Animals
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Attention

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

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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.

Wolf

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

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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.

Question

Mystery of 9 brains found in US county village remains unsolved

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.

Attention

Almost 40 million birds dead as avian flu ravages Midwest

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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.

Attention

Wild elephant kills one in Assam, India

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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.

Arrow Down

NOAA study confirms BP oil spill caused unprecedented fatalities in Gulf of Mexico dolphins

dolphin die-off gulf mexico
© Reuters
The 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico caused an unprecedented number of fatal diseases in roughly 1,300 dolphins over the course of five years, according to a new study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Up to now, the link between oil spill exposure and dolphin deaths has been inconclusive, but this study changes that. The results are from a forensic investigation that was part of NOAA's long-term ecological analysis of the Deepwater incident that began in 2013. The spill itself leaked 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf over five months in 2010.

"No feasible alternatives remain that can reasonably explain the timing, location and nature of this increase in death," co-author Stephanie Venn-Watson of the National Marine Mammal Foundation in San Diego said in a Wednesday press conference.

Comment: It's unsurprising that BP would deny culpability - it's just what psychopathic corporations do. Profit is their god and anything that gets in the way is discounted or ignored whenever possible. The damages inflicted on the citizens living along the coast, to the environment and to marine animals have been catastrophic, yet the psychopaths in control of this greedy and arrogant corporation have attempted to circumvent responsibility at every turn.


Wolf

Family dog attacks and seriously injures toddler in Alanson, Michigan

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A pit bull terrier
A 20-month-old girl was seriously injured today, Thursday, when a dog living at her home attacked her, Emmet County Sheriff Pete Wallin said.

Wallin said the incident was reported at a home in the village of Alanson around 7:30 a.m. today. Along with deputies, Alanson-Littlefield Fire Department first responders and Emmet County EMS responded to the scene to provide medical care and transported the girl to McLaren Northern Michigan hospital.

Wallin did not have specific details on the girl's injuries or medical status, but described the injuries as serious, and noted that she has since been airlifted to Devos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids.

Wallin said the dog, which he described as a "pit bull-type," has been detained by authorities.

He did not yet know if there had been previous incidents with the dog being aggressive and said the investigation into today's incident is still ongoing.

Wallin said his office will likely at some point seek a court order to have the dog euthanized.

Eye 2

Snake filmed on moving car windscreen

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© newsflareSnake hitches a lift in windscreen wipers
An oblivious motorist had no idea they had an extra passenger on board their car - until a huge snake suddenly appeared on their windscreen.

The slippery customer had been nesting in the windshield washer reservoir tank when its peaceful sleep was brought to an abrupt end by the car's engine starting.

Disturbed from its unique hiding place, the snake slowly appeared through the car's outside vents and found itself trapped on the windscreen as the driver was cruising down a motorway.


Attention

Endangered saiga antelope death toll nears 20,000 in Kazakhstan

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The total saiga population was thought to have fallen as low as around 21,000 in 2003, when the species was declared critically endangered.
The death toll in a sudden die-off of critically endangered saiga antelope is nearing 20,000, according to authorities in northern Kazakhstan who are still unsure of the cause.

The Kazakh Department for Emergency Situations said that 19,231 carcasses had been buried in the Qostanai region by late on May 19.

Officials in the adjoining Aqtobe region also reported on May 20 that they had found 68 dead saigas in the Irgiz-Torghai natural reserve.

The cause of death is unclear, but authorities suspect the culprit is a bacterial infection carried in the mouth and breathing passage known as pasteurellosis.

Attention

Rarely-seen Cuvier's beaked whale washes up near Ahousaht, Canada

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© Marcie CallewaertA rare beaked whale has washed up on the beach in Ahousaht, B.C., on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
The decomposing whale was spotted by a hiker on the Wild Side trail, who thought it might have been a killer whale.

Marcie Callewaert, a photographer and Grade 6 teacher who reported the whale to Fisheries and Oceans Canada, took a boat to get a closer look and was relieved the hiker was wrong.

"I was really concerned considering all the recent strandings and the status of our orca population around here. So I was really happy it wasn't an orca," said Callewaert.

No officials have visited the remote location, but Callewaert said it appears to be a Cuvier's beaked whale.

"It's just so exciting to see one in person, although it's tragic that it's dead ... just the opportunity to see it in person, I know I won't get that chance again," she said.