Hossain Talukdar of the area, Shakil, 15, son of Md Forkan of Kaliaish area of the upazila and Shahadat Hossain, 30, son of Ameer Hossain.

Sub-inspector of Satkania police station Kazi Golam Kibria said: "The incident took place near Cox's Bazar-Chittagong highway of the area on Wednesday."

Some 14 elephants came down to crop field beside the highway around 5:30pm. As the people tried to stop them from destroying the crops, the elephants got furious and attacked the people, leaving one of them dead on the spot, the SI said.

Two injured were taken to a local clinic where the doctors declared them dead, he added.
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Wolf

Woman killed by fostered dogs in Flour Bluff, Texas


kiiitv.com
Tue, 16 Dec 2014 18:19 UTC
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Investigators revealed Tuesday that a Flour Bluff woman who was found dead in her home Monday night appears to have been attacked by dogs she was fostering, and that attack is what resulted in her death.

The Nueces County Medical Examiner determined that 64-year old Rita Woodard, known to many as Rita Ross, died from a heart attack after multiple dog bites. One of her dogs was put to sleep after being severely injured by the attacking dogs.

Ross, who spent much of her time rescuing stray dogs, was discovered around 6:30 p.m. Monday. Several dogs were found feeding on her remains.

The Medical Examiner released a report late Tuesday stating that Ross had died from coronary artery atherosclerosis following multiple dog bites. Corpus Christi Police Department Commander John Houston, who supervises Animal Care Services, said it appeared that five of the 17 dogs found at Ross's home were responsible for the attack.

Those five will likely be euthanized.

Many of the dogs were in cages at Ross's home, and four have already been turned over to the group For the Love of Strays for adoption. The remaining eight dogs will be turned over to Ross's son, who lives out of state.

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Attention

Deer enters store in Charlotte, North Carolina

Ben Hooper
upi.com
Tue, 16 Dec 2014 15:22 UTC
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A dust-up between the people of Walmart and a confused deer inside a North Carolina store was caught on camera by a customer.

The deer, apparently a doe, wandered into the store Monday afternoon in Charlotte's University City neighborhood and ended up being tackled and pinned to the ground by a group of Walmart workers and customers.

Witness Edmond Ratcliffe captured cellphone video of the incident.

"You never know when you have seen it all... I'm in Walmart today and a wildlife shopper decided that he needed to stop by Walmart for a celebrity appearance," Ratcliffe posted on Facebook.


Comment: See also these other recent reports: Deer crashes through window into furniture store in Cedar Falls, Iowa

Deer crashes through window into home in Strykersville, NY

Even more strange animal behavior: Deer crashes into restaurant in Iowa

More animal lunacy: White-tailed deer breaks through 2 doors at New Jersey home

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Info

Lobster stuns scientists by growing back four legs and both claws in a month

Izzy Ferris
Daily Mirror, UK
Tue, 16 Dec 2014 14:50 UTC
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© SWNSClawdia the lobster has stunned experts by re-growing her missing limbs in just one month
When Clawdia was found by fisherman crippled and pregnant, her outlook did not look good - but she has made a remarkable recovery

A lop-sided lobster that lost four legs and both claws has stunned experts by growing them all back in just one month.

Crippled Clawdia stood little chance of survival in the wild before she was found by fishermen.

She was missing all her legs missing on one side, was pregnant, and was also missing both claws.
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Horse

Domestication of horses might have had negative impacts

Sebastian Martinez
theindychannel.com
Tue, 16 Dec 2014 14:34 UTC
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Scientists tracing the horse's genome have found as humans domesticated the wild horse thousands of years ago, they affected the horse's DNA.

Scientists looked at two samples from the Taymyr Peninsula in Siberia, one of which dates back some 16,000 years and the other more than 40,000 years - well before humans domesticated horses.

In their research, two groups of genes covering social behavior, learning capabilities and muscular development, among other traits, could've been key in the domestication process.

They also found that wild subspecies of the domesticated horse, such as the Przewalski's horse, aren't actually ancestors of the domesticated horse, but a sister species that developed concurrently.
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Sheeple

Pneumonia outbreak kills 10 bighorns near Gardiner, Montana


Billings Gazette
Tue, 16 Dec 2014 21:59 UTC
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© Brett French/Gazette StaffTen bighorn sheep in the Gardiner area have died from an outbreak of pneumonia.
Ten bighorn sheep have died over the past two weeks following an outbreak of pneumonia in a herd that lives along the upper Yellowstone River near Gardiner.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks staff has collected a mix of dead rams, lambs and one adult ewe and taken them to the state wildlife lab in Bozeman, where all were determined to have died from pneumonia.

Historically, pneumonia affects bighorn sheep herds differently. According to FWP wildlife veterinarian Jennifer Ramsey, "Sometimes we'll see a large scale, all age die-off in which most of the population dies, and that population never really rebounds. Yet in other herds we seem to see a low-level mortality year after year."
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Attention

Sperm whale washes up dead at Kitty foreshore, Guyana


caribbeantrakker.com
Tue, 16 Dec 2014 21:40 UTC
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© Ruel Johnson/Guyana Mosquito A sperm whale beached on the Kitty shore.
Hundreds of persons turned out this morning to get a glimpse of a whale that washed up at the Kitty foreshore opposite Pere Street.

Speaking to TrakkerNews wildlife conservation specialist Annette Arjune-Martins said her organization along with members of the Guyana Defense Force were looking and trying to free the whale since Sunday after they were notified of the mammal being trapped in fishing net at Mahaicony Foreshore.

Their efforts proved futile and this morning they got word of the find at Georgetown seawall of the dead whale.

Martins said she will be working along with the Public Works Minister Robson Benn on the way forward as to what they will do with the remains.

The whale size is approximately 20 feet.
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Binoculars

Rare Arctic glaucous gull turns up in Turkey

Şahika Temur
Yeni Şafak
Tue, 16 Dec 2014 20:25 UTC
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The arctic seagull making a special appearance on Turkey's Rize coast was reportedly last seen here 140 years ago
A glaucous gull, which only recently reappeared on the Black Sea coast after more than a century, has drawn prominent birdwatchers to the northern province of Rize.

The glaucous gull is believed to have first appeared in 1874 in the busy Turkish province of Istanbul. This is actually the sole evidence of their existence in the Turkish territory, but there has been no sighting of the bird for 140 years.

The white-headed and-tailed bird has been described as the glaucous bird, which has first been recorded in 1874 in Istanbul, according to a discussion among Turkey's key bird watchers.
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Black Cat

Record number of panther attacks on farm animals in Florida

David Fleshler
phys.org
Sun, 14 Dec 2014 18:20 UTC
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A record number of Florida panther attacks on farm animals and pets took place this year, in what the state wildlife commission says is a consequence of the endangered cat's increased population.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on Friday confirmed 32 incidents of fatal panther attacks on animals such as goats, sheep, calves, dogs and cats, with more than 50 animals killed. This year also saw a record 20 panthers killed by vehicles.

The commission attributed the increase in killings to the success of state and federal efforts to increase the panther's population. The number of panthers today is estimated at 100 to 180, with the top figure representing a recent upward revision from 160. During the 1970s, the population may have fallen as low as 30.

"Over the past 40 years, Florida panther conservation efforts have resulted in the panther population growing significantly from the 1970s, when the panther was first federally listed as endangered," the agency said. "As the population grows, the chance for interaction between the large cats and humans also increases - which can be bad for both people and panthers."
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Wolf

Young girl severely mauled by dog in Widgee, Australia


Sunshine Coast Daily
Tue, 16 Dec 2014 18:09 UTC
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A five-year-old girl who suffered severe facial injuries in a dog attack at Widgee is recovering after emergency plastic surgery.

It is believed the girl was visiting a Widgee home on Sunday when she suffered several bite marks to her face, leaving injuries to her nose, cheeks and lip.

Gympie Regional Council officers yesterday began an investigation into the incident, which occurred about 5pm Sunday on a private property on Gympie Woolooga Rd.

A worker at Widgee General Store said the girl and her mother were not locals.

The mother turned up at the shop seeking help in an area notorious as a mobile phone black spot.
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